Problem: I've installed VH on Windows 7, but the speech synthesizer doesn't work.
Solution: VH does run a bit differently on Windows 7. Here are some tips for dealing with the speech synthesizer issue: First, uninstall VH and reinstall everything again - making sure that everything installs on your C:\ drive. VH really won't run if even a part of it is on another drive. Next, be sure to get the newest, most advanced version of the speech synthesizer and its add-ons: http://vhypno.sourceforge.net/download_upgrade.html Finally, be sure you actually enable the speech synthesizer. From the main screen, click the "Change Mode/Options" button. I've only ever used SAPI4 because I don't know what Follow the Watch means about SAPI5 not being "fully supported." If you've tried SAPI5 and it doesn't work but SAPI4 does work for you, please let me know. That would be useful information for all of us who like VH.
Note: One Windows 7 user had some success by running VH in compatibility mode and by downloading this Microsoft add-in. At this point, I think the best we can say is that VH just hits a few snags when it runs in Windows 7. If anyone else experiences any problems and/or has found any fixes, please email me so that we can learn together.
Problem: My animated GIF's stop working after a few seconds
Solution: I've found two reasons why GIF's might freeze, and solutions for each of them:
- If your program requires you (or another user) to hit the space bar, the GIF is likely to freeze at that point. The solution is to reload the GIF on the next command line.
- Now that I have a new computer with Windows 7, I've noticed that all my GIF's freeze after a second or two. The only solution I've found at this point is to convert the GIF's to mpg4's and then use them in the sessions that way. I don't know if you already have a program that can convert GIF's to mpg4's, but if not, my recommendation is the freeware version of Any Video Converter. This link goes to cnet.com, which I've found to be a great site for downloading good software. ONE NOTE: when AVC converts a GIF to an mpg4, it will a) complain to you about not having any audio, and b) create an mpg4 that's a speeded-up version of the original GIF. This means that once you change your session to include the new mpg4, you'll need to go to the "Graphics and Audio" tab and drag the "video animation rate" slider all the way to the left, to make it as slow as possible.
Problem: I wrote a command to make my video larger at a certain point in the session, but instead it got much smaller.
Solution: Let me give you an example to explain what's happening. Suppose you started your video at 40% of the screen size (setting that value via the "Graphics and Audio" tab), and now you want to change the video size to 60% of the total screen size. Your first instinct might be to use the "vidzoom" command followed by the number 60. Unfortunately, this is what made your video smaller: Virtual Hypnotist took the current size of the video (which was 40%) and reduced that by 60%, leaving you with a video that's .66% of the total screen size. So how do you correct the problem? Well, if you want to increase from 40% of the screen size to 60% of the screen size, use the "vidzoom" command followed by the number 150 (That's 150% of the previous 40%). To find the right value for any vidzoom percentage, divide the new percentage you want - in this case, 60 - by the old percentage you had - in this case, 40 - then multiply by 100. So (60 / 40) x 100 = 150.
Note 1: The reverse is also true. If your video starts at 40% of the screen size and you want to reduce it to 20% of the screen size, you shouldn't use "vidzoom" with the number 20. That will make the video too small to see (Or, if you get your math really wrong, the video might suddenly expand to four times the size of the screen! VH is finicky that way.). What you actually want is "vidzoom" 50, because (20 / 40) x 100 = 50.
Note 2: The viszoom command doesn't seem to work the same way - at least, not on my system. So far, the only way I've been able to alter the size of the background video while in the midst of a session is to use "viszoom" followed by the number 1. This takes it down to invisibility. If anyone out there has found a way to make the background visuals do anything else, please let me know.
Problem: The background track to my session doesn't loop like it should. It plays only once and then stops.
Solution: This seems to be another Windows 7 glitch, although it only happens with certain sessions. Reboot your computer and then run the session immediately so there's no chance for memory leakage. The background track should now work properly.
