Settings Window - Threshold area

These settings affect the way Spike reacts to data-spikes and how Spike determines whether or not a movie is acceptable for the specific medium and/or platform, that is, whether or not it "passes."

Threshold tab
When you are in other areas of the settings window the Threshold tab will bring you back to this area.

Actions tab
Clicking the Actions tab will take you to Settings that affect the actions Spike performs before and after processing batches.

General tab
Clicking the General tab will take you to Settings that affect the general configuration o of the program.

Maximum acceptable data rate
In this field you can enter the maximum datarate (in kilobytes per second) that you believe will be supported by your target media and/or platforms.

Allow spikes
Check this box if you choose to allow occasional Spikes above the "maximum acceptable datarate." You may wish to lower the maximum acceptable datarate to lead "headroom" for this spike threshold. Enabling this checkbox enables all the options below it.

Spike tolerance
Use this pop-up menu to specify the maximum amount (in kilobytes per second) that you will allow any data-spike to exceed the maximum acceptable datarate and still be considered to have "passed." Values of 1k, 2k, 3k and 4k are provided, however, you may add items to this menu by selecting the "Other..." option at the bottom of the pop-up. You can remove settings from this menu by selecting them while holding the option key down

Consecutive spiking frames
Use this pop-up menu to specify the maximum number of consecutive frames that you will allow any data-spike to persist. That is, the maximum duration that you will accept an datarate above the maximum acceptable datarate and still have the movie be considered to have "passed." Values of 1, 2, and 3 (frames) are provided, however, you may add items to this menu by selecting the "Other..." option at the bottom of the pop-up. You can remove settings from this menu by selecting them while holding the option key down.

Frame after spike region
Check this box if you require that the datarate of the frame after a spiking region must drop below a certain amount in order for the spike itself to be acceptable. This allows you to specify a "recovery period" following the spikes. Movies that do not achieve this "recovery" will not be considered to have "passed." Enabling this checkbox enables the options below it.

Frame-after options
This pop-up menu lets you set conditions for the data-rate of the frame immediately following a spike. The options for the frame after a spike are that its data-rate must drop to "less than or equal to":

1) the target data-rate
2) the target data-rate minus the spike-threshold
3) the target data-rate minus the spike-threshold multiplied by the consecutive frames setting
4) the average data-rate
5) the average data-rate minus the spike-threshold
6) the average data-rate minus the spike-threshold multiplied by the consecutive frames setting
7) a special data-rate of your choice. Choosing this will enable the item directly below the pop-up menu.

Notice that option 3 will guarantee that your average data-rate remains at or, in most cases, below your target data-rate. Option 4 will guarantee that your average data-rate remains well below your target data-rate. Options 5 and 6 drive the average data-rate even lower.

Special rate for frame after
If you select option 7 in the Frame-after pop-up menu then you can use field to enter a special rate that the frame after a data-spike must drop to. This is a fixed rate of your choice and not necessarily relative to the target rate (maximum acceptable datarate), tolerance, and or average rate as the built-in options are.

Set Default
This button lets you set the all the options above as "default" for the particular configuration of the three pop-up menus to the right (CD-ROM drive, Platform, and Audio). Clicking this button with the shift key down will let you choose to either recall the "factory settings" for the currently display CD-ROM drive, Platform, and Audio settings or to recall all "factory settings" (or cancel). This feature is not available in the demo version.

Media
Spike stores certain default threshold settings for deployment media such as hard disks, double, or quad-speed CD-ROM drives, 14.4 bps or 28.8 bps modems, and 1 or 2 channel ISDN. Use this menu to recall those settings. This feature is not available in the demo version.

Platform
Spike stores certain default threshold settings depending upon the target platform(s) you are aiming at (Macintosh, Windows 95, or Mac/Win). Use this menu to recall those settings. Selecting a platform or platform combination from this menu may change the current threshold settings. This feature is not available in the demo version.

Speed
This pop-up lets you specify the speed of your target platform or platforms. Options include Slow, Medium, and Fast. Depending upon the target platform or combination of platforms these translate to:

1) Slow -- 6800x0 running at less than 25 MHz; PPC running at 100 MHz or less; 486 running at 33 MHz; Pentium running at less than 100 MHz.

2) Medium -- 6800x0 running at 25 to 30 MHz; PPC running at 120 to 150 MHz; 486 ruining at 50 to 66 MHz; Pentium running at 100 to 150 MHz.

3) Fast -- 6800x0 running at greater than 30 MHz; PPC running at greater than 150 MHz; 486 running at greater than 66 MHz; Pentium running at greater than 150 MHz.

Choosing a speed setting from this menu may change the current threshold settings. This feature is not available in the demo version.

Profiles
Any combination of settings is considered a "Profile." You can save custom profiles by selecting "Other..." from this menu. Subsequently you can recall custom profiles and completely reconfigure Spike by choosing them from this menu. You can remove profiles from this menu by selecting them while holding the option key down.

Settings Window - Actions area

These settings affect the actions Spike performs before and after processing batches.

Threshold tab
Clicking the Threshold tab will take you to Settings that affect the way Spike reacts to data-spikes and how Spike determines whether or not a movie is acceptable for the specific medium and/or platform, that is, whether or not it "passes."

Actions tab
When you are in other areas of the settings window the Actions tab will bring you back to this area.

General tab
Clicking the General tab will take you to Settings that affect the general configuration o of the program.

Allow variable frame durations
In this version, Spike's mechanism for calculating data-rates and data-spikes is much more accurate if all frame durations are equal. Sometimes QuickTime will create variable frame durations when a movie is converted from one frame-rate to another, particularly if the new frame-rate is not an even divisor of the movie's natural frame-rate (for example, saving a 25 fps movie at 15 fps will usually produce a new movie that alternates between two frame durations).

Display warnings
Checking this box will enable the three options below. These options tell Spike when to display warnings (confirmations) during program operation.

When overwriting batch field
With this checkbox enabled you will be asked for a confirmation before overwriting the main report field, that is, before processing a new batch.

When overwriting log display
With this checkbox enabled you will be asked for a confirmation before overwriting the text window that opens when you display a log file (log files are not the same as batch files).

When quitting without saving
With this checkbox enabled you will be asked for a confirmation before quitting program if you have processed a batch and not saved a the results.

Beep when done
Checking this box will cause Spike to beep after completing a batch processing session.

Delete files that are too high
Selecting this option will cause Spike to delete all files in a batch that do not "pass" the set of conditions specified in the Threshold settings.

Only keep best files
Selecting this option will cause Spike to delete files that don't "pass" and all versions of the same file except the best version. Note that Spike considers files with the same name but a different file extension to be "versions" of the same movie. This is designed with Movie Cleaner Pro's "append settings name" option in mind. You may process a batch of, for example, 25 versions of the same movie with Movie Cleaner Pro, each with a slightly different setting. Choosing Movie Cleaner Pro's "append settings name" option will inform Spike that all the movies in this batch are from the same source. Spike can then choose which file is best after weighing many factors including frame-rate, spatial and temporal quality settings, audio quality, dimensions, peak data rate, etc. This option is not available in the demo version.

Move rejected files to
This option lets you specify a folder into which to move rejected files following the processing of a batch.

Path for rejections
If you have selected the "Move rejected files to:" option then you can click on this field to display a "Choose Folder" dialog box which will let you specify the destination folder. No files are deleted.

Display only
This option displays all files after processing the batch and no files are delete or moved.

Create log file
Select this option to automatically create a log file with summary information about the current batch. Don't confuse this log file with the "Batch files" you can save and open using the option under the "File" menu. When you choose to open a log file, the file will open in a special window. This facilitates comparing one batch of settings with another without overwriting the display in the report field (which is what happens when you re-open a batch file).

Settings Window - General area

These settings affect the general operation of the program. They do not effect the way Spike determines the playability of movies nor do they affect the actions Spike takes before and after processing.

Threshold tab
Clicking the Threshold tab will take you to Settings that affect the way Spike reacts to data-spikes and how Spike determines whether or not a movie is acceptable for the specific medium and/or platform, that is, whether or not it "passes."

Actions tab
Clicking the Actions tab will take you to Settings that affect the actions Spike performs before and after processing batches.

General tab
When you are in other areas of the settings window the General tab will bring you back to this area.

Customize keyboard shortcuts
Use these six fields to assign keyboard shortcuts to the items found under the "Tools" menu. You can tab through the fields. The following keys are pre-assigned: O, W, P, Q, X, C, V, A, F, and G.

Turn help on
Check this box to tell Spike to display brief help information when the cursor is held over a control such as a button.

Show splash-screen
Disable this checkbox to open the program directly to the main window instead of the opening splash screen. You can't disable the splash screen in the demo version.