Using Prompt! version 7.0

Prompt! comes in two applications:

Prompt on black covers the monitor(s) with a black mask and eliminates the chance of changing applications while using the application and Prompt, the other application, is a floating window and does not draw black on other monitors allowing you to open other applications easily. This version of Prompt also can be repositioned on your display wherever you like. Using both applications at the same time is not recommended.

OVERVIEW:

There are two basic areas in the application, The EDIT TEXT area and the SCROLLING area.
The EDIT TEXT area is where you can open a saved file, import, export, change font, change the window size, reposition the window on the display and quit. From here, you can also choose to run, and run mirrored, which will take you to the scrolling area. Pressing the ESC key from here will prompt you to save if necessary and quit the application.

The SCROLLING AREA is where, you guessed it – scroll. There are two ways of scrolling in either mirrored or right-reading text. When you enter the scrolling area, you have the choice of scrolling with either the mouse or keyboard. There are other options here like hiding the controls, speeding up and slowing down the speed and smoothness (more about that later) and things like the position of the text mask and the position of the carat (the yellow pointer which is a line indicator), start the text from the top of the file, loop the scrolling text. Pressing the ESC key from here will take you back to the edit text area quickly (you can also click the “EDIT TEXT” button.

Preparing text:

Start with the script in a word processor and then save it as plain text. Any word processor will perform this task. Font properties, color and any other formatting will not be brought into Prompt! Now that you have a working script it's time to import this text into Prompt.

Run Prompt! and you will be presented with options to open a saved file or import text.

Importing text:

The edit text screen (fig 1.

From the on-screen menu, click on the IMPORT TEXT button and you will be presented with a dialogue box asking you which file you wish to import. [Mac: Command+I or PC: Ctrl+I]. Find your script and choose open from the dialogue box. Your text will be imported into the Prompt! application and you are ready to roll.

If you wish to change the type size, click on the TYPE SIZE numbers located on the right of the screen.  This will change the size of the all of the text. The text on this screen is also editable at this point so you can use the mouse to highlight portions of the text to cut, copy or paste using the familiar key commands to do so. Typing will enter new text. If, at any time you wish to revise the file, this is the place to do so.

Saving the file:

At this point, I suggest that you click the SAVE button and enter a name for your file. The destination for this file will always be inside the folder that contains the application. Even though you are not allowed to save anywhere outside of this folder, do not open and run a saved Prompt! file from outside this folder. 

Prompt display size:

There are two buttons to adjust the window size of Prompt! 800x 600 and 1024 x 768.

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You are now ready to run the file and so you should click the appropriately named button: RUN.

You can run Prompt! using the keyboard or the mouse. You can click and drag on the gray menu bar to reposition the application to anywhere on any display. Prompt! draws black on your monitors anywhere the Prompt window is not. Great for multiple display situations. The position of Prompt! relative to your display(s) is saved with the file so It's recommended that you remember this when sharing files with other people or computers. Now that you are in RUN mode, here's how it works.

Getting out of RUN mode, press the EDIT TEXT button or the ESC key on your keyboard will take you back to the window you used to edit and import the text.

Keyboard control:

The run menu (fig 2.)

Press the ARROW UP or ARROW DOWN keys on the keyboard start the text scrolling either forward or backward. An alternate for these keys are the PAGE UP AND PAGE DOWN keys. Press the ARROW LEFT or ARROW RIGHT keys when you wish to adjust the smoothness of the text travel. The smoothness adjustment is to allow playback on different computers, as each computer will play back the file at different speeds. The ARROW RIGHT and LEFT KEYS allow you to find the comfortable speed you wish. The smoothness and speed achieve similar but different effects. In that each computer will play back at different rates, experiment with what feels right. You will notice that your current speed and smoothness are noted on the screen. Your last smoothness setting will be used the next time you use Prompt so after you find the right smoothness for your computer, you should not have to set it again.

The TOP OF FILE button [Command+T for Macintosh or Ctrl + T for PC] will take you to the beginning of the text if you choose to restart from the beginning.

EDIT TEXT will take you back to the window you used to edit and import the text. Pressing the TAB key on the keyboard will enter a numbered tab selection on your screen. This is for easy and quick entry to remember places in the scrolling text. Press the TAB key to remember a place and use the mouse to click on the numbered tab to go to that spot again. There is also a CLEAR TABS button, which will do just what you think it should. The small triangles above and below the TABS display area are for scrolling up or down to larger or smaller saved tabs.

Using the mouse to click and drag, you can move the mask that covers part of the text. A white line separates the top of the mask from the rest of the screen. Click just below this line to move the mask. In that you want the reader to read only the top lines, you can cover the other lines using this mask. Having the talent read only the top portion of the screen minimizes the look of reading on camera if you are not using a mirror. Again, experiment to determine with what you like. The mask settings are automatically saved and recalled when you save and open a Prompt! file. The white line not only shows you the top of the mask but also serves as an indicator showing you your relative position as to how much copy has been scrolled. If the white line is all the way across the screen then you are near or at the top of the text.  If the line is short and to the left this indicates that you are near or at the end of the text to be scrolled.  When you are at the top of a file and also at the end of a file, the indicator on the left, below the top of the mask, will also indicate this. At any time you can press the space bar and pause the text from scrolling.  All scrolling functions of Prompt! are put on hold until the space bar is pressed again. You can adjust the speed and smoothness at this point if you wish. Pressing the Space Bar will start the scrolling again. Clicking on the EDIT TEXT button or pressing the ESC key [Command+T for Macintosh or Ctrl + T for PC] will take you back to the screen where you can edit the text, save or open a file as well as quit.  There is a LOOP button which will continuously scroll your text in non mirrored mode. It's suggested that you pad the head and tail of your script with a countdown or some other text when you use this function so the reader knows the end or beginning is near.

Mouse control:

Mouse control (fig 3.)

Pressing the MOUSE CONTROL button [Command+M for Macintosh or Ctrl + M for PC] will toggle between the keyboard control and mouse control of the scrolling. Move the mouse up the screen for forward speed and down for backward speed. Moving the mouse to the right will yield smoother scrolling and to the left, less smooth. A graphic indicator will show you your current speed and smoothness at the mouse position when over the indicator and all the time just below the mask. The speed and smoothness will be shown at the mouse position and just below the mask. There are two more buttons which will allow you to hide or show the menus and or more display controls. All other functions operate the same as the keyboard control. Again, pressing the ESC key or clicking the EDIT TEXT button will take you back to the edit text area.

Run and Run mirrored:

Mirrored text (fig 4.)

Both will scroll text. One's flipped, one's not.

Exporting text:

If you need to print or revise the text you have imported into Prompt!, then click this button and you will be prompted to save your text file in a location of your choosing. The file format is .txt.

Remote control users:

There are some wireless and wired remote controls devices which come preprogrammed to use the PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN AND the 'b" key and Prompt! will work with these. PAGE UP will scroll faster, PAGE DOWN, will scroll slower and the "b" key will pause all scrolling and change the horizontal indicator to yellow indicating the paused mode. You can change the pause speed setting while Prompt! is in pause mode even though the scrolling is stopped. Pressing the "b" key again will toggle out of pause and you will be in the new speed.

Misc: (March 2007)

Some users of the Windows version of Prompt! have had trouble using the Windows-created text files and Windows-created saved Prompt! files when using Prompt! for MacOSX. There is a small drag and drop application which fixes this issue and is available to download free here. (Mac only)


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There are many commercial teleprompt apps but they are used with expensive hardware and rely on the half silvered mirrors. Prompt! is a very simple solution.

If you have a question or care to leave a comment or just want to see what others are saying then VISIT THE MOVIECLIP FORUM.

Release date July, 2007
Prompt! Version 7.0
Author: Rob Johnson (rob@movieclip.biz)
System requirements (different versions)
Apple PowerMac or compatible with G3 processor or better Running Mac OSX or Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP

Prompt! © 2007 DataWay Multimedia Canada. Inc.