Autocue is one of those company that’s so successful their name has become synonymous with the product they make. In their case of course it’s text prompting, allowing presenters worldwide to appear all-knowing and not have to commit reams of words to memory.
A typical prompter has a hardware and software component and it’s the software that will now be available to download for free from the Autocue website.
QStart features an icon-based interface and menus in multiple languages. You can import scripts from .doc, .rtf and .txt files and control the speed that the text scrolls at via the keyboard or mouse. It works offline as well so if you’re not near an internet connection you won’t lose the ability to record pieces to camera as you would if you’re using an online tool.
And although it’s obviously only one part of a complete prompting setup, in a pinch you could run QStart on a Windows laptop without any other gear and at least have some off-camera prompts for your on-screen talent. The Mac version is still $500 US if you’re not buying it alongside hardware so if you’re a Windows user, head over to the Qstart product page to bag a bargain, download the software and try it out.
