Settings

The MashCast Settings dialog provides a great deal of control over the inner workings of MashCast's mashing and communications capabilities. This section goes over the Settings dialog in detail, and provides tips and tricks for customizing the application for your specific needs.

In This Section:

• Learn about any control within the Settings dialog
• Tips and Tricks for Publishing
• Configure Devices for Capturing Media
• Manage Connections to MashCast & Affiliate Networks such as Facebook, YouTube & Google Video
• Set Your Microphone Level

General Settings

Launch

If you would prefer MashCast to automatically open when you log in to Windows, check the box to enable this setting.

Start Tab

(MashCast Studio Only)

Checking this box will disable the Start Tab the next time MashCast is launched.

Preview

Automatically play assets when previewing

Play your selected media once the Preview window is opened. If this setting is disabled, your show, animation, video, etc. will not play until the Play button is pressed.

Close Preview/Scissors/Talking Picture on "Send to Stage" or "Save"

Checking this box will close the above windows as soon as the asset inside has been saved.

Auto Save

To protect shows in progress in the event of a crash, MashCast, by default, automatically saves your project every 5 minutes. You can change the interval between saves by adjusting the time. You can also disable this feature by unchecking this box.

Show Settings

New Show Defaults

The Background Color setting changes the color of the Stage in the Studio Tab. In order to view the change to the Stage, simply click on
the Main Menu, then click "New Show".

Output

Anti-Aliasing (What's This?)

The Anti-Aliasing slider allows you to control the playback quality level of your exported SWF animation.

Alert Settings

In MashCast, alerts are a tool to inform you of certain changes in your Network, incomming messages or incoming content.

When an alert is enabled, you will be presented with two forms of the alert, simultaneously, via audio and visual notification.

The audio notification consists of a chime.

The visual notification can be delivered two ways. If MashCast is open and focused, a small window will pop up on the bottom,
right corner of the screen. If MashCast is not focused or is minimized, the MashCast icon in the Task Bar will flash orange.

Conversation Settings

(MashCast Studio Only)

Automatically play inbound multimedia messages for active conversations refers to, if enabled, automatically playing a show,
animation, video, etc. imediately upon receiving the media from the user you are having an active conversation with. The video will play in
the Inactive Stage.

Save Message History

Checking this box tells MashCast to save your conversation when you close the application. When you reopen a conversation with the same individual, your last conversation will be available as reference.

Connections

Network

Select a Network from the list at the top of this tab to establish or edit login and password information for that Network. Click "Connect" to establish a connection. Connection status will appear to the right of the Network name.

Login Automatically

When this box is checked, the selected network should log in automatically when MashCast is launched.

MashCast Network Status

Online Status Indicator

Adjusting the status indicator dropdown will change how your contacts see you in their Network List.

Profile...

Clicking on the Profile... button will bring up your MashCast Portal profile in the embedded browser.

"Away" Message

This is the message that will be returned to anyone who attempts to engage you in conversation when your online status is set to "Away".

"Busy" Message

This is the message that will be returned to anyone who attempts to engage you in conversation when your online status is set to "Busy".

"On the phone" Message

This is the message that will be returned to anyone who attempts to engage you in conversation when your online status is set to "On the phone".

Camera

The Camera section of the Settings Dialog contains the following options:

Device

The Device dropdown menu provides a list of video cards and peripherals attached to your computer.

Source

The Source dropdown menu provides a list of cameras and other video sources attached to the selected Device.

Target Aspect Ratio

In situations where the target aspect ratio differs from the aspect ratio provided by the source camera or peripheral, the source video will be stretched to fit if the “Stretch frame to match target aspect ratio?” checkbox is checked.

Note: Checking this box may cause unwanted vertical stretching when publishing from the stage.

Camera… Button

The Camera… Button brings up a Windows dialog containing camera settings for your camera. Please consult with the documentation which came with your camera for more information on this dialog.

Audio

The Audio section of the Settings Dialog contains the following options for Audio Input and Output:

Input Device

The Device dropdown menu provides a list of audio cards and peripherals attached to your computer.

Source

The Source dropdown menu provides a list of microphones, and other audio sources attached to the selected Device.

Input Level

The Global Input Level for MashCast AV audio input can be set by adjusting the Input Level control.

Output Device

The Device dropdown menu provides a list of audio cards and peripherals attached to your computer.

Note: Some of these may not suitable output devices! Please select an output device that is capable of producing sound, such as “Volume Control.”

Output Level

The Global Output Level for MashCast AV playback can be set by adjusting the Output Level control.

Play Sound

Clicking on the Play Sound button will trigger playback of a music loop. Use this feature to confirm audio playback through the selected Audio Output Device. Click this button again to stop the loop.

Capture

Media Types

Select a media type to adjust capture settings for that media type.

Capture Quality

This slider establishes the quality of the encoded video or still image captures.

Include Audio In Capture (Video Only)

Check the “Include Audio in Capture” checkbox in order to record audio when capturing Video using Live Capture.