YouTube Import: You now import a
YouTube video and have it automatically sized to fill the
display window.
Vimeo Import: You now import a Vimeo
video and have it automatically sized to fill the display
window.
Images
Video Frame Import: New image import tool
that lets you import a single frame from a video file as an
image object.
Transparent Color Tolerance: New tolerance
level property for transparency color in images. This makes it
easier to eliminate a range of similar colors from an image.
Effects
Color Key: This new effect lets you key out
a range of RGB-based colors from images and videos.
Available in the Video Effects Collection.
Other
Short-cut keys: Added Ctrl-O, Ctrl-N, and
Ctrl-S for opening, creating, and saving slide shows and
programs.
Compatibility:
All files built with the March 2010 Edition are compatible with the
June 2010 Edition.
Files built with the June 2010 Edition will not be fully
compatible with previous editions if the new transparency
tolerance and color key effects are used.
March 2010 Edition
Web Pages
Web Page Presentation: You now have the
capability to present web pages. Web pages can be placed in
programs and presented just like other media items.
Import Utility: A utility is provided
to help you select web pages to import into song show plus.
Access to the Favorites folder is provided in this process.
Local Copy Option: When importing a web
page, you have the option to save a local copy of the web
page. This lets you be less dependent on the existence or
reliability of an Internet connection during a service.
YouTube, Vimeo, etc.: Use of video
sites like YouTube and Vimeo are supported.
New Improv Collection
Color Improv: A new effect that lets
you change the color of background images and videos
on-the-fly. This is useful for dynamic worship presentations
where color effect is chosen live.
Overlay Improv: A new feature that lets
you present a video or image over all other items on the
screen. This is useful for things like showing screen bugs
or countdown timers that are not affected by other things on
the screen like a running announcement slide show.
Audio File Improv: A new feature that
lets you play audio files independently of what is presented
in the display window. The lets you play background tracks
or sound effects without affecting what is actually being
presented at the time.
Instant Message: A new mechanism that
lets you place a message on the screen at any time. Similar
to the older QuickMessage utility but with certain
differences.
Messages are integrated within the display window
rather than placed on top of the display window.
You can specify a container image or video for the
message.
You can specify a transparency level for the
container image or video.
You can include things like current time, date, and
a countdown timer within any message.
Stage Message: Same capability as
Instant Message except that the messages are sent to the
stage monitor.
Background Improv: This feature is now
included as part of the Improv Collection.
This new plug-in is available with a Professional level
license and can also be licensed for Basic level use through
a separate puchase.
Video Effects
Scroll: A new effect that lets you scroll
the contents of an object. This is most useful for text objects.
Blink: A new effect that lets you cause an
object to blink. You have full control over blink rate.
Other
Plug-ins Panel: You can now arrange the
order of plug-ins within the control panel. This includes the
capability to hide plug-ins that you are not using.
Stage Monitor Margins: You can now specify
the margins for the stage monitor.
Subdivided video output: You can now
subdivide the video outputs from a computer and use them for
placement of display and stage monitors. This is useful for
those would like to use monitor expansion hardware such as the
Matrox Dual- head and Triple-head to-go.
Compatibility: All files built with the previous edition
of SongShow Plus are compatible with the December 2009 Edition of
SongShow Plus.
December 2009 Edition
Compatibility Upgrade
Windows 7 Compatibility: Official
support for Windows 7.
Multi-core support: SongShow Plus will
now make use of multiple cores on a multi-core system.
H.264 Improvement: The H.264 plug-in
now works better with multi-core systems.
Other Items
Background Improv U.I. Enhancement: The
user interface controls have been enhanced for a cleaner look
and easier use.
New Cinematic Effects Collection Effect, Reflection:
A new "Reflection" effect has been added which makes it
easy to apply a Web 2.0 - like reflection effect to images,
text, and video.
Display Property Presets Window Enhancement:
The windows used to save and delete Display Property presets has
been improved for easier management of these presets. You can
now also rename presets. This windows is also now accessible
from the Control Window.
Compatibility: All files built with the previous edition
of SongShow Plus are compatible with the December 2009 Edition of
SongShow Plus.
September 2009 Edition
Slide Shows
Re-run Builders: For a slide show created by one of
the slide show builders, you can now re-run the builder to
make changes. This is helpful if you run a builder then
realize you want something slightly different. Previously you
would have had to edit the slide show using the Slide Show
Builder itself. This feature will only work on slide shows
created by builders in the September 2009 Edition or later.
PowerPoint Import: You can now import a PowerPoint
slide show as a SongShow Plus slide show. This import feature
simply creates images of the PowerPoint slide show and stores
them in the SongShow Plus slide show. Certain things like
animated bullet points, transitions, and videos are not
preserved.
Easier Package Restore: You can now restore a slide
show package directly from the SongShow Plus Control Window.
Upon restoring a slide show, you will be prompted to add it to
a program, edit it, or present it. Previously, slide shows
were restored externally and you then had to go find the file.
Image Preview: Image preview when editing an image in
the slide show builder has been improved to better reflect
what the image will look like on the slide.
Image Sizing: Image object sizing in slide shows can
now be set to Enlarge/Reduce, Reduce Only, Stretch/Shrink,
Enlarge/Reduce/Crop.
Transparent Color Selection: Now when selecting a
transparent color, you will immediately see how that selection
will look by showing a patterned background underneath the
image.
Video Sizing: Video object sizing in slide shows can
now be set to Enlarge/Reduce, Reduce Only, Stretch/Shrink,
Enlarge/Reduce/Crop.
Video Looping: Video objects in slide shows can now
be set to automatically loop.
Crop Image: The crop image window has been improved
to support zooming.
Background Sequence Builder: This is a new builder
that helps you build a slide show the contains video and image
backgrounds only.
Opening Screen: A new opening screen is now used for
the Slide Show Builder. It provides faster access to common
start-up tasks.
Display Properties
Basic Display Properties: By default, a Basic Display
Properties window is now used to set the global display
properties. You can use the advanced window as before by
clicking the Use Advanced Display Properties. The Basic
Display Properties window provides a simplified way to select
background, song and scripture layout settings.
Solid/None: A new Solid option is now available for
basic display properties. It acts the same as the previous
None option did. Now, the None option creates a transparent
background.
Using Presets: You can now select Display Property
presets through a new drop-down menu associated with the
Display Properties tool button.
Background Rotation: Rotating background images and
videos now works more as expected, as in, they will now fill
the slide. Previously, when they were rotated, you would see
sidebars.
Scriptures:
Copyrighted Bibles: Addition of new Bible plug-in:
New King James Version Bible (Plug-in
sold separately.)
Stage Monitor:
Alignment, word wrap: You can now specify horizontal
and vertical alignment as well as word wrap for song text in
the Stage Monitor display.
Sizing: You can now specify that song text retain a
consistent size across all slides of a song in the Stage
Monitor display.
Other Items:
Zip File Paste: You can now paste the contents of a
Zip file directly into a file panel folder. This is done
through the usual right-click Paste Files option. This makes
it easier to import files downloaded from media content sites.
Background Option: Upon importing a video or image,
you are now prompted if you would like to set the image file
as the background to the current program item.
Typical Verse Order: The capability to set the verse
order of a song by a single button click has been returned.
Image Sizing: When presenting images, you now have
two new sizing options: Stretch/Shrink and
Enlarge/Reduce/Crop.
Verse Buttons: By default, the verse buttons for
songs that are located in the Media Control Panel will now
show the entire name of a verse ("Verse 1" vs.
"V1"). The previous behavior can be specified in
Tools > Preferences > Media Control Panel.
PowerPoint Plug-ins: PowerPoint support is now
included with the SongShow Plus installer. The previous
PowerPoint Support and PowerPoint Import plug-ins no longer
exist.
SongShow Control Gone: The option to allow "SongShow
Plus" control for PowerPoint Presentations has been
removed. As a result, slide previews for PowerPoint
presentations will only show full image preview -- they will
not animate bullet points.
Programs in Subfolders: When restoring a program
package where the program is located in a subfolder, SSP will
now properly open that program up completion of the restore
process. Previously, program in subfolders were not
automatically opened upon completion of the restore process.
Training Notes:
Hints: The Show Verse Preview Hints and Show Toolbar
Hints options have moved in the Preferences panel. They are
now located in the Media Control Panel and Control Window
sections respectively.
PowerPoint: Note the various new features and changes
related to PowerPoint support above.
May 2009 Edition
Slide Shows
Image Export: You can now export all slides in a
slide show to image files.
HTML Export: You can now export all slides in a slide
show to HTML documents (Professional Edition). Stock style
sheets are provided, or you can use ones of your own making to
customize the HTML documents as you need them.
Hue Adjustment: For all slide show builders that
provide a background option, you can now easily make hue
adjustments to the image or video that you selected to be used
as a background (requires Professional Edition or Video
Effects Collection).
Object Visibility: You can now specify that certain
objects are hidden on a slide. When hidden, they will
not be rendered on the slide. This is convenient if you wish
to take something away, but don't want to necessarily delete
it just yet.
Songs
Title Slide: You now have the option to include a
separate title slide in the verse order of a song. You can
still choose to have the first slide only include the title,
and you can now also choose to have the last slide only
include the title.
Fill Screen Option: The option to fill the screen
with song lyrics (ignoring layout settings) has been moved
from user preferences to Display Properties.
Pre-made Slide Shows: If you convert a song into a
slide show, the song you convert will now reference the slide
show that you just made. The next time you go to add that song
to a program, it will ask you if you want to add the converted
(pre-made) slide show instead. You can have multiple pre-made
slide shows per song. You can also add other slide shows to a
song so that you can reference slide shows that may have been
converted prior to this edition of SSP.
Scriptures
Public Domain Bibles: A new plug-in is now available
called Public Domain Bibles. This contains the King James
Version, American Standard Version, and the World English
Bible translations. Previously only one public domain Bible
was provided and it was automatically included as part of the
main SongShow Plus installation.
Copyrighted Bibles: Addition of new Bible plug-ins:
New American Standard Bible, New International Version, New
Revised Standard Version, Revised Standard Version, The
Message. (Plug-ins
sold separately).
Basic Settings Window
Split: The window used to set the "Basic"
properties for song or scripture has been divided into three
tabs: Background, Text, and Layout. This reduces the size of
the window significantly.
More Layout Options: More layout options are now
available when using Basic properties giving you more
control over how songs are presented without having to use
the Advanced properties.
Hue Adjustment: You can now easily make hue
adjustments to the image or video that you selected to be
used as a background (requires Professional Edition or Video
Effects Collection).
Other Items
H.264 Support: Support for H.264 encoded .mov and
.mp4 video files. (Plug-in sold separately).
Secondary (aka choir) display output: You now have
the option to send a display signal to a second output
monitor. This monitor is intended to provide lyrics and text
support to persons on the platform. Text can be presented
either white on black, black on white, or two other colors of
your choosing. It does not use any background, nor any
effects, transitions, or animations. Images are displayed, but
videos are not. Typically, a second video card will be
necessary to use the secondary display output.
Effects Visibility: You can now specify in the list
of effects properties that certain effects are ignored. This
is convenient if you are attempting to create a specific look
and are experimenting with a variety of effects. It lets you
disable the use of an effect without requiring you to delete
it and all of its settings.
Load Image: The capability to "load" an
image for a background has been restored (previously removed
in the February 2009 Edition).
Link to Files:The capability to link to files
has been restored (previously removed in the February 2009
Edition). You can do this now by first copying files in
Windows Explorer, then right-clicking on the folder name in
the folder panel, then selecting Paste Links to File(s).
However, linking to files by use of the file importers have
not been restored at this time.
Icons Updated: Most toolbar icons and transport
control have been given an updated look and are coordinated
with the updated look of slide show builder back in July 2008.
Transport Controls: The transport
controls in the media control panel have been given an updated
look.
Slide show previews: The preview
window for slide shows used in the Display Properties window
for programs and in the slide show builders has been updated
to now include each step of a slide. This lets you seen the
progression of steps and also prevents the clash of text that
you would previously see when song text was displayed in a way
other than verse-by-verse.
Compatibility
Forward: All files built in the February 2009 edition
should be fully compatible with the current edition.
Backward:
Slide shows and programs built with the current edition
are not compatible with previous editions if you have chosen
to hide objects or effects in slide shows or display
properties.
Programs that use the stock KJV Bible for scripture
references in a program will not be compatible with
earlier editions of SSP.
Training Notes:
Icons: The look of the toolbar
icons have changed. However, they are generally located in the
same place.
Transport Controls: The transport
controls in the media control panel have been updated, and
some buttons have moved.
Restored features: The link to
files capability has been restored (but only from a menu
command, not the in the file importers), and the capability to
"load" an image as a background has also been
restored.
Fill Screen Option: The option to fill the screen
with song lyrics (ignoring layout settings) has been moved
from user preferences to Display Properties.
February 2009 Edition
Enhancements to Importing Media Files
AutoPlay Support: Now, when you insert a USB drive
containing media files, you will be prompted with the option
to import the files into SongShow Plus, or to run one of the
slide show builders.
Zip File Import: You can now right-click on a .zip
file in Windows Explorer, and select to import the media
files from the .zip into SongShow Plus.
Import multiple files types: A new menu command is available
from the Tools menu letting you import from various sources
video files, image files, and audio files. Previously, you
could only import one media file type at a time. This
command is available in both SongShow Plus and the slide
show builder.
Paste Files into Programs: You can now copy files
from Windows Explorer, and paste them directly into a
SongShow Plus program. When doing this, SongShow Plus will
automatically import the file(s) into its folder structure
which keeps the program compatible with Package-to-Go. This
also cuts down on the number of steps previously required to
perform the same task.
Paste Files into Slide Shows: You can now copy files
from Windows Explorer, and paste them directly into a slide
show when using Slide Show Builder. When doing this, the file(s)
will be automatically copied into the SongShow Plus folder structure
which keeps the slide show compatible with Package-to-Go. This
also cuts down on the number of steps previously required to
perform the same task.
Easier Image Paste: Pasting images into a slide
show has been made easier.
Auto Import in Slide Show Builder: Now, when adding
an image or video to a slide show, if the file selected is
external to the SongShow Plus folder structure, the file
will be automatically imported into the file structure which
keeps the slide show compatible with Package-to-Go. This
also cuts down on the number of steps previously required to
perform the same task.
Importer Improvements: The media file importers
have been improved to require now less steps to complete an
import process. There are also now more options on how to
handle file conflicts (importing files with the same name as
existing files).
Other Items
Non-English Songs: The indexing mechanism has been
reworked so that non-English songs are now properly handled.
Non-English Song/Slide Text: Song and side text can
now display non-English characters.
Package-to-Go: When using Package-to-Go, all drives
will now be immediately listed as possible destinations for a
package. Also, the drive names will be listed next to the
drive letters. This will make it easier to identify and select
a removable hard drive as a destination for a Package-to-Go
operation.
Opening Screen: You can now specify your own image
file to be displayed when SongShow Plus starts up.
Set Typical Verse Order: You can now specify the
typical verse order used by a song at the time that you are
setting the verse order for a new program item.
November 2008 Edition
Slide Shows / Slide Show Builder
Margins selection: A new Margins tab has been added
to the Text Slides Builder giving you more control
over the precise location of the margins. The previous
edition only provided a single margin value that was applied
to all margins.
Background within margins only: A new option in the
Text Slides Builder lets you specify that the background
image or video is placed within the margins rather than
filling the entire slide.
Improved support for lower-thirds: With the two
previous enhancements, plus a Lower Third button in the
Margins tab, it is now easier to create lower-third slides
using the Text Slides Builder.
Background color transparency: The slide builders
now support the selection of background colors that have
some or complete transparency. Note: Partial transparency
is only supported if the Video Effects Collection is
licensed.
Transparency backdrop: The slide show builder now
shows a gray and white checkered pattern backdrop when no
background is specified showing you transparency areas. This
feature can also be enabled for previewing a slide show in
the slide show builder. Slide thumbnails will also show this
backdrop as well.
No Background: You can now more easily specify that
a slide has no background.
Scripture Selector Text Block: You now have the
option to specify a block of scripture text to be imported
into a slide. This more closely resembles an earlier text
import behavior.
Scripture Selector Options: New options let you
specify that verse numbers are included in imported
scripture and whether each verse is separated by a line
break or not.
Auto Pan/Zoom timing: When Auto Pan/Zoom is
selected in the Photo Slides builders, the timing of the
effect now matches the time of the slide plus the transition
time so that the panning/zooming continues one through the
transition.
Effects
Gaussian Blur: A Gaussian Blur effect has been added
to the Video Effects Collection. This effect offers a higher
level of blur control when compared to the Soften or Blur
effects.
Global Gaussian Blur: You can now specify that an
automatic Gaussian blur be applied to all text and/or shape
objects. This feature can help you improve the appearance of
text and shapes in certain situations, specifically down
sampling to SD video resolution, or up sampling to large
screens.
Transitions
Random transition: A new Random Transition option is
now available.
Transition timing: Transition timing is now specified
in seconds rather than milliseconds.
New controls page: The transition properties control
page has been reworked to now more closely match the animation
properties control page.
DeckLink support (sold separately)
Text over live video: The Black Magic DeckLink card
provides a way to have text over lag-free live video.
Slide preparation: More support has been provide to
make it easier to create presentations that have transparent
backgrounds and lower-third arrangements which are necessary
for use with the DeckLink device.
Smoothing text: The Global Gaussian Blur feature
described above has been implemented specifically with the
idea of improving the quality of text that will be rendered on
slides using SD resolution to be up sampled to XGA resolution
or higher.
Other Items
Animation preview: A new preview window is now
available when setting animation properties.
Recognized video file types: You can now add addition
file types to be recognized by SSP as video files. Adding a
recognized file type does not mean the SSP can necessarily
play the video file. Successfully playing a video file through
SSP still requires that the necessary codecs are installed on
your system for the file you are attempting to play. Through
the use of third party codec packs, you may find that you can
play other video files like .mov, .flv, and .mp4. This new
feature simply lets you add these file types to the list of
those recognized as videos.
Compatibility
Forward: All files built in the July 2008 edition
should be fully compatible with the current edition.
Backward: Slide shows and programs built with the current edition
are not compatible with previous editions if transitions are
used.
Training Notes:
Scripture Selector: The Scripture Selector has new
features as described above.
Text Slides Builder: The Text Slides Builder has new
features as described above.
Deprecated plug-ins: The following plug-ins are now
officially deprecated. What this means is that they are still
available (download only), but no technical support will be
provided for their use, and future compatibility of SSP and these
plug-ins and their associated third-party products is not assured.
QuickVerse Support
Libronix Support
July 2008 Edition
Slide Shows / Slide Show Builder
Video objects: You can now insert video objects
into a slide. Unlike video backgrounds and fills, video
objects start playing when the slide is presented (or when
fired by an animation) and include audio. They do not loop.
Video Sequence Builder: A new slide wizard is now
available that lets you easily build a slide show of videos
and still images. The slides containing video are
automatically timed to match the length of the video.
Video Slide inserter: You can also easily add a
single slide containing a video to an existing slide show.
Image Slide inserter: You can also easily add a
single slide containing an image to an existing slide show.
This process combines several steps that were previously
required.
Scripture Slides Builder: Added a control that lets
you easily include verse numbers in slide titles.
Upgraded look: The slide show builder has new
toolbar icons. Also, the tool buttons used to add objects to
slides has been moved to the to the top of the editor
window. This gives it a horizontal layout rather than the
previous vertical layout.
Scripture Selector: The Scripture Selector now
remembers the previous Bible version, book and chapter you
imported.
Video Effects Collection
Combined: The Effects Collection 1 and Effects
Collection 2 plug-ins have been combined into a new plug-in
called Video Effects Collection.
Hue-based effects: New hue-based effects have been
added to the effects collection. These include: Hue
Adjustment, Hue Color, Hue Key, Hue Replace, Hue Tint, and
Huescale.
Note: The Video Effects Collection is available to
those with a Professional Level license.
Cinematic Effects Collection
Combined: The CinFX 1, CinFX 2, and CinFX 3 plug-ins
have been combined into a new plug-in called Cinematic
Effects Collection.
Edge Blend / Edge Blur: Two new effects have been
added that let you take an image or video and blend and/or
blur its edges into the background: Edge Blend and Edge
Blur.
Shake animation: A new animation has been added
called Shake that will jitter an object for a short
period of time. This is available both as an entrance
animation and as an animated effect.
Grain effect: A new effect called Grain has
been added that provides the capability to coarsen the look of
an image or video.
Pan / Zoom effect: The successor to the Pan / Zoom
motion background. This effect provides pan and zoom
capabilities similar to what the motion background provided.
However, since its implemented as an effect, it can be applied
to anything, including motion video. The new effect also adds
the capability to continuously loop the motion, and also
offers the option to specify specific and complex paths if you
should need that level of control.
Note: The Cinematic Effects Collection is available
to those with a prior CinFX license or by purchasing the new
plug-in.
Background Improv
Default Background: A new options has been provided,
"No Change", which will lets you move from one
program item to another using Backgound Imrpov with out
resetting the background.
Songs
SongSelect Import Fix: This SongSelect website import
utility has been modified to accommodate recent changes in the
SongSelect website.
SongSelect Download Import: A new utility has been
added that lets you import one or more text files downloaded
from the SongSelect website. This is handy if you need to
import a number of songs that you've previously downloaded, or
add songs to a machine that does not have Internet access.
Image Motion plug-in: This plug-in, which includes the
old Pan / Zoom motion background, has been updated to be
compatible with the July 2008 Edition. However, it is now
considered deprecated (see below).
Compatibility
Forward: All files built in the April 2008 edition
should be fully compatible with the current edition.
Backward: Slide shows built with the current edition
are not compatible with previous editions if video objects are
used in a slide show.
Training Notes:
Slide Show Builder: Toolbar
buttons now have new icons, and some buttons have been moved.
Slide builders: There is a new
slide show builder: Video Sequence Builder that lets
you build a slide show of videos and still images.
Deprecated plug-ins: The following plug-ins are now
officially deprecated. What this means is that they are still
available (download only), but no technical support will be
provided for their use, and future compatibility of SSP and these
plug-ins and their associated third-party products is not assured.
Image Motion
April 2008 Edition
Songs
Conversion to slide show: You can now convert a
song into a slide show which you can then edit to give it a
specific look, such as special text formatting and
positioning, distinct backgrounds for each verse, etc.
Special italic style: You now have complete
flexibility to specify which parts of a song are to be
displayed in an italic style. Previously, you could only
specify that all non-verse parts are italicized.
Slide Shows
Text slides builder: A new builder is now available
that provides a convenient way to create a series of
text-based slides. The Text Slides Builder replaces both the
previous Announcement Builder and Outline Builder.
Photo Slides Builder: The Photo Show Builder, renamed
to Photo Slides Builder, has been improved to streamline the
process for creating image-based slide shows.
Photo Slides with Captions Builder: A new builder
that is similar to the Photo Slides Builder, except that it
lets you also specify a caption for each image. This is handy
for slide shows where you want a description for each image,
such as a pictorial slide show containing members of your
congregation.
Top-Ten List Builder: A fun new little builder that
lets you easily build "top-ten" lists (ala The Late
Show). Your lists are not restricted to just ten items.
Slide Display Properties Groups: There are now Slide
Text and Slide Layout properties groups available in Display
Properties. Previously, all slide properties were contained in
a single Slide properties group. This separation allows for
more granularity in setting global slide show settings.
Slide object alignment properties: You can now
specify shared object alignment properties for all text
objects of a specified text type. The alignment settings for
an object can be set to use the default shared settings or can
be overridden and specifically set.
Horizontal alignment: You can now specify horizontal
alignment at the object and shared properties level for text
objects.
Song and scripture text types: You can now add song
and scripture text types to slide shows. This allows you to
have multiple layouts within a slide show, such as one for
your text slides, and one for your scripture slides.
Easier scripture slides: The process to add scripture
text to a slide show has been improved by providing a way to
add a slide that contains both the scripture text and
scripture reference. This replaces the previous process of
adding a single text element that contains both scripture text
and reference as separate text objects.
Scripture slides builder: A new builder is now
available that makes it much easier to add scripture text to a
slide show when you want the scripture text to span multiple
slides. The Scripture Slides Builder lets you import scripture
text from any of the scripture databases supported by SSP, and
also lets you easily paste and arrange text that you may copy
from another source like a web site.
Inserting builder slides: The slide builders are now
more compatible when inserting slides into an existing slide
show. Previously, some information from the slide builders was
lost, or awkwardly imported, when their slides were inserted
into an existing slide show.
Spell check in slide builders: The slide
builders now have spell check built in.
Improved bullet point paste support: Support for
pasting bulleted and numbered outlines from Microsoft Word has
been significantly improved. Most ordered lists should now
paste into the text edit boxes in a way that preserves the
bulleting in a way that is compatible with SSP's bullet list
support. Some additional editing may still be necessary, but
the process should now be considerably better than
before.
Superscript support: You can now toggle the
superscript text style while editing slide text. Previously,
if a superscripted text item was pasted into a text box, there
was no way to toggle the superscript style.
Shared bullet point properties: Bullet point
properties can now be set and shared by all text objects of
the same text type. This makes it easier for you to apply
changes to all bullet points within a slide show within the
Display Properties window. The new shared bullet properties
are located in Display Properties > Slide Text > Main Text > Bullets.
Tab size: Tab size for text objects can now be set in
the shared text type properties. Previously, the term used was
"Indent Size". The values used to set tab size have
changed from a raw numeric value (such as 720) to a decimal
value where the value of 1.0, arbitrarily, specifies the
typical tab size one might use. You can adjust this value
higher and lower.
Clearing text-specific formatting: It is now easier,
when editing text, to clear text-specific formatting including
font, style, size, and color. This can be done now using new
controls on the text edit control toolbar. Previously, you
would have had to open the object properties window for the
text object, and remove the text-specific settings there.
Exit animations: You can now specify an exit
animation for an object. Objects will exit when the next
object enters.
Paste options: You can now specify, when pasting from
rich formatted text, what format options to preserve and which
to ignore. You can also specify that all text pasting be
plain-text only. You can set these preferences in Tools >
Preferences > Clipboard Paste.
Naming objects: You can now specify the name of any
object on a slide. Slide shows created from the Song Convert
utility will have their objects named according to the song
parts and information placed on the slide, such as
"Lyrics", "Author", etc.
Object Selection: Improvements have been made for the
object selection controls in Slide Show Builder.
Programs
Properties button option: An option has been added
that lets you turn off the Properties button in the Program
Panel. This button was added in the October 2007 Edition of
SSP. The option is found in Tools > Preferences >
Program Panel.
Scripture
QuickVerse 2008 Support: This edition of SSP now
supports QuickVerse 2008.
Windows Issues
Registry permissions: It is no longer necessary for
non-admin users to have write access to the registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\RTechnics\SongShow Plus. Read-only
access is all that is necessary now for normal operations.
However, making configuration changes to SSP will require the
use of an administrator account.
Folder permissions: The SSP installer no longer
attempts to assign write access to the shared documents and
application data folders. When installing SSP on a new system,
non-admin users will need to be granted write permissions for
these folders. If the permission are not set, SSP will present
a notification upon start up about the problem and describe in
more detail which folders need to be given write permission.
On Windows XP, the default locations of these folders
are:
C:\documents and settings\all
users\application data\R-Technics\SongShow Plus
C:\documents and settings\all
users\shared documents\R-Technics\SongShow Plus
Compatibility
Forward: All files built in the January 2008 edition
should be fully compatible with the current edition.
Backward: Slide shows built with the current edition
are not compatible with previous editions. Songs and Program
files built with the current edition that also have display
property information are not compatible with previous
editions.
Breaking Changes
New installations: Installations of SSP on a new
system will now require a specific step to grant write access
to the shared documents and application data folders that are
used by SSP as described above.
Training Notes:
Adding slides to a slide show:
There is a new pull-down menu next to the New Slide button
that is used to access the slide builders, the scripture slide
inserter, and slide templates. The slide builders are no
longer access through the Tools menu. Also, the Tools > Use
Slide Templates menu item no longer exists.
Slide builders: The slide builders
have changed significantly. Some options have been removed
while others have been added. The Announcement and Outline
builders have both been replaced by the new Text Slides
Builder.
Pasting outlines: The support for pasting Microsoft Word bulleted and numbered lists has
significantly improved. You may want to see if its now
something you can use.
Bullet point properties: By
default, bullet point settings will now be shared by all text
objects of the same type. For instance, if your slide consists
of all Main Text text objects, then you can set the bullet
point properties for all of these text objects using Display
Properties > Slide Text > Main Text > Bullets. Also,
the property page for an object's individual bullet point
settings has been moved to the Object Properties > Text
> Bullets.
Tab size: The method for setting
tab size within a text object has changed.
Scripture content: The menu item
to add a Scripture text item has been removed. It has been
replaced with a mechanism to add a new scripture slide. The new
Scripture Slides Builder also provides a new way to easily add
scripture to the slide show that spans multiple slides.
Display Properties Change: A
number of properties in the Song Text, Song Layout, and
Scripture Layout properties groups have been moved. In the
case of the Layout groups, these have been moved to a new
"Show" tab. In the Song Text group, a new tab called
"Additional Styles" has been added and contains the
settings for italicizing song parts. There have also been
changes in the Slides properties groups (previously just one
Slide property group). In the slide show builder you will now
see the song and scripture property groups.
Deprecated plug-ins: The following plug-ins are now
officially deprecated. What this means is that they are still
available (download only), but no technical support will be
provided for their use, and future compatibility of SSP and these
plug-ins and their associated third-party products is not assured.
Quick Message
January 2008 Edition
Songs
Custom song parts: You now have the capability to
specify the name of song parts. Previously you were
restricted to just Verses 1 - 8, Choruses 1 - 4, Bridges 1 -
3, and Ending.
Improved SongSelect Import: All lyrics fields
provided from SongSelect, including things like
"pre-chorus" and "tag" are now
supported. Previously you would had to have entered these
lyrics parts into one of the static fields provided using
the clipboard import tool.
Blank slides: Now when adding a song to a program,
you can specify a blank slide as part of the verse order.
The blank slide will leave the background intact but remove
the text.
Improved spell-check: In-line spell check is now
provided. This feature underlines misspelled words and
provides a pop-up menu giving suggestions for the correct
spelling.
Slide Shows
Improved spell-check: The same enhancements made to
the spell-check capabilities for song editing have been
included for editing text in slides.
Target Aspect Ratio: You can now specify a target
aspect ratio slides. This is done in the Margins Display
Properties panel. By default, the target aspect ratio is the
display's aspect ratio. However, you can now designate that a
slide show be presented at a specific aspect ratio such as 4:3
or 16:9. This helps ensure that a slide show will look correct
regardless of the aspect ration of the presentation system.
Other Items
DVD Compatibility: Improved compatibility with DVD
player software.
Timing for mute/clear screen: The capability to set
the cross fade time for muting and clearing the screen has
been added. It is accessible through Tools > Preferences.
In the previous edition, this time was hard-coded to 1/2
second. Prior to the October 2007 Edition, the timing for mute
and clear screen were set in Display Properties.
User custom dictionaries: Each user account now has
its own spell-check dictionary that can be used to add words
that are not found in the stock dictionary. Previously, the
custom dictionary was shared by all users.
Margins Target Aspect Ratio: The same capability to
specify a target aspect ratio can be used anywhere margin
settings are made, but its less useful outside of a slide show
context and use of it should probably be avoided.
PowerPoint Import: The PowerPoint Import plug-in
module now recognizes PowerPoint 2007 files (.pptx).
Primary Dictionary: You can now choose between using
the American English (default) dictionary or the British
English dictionary for spell check.
KJV Dictionary: There is now a supplemental
dictionary containing old-English words found in the KJV
Bible. This dictionary can be used in addition to the primary
dictionary. By default, this dictionary is not selected
to be used.
Multiple song import: You can now import multiple
songs from the PowerPoint import window without closing it.
Compatibility
Slide Shows: Slides shows from the October 2007
Edition are forward compatible with the January 2008 Edition
with no internal conversion necessary. The new Target Aspect
Ratio information is not backward compatible with earlier
editions of SSP and will be ignored by them.
Song Files: Song files from the October 2007 Edition
are forward compatible with the January 2008 Edition with no
internal conversion necessary. However, any new songs added to
the database are not backward compatible with previous
editions of SSP. This also goes for any song that is edited.
Even presenting a song can cause it to convert to the new
format since it's presented flag will be set (this won't occur
if the song has been previously presented).
Breaking Changes
Custom dictionaries: The enhanced spell-check feature
uses a new dictionary file format. There is no conversion from
the old custom dictionary to the new one. If you have
previously entered words in the the custom dictionary, these
will not be carried into this edition and, instead, will need
to be re-added.
No Old-English words: Previous versions of SSP came
with a supplemental dictionary containing many of the
old-English words used in older hymns. This is no longer
included as a stock dictionary. However, the new KJV
dictionary, when used, may include most words used in holder
hymns.
Deprecated plug-ins: The following plug-ins are now
officially deprecated. What this means is that they are still
available (download only), but no technical support will be
provided for their use, and future compatibility of SSP and these
plug-ins and their associated third-party products is not assured.
SongSelect 2.1 Support
SongSelect 3.0 Support
Worship Software Support
SongBase Support
User Database*
*The User Database plug-in may become un-deprecated in the
future -- but its fate is undecided at this time.
October 2007 Edition
Display Properties
Song Text / Scripture Text
Font Properties: A number of properties have
been removed and/or moved to other panels, including
color, outline, hollow, and shadow.
Fill Properties: This panel has been renamed to
"Color / Fill" and is now used solely for the
selection of text and shape colors.
Outline Properties: A new property page
has been added that lets you select and modify an
outline for song and scripture text. This offers
enhanced capabilities compared to earlier editions (more
details below).
Shadow: Each text element for a song or
scripture (Lyrics, Title, Author, etc.) can now have its
own independent shadow setting. Previously, the only
shadow settings for these elements was to set a
percentage of the default shadow size. You sill have the
option, however, to specify shadow as a percentage of
the default shadow size.
Song Layout / Scripture Layout
Auto-case: The Auto-Case property has been
removed from Display Properties. The AutoCase feature is
now available through Tools > Preferences and is a
application-wide setting.
Copyright: There is now an option to split the
copyright line. Previously, this was the default
behavior which caused CCLI license information to be
placed on a line below the copyright. Now, the default
behavior is to place all copyright information, including
CCLI license information, on the same line.
Fills for text and shape objects:
Visualizations as fills:
Visualizations (including video files and devices) can be
used as fills for slide show text and shape objects.
Fills have their own effects:
Fills can now be assigned their own effects. These effects
are separate from the effects that are applied to the entire
object. Using this, you can apply an effect to a fill that
does not apply to the outline of the object.
Outlines have their own effects:
An outline around text or a shape can now have its own
effects. These effects are separate from the effects that
are applied to the entire object. Using this, you can apply
an effect to an outline that does not apply to the fill of
the object.
Gradient fills have transparency:
Gradient fills can now contain transparent and
semi-transparent color values.
Pattern fills have transparency:
Pattern fills can now contain transparent and
semi-transparent color values.
Custom gradient source: You can
now build your own source for gradient fills. If you wish to
have a gradient type that is not provided with SSP, you can
build a grayscale gradient in a paint program of your
choice, and use that as the source for the gradient fill
properties.
Custom pattern source: You can
now build your own source for pattern fills. If you wish to
have a pattern type that is not provided with SSP, you can
build a grayscale pattern in a paint program of your choice,
and use that as the source for the pattern fill properties.
Invert gradient: A new option
for the gradient fill lets you invert the gradient source.
Invert pattern: A new option for
the pattern fill lets you invert the gradient source.
Image Tile: A new fill type,
Image Tile, is now available letting you fill text or shapes
using a tiled image. This fill type replaces the Texture
fill that was available in previous editions. It also offers
different features than the Texture fill, including the
capability to set the tile size and grout size.
Default textures: The default
textures available for text and shapes that were distributed
with previous editions are no longer supplied.
Image objects
Image outline: The
capability to draw a line around an image object has
been re-implemented in this edition.
Image fill: The capability
to set a fill for an image containing transparent areas
has been added.
User Interface
Simplified Song / Scripture
Display Properties: A new simplified interface for
setting display properties is provided by default for
setting background, font, and layout for songs and
scriptures. The more advanced features are still
available for you to use if you wish.
Preview Window: Now when
setting display properties for program items, you get to
see a static preview of how the slides will look when
the display properties are applied. These are displayed
along the bottom of the Display Properties Window. You
can also view a non-static view of the slides from the
same window (useful if you are setting motion
backgrounds).
Copy / Paste: Copy / Paste
functions have been significantly improved providing
increased granularity. Right-clicking on various
controls and tabs will open Copy / Paste menus. The
clipboard tool button is no longer part of the user
interface.
Database Panels
File Search: The database panels for images, videos,
and slide shows now contain a mechanism letting you search for
files by filename.
Thumbnail view: The database panels for images and
videos now provide a mechanism letting you list files in a
thumbnail view.
Programs
Service elements: You can now easily add service
elements as breaks to your programs. Services elements include
things like Pre-Service, Message, Offering, Baby Dedication,
etc. You can customize your own list of service elements.
Undelete program items: You can now undelete (unremove)
program items that you previously removed from a program
within a single editing session.
Default toolbar: There is a new default Program Panel
toolbar with improved step buttons and a new insert-item tool
button.
Properties button: A new properties button is shown
for each item in a program. This button lets you quickly
access all properties-related menu items.
Menus re-arranged: The Program Panel menu has been
reduced in size and rearranged to enhance ease-of-use. Some
menu items have also been relabeled.
Verse Order: The window used to let you specify a
verse order for a song now displays the text of the song along
with the song parts.
Auto Verse Order window: By default, when you
add a song to a program, the Verse Order window will now
automatically open making it more convenient to select the
verse order of songs added to programs. You can disable this
feature if you wish.
Auto Display Properties window: By default, when you
add a song or scripture to a program, the Display Properties
window will now automatically open making it more convenient
to select the appearance of the songs and scriptures that you
add to programs. You can disable this feature if you wish.
Auto black background: When adding images or videos
to a program, the background of the program item is now
automatically set to black. You can disable this feature if
you wish in Tools > Preferences > Program Panel.
Slide Show Support
Restore Package opening option:
The option to restore a slide show package is now included
with the initial pop-up menu that you get when you open the
slide show builder. This makes it more convenient to restore
a slide show package.
Undelete slides: You can now
undelete slides that you delete within an editing session.
Enhanced Object Properties window:
The Object Properties has been enhanced to be consistent
with the Display Properties controls.
Clarification on Object Properties:
The layout and language used to identify where certain
object properties are set has been changed to help clarify
this information. Properties, like font name, can come from
the default font settings, font settings specified within
the object properties window, or font settings specified in
the text content itself.
Animation timings: Animation
timings are now represented in seconds rather than
milliseconds. Also, the meaning of the timing properties has
changed and is now relabeled in a way that should be more
clear than in previous editions. You now set the wait time
until an animation starts, the duration of the animation,
and a wait time after the animation ends.
Slide titles: You can now quickly
set the title of slide while editing a text box. Simply
highlight the text, right-click, and select the Set Slide
Title menu item.
Underline and text outline:
Underline is now supported when text is outlined or hollow.
Enhanced font style selection: The
slide show wizards (PhotoShow Builder, Outline Builder, and
Announcements Builder) now provide the capability to select
text fills, outline, effects, and shadow.
Object positioning: The object
positioning controls have changed. They are now represented as
percentages. Previously, the controls were integer values and
could be set relative to various screen sizes. This was
confusing.
Background Improv
Search mechanism: A search mechanism has been added letting you
search for files with a file name matching search string.
Thumbnails: The thumbnail rendering mechanism has been
changed. Now, rather than just an icon, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 file
thumbnail images should be rendered correctly (assuming the
necessary codecs are installed on your system).
Folder control: The folder tree controls for the videos and
images tab now remembers the folder it was on. Switching between
the two tabs no longer resets the folder control to the base
folder.
Transitions and Animations
Anti-aliasing: Transitions now use anti-aliasing for an
improved and smoother appearance.
Single plug-in: All of the 3D
visualizations animations have been consolidated into a single
plug-in.
Christmas Ornaments Transition: A
new transition, Christmas Ornaments, has been added to
the Christmas Goodies plug-in.
Visualizations
Improved previews: For
non-animated snapshot previews (preview windows, Slide Show
Builder, thumbnail images, etc) that involve visualizations
with transparency (fire, snowfall, sparkle, etc), these
previews are now rendered without the black background.
Single plug-in: All of the
visualizations have been consolidated into a single plug-in.
Various Things
Most recently used font: Most font controls now share a common most-recently-used
list. These items get placed at the top of the drop-down menu.
Blur Effect: The Blur effect now has a clip edges option.
By default this option is selected. By deselecting the option,
the blur effect will extend beyond the rectangular area of the
object being blurred.
Mute / Clear transition: The
transition used for Mute and Clear is no longer specified in
the Blank Slide (aka Blackout) display property group. The
mute and clear transitions now use a fixed length quick fade
transition.
Font Smoothing: The option to turn
off font smoothing has been removed. All text is now rendered
using anti-aliasing.
Italic Adjustment: The italic
adjustment setting has been removed. The text rendering
routines now correctly accommodate right-aligned text that is italicized.
DirectX 9 Video Cards: DirectX 9
video cards are now required for the use of high-end graphics
features. Previously, certain DirectX 8 video cards were
supported for a few high-end graphics features.
Photo Show Builder: The step to
select an animation has been removed from the Photo Show
Builder. This step was essentially unnecessary for typical
photo slide shows.
Copy / Paste for color controls:
All color controls in SSP now share a common clipboard format
allowing you to more easily copy and paste colors from one
control to another.
MPEG-2 thumbnails: The thumbnail
mechanism for SSP has been changed in a way that MPEG-2 files
should be properly rendered as thumbnails (as well as other
file formats that previously were not supported by thumbnail
images). This enhancement does require that the necessary
codecs for MPEG-2 and other file formats are installed on your
system.
Vista Compatibility: The plug-ins
that were broken with the April 2007 Edition, and only
partially fixed in the June 2007 Edition, should now be
working as expected. This includes Background Improv, Effects
Collection 1, Effect Collection 2, and Image Motion.
Practice Mode replaced: The
"Practice Mode" tab and terminology has been
replaced with "Embed Display Window". In the Monitor
Options control panel, there is a new Embed Display tab. The
new setting defaults to placing the display window within the
control window if the system has a single monitor. Otherwise,
it will default to a dual monitor configuration. Previously,
the embedded mode (practice mode) was either on or off, but
was not dependent on the number of system monitors.
Breaking Changes
Visualizations: Due to changes in location for stock images
used by the visualizations, certain uses of visualizations in
previous display properties or slide shows may break with this new
version of the plug-in. The visualizations in particular that may be
effected are Fireworks, Physix, and Panorama.
Auto-case:
Due to changes in who
Auto-case is now
implemented, any previous Auto-case settings will be discarded.
If you used the Auto-case features, you will need to go to
Tools > Preferences to reset your Auto-case preferences.
Note also that this is now an application-wide setting -- it
is no longer possible to set this on a per song or per item
basis.
Practice Mode: The "Practice
Mode" settings have been replaced by "Embed
Display" settings. The old settings are ignored. If you
were using Practice mode on a multi-monitor system, you will
need to reset your configuration.
Training Notes: The following areas
contain the major changes for which users will need to get
acquainted:
Program Panel Menus: Some items
rearranged, re-labeled, and removed.
Program Panel Toolbar: The new
default Program Panel toolbar will be used by default. If you
have previously customized this toolbar, you can restore the
previous toolbar. A Tip is provided that explains this
process.
Display Properties: Changes in how
font, color, and shadow are selected.
Display Properties Simplified Window:
The new simplified Display Properties window is now the
default window used when setting properties for program items.
The advanced properties are still available and users will
need to learn how to access them if they wish.
June 2007 Edition
Slide Show Support
Audio track for slide shows: Slide
shows can now be assigned an audio track. The audio track
can play once or loop indefinitely.
Higher precision slide times:
Slide times can now be set to 10ths of a second.
Uniform slide times: You now
have the option to specify that all slides be displayed for
the same amount of time, regardless of what their individual
slide times are set to. The length of the slide show is then
determined by the number of slides times the slide time used
for all slides. If your slide show has ten slides, and you
specify that all slides are to be displayed for five
seconds, then your slide show will run for fifty seconds.
Specified slide show time You
can now specify the length in seconds of a slide show. When
this option is selected, then all slides will be given an
equal amount of time to ensure that the slide show finishes
in the specified amount of time. If your slide show has six
slides, and you specify that the slide show should run for
sixty seconds, then each slide will be displayed for ten
seconds.
Slide show length from audio track
length: You can now set the length of a slide show to
match the length of the selected audio track.
PhotoShow Builder enhanced: The
PhotoShow builder has been enhanced to support the new slide
timing options and audio tracks.
Audio track for songs: You can now
specify an audio track for song program items. This lets you play
an audio file while also displaying and controlling the lyrics of
a song.
CinFX 2 Enhancements: CinFX 2 now
provides you with bevel effects that you can use any place where
effects are used. Previously, the bevel effects could only be used
with animations.
Windows Vista Compatibility Progress:
Plug-ins problem: The problem that
caused several plug-in modules to not load in Vista has been
fixed.
Registering licenses: The problem
that caused SSP licenses to only be registered for user
accounts rather than made system wide has been fixed.
April 2007 Edition
Image File Support
PNG and TIFF transparency: Transparency
(alpha channel) in PNG and TIFF files is now supported.
GIF Support: GIF files are now
supported (non-animated) including files with a transparent
color.
PCX support discontinued: For
the time being, support for PCX files has been discontinued.
Saving imported images:
When saving images in SSP that are imported from the clipboard, a TWAIN
device, or a website, these images are now simply saved as bitmap image
(.bmp). The former process that let you specify file format and related
settings for saving the imported file has been removed for the time
being. Copying of images still preserves the original file
extension.
New presentation size option:
When presenting an image in SSP, formerly, there was a
display property called Auto size. When selected, the
image would be scaled to fit the screen, if not it was
presented in its native size. This was somewhat problematic
because it didn't scale well and was a bit impractical. This
setting has been replaced with the option to either Enlarge/Reduce
to fit margins or Reduce to fit margins, don't
enlarge. The first option acts like the former Auto
size option. The second option will display the image in
its native size unless its too large to fit within the
margins, in which case, is scaled down to fit.
TWAIN source selection: It is
now easier to select a source when acquiring images from a
TWAIN device.
TWAIN isolation: Due to the
quirkiness of many TWAIN drivers and devices, applications
can get locked up if the TWAIN software doesn't act as
expected. The SSP TWAIN import process has been isolated in
a way that prevents SSP from getting locked up even if a
TWAIN import process does get locked up.
Shell Command Changes: The
associated shell commands used to edit and print images are
now stored individually per user. The former global shell
associations are discarded; they are not copied to the
user's profile.
Internet Import: The Internet
Import utility now saves favorites and window state in user
specific settings.
Transparent Color for WMF:
Transparent color settings are now available for WMF files.
Cropping for WMF: Cropping is
now supported for WMF files.
Image Processing Effects:
RipFX technology: All image
processing effects are now available for use with full motion
video.
New effects controls: The former
effects panel has been replaced by a new effects panel, which
is actually an evolution of the effects panel introduced with
SSP V7 for video and motion background effects. In addition to
the None and Basic (now referred to as Common)
options, a new Advanced
option is now available. With this option, you select any
number of effects in any order, similar to they way the former
effects panel worked.
Copy effects separated: Formerly,
when copying the Video or Motion Background properties group,
the copy operation included the related effects. This has no
been split so that effects are copied separately.
Altering the effect chain: It
is now easier to manipulate the effects within the effect chain. You
can drag effects or use the move buttons to change the order the effect
are applied. The ability to remove all effects at once was also
added.
High-end graphics mode required:
The following effects are only supported if high-end graphics mode is
enabled (the default mode): Beveled Frame, Color Filter, Flare,
Gradient Mask, Hinge, Image Mask, Negative, Sepia and Watermark.
Some appearance changes: Due to
changes in a number of effects properties, a slide show or
display property containing any previous effects settings may
look differently than in a previous edition of SSP. SSP will
attempt to convert the effects as best it can. There are several
KB articles posted about this with more detail that are viewable from the support tab on SSPlash.com.
Professional Level Effects
The following effects are now only available with the Professional
Level license: Beveled Frame, Blur, Brightness, Color Filter, Contrast,
Grayscale, Grout, Hinge, Pixelate, Sharpen, Shine, Soften and
are distributed with the new Effects 1 Collection plug-in.
If you bought a Basic Level license prior to the release
of the April 2007 Edition, your SSP account will automatically
receive a complimentary Effects Collection 1 license. To then
use these effects, you will need to receive and install a new
license file on your projection computer. Customer support can
assist you with this process.
Effects Collection 1 Demonstrations: Demo slide shows of all of the effects listed below can be viewed in the Examples folder found in the Slide Show Panel of the SongShow Plus control panel.
Beveled
Frame:This is a new effect that replaces the former Bevel
Edges effect. This new effect creates a beveled frame
around a rectangular object. The previous Bevel Edges
effect, in addition to doing the same thing, also attempted to
bevel the edges of non-rectangular objects, but with limited
success. Because of this, the new effect was not designed to
work on non-rectangular objects. The new effect specifies its
size in percent rather than pixel size which, unlike the
previous effect, allows it to scale properly between the
display, preview, and thumbnail renders. The Mix
settings from previous effect have been changed to Brightness
and Contrast settings, and work similarly, but
different than the Mix settings. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Blur: This effect is included in Effects Collection 1 and functions
similarly to the the previous version. One difference with blur is that
it will now extend beyond text boundaries. Previously, blur only
affected the fill of text, not the text itself.
Brightness: The Brightness
effect has been modified to provide two brightness methods, Divergent
and Convergent. The former performs the same operation
as the previous Brightness effect. The latter performs
the same operation as the former Fade effect, which has
been eliminated.
Color Filter: This new effect
lets you filter any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) through a single color. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Contrast: The previous version of
this effect provided options for emphasizing either light
colors or dark colors. The new version of this effect adds
another option, emphasize Light and Dark Colors, which
is now the default option.
Flip: This new effect lets you
flip any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) horizontally, vertically or both.
Grayscale: This effect is included in Effects Collection 1 and functions the same as the previous version.
Grout: This is a new effect that
replaces the former Tile effect. Tile width, height,
and grout size are now specified in percentages rather than
pixel size which, unlike the
previous effect, allows it to scale properly between the
display, preview, and thumbnail renders. The lighting is also
rendered slightly different than the Tile effect's
lighting.
Hinge: The settings for this
effect have changed. Rather than setting specific horizontal
and vertical sizes, you now specify an angle and a depth
adjustment. These settings are also limited to prevent
unrealistic swings, since the intent of this effect is to make
it appear that the object has been swung back. Some of the
setting possibilities in the old effect would create
unrealistic renders. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Pixelate: This effect replaces the
former Pixelize effect. The new effect has only one
setting, Amount. The former effect let you select the
pixel sizes in width and height and didn't scale well.
Rotate: This new effect lets you
rotate a graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) by any angle.
Shadow: This has been added as its
own effect providing you with more options for use of shadow.
All other shadow settings remain available and as they were in the previous version.
Sharpen:
This effect functions the same as the previous version, however
the number of sharpen levels has been reduced from 10 to 4.
Shine: The rendered shine is
slightly different than the former version. Also, the Hue
settings have been replaced by a single Light Color
setting, but produces identical results. Also, the Top
and Left settings have been renamed (more accurately)
to Horizontal Center and Vertical Center.
Soften: This effect replaces the former Smooth effect and works in a similar manner. There are 4 levels of Soften available.
Effects Collection 2 Demonstrations: Demo slide shows of all of the effects listed below can be viewed in the Examples folder found in the Slide Show Panel of the SongShow Plus control panel.
Color Adjustment: This effect lets
you adjust the red, green, and blue colors of any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.).
Color Level: This is a new effect
that lets you adjust the color level of any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.). This effect
is also available as part of the Basic Image Adjustments
effect.
Flare
:
This effect is similar to the Shine effect, except
that it is circular and has a higher saturation level at the
center, creating a flare-type effect. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Gradient Mask: This effect allows the addition of a gradient mask on any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) with adjustable size and drop. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Image Mask: This effect allows the use of an image mask on any
graphics object (text, images, video, etc.) using any supported image
file type. There are eight different adjustments available for
this effect. View the example slide show for details. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Image Overlay: This effect allows the addition of an image overlay on any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.). There are six different adjustments available for this effect. View the example slide show for details.
Negative: This effect causes any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) to look like a photographic negative. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Sepia: This effect alters any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) to give it a sepia tone, similar to old photographs. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Transparency: This new effect lets
you set a transparency level for any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.).
Watermark: This effect replaces
the former Custom Watermark and Watermark
effects. Unlike the former effects, this effect uses a file at
runtime rather than embedding the file image. The improved Watermark effect can be applied to any graphics object (text,
images, video, etc.) using any supported image file type. It also provides
four watermark methods, Blend, Lighten, Darken,
and Contrast. This effect is
only available with High-end Graphics Mode enabled.
Background Properties:
Background effects: The Background
Effects properties, which used to be rendered only after
the Color and Image layer were rendered but
before the Motion Background layer was rendered, has
been changed to now render after the Motion Background
layer. This means that you can now have an effect, such as a
watermark, rendered consistently across all backgrounds, both
static and motion.
Color and image effects: Both the Background
Color and Background Image property groups now have
their own effects properties. This means that you can apply
effects to each of these layers independent of the Background
Effects properties group. The Motion Background
properties group has always had its own effects properties
since the introduction of SSP V7.
Slide Shows:
Object Rotation Enhancements:
Image rotation: Image rotation now
supports rotation amount, not just just 90, 180, and 270.
Text rotation: You can now rotate
text by any amount.
Background Rotation: Rotation of background images and videos is now possible.
Improved thumbnail rendering: Slides are now more
accurately rendered while viewing in the Inspector Panel. This
includes a static render of any motion backgrounds, all
effects, and soft shadows.
An affect on text and shape effects: Changes in how
effects are rendered affect how slides are rendered.
Previously, effects used for text only affected the fill of
the text, but not the outline nor the edges. A good example of
this is the Blur effect. In SSP V5.5, this effect would
only blur the fill, but not the edges nor the outline of the
text was outlined. With SSP V7, effects are now applied to the
entire object. This means that blur now affects, not just the
fill, but also edges and outlines. Same goes for shape
objects. A future edition of SSP will provide the capability
to set effects specifically for the fill of an object without
affecting the rest of the object, returning the option to have
text and shape effects rendered as they were in SSP 5.5.
Native Image Storage: Images are now stored in their
native format within slide shows. This can decrease slide show
file sizes significantly in most cases.
Image Stretch: There is no longer an option to enable
or disable image stretching. By default, all images are sized
to fit within the rectangular boundary area that you designate,
maintaining its aspect ratio. The former edition allowed for
the display of images at their native resolution, which did
not scale well.
Slide Show Builder:
Improved edit rendering: Slides are now more
accurately rendered while editing, including a static render
of any motion backgrounds, all effects, and soft shadows.
Images toolbar: This toolbar has
been modified slightly.
Saving embedded images: The
capability to save embedded images to a separate file has been
removed for the time being.
Shadow pop-up: The grayscale tool
buttons now change the intensity of the shadow. Formerly, they
changed the color of the shadow from black to levels of gray. Also, the
light direction tool buttons have been changed to match those
of the shadow properties panel.
Target height: You can now specify
the target display height that a slide show will be viewed at.
The slide show builder uses this to size an image
appropriately when it is first placed on a slide. The image
will be sized so that, when the slide is viewed on a display
with the target height, the image itself will be presented at
its native size. The exception to this is if the native size
would exceed the size of the display area. This can be useful
to ensure that images are displayed at their best resolution.
The default setting for the target height is 768, but you can
change this per slide show.
Load Alerts: Alerts that occur
while loading a slide show file are now viewable. Previously,
the Alert button would flash, but the alerts were not
viewable.
Background Improv Plug-in:
Alpha channel images now supported:
As with other areas of SSP, the Background Improv plug-in now
supports images with transparency.
Initial state: The initial state
of the Background Improv property has been improved to avoid
the black flashing effect that could sometimes occur.
Thumbnail images: Thumbnail images
are now cached for improved load times on successive visits to
a folder.
Thumbnail file names: File names
are now displayed under a thumbnail image when moused over or
selected by keyboard.
Internet Import Plug-in:
Non-document images now supported:
Previously, images could only be imported if the link was
directly associated with a document containing a known and
supported file extension (.jpg, .bmp, etc.). This created
problems for use with image search engines like Google. Now,
non-document based image links are supported if the content
type matches a known content type that is supported by SSP.
No option to save to file:
Previously, when acquiring an image (verses importing), you
were given the option to also save the file to disk before the
image was loaded into a slide show. This option created some
confusion and has been eliminated for the time being.
Image Motion:
Image files supported: The
Pan/Zoom effect now supports the same image file formats as
SSP does, including those with transparency.
No TGA: Because SSP does not
natively support TGA files, the Pan / Zoom effect no longer
supports the TGA file format for the time being.
Other
No Add/Remove for plug-ins: The plug-in modules are
gradually being changed so that they no longer have their own
uninstaller listed in the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove
Programs utility. To uninstall plug-ins, you should use the
SSP uninstaller or use the SongShow Plus Utilities >
Plug-ins mechanism.
Plug-ins installed with SSP: With SSP 5.5, most
plug-in modules (ProModules) were installed in their own
folder area under Program Files and you were not given the
option to change this location. The plug-in modules are
gradually being changed so that they will now install within
the SongShow Plus folder area. You can specify the target
location of SongShow Plus if you choose to not use the Default
settings when installing the application.
No outline for images: The capability to draw
outlines around images has been disabled for this edition.
Options removed for slide show printing: Two slide
show printing options have been removed in this edition: No
Background and Text All Black.
October 2006 Edition
DVD Support:
You can now navigate the menu system of a DVD
when selecting a title to import. This fixes the problem where,
in previous versions, some DVDs were not compatible with SSP.
Additional transport controls are available
for the import process (fast forward, fast rewind, chapter
selection, etc.)
The DVD state is now stored along with the
imported title. This state preserves audio and other options you
may have set during the import process.
When you play an imported title from SSP, it
will now skip any required opening titles and menus a DVD may
have.
16:9 and 4:3 aspect ratios are now supported. You are also given the option
to clip the letterbox (black horizontal bars) from DVDs that use other
aspect ratios.
August 2006 Edition
Custom Settings for Transitions: For transitions that support this
feature, you can now specify custom settings, that is, go beyond the simple
"from left", "from right" type options that have only
been available before. Most of the 3D transitions support custom settings as
well as the new CinFX transitions.
Custom Settings for Animations: For animations that support this
feature, you can now specify custom settings as described with transitions.
The Animations 1 module supports custom settings as well as the new CinFX
animations.
Database/Program Panel Arrangements: There are now more arrangement
options for these panels, including one that lets you arrange all panels
(database, program, and inspector) horizontally. This is useful for those
who use wide monitor screens for their control panels.
Control panel web pages option: You can now disable the loading of
control panel web pages. This is done from the menu Tools > Preferences
> On-line Resources.
CinFX: CinFX upgrades are now available as a separate plug-ins for
SSP.
June 2006 Edition
Non-modal edit windows: Song edit windows are now non-modal,
meaning that you can edit a song and still control a live presentation.
Multiple edit windows: You can now have multiple song edit windows
open at one time.
Non-modal CCLI import window: The import window for importing CCLI
songs is now non-modal.
Multiple download from CCLI: The import utility for CCLI now lets
you download multiple songs without the need to re-open the browser window.
Default launch page for CCLI: You can now specify which page you
want to use as the default launch page when importing songs from CCLI.
Non-modal clipboard capture window: The import window for importing
songs from the clipboard is now non-modal.
Multiple import from clipboard: The clipboard capture utility now
lets you import multiple songs without the need to reopen the window.
Prompt after adding song: Now, when you add a new song to the
database, you will be given the option to immediately display the song, edit
the song, or add it to the current program. This eliminates the need to go
find the song after adding it.
User specific state: The states of the CCLI import and clipboard
capture windows are now stored separately for individual users.
Clone and Edit: A clone and edit menu command has been added to the
songs panel that lets you clone a song then immediately open an edit window
for the cloned song.
Database selection improved: When you have multiple databases
installed, SSP will now, when you add a new song, only prompt you to select
databases that are modifiable.
Accommodates Internet Explorer update: Fixes an issue that arose
with the Internet Explorer security update of June 2006.
Discard tips: You can now let SSP know that you know longer want to
be notified about a particular tip.
February 2006 Edition
Audio File Support: Support for the playback of audio files has
been added. (Note: Support for audio files in slide shows has not yet
been implemented)
Real-time adjustment of video file effects: Using the new RipFXtm
technology, you can now make basic image adjustments to video playback such
as contrast, brightness, sharpness, etc. This is available for both
video file playback and motion backgrounds. Note: Not all video
sources or visualizations will support this new feature.
Video placement: You now have more control over where to place a
video image on the screen.
Video cropping: For video sources that are not native 4:3, you can
now specify that the video fill the screen and crop as necessary. You
can also adjust the vertical or horizontal cropping placement.
Background Improv (ProModule plug-in): A module that lets you change
backgrounds on-the-fly!
Video Chain (ProModule plug-in): A module that lets you build a
chain of videos to be played simultaneously.
Visualizations 5 (ProModule plug-in): More visualizations!
3D Animations: (ProModule plug-in): 3D animations for bullet points!
Easier background selection: A new button has been added to the
control panel that lets you more easily select background color, image, or
video. A similar menu item has been added to the program panel pop up
menu.
Support for Control Panel Plug-ins: These are modules that, when
installed, mount inside the control panel window to provide you with
additional capabilities. The first control panel plug-in to be made
available is the Background Improv ProModule, which lets you select
background videos and images on-the-fly.
Preview windows moved: The preview windows have been moved to the
top of the control window.
Practice mode display moved: The practice mode display has been
moved to the top of the control window, along side the preview
windows. You can now have both the preview windows and the practice
mode display enabled simultaneously.
Two inspector windows: An additional inspector window has been
added to the control window. Now, both the database panel and the
program panel have their own independently controlled inspector windows.
Control window customizations: You can now set the color of the
control panel, as well as the font size for the database and program panels.
You also have more control over the location of various panels within the
control window.
Toolbar customization: Toolbars are now customizable. You can
select buttons you would like to have accessible to you and where they are
located on the toolbar.
Green diamond replaced: The green diamond used to display items,
has been replaced with a green play button embedded in red.
Display media control is now called "Current".
User settings and state (preferences, UI layout, etc.) are now
stored individually for each user login.
Tips have been changed to act more like alerts (no more pop-ups).
SSP News has been integrated into the user interface.
Integration with SSPlash.com: Immediate access to the SSPlash.com
home page, SSP forums, interactive wish, and more.
Embedded Help Pages: Help pages are now embedded into most of the
pop-up windows within SongShow Plus.
Interactive User Guide: The User Guide has been migrated to an
interactive help system which is easily accessible within the Control
Window.
Tutorials: Tutorials are now available for the most common
tasks. These are easily available within the Control Window and
provide step-by-step instructions along with screen shots.
Stock Hymns Database: The Stock Hymns are now in their own database
so that they can be more easily added and removed. Also, all Christmas
carols have been extracted into their own database as well.
