Presentation Timer & Message Software

[beware]

My software is written in tcl which could conceivably run on a raspberry pi, which would make an interesting box. Not very useful without two screens though.

[sandall]

Have now made a 40 minute countdown on DVD, which I can play from the appropriate point onto a cheap 7" monitor beside the lectern or stage . Thanks for your help. :) :)

[Dave m]

If you come up with any do's and don'ts after a field trial, post some info?

Cheers

[sandall]

If you come up with any do's and don'ts after a field trial, post some info?

Cheers

Having made a 60 minute sequence (as per the guide that comes with the program) with a message every 10 mins (then 5 mins), I fed a domestic DVD recorder via a cheap VGA - video converter (Grand Hand View 3, ex-CPC). Dragging the operating page almost off the bottom of screen, with just the Load & Start buttons showing allows you to expand the message screen to very nearly full screen, just exposing the Load & Start buttons (I started off by going to full-screen as soon as the count started, but decided it was more trouble than it was worth).

 

I used 140 pt for the time, & 76 pt for the message, as I will usually be showing on a cheap 7" screen on top of a mic-stand, fed from a portable DVD player (it's not hi-fi, so almost any old screened cable will do) . I then filled a couple of DVDs with all the durations I thought might be useful, by just changing the Start time for each new track. I could probably have made 1 long track with chapters every 5 mins, but [a] I can't make head nor tail of LG's "user manual", I'm not sure whether all players will run through chapter breaks without stopping, & [c] I always go for the lo-tech option. For some reason , if I recorded RGB I got rolling ghosting on the picture, but recording CV (phono) was fine,

 

You still need a screen for the presenter, but it saves having to drag out another laptop.