Requirements to Use The
Player DanceMaster
Player is most useful on a laptop computer. It should
work fine on virtually any Windows laptop currently being
made, with the exception of some of the new, tiny "Netbook"
computers with less than XGA screen resolution.
Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8. Just watch out for Windows 8 RT - that version is intended mainly for small notebook computers, and can't run "legacy applications", of which DanceMaster is one.
Bigger
and brighter is better. The minimum resolution required is
XGA (1024 x768 pixels). A 14 inch or larger Active Matrix
screen is recommended. "Netbooks" with 10 or 12
inch screens aren't recommended. Even if you can find one
with XGA or better resolution, the print is going to be pretty
darn small. And they often come with Windows 8 RT (See above).
DanceMaster Player
was developed on a computer with a 200MHz
Pentium processor and 64 Mb
of RAM. (It would be hard to buy a computer that wimpy these
days!) More RAM and a faster processor is, of course, better.
The amount of disk space required
will depend on the amount of compression you use on your sound
files, and on the size of your record library. If you record
with CD quality sound, the program, database, cue cards and
sound files for about 250 dances takes up less than 1 gigabyte.
Each additional dance should occupy about 4Mb, depending again
on the amount of compression you use. In practice, any reasonably
new laptop will come with more than enough disk space for
DanceMaster, your whole dance library, and lots
of other stuff.
You will need a word processor
for entering your cue cards. Anything that can produce RTF
(Rich Text Format) or .DOC (Word) files, including Microsoft
Word and Word Pad, should do. DanceMaster
Player can even display cue cards that have been scanned
and stored as .BMP (Bitmap) files, but RTF files are strongly
recommended, and are required
if you want to use Karaoke Cue Cards.
You will need a source of music
in MP3 format. That usually means using your computer's sound
card and software to record your music. You can also buy round dance music in MP3 format
over the Internet from sources such as WalMart , Amazon, and round dance
music stores. (See "Preparation: Recording the music" in the
manual. I recommend using the Audacity
sound editor program for recording your music and cues.
To use remote control, you'll
need DanceMaster Player
Advanced Edition, plus the remote control transmitter
(model HR12A
Palm Pad) and the receiver (model CM19A
RF Receiver) from X10.com (about $70). Or you can
get them from me for about the same price. The transmitter
goes with you out onto the dance floor, and the receiver plugs
into a USB port on your computer. There it receives the commands
you send from the remote and passes them to DanceMaster,
which does whatever you're asking for.
At a dance, in addition to the computer, you will need your
microphone, speaker(s) and an amplifier / mixer of some sort.
The usual Hilton turntables work fine, and there are smaller
(more portable) amplifier / mixers available from Hilton,
Radio Shack, and the sort of audio stores that musicians frequent.
Even better, there are now "multimedia speaker systems"
available from several leading manufacturers including Altec
Lansing and Cambridge Soundworks. These speaker systems contain
their own amplifiers, are quite compact, sound MUCH
better than the usual dance speakers, are made to plug into
your PC, and can produce a LOT of sound (some of them are rated
at over 300 watts). One of these, plus your laptop and your
microphone and a small mixer, makes a very portable rig for
cueing.
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