User Manual for UpStage V2.01
Contents
1. selected a pale blue border indicates that another player is holding that layer If you select a layer with a blue border you will steal it from the other player The top box will draw on the top layer obscuring avatars The next two layers will let you draw amongst the avatars and the bottom layer draws behind the backdrop Click on the eye to hide or show your drawing Click on clear to erase the all the drawing from that layer Note that it is currently not possible to erase only part of the drawing in a layer The slider in the layer box controls transparency move it to the left and the drawing in that layer will become more transparent move it all the way to the left and it will vanish completely The colour picker at the top has three sliders letting you adjust the colour of what you re about to draw Move the sliders to change the hue and the new colour appears in the square to the left of the sliders The slider immediately below the colour picker controls the transparency of what you are about to draw use the slider in the layer box to change the transparency of something you ve already drawn The circle and slider below the transparency slider control the size of your pencil Move the slider to the right and the circle will increase in size indicating how big it will appear on stage Move it to the left to make it smaller UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 22 of 40 Currently it is not2. 3 7 1 Avatar Voices UpStage uses the Festival Speech Synthesiser and MBROLA to generate text2speech audio for the avatars voices You can listen to and select from the available voices in the Manage avatars screen to change your avatar voice but note that you cannot change the voice on stage See section 5 5 for more information about the voices available and how to create more voices 3 7 2 Saving the log The text chat is automatically saved by the server and can be viewed by adding log to the end of the URL in the address bar of your browser You can then save it by either selecting Save as from your browser s file menu or by copying and pasting the text into a text editor application UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 19 of 40 3 8 Whispering Players can whisper to other logged in players this lets you communicate with your fellow players without the audience hearing or seeing it You can whisper to an individual player a number of players or to all logged in players present on the same stage as you You can also whisper to players on other stages but you must use their usernames and there is currently no way to whisper to a player who is in the Workshop Typing in a whisper command incorrectly displays a how to message in your chat field If messages are not delivered to users due to misspelling a username or a user not currently being online the whisper bounces and informs the s
3. If you are interested in being a part of the development of UpStage you can join the developer list https lists sourceforge net lists listinfo upstage list If you would like to be kept informed about events in UpStage you can join the announcements list https lists sourceforge net lists listinfo upstage announce UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 2 of 40 1 3 Glossary Here are definitions for some of the terms that are used in this manual Audience people present online at a performance but not logged in The audience can participate via the text chat but do not have access to the same tools as the players Avatar a graphical icon that can be held and moved around the stage by a player and that can speak Backdrop a graphic which fills the stage behind any avatars and props that are placed on it A backdrop can also extend behind the text chat Chatters the online audience are often referred to as chatters as they contribute to the performance via a text chat function Cyberformance live online performance where remote players and or audience use internet technologies to come together in real time Drawing functionality that allows real time drawing directly onto the stage Foyer the home page of an UpStage server where the audience can come to see what s on and where players can log in Mirror the square on a stage that shows a Player which avatar they are currently holding
4. a web based venue for live performance User Manual for UpStage V2 01 Updated 20 May 2008 UNIVERSITY Contents 1 INt rOGUCUION 2 vi A i owes een AAA EE 1 1 1 Background iaa 1 1 2 Project Md 2 1 3 GIOSSANY shat O heh a 3 2 AICC ii eats ei ee leas Gea Wa eh en an ne ae en aia 5 2 1 Getting to the SAO iia A te dees 5 2 2 Audience Chat iene EEE A A te odd ahead E ee 5 Player ui is 6 3 1 A oc aN Ae a Me Nea Noe nd eg See ee lar eek Arce rata 6 3 2 The Workshop administration interface ooooocccccnnoocnccccccnoncccnnononccnnnnnncnnnnnnnnno 7 3 2 1 Creating and Managing Players ooooooococcnoccoconoconononnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 8 3 2 2 Creating and Managing Stages occcccccccccooononccnccnnnncnnnnnancnnnnnnnnnnnnnnanannnnns 8 3 2 3 Uploading and Managing Avatars ooocccccccccconnonccccccccnnnnnnnnnnnccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 11 3 2 4 Uploading and Managing PropS oooooccccccncccnnnnnncccncnoncnnnononnarenenoncnnnnnnnnns 12 3 2 5 Uploading and Managing BackdropS occcccoocccccccnocccnconnncnnccnnnccnncnnnacinnns 13 3 2 6 Uploading and Managing Audio ooooooccccccncccnnnnncccncnnnnnnnnonnnanncncnnnnnnnnnnnnns 13 3 3 On Stage oa oid eee eee te a ee ee 14 3 4 Holding and Moving an Avatal cccceccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeaaaeeeesseeeeeeees 15 3 4 1 Mas 15 3 4 2 Operating Multi frame or Animated AvatarS ooooccncccnnoooonccccccncccccnnnaninnnnns 16 3 4 3 Changing Your Avatars Na ooooo
5. as it s completely different for a small static flat graphic prop which may be only 1K and an animated flash backdrop or multiframe avatar which could be over 500K And a stage with a single large graphic may load faster than one with many medium sized graphics If your original files are larger than 500K check whether you can resize them and save them again to a smaller file size Remember that screen resolution is only 72ppi so there is no need for your originals to be at a higher resolution 4 7 Deleting Graphics It is important to delete unwanted graphics in order to keep the workshop area manageable This is done through the Manage avatars Manage props and Manage backdrops screens Check the box beside any images that you want to delete then scroll up or down and click the delete selected button You can see on these screens whether an image is currently assigned to a stage if you try to delete an image that is assigned to a stage UpStage will ask if you are sure that you want to delete it If multiple groups are using the same server you should not delete anything unless you are sure no one else is using it for example your own test graphics that you no longer want If you are working on a server that is used by various people such as the Open UpStage http upstage org nz 8084 please do not delete anything that has been uploaded by someone else 4 8 On stage Links Active hyperlinks can be created
6. Palette e g drawing palette or audio palette a set of tools for a particular function Player a logged in participant in a performance Players have access to on stage tools which allow them to manipulate avatars backdrops and props Prop a graphic which can be held by an avatar or placed on the stage Splash screen a sort of curtain that appears over the stage while it loads the splash screen has a bar to indicate how far through loading the stage is as well as a welcome message which you can edit and the name of the stage Stage a dynamic web page where you can place and move avatars props and backdrops to create a performance Stage tools tools visible on the stage to logged in players but not visible to the audience that enable the players to manipulate media on the stage in real time UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 3 of 40 Text chat an input field and text chat window where avatars speech and audience text appears and is visible to everyone the text chat window can be scrolled up and down to read text that has been entered previously Tools the buttons sliders and icons that allow logged in players to manipulate media Wardrobe the interface through which players can select avatars on a stage an alphabeticised and scrollable list of the icons and names of the avatars assigned to that particular stage Whispering silent text communication between logged in players that is not visible
7. by typing a URL into the text chat window eg http www upstage org nz you must use right click or ctrl click to use the link and this gives you the option to open the link in a new window the same window or to copy the link Sometimes it s useful to have a graphic on stage that provides a hyperlink to another stage or a different web site The way to do this is to create a swf image with an ActionScript button containing the following code on release getURL http desired url self This could be an avatar or a prop that is placed on the stage at the time that you want the audience to follow the link UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 28 of 40 5 Technical Upstage is written in Python using the Twisted framework for event driven asynchronous networking twistedmatrix com It doesn t require Apache or MYSQL or anything else The client is written in pure Actionscript and is compiled using Mtasc http www mtasc org so there is no requirement for Macromedia software other than the Flash player plug in on the client computer We are investigating Gnash an open source equivalent to the Flash player to see if UpStage is compatible with it Words typed in by the players are converted into speech using the Fesitval speech library festvox org festival eSpeak http espeak sourceforge net and MBROLA http tcts fpms ac be synthesis mbrola html and streamed to the clients as MP3s The
8. has options to transmit an image to a remote FTP site or to save a file locally if you have a Web server running on your video capture machine You also can add captions http www intlweb com 5 4 4 Recommended Software for Linux WebcamD WebcamD can Take pics every X seconds Add date amp hour on pictures with or without border Make HTML page for it Stop camera putting an offline webpage To take a pics when you want if the daemon is running Upload pics by ftp on a remote server or create local file if a local web server is running Customise HTML templates easily Configure the programme easily with a small and simple configuration file http webcamd tuxfamily org index_en html 5 4 5 Web Cam FTP Configuration Once you have chosen and installed the appropriate web cam software you will need to configure it to send the web cam images to your UpStage server Following are the settings you will need Host URL of your UpStage server username set by your UpStage administrator password set by your UpStage administrator filepath filename jpg Port 21 or other set by your UpStage administrator UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 32 of 40 Before you begin to upload your web cam image to UpStage check the pixel size bearing in mind that images increase in size when they are uploaded as avatars to UpStage If it is 160 x 120 or larger it will take up half the stag
9. image or video stream is ready follow the link from the Workshop to Add a new avatar and find your filename in the drop down list of available video streams Choose a name for the avatar then click OK Go back to the Workshop and follow the link to Manage Avatars and you will see a list of the stages plus unassigned this is where you will find your avatar before you have assigned it to a particular stage It will also appear in the list of avatars uploaded by you when you are in the Manage Stages section allowing you to assign it to a particular stage Note that there is no limit to how many stages one avatar or other media can be assigned to Manage Avatars This screen shows the available avatars grouped according to the stages they have been assigned to plus an unassigned category for avatars that have not yet been assigned to a stage Click on a stage name or unassigned and then on the name of the avatar to go to that avatar s edit screen Here you can see information about the avatar and delete unwanted avatars Click on the name of the avatar you want to edit You will see a thumbnail image of the avatar and information about the file and you can choose from the drop down list of available voices and test voices to see what they sound like UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 11 of 40 3 2 4 Uploading and Managing Props Props function in a similar way to avatars but they can t speak
10. possible to erase other than to clear everything in a particular layer If you are trying to draw a curved line and finding that it appears as sections of straight lines you are moving your mouse faster than UpStage can keep up with try drawing slower for smoother curves 3 11 Audio Click on the yellow audio button to reveal the Audio Palette Audio files assigned to the stage will appear in a list on the right with musical notes indicating music tracks and sfx indicating sound effects Use the green arrows to scroll up and down if there are more than six tracks assigned to the stage Clicking on a track and its file name will appear in one of the three slots where you can control the volume start and stop individual tracks At the moment you can only play one music track at a time and up to two sound effects You can stop all tracks at the same time using the stop all button Click on the blue act button to return to the avatar tool palette UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 23 0f 40 4 Graphics Recommendations 4 1 General comments Avatars backdrops and props for UpStage can be created using standard graphics applications such as PhotoShop Fireworks Gimp and Flash The recommended formats for your original graphics files are swf or png Vector based images will appear much cleaner than pixel images such as gif and jpeg as they are resized to match the dimensions of individual scre
11. the development of UpStage Please note that this is by no means all the available software and as time passes there will be more and better options The main features that we have looked for in web cam FTP applications are ease of use free or cheap with no advertising on the image the ability to resize the web cam image to custom sizes any special effects features are a bonus 5 4 2 Recommended Software for Windows Operating Systems Fwink At the time of writing we are testing Fwink version 0 9 95 beta on Windows It s free has no ads and allows customised sizing Fwink is a free and open source web cam application for Windows It takes still images from your camera at timed intervals and puts them on your web site with FTP You can add effects like text messages time stamps and an overlay image http lundie ca fwink UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 31 of 40 5 4 3 Recommended Software for Macintosh Oculus Oculus version 3 1X at the time of writing works on both Mac OSX and OS9 and earlier it s free to try cheap to buy and has some pretty nifty features The free trial period is unlimited and registering unlocks further features Oculus is a Webcam software that has been enhanced to include motion detection time lapsed movie creation and remote image and movie cycling It has flexible captioning options including an unlimited amount of translucent text and pictures It
12. to the audience Workshop the back stage interface where logged in Players can upload graphics view existing graphics create and manage stages and manage players UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 4 of 40 2 Audience Audience members enter UpStage by following a web link from an email or another web page and participate in the performance via the text chat Audience members do not need to download or install any additional software as long as they have a browser with the Flash player plug in Audience members do not log in and therefore do not have access to the same on stage tools as Players do 2 1 Getting to the stage Audience members may have clicked on a link to the stage in an email or on a web page Or they may have selected the stage from a list of available stages at the UpStage foyer A splash screen covers the stage while it loads preventing the audience from interacting until the stage is fully loaded Once the stage has loaded the audience will see any graphics that have already been placed on the stage they will see and hear the performance and they will be able to participate in the text chat 2 2 Audience Chat Audience members are also known as chatters because they can interact with the performance by typing into the text input field at the bottom right of the screen This text appears in the text chat window amongst the Players text Player text is slightly darker and larger th
13. 1t will ask you to specify which ports you want to use the defaults are 8081 and 7230 You will need to ensure that your users have the correct ports open The Open UpStage server http upstage org nz 8084 uses ports 8084 and 7233 therefore these ports need to be open if you are trying to access this server through a firewall These ports are open by default in most private internet connections but some organisational networks will close any unnecessary ports 5 3 Downloading and Installing the Server Software UpStage is an opensource project registered with SourceForge and licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2 5 License and Gnu Public Licence GPL To download the latest version go to https sourceforge net projects upstage You will need to install additional packages including python twisted festival festvox voices netpbm gif2png timeout lame swftools rsynth and mbrola Some of these are not availavle as official Debian packages Please read the INSTALL file for more information and join the developers list if you wish to communicate with other UpStage users on technical matters http lists sourceforge net lists listinfo upstage list Upstage runs as its own web server which runs by default on ports 8081 you will be asked to chose a port when you install it If you have Apache on your machine you can use ProxyPassReverse or mod_rewrite to treat it as a vitrual
14. A better solution is to work out which image is causing the problem delete it and resave the original file as high quality UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 36 of 40 5 6 4 Linux Fonts If you are using UpStage on Linux you may find that fonts are not appearing on stage This problem is fixed by installing additional packages apt get install gsfonts gsfonts x11 and http www macromedia com shockwave download download cgi P1 Prod Versi on ShockwaveFlash amp P2_ Platform Linux amp P3 Browser Version Netscape4 untar gzip close all browsers run the installer see installation instructions on the url above 5 6 5 Other problems UpStage is a work in progress and it is an open source development We use SourceForge to track bugs please visit http sourceforge net projects upstage to see what bugs and features we are currently working on The UpStage web site www upstage org nz has FAQs and notification of any immediate or temporary problems Please check there if you are experiencing problems If you have any other problems please email info upstage org nz and we will endeavour to answer your questions and solve any bugs UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 37 of 40
15. Stage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 16 of 40 3 4 3 Changing Your Avatar s Name To change the name of the avatar you are holding type nick newname in the text nick bob input field You will see the name z underneath your mirror change and when the avatar is on stage the new name will appear below it unless you have used the name button to turn off the name The new name will also appear in the text chat window when your avatar speaks When using invisible avatars you can make words float around the stage by showing the name and using nick to change the visible word on screen Up to 9 characters will be visible on stage if you have a longer name it will all be visible in the text chat 3 4 4 Web cam avatars A live web cam feed motion jpeg can be introduced to the stage by using a web cam avatar This requires an additional web cam FTP application on the sending computer and the correct settings to deliver the images to the UpStage server The web cam avatar is created from the Add a new avatar screen by selecting your video stream from the dropdown menu On stage a web cam avatar operates in the same way as any other avatar you can move it around the stage hold props speak etc Depending on the FTP software you are using you may also be able to adjust the size of the image in real time and add other visual effects Please see section 5 4 for more information on web cam avatars including recomme
16. a little bit it s not difficult Patricia Jung explains how she did it for Linux using UpStage V1 Just add another entry in the VOICES section in Upstage upstage voices py like txt2pho mbrola del usr local mbrola pipefilt usr local mbrola preproc usr local mbrola Hadifix abk usr local mbrola Rules st usr local mbrola txt2pho p usr local mbrola data usr local mbrola mbrola usr local mbrola del del _ fest I know it looks awful but this is only because the command is an awful chain consisting of four commands with a couple of options each and the relevant path pipefilt preproc txt2pho mbrola It does some preprocessing like exchanging all appearances of z B with zum Beispiel then hands the resulting text over to txt2pho and to mbrola As long as your command or command chain takes text input from the standard input and outputs the result as sound in raw format on the standard output chain Unix stuff ask me if you haven t heard about it you can put whatever you like in between the and the UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 34 of 40 The above mentioned awful command chain will work when one has installed the txt2pho frontend 1t uses the del female mbrola voice and you can choose it in the web interface using the name del The only problem with this kind of reconfiguration is As config py isn t a nice configuration file but a py
17. age have a filenaming system that describes what kind of voice each one is Some of the voices speak English in a foreign accent some speak English in various English accents and some are designed to speak other languages The software defaults to a male voice but we have endeavoured to make female versions of most voices The format is e or emb _ native language en modifications For example e de speaks and reads German e en speaks and reads English e en fast fl speaks English quickly in a female voice e _en wm speaks english in a west midland accent UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 33 of 40 Other accents in the e_en series are n for north sc for Scots rp for RP r for rhotic which means it pronounces the r in words like church emb_afl speaks and reads Afrikaans emb_afl en speaks English in an Afrikaans accent emb_de4 en low slow speaks english lowly and slowly in a german accent Note we are currently compiling a list of all the voices with descriptions which will ultimately be included in this manual You can test the voices on the Avatar Edit screen by selecting different voices from the drop down menu and entering the text you want to test 5 5 2 Adding more voices You can install additional speech plug ins on your own server to extend the range of voices available to the avatars As long as you don t mind messing around with the sourcecode
18. ame backdrops can be used in the same way as normal backdrops to change the backdrop s frame type b 1 b 2 etc in the text input field Type b 0 to make the backdrop animate through its frames UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 18 of 40 3 7 Speech and Text Chat To make your avatar speak type into the text input field below the Chat window bottom right of your screen and hit enter if there isn t a blinking cursor line there already you may need to click the mouse there a oe something to say Your text will appear with your avatar s name in the text chat window as well as on the stage beside your avatar unless you have not put your avatar onto the stage It will be spoken aloud in the voice selected for that avatar note that you cannot change an avatar s voice on stage this must be done in the avatar edit screen from the Workshop i think therefore i am The audience can also type into the text chat but their text won t be spoken out loud and only appears in the text chat window not on the stage As the audience doesn t log in there are no names connected to the audience chat If you aren t holding an avatar your text will appear as audience text You can also make your avatar think by typing colon before the text Your text will appear in a thought bubble over the avatar but won t be spoken aloud It will appear in the text chat window in blue and with curly brackets around it
19. an audience text and identified with the avatar s name Audience text is grey silent and anonymous UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 5 of 40 3 Players Players log in to UpStage to create and present performances They do not need anything other than a browser with the Flash player plugin to do this Once logged in they have access to the Workshop area where they can upload and manage the media to be used on stage and to the on stage tools that enable them to manipulate media for a performance 3 1 Logging in Once a player has been given a username and password they can log in to UpStage from the foyer The foyer is the default home page for an UpStage server it is an HTML page and can therefore be easily customised with your own information and direct links to stages for the audience if you install UpStage on your own server 2 gt 2 ad UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 6 of 40 3 2 The Workshop administration interface Once you have logged in to UpStage you arrive at the Workshop from where you can either proceed directly to the Stages to rehearse or perform or choose from a range of administrative options These options allow you to upload and manage Stages Players Avatars Props and Backdrops The Workshop screen is an HTML page and can therefore be updated by an UpStage administrator to include direct links to the stages you are currently working on and notices
20. and props will increase in size by about 2 3 times when uploaded into UpStage Around 100 pixels is a good size to begin with if you don t know what size you want e Once you have reduced it to the requred size adjust the document size to match From the File menu choose Export Image Uncheck the compress movie option and put the jpeg quality up to 100 4 4 Animated Avatars and Props UpStage supports both animated sequences and Flash movie clips When you put sequenced frame by frame or motion or shape tweened animation onto the stage it will appear static with the image in the first frame a 1 To change to other frames of the animation type a 2 a 3 etc To make the avatar animate type a 0 Movie clip animation does not need any commands it will automatically loop and can be used on stage either as a continuosly looping animation or as a series of still avatars that are swapped using the a command as above Props and backdrops can also be animated using Flash But bear in mind that Flash animations can end up as larger files which will increase the time it takes to load your stage To create an animated sequence follow these steps e First create a series of png files as above and give them numbered filenames e Open Flash and from the File menu choose Import and navigate to the first png file Flash will ask if you want to import the series say yes This will create a frame for each image e Going to each f
21. and you must be holding an avatar in order to hold a prop When an avatar is holding a prop it appears on stage at the top left corner of the avatar If another player clicks on the same prop it will appear to be passed to the second player s avatar Invisible avatars are useful for placing props on the stage appearing independently of the visible avatars Uploading a new prop Props are created in the same way as avatars and should be still images in png or swf format see Section 4 for recommendations about creating graphics for UpStage From the Workshop follow the link to Add a new prop and navigate to the appropriate file on your hard drive Choose a name for it and click OK to upload Manage Props This screen shows a list of available props grouped according to the stages they have been assigned to you can change the prop name and delete unwanted props UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 12 of 40 3 2 5 Uploading and Managing Backdrops Uploading a new backdrop Backdrops can be still images in jpg gif png or swf format See Section 4 5 for recommendations about creating backdrops for UpStage From the Add a new backdrop link in the Workshop navigate to the appropriate file on your hard drive Name it and click OK to upload Manage backdrops This screen shows a list of available backdrops grouped according to the stages they are assigned to you can change the backdrop name and delete unw
22. anted backdrops Multiframe backdrops Multiframe backdrops work in the same way as multiframe avatars see section 4 Graphics for more information about creating multiframe backdrops To change the frame of a multiframe backdrop on stage the command is b 1 b 2 etc 3 2 6 Uploading and Managing Audio You can upload MP3 files and assign them to a stage Up to three audio tracks can be played at the same time on a stage Currently this is restricted to one music file and two sound effects files at the same time Uploading a new audio file From the Add new audio link in the Workshop navigate to your MP3 file on your hard drive Name it and select either Sound effect or Music then click OK to upload Manage audio This screen shows the list of audio files that have been uploaded You can delete files or click on the file name to edit its information you can change the name or the type of file sound effect or music UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 13 of 40 3 3 On Stage The stages look slightly different for players and audience chatters The audience see the stage area and the text chat window see the screengrab in Section 2 different backdrops as the players change them and the other media that the players manipulate on stage to create the performance The audience also see and hear the avatars speech and can input text into the chat window in the future we hope to add other interactive functi
23. c OQO letter to Creative Commons 171 Second Street Suite 300 San BY NC SA Francisco California 94105 USA Contributions to and feedback about the manual and the software are welcome please email info upstage org nz Version Control June 28 2007 UpStage Version 2 User Manual July 22 2007 V2 manual updated to include information about layering avatars on stage links and audio Nov 2007 Updated to include more information about voices and adding in the students work audio function scrolling for backdrop and prop galleries avatar layer adjustments hyperlinks in the text chat May 2008 V2 01 updated to include the new features of V2 01 TInStasce V 01 Mannal 111 40 1 Introduction 1 1 Background UpStage is a web based venue for the real time compilation of digital media into live performance by multiple remote players for an online audience People anywhere in the world can participate in live performance events by using standard browser software to access UpStage without having to download and install additional software and without needing to know anything other than a web address The concept for UpStage was developed by Avatar Body Collision a globally dispersed cyberformance troupe whose members have been experimenting with online theatrical performance since 1999 and together as Avatar Body Collision since 2002 UpStage was born from the desire to reach a wider audienc
24. cccccccccoocoonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnns 17 3 4 4 Web cam avatars iii Ati 17 3 5 Holding and Placing Props e a e aaa aaa ar aa Aa aa aaea DAERA teat 17 3 6 Changing Backdrops e r ne aa ae aa a ea aa Sea a a ee a ae EEEa a ai 18 3 7 Speech and Text Chat ooooocccccnooococcccccnnncconononancccnnnnnnnnonnnnnncnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnanenininnnnns 19 3 7 1 NES ee Oe ee A a he Pe he 19 3 7 2 SAVING Me lod e Peeters foes ad a Ahan o 19 3 8 WIRISPONING O 20 3 9 PCOMMANGS 03 nese cent keene Gein ited Basie Rati Das 21 SAO DRAWING aii A Sea A AAA AS ed A 22 Bilt lt AUGIO E E E E A E 23 4 Graphics Recommendations cooooooonccnccnnnccnnnnnnccnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnrnnnnnncnnnnnnns 24 4 1 G neral COMME S a a a aha 24 4 2 Creating PNIS A A A eee ada 24 4 3 Creati ge SWIS EE EEEE A A A A A A 24 4 4 Animated Avatars and Props 0 cccccceeeeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeaeaeeeessaeeeeessaeneees 25 4 5 Backdrops c sesceciececeei ee oa teen de eepee ida 26 4 6 PIG SIZOS el o O halen 27 4 7 Deleting Graphics ura lalola talud 28 4 8 A A O Pagal eaaabob Sasa sbret 28 5 A tithes Bias sess aa detec ots Nec a bec ul aa aaa a nh ed tld aE A edt aE AR 29 5 1 Client Hardware amp Software Requirement cccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees 29 5 1 1 PArOWAle fe ssccd A 29 5 1 2 SOMA a O es 29 5 2 A A ehuttes a r tac tere aan 30 5 3 Downloading and Installing the Server Software csssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeten
25. d on everyone s browser Very slow animation for example tweened over 40 or so frames and looping will cause the least strain and can create some very effective movement Once again this manual does not pretend to provide a comprehensive Flash tutorial Please look on the web for more detailed information on using Flash 4 5 Backdrops As long as the original image is 380x240pp or larger a backdrop will fill the UpStage screen including going behind the text chat window The text chat window has a white background in order to ensure that text is always readable even over busy backdrops but this means that the area at the right of your backdrop is covered by the chat window You may wish to create a backdrop that has a blank area on the right where the text chat window is to ensure that important parts of your backdrop are not hidden behind the chat window The proportions of the whole image are total width total height 10 6 2 width of stage area width of chat area 7 3 minimum width height 380 240 pixels UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 26 of 40 This diagram illustrates the proportions of the stage and chat areas bear in mind that everyone s screen size and browser window size can be different your backdrop will stretch to fill the space 7 Stage area eg height 500px width 800 px of which 560px for stage and 24 px for chat background Note that in the Player view of t
26. e This name will appear in the list of existing stages It won t be accessible to audience members until you make it public in some way for example create a link to it from the UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 8 of 40 Foyer put it on your own web site or email the URL to your target audience but it will be visible to logged in players and can be accessed for rehearsals or closed performances The URL for a stage is http yourserverURL stages stagename for example http upstage org nz 8084 stages swaray You can create a link directly to a stage from the Foyer or from another web site by editing the HTML just as you would create a link to a web page Manage Stages This is where you can assign and unassign avatars props and backdrops for an existing stage edit the splash screen message for a stage rename the stage reset the stage delete unwanted stages From the Workshop click on the link Manage an existing stage you will see a list of stages and if any players or audience are on a stage it will be shown here You should not edit a stage while there are people on it as they will all be thrown off Select the stage you wish to manage from the list of stages by clicking on its name The Stage edit screen shows a list of all the users who have uploaded media Select which users media you want to see and click on the Display Media button Then click on the name of the user to see the media t
27. e and to make it easier for audiences and performers alike to participate in live performance via the internet The software combines the different elements of cyberformance graphical avatars web cams audio images text chat and who knows what else in the future into a single interface The audience simply directs their browser to the web address at the appointed time to watch and participate in the cyberformance OSO UpStage is open source and free to download It is available under AP dual licensing a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2 5 License and GNU General Public Licence GPL The initial development of UpStage was funded in 2003 through the Smash Palace Collaboration Fund a joint initiative of Creative New Zealand and the NZ Ministry of Science Research and Technology In 2006 the UpStage project received funding from the Community Partnerships Fund of the New Zealand government s Digital Strategy to develop UpStage version 2 UpStage V2 has also been supported by partners CityLink MediaLab and Auckland University of Technology This manual provides general instructions for using UpStage it is divided into 5 sections o Introduction Audience Player Graphics Technical including server installation O00 0 For further information and updates please visit www upstage org nz a www avatarbodycollision org 2 Cyberformance uses internet technologies to bring remote performers to
28. e edit screen UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 10 of 40 3 2 3 Uploading and Managing Avatars In the Avatar section of the Workshop you can upload new avatar images and video streams delete unwanted avatars listen to available voices and change an avatar s voice Uploading a new avatar Avatars can be still images in jpg png or swf format multi frame avatars animated swf files or motion jpegs from a web cam A single avatar can be composed of all png files or all jpg files or a single possibly animated swf file Multi frame avatars can have a maximum of 10 frames images all of which must be the same format either png or jpg There are a number of tricks that will help to achieve the best avatars see Section 4 for tips on creating graphics for UpStage Once you have created your avatar in a graphics application click on Add a new avatar in the Workshop give it a name every avatar must have a unique name and browse to the file s on your hard drive Click ok and the file s will be uploaded to UpStage and you will see the avatar s edit screen This is where you can select a voice for your avatar see section 3 7 Speech for more information about the voices available on UpStage and how to add more voices If you are creating a new web cam avatar you will first need to set up your web cam with FTP access to your UpStage server see Section 5 4 for details and recommended software Once your
29. e or more and affect the speed and performance of UpStage for everyone We strongly recommend using a web cam FTP application that allows you to scale your image to any size You will need to set a trigger that tells the application how often to take a new image we recommend 2 3 seconds as any faster is likely to be faster than the image can travel from your computer to the server and out to the other players and audience Once you have configured your web cam and are sending a live stream to your UpStage server you should be able to find the filename of your web cam stream in the list of available video streams in the Add a new avatar section of the workshop You can then create an avatar using that stream and assign it to a stage in the Manage stages section Use it on the stage as you would a normal avatar 5 5 Speech UpStage s speech is generated by the Festival Speech Synthesiser developed at the Centre for Speech Technology Research at Edinburgh University http www cstr ed ac uk projects festival An avatar s voice is selected from a dropdown menu when adding a new avatar and changed in the Manage avatars section see section 3 2 3 There are currently about 100 voices on the UpStage server http upstage org nz 8084 if you are setting up your own UpStage server please see the technical documentation regarding installing voices 5 5 1 Voices currently available on UpStage The voices currently available with UpSt
30. eeeeeee 30 5 3 1 Customising UPStage cccccccconononnccccnnncccnnnnnncnnnnnnnnononnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns 30 5 4 Web CMS daa 31 5 4 1 Recommended Web Cam FTP Software ooooooooocccccccccccnnnnncccncnnnncnnnnnnnns 31 TInStase V 01 Mannal 11 40 5 4 2 Recommended Software for Windows Operating SysteMS o 31 5 4 3 Recommended Software for Macintosh ooooooooccccccnccccnnnoncccnnnnnncnnnnnnnos 32 5 4 4 Recommended Software for LINUX oooocccccccccconncoccccncnnnccnnnnnnancnnnnnncnnnnnnnos 32 5 4 5 Web Cam FTP Comu ita 32 5 5 SPECON a E E a ness 33 5 5 1 Voices currently available on UpStage ooooooccccccccccccnnnoocccncnonnconononaninennns 33 5 5 2 Adding MOTS VOICES A 34 5 6 Troubleshooting ooccccccocccccccnncccncnnnnccnnonnnccnnonnncnnnnnnnncnnnnnnnncnnnnnnnrncnnnnnrncninnnres 36 5 6 1 Browser Problems 0 ceecceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeaeeeeeeeeeaeeeeesaeeeeeesaaeeeeeees 36 5 6 2 Sl VV ON PECAN AAA 36 5 6 3 FONTS LOOK Dad iii a a A aes eae nels 36 5 6 4 LINUX POMS siciciniooi ii 37 5 6 5 Other probleMS comics iaa a a aos 37 UpStage is open source software and it is constantly in development as is this manual which has been written and is maintained by Helen Varley Jamieson This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike 3 0 New Zealand License To view a copy of this license visit http creativecommons org licenses by nc sa 3 0 nz or send a c
31. ender what went wrong in the chat field Commands To whisper to a single player type wh usernamel Message To whisper to multiple players type NO spaces between usernames wh username username2 username3 Message To whisper to all users on the current stage type wh Message Note whisper works exactly the same as wh but it s obviously easier to just type wh UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 20 of 40 3 9 Commands When you are on stage there are a number of commands you can type into the text field to do certain things a 1 a 2 etc diisplays a different frame of an animated or multiframe avatar a0 animates a multiframe or animated avatar asize asize followed by a number will adjust the size of the audience text in your chat window note this only affects your own screen the text size will not adjust for the audience or other players the default size is 4 Audience can also use this command to adjust the size of font in their browser b 1 b2 etc displays a different frame of a multiframe backdrop b 0 animates a multiframe backdrop details lists the usernames of all players and the number of audience members who are present on that particular stage help gives you a list of some of these commands info shows information about UpStage including which version of the software you are using nick allows you to change the name of
32. ens and browsers You can use gif and jpg but your images will lose quality Avatars and props will appear on stage approximately two to three times larger than the original file This is because the stage is not in a fixed size window it allows for different screen resolutions and sizes and different sizes of browser window The aspect ratio is 7 3 see the backdrop diagram in section 4 5 The recommended size for the original file for a standard sized avatar is approximately 100x100 pixels obviously you will want bigger and smaller ones but this gives you somewhere to start In order to test the size of your avatar you must upload it assign it to a stage then look at it on that stage the same applies to props It can be a time consuming process getting your graphics to the size you want so it s a good idea to make a couple of samples first and then base the rest of your graphics on those once you have got them the size you want this applies to both props and avatars If you upload avatars that are not the right size please remember to delete the unwanted ones otherwise the Workshop area gets clogged up with unwanted media 4 2 Creating pngs The png file format is recommended for avatars and props rather than gif or jpg as it allows for transparency and gives a good quality image Files can be saved in png format in most graphics applications In the File menu choose Save As and look for the png option Do NOT
33. for other players using this UpStage server UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 7 of 40 3 2 1 Creating and Managing Players This is where you can set up the log in and permissions for a new player or change those for an existing player you must be a superuser to add new players Add a new player Create a log in for a new player and set their permissions y e Act this gives access to the on Adding aa stage player tools but not to the Workshop interface e Administer this gives access to the on stage player tools and the Workshop interface e Add or Remove Players this is the Pegar permissions superuser who can do pretty much anything Pb a weer mere and pare d 5 This peyer ce The status of the player also regulates the uploadable file size e Act no access to Workshop e Admin 1 MB e Superuser 2 MB However files of this size would not normally be necessary the larger the files the longer a stage will take to load Please refer to the Graphics section for further information about file sizes Manage players If you are a superuser you can change a player s log in name and permissions delete players From the Workshop click on the link Manage Players and select the Player you wish to manage from the list of Players 3 2 2 Creating and Managing Stages Set up a new Stage To create a new stage click on the link Set up a new stage and give your stage a nam
34. gether in live theatrical events www cyberformance org UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 1 of 40 1 2 Project Team The UpStage project was initiated and driven by Avatar Body Collision who are Vicki Smith Leena Saarinen Karla Ptacek and Helen Varley Jamieson For more information about the Colliders please visit www avatarbodycollision org The UpStage application was written by Douglas Bagnall who has a background in open source development of online projects and is also a digital artist His artistic work includes the development of a film making robot and a cloud classifier visit http halo gen nz Since December 2004 the UpStage server has been generously hosted by Citylink www citylink co nz MediaLab has supported the project since its inception in 2003 www medialab co nz Thanks to Anne Philpott we have established a relationship with Auckland University of Technology www aut ac nz which has seen final year software development students working on UpStage as their major project The AUT UpStage teams to date are e 2006 Beau Hardy Francis Palmer Lucy Chu and Wise Wang e 2007 Endre Bernhardt Lauren Kilduff and Philip Quinlan e 2007 08 Alan Crow and Tony Wong e 2008 Aaron Barnett Many other people have contributed to the development of UpStage through encouragement advice testing feedback and simply believing that it was possible The project team thanks every one of you
35. hat that user has uploaded Use the check box to select the media you want to assign to the stage then click Save changes The screen will refresh telling you that the stage has been updated and showing the items that you have selected as checked Once you have assigned avatars backdrops and props to a stage they will appear in the Wardrobe and Image Gallery of that stage see Section 3 3 From this screen you can also edit the splash screen message that will appear while the stage is loading such as the title of your performance and who it s by You can also change the name of the stage if you need to UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 9 of 40 At the bottom of the stage edit screen you can reset the stage This clears all the text from the text chat window and returns the stage to its default state note that 1t does NOT unassign the media that has been assigned to the stage If you need to reset the stage during a rehearsal for some reason remember to warn everyone that you are doing this as they will be thrown off the stage The stage will automatically reload but it can be disconcerting if you aren t expecting it and is definitely not a good idea in a performance unless you want that effect Currently UpStage can t create a thumbnail from a swf file so you will notice that images uploaded as swfs have a question mark graphic as a placeholder To see one of these images click on its name to go to th
36. he stage an strip along the bottom of the backdrop will be obscured by the Backdrop and Prop Image Galleries but as these tools are not seen by the audience it is recommended that your backdrop extend below that strip Backdrops can be created as png swf gif or jpeg as with avatars and props png or swf will give the best quality results Note that png files should NOT be interlaced when saving If you are using gif or jpeg upload a test backdrop to see if it s going to be good enough and remember to delete unwanted images When creating a series of backdrops for a particular show it s a good idea to give them filenames that begin with the show name so that when it comes to assigning them to the stage they are displayed together in the list This applies to props and avatars as well 4 6 File Sizes File sizes are limited according to your user permissions superusers can upload up to 2 MB per file admins can upload up to 1 MB per file however this is still quite big and in general you should try to keep your files small The larger the files you upload and the more graphics assigned to your stage the slower the stage will load Performance after loading may also be affected although so far it seems that the most noticeable impact is during the initial loading of the stage UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 27 of 40 What is a reasonable file size for your original graphic This is very hard to say
37. host Otherwise you can map port 80 to 8081 with iptables or similar or just include 8081 in the urls Upstage should be run as an unprivileged user Please note that technical documentation of UpStage is ongoing If you are installing UpStage yourself you may wish to comment on and contribute to this please join the email list for UpStage developers http lists sourceforge net lists listinfo upstage list 5 3 1 Customising UpStage Once you have installed UpStage on your own server you can customise it to suit your own projects UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 30 of 40 The Foyer and Workshop screens can be easily customised by editing the HTML code You can add your own titles images and logos change colours and create links from the Foyer to specific stages at performance times To modify the client itself you need an actionscript compiler the one we are currently using is Mtasc http www mtasc org note that you do NOT need this for the standard installation and use of UpStage 5 4 Web cams Players wanting to use live video in UpStage will need to have a web cam and a separate application that allows the player to FTP their video to the server as motion JPEGs 5 4 1 Recommended Web Cam FTP Software FTP freeware or shareware is available for the major operating systems Theoretically any web cam FTP application should work however the following software has been researched and tested during
38. interlace the file when you save it 4 3 Creating swfs Although UpStage itself is open source and we ve done everything we can to make it cross everything it is accessed via the Flash Player plug in and so far it seems that the most successful graphics format is swf To create swf files you need the Flash application An open source equivalent plug in Gnash has recently become available but it is a media player browser plug in not a graphics application so far it appears to be unfeasible for using with UpStage as in its current state it is incompatible with many of UpStage s features UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 24 of 40 Please note that the following information is by no means a comprehensive Flash tutorial Ifyou do not know how to use Flash at all or if the following steps are not clear to you we recommend that you look on the web for a Flash tutorial The basic steps for producing a single frame avatar or prop using Flash is as follows e Start with a png file in which you have clear cut your image and given it a transparent background Keep the png image at maximum size e Open Flash and from the File menu choose Import navigate to your png file and import it into Flash e Click on the image to select it a border appears around it Inthe Insert menu choose Convert to symbol the border will change to a thin blue line e Then resize it Modify gt Transform remembering that avatars
39. lding it If you want to leave your avatar on the stage while you operate another avatar simply select the new avatar from the Wardrobe without clicking drop Clear Use clear to remove all unheld avatars and props from the stage Audio This button displays the audio tools palette See Section 3 11 for more information about using audio Player Audience counter Below the control buttons a counter keeps a live tally of the number of players P and audience A present on stage at any time Typing details will list the usernames of the players and the number of audience in the chat window 3 4 2 Operating Multi frame or Animated Avatars Avatars that have been created as swf animations or uploaded as multiframe avatars allow you to change the avatar while it is on stage Animated Avatars Created as swf files these avatars will animate in the Workshop Wardrobe and Mirror When placed on stage animated squences will appear as a still image in the first frame of the animation Type a 0 to start the looped animation and to display a different still frame type a 1 the default a 2 a 3 etc Flash Movieclips will animate on loop without typed in commands You need to create these as movies in Flash see Section 4 4 for more information Multi frame Avatars These work in a similar way to the animated avatars but are created by uploading a series of still images in png or jpg format rather than using Flash Up
40. nded web cam FTP software and how to configure it 3 5 Holding and Placing Props The props assigned to the stage appear as small icons in the Props Gallery at the centre bottom of the screen When you roll your cursor over the icons a name label appears allowing you to distinguish between similar or very small props If more than 8 props are assigned to a stage arrows will appear at either end of the bar to allow you to scroll through the props which are displayed alphabetically You must be holding an avatar and be on stage to hold a prop Click on the prop icon in the Gallery and it will appear at the top left of your avatar Click again on the prop icon in the Gallery and it will remove the prop from your avatar If another player clicks on the same prop that you are holding it will be transferred to their avatar UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 17 of 40 3 6 Changing Backdrops The backdrops assigned to a particular stage appear as small icons in the Backdrops Gallery at the bottom left of your screen Roll your cursor over the icons to display the name label so that you can accurately choose the backdrop you want If more than 8 backdrops are assigned to a stage arrows will appear at either end of the bar to allow you to scroll through the backdrops which are displayed alphabetically Click once on the icon to place the backdrop onto the stage click the icon a second time to remove it Multifr
41. on and restart it 5 6 2 Stage Won t Load If the stage fails to load properly and the splash screen remains over the stage with the message Couldn t load all images this could mean that there is a corrupted image assigned to the stage The first thing to do is try reloading as 1t could just have been a blip in the data flow either use the reload button on the splash screen or use the back button in your browser to return to where you can from and click on the link to the stage again If this doesn t work you may need to remove a rogue image from the stage If you had just assigned a new image to the stage before you encountered this problem then that is most likely to be that one that s causing the problem Try unassigning that image from the stage and see 1f it will load If you don t know which image it is you may need to take everything off the stage and reassign them one by one or alternatively delete the stage and make a new one 5 6 3 Fonts look bad If an swf file has been saved as low quality in the original file 1t can force the whole stage to appear low quality This can be changed by right clicking on a Mac ctrl click on the stage and selecting Quality from the menu that appears If Low is selected change it to High and you will see that the fonts now display properly However this will only correct the problem on your machine your audience may not know how to change the quality
42. ons for the audience What the audience doesn t see but the players do are the stage tools t E o mu i po nie ja s ye e os j aA 2 De e 4 erte ee y s s gt gt ee y q pra E rr reos 7 J a oe ___ amp os ros 20 ws w ww gt r te r Gs Die u e The Wardrobe top right hand corner is a scrollable list of the avatars assigned to this stage The Mirror the square beside the Wardrobe shows the avatar you are holding with its name in the rectangle under the mirror There are tools below the Mirror and image galleries for backdrops and props along the bottom of the stage area Players see a smaller text chat window than the audience UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 14 of 40 3 4 Holding and Moving an Avatar The avatars assigned to a stage appear as small icons in the Wardrobe To hold a particular avatar click on its icon in the Wardrobe use the arrows to scroll up and down the Wardrobe The icon will disappear from your Wardrobe and appear in your Mirror the square area to the left of the Wardrobe This shows you which avatar you are currently holding A greyed out icon in your Wardrobe means that another player is holding that avatar Once you have an avatar in your Mirror click on the stage area and your full size avatar will appear there Click in another place and it will move there 3 4 1 Tools The Player tools a
43. rame in turn click on the image to select it a border appears around it in the Insert menu choose Convert to symbol the border will UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 25 of 40 change to a thin blue line then resize Modify gt Transform remembering that avatars and props will increase in size by about 2 3 times when uploaded into UpStage e Once the images are all reduced to the requred size adjust the document size to match if your images are not all exactly the same size make sure you have made the document size as big as the largest image e From the first frame and with the image selected the blue line should appear around it go to the Insert menu and select Create motion tween e To check that the tweening has happened go to the Control menu and hit play your sequence of images should play e From the File menu choose Export Movie Uncheck the compress movie option Put the jpeg quality up to 100 Sounds can be embedded into Flash movie clips but it takes a bit of trickery to be able to control the sound When using Flash to create animated avatars and props be sure to check the the frame rate and whether it is set up to loop If the frame rate is for example 24 fps and it is set to loop the image will reload 24 times a second regardless whether anything else is changing on the screen Making your still flash pictures run at for example 1 fps and or switching off looping will ease the loa
44. re the set of buttons below the mirror and the green arrows in the mirror These arrows allow you to move your avatar in front of and behind other avatars on the stage Fast Slow This button controls the t Courtesan avatar movement fast 4 causing the avatar to jump i to where you click and aes slow causing it to glide there The button shows h en the action that the avatar CL ES will change to when next your avatar is gliding the button will show fast draw drop clear suitcase clicked for example if Click on it to change to fast and the button will audio P02 A000 become orange and say slow Stop When your avatar is gliding in slow mode click on stop to stop it at any point in its trajectory Name This button will hide or show your avatar s name on the stage this is particularly useful when working with invisible avatars When you first hold an avatar the default state is for the name to be showing so click on name before you place the avatar on the stage if you don t want the name to show UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 15 of 40 Draw Act This button changes the function from acting to drawing displaying the drawing tools palette instead of the avatar tools See Section 3 10 for more information about drawing Drop The drop button will remove your avatar from the stage and put it back in the Wardrobe so that you are no longer ho
45. server runs on Debian Linux but should easily convert to other platforms Python and Twisted are cross platform but there is a line or two of shell scripts that tie in the speech synthesis The software has been worked on since June 2003 and contains some 8000 lines 5 1 Client Hardware 8 Software Requirements 5 1 1 Hardware If your computer has a browser with the Flash player plug in then you already have everything you need Obviously faster processors and higher RAM give improved performance but UpStage has been designed to work on relatively low spec client machines A broadband internet connection will give the best performance but UpStage performs surprisingly well over dial up The main disadvantage when using dial up is that the load time for each stage is longer You may need to allow up to 15 minutes to load a stage depending on how many graphics are on it Once it s loaded the real time interaction and overall performance of UpStage is not dramatically worse on dial up than on broadband 5 1 2 Software UpStage has been designed to run on a wide range of clients using the Macromedia Flash Player plug in version 7 or above Linux users may need to install gsfonts and gsfonts x11 see Section 5 6 4 UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 29 of 40 5 2 Firewalls UpStage will function through most but not all firewalls depending on how the firewall has been set up If you install your own UpStage server
46. the avatar you are holding type nick newname license provides information about the dual GPL and Creative Commons license psize psize followed by a number will adjust the size of the player text in your chat window note this only affects your own screen the text size will not adjust for the audience or other players the default size is 4 Audience can also use this command to adjust the size of font in their browser whisper or wh allows you to communicate with other players without the audience being aware the whisper command is explained in Section 1 5 typing before your text will give you a silent thought bubble rather than a speech bubble and spoken text UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 21 of 40 3 10 Drawing Clicking on the draw button in the control panel reveals a different set of player tools the Drawing Palette You can be still holding an avatar while you are drawing and can speak but you won t be able to move your avatar on stage Clicking on the act button will return the Wardobe Mirror and Controls so that you can operate your avatar Drawing allows you to draw directly onto the stage in one SN of four layers the layers a correspond to the four boxes on avatars the right hand side of the yes drawing palette Click on the a pencil icon to select a layer to a A draw in The black border Fr A shows which layer you have me J N
47. thon script one needs to know at least that python is very picky about vertical alignment It s extremely important that your new voice entries have the same amount of whitespaces at the beginning of the line as the other voice entries The reason it took me so long was TTS I failed completely and utterly in making the German festival extensions for use with mbrola voices http www ims uni stuttgart de phonetik synthesis festival_opensource html work Then I tried txt2pho with mbrola http www ikp uni bonn de dt forsch phonetik hadifix HADIFIXforMBROLA html http bogmog sourceforge net document_show php3 doc_id 34 has a nice installation description ignoring festival and this worked at once UpStage V2 01 User Manual updated May 2008 35 of 40 5 6 Troubleshooting 5 6 1 Browser Problems We are constantly monitoring browser compatibility so if you experience problems connected to your choice of browser please email info upstage org nz If you are having browser problems we recommend the following ensure that you have at least version 7 of the Flash player installed Note that as of April 2008 we have become aware of an issue with the latest version of Flash version 9 0 124 0 Until we have a work around for this we can only recommend that you revert to version 9 0 115 0 close the browser window open a new window and log in again If you still have problems after doing this quit the browser applicati
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