Add chroma key titler effects using Microsoft Powerpoint slides

You can use the chroma key feature on Pearl-2 with Microsoft Powerpoint slides to add animated titles and other Powerpoint effects. The setup is really the same as using a dedicated titling software on an effects computer with Pearl-2.

This example shows an HDMI camera connected to the HDMI-A port on Pearl-2 and an effects computer that has a Powerpoint presentation loaded on it connected to the HDMI-B port. To the computer, Pearl-2 is treated just like an external display.

You can connect the effects computer with the Powerpoint file to any supported port that is available on Pearl-2.

Apply chroma key effect to a Powerpoint video source using the Admin panel

  1. Login to the Admin panel as admin, see Connect to Admin panel.
  1. Follow the steps in Configure a custom layout for a channel to create a custom channel.
  2. From the custom layout editor, click Add new item and select Video Source from the drop down box.

  1. Click Source and select the video source that you want showing in the background. For detailed steps, see Add video sources or a channel as a source.
  1. In the layout editing area, click and drag to position the video. See the note after this procedure for positioning techniques.

For best results, select the Keep aspect ratio when scaling checkbox from the Source settings box.

  1. Click Add new Item again and add the video source from your effects computer.
  2. Click the Crop button and crop your Powerpoint video source in the pop-up crop editing window. For detailed steps, see Crop a video source. Click OK when your done to return to the custom layout editor.

Cropping the Powerpoint computer video source helps optimize the performance of Pearl-2.

  1. In the layout area, position the Powerpoint video source over top the other video source. To optimize performance, avoid scaling the Powerpoint video source if you can.

  1. With the Powerpoint video source selected, check Enable Chroma keying in the custom layout editor. The chroma keying options appear.

  1. Click the eye dropper and then click on a color in the thumbnail image to choose the chroma key color.

The background video image shows through all the colored areas on the chroma key video layer that match the color you select as the chroma key.

  1. Adjust the chroma color selection and blend the edges to remove unwanted chroma effects or residual color.
    1. Enter a number in the Key threshold field to adjust the color selection. A value of 0 equals the original color you selected. A higher value widens the range of the selected chroma color. A lower number narrows the range of the selected chroma color.
    2. Enter a number in the Edge blend field to smooth out and adjust the color around the edges in your image.
  1. Click Save when you're done.

A note about item positioning and sizing

There are multiple ways to position and size images, text overlays, and video sources in the layout area

  1. Using the mouse.
  2. Using the keyboard.
  3. Using the manual positioning values with percents.
  4. Using the manual positioning values with pixels.

To use the mouse:

Click and drag to move the item. Click and drag the round, red and white handles to resize an image or video source (for text overlays, just use the padding settings). Using this method you can make quick changes that are in increments of approximately 5% of the width or height of your layout area. For more refined movements, press the Ctrl key on your keyboard while dragging the item with the mouse.

To use the keyboard:

Use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the item up, down, left or right in the layout. Changes are in increments of approximately 5% of the height or width of the layout area. Press the Ctrl key while using the arrow keys to make more refined movements. To change the size of an image or video source, press the Shift key while using the arrow keys (for text overlays, just use the padding settings). Press both Ctrl and Shift for fine-grained size control.

Using percents:

Specify a whole number, followed by a percent sign (e.g. 4%) in any of the manual positioning fields. See Resize and position items using percents or pixels for more information.

Using pixels:

If you need to specify an exact amount in pixels (rather than percent) you can type a pixel value in any of the positioning value squares followed by the characters px (e.g. 56px). You can mix and match pixels and percents changing only the boxes you want to use pixel values. At any time you can switch back to percents by typing a percent. See Resize and position items using percents or pixels for more information.