Japan: Protools 10.2 Local Mode, Latency, Locate Interval

Japan
I returned from Japan two weeks ago, I had a great time there, Tac Systems are great hosts and made me feel very welcome. It is not very often that I can get 8 days concentrated on synchroniser software!  Jun Yamasaki  who has a deep knowledge of synchronisers pushed hard to get what his customers wanted from our software!

NHK asked for a version of software that would always power-up in the same way by reading the user settings from eeprom and not power-up the same as last used. To do this it was essential that all important settings were saved. I will add this software to the web in future as an option.

Protools
Tac Systems are also a Protools agent and this allowed me to investigate some recent problems with the interface as follows

Protools: Remote Control in Local Mode
Protools now provides a setting that allows remote control when is local mode, unfortunately this mode does not support the special enhanced synchronisation controls that Protools introduced. If you wish to use this mode then change the following settings

Setup/Iface/Chase/Chase type
Change from 6=Isync to 5=+-

Setup/Iface/Chase/Initial Play Command

Change from 2=PNoAud to 0=Play

Protools: Latency

The latest versions of protools can be very slow to respond to Serial communications, I have modified the test display in the latest software to include a Latency problem display (See section 7.42 of the User Manual on the web site).  The solution to the problem is to switch to a less demanding communications mode

Setup/Iface/Chase/Serial Position Request
Change  from 0=Mid to 3=Start-O

If using Windows you should adjust the port latency to 2 mSec using the Device Manager.

Protools: Locate Interval
Locate interval is a new parameter that we have added to improve the response of tapeless systems, In the past the locate interval was fixed at 6 frames. In the latest software this parameter allows for slave machines to follow closely in  Jog and Shuttle.

Not all machines can accept very rapid locate commands. This parameter sets the interval at which you send the commands, Avid Media composer for instance insists on finishing one locate before accepting another and puts locate commands into a queue.

Setup/Iface/Chase/Locate Interval * 2
Set to 4 for Protools

               

RM-6/SR-4 Software update

It has been to long since I made my last entry, I must try and post updates more frequently!

Today I found a bug in the SR/RM software when running NTSC Drop code together with Non Drop code . The bug is only evident when using slow responding machines where the controller only communicates once per frame, for instance Pro-Tools. The new software fixes this problem.

The office will be shut for Christmas and New Year from the 23rd of December to the 2nd of January. I am looking forward to my first trip to Japan on the 4th of January I will be there until the 14th of January. No doubt I will be very tired after my trip!

Happy Christmas and a enjoyable New Year to you All

Colin

Q2Midi: VM-15 Cue list to .mid file conversion

We have received an enthusiastic initial customer reaction to the VM-15 HD streamer, one of the first customers has immediately started using the Midi trigger, the only problem they had was the time taken to manually enter the timecode numbers from a .pdf, .txt or .doc file onto a midi track within Protools or any other DAW.

To solve this problem I have written a small program for both mac and PC 'Q2midi' that will convert .pdf or .txt files to .mid files (You can export a .doc file as a .txt file) here is a screenshot

more information at http://www.colinbroad.com/cbsoft/vm15/vm15.html

VM-15 HD Streamer

We now have the VM-15 HD streamer  in stock,

 The main features are as follows

• SDI or HDMI input, SDI and HDMI output
• Trigger from contact closure, Beep, Midi, timecode list
• Up to 4 simultaneous wipes
• Timecode insertion
• Text insertion
• Price £2,500

The designer of the VM-15 Jim Ketcham is well known in the film industry for numerous products including Biphase, Counters, and the timecode for DTS

More information at http://www.colinbroad.com/cbsoft/vm15/vm15.html

New chase parameter for SR-4/RM-6

In Jog and shuttle the SR/RM uses a combination of locate and fast wind commands to keep the slaves in sync with the master machine. On linear machines fast wind commands are used when the difference is greater than one minute, on non-linear machines and on linear machines when the difference is less than one minute locate commands are used.

In an ideal world the locate is updated on a once per frame basis, unfortunately some machines get confused when receiving frequent locate commands. and in earlier software we sent locate commands on 10 frame intervals.

On current software we have introduced a new parameter to determine the interval between locate commands:

Setup/Root/IFACE/chase/Menu 067 Locate Interval.
0= 1= 2= 3= 4= 5= 6= 7= 8= 9=   +1 Frm

On a Bonsai drive for instance I am able to set a locate interval of =0 in this case a locate command is sent every frame. I will update this post with more information once I have the figures back from other machines.

External Timecode display for CBServer

CBServer now supports the PunchLight Studio Display as shown below.  The display connects to the computer running CBServer via USB for both data and power. Other PuchLight displays may be connected using a USB to Midi converter.

  

Using the UR-422 as a remote to the RM-6 or CBServer(2)

The UR-422 is a small flexible keyboard with user definable keys which may be used to control two RS-422 machines or as a remote directly to the RM-6 or via CBServer(2). Some special commands have been aded to increase the functionality of the UR-422 when used in this mode.

When used as a remote to the RM-6 directly or via CBServer a number of settings have be made as follows

UR-422

Setup/Root/Serial port A(B)/Menu  Position Request Type to 6=XMC

Configure Keyboard as required,

RM-6/SR-4

Setup/Root/Ext/Menu 097 Remote Control of 1= Selected Machine

Setup/Root/Ext/Menu 098 External Machine ID 0=Mast

CBServer

The S9 I/P port must be defined on the S9 I/P window (Access from the popup menu or a macro key)

CBServer2

The Device(Input) port must be defined in the Ports page of the Preferences window

RM-6 and CBServer(2) Commands		CBServer(2) only Commands
Label	Function	Lable
A	Select Port A	CBSrvr A
B	Select Port B	CBSrvr B
C	Select Port C	CBSrvr C
D	Select Port D	CBSrvr D
E	Select Port E	CBSrvr E
Master	Make Current Port Master	CBSrvr F
Chase	Chase Enable Current Port	CBSrvr G
Rec Enable	Record Enable Current Port	CBSrvr H

CBServer(2) Macro Commands

CBServer Macro Commands may be assigned to any CBServer macro in the S9 I/P window (CBServer) or Preferences / Ports window (CBServer2).