FT Generator

From CasparCG Wiki

Contents 1 What it does 2 Installation 2.1 Installation on mixed-language Systems 3 The Process 4 The panel 4.1 Generate FT File 4.2 Author 4.3 Template info 4.4 Optimization 4.5 Text Anti-aliasing 4.6 Limitations 4.7 To do 5 Notes 6 See also

What it does

The FT Generator executes a script (brew1_8.jsfl) that injects code into the current Flash project to make it compatible with CasparCG. The project is then compiled and the SWF is renamed to .ft which is a confirmation that the file is prepared for be played by CasparCG.

Installation

The FT Generator is distributed as an Adobe Flash extension (.mxp). You will need the Adobe Extension Manager to be able to install the extension. To install the FT Generator just double click on the FT Generator.mxp file and it should open the Extension Manager automatically. When you have installed the package it should show up as "FT Generator" in the Extension Manager. You will need to restart flash (if it is open) before you can start to generate flash templates. The FT Generator panel can be found at Window -> Other Panels.

The extension will also automatically install the class library that is needed to generate flash templates. The first time a flash template is generated the FT Generator will automatically add the class path to this class library. If you are creating advanced flash templates and uses an external code editor you might need to set this class path manually. The library is installed at $(LocalData)/Classes/Caspar. The $(LocalData) can be found at:

• Windows: Hard Disk\Documents and Settings\user\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS4\language\Configuration\
• Macintosh: Hard Disk/Users/user/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Adobe Flash CS4/language/Configuration/

Finally, the extension will install some project templates with some of the common formats used in broadcast. You can use these when you create a template from scratch by choosing File->New->Templates->Caspar

Installation on mixed-language Systems

If you installed either the OS or Flash Professional in a non-US language, the FT Generator may install properly but you won't be able to see it in Flash Professional. Please see this forum thread for a solution.

The Process

All modifications to the Flash project file is reverted when the generation is finished. This is what happens to a Flash project during the process:

• All dynamic text fields in the project (any timeline) are exposed (converted to CasparTextField) so that they can be accessed from CasparCG. The font is automatically embedded. If there is a dynamic text field that has no instance name the script will throw an error. If the instance name begins with the letter "x" the field will not be exposed to CasparCG and it will be treated as a normal text field.
• All CasparCG Flash components are exposed so that they can be accessed from CasparCG.
• The document class is set to se.svt.caspar.template.CasparTemplate unless you have entered your own. In that case; be sure to use the CasparTemplate as the super class. Have a look at Creating Advanced Flash Templates for more info.
• A description of the template will be generated from the content in the document and the info in the panel.
• Depending on your choices in the panel, certain objects will be optimized for CasparCG. (read more about this further down).

The panel

There are some settings in the panel you should know about:

Generate FT File

When you press this button the process will begin with the settings provided in the panel.

Author

Here you enter your name (required) and your e-mail (optional) for easy backtracking. This information will be stored in the template description.

Template info

Here you can enter information, e.g. a short description of the template, that will be stored in the template description. This is optional.

Optimization

These are automatic optimization of different objects that uses the best settings for rendering on CasparCG.

Optimize images If this option is checked (default) all images in the project will have their compression set to "lossless" and the property "allow smoothing" will be set to true.

Optimize text fields If this option is checked (default) all text fields will be rendered on even pixels.

Optimize embedded videos If this option is checked (default) all embedded videos will have the properties smoothing set to true and deblocking set to 4.

Text Anti-aliasing

The global thickness and sharpness for all the text fields in the document.

Limitations

• If some unexpected error occurs when the script is executed there may be a possibility that the execution is halted before the project is reverted (since there is no try catch in jsfl). If you have a project where the generation does not work, check in the timeline(s) for injected code that may interfere with the process.

• Avoid working with scenes in flash since this is untested.

To do

Create a cache file for the template info.

Notes

This extension used to be called the Brewer and CasparTools.

See also

• Creating Flash Templates
• Creating Advanced Flash Templates