Las Vegas Magic
Studio
Swimsuit Gallery
Introduction
How it Works
Of Dollars and Cents
Summary
The Las Vegas Overlay
System
Understanding Overlays
The Las Vegas Heat
Transfer Systems
Presses
Turbo Speed Print
Order Samples
Browse and Order Heat
Transfer Consumables
Browse and Order Las
Vegas System
Components
Digital Cameras
ID Printers
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Juno. But how does the system know which area should be transparent to what?
I mean, in the white area where video shows through how can I eliminate the
background and just leave me against the landscape?
Tourist with body and
hair of Arnold
Schwarzenegger | Vulcan. You don't need to know all this but
the principle is simple. It is all connected to the idea of
you standing in front of the white screen and selecting
TRUE WHITE to be transparent to video. As you know,
all colors are represented electronically by a combination
of red, green, and blue. And since this is a high quality
system, we are dealing with 24-bit color, meaning that
there are 256 values for each of the color components,
red, green, and blue, together 16.7 million colors. True
white is Red=255, Blue=255, Green=255. Now saying, I
make True White transparent to video means: Wherever
in the mask there is a point (or as we say a pixel) which
is true white, that value will be transparent to video,
meaning that instead of the white pixel, you see video.
And the pixels, all together make up the picture. |
Juno. But where does the white screen come into it?
Vulcan. The screen is white so, with one command you adjust the level of white
until it becomes transparent to the landscape. In other words, let's say that at the
beginning you have an oval part of which is occupied by your picture while the
rest is white ( because the video camera picks up you image as well as the
surrounding area). Now you can adjust the color white until it becomes
transparent to the landscape - as you adjust the command you will see on the
screen that the white fades away while the underlying field of daisies begins to
show - when all the white is gone the picture on the screen will show the beautiful
new you on the field of daisies.
Juno. You said that there are 2 versions of this program, the
Picture-In-A-Picture and the Las Vegas Edition. What are the differences
between the two?
Vulcan. The Las Vegas Edition has the following improvements on the standard
Picture-In-A-Picture:
- The collection "Fabulous Pictures" of ready made magazine-like masks is
provided with the system - like the one I used to put the tourist on the body
of Schwarzenegger when you came in.
- You can connect the optional Custom Keyboard of which we have spoken
- You can acquire the optional link to Adobe Photoshop for last minute
additional editing after acquiring the video overlaid picture
- Las Vegas Edition has direct support for the FotoFUN! mug and postcard
printer - you can print directly from Las Vegas Edition to the FotoFUN!
Juno. Could you show me how to make a T-shirt?
Vulcan. Certainly. The process is very simple and the quality, as you will see, is
outstanding. Kep in mind that the Kodak prints in sublimation mode - sublimation
also means printing in 16.7 million colors. To transfer the sublimation print to the
cloth you need to first condition the coloth using Computer Friends' dual
purpose paper. I will tell you later why it is called dual purpose.
You take the shirt and position it on the Flat Press - then you take one sheet of
the dual purpose paper and postion it on the area where you wish to transfer the
picture. Now lower the upper arm of the press, having previously set the
temperature dial to 330 degrees F, and leave it pressed for about 15 seconds.
Now raise the upper arm of the press and remove the T-shirt to which the sheet
of dual purpose paper will now adhere. Wave the shirt in the air 2 or 3 times so
as to increase the temperature differential between the paper and the cloth. The
idea is to transfer as much as possible of the conditioning material from the dual
purpose paper onto the shirt. Now gently peel away the dual purpose paper and
reposition the shirt on the press. Put the picture on top of the target area, lower
the upper arm and leave it on for 30 seconds and voila you have a high quality
T-shirt with custom picture.
Juno. Is the system difficult to set up?
Vulcan. Not at all. The software comes installed and Computer Friends provides
everything. Even the cables and ports to computer, camera, printer, scanner, etc.
are individually labeld so that you know exactly where each cable is installed.
And with the custom keyboard you can train a totally non-computer person to
run the system. I trained my assistant Thyrsus, who beforehand was a shepherd
in Corynth, in about 20 minutes.
Juno (to Circe). Do you mind if I don't give you a lift back to Aeetes? I want to
go directly to Portland, Oregon and pay a visit to Computer Friends. Maybe I
can set up a side business (other than experimenting with new alluring virutal
selves...) Besides selling pictures and postcards, I could do T-shirts, mugs,
plates, caps, mouse pads, and buttons.
Circe. Go ahead. I'll ask Neptune to loan me a dolphin and I'll get a ride back to
Aeetes.
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