The SyncControl interface

Introduction

Drastic's SyncControl software allows the user to simultaneously control multiple capture/ playback channels on one or more QuickClip-based digital video workstations over a network.  Capture operations may be synchronized between these devices, so that multiple files share the same time code duration and start frame.  Media files present in the devices being controlled may be viewed in sync or offset, for display and monitoring applications.

The install of QuickClip will need to be be licensed for the Network Control Option for the target device to support remote control via SyncControl software.

Please note:  This is a reference manual for the settings and modes of SyncControl.  If you are looking for information on using SyncControl, there is a Tutorial available on our web site.

In the context of this document each QuickClip-based station being controlled will be referred to as a “Target device”.  The controlling station (the station using SyncControl software) will be referred to as the “Controller”.

The Set Up section shows the user how to connect to a Target device and set up SyncControl to control each Target devices for playback and capture.

The Actions section provides a task-based approach to learning how to use the features of SyncControl software.

The Reference section of this document provides more detailed information about the available controls and functions of SyncControl.

Set Up

Set up the Environment

• Confirm that any Target device being controlled and the Controller are on the same network and accessible to each other.

• Run LocalConfig software on the Target device and confirm that the Network Interfaces checkbox is selected.  Close LocalConfig.

• Run QuickClip software on the Target device or devices being controlled.

• To use SyncControl to control the playback of media, confirm that the necessary media is loaded or will be loaded (as by a SyncControl -controlled capture) into the Clip Bin(s) of the Target device(s).

• To use SyncControl to control video capture, confirm that each Target device is set up properly to capture video.  Provide a valid video signal (camera, VTR etc.) to the Target device.  It may be necessary to provide a valid timing/genlock signal to any Target devices and other peripheral video signal devices being used in the application.

Run SyncControl

Run SyncControl software on the Controller.  The SyncControl interface will open in disconnected state. 

SyncControl in disconnected state

Connect to Target Devices

In the Connection Details section click in the IP Address field and enter the IP address or the network “name” of a Target device.

Press the Test button. SyncControl will search for the Target device’s IP Address or Network Name and connect if it is found. If the connection is successful, the Status field will display "Connected".

If the connection has been refused, check that the name or IP Address that was typed in is correct.  If the connection is not successful, the IP Address field may be able to display a message to explain why the connection was not successful, such as “Connection Refused”, or “IP address does not exist”. Confirm that all network-related and device hardware is operational.  Check that other network denizens can “see” the system on the network

Add Controlled Channels

Once the system is connected, each channel of the Target device which the user wants to control must be added.  Channels on a Target device not being controlled should not be added.  For example if the user has a four channel Target device, and SyncControl operations are only intended for the first two channels, the first two channels would be added and the other two channels would be left alone.

Here is how to add channels:

Add the First Channel

The Channel pulldown menu (in connected state) will display any channels present in the Target device.  Use this pulldown menu to select the first channel to control.  This will typically be the Int0 channel. 

Note: To use an offset during playback, remember that the first channel added is the reference; other channels are offset in relation to this channel.

The following details can now be entered for this channel:

Name:             The user may assign a name or other identifier to the Target device by entering a name or other identifier in the Assigned Name field.  If a name is entered here, it will be displayed in the Name field in the Sync Clips List (when connected). If not, the IP Address or Network Name will appear in this field. 

Port:                The default setting for the Port is 1234.  To change this, select the specific port you need to use for the channel.

Offset:             The first channel may not be offset.  The first channel added is the reference – all other channels’ playback is offset in relation to this channel.

Clip:                The Target device provides a Clip Bin which lists available clips for each channel (all of the clips are available to all channels on the Target device). To select a clip from the Clip Bin of the Target device to load for playback, use the Clip Name pulldown menu to select the clip from a list of loaded clips.

VID:                To play and record video, confirm that VID is selected.  A “pressed” state indicates “on” status.  A “raised” state indicates “off” or deselected status.  This control is not active on all versions and is used in VTR mode only.

AUD:              To play and record audio, confirm that AUD is selected.  A “pressed” state indicates “on” status.  A “raised” state indicates “off” or deselected status.  This control is not active on all versions and is used in VTR mode only.

Add:               Press the Add button.  The channel will be added to the Sync Clips List field according to the parameters entered.

Add Other Channels

The other channels present in the Target device may now be added.  Select the next channel (typically Int1) using the Channel pulldown menu, and enter the name “Channel 2” in the Assigned Name field.  Select a Port, Offset and Clip Name if necessary using the above methods.  Confirm any other important states for the channel.  Press the Add button.

Use this method to add (for example) channel three (Int2), and channel four (Int3) and any other channels present in the Target device.

Edit Channel Parameters

Once a channel has been added, the below parameters may be reset for the channel at any time.  Select the channel by double-clicking on its row in the Sync Clips List.  The following adjustments may be made:

Name:             Type in a name for the channel in the Assigned Name field.  Press the Set button.

Port:                Type in the specific port for the channel in the Port field.  Press the Set button.

Clip Name:      Use the Clip Name pulldown menu to search for and select another clip for playback.  When a clip is selected it will be loaded into the active channel automatically.

Offset:             Type in an offset value into the Offset field.  Press the Set button.

Delete Channels

To delete a channel, select it by double-clicking on its row in the Sync Clips List.  Press the Delete button.  This channel will now be removed.  It may be added again at any time.

Connect to Other Target Devices

To add another Target device’s channels, enter the IP address or the network “name” of the Target device into the IP Address field.  Press the Test button.  Once the Target device is connected, the user may Add any of its channels using the above methods.

Channels Loaded

Above is a diagram of the Sync Clips List wherein two channels have been loaded from one Target device.  Channel names have been entered (see the Name column) for each channel corresponding to a view offered by monitor placement

The user might also input channel names corresponding to location identifiers, device channels etc. using the Assigned Name field to set their choices.

Use Configuration Files

Having gone through the work to set up SyncControl, you will want to save the setup if you intend to use it again. This configuration is saved to a file, which can be opened to load all of the parameters set up by the user through a few simple clicks.

Multiple configuration files may be saved, to allow for all of the setups that the user may require.  When SyncControl is running, the user may load each setup as needed using just a few clicks through the menus.

New Configuration

When it is first opened, SyncControl provides a blank slate with no parameters loaded.  This is a New Configuration. Once a number of Target devices and/or channels have been loaded and set, the user may want to control other Target devices without the inconvenience of deleting the existing setup.  To quickly clear the interface of all parameters, select New from the Main Menus.  The New Configuration window will open.

New Configuration window

Press the New button to clear SyncControl of all parameters.  The user will be prompted as to whether they wish to save their present configuration.  Once having selected a course of action (Save or Discard), the SyncControl interface is cleared.

To exit this action without making any changes to the present configuration, press the Cancel button.

Save a Configuration

Once SyncControl has been set up (all controlled channels have been added from all Target devices being controlled) and everything is working, the user can choose to save the setup configuration.  If this is the only setup that will be used, this configuration can be saved as “default.sync”, which is loaded whenever SyncControl is opened.

Go to the main menus, under File/Save.

Pressing the Save button opens up the Save As dialog box, allowing the user to browse through their storage using the explorer-type menu to select the optimum location in which to save the configuration.

Save dialog box

Enter the path or folder name of the drive/ folder/ subfolder location in which the configuration file should be saved.  The filter is set by default to show only SyncControl configuration files.  To see all files touch the pulldown menu and select *.  This removes the file type filter.

If files have been added to a drive/ folder/ subfolder location and they are not displayed, press the Update button to refresh the file list for that location.

Double-clicking on a folder in the Folders field will load that folder into the Path or Folder Name field and display all of its subfolders in the Folders field.  Select the correct folder.

Click once with the mouse in the Enter the Name field and type in a name for the configuration file.

Press the Save button to save the configuration.  This will create a *.sync file in the user-specified location which can be loaded to set the parameters for SyncControl.

If you do not wish to perform a Save Configuration action at this time, press the Cancel button.

Opening a Saved Configuration

To open a saved configuration, go to the main menus, under File/ Open. This opens a standard Open dialog box, allowing the user to browse for and load a saved configuration file. Upon loading the configuration file, SyncControl will test the connection and connect if successful.

Deleting a Saved Configuration

If the user has amassed a number of unused configuration files, or if a particular configuration file or files has become problematic for any reason, the user may delete them.  Navigate to the folder in which the files have been saved.  Select the files no longer needed (they will be easily identified by the .sync extension).  Press the delete button on the keyboard or select Delete from the folder or context (right-click) menus.

A delete function for configuration files is not present in the SyncControl interface to avoid unintentional configuration file destruction.  You have to really want to destroy the files and purposely hunt them down before they will perish

Actions

Media Playback

Once all of the Target devices have been connected and their channels added into the Sync Clips List, SyncControl may be used.

Single Channel Playback

Select a channel by double-clicking on its row in the Sync Clips List.  Select the Edit Mode button. Confirm that there is a clip loaded in this channel of the Target device. Press the Play button.  Media playback should commence on the Target device.  Press the Stop button.  Media playback will stop, and the Target device should go into E-E (Edit to Edit) mode (showing passthrough video and audio). 

SyncControl transport controls allow the user to shuttle or advance forward or backward through the media.  The Position Controller bar provides quick media cueing to allow the user to find and view a specific portion of the file.

Multiple Channel Playback

Select the Sync Mode button. All of the channels will respond to the transport controls simultaneously.  Select the position bar and pull it to the left to return all of the channels to 00:00:00:00.  Press the Play button.  All of the channels will begin playback simultaneously. 

Looped Playback

SyncControl allows the user to loop the playback of files.  A single file may be looped, or more significantly multiple files may be looped to provide synchronized continuous playback.  This feature is useful for display and review applications.  Loop mode playback plays clips from the present location to the end of the file, then goes to the beginning and plays from start to finish over and over again until interrupted.

Select the Loop checkbox to specify looping playback. 

With Edit Mode selected, the single active (selected) channel will play in loop mode.

With Sync Mode selected, all channels will play in loop mode.

Offset Playback

SyncControl allows the user to simultaneously play multiple media clips using an offset. An offset allows simultaneous playback of different locations within a clip or of time-shifted portions of media from multiple camera views for event review and process analysis. 

The offset is calculated from the first channel in the Sync Clips List, so be sure to add the channels in the right order when setting this up.

For example, assume the user wants to view multiple locations within the same clip.  Add a channel to the Sync Clips List with the clip loaded.  Then add a second channel with the same clip loaded, but enter an Offset (say, 2 seconds).  Set these details and then select Sync Mode.  Set the first channel to 00:00:00:00.  Press the Play button.

In this mode, channel 1 should play from 00:00:00:00, and channel 2 should play from 00:00:02:00.  Frame advance allows the user to simultaneously advance through the media (separated by the offset amount), seeing each frame of video.

Media Capture

SyncControl may be used to control a single or a number of Target device channels to simultaneously begin and end video capture, so that clip duration and start frame by time code are matched between the media files created.

Edit Configuration

To automate clip capture, SyncControl provides a configuration dialog box for clip naming, numbering and state upon completion of capture.  Go to the main menus, under Edit/Configure.  The below window will open:

Edit Configuration dialog box

Default Record Name - Select the text in the Default Record Name field and replace it with a clip prefix of your own creation.  Keep in mind that each clip name is limited to 8 characters, so if for example the user has 9 or less channels being controlled, the clip prefix will be limited to 5 characters to allow the default record number and the channel number (plus the dash).  If the user has between 10 and 99 Target device channels to control, this name prefix will be limited to 4 characters. Non-alphanumeric characters will be ignored and will cause your clip name to be replaced with a default clip name supplied by SyncControl.

Default Record Number – The user may specify the number suffix used to identify each capture action in a sequence of captures.  A default number is supplied, but the user may reset this number by selecting the text in the Default Rec Number field and entering a number of their own (this will be added to the end of the Default Record Name).  Each subsequent record will use the Default Record Name plus the number, which will be incremented upward by one integer per capture operation to create the clip name.

Millisecond Offset – the user may adjust the millisecond offset value used to synchronize timing between the Controller and the Target devices.  If you need to adjust this number you should be aware that an incorrect setting may result in a loss of accuracy or synchronization.

After Rec – the user may specify the state to which SyncControl will return after each capture.  If the user selects Stop, all of the channels will return to a Stop state after a capture.  If the user selects Last, all of the channels will retain the last clip that was loaded before the capture.  If the user selects Auto Load New, all of the channels will load the clip associated with that channel that was just created during the last capture operation.

Once all of the settings have been adjusted correctly, press the Apply button to enable the choices.  Alternately, the user may press the Cancel button to exit this dialog box without changing the default capture conditions

Show Offset – select this checkbox to display the amount of offset.

Update Delay – set the amount of update delay in this field.

Multiple Channel Capture

Select the Sync Mode button.  This provides control over all channels present in the Sync Clips List.

Confirm that the Target devices are properly set up to capture video.  Confirm that QuickClip is running on the Target devices, and that all video signal(s) and timing reference are properly connected to each Target device

Open Length Capture

The user may initiate a capture with a set In Point but no Out Point.  This is called an Open Length capture.

Press the Record button.  This brings up the New Clip Settings dialog box.

New Clip Settings dialog box

The default New Clip Name is supplied by SyncControl, but the user may enter a new clip name.  In a multiple channel capture, the default clip name will be used as a prefix. 

If the user accepts the default clip name supplied above, (assuming a capture operation using a four channel Target device) the following files will be created during the record: drcl1-0, drcl1-1, drcl1-2 and drcl1-3.

If “AAA” is entered as the New Clip Name in a 4 channel capture as above, the following files will be created: AAA1-0, AAA1-1, AAA1-2 and AAA1-3.

A second capture using the above parameters would provide the following files: drcl2-0, drcl2-1, drcl2-2 and drcl2-3, or (assuming “AAA” prefixes) AAA2-0, AAA2-1, AAA2-2 and AAA2-3.

In an Open Length capture, do not select the Max Length checkbox.

Press the Set Name button to enter the details into memory.  Press the Start button.

Video capture will commence.  Pass-through video and audio should be present in the monitors attached to the Target device.  SyncControl will indicate “Record” mode, and time code will advance on both the SyncControl interface and the Target device.  The Record button and the Time Code in the Time Code Display section will turn red for the duration of the recording.

Once enough video has been captured, press the Stop button.  Time code will stop advancing on both the Target devices and SyncControl.  The files created during capture will now appear in the Clip Bins of the Target devices available for playback.

Depending on the conditions set in the Edit Configuration dialog box, either the Last Clip will load, the Target device(s) will go into Stop mode, or the clips just created will be loaded (if Auto Load New is selected).

Set Length Capture

The user may initiate a capture with a set In Point and a set Out Point.  This is called a Set Length capture.

Press the Record button.  This brings up the New Clip Settings dialog box.

Edit the default clip name as above (if necessary) or leave the default clip name as supplied in the New Clip Name field.

A Max Length must be specified.  This is the duration of the new clip by time code.  As each clip starts at 00:00:00:00, the time code location of the last frame would be one less than the length specified.  For example a clip that is 2 minutes long (00:02:00:00) would use 00:01:59:29 as the last frame.  Select the Max Length checkbox and enter the clip duration by time code in the Max Length field.

Press the Set Name button to enter the details into memory.  Press the Start button.

Video capture will commence.  Pass-through video and audio should be present in the monitors attached to the Target device.  SyncControl will indicate “Record” mode, and time code will advance on both the SyncControl interface and the Target device.  The Record button and the Time Code in the Time Code Display section will turn red for the duration of the recording.

Once the duration of the capture has completed, time code will stop advancing on both the Target devices and SyncControl.  The files created during capture will now appear in the Clip Bins of the Target devices available for playback.

Depending on the conditions set in the Edit Configuration dialog box, either the Last Clip will load, the Target device(s) will go into Stop mode, or the clips just created will be loaded (if Auto Load New is selected)

Reference

The SyncControl interface has been carefully documented in this section.  View information regarding available controls and their functions.

SyncControl Main Interface

SyncControl Main interface

As illustrated in the above diagram, the interface has been divided into numbered sections to more closely look at the elements that make up the interface. Please see the chart below for information on the sections.

Main Menus - File

File Menu

Please refer to the following chart for available controls and their functions:

Main Menus - Edit

Edit Menu

Please refer to the following chart for available controls and their functions:

Main Menus - Help

Help Menu

Please refer to the following chart for available controls and their functions:

Edit Configuration Dialog Box

Edit Configuration Window

Please refer to the following chart for available controls and their functions: