Production Switchers

I am the systems engineer at a school that teaches broadcast journalism. I have recently purchased a 2.5 ME Carbonite, but I need one or two video clip players/servers to feed the switcher. Our old switcher was computer based, so it had a built-in clip player which worked pretty well. My biggest concern of purchasing a non-computer OS based switcher was the playback device, especially concerning the control of that device. There is no budget for a large server or automation system; I expected a Black Magic Design Hyperdeck Studio or an AJA KiPro would work, and leaned heavily towards the KiPro since it would receive file transfers via ethernet..

Now that I have the switcher, I'm finding a) the Carbonite's RS422 control does not use Sony protocols, so neither device will work via RS422 remote; b) the KiPro does not have GPI control, so it can't be triggered via GPI/GPO, and c) the ethernet interface CAN control a KiPro via Dashboard, but not via Ross controls, so I can't get a play, pause or cue control to trigger via the Carbonite switcher panel. There may be a way to write code to do so, but I have to believe others have already climbed this mountain.

I haven't bought a playout device yet, but I'm looking for the following parameters:

a playback device that CAN be triggered via the Carbonite switcher, will play HD-SDI video files, especially Apple Pro Res 422, will play via a playlist, will send HD-SDI files that can be keyed for playing back animation files (such as closing graphics), AND can receive those files via ethernet/LAN -- all that costs less than $5k.

So what are you using??? Thanks in advance for your input!

Hi Brian,

We have actually created some apps -- like a RossTalk to BMD HyperDeck controller that acts as a Translator for the switcher to send commands to the Hyper Deck. That video is posted on our website. We have also done a 422 translator in the same method. However for this to work you will need an IP to Serial Converter (we use the Comtrol Device Master RTS series) and that will also act as the gateway.

I am sure that someone can build a similar gateway that will implement the AJA Protocol but we don't have that "built".

You mention wanting Key/Fill pairs for animations. I don't think you will find something in this product space that does that -- unless you decide to pair two of them together and trigger both.

Les

#Carbonite

Brian:

We have used Fast Forward (gpi started them) then we upgraded to the Blackstorm ver 1 (used the switcher dialogue) then we went to a one channel Expression (works BEST in my opinion - uses avi formats).

Of course you have the internal Media Players in the switcher (takes 2 of them to make the fill/matte work) and they are limited size wise and what file formats you can put on them.

Hope that helps somehow.

Gordon

#Carbonite

I run a self contained entertainment venue with limited playback needs, but I use a Mac computer running ProVideoProVideoPlayer. The software is under $1k, it speaks Ross Expression protocols over ethernet and can be remote triggered by the console. Clips can be added remotely by using the watch folder feature and FTP or other file sharing, and in s pinch I've even had Premiere open on the playback machine.

#Carbonite

I use RenewedVision's ProPresenter (same company that makes ProVideoPlayer). I like it because it uses the same video engine as PVP but it is also a character generator. If you buy the Alpha Keyer Module (built into the software, but sold separately for $999) and the BlackMagic UltraStudio breakout box, you can run two SDI inputs into the Carbonite and it will give you a perfect alpha/linear key. I use this all the time to take graphics on-air like lower thirds, etc. I also use it for straight playback.

They also sell a Communications Module which enables communication between ProPresenter (or PVP) and other devices, like the Carbonite. I haven't used it myself yet but you could use this module and a custom control to send a rosstalk message to ProPresenter to play a video or execute a cue. I've played around with it some, I just haven't bought it yet.

On another note, I've also created Dashboard code to control our AJA KiPro over the network by sending it browser requests. My uses were mainly "start recording" and "stop recording" but other concepts are similar. You could set up the Carbonite to fire a GPO command to Dashboard, which then triggers the code to tell the KiPro what to do.

Hope this helps!

Joseph

#Carbonite

I have had success with the Comtrol boxes and a dashboard file that translates the commands over IP.

#Carbonite

After some time trying to get the KiPro to work as a clip player (& not having any success getting it to trigger to play), I decided to go with Renewed Vision's VideoProPresenter. The salesman encouraged me to add a communications module (software option add-on) and an alpha-channel module, plus purchase a BlackMagic Design UltraStudio 4K-Thunderbolt -- Renewed Vision sells all of it. The communications module works with RossTalk, acting as an XPression CG. The alpha channel module should allow me to play out CGI animation clips with an alpha channel so I can key show opens & closes over live cameras; the BMD UltraStudio acts as a thunderbolt => HD-SDI converter that will also provide a key channel.

I have received them all, and the BMD box does a great job of thunderbolt => HD-SDI conversion, although I haven't tried any alpha clips yet. I got the RossTalk control to work, but this was not intuitive, and I'm not terribly happy with the workflow, although I can get a pretty consistent trigger. The problem is knowing whether a clip is truly cued (prepped for play) or not, and this problem is primarily with the first clip of the playlist. If one triggers a NEXT command while one clip is playing, RossTalk sends the command to prep the next clip.

At this point, I tend to want to use the VPP for playing my clips. For this, I'm using a new Mac Mini with an external thunderbolt drive. Therefore, there is no problem sending video files from several computers to a single drive/folder via ethernet to build a show playlist. I think I'll plan on building my graphics (lower thirds, FS & OTS) via Adobe Premiere using our pre-built L3 templates & OTS boxes, build & save them as .PNG or .JPG on a flash drive stuck in the Ross. The Ross can see these with an alpha channel, so the key is fabulous, I can control their playlists via Ross's Media Manager via ethernet, and I can send them to the Ross flash drive via ethernet. That puts the control of both the clip player & the media manager on one Mac mini computer & screen.

Thanks for the help & considerations!

#Carbonite

We use 4x Softron video players that run on one Apple Pro. http://www.softron.tv/products/ontheair-video-expres
You can play any format ProRes, DNxHD or H264 and with the proper videocard even videos with a transparent layer in ProRes 4444. All players can be totally controlled from the Carbonite via GPO's or by a separate shot box.

#Carbonite