New P2MMC-USB Software

Last week I spent several days on the sync separator software used in several of our designs. Eventually I had to change the algorithm so that the various factors involved did not interact. The result is a much more stable sync separator for the P2MMC, Euphonix TT002, and the Nuendo SyncStation.

You can download new software for the P2MMC from its product page, I have sent an update to Euphonix (Avid) and will send a update to Nuendo later this week.

AES New York Stand 746

CB Electronics will be sharing a stand with their Japanese agents TAC Systems


CB are showing three new products -

TC-5
LTC-Midi Timecode display/Converter,
A very versatile unit with LTC In/Out, Midi In/Out/Through, USB Midi IN/Out and Virtual Machine.Locking to Crystal, Video or Wordclock with simultaneous conversion between formats

UR422-USB 
A complete redesign of the UR-422, now includes USB, Video Sync input, Timecode Output and Virtual Machine. We have implemented the Odetics extensions to the Sony P2 protocol and plan to add the VDCP protocol to this product.

T-Bar 
We are showing the T-Bar control fitted to the UR422-USB but it may be fitted to any of our keyboard designs and we welcome discussing with customers and agents the optimum keyboard and port configuration.

VCube Crash in Forward Wind

Goldcrest recently reported that the VCube would crash when in forward wind. This was traced to the RM-6 converting the Forward Wind command from the DFC to a forward shuttle command. This is necessary with tape based video machines as there is often no picture in Fast Forward.

To correct change the option in the RM-6 as follows

Setup / Root / Ext/ Menu 097 - Rmt FWD/RWD Cmds to Video Mcn
Set to 0=Normal


The Default is 1=Convert to Shuttle

IBC 2011: Hall 8 Stand A04

CB are showing three new products -

TC-5
LTC-Midi Timecode display/Converter,
A very versatile unit with LTC In/Out, Midi In/Out/Through, USB Midi IN/Out and Virtual Machine.Locking to Crystal, Video or Wordclock with simultaneous conversion between formats

UR422-USB 
A complete redesign of the UR-422, now includes USB, Video Sync input, Timecode Output and Virtual Machine. We have implemented the Odetics extensions to the Sony P2 protocol and plan to add the VDCP protocol to this product.

T-Bar 
We are showing the T-Bar control fitted to the UR422-USB but it may be fitted to any of our keyboard designs and we welcome discussing with customers and agents the optimum keyboard and port configuration.

Dynamic Offset & Edit Offset - What are they? Why do you need them?

Dynamic Offset +/- 4 frames
An offset that is used only in play, unlike the normal offset this is removed in stop. Dynamic Offset is occasionally required to correct for errors in devices (I remember one DAW that required 4 attemps to get the LTC and RS422 in sync). Dynamic offset can also be used to correct for projector/screen delay if the video is on a different device to the audio.

Edit Offset +/- 4 frames
An offset that is only used in playback or record when one or more tracks are armed. A number of digital video devices switch to confidence mode when recording. The timecode switches to be in sync with the playback and is then several frames out of sync with the record. Edit offset is used to correct for this, if not then when you layback the audio it is out of sync.. 

ADR Taker Updates to CBServer and SR software

CBServer has been updated to make it easier to download loops to the Streamer and to SR-Keyboards

We have also added  Setup|Auto/ADR|Options|"Menu 093- Loops from?" to the on SR keyboards, this allows the user to select loops from  the keyboard memory or directly from CBServer using the <> or Prev and Next keys. When using the ID keys the user should also check that Setup|Unit|Generic|"Menu 038- ID<> Key Function" is selected to "2=Loop". 

Using the new software you can prepare or import loops into the cue list on CBServer, then download them to the Streamer and or keyboard and if selected to "Loops from CBServer" you can use the mouse the computer keyboard or the ID<> keys on the keyboard to select the next loop. 

Using the VS-1 with different Video sources

I designed the VS-1 in 1985/6 and we are still making it 27 years later, for a product with a 27 year life we have not sold a great number, probably about 10 a year, and not that many now.

I have been asked a number of times to upgrade the VS-1 to work with HD video. My problem has always been which format? The market size will not finance a big development project. Here are some interim alternative solutions.

SD Component,

If setup for syncs on green, insert the streamer on the Green line

VGA

I have tried the Startech VGA to composite converter, this works well and is a cheap solution but the resolution is not as high as I would like. Kramer and TV One make more expensive boxes but I have not compared their resolution. 

S-Video

Insert into the Luminance line

Software Solutions

There are a number of cheap software solutions available but I find them jerky, possibly I need a super computer!

One way forward without investing a large amount of time would be to design a system for VGA, but with computers now using DVI, HDMI and SDI is this a viable approach?

Let me know your ideas