JANIS: The Improv Scorekeeper

Bill Cernansky created JANIS in 2004 to allow improv theaters to display scores and simple graphics and text for audiences, but it has become much more since then. The most current version of JANIS is v2.2, released 12-Sep-2007.

Download the latest JANIS version(s):

v2.1 Dual-Monitor (zipped) -- this means control monitor + 2 audience display monitors.
v2.2 Single-Monitor (zipped) -- this means control monitor + 1 audience display monitor.

NOTES:

There currently is no documentation other than this page. To install, first read the requirements at the bottom of this page. Then download the desired version of JANIS. Unzip the version you've downloaded to a temp directory and then double-click "JANIS_Setup.msi". Documentation is a future consideration.
It's true: the single-monitor version is 2.2 and the dual-monitor version is only 2.1. The changes to the single-monitor version don't necessarily fit with a 2-monitor version.
Want a new feature you don't see here? If it's a bug fix, it's free. If it's truly new functionality and takes more than an hour for me to do, I charge for that -- because my life is busy!

Features of JANIS:

Works with one control monitor and either one or two audience display monitors (usually TVs, depending on system configuration).
Keeps score for two teams. Each team's name and background color can be selected individually. Display scores quickly and easily.
Type text messages and immediately send them to the audience monitor(s). Background color and font size can be changed easily. Text entry is WYSIWYG: what you see is what you get. The preview text and the displayed text appear in predictable size ratio.
Graphics can be displayed on the audience monitors. Supported image types:
- .BMP
- .GIF (including animations)
- .JPG
- .PNG
- .WMF
The 2-monitor version can display different graphics or text on each screen simultaneously.
Any graphics showing on the audience monitor(s) is visible to the JANIS operator.
Build graphic slideshows, play, save, and load them. Slide interval is configurable.
Programmable Hot Buttons provide quick-click ability to display images that you use often.
Scans your PC's to build a searchable image library:
- Search for text within image filenames;
- Quickly preview matching images;
- Display previewed image, add it to the slideshow, or drag and-drop to a Hot Button.
On-screen count-up/down timer (version 2.2 or newer), which simultaneously does its thing while pictures and text appear on the same screen.
Installs with windows installer.
Set and save program preferences, such as immediately launching a specific slideshow when program starts.
5/6 Things specialty module allows you to quickly edit and display in support of this popular game.
Load text from files into internal text editor for modification and display.
Original specification requirement: "So easy a monkey could use it." Basic features require almost no time to learn. This is part of why there's no doc.

Requirements:

Windows XP is recommended. Windows 2000 is known to work, but multi-monitor setup is often flaky and dialog boxes may not appear where you expect to see them.
Windows Vista is not supported. I don't know if it works or not, and I have no copy of Vista to work with. Frankly, it isn't worth my effort to find out. If you run into trouble running JANIS on Vista, let me know. I may or may not send you a fix to try.
You must have Microsoft .NET Framework v1.1 or newer installed on your system.
NVidia video cards recommended. Others may work, but the onus is on you to get them working if you want to use them, especially in Win2K.
A 500 MHz processor is probably fine, but 1.5 GHz or faster is recommended.
Don't even try to use Windows with less than 256 MB. Why would you? I mean, it'll work and everything... but a car moves if you push it, too; wouldn't you rather drive?.