Vcube 4.0.10 User Manual
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User Manual USER MANUAL No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form whatsoever or be stored in any data retrieval system without prior written permission of the copyright owners. This documentation is supplied on an as-is basis. Information contained within this documenta- tion is subject to change at any time without notice and must not be relied upon. All company and product names are ™ or Registered Trademarks ® of their respective owners. Windows Vista, Windows XP and Windows 2000 are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Dolby E functionality is being provided by SurCode for Dolby E. SurCode for Dolby E. is manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. Confidential unpublished works. 2003-2012 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. SurCode is a trademark of Minnetonka Audio Software. Merging Technologies makes no warranties express or implied regarding this software, its qual- ity, performance, merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The software is supplied “as is” you, the purchaser, are assuming the entire risk of the results of using this Merging Technolo- gies software. In no circumstances will Merging Technologies, its owners, directors, officers, employees or agents be liable to you for any consequential, incidental or indirect loss or damages including loss of time, loss of business, loss of profits, loss of data or similar resulting from the use of or inability to use the Merging Technologies hardware and or software or for any defect in the hardware software or documentation. © Copyright Merging Technologies Inc. 2012. All rights reserved Merging Technologies Le Verney 4 1070 Puidoux Switzerland Tel: +41 21 946 04 44 Fax: +41 21 946 04 45 www.merging.com Contents Introduction 10 Thank you! 10 Overview 10 What is VCube? 10 Contacting Merging 11 International Office: 11 UK: 11 USA: 11 VCube Keys & Options 12 Installation 14 Early VCube Systems 14 VCube Concepts 14 Project 14 Composition 14 Track 14 Video Track Layer 14 Audio Track Layer 14 About This Manual 15 Assumptions 15 Conventions 15 Important Note 16 User Interface 17 Overview 17 Program Screen 18 Context Menus 19 Navigating the Interface 19 Zoom in the Timeline 20 Timeline 21 Synchronization 24 Requirements 24 Important Note 25 Quick Settings 26 Overview 26 Using Quick Settings 26 Quick SD Settings 27 Contents : Page iii Quick HD Settings 29 Projects 31 Compositions 31 Composition File Tab Page 31 New Composition 33 Load Selective 33 Settings Imported With Composition 34 Import 35 Import Composition and Export Changes 35 Import Layer 35 Import Images Sequence 36 AAF 39 MXF 40 OMF 40 Media Management 43 Media File Browser 43 Drag & Drop 45 Media Handlers 46 QuickTime 46 MXF 47 MPEG 47 File Extensions Supported 48 Tracks and Layers 49 Video Tracks and Layers 50 Track and Layer Order 50 Audio Tracks and Layers 51 Tracks and Layers Created Automatically 51 Adding Tracks and Layers 51 Dolby E on the Timeline 51 Transport and Navigation 52 Navigation 52 Time Ruler 52 Zoom 52 Locators 52 Transport Control 55 Transport Control Bar 55 Transport Tool 56 Go To TimeCode 58 Recording and Acquisition 59 Recording 59 Virtual VTR 59 Record Settings Tab 61 Editing 65 Editing in the Timeline 65 Clips in a Composition 65 Selections and Groups 65 Contents : Page iv Nudge 66 Editing Functions 66 Trim 67 Edit Context Menu 68 Motion Rectangles (PiP) 70 Watermark and Text 73 Watermark 73 Text Clip 75 Generated Clips 78 Countdown Clip 78 Wipe Clip 80 Video Test Pattern Clip 81 Audio Tone clip 82 Conversion and Rendering 83 Export Composition 83 XML 83 Conversion, Rendering and Wrapping 83 Convert Media Files 83 Render Composition 90 Convert Still Images 91 Wrap Audio 92 Wrap Audio Dialog 93 Level Magic™, from Jünger Audio 98 Jünger Level Magic Expert Settings 98 Final Check Meter 100 MXFix™ (Batch Export, Re-Wrapping) 101 MXFix Quick Procedure 102 MXFix Folders dialog 103 MXFix Wrapper Dialog 104 Running MXFix 108 MXFix Web Monitor 109 Frame Rate Management 112 Control Settings Page 113 File Tab 114 VCube Compositions 115 Media File Browser 116 Locator Tab 116 View Tab 116 Clip Info 116 Video Clip 117 Audio Clip 120 Shortcut 123 Workspace 124 Edit 127 Main 127 Contents : Page v Clips 128 Layers 129 Tracks 130 Settings 131 Settings Page 131 Preset 131 Creating Global Presets 132 Format & Sync 133 Video I/O 138 Overlay 139 Preview 141 Composition 144 Buffer & Cache 147 User Interface 148 Encryption 149 Media Settings 150 Timeline 151 Video Engine 153 Audio Engine 154 Isis Controller 156 Tool Bar 157 Tools and Toolpickers 157 Applications 165 Non Compensated Telecine at 24 fps 165 24fps Composition Chasing other Timecodes 165 Using the Graphic Card S-Video Output 166 Remote Control 167 VCube Chasing Pyramix Via Virtual Transport in the Same PC (PyraCube) 167 VCube Chasing Pyramix Using Virtual Transport Via Network 168 Remote Control VCube with a Sony 9-pin Controller 170 Synchronizing VCube to a Sony 9-pin Chase Synchronizer 171 Sony P2 Protocol over IP 171 VCube Controlled by Sony 9-pin, Chasing an LTC Source 172 Synchronize VCube with an LTC Source 173 Synchronize VCube with a VITC Source 174 Machine Control 175 VCube Controlling & Chasing a Sony 9-pin 175 Menus 177 File 177 Edit 178 Selection 180 Zoom 180 Locator 181 Goto 182 Transport 183 Contents : Page vi Overlay 183 Settings 184 User Interface 185 Help 187 Output View 188 Output Page Diagnostic Tools 188 System Tab 188 Buffer Tab 191 Playback Info Tab 191 Sync Status 194 Troubleshooting 197 Read Drops During Playback 197 Current FPS Reduced 197 Flickering Video Output 197 Matrox Parhelia Settings 197 Frozen Image on Matrox Parhelia Output 199 Poor HD Image Quality 200 Frame Shifting with Virtual Transport 200 Sony 9-pin Not Controlling VCube 201 Recorded Media Files have incorrect Timestamp 201 Video Playback is shifted 202 User Interface with ATI Graphic Card 203 NTSC Video Output Exhibits Some Dropped Frames with PAL Media Files 203 Apple Compatibility 2GB Limitation 204 Appendices 205 AJA Video Cards and Plugins 205 LH-i - SD-SDI/HD-SDI/HDMI/Analog 205 2K - SD-SDI/HD-SDI/ 2K/ Analog 210 Xena LHe - SD-SDI/HD-SDI/Analog 215 LSe - SD-SDI/Analog 220 VCube Hardware Sync Connections 223 USB Sync Board Option 223 External Connections 224 Driver Installation 224 Default Shortcuts 224 HDTV Recorded Media 231 SDTV Recorded Media 231 Video Formats and Bandwidth 232 Audio 238 PullUp - PullDown 238 Drop Frame 238 Video Codecs Supported 239 Frame Rates Supported 240 Interchange Protocols Supported 240 Resolutions Supported 241 Contents : Page vii MJPEG Compression Ratios 243 Files Supported. 244 AVI 1, AVI 2 and AVI ref 245 MPEG Settings (MainConcept Encoder) 245 MPEG Overview 245 Export 247 Media Storage Requirements 261 Installation Examples 262 A Great Solution for Audio Post for Film 262 Basic VCube Operation 263 Pro Tools & VCube Operation 264 Pyramix, VCube and ProTools 265 Avid Unity and VCube 265 Fairlight Controlling a VCube 267 Fairlight DREAM/MFX3 267 Fairlight DREAM Satellite 267 Fairlight DREAM Station 267 Pro Tools and VCube 267 Pro Tools 6.4.1, Mac OS 10.3 and a KeySpan 267 Pro Tools HD 272 Sony 9-Pin RS422 Wiring Chart 275 Glossary 279 Index 287 Contents : 1 - viii : Document revision-22 Date: 28th-November-2012 : Page 9 Introduction Thank you! Congratulations on your purchase of the VCube HD Video System. More than just a powerful video solution, VCube is part of a comprehensive range of Audio, Video and Show Control products, software and hardware. Wel- come to the worldwide community of users who have already discovered the Merging Technologies advantage. Note: IMPORTANT! - The first thing you need to do is register your software to acquire your VCube key(s) and to be included in our user support list. Please also subscribe to the User Forum at: http://www.merging.com/forum/ Overview What is VCube? VCube is a hard-disk based video player / recorder system with real-time editing and resizing functions. It is designed to be an easy to use, flexible, high quality, and reliable video file play out and capture device synchroniz- able with any time reference standard. For example: In Sound for Picture Post-Production, ADR etc. Theatres Theme Parks Museums Trade Shows AV Presentations Film Festivals are just a few of the possible applications for VCube. VCube can operate as a standalone unit, or as part of a multi-system network, fully integrated with Pyramix or Ovation, over standard Ethernet networks. Like Pyramix it offers sync to PAL, NTSC, 24fps Film and all the HDTV frame rates. The Turnkey versions of VCube are also able to sync to a different TimeCode and reference than the internal frame rate. This enables, for example, playing in 24 fps while syncing to a 25 fps TimeCode. Pro versions of VCube can also be controlled via the 9-pin Sony (P2) protocol by any third-party DAW system, as well as controlling any device equipped with 9-pin remote control for capture. VCube fully supports the Merging Technologies Virtual Transport technology. The integrated video editor with multi-track, multi-layer features enables the VCube user to remove, add or trim Media Files imported from a Composition (VCube native Composition or OMF. AAF, and Apple XML are optional). VCube is able to mix different video file formats at different resolutions and frame rates in the same Timeline. It is only necessary to specify the output format. All video Clips are resized and the frame rate compensated as neces- sary to this format in real time. Therefore it is possible to play out any video file at any frame rate in combination with any other without rendering.