Teleprompters are cool. Putting a half-silvered mirror in front of the camera so the talent can read magically floating white letters scrolling upward while looking straight into the camera lens is a great way to save the trouble of memorizing lengthy scripts. Even without a mirror, you can put a laptop, or second monitor, below, or above, the camera lens to achieve almost the same thing. Even if you're just reading narration, it's easier to read from a teleprompter than a word processing document.
 
We at DVcreators've used a variety of teleprompting solutions at shoots over the years. But we've never been happy with anything except for some systems that cost thousands of dollars. For a shoot we did last year, we searched the world for a quality teleprompter at a reasonable price. But... we just couldn't find one.
 
So, as they say, if you want something done right, do it yourself.
 
So we created, not one, but two teleprompter programs: PromptDog, and PromptPuppy. We've tweaked this software extensively over the last year- sometimes tweaking the code right on the set- until it performed to our very demanding standards.

PromptDog is our high end, professional prompting software with all the power user features, and PromptPuppy is our consumer version for less demanding situations.

Let's first look at the features both programs share, then we'll cover the pro features that only PromptDog has.

Here's the main window, called the operator window. The control panel is located on the left- that's so, whether the camera is above or below the display, you can read as close as possible to the lens.
 
To load your script, you can use File ¬ª Import Text, or just drag your script into the window.
 
Resize the window as desired, then just click the "Start Prompting" button and you're off and running! The best way to control the speed of the scrolling is with your mouse scroll wheel- or, laptop trackpad, though the arrow keys work as well.
 
You'll appreciate the QuickRewind feature- in case you want to take a redo... take a redo?... waitaminnit... can we do that again?
 
You'll appreciate the QuickRewind feature- in case you want to do a retake, just move your scroll wheel back and PromptDog jumps into fast reverse scroll so you're instantly ready to go. Not like other teleprompters where jumping back a few lines is a huge hassle.
 
You can easily adjust the size of your text and the line spacing of your script for optimum legibility. You can change the font in single window operation, or invert the display for black on white text.
 
If you ever have a question the built-in help doesn't answer, our famous "Ask a Question" button will take you directly to the right forum to ask your specific question.
 
Now let's look at some features PromptDog has that PromptPuppy does not:

I've never been on a shoot where we didn't need to make some script revisions right on the spot. With PromptDog, just click the edit button, make any changes you want, apply them and you're instantly back to prompting.
 
You can also now colorize words in your script - to punch certain words or phrases, to designate different speakers, or for any other reason. After editing your script, you can save the edited version and load it back in anytime.
 
There're also search boxes in both the edit window and main operator window to instantly jump to any spot in a script.
 
One awesome new feature is the timer showing not only how long you've been reading, but with a feature only found on the most expensive teleprompters, which is the total estimated read time, based on the length of the script and how fast you're reading through it.
 
For professional shoots with a teleprompter and talent, you can use a second monitor- one for the operator, and one for the talent. The PromptDog Talent Window is perfectly synchronized to the operator window, so the operator sees exactly what the talent's seeing.
 
Check the "Mirror Talent Window" checkbox and place your second monitor in a teleprompter set-up like this one with two boxes, a half-silvered mirror and some black fabric, and the talent's able to look right into the lens while reading sharp, clear, smooth-scrolling text floating magically in front of the camera lens. The text is invisible to the camera. There're downloadable instructions on a Do It Yourself teleprompter on the PromptDog webpage.
 
You can even position the eyeline triangle on the left or right, or both, and move it wherever you want, or change its opacity.
 
Whether you're a spokesperson, teacher, CEO or presidential candidate, you'll find either PromptDog or PromptPuppy your best friend on the set. They're both well-trained, well-mannered and great with children.

So, we have free trials of both PromptDog and PromptPuppy, so, I'd like to prompt you to download one or both and try it yourself- promptly!