Buyers Guide

Capitol Prompting Elects CPC-1000 System

by Emanuel Ziegler, Co-Owner, Capitol Prompting Service

Cheverly, MD. As a teleprompting service in the national capital area, our computerized prompting systems are in use 365 days a year.

Consequently, our prompting software needs to be easy to use, have quick editing, and be totally free of bugs. After an exhaustive search, we chose the CPC-1000 SmartPrompter software from Computer Prompting & Captioning Co. (CPC).

Time Saver: When we arrive on the set, our clients typically give us a disk containing the script. The CPC-1000 allows us to import WordPerfect or any ASCII file directly into the prompting program, so clients can type their script on virtually any word processor, or even modem the script ahead of time.

After importing the script, the CPC-1000 software produces a printout with line numbers corresponding to those on the unit’s word processor. That way, we can be told exactly which line(s) to edit, saving substantial time and confusion compared to the paper scroll system we previously used.

Once rehearsals start, numerous text edits invariably need to be made. Because time is so valuable and the talent and crew are usually idle while edits are being entered into the prompter, clients demand that prompter edits be entered very rapidly.

The ease of editing is a strong point of the CPC-1000. We can go from the prompt mode, used to scroll large characters for the talent to read, to the edit mode, where word processing is done, by pressing a single key.

Another key takes us back to the prompt mode while the cursor remains on the same line, which allows the talent to immediately read the new text.

The talent, often politicians and CEOs, are always happy with the CPC-1000’s smooth scroll and crisp, clear fonts

In addition to providing all the typical word processing features, the CPC-1000 word processor has a number of features designed specifically for prompting.

For example, we can define an unlimited number of stories or segments, and then rapidly go to any one of them by pressing two keys. We can also change the order of the stories with just three keystrokes.

Crucial Features: The CPC-1000 has a number of features that have proven crucial to us. For example, it will instantly convert text to all uppercase. Our clients often type a script in uppercase and lowercase and, even though there are four upper and lowercase fonts, they invariably want prompter text to be all uppercase.

We can also display the CPC-1000‘s five different fonts one after the other for the talent to choose. Because the text is not tied to a specific font, the talent is given some control over the appearance of the text displayed.

This ability can give the talent additional confidence in what is usually a highly-pressured situation.

Because we are constantly on the road, portability is also a big requirement. The CPC-1000 runs on any PC-compatible CGA, EGA, or VGA laptop, and it interfaces with any PC-compatible trackball or mouse.

User Report: The mini-trackball that comes with the system is easy to use, but the fact that we can easily replace it with any trackball or mouse gives us peace of mind (along with the ability to control scrolling from the keyboard, if necessary).

A much appreciated extra for us has been CPC’s responsiveness to any questions or suggestions we have, and the company’s policy of free updates has been an enormous help to us.

We purchased our first CPC-1000 back in 1987, and we now have seven systems -- all the latest version.

In the final analysis, the CPC-1000’s powerful features and simplicity of use have made our prompting service as effective and efficient as possible.

The CPC-1000 takes a lot of the stress out of a very stressful job.

Editor’s note: Emanuel (Butch) Ziegler has been a teleprompter operator for 15 years. The opinions expressed above are the author’s alone. For further information, contact Sidney Hoffman at (202) 966-0980; fax (202) 966-0981.

Source of article: TV Technology (63), Vol.11, No. 4, April 1993

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User Report

PromptAmerica Relies on CPC

by Burwell Ware, GM, PromptAmerica

Research Triangle Park, NC. PromptAmerica has provided high quality teleprompting services nationwide since 1989. Our location is the high-tech business center between the cities of Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill; and we primarily serve corporate clients.

We use Computer Prompting Corp.’s CPC-1000 SmartPrompter for all or our teleconference and speech prompting work.

The glass poles use din teleprompting simply reflect prompter copy from a television monitor, and the computer software lets us scroll the works while the speaker reads.

Compatible Platforms: When we bought prompting software, we wanted all the bells and whistles. But the question loomed in our minds: What do we do if the computer bombs during a speech before 2,000 people or during a live national network broadcast? Yikes!

We needed software that could run on anything – and the SmartPrompter works on all DOS (IBM-based) platforms – from Pentiums to 8088s. And, it works well with all VGA, EGA, and CGA graphics adapters.

Our ability to switch to backup equipment relies on this flexibility. If our primary and backup computer were to disappear, we know we could run down to Radio Shack, buy a computer off the shelf, and make it work.

The CPC-1000 is fairly simple and our operators learned it easily. The program can import WordPerfect and ASCII files directly, and this is important unless you like to type.

File import capability is also essential when the client hands you a disk and expects you to prompt it right away. When Vice President Gore spoke before the North Carolina Legislature, we had about five minutes to load the file and begin prompting. Yes, we’ve single-handedly increased the market for nerve pills.

Computerized prompting allows us to make changes quickly (vs. paper prompting), and the CPC-1000 lets us go from the prompt (display) mode to the edit mode by pressing a single key. After making the edits, we press a single key to prompt.

Exact Text: The integrated word processor shows text exactly the way it appears on the prompt screen. We can improve readability by breaking the text into phrases and, with CPC, what you see is what you get. Like all word processors, the system has search and replace capabilities. This is extremely important when a client is waiting to make a change and there is no time to wade through the text. We can also cut and paste text. And, the SmartPrompter has a spell-check feature, which I find to be a necessity.

The CPC-1000 lets us tag different sections of a script so that we can bring them up instantly. If we’re doing teleprompting and shooting the script out of order, we don’t hold up production. We can also cut and paste these points without defining them as a block, and this saves time.

SmartPrompter files are saved in an ASCII file, and that means the client’s word processor can read them. This further simplifies Macintosh transfers.

The software has a smooth scroll that is continuously variable and easy on the eyes. We can control the speed with a trackball, mouse, joystick, or by the keyboard.

The SmartPrompter offers most features you’ll ever need. When we prompted for former President Ronald Reagan recently, he requested double-spaced copy. CPC’s software allowed us to give him what he wanted without driving ourselves crazy.

The system has a variety of fonts and can prompt uppercase and lowercase lettering. While some clients prefer all uppercase, studies show that the traditional mix of uppercase/lowercase is far more readable. If the talent is myopic, it’s nice to have the extra big lettering available.

Almost everyone has heard about President Clinton’s prompter problem while delivering his health care speech before Congress. My understanding is that White House prompter operators loaded the State of the union Address by mistake. With enormous pressure and last minute surprises, it’s easy to understand how mistakes occur. Yes, prompter operators are human, too.

But, I wonder whether it would have been as easy to load the wrong file using the SmartPrompter. The CPC-1000 always asks whether you want to erase the current speech in memory. While this makes the program a little clunky to use, this safety feature may have spared the president those minutes of ad lib.

We recently upgraded our version of the software to output closed captioning. In a teleconference, this allows us to make fully scripted programs available to the hearing impaired without great cost.

CPC offers strong technical support. If I have suggestions, the developers are eager to find ways to improve the software. I suppose this is the best security we could get.

Editor’s note; Burwell Ware is the general manager of PromptAmerica and a member of the International Association of Business Communicators. He is the former president of the International Television Association’s 1993 Chapter of the Year -- The Raleigh Durham-Chapel Hill chapter.

The opinions expressed above are the author’s alone. For further information on the CPC-1000 SmartPrompter, contact Sidney Hoffman, (202) 966-0980; fax (202) 966-0981.

Source of article: TV Technology, April 1994

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Shooters Relies on CPC

By Jay Hartigan. Co-Owner, Shooters, Inc.Cherry Hill, N.J.

Since 1981, Shooters Inc. has been providing television productionservices worldwide. We are on the road 12 months a year shootingeverywhere from the White House to Buckingham Palace. An importantpart of our field production service is providing prompting toour clients. Because we are always on location, the promptingprogram we use must be absolutely reliable and easy to use, andit must run on portable computers. Based on these requirementsand others, we chose the CPC-1000 SmartPrompter from ComputerPrompting & Captioning Co. (CPC). Back in 1987, when almosteveryone was using large, cumbersome paper prompters we wantedto offer our clients the ease of computer-assisted editing. Weinitially ran the SmartPrompter on what passed as a portable computerback then, a 30-pound sewing machine size, Compaq Portable IIcomputer. We have been running it on notebook computers for thepast few years. The CPC-1000 SmartPrompter features:

• A built-in word processor, which allows us to make quick textchanges, with text that the client can easily read. When we boughtthe system, this meant our operators no longer had to hand writechanges, which was time consuming and difficult for the talentto read.
• ASCII files acceptability, which allows clients to use theirown scripts and gives them more control of their production bypermitting them to work on the script up until the moment shootingbegins.
• Changeable fonts. The talent can choose the font style thatis easiest for them to read. We have found this gives the talentsome control of the situation, and thus helps them to relax somewhat.We often put older corporate executives with less-than-perfecteyesight on-camera. They really appreciate the extra-large fonts.
• Bookmarks. These are pre-designated places in the text thatcan be reached instantly. When we shoot or rehearse scenes outof order, our operators can get to these points in an instant,saving time.

Over the years, CPC has provided us with regular free upgradesof the software, such as compatibility with VGA notebook computers.The company has also been very helpful with technical advice whenupgrading our prompter computers. Frankly, we were afraid ouroperators, who had used paper for years, would take a while toget use to a computer prompter. But after using the SmartPrompter,there is no way we would ever go back to paper.Recently, CPC providedus with a completely new version of the prompting program, theCPC-1000 SmartPrompter II. We were reluctant to use a new program,since we were happy with the updates of the original SmartPrompterprogram, and were very familiar with its use. After some cajoling,we gave the SmartPrompter II a try. Well... to our amazement wehave found the new SmartPrompter II is twice as good as the "old"SmartPrompter. It comes with many new helpful features, including:

• Pull-down menus. This gives the SmartPrompter II an up-to-datelook. From a functional point of view, the pull-down menus letour operators maneuver between menu items easily and quickly bypointing and clicking instead of having to type out DOS commands.
• Direct acceptance of MS Word and WordPerfect files, in additionto ASCII files. Since the vast majority of our clients use oneof these two word processors, it is time-saving and convenientfor our operators to load these files directly. There is no moretime-consuming re-entering of scripts. This is especially helpfulwith technical or medical scripts where we don't know what weare writing about!
• Fifteen proportionally spaced fonts. This greatly enhancesthe readability of the fonts, and we have found it improves talentperformance. The 15 new fonts are crisp and clear.
• Highlighting text. Individual words can not only be underlined,but also italicized and colored. Hot keys, such as "Alt -I," let us italicize single words just by pressing thesekeys while the cursor is on the word we want to italicize. Thisenhances talent performance by letting them emphasize individualwords and phrases.
• Built-in spell check. This has become a necessity in a prompter;it allows you to clean up scripts at the last second. Also whenwe do have to enter a script we can blast through typing as fastas we can and then fix any errors quickly. This is a big timesaver. Also, we no longer blow a scene because the talent cannotread a misspelled word.
• Fast Keys. These keys let our operators invoke any major function(e.g., scroll, spell check, change font) without even having togo to a menu. We simply press one or two keys and the functionis carried out. Another big time saver.
• Storylist. We use this feature at corporate meetings withnumerous speakers. These meetings sometimes last four or fivehours. To use the Storylist feature, our operators create a listfile containing the title of each speech. The speeches are scrolledin the order in which they are listed in that file. The beautyof it is that by simply changing the order of the titles in thelist file, we can change the order in which the files are scrolledas quickly as some directors change their minds.
• Technical Support. CPC's technical support has always beenexcellent. Whenever we call, whether we have a software or hardwarequestion, we always get someone who can help. If we have a reallydifficult question, we are able to speak with Dr. Dilip Som, CPC'sDirector of Research and Development.

The only problem with the new program is that it has so many featuresthat it is hard to keep them all in mind while learning the newprogram. But with the quick-reference chart CPC provides, we canat least see all the features at a glance. In summary, our experiencewith the CPC-1000 SmartPrompter, since 1987, has been that thesoftware is very reliable and easy to use.Although we were reluctantto replace the "old" SmartPrompter with the "new"SmartPrompter II software, we now believe the SmartPrompter IIwill let our prompter operators work more efficiently.

Editor'snote: Jay Hartigan, co-owner of Shooters, has been involved invideo production for the past 22 years. As well as being an ownerof the production company, he is usually out on shoots as a soundmixer. The opinions expressed above are the author's alone. Formore information on Computer Prompting Corp.'s CPC-1000 SmartPrompterpackage, contact Sid Hoffman (Phone: 301-738-8487; FAX: 301-738-8488),or circle Reader Service 121. 

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Software Present For CPC

by Bill Guptill, Teleprompting Engineer, Presentation Group, CHEVERLY, Md.

Presentation Group is a full-service audio/visual production company that has been in business since 1984. One of the services we offer is teleprompting for our own productions and as a stand-alone rental service. As the company’s primary prompter operator, I have found that prompting in Washington, DC is a unique job. The pressure can be intense. Talent rely on prompters more than anything else to make them look good on camera. One of the tools I use is Computer Prompting & Captioning Co.’s SmartPrompter teleprompting software.

The program is intuitive and easy to use, which is crucial when you are in a high-stress situation, and don’t have time to fiddle around. The key feature is its ability to quickly and seamlessly switch between word processing and prompting. The touch of a key bounces you from the prompting mode, where the text is displayed in large, scrollable characters, to the word processing mode. The talent is always impressed that moments after they've ordered a change, it appears on-screen.

The SmartPrompter's word processing capabilities are more than adequate for the task, and can be easily grasped by anyone who uses other word processors. It is especially nice that CPC has included a spellchecker. In prompting, you generally need phonetic spellings. But trust me, when the President of the United States gives you some on-the-spot changes in his text, you really don't want to sit there wondering if you've embarrassed yourself with a misspelling.

The product is also simple to install. If I need to, I can dump it right into a laptop, without going through any laborious setup procedures, and begin prompting within minutes. In addition, I like the SmartPrompter’s flexibility. A crucial feature of this program is the user’s complete control over the appearance of screen and text. For example, once during an outside shoot on the National Mall, it was so bright that the talent could not read the prompter. So with a couple of keystrokes, I switched the text and background colors from black on white to white on black, and the problem was nonexistent. The versatility of having a variety of fonts is extremely helpful. Once while running prompter for a nearsighted actor who preferred not to wear his glasses on camera I needed to enlarge the type. The SmartPrompter allowed me to keep bumping up the font size until he could read it.

The software is also designed so it can be used on any screen, including a monochrome, VGA monitor or even a color TV. In addition, the program lets me italicize, underline or put words in a different color quite easily. Another example of the SmartPrompter's versatility is its scrolling ability. You can use a serial dial-type scrolling device, a trackball, a mouse or even a keyboard.

As with most systems, one needs to learn a few pesky little things. For example, sometimes when there are menus open and you try to enter the prompting mode (especially on a monchrome monitor), it seems that the program locks up. A user simply has to learn a little drill to get around it. In my case, I learned to hit the escape key several times before prompting.

I have found CPC’s customer service to be superb. During the time I’ve used their product, CPC personnel have provided free updates along with free tech support whenever I wanted. Their attitude shows they want users to operate their products successfully and are not focused on who was responsible for what problems.

For basic prompting, the SmartPrompter has been solid and reliable. When things go wrong it really proves its worth. Overall, I can soundly recommend the SmartPrompter as an excellent choice in prompting software.

Editor’s note: Bill Guptill has been working in audio/visual production for more than 20 years. In addition to prompting, he has done camera work, audio and lighting. For more information about Presentation Group, call him at 1-800 STAGING. The opinions expressed above are the author’s alone. For further information, contact Sid Hoffman at Computer Prompting & Captioning Co. (Phone: 301-738-8487; FAX: 301-738-8488) or circle Reader Service 76.