Production Switchers

We are looking to start using the built in 3 channel still store on our Vision switcher. Is there a way to make a rudimentary play list? We would use the custom controls to advance and take the next still store image in the current directory.

This feature has pretty much never been used since we use Xpression as our dedicated graphics system. It would be nice to use the built in still store but we (directors) run cameras, Xpression, punch/call and run tapes at the same time. Having a simple CC for the still store would be a blessing.

I made a simple playlist with a CC that goes like this:

recall still 1

hold

recall still 2

hold

etc.

It works pretty well. I also added a second CC that cleared all CCs to reset it to the beginning of the playlist.

Since the stills start at 1 when you put them into the switcher, I made sure to renumber anything that was permanent to 100 or higher and moved them to a sub-folder, and we simply delete all the stills for our shows when the show is over, so the next show can load theirs. It works best if the stills are named 01.png, 02.png, 03.png, etc. since the Vision will take them alphabetically and number them from 1.

A word of warning, if you are in HD, it may take a few seconds for each still to load into the RAM. We always run through our playlist before each show to cache the stills. The first time running through takes 4-5 seconds per still to load, but after that it's almost instant recall.

I have since changed the CC to add more functionality that I can describe later if you want. The new method allows us to jump around to any still we want, and go right back to where we left off in the playlist. It's a little more complex and uses a full page of CCs. I can describe it later if you want, but I'm not in front of the switcher right now and would have to look to see exactly what each CC does.

We have been using this for 3 years now and have not had any problems.

#Vision

Thank you for the help. It is doing a fine job now.

#Vision