User Manual

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Summary of content (521 pages)

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Revised – Feb.
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Chapter 1 CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 ABOUT THIS MANUAL .............................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 2 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................ 5 SECTION 2.1 MEET THE FAMILY ........................................................................................................... 5 SECTION 2.2 OVERVIEW ...............................................................................
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3.3.2 Registering by Telephone .............................................................................................. 26 SECTION 3.4 RACK MOUNTING TRICASTER .......................................................................................... 27 SECTION 3.5 INPUT CONNECTIONS ..................................................................................................... 28 3.5.1 Connect A/V Sources ............................................................................................
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4.6.3 LiveText™....................................................................................................................... 67 SECTION 4.7 LIVE SWITCHING............................................................................................................ 67 4.7.1 Switcher Rows ............................................................................................................... 67 4.7.2 Transitions ...................................................................................
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SECTION 6.4 CUSTOMIZING THE LIVE DESKTOP ................................................................................... 134 6.4.1 Rename Input .............................................................................................................. 134 6.4.2 Workspaces and Min/Maximize .................................................................................. 134 CHAPTER 7 THE DASHBOARD..................................................................................................
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SECTION 9.3 TRANSITIONS .............................................................................................................. 174 9.3.1 DSK Controls ................................................................................................................ 175 9.3.2 Main Controls .............................................................................................................. 180 SECTION 9.4 SWITCHER MEM SLOTS .......................................................................
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12.1.3 Configuring Presets ................................................................................................... 221 12.1.4 PTZ and the Control Surface ...................................................................................... 222 CHAPTER 13 LIVEMATTE ......................................................................................................... 223 SECTION 13.1 CHROMAKEYING...................................................................................................
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SECTION 15.6 INTERNAL SOURCES ................................................................................................... 255 15.6.1 Net 1 and Net 2 ......................................................................................................... 255 15.6.2 Media Players ............................................................................................................ 255 15.6.3 Effects (Transitions) ..................................................................................
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SECTION 18.1 OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................... 294 18.1.1 Compact View ........................................................................................................... 295 SECTION 18.2 WEB BROWSER......................................................................................................... 295 SECTION 18.3 CONNECTION OPTIONS ............................................................................
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SECTION 21.1 LIVETEXT ................................................................................................................. 337 21.1.1 Sessions, Projects and Display ................................................................................... 337 21.1.2 Files/Filebin ............................................................................................................... 338 21.1.3 Naming Stand-in Images ...............................................................................
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22.4.9 Record Group ............................................................................................................ 380 22.4.10 PTZ Control .............................................................................................................. 380 SECTION 22.5 TIMEWARP™ ............................................................................................................ 381 22.5.1 Overview ............................................................................................
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22.8.4 Transitions ................................................................................................................. 410 SECTION 22.9 TRICASTER™ LC-11 .................................................................................................. 412 A HOW DO I … (?) .............................................................................................................. 415 A.1 CONNECTIONS .............................................................................................
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A.3.2 Initiate Streaming?.................................................................................................. 439 A.3.3 Find my Captured Stream file? ................................................................................ 439 A.3.4 Record my Program? ............................................................................................... 440 A.3.5 Find my Recorded Program File?............................................................................. 440 A.3.
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A.7.3 Add A Custom Streaming Profile to the Configure Stream Connection Panel? ....... 455 ® A.7.4 Use My iPad As A MIDI Controller? ........................................................................ 459 A.8 MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ....................................................................................... 465 A.8.1 Can I do anything to improve latency/audio sync? ................................................. 465 A.8.2 Why is my power supply beeping? ................................
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D.9 GRAPHICS 2 .................................................................................................................... 486 D.10 SOUND ........................................................................................................................... 486 D.11 GENERAL ........................................................................................................................ 487 D.11.1 Edit Title Pane ............................................................................
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PART I (GETTING STARTED) Introducing TriCaster – connections and registration, a top-level overview of primary features, and a hands-on tour to get you started.
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Chapter 1 ABOUT THIS MANUAL This manual tells you everything you need to know to use your TriCaster™, and occasionally, even more. It attempts to convey essential information in a friendly, concise way, while also providing a deeper reference section you can turn to when you really need all of the relevant details. Even if you are the hands-on, never-ask-directions type, please peruse this page.
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Chapter 2 INTRODUCTION Thank you for purchasing this NewTek TriCaster™ system. NewTek is extremely proud of its record of innovation and commitments to excellence in design, manufacture, and superb product support. This chapter provides a quick tour of the major components of your new live production system. SECTION 2.1 MEET THE FAMILY All professional model TriCasters bear a strong family resemblance.
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With TriCaster you can produce and distribute live video programs from diverse sources and digital media in both standard and high definition. Use multiple cameras, network video sources, recorded digital video, multimedia presentations from networked laptops, live web pages, digital photos and graphics, control robotic cameras, and much more.
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After creating a session (or opening an existing one), you are taken to the Session Page. Here you can launch the Live Desktop (for live production), or perhaps choose to prepare Graphics (title pages), Manage content (including importing and exporting media), or even create custom transitions. SECTION 2.4 LIVE DESKTOP TriCaster’s live production features are all available from its unique Live Desktop, which in many ways mimics familiar production equipment.
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 The area just below the Dashboard is *normally devoted to a multi-pane monitoring display, providing source and output views. * This area can be re-sized, and even completely hidden when outboard monitoring is in use; or the display can be customized to complement the external Multiview or for numerous other purposes.  The central Live Control section is home to the Switcher, Transition, DSKs (overlay channels) and M/E controls (M/E panels can be minimized, and are hidden from view in Figure 2).
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To name just a few:      Multiple software failsafe systems continually monitor and safeguard the live performance. Any recoverable software error conditions are quickly and unobtrusively dealt with. Video pass-through (see Section 8.1.5) ensures that as long there is AC power, audio and video from Input 8 (on 8-input models) or Input 4 (4-input models) are routed to Output 1 in a case of catastrophic software condition.
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          Assign one or both Network inputs on the Switcher to receive AirPlay® streams and switch live or recorded content directly from your compatible Apple® mobile device or computer. Update still Buffers in ‘watch folders’ from networked graphic workstations, even when these are displayed live. Transmit output to another TriCaster across the local network. Create complex M/E effects and compositions using multiple sources and versatile virtual sets with live (virtual) camera moves.
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 IsoCorder™ recorded clips from multiple sources are easily aligned for synchronized post show editing using embedded timecode (IsoCorder is not a TriCaster 410 feature). 2.5.6 MONITORING FIGURE 3      TriCaster’s Live Desktop includes a large monitoring pane with numerous multiple easily customized Workspaces. By default, this area includes Program output and Look Ahead Preview monitors with associated controls, along with all inputs.
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2.5.8 THE SWITCHER TriCaster’s powerful 24-channel (8-input models)) or 15-channel switcher with native support for popular professional video routers puts countless video sources at your fingertips. FIGURE 4 V IDEO L AYERS AND T RANSITIONS The Transition section of TriCaster’s Live Desktop provides powerful tools for arranging and displaying the numerous video and graphic layers contributing to TriCaster’s ultimate program output.
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      Use any of the hundreds of transitions supplied to reveal either Background or DSK/Key channels with animated wipes, trajectories and dissolves, or select colorful and dynamic Animation Store transitions with overlays, sound and TransWarp™ effects. Create an unlimited number of custom transition effects with embedded sounds, dynamic cloth effects, and full color overlays using the integrated Animation Store Creator application.
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   Use TriCaster’s numerous Media Players to overlay title pages, including scrolls, crawls and lower-thirds, or assign a Camera feed or Network source to an overlay channel. Alternatively, use the Buffer channels to assign a specific title, still image or animation effect to any overlay channel.
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      Mix mode provides sub-mix functionality, with individual transitions for A/B Background layers and Key channel(s). Full keyers and discreet transition effects for every M/E channel. Individual Scale, Position, Crop and Rotation controls for all channels Animated and still Buffer support in every channel. TriCaster 8000 provides powerful realtime motion Tracker support as well. Convenient MEM slots allow instant access to pre-configured M/E setups. 2.5.
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  Connect to content delivery networks easily using the powerful Configure Stream Connection panel or dedicated third-party TriCaster plugins. Use NewTek’s TimeWarp™ instant replay control surface to mark and replay highlights even while recording uninterrupted Program (or ‘clean’) output. 2.5.12 MEDIA PUBLISHING Publish support makes it easy to distribute content to multiple targets in one pass.
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Trackers provide motion data from defined color regions as they move about in the frame in realtime. Lock other video sources to Tracker output using Position tools in M/Es banks and DSKs and they will follow obediently. 2.5.15 IMPORT AND EXPORT I MPORT M EDIA The integrated Import Media module provides a convenient one-stop approach to gathering productions assets.    Batch import media files for use in TriCaster’s Media Players.
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 Configurable VU meter calibration: Show VU meter calibration using digital (dBFS) or analog (dBVU or dBu) scales (digital sources, SDI and AES/EBU, Streaming output and Record controls default to dBFS). 2.5.17 AUDIO REMOTE CONTROL TriCaster 8000’s Audio Mixer can be controlled by a companion Apple iPad® application that controls Volume, Pan, Mic Gain for every input and output.
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       Flexible playback controls include variable Speed and Loop options. Each Media Player has corresponding volume and other advanced audio controls in the Audio Mixer. Convenient ‘per clip’ level control is provided right in the playlist. Autoplay feature starts and stops playback automatically based on Switcher activity. Control Media Players with macros triggered by other events. Assign titles, graphics, clips or buffers to multiple DSK or M/E Key channels.
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Animated buffers come in *two types, and either loop endlessly (perfect for bugs, station IDs, etc.) or ‘auto-run’ once when displayed. These effects are resident in reserved Switcher Memory, making it possible to use them all at once without tying up Media Players. Thus Buffers can effectively take the place of many additional DDRs. In addition, each Buffer slot has its own set of convenient presets. * TriCaster 410 does not support animated Buffer effects. 2.5.
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In summary, TriCaster gives you the combined power of both a network control room and a complete post-production facility in one simple to use broadcast appliance. Let’s jump in now. First, we’ll get you connected; following that, we’ll explore TriCaster’s most important features.
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Chapter 3 SETTING UP This chapter explains how to connect power, monitors and audio visual sources, and external control devices to your NewTek TriCaster™ system. It also reviews the registration process. After completing this short section, you’ll be all set to continue into the Live Production Walkthrough chapter that follows it.
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3. Connect the A/C power cord (or cords, for 8-input models) from the threeprong connection(s) on TriCaster’s backplate to an external power receptacle (see Hint below). 4. Turn on the computer monitor. 5. Press the Power switch on TriCaster’s faceplate (located behind the door). At this point, the blue Power LED will illuminate, and the adjacent hard drive activity light should flicker as the device boots up. (If this does not happen, check your connections and retry).
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4. Enter your 25-digit key (generally, the sticker is affixed inside the front door of the case). 5. Decline automatic updates (by clicking “not right now”). 6. Give TriCaster a distinct computer name for networking. You can authorize your Windows® installation by network or by telephone. Assuming you have an Internet connection available, and have connected TriCaster to it with an Ethernet cable, the Internet is the fastest method of activation. (See Section 3.15 and Chapter 16 Network for more detail.) 1.
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You can register and obtain your registration code either by telephone, or online (directly from TriCaster or from another system connected to the Internet) as described next. Hint: For later convenience, record the registration code for your TriCaster on the sticker provided for the purpose inside the front access panel of the system. 3.3.1 ONLINE REGISTRATION If you have connected your TriCaster to the Internet, simply click the button under Step 2 in the registration dialog.
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Hint: It’s a very good idea to record the login name and password you choose when creating your website profile and keep them in a safe place. Jot down registration code too; it could come in very handy if you ever need to restore the TriCaster software to its as-shipped state when you don’t have access to the Internet. U PDATES It’s a great idea to check for recent free software updates for your system at this time, too – see the heading System Utilities in Section 5.2.3 for more on this.
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SECTION 3.5 INPUT CONNECTIONS 3.5.1 CONNECT A/V SOURCES External audio and video sources are connected to the appropriate inputs on TriCaster’s backplate.
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FIGURE 15 – TRICASTER 460 FIGURE 16 – TRICASTER 410 Note: Hardware details as depicted are subject to change without prior notice. If your equipment supports SDI, this is the best quality option. 1. Connect sources to suitable connectors in the VIDEO IN section: SDI, Component, Y/C (SVideo) or Composite (may require RCA> BNC adapter). a. SDI – Attach your SDI source connectors to one of the upper row of BNC connectors in the Video In group (marked SDI).
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Note: that the analog video input connection options listed next are not provided by TriCaster 410. b. Component – Attach the appropriate BNC connectors from your sources to all three analog BNC connectors (labeled Y, Pb and Pr) in a column of the Video In group. c. Y/C – If your S-Video equipment and cabling has the usual 4-pin mini-DIN connectors, you will need an S-Video to dual BNC adapter.
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Valley® Native Protocol are supported, as well as Black Magic Design® Video Hub routers. The implementation offers a number of configuration options; a basic setup would be as follows:  Connect the router to TriCaster by Ethernet cable, and then connect one (or more) of the router’s video outputs to TriCaster inputs with matching numbers, using suitable video cables.
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B LACK M AGIC D ESIGN ® A UTO -D ETECTION For backwards compatibility reasons, these routers are auto-detected by default. (Black Magic® routers may use a USB control connection, rather than a network connection. The router’s firmware should be up to date. If detection fails, please contact BMD support for assistance.) You can, if you wish, disable auto detection by editing the XML configuration file discussed above.
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SECTION 3.8 OUTPUT CONNECTIONS Next we’ll discuss the audio and video output connectors along with relevant settings. We’ll start with video output – not only so you can view your results, but because certain items are best considered before beginning a TriCaster session. 3.8.1 A/V OUTPUT TriCaster provides multiple video and audio output connector groups, and very flexible options for display of your live and recorded video streams.
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 (8-input models only) Output 3 can be used to mirror either of the two primary outputs, or transmit a completely different source in its original format. 1. Connect downstream video devices to the appropriate output connectors in the VIDEO OUT section, whether SDI, Component, Y/C (BNC) or Composite (TriCaster 410 supports SDI output only).
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i. Connectors 1a-(1b or 1d) provide sound from the mix assigned to Output 1 (defaults to Master in Output Configuration) ii. Connectors 2a-(2b or 2d) provide sound from the mix assigned to Output 2 (defaults to Aux in Output Configuration) Note: These two output groups are actually treated by TriCaster as four independent stereo outputs, each configured and controlled separately; see Chapter 15, Audio. b.
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3. Stream and Network both require only a network connection. 4. (TriCaster 8000 only) Two special outputs are labeled Display and numbered (5) and (6) on TriCaster’s backplate. These ports can serve projectors or similar large display systems, though of course they can be used for other purposes too. With the exception of Output 3 (8-input models only), most Outputs are similar as respects the optional video sources they can be configured to supply.
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E NGINEERING N OTES  Pins 1-(4 or 8) are ‘hot’ when the LED should be illuminated.  Each LED pin 1 (4 or 8) has a 200 ohm current limiting resistor inside TriCaster.  With no load (open circuit) the LED pins can reach 5V. With a typical LED load, they can be expected to reach about 3V.  GPI stands for General Purpose Interface. Pins 11 and 12 are assigned for possible future use as GPI1 and GPI2 connections, but support for GPI triggers has not been implemented in TriCaster at this time.
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FIGURE 18 (MULTI-STANDARD TRICASTER SHOWN) A link initially containing the text “Enter Session Name” is shown at the top of the right-hand pane when the New icon is selected on the ring. Click in this area to modify the name using the keyboard if you like. (The default name is the current date.) Note: TriCaster supports a variety of optional session configurations for live production. You can choose either HD (High Definition) or SD (Standard Definition) operating modes.
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T HE S ESSION P AGE Clicking Start Session will take you to the Session Page. As our intention is to configure our connections (done in TriCaster’s Live Desktop), click the Live button on the icon ring. FIGURE 19 Simply click the link labeled Start Live Production to launch the Live Desktop, which is likely where you will spend most of your time working with TriCaster.
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Let’s consider an example: An HD 1080i session offers the largest list of optional output formats. The controls allow you to select any of a number of HD or SD formats. Selecting an HD format sends the source to TriCaster’s SDI and Component output connectors simultaneously. FIGURE 20 (TriCaster 8000 shown) SECTION 3.11 CONFIGURE VIDEO OUTPUT TriCaster provides complete video input monitoring right on the Live Desktop.
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For standard definition monitoring, several different connection types continue in service. These include Composite, Y/C (also known as ‘S-Video’) and – at the upper end of the analog quality range – Component. (SDI provides a digital output option, and is the only alternative offered by TriCaster 410.) To connect an analog standard FIGURE 21 (TriCaster 8000 shown) definition monitor (not supported by TriCaster 410), you must specify its connection type in the Output Configuration panel.
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   What audio source will accompany it on connection types that carry both signals? Which video format will be sent to the connectors? For video outputs, which connection type will be used to carry the signal – SDI, Component, Y/C or Composite? And so on … 3.11.1 CHANNEL OPTIONS Let’s review Video source selection first. A drop-down menu by that name permits you to select sources for TriCaster’s two principal video output streams, referred to as Output 1 and 2.
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The video format (Resolution) for Output 1 always matches the current TriCaster session format, so its menu is locked. For Output 2, though, the Resolution menu allows you to independently configure the format. FIGURE 24 Hint: Multiview, a versatile external display intended primarily for control room monitoring, is configured in TriCaster’s Dashboard (click the Workspace menu). It’s worth mentioning that, for TriCasters with analog outputs, SD formats offer different Analog Out options than HD.
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4. The monitoring pane will no show individual monitors for each camera, with Camera 1 at upper left. 5. To continue, you could select Configure from the monitor’s context menu, but let’s take a different approach. 6. Move your mouse back and forth over the Camera 1 monitor and notice that a Configure button (gear icon) appears beneath it at right. 7. Click this Configuration button to open a tabbed settings panel for Camera 1 (Figure 25). 8.
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3.12.1 CONFIGURE A VIDEO ROUTER INPUT (TriCaster 8000 only) Configure the input Connection to SDI, choosing the correct resolution for the device output as discussed above, and then right-click on the Switcher row button for the TriCaster input where the router is connected (see Section 3.5.2) to select which router input will be transmitted to TriCaster. SECTION 3.
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FIGURE 28 A source Type selector drop-down at the top of the Configuration panel (Figure 28) lists the Connection Type options available for the corresponding input. For most TriCasters, options include Mic 1, 2 (with and without phantom power), Line, AES/EBU, and SDI Embedded. FIGURE 27 After connecting audio sources to the input connectors (see also Section 3.5.
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The Volume sliders (next to the VU meters) default to their lowest settings on first launch. After adding audio sources, slowly bring these sliders up to pass their signals through the system. Hint: Most numeric controls in TriCaster can be reset to their defaults using Shift + double-click on the control knob. The default value for Gain sliders is 0dBVU. Some variation exists as respects signal levels from FIGURE 29 individual sources, even within the same type.
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TriCaster’s audio controls follow well-established conventions, providing 20dB of headroom above nominal level (+4dBu at 0dB on the VU scale). Hint: Confusion can sometimes arise because different calibration scales are common in various audio realms, and even for different device types and software. For example, analog mixers commonly show levels on VU scales indexed as just described.
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3. Click the Genlock & Failsafe tab (Figure 31). 4. The default Reference Type in the Genlock settings group is SD (Bi-level), as this is currently the most common reference signal type. However, if you supply an HD reference signal to the Genlock input, you may want to change the setting to HD (Tri-level). 5. With the aid of downstream Waveform and Vector Scopes, adjust TriCaster’s Horizontal and Vertical Position and Phase settings in the Genlock section of the I/O Configuration panel.
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SECTION 3.16 NETWORKING TriCaster is capable of displaying screens from networked computers running NewTek’s iVGA™ client software, output from other supported applications (such as NewTek’s own LiveText™, or the growing number of third-party programs), video streamed from additional TriCaster or 3Play™ systems on the network, or from Apple AirPlay®.
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Chapter 4 LIVE PRODUCTION WALKTHROUGH This chapter provides a quick hands-on tour of the major components and functions of your NewTek TriCaster™. In a very short time, these basics will be second nature to you. More detailed reference material on all aspects of TriCaster follows in Part II (Reference).
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2. The Session Page will appear when you click Start Session. 3. Click Manage on the icon ring (Figure 33). FIGURE 33 SECTION 4.2 IMPORTING CONTENT Let’s import a few files that we’ll use later in our walkthrough: FIGURE 34 4. Click the Import Media button at lower-right.
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FIGURE 35 5. Click Add in Import Media (Figure 35) to open a system File Explorer. 4. Navigate to C:\TriCaster\Documentation\Walkthrough Content. 5. Press Ctrl + a (to multi-select everything in the folder shown in the File Explorer) – then click Open, adding these items to the file pane of the Import Media panel. 6. Click Import – different media types are automatically sorted into the correct destination folders as they are imported. We’ll use these files later (see also Section 5.3.3).
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FIGURE 36 At the top of both Home and Session pages in Startup, you’ll see a row of icons (Figure 36) representing Accounts you can optionally publish your media to. These include popular social media sites like Facebook® and YouTube®, along with more prosaic but still very useful storage option. Hint: Successfully configured accounts show a green checkmark icon. Let’s use a simple example to show how it works – one that doesn’t require you to have an existing account with any social media provider. 1.
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3. If you like, enable the Prepare for Web switch. Hint: Normally, for File Copy, and perhaps FTP destinations, you might well skip this last step. It causes shared files to be transcoded to a compact H.264 format suitable for uploading to social media sites when processed. That’s all you need to do. (Of course, if you have social media site accounts, you can configure them here too.) We’ll use this a bit later in our walkthrough to demonstrate how to share media from the Live Desktop. SECTION 4.
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Let’s briefly turn out attention to the Workspace menu in the Dashboard. 4.4.2 WORKSPACES The options provided in the Workspace menu include different Desktop and Multiview monitoring layouts. FIGURE 39 The features available in this area vary by model. TriCaster 8000 has the most features, and the next section illustrates some of these. Other models provide various preconfigured monitor layouts along with Multiview monitor resolution options in the Workspace menu.
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controls. Slide the mouse down to the Load Default entry, revealing a submenu showing different monitor layouts. Select Quad View. 5. Glance at the monitor display, and you’ll notice that it has updated. Switch to the Interface A preset, then back to D. Presets recall their last setting, so D continues to show the ‘quadview’ layout. For TriCaster 8000, Workspaces can be modified beyond simply changing their monitor layout, too. 6. With the Interface D preset active, reselect the Load Default menu, 7.
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Let’s look at a few more details of TriCaster’s monitors before moving on:  The Monitor Setup context menu (Figure 42) provides many options in addition to simple source assignment, including a Checkerboard background option for sources with transparency (Figure 44), VU meters, and more. NOTE: Although only TriCaster 8000 supports independent monitor source selections as shown above, all models discussed in this Guide offer monitor overlays (such as Safe Area) in this context menu.
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 Monitors provide other controls and displays on rollover as appropriate, including things like Play or Stop and current position (timecode) in a clip for Media Players, and Network source selection (Figure 44). 4.4.3 SCOPES FIGURE 45 1. Display the Scopes again (if you’ve forgotten how, see the previous section). The monitoring area displays Waveform and Vectorscope displays (along with a full color Preview source video pane), invaluable for calibrating your video sources. 2.
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7. When you’re finished, move the mouse over the Desktop divider you previously dragged to re-size the monitors, and double-click it to restore its default location. SECTION 4.5 AUDIO MIXER Having previously connected and configured your audio inputs, let’s explore a few of the standard features in TriCaster’s Audio Mixer.
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4. Find the icon named “3tone_quad.WAV” in the file pane. This is a four channel audio file, with a mid-range tone on channel 1, a higher tone on channel 2, while both channels 3 and 4 both carry a lower tone. 5. Select the icon for this file, and click OK to add this audio file to the playlist. 6. Turn on the Single and Loop switches below the DDR 1 playlist. FIGURE 47 7. To avoid any confusion in our little experiment, let’s eliminate all other sounds for now.
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1. To open this panel, click the Configure button (gear) below the DDR 1 label in the Audio Mixer. FIGURE 48 A Pan slider is provided for each channel of all audio sources. Sliding a Pan knob left or right actually moves (or ‘pans’) the audio from its original channel onto its neighbor (in the same stereo pair). 2. Mute channels B, C and D for DDR 1. If the DDR controls are at their default, you will now hear sound only on the left channel. 3. Re-open the Audio Configuration panel. 4.
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7. Move the slider back to the extreme left position. The sound is now entirely sent to channel A, where it was in the first place. Pan thus provides precise control over where the audio from any channel input is heard – whether exclusively on output channel A, B, or in differing amounts on both channels. 4.5.3 TALK Talk is an abbreviation of “Talk Over”. The Talk feature is only shown for inputs when they are set to Mic. 1.
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9. Select the button for Camera 2 on the Switcher’s Preview row. At this point, you should be hearing audio only from input 1. Hint: By default, each audio input is configured to follow the video source having the same Switcher row slot, though the Follow switch is disabled. However, it’s valuable to know that these default source relationships can be modified, as we shall see shortly. 10. Click the Switcher’s Take button – keep an eye on the VU meters for Inputs 1 and 2 as you do so.
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13. Configure audio Input 2 identically. 14. Select Camera 1 on the Switcher’s Program row. The audio from both input 1 and 2 should be audible. 15. Switch to Camera 3. The audio from Inputs 1 and 2 is muted on output (and their VU meters will turn gray). If audio Input 3 has sound, you will hear it instead. 16. Switch to Camera 2 and you will hear sound from both Input 1 and Input 2 again. SECTION 4.
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After agreeing to the NewTek license (and a moment or two for the network connection to be established) the name of the remote computer is added (along with “Black” and any other networked systems with iVGA running on them) to TriCaster’s network source list. FIGURE 49 Note: Gigabit networking is highly recommended, and should be considered mandatory for HD sessions in particular. When TriCaster recognizes qualified network sources, it adds them to a drop-down menu for quick selection (Figure 49). 4.
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4.6.2 APPLE AIRPLAY® See Section 16.2 for details on using devices and applications supporting Apple AirPlay as network sources for TriCaster. 4.6.3 LIVETEXT™ NewTek’s (optional) standalone LiveText application offers features that are very similar to TriCaster’s integrated LiveText (see Chapter 21 LiveText™ and SpeedEDIT™), but installs separately on a compatible Windows® computer. A (networked) LiveText workstation effectively constitutes a dedicated CG and title solution for TriCaster presentations.
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The first button group at left on any row represents Cameras, while others represent various other sources (discussed soon). FIGURE 51 (8-INPUT VERSION SHOWN) Clicking a button in any row selects the active source for that row. Program and Preview row selections determine the content of the BKGD (Background) video layer, before the application of any overlays (DSKs). V IDEO L AYERS TriCaster video output often consists of multiple sources of imagery, added together layer on layer to form a composite.
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 DSK video layers are most commonly used to apply graphics or titles to the BKGD layer (DSK stands for ‘Down Stream Keyer’). The number of DSK layers varies by model.  FTB (Fade to Black) constitutes a final video layer prior to output – one that can obscure all others when called upon to do so. Again, the Program and Preview row selections determine the content of the BKGD (Background) video layer. The Preview row selection is normally cued up for the next Take (cut) or Transition operation.
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4. Click the Switcher button labeled ‘1’ on the Program row to send Camera 1 to TriCaster’s BKGD layer (the PGM row button turns red). (For experimental purposes, feel free to use internal sources such as Media Players rather than live cameras if you like.) 5. Click to select Camera 2 on the Preview row (the button will light up in green). 6. Note that the monitor labels for the corresponding sources are now also tinted red and green, respectively.
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b. Click the NewTek location at left (under the Titles heading) in the Media Browser. c. In the file pane at right, scroll down to locate a title that does not cover the entire screen (such as the one shown in Figure 52). 2. In the same manner, add a different second title to the playlist. 3. Right-click the playlist icon for this second title, and select Send to Buffer 1 from the icon menu. Hint: This introduces the TriCaster’s Buffers, discussed more fully later.
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2. Select Camera 2 on the Preview row. 3. Notice that the red and green highlighted monitor labels conform to the selections you just made. FIGURE 54 4. Click the BKGD button above the T-bar in the Transition group – Figure 54 (this dedicates the T-bar to control the BKGD video layer exclusively). 5. Click the Take button below the T-bar. a. Camera 1 is instantly removed from Program Out. b. Camera 2 (previously the Preview row selection) moves to Program output. c.
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a. Click the large Fade thumbnail icon to open the Transition Bin. b. Slide the mouse pointer down and click a different transition effect. Test it, by clicking Auto. The Transition Bin provides quick access to a number of transitions, but TriCaster includes many others. To replace an entry in the Transition Bin with a completely new effect, proceed as follows: 8. Open the Transition Bin again, and hover the mouse pointer over any thumbnail icon. 9.
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DSK T RANSITIONS Having mastered the basic Background transition, let’s take another look at the DSKs. Notice that each DSK channel has its own control group located to the right of the main T-bar (Figure 57). Hint: DSK 2 appears ‘in front of’ DSK 1 (from the viewer’s perspective). DSKs can each have their own transitions, and these can be set to different durations as well if you like. FIGURE 57 12. Click the local Auto button for DSK 1.
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17. With the DSK 1 delegate button lit up, press Ctrl on your keyboard, and keep it pressed while you click the button for DSK 2 – then release it. Two Transition delegate buttons are now ‘lit’ – DSK 1 and DSK 2. 18. Click the main Auto button again. DSK 1 (which was displayed above the BKGD layer) is removed from view, and DSK 2 is displayed using its own transition. Let’s up the ante just slightly. 19. Press Ctrl on your keyboard while you click the BKGD delegate button.
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FIGURE 59 (BEFORE) In Figure 59, the Program monitor shows the composite result of DSK 1 over the BKGD layer, the current Program row selection. FIGURE 60 (AFTER) In obedience to the current Transition delegate multi-selection, one click of the main Auto button resulted in all of the following operations:  A BKGD layer transition occurred, swapping the Program and Preview row selections.  DSK 1, which had been displayed on output, transitioned out of view.
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L OOK A HEAD P REVIEW Let’s pause here to consider TriCaster’s Look Ahead Preview monitor. Cast your eyes over the Preview monitor, and consider how it relates to the state of the Transition Delegate controls. In Figure 60, the Preview monitor shows DSK 2 (assigned to Buffer 1) overlaid on the current Preview row selection.
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SECTION 4.8 RECORD AND GRAB FIGURE 61 Record and Grab controls are prominently positioned immediately above the Program monitor (in its default position at upper right on the Live Desktop). Note: The tools located above the monitoring section of the Live Desktop comprise TriCaster’s Dashboard. In addition to Record and Grab, the Dashboard holds numerous other important features discussed a bit further on in this guide. 4.8.1 RECORD FIGURE 63 1.
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TriCaster’s IsoCorder™ technology can capture multiple a/v sources simultaneously. The first of these sources is referred to as the Primary source. Additional sources in many combinations can be added in a Secondary recording group shown below. (Recording options are discussed in more depth in Chapter 20, Record and Grab.) The default capture options will work just fine for our purposes, so let’s continue: 3.
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8. As before, click the Configure button (gear) to open a setting panel for the Grab feature. The De-interlace option smooths the results for fielded format session, and is enabled by default. 9. Enter “test” (without quotes) in the Base Name field. 10. Enable Capture stills from all inputs (not available on TriCaster 410). FIGURE 65 (TRICASTER 8000) 11. Enable the Add PGM grab to switch, and click the nearby gear button to select some destinations (be sure to include DDR 1). 12.
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Note that only one thumbnail is added to the GFX 1 playlist, even though you enabled Capture stills from all inputs. The option did not fail, though. The same folder mentioned just above also contains sub-folders for each Grab you performed. You’ll find the additional still image files inside these folders. SECTION 4.9 MEDIA PLAYERS 4.9.1 THE DDRS TriCaster’s two DDRs are powerful Media Players, and can greatly enhance your live productions.
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2. Click the + (Add Media) button in the DDR 1 pane (Figure 67) to open a Media Browser. FIGURE 67 3. Click the heading named for your current TriCaster session (Practice Session, if you’ve been following along) beneath the Clips header in the Locations column at left in the Media Browser. Hint: Double-click an empty spot in the playlist instead of clicking the + button. When using either method, hold down the Shift key to view a standard system file window instead of the custom Media Browser. 4.
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1. Instead, try this: simply click inside the Speed slider (engaging direct edit mode), type “50” and press Enter to change playback Speed to 50%. 2. Click Play again, and observe that playback is now in smooth slow motion. 3. Adjust Speed again – notice that you can even modify Speed during playback. 4. Click Stop. 5. Hold down shift, and double-click the Speed value to reset it to its default. T RIMMING AND S CRUBBING Let’s spend a moment learning how to trim a clip in the DDR.
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S INGLE AND A UTOPLAY 9. Click the Single switch (Figure 70). FIGURE 70 10. Double-click the first clip in DDR 1’s playlist to play it (double-clicking is another way to engage Play). With Single mode engaged, playback automatically stops at the end of the current clip. 11. Select Camera 1 on the Switcher’s Preview row (DDR 1 is already selected on the Program row). 12. Enable the Autoplay switch for DDR 1. 13. Play the first clip in the playlist again.
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17. With DDR 1 on Program, and Camera 1 on Preview, highlight a fairly long clip (say, a minute or more). 18. Click Play. 19. After a few seconds, perform a Take and watch what happens: a. Naturally, DDR 1 and Camera 1 are swapped on the Switcher. b. DDR playback is stopped at the current frame of the current clip. 20. Perform another Take. a. As expected, DDR 1 is restored to Program output. b.
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MEM slots store other information about the current state of the module, too, including playback position, selection status, and so on. In many ways, MEM slots act like additional Media Players. 21. Move the mouse to the extreme left of the screen to open the MEM slot bin for DDR 1. 22. Click an empty MEM slot, and use the + (Add Media) button to populate its playlist. 23. Switch back and forth between presets, noting as you do how various attributes are retained.
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E XPLORING A UTOPLAY AND S INGLE The controls of the graphics players are identical to those of the DDR apart from the omission of a playback Speed control (which would be superfluous and possibly confusing). Rather than cover these again, let’s have a little fun: 25. Select an icon in the GFX 1 playlist (or simply GFX for some models), and press CTRL + a on the keyboard to select all playlist entries. 26.
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35. Select GFX 1 on the Switcher’s Program row. 36. Select GFX 2 (or DDR, if you used that player above) on the Switcher’s Preview row. 37. Click the first entry in both playlists (to set the current position). 38. Press GFX 1’s Play button, and watch the ‘hands-free’ slideshow. Let’s consider what is happening:  When playback of the first GFX 1 playlist entry reaches its end: o The Autoplay setting invokes an automatic transition to Still, and stops GFX 1 playback.
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TriCaster’s native title pages have some distinct advantages over a common still image, however. Let’s try them out: 39. Click Add, and use the Media Browser to select a few of the prepared title pages from the NewTek location listed under Titles in the Location List at left. 40. Click an icon to highlight it in the Media Player playlist. 41. Display the title page on Program Output by selecting the correct Media Player on the Switcher’s Program row. 42.
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44. Move the mouse over the default text shown in the Title Page Editor’s preview pane, and notice that a white bounding-box appears as you locate editable items. 45. Double-click inside the bounding-box for a line of text to open a text entry field; type something different, then press Enter on the keyboard to accept the changes. 46. Notice that you were able to edit a page without disturbing the title already displayed on Program Output - Click the Close button. 47.
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FIGURE 74 2. Remove any extraneous DSKs left from earlier operations from view using the local Take buttons in the Switcher’s individual DSK control groups. FIGURE 75 3. If necessary, click the Mix Effects label between the Monitor and Switcher sections (or press ‘m’ on the keyboard) to expand the M/E pane.
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4. Click the tab for M/E 1 to reveal the controls for the first M/E channel. 5. Click the Effect button in the M/E Effect control group (Figure 76). The default effect is named “Default (2 Layer)”; you should see the icon for this effect below the Effect button.
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8. Click the DDR 2 tab, and add the image named texas_weathermap.png (from Practice Session, under Stills in the Location list at left). 9. Move your mouse pointer over the desktop monitor for DDR 1, and click the Configure button (gear) that pops up at right in the label beneath the monitor. 10. Click the LiveMatte tab in the Configuration panel that opens. FIGURE 78 11. Click on the Color button in the Matte section of the panel, and keep the mouse button depressed. 12.
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13. The default LiveMatte settings (Tolerance and Smoothness) are close enough for this little demonstration, so you can close the Configuration panel now. We’ll look at the details of LiveMatte in more depth in Part II (the Reference section), but already your result (as viewed on Program output) should look very similar to Figure 74. TriCaster doesn’t stop here, though. Let's look a little more closely at TriCaster’s powerful M/Es. SECTION 4.
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Experiment with these controls a bit to see how they work. Hint: Shift + double-click a control to reset it to defaults. You can drag the mouse over the buttons in each group to freely adjust Position, Rotation or Scale on multiple axes at once, or use the numeric mini-sliders to adjust just one property at a time. As currently configured, Program output displays the result of changes you make. Off course, during a live production you’d likely use Preview to make these sort of modifications, instead. 2.
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Without having moved the physical camera, we have changed the apparent position of our talent relative to the virtual backdrop. Hint: When the Keep Aspect switch for the Scale controls is lit, vertical and horizontal adjustments are locked together – adjusting one affects both. Otherwise, the vertical and horizontal scaling factors are independent. Drag vertically over the ‘magnifying glass’ button to modify vertical scale, or drag laterally to adjust the horizontal scale.
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6. Edit the top line in the title to say “5 Day Forecast”, as shown in Figure 82 (see the sub-heading Title in Section 4.9.2 if you’ve forgotten how to do this)... 7. Select GFX 1 as the source for Key 1 in the M/E tab, and display the corresponding overlay channel by clicking the Auto button below).
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Most important of all – since the entire composition is now represented by a single button on the main Switcher (i.e., the M/E 1 button), it is very easy to Take or Transition directly to it with a single click – and just as easy to transition from one M/E to another. Of course, this is just one way to use the basic M/E features. possibilities are endless. The creative 4.11.3 LIVESET™ We’ve saved the best for last in connection with M/E’s, however.
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5. In the file pane at right, click the thumbnail icon named Center.Liveset in the World Update group, and then click OK at the bottom of the Media Browser. 6. Select DDR 2 as the source for Input B. The icon in the M/E tab and the label will update, showing that the current LiveSet is now World Update, Center.
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Both DDRs will begin running their currently selected clips simultaneously thanks to Autoplay (of course normally your foreground shot would be supplied by a camera). 8. Now, click the effect thumbnail icon in the M/E panel, to display the popup LiveSet Shot bin. 9. With one eye on the Program monitor, click the third preset (#3) in the Shot bin. Observe that the view on the Program monitor now gradually pans/zooms to the degree represented by the zoom preset icon you clicked.
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1. Add the image file TriCaster Logo w. Bkgnd.png from Still > NewTek > Logos to the playlist of a Media Player. FIGURE 86 2. Right-click on the new icon in the playlist, and slide the mouse pointer down to the item Send to Buffer. Select BFR 1 from the sub-menu that appears. 3. Select the button labeled BFR as the input B source in the M/E tab. The image you sent to Buffer 1 now appears on the virtual monitor in the LiveSet.
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4. To finish up, right-click the original TriCaster Logo w. Bkgnd.png icon in the Media Player, and select Remove. Observe that the correct image continues to appear when the LiveSet is displayed, even though the original image file no longer exists in the playlist. Actually, the Send to Buffer function copied the source file and placed it in a special folder (C:\TriCaster\Effects\Frame Buffer\session_name\).
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FIGURE 88 4.13.2 SIMPLE PULL STREAMING FIGURE 89 “Pull” streaming, though limited, is arguably the simplest way to get your production online: 1. Select “Create Connection from current URL” from the drop-down Connection menu at upper left (for Pull connections, the ‘current URL’ is actually irrelevant, so we didn’t need to navigate to a specific place on the web first).
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The Choose Connection Type dialog switches allow you to select between Browser Based, RTMP, Windows Media Pull and Windows Media Push streaming protocols. FIGURE 90 2. Select Windows Media Pull, click OK, and then supply a name for this Connection preset. 3. The next thing to do is to choose a streaming profile that provides a suitable resolution and bitrate from the Resolution menu (Figure 91). 4. Click the Test button.
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Player® (using the Open URL window) will direct WMP to show the stream from your system on client computer system(s) connected to the Internet (or intranet). 4.13.3 PUSH AND RTMP STREAMING Browser Based, Windows Media Push and RTMP streaming are slightly more complex, largely because they depend on external resources to distribute your stream to a wider viewing audience.
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PART II (REFERENCE) A thorough examination of the various aspects of TriCaster: every button, menu item, feature and control is considered in this section, so you can take full advantage of your system.
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Chapter 5 THE STARTUP SCREEN The TriCaster™ Startup Screen is the gateway to a suite of applications as well as maintenance and management features for both sessions and the system. We’ll discuss each of these in the pages that follow, beginning with a review of the concept of sessions. The Startup Screen’s Home Page appears whenever you launch TriCaster™.
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We’ll look into each of these in turn, but first let’s consider that fundamental TriCaster concept, the session. What is a session, and why are sessions both important and valuable to you? Hint: Social Media accounts and other details related to TriCaster’s Share Media features are configured using controls in the Startup screen’s titlebar. These matters are considered in Chapter 19, Publish. SECTION 5.
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 o For example, will you send video to a local reference monitor using an S-Video or composite cable? o Do you intend to configure a connection for a projection system? What external audio connections and adjustments are required? You might create a playlist of custom title pages in a Media Player, along with additional playlists for the DDRs.
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SECTION 5.2 THE HOME PAGE Having discussed sessions, let’s go on to consider how sessions are created, and how you choose which one to work on. These items, along with a few other top level functions, are found in the TriCaster’s Home Page. This primary screen is the first thing you encounter on launching TriCaster. It is dominated by the icon ring shown in Figure 93. When you click an icon on the ring (such as New or Open), that item advances to the front-most position.
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S ESSION N AME You will see a name field for your session listed above the options pane at right (Figure 95). You can click in this field to modify the default name (the current date) using the keyboard. FIGURE 95 T EMPLATE The Template drop-down menu (Figure 95) lists all sessions currently available on the system. If you select an entry, the session you create subsequently retains all settings of the source session, but without content from its Media Player playlists.
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F ORMAT AND O UTPUT C ONSIDERATIONS Remember that for live production, TriCaster can simultaneously supply both SD and HD output for either SD or HD sessions. During an HD session, for example, you can output either (or both) HD or SD video, and SD video output can be either in a 16:9 widescreen format or cropped for display on a 4:3 television (see Section 8.1). The session setting has some other significant ramifications, too.
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FIGURE 97 FIGURE 98 Available sessions are grouped under the names of the storage volume they are located on (Figure 98). The listing shows the Session Name and Format for each session. Let’s look at the Sessions List briefly before we open a session. C ONTEXT MENU Right-click a session name to open a context menu with two items listed in it: Rename and Delete. Be aware that the Delete function should be used thoughtfully, as it cannot be undone.
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archived, click Restore Session Backup (Figure 99), and use the file explorer provided to select a .SessionBackup file. FIGURE 99 Click Open, and a progress gauge will track the restoration process. In due course, the newly restored session will be added to the Session List for the specified drive. Hint: Restoring a session that has a lot of content can take considerable time. Be judicious, then, if considering a restoration shortly before a scheduled live production.
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FIGURE 100 Administrator Mode options are grouped under several headings, as discussed next. B ROWSE  Web – Opens the default system Internet browser.  Files on Disk – Opens a system file window. S YSTEM U TILITIES  Register TriCaster – TriCaster shows a watermark on output before registration, so we encourage you to register early.
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If TriCaster is connected to the Internet, clicking Update TriCaster will automatically check for a more recent software version and offer to install it. This way you can be sure the very latest *release version of the software for your TriCaster is installed. Alternatively, you can go to the NewTek web site, click My Account, and use the login details you provided when registering your TriCaster to access your personal product page.
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As time goes along, you decide to remove books you have finished using from the shelf, in order to make room for new additions. You remove a book here, another there, opening up gaps between the remaining books. This makes some shelf space available by creating gaps between the remaining books. Sadly, another large new book may be too big to fit in any one of the gaps. FIGURE 101 A foolish librarian might tear the new book into smaller sections, just big enough to fit into the open spaces on the shelf.
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We strongly encourage you to protect against any unforeseen occurrence by using the Backup feature soon after registering TriCaster. Please refer to Section A.5.7 in Appendix Chapter 22 for details.  Command Window – Open a system command line window, allowing you (among other things) to use advanced commands to manage your system and network settings.  Swap Primary Monitor – reverse the monitor assignments currently in use for TriCaster’s interface and Multiview displays.
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 Back to TriCaster – Exit Administration Mode, and return to TriCaster’s Startup screen and the production environment. 5.2.4 HELP Select the Help icon to reveal links to open TriCaster manuals and other information. The primary User Guide and Control Surface manuals are found here, as well as documentation for other TriCaster features, such as the LiveText™ manual.
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SECTION 5.3 THE SESSION PAGE Opening a session from the Home Page (whether using Open or New) takes you to the Session Page, providing a new set of selections on the icon ring. FIGURE 104 The name of the current session is shown in the top-left corner of the screen. The current session is displayed in the form “Home/session name”.
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FIGURE 106 Selecting the Graphics icon displays a number of related items on the right-hand side of the Session Page. FIGURE 107 When you first enter a new session, no LiveText projects are listed in the area under Project Name. After you create one or more projects, the name(s) will appear here and, as you would expect, you can re-open the project by clicking its name.
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Note: Similarly, external projects will not be backed up by the Backup Session function (or be deleted by the Delete Session function) To create a new LiveText project, click in the default project name field (just above the Start New Project link) and modify it, then click Start New Project. When you finish working in LiveText, click the [x] button in its upper-right corner (or select Exit in the File menu) to return to the Session Page. 5.3.
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FIGURE 109 Hint: Of course, you can open several of these folders simultaneously, and navigate these file windows to other locations as well. For example, you might copy the title page (.cgxml) files from the Titles folder of one session into the Titles folder of a different one before deleting the first session. Several other important features are contained in the Manage group, including Import Media, Export Media and Backup Session.
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Click Add to open a standard system file window, and select (or multi-select) items to build a list in the Import Media file pane. Some highly compressed video files may not be well suited to live playback. Enable switches in the Transcode column for files you wish to convert to a friendlier format on import. Files can be re-ordered by dragging their entries up or down with the mouse, or removed from the list by highlighting them and clicking Remove.
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T OOLS The Duplicate feature is very useful for cases when you wish to export content to multiple target file formats or locations, for different purposes or specific software applications. Note that Export Media’s file list pane supports multi-selection. When a file (or group of files) is selected, you may use the Duplicate and Remove buttons to clone or delete files from the list. FIGURE 112 Hint: To multi-select files, you can use the familiar Shift-click or Ctrl-click techniques.
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o   AVI o DV/ DVCPro (.avi) – moderate quality, SD only (NTSC 720x480, PAL 720x576), 25Mbit/s, 4:1:1 (NTSC) or 4:1:0 (PAL) sub-sampling, very broad compatibility. o MJPEG (.avi) – moderate quality, SD or HD capable, 4:2:0 sub-sampling, broad compatibility. DVD o   A diverse collection of presets suitable for playback in newer or legacy Flash® players. Mobile Devices o  (x) (*.mpg) – SD-only MPEG 2, quality presets up to 9MB/sec bitrate (≈60 minutes) with 4:2:2 sub-sampling.
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 Video Server o Leightronix NEXUS\Ultra NEXUS – SD (NTSC 720x480, PAL 720x576), high quality, MPEG2 Program Stream, 9Mb/s variable bitrate, 4:2:2. o TelVUE Princeton – SD (NTSC 720x480, PAL 720x576), high quality MPEG2 Program Stream, 9Mb/s variable bitrate, 4:2:2, NTSC 720x480 (PAL 720x576). Next, use the Destination field drop-down to designate a target folder for exported files to be sent. A progress gauge is shown during file processing.
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When external media is used in the session, a dialog is presented stating "The following files are external to the session.
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Chapter 6 LIVE DESKTOP: OVERVIEW The TriCaster™ Live Desktop is the control center for all your live production work. It provides control over switching, transitions and overlays, titles and graphics, audio mixing, playback of digitized content, and much more. In addition, streaming and recording features are located here, along with keying and virtual set tools.
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SECTION 6.2 OVERVIEW TriCaster’s Live Desktop provides visual feedback for operations, including monitoring, live switching, and so on. It is divided into five horizontal bands. From top to bottom, these are: 1 - Dashboard • Quick access to interface options and important tools, including Publish and Macros along with Record, Stream, Workspace and Timecode options.
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SECTION 6.3 STANDARD CONTROLS You will find various control types used repeatedly in TriCaster’s Live Desktop. Some examples are shown in the table below. Control Type Type Examples Usage Numeric Slider Gain, Balance Drag in line with the control’s orientation to raise or lower the current value. Rotary slider Position, Size, Rotate Drag up-down to adjust one value, left-right to adjust the other value, diagonally to adjust two different values simultaneously.
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SECTION 6.4 CUSTOMIZING THE LIVE DESKTOP TriCaster’s Live Desktop layout can be adapted to many different scenarios, and provides a number of customization options that can be of benefit in your workflow. In this section, we’ll touch on several of these. 6.4.1 RENAME INPUT As charming as descriptive names like Camera 1, DDR 2 and M/E 5 are, you may wish to change these labels to something more appropriate for your local needs.
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When a Multiview monitor is in use the two Workspace preset options can be combined with great flexibility, letting you see what you want to see where you want to see it. It’s easy to set up complementary displays in the two monitor areas. For example, you might show main Program and Preview monitors along with all 8 M/Es on the Live Desktop.
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We mentioned previously, as well, that clicking the Mix Effects label (Figure 116) between the Monitor and Switcher sections toggles display of the M/E pane. FIGURE 116 Hint: The keyboard shortcut to show/hide the M/E tab is “m”. A number of further workflow and interface options that can be very valuable are found in the TriCaster Options menu, discussed shortly (Section 7.1).
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Chapter 7 THE DASHBOARD TriCaster’s Dashboard groups important production features and system display controls in one convenient place for quick access and review. As well, the Dashboard serves to provide information on the current session, status updates and storage usage, along with timecode and the TriCaster Options menu. FIGURE 117 TriCaster’s Dashboard is home to a number of important displays, tools and controls.
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Of these items, some are so important that they rate their own chapters. Others are detailed in various sections of this guide (cross references to the relevant sections of the manual are provided above). In this chapter, we’ll focus on those Dashboard features which are not discussed in depth elsewhere. SECTION 7.1 FILE MENU This menu drops down to reveal the following items:      Publish Queue … (see Section 19.3) Publish Destinations (see 19.3.
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FIGURE 118 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN)  Enabling Lock Mouse to Primary Monitor prevents the mouse from traveling into the external Multiview display.  Enable Autoplay Out on M/Es – You may find it useful to enable Autoplay’s ‘transition-out when nearing the end of play’ feature for M/E’s (Mix mode). By default, this option is off.  The Disable All Hotspots option prevents macros from being triggered by any Hotspot activity.
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SECTION 7.3 HELP Select this option to display QR (Quick Response) codes you can scan with your mobile device (such as an iPad® or Android® tablet) to view TriCaster documentation. This provides an easy to use mechanism that lets you look up information about TriCaster without interfering with your live production. SECTION 7.4 INFORMATION PANEL An information display in the Live Desktop titlebar provides a number of useful items.
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The Switcher Memory ‘gauge’ tracks how much system memory is consumed by currently selected virtual sets, transitions and the like. (If you do inadvertently overtax the effects system by pre-selecting many, many large custom effects – an unlikely scenario – you might just reach the limit, which could in turn result in dropped frames.) Hint: Another useful bit of system information concerns avaliable drive capacity.
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PAGE 159
Chapter 8 I/O CONFIGURATION TriCaster™ provides extensive control over your video sources, along with related creative features. Each video source (internal and external) has its own Proc Amp, keyer (LiveMatte™) and Crop (‘garbage matte’) features. Input Configuration panels are also home to TriCaster’s powerful realtime Hotspot and Tracker features. In addition, the number and flexibility of TriCaster’s outputs is astonishing, and we’ll discuss these fully in this chapter.
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FIGURE 122 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN) FIGURE 123 (TRICASTER 410 SHOWN) 8.1.1 OUTPUT TAB The Output Configuration panel contains two tabbed panes governing TriCaster’s outputs as well as Genlock & Failsafe options (Failsafe only for TriCaster 410) and settings.
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O UTPUTS 1 AND 2 The first tab, labeled Output, provides control over all of TriCaster’s Output channels. Each of these is in some ways unique. Outputs 1 and 2 are of particular interest, for several reasons:  Of all of TriCaster’s outputs, Outputs 1 and 2 support the most diverse range of optional video sources.  The other outputs can be assigned to ‘follow’ the audio and video source selections of either Output 1 or Output 2, or show certain other sources.
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o o o o  Program Program (Clean) Black Alpha Matte – Output 2 only Audio menu (Figure 125) – choose which audio is presented on the corresponding Audio Out connector groups on TriCaster’s rear from the following list: o Outputs  Master 1, 2 (sound from the Master 1 and 2 busses)  Aux (sound from the Aux 1 and 2 busses) (See Section 15.7.2 for discussion of TriCaster’s internal audio busses).
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 Analog Out menu (not supported by TriCaster 410) – select the video connection type for downstream devices you intend to connect to the corresponding output: o o FIGURE 126 Component Composite + Y/C Note: The only analog connection type suitable for HD video is Component. The Analog Out menu for Outputs 1 and 2 are automatically set to Component and locked when the current Resolution selection for the row is HD.
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G ENERAL N OTES Here are some other noteworthy facts related to output: o For SD session formats, session aspect (4:3 or 16:9) is respected on output (e.g., when the session is SD 16:9, video output is also 16:9). o For HD sessions (which are always 16:9), SD video from Output 2 (and any output set to Follow 2) can use either a 16:9 image aspect or as (sidecropped) 4:3 video, as noted earlier when discussing the Resolution menu.
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with the addition of individual source options. Naturally, analog connection options are not required. Note: HDMI display devices will typically show black when if they do not support video displays of the format (resolution, etc.) selected as source in Output 4’s Video menu. 8.1.2 STREAM AND NETWORK FIGURE 128 Like other output options, TriCaster’s Network and Stream outputs can be independently configured to use different Video and Audio sources.
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Two rows at the bottom of the configuration panel are labeled Display. The corresponding output ports are intended to supply video to projection systems or other display devices. These outputs are presented physically on TriCaster’s rear connection panels as HDMI and VGA ports, respectively (Output 5 is DVI-D internally). No audio is supplied to these connectors. The Video source menu for both outputs provides the same options as Output 3.
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You could think of it this way:  Genlocking your cameras has the effect of locking their output together, ensuring optimal synchronization for live switching. This may result in throughput latency benefits.  Supplying the same sync source to TriCaster’s Genlock input ensures a match between TriCaster output and any downstream video devices required to handle both it and other (genlocked) sources. Note: Digital audio is less tolerant in certain respects than analog.
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FIGURE 130 The Phase setting ensures proper color alignment, corresponding to making sure everyone is on the left or right foot at the same time. Thus, the Vert Position, Horiz Position and Phase settings allow you to tweak synchronization to arrive at an optimum match between devices. Typically, these settings are fine-tuned with the aid of a downstream Vectorscope and Waveform Monitor.
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8.1.4 CENTER FREQUENCY FIGURE 132 FIGURE 133 This setting is applied when a genlock reference signal is not in use. To adjust the setting, supply color bars to an input and pass TriCaster’s video output to a downstream vectorscope. The vectorscope display is completely stable when Center Frequency is properly adjusted. Note: See also Section 8.2.3, Frame Sync . 8.1.5 FAILSAFE TriCaster’s multi-tiered ‘Always on Air’ hardware and software failsafe systems (see Section 2.5.
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SECTION 8.2 INPUT CONFIGURATION FIGURE 134 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN) TriCaster’s input monitors have contextual tools that appear when you roll the mouse pointer over in the footer (that is, the titlebar below each monitor). In every case, the right-most button is a Configure button (gear). Clicking it opens the Configuration panel for a specific source (Figure 134). 8.2.1 CONNECTION TYPE The Configuration panel for the Camera inputs features a Connection type menu at the top of its Input Settings tab.
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The standard options are (note that TriCaster 410 does not support analog video input options): 1080i (Component), 1080/30PsF (Component), 1080/24p telecine (Component) • Analog source, high definition, interlaced or PsF (Progressive Segmented Frame) • 1080/60i , 21080/50i, or 1080/24p • 1920x1080 pixels, 16:9 picture aspect • Connected to TriCaster by Y, Pr and Pb input connectors 1080i (SDI) • Digital source, high definition, interlaced • 1080/60i or 21080/50i • 1920x1080 pixels, 16:9 picture aspect • Con
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The standard definition options listed below are provided in both 4:3 and 16:9 versions: 480/30i (Component) • NTSC analog format, standard definition, interlaced • 720x480 pixels, 4:3 picture aspect or anamorphic 16:9 picture aspect • Connected to TriCaster by Y, Pr and Pb input connectors 480/30i (SDI) • NTSC digital format , standard definition, interlaced • 720x480 pixels, 4:3 picture aspect or anamorphic 16:9 picture aspect • Connected to TriCaster by SDI input connectors • Optionally carries embedde
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2576/25i (Component) • PAL analog format, Standard definition, interlaced • 720x576 pixels, 4:3 picture aspect or anamorphic 16:9 picture aspect • Connected to TriCaster by Y, Pr and Pb input connectors 2576/25i (SDI) • PAL digital format , standard definition, interlaced • 720x576 pixels, 4:3 picture aspect or anamorphic 16:9 picture aspect • Connected to TriCaster by SDI input connectors • Optionally carries embedded audio 2576/25i (Y/C) • PAL (S-Video) analog format , standard definition, interlace
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8.2.2 ACT AS ALPHA TriCaster optionally allows one or more neighboring pairs of video inputs to be combined as a single ‘video + alpha’ channel (sometimes also referred to as “fill and matte”). The ability to configure one input as the alpha channel source for another is absolutely invaluable for installations employing video feeds from high end external CG and chromakeying systems (such as Chyron® and Ultimatte® ).
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Note: If Frame Sync is enabled or disabled for one source in a ‘Fill + Alpha’ input pair, the Frame Sync setting for the corresponding input channel is automatically updated to match. 8.2.4 PROC AMP FIGURE 137 Proc Amp practices: The Input Settings tab also contains Proc Amp (processing amplifier) settings. Input Proc Amp adjustments are applied after LiveMatte is processed, which can help when composing greenscreen shots to match a background or LiveSet.
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 Contrast – Adjustment range from 25 - 400% (default 100%).  Hue – Adjustment range between -180° and +180°. Adjusts the master color of the video signal from the attached source, swinging the entire image through the color wheel’s spectrum.  Saturation – Adjustment range from 0-500%. Zero saturation results in a ‘black and white’ picture; increased saturation results in richer colors. High saturation values can exaggerate the color portion of the signal.
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corresponding source. Release the mouse button over a part of the image that should appear as white after processing. 8.2.5 EDGES It is very common for a source to be supplied with unintentional inclusions; these are often items that remain after chromakeying is applied, but which need to be removed along with the background. (Common examples include microphones or lighting fixtures dangling from above, or perhaps a harsh crease, blemish or tear in the background screen.
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8.2.6 LIVEMATTE The second tab in the Input Configuration panels is where TriCaster’s powerful realtime keying system for live production, LiveMatte, is configured. Keying is a popular and powerful method of compositing multiple images, whether photos, video clips or live camera streams. FIGURE 140 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN) The process involves eliminating a portion of the image (effectively cutting a digital ‘keyhole’ in it) to reveal a user-defined background scene.
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8.2.7 HOTSPOTS FIGURE 141 The lower portion of the LiveMatte tab in the Input Configuration panel is devoted to Hotspots – TriCaster’s powerful interactive automation feature. A Hotspot is a square, user-defined region of the screen that (when active) detects opacity changes inside its boundaries. This is why the feature is paired with LiveMatte in the TriCaster interface (Hotspots do not work without LiveMatte being enabled).
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The tracked region is defined by choosing a primary Color using the color picker tool. The Tracker follows this region as it moves and shifts within the frame over time, and outputs the motion data to TriCaster. In turn, Tracker output from one source can be used to control the placement of other video sources configured to do so in their individual Position panels (supplied wherever appropriate in DSK controls and M/E panes).
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S MOOTHNESS The Smoothness setting works just like the LiveMatte feature with the same name. Its impact on tracking data output is minimal, but it is often important when used with the Advanced Tracking effect in M/E panels (see Section 14.2.2). L OCK At right are controls that permit you to Lock certain Tracker attributes (Figure 144): FIGURE 144  Lock Scale to prevent the Tracker from automatically compensating when the scale of the tracked region grows or shrinks during motion.
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8.2.9 PTZ FIGURE 146 PTZ (pan-tilt-zoom), or ‘robotic’ cameras can play important roles in certain types of productions. These systems range widely in price, from a few hundred dollars to those the ‘six figure’ range, with an equally diverse range of quality and features. Generally, remote control of PTZ cameras involves sending instructions to the camera either across serial (RS232 or RS422) or network connections. TriCaster 460, 860 and 8000 provide support for both types.
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FIGURE 148 Windows will automatically assign a COM port number to the adapter, usually COM 1. In some cases, you may wish to manually assign it to a specific port. Exit to Windows from TriCaster’s Adminstration Mode screen (Section 5.2.3) to access the controls shown in Figure 148. Refer to the documentation provided with your adapter for further directions. The Flip Camera switch inverts the image, helpful when the camera is mounted in an upside-down orientation.
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A wide variety of sources can be supplied to Net 1 and 2, making these two inputs exceptionally versatile and powerful. To cover these capabilities fully, we’ve dedicated all of Chapter 16 (Network Inputs) to the topic. We’ll just mention here that both of these inputs provide TriCaster’s full gamut of creative controls, including Proc Amps, LiveMatte, Edge control, Tracking, Hotspots, and so-on (see Section 8.2).
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midnight. (Otherwise, for example, a video frame recorded one minute before midnight would be assigned the timecode 23:59:59.00, while frames recorded one minute or more later would have timecode ≥ 01:00:00.00 – seemingly a lower (i.e., ordinarily earlier) timecode value.) 8.4.2 EVENT TIME Two more switches, under the label Indicate Event Time, allow you to configure Start and End times for your upcoming show. Beside each of these is an editable time field.
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TriCaster decodes time stamps from the audible signal, and uses the values for clock displays and embedded timecode when recording video. This is a great asset for post-production purposes. Enable linear timecode using the switch labeled Use External timecode (LTC) in Timecode Configuration.
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Chapter 9 SWITCHER, TRANSITIONS AND OVERLAY TriCaster’s Live Desktop replicates traditional video switcher controls in easy to comprehend and use fashion. It provides numerous transitions that you can use to add interest when changing scenes, four independent downstream overlay channels, and some very useful automation.
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9.1.1 PROGRAM AND PREVIEW The PGM (Program) row selection determines the dominant video stream of the Background (BKGD) video layer – the bottom-most layer of the composition sent to the Program output. Other sources may be mixed into the Background layer at times, as you apply LiveMatte, or see portions of an incoming Preview row video source during a transition.
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In addition to BKGD, up to five additional ‘primary layers’ can contribute to TriCaster’s final Program output at any given moment:  Either two or four (TriCaster 8000) overlay layers (DSKs are composed above the BKGD layer on output. (DSK 2 appears ‘in front of’ DSK 1 on Program Output – that is, closest to the viewer – and so on in order).  FTB (Fade to Black) constitutes a final overlay layer – one that obscures all other layers when applied.
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Hint: Right-click camera input or Buffer buttons to select special sources from video routers or Buffers – see Section 3.12.1 (Configuring Routers) and Section 11.4 (Buffers). 9.2.2 LINKING SWITCHER ROWS It can be very useful to link two (or more) Switcher or M/E source rows together, causing them to operate synchronously. The Program and Preview rows, and the source rows in any M/E operating in Mix mode, show a downward pointing triangle to the right of the row label (Figure 157).
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Main Layer Controls Solo DSK Layer Controls FIGURE 159 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN) Let’s consider the individual DSK Layer Controls first, before proceeding to the slightly more complex main controls. 9.3.1 DSK CONTROLS Pressing the local Take button for any DSK displays or hides the corresponding video layer (shown on top of the BKGD layer). The local Auto buttons perform similarly, but apply the currently selected transition - that is, the effect represented by the thumbnail icon shown.
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To replace an entry in the palette, click its label, or move the mouse pointer over an icon and click the “+” sign that pops up – see Figure 161. This opens the Custom Media Browser to let you choose from the hundreds of transition effects included with TriCaster, or even custom Animation Store effects that you prepare using the included Animation Store Creator application. FIGURE 161 The selected effect will replace the current one in the palette.
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These special Animation Store transitions are loaded into the Transition Palette in the same way as their less colorful cousins, using the Browse feature. A number of Animation Store transitions are supplied, but you can generate your own using the supplied Animation Store Creator application and custom animation content you have access to or create using art software.
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Click and drag on the Position button to relocate the associated DSK layer vertically or horizontally within the frame. Dragging left or right directly on either of the two nearby numeric controls adjusts the position on a single axis only. Hint: You can also constrain mouse actions to one axis by holding down the Ctrl key before dragging.
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Again, if you drag just one of the numeric gadgets below the Scale button (with the lock disabled) or hold down Ctrl while doing so, you can adjust just one dimension of the corresponding DSK layer – width or height. E DGES FIGURE 168 Edge controls for DSK layers are similar to those found in TriCaster’s Input Configuration panel. However these settings are independent, applying even when the similar option in Input Configuration is not active.
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source, because a Network source includes an alpha channel, or all of these factors operating together. In all of these cases, DSK layers automatically respect transparency when supplied by the source. The BKGD layer and all visible content in lower-numbered DSKs will appear through or around sources with transparency as appropriate. Important Note: It’s best to use files with straight (a.k.a. “non-premultiplied”) alpha channels in TriCaster’s Media Players.
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The Duration menu for the Background transition offers two additional items compared to the similar menu in the DSK control groups:   Reverse – configures the current transition to run in reverse direction the next time it is applied. Ping Pong – when enabled, this option causes the direction of the transition to be automatically swapped after each time it is applied. T RANSITION D ELEGATES An executive maxim suggests “Don’t do anything yourself when you can delegate it”.
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 Now, hold down the Ctrl key and click the delegate button for DSK 1. Or, press both the BKGD and DSK 1 buttons in the TriCaster CS (control surface) Transition Delegate group at the same time instead. You have just delegated the controls below to two video layers. You can likely guess what comes next.  Press Auto or Take, and observe the result.  Now add DSK 2 to the delegate selection, and switch again. The BKGD layer is updated, DSK 1 is removed, and DSK 2 is displayed.
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Also unlike other video layers, FTB does not support custom transitions (pressing Auto simply fades it on or off) or timing; FTB’s fade duration is drawn from the BKGD layer setting. Hint: Hold down Shift while pressing the (CS or onscreen) FTB button to directly initiate an FTB operation, rather than merely delegating the T-bar to it. As a memory aid , the FTB button pulses during operation.
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T RI C ASTER 410 & 460 – B ACKGROUND T RANSITION B IN FIGURE 174 Since a little more free space is available on the Live Desktop of 4-input TriCaster models, an expanded version of the effect control is provided for the most important transition selection (Background). This Background Transition bin shows eight different icons for immediate selection.
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Chapter 10 MONITORING YOUR VIDEO The word “monitor” comes from the Latin “monēre” – meaning ‘to warn’. The word has taken on additional meaning since Roman times. As a verb, these include such connotations as ‘keeping an eye’ on something, and ‘checking continually’. As a noun, we understand it to mean devices that permit one to do just that. As you would expect, TriCaster™ provides extensive and versatile monitoring – just what is needed to control your live productions.
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10.1.1 TRICASTER 8000 WORKSPACE PRESETS TriCaster 8000 provides expanded Workspace options. Freely switch from preset A to B to C to D for either Interface or Multiview, customize the display shown, recall it at a moment’s notice, or reset it to a default layout using Load Default. Each viewport in any layout offers diverse input or output source options, and can be further modified to produce just what you need.
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Selecting Clock selection supplants the video display with Event Clocks showing current time or LTC timecode along with countdown style Start and End clocks (see Section 8.4.3). The Custom Image feature lets you display a network logo. FIGURE 179 A further display you may find useful is the Timecode Only option that appears at the bottom of the Media Players sub-menu. This alternative displays a counter showing the current position of the playhead in the Media Player.
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Note: Certain Overlay menu options are not suitable for all monitor sources, hence are not listed when innapropriate. Two final items complete the monitor viewport options:   Rename – allows you to supply a custom name to be shown for the monitor viewport (as well as the associated Switcher row button) for sources. Configure –opens the Input Configuration panel for the corresponding source.
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Just as for other sources, a Configure (gear) button is shown on rolling over these monitor types; clicking it opens the Configuration panel for the related source (see Chapter 8 I/O Configuration, Section 8.2). Hint: When LiveMatte, Proc Amp, or Crop settings are active for a source, bright green, blue and yellow indicators are lit under its monitor. SECTION 10.
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SECTION 10.3 LOOK AHEAD PREVIEW FIGURE 184 Again, by default, the Live Desktop also prominently displays the Look Ahead Preview monitor (labeled simply Preview). The Look Ahead Preview is versatile and powerful. Instead of showing just one video source (the Preview row selection), it displays the composite result of a Take operation applied to all currently delegated video layers (see the sub-heading Transition Delegates in Section 9.3.2).
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its composition (including titles and overlay positioning), and switch to it with sublime confidence. M/E M ONITORS AND P REVIEW As mentioned earlier, TriCaster 8000’s monitor viewports can also be assigned to display the output of TriCaster’s M/Es. FIGURE 185 Among other things, this means you can freely assign a monitor as a secondary ‘program output monitor’ in cases where you are using an M/E in Mix mode to supply an auxiliary program mix for independent display.
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Hint: Two special M/E viewports in Workspace options named “Program/Preview (Main, M/E)“ track your M/E delegate selection, for convenient monitoring when using an M/E to produce a secondary switched program. Likewise, two special viewport source options (M/E Preview, and M/E Follow) are provided for your use when customizing TriCaster 8000 monitor layouts. SECTION 10.4 SCOPES FIGURE 186 A further and very useful monitoring option is Scopes, providing Waveform and Vectorscope displays.
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Double-click the video monitor in this Workspace to access Proc Amp and LiveMatte™ controls for the current source (or the Output Configuration panel for Program and Preview selections). 10.4.1 CLOCKS As discussed back in Section 8.4.2, TriCaster provides handy Event Time clocks. One of these time displays is shown at upper right in the Dashboard. It’s possible to show clocks in any monitor pane, as well – whether in the Interface or Multiview displays.
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Chapter 11 MEDIA PLAYERS & BUFFERS TriCaster’s Media Players permit you to integrate video, stills and title pages into your live presentation with simplicity and style. Preload content and display it sequentially as a playlist, or call up individual items on demand. Media Players can even play, stop and advance automatically in response to your Switcher operations.
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TriCaster’s different Media Players are essentially specialized variants of a single module, modified to suit specific and complementary purposes. The foremost difference between players is in the file formats each supports (and even that distinction is not rigidly adhered to, as we will see).
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This arrangement offers easily visible thumbnail icons for each entry. A scrollbar at right accommodates long playlists when necessary. Icons in the playlist can quickly and easily be reordered using the familiar drag and drop workflow. The playlist can even be altered during playback (of course, if the currently playing item is removed, playback stops immediately).
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During playback, the border around successive playlist items illuminates as each is played in turn. When necessary, the playlist pane scrolls to display the icon for the currently playing item. A progress bar is displayed beneath the currently playing thumbnail, and the Scrub-Bar knob also tracks playback progress. Hint: Selection status is independent of which clip is playing. Selected items have a white border in the Playlist pane.
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Hint: Multi-selection is supported for most operations, including Set Duration (applies to Still and Title only). Interestingly, the playlist Set Display Name feature edits a local alias, or ‘playlist nickname’. It does not actually change the name of the file on your hard drive. Roll the mouse over the icon display name to see the true filename.
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Hint: For longer durations, holding SHIFT while dragging scrub bar handles or the knob increases precision. A LPHA C HANNEL S UPPORT For files with transparency such as 32bit image files, use non-premultiplied (or ‘straight’) alpha channels in TriCaster’s Media Players. Premultiplied files will not give the correct results when overlaid on other imagery. Hint: Monitors can optionally show a checkerboard pattern behind transparent content. 11.2.
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The Media Browser appears anywhere in the Live Desktop that you might wish to select content, transitions or effects for use in your project (such as the Media Players, LiveSet and Transitions sections). Its layout is principally comprised of two panes at left and right that we’ll refer to as the Location List and File Pane. L OCATION L IST The Location List is a column of favorite “locations”, grouped under headings such as LiveSets, Clips, Titles, Stills, and so on.
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F ILE F ILTERS The File Pane view is filtered to show only relevant content. For example, when selecting LiveSets, the browser only shows LiveSet files (.vsfx). FIGURE 197 An additional filter appears above the File Pane. This filter quickly locates files matching criteria you enter, doing so even as you type. For example, if you enter “wav” into the filter field, the File Pane displays all content at the current location with that string as part of its filename.
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If you right-click the timecode field instead, a menu allows you to choose to between showing current time and remaining time (Reverse Direction), enabling or disabling Warning Colors, or toggling Playlist Duration on and off (versus single playlist item duration). Hint: With Warning Colors enabled, the time display provides visual indication that the playback is nearing its end. Ten seconds before the end of play for the current item, the digits in the time display turn amber.
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Note: Certain highly compressed video file formats cannot successfully be played back at rates beyond 200%, even though Speed value is set to a higher value. As is common for numeric input controls in TriCaster, drag left or right to adjust the Speed value, or click the slider to access a direct entry field allowing you to type a value using the keyboard. Hint: Press Shift while double-clicking Speed to quickly reset to the 100% default.
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To display the bin, roll the mouse pointer to the (nearest) side of the screen in a tabbed Media Player or the Audio tab (for Sound and Audio, MEM slots are presented on the left only). When you change playlists by selecting another MEM slot, it’s almost as though you are accessing another Media Player. Use MEM slots for quick access to different categories of content for use during a live presentation, playlists prepared for different clients, or for completely different programs you produce.
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* Normally, pressing Stop a second time when a clip is playing resets the playhead to the start frame in the same clip. The exception above occurs only when you are previewing the content of a different MEM slot during playback. 11.2.5 NETWORK SHARING Default media file folders (Clips, Stills, etc.) are maintained for each session. This approach makes it easy to locate items using the Custom File Browser, and is also convenient for backup and other file management purposes.
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This is wonderfully convenient, but should be approached with a measure of common sense. Network bandwidth has fixed limits. Be judicious when transferring files while ‘live’. TriCaster may be using the network for many purposes – including streaming, or video feeds from a 3Play™, iVGA™, LiveText™ or third party software, as well as any unrelated traffic on the network. SECTION 11.3 EDITING TITLE PAGES On mouse-over, title page icons display a configuration (gear) icon in their lower right corner.
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Press Enter or click outside the box to complete editing operations, or press Tab to advance to next entry field (press Shift + Tab instead to jump to the prior text field). Note that the cursor keys – that is, the left/right and up/down arrows – allow you to navigate between text fields on the current title page. (If the text edit box is open, left/right arrows change the edit point as usual, but up/down closes the edit box, and subsequent cursor key actions move to the next object.
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S TAND - IN I MAGES Images embedded in Title Pages may be locked, or they may be editable stand-ins. When you roll the mouse over an embedded image and a yellow border is displayed around the image, the image is a stand-in. Click a stand-in to open the File Browser, and select a replacement image file. FIGURE 206 You can check whether images are locked or unlocked (stand-ins), and toggle the lock status. Hold down the Shift key while rolling around inside the Title Page.
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primary Program and Preview rows, and its four DSK channels. The tabbed Buffers module (Figure 207) shows icons and controls for fifteen Buffers. FIGURE 207 Buffers are sometimes even more useful than similar imagery supplied from Media Players. Buffers are retained in Switcher Memory for immediate recall and display.
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 o Looping effects – These animations play repeating endlessly, making them ideal for station ID ‘bugs’ and the like. o Auto-run effects – These effects auto-run on display following a Take or Auto. Playback runs once and then holds the last frame. Graphics (all TriCaster models) o Images – 24 bit or 32 bit (with embedded alpha channel) images. o Title pages – editable TriCaster title pages, identical to those served up by the various Media Players.
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FIGURE 209 11.4.2 SELECTING CONTENT FIGURE 211 Clicking an icon reveals a palette of nine buffer presets (Figure 211). When you move the mouse over one of these icons a [+] (Add Media) button appears. Click this + sign to display the Media Browser, and then pick a suitable file to populate that buffer preset. Alternatively, assign content to a buffer slot by following the steps below:  Right-click a still image or title page icon in a Media Player, and choose Send to from the playlist context menu.
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Note that, in DDRs, this menu item only appears for still image formats and TriCaster title pages. Animation effects must be complied using the Animation Store Creator™ add-on application before they can be loaded into buffers. (Naturally, if an image or title has previously been previously assigned to the active preset for the designated buffer, the new file will replace the current one.) Note: Generally, Buffers are linked to the original source file on disk.
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FIGURE 213 As mentioned earlier, animation effects can be of either looping or auto-run type (the type determination is made in the Animation Store Creator utility when the effect is generated). Loading either class of animation effect into a buffer results in a time control being displayed at right in the buffer label below the icon (Figure 213).
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The files which serve individual still image buffers are located in clearly named subfolders of the Frame Buffer folder for each session. These folders are arranged as follows: Sessiondrive:\Sessions\sessionname\Frame Buffer\Buffer (#) e.g., D:\Sessions\MySession\Frame Buffer\Buffer 3 The top level Frame Buffer folder for the current session is accessible on the network when sharing is enabled.
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Buffers of all sorts can be displayed in the following locations:   Main Switcher o Program/Preview) rows – right-click the BFR button to select which buffer to assign to that button. o DSK channels – choose a specific buffer using the DSK’s drop-down source menu. M/E banks o Mix mode – select a buffer for the A/B row BFR button just as you would for the main Switcher. o Effect Mode – for multi-layer effects, the BFR button in each row can be assigned independently.
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11.4.9 EDITING TITLES When a title page (.cgxml file) is loaded into a buffer, TriCaster’s live Edit Title panel (see Section 11.3) can be opened by clicking the gear icon that appears at lowerright when you move the mouse over the icon (Figure 214). Changes made in this panel take effect immediately. If the buffer is displayed, the new title will appear as soon as your modifications are complete.
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PAGE 235
Chapter 12 PTZ CONTROL Once primarily used in security applications, robotic or ‘PTZ’ (pan, tilt, zoom) cameras are appearing on the production scene in ever increasing numbers. Not only do they offer dramatic potential savings, robotic camera installations also offer both creative possibilities and, in certain environments, safety benefits. TriCaster’s PTZ implementation makes it easy to operate supported PTZ cameras from the Live Desktop or control surface.
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All of the controls and features just mentioned are located in the PTZ tab, located at left in the lower third of the Live Desktop (Figure 215). 12.1.1 THE CAMERA BIN FIGURE 216 The Camera Bin (Figure 216), located across the bottom of the PTZ tab contains icons for each camera. A camera currently being controlled is denoted by a blue outline. The icons update to show the thumbnail for the preset icon selected above.
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Camera travel speed capabilities vary widely, so think of this setting as a percentage of the maximum speed your unit can manage. 12.1.3 CONFIGURING PRESETS When you roll the mouse over a preset, a configuration overlay (‘gear’) appears in its upper right corner. Click this to display the PTZ Preset Editor (Figure 218). Initially, preset icons display the default PTZ Canvas representation.
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By contrast, the Focus setting, and the state of its Auto switch are stored individually in each preset. This is also true for the Iris setting, and its Auto switch. 12.1.4 PTZ AND THE CONTROL SURFACE Pan, tilt, zoom control, and several settings for connected robotic cameras are also directly supported on several NewTek control surfaces. See Chapter 22, Control Surfaces for details.
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Chapter 13 LIVEMATTE Although its controls are deceptively simple, TriCaster’s LiveMatte™ employs powerful chromakeying technology capable of extremely high quality results. Used alone or in conjunction with TriCaster’s DSKs, M/E Overlays and LiveSet features, you will find LiveMatte can play a ‘key’ role in your live productions.
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SECTION 13.1 CHROMAKEYING Chromakeying has become an essential tool in video and film production. Typically, foreground footage is shot in front of a blue or green screen, and then that background color – the key color – is treated as transparent, allowing another image to be inserted. For example, when you see a television meteorologist in front of a weather map, that person is almost certainly posed in front of a green screen. The background is ‘keyed out’ and replaced by computer generated imagery.
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FIGURE 222 TriCaster’s supplies a digital version of this traditional tool. The controls under the Matte label, as you would expect, allow you to define and adjust the matte for the corresponding video input. 13.2.1 COLOR Initially, LiveMatte removes a specific color from the foreground image. This color is chosen using the Color button. To choose this key color, click on the Color button (Figure 222) and keep the mouse button depressed.
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On the other hand, it may be that there is (usually unplanned for) detail in the foreground that is somewhat similar to the key color. Reducing Tolerance may allow you to prevent unwanted holes appearing when the subject opts to wear his St. Patrick’s Day tie. 13.2.3 SMOOTHNESS Smoothness defines a further tolerance factor, and a very useful one. We want our keyed foreground to blend smoothly into the background – rather than to stand out in hard relief like a postage stamp or decal.
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SECTION 13.3 SPILL SUPPRESSION The term Spill refers to key color unintentionally reflected or ‘spilled’ onto the foreground subject. For example, a little green spill often appears on the shoulders of someone in a greenscreen shot. The Spill controls let you remove key color spill in your FIGURE 223 scene by reducing the amount of that color in the foreground, where it doesn’t belong.
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Hint: The best method for optimizing the key is to begin with the best incoming source possible; if your cameras have both composite and S-video outputs, check to see which one gives you the best picture quality. Pick your primary Color, but – before releasing the mouse button – slide the eyedropper around to different parts the background. Watch the monitor as you do so to see how the area of transparency is affected by different Color choices.
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Second, the distance from your talent to the screen behind can make a profound difference in key quality. When the subject stands too close to the key colored background, the key color reflects back onto the subject, creating a green or blue fringe that is difficult to remove. If you have available space, move your subject farther away from the wall.
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 Component (a.k.a. ‘YUV’ or ‘Y, Pb, Pr’) – a three wire system typically using BNC (push & twist-on) connectors. For analog connections, either of the last two methods is to be preferred – but it is entirely possible to succeed with only a composite signal. When you have something better available, however, you should naturally use it. (Try to avoid downgrading the pre-LiveMatte signal from a Y/C camera, for example, by connecting it to your TriCaster using composite cabling.
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Chapter 14 MIX/EFFECT (M/E) TOOLS M/E banks provide truly awesome production power and convenience. Pre-configure multi-layered compositions and switch them as easily as you would to any single input, or use an M/E to control a special purpose sub-mix. This is also where TriCaster’s potent realtime virtual set technology, called LiveSet™, is applied. We introduced TriCaster’s M/Es back in Section 4.10 and Section 4.11 of the Live Production Walkthrough chapter.
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For TriCaster 8000, M/E buttons also appear on source selection rows and Key channel source menus inside the M/E panels. This type of M/E, referred to as “reentrant”, is an exceptionally powerful feature, and one offering endless creative possibilities. Note: Self-referential reentrancy (i.e., re-assigning a given M/E as one of its own sources) is not supported. TriCaster will simply show black in such cases. However you can often mimic effects of this sort by using multiple channels in another M/E .
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 In either Mix or Effect mode you will observe two source button rows at left labeled input A and B (Figure 227) by default.  At right are up to four Key control groups, depending on which TriCaster model you are using. In most respects these are identical in appearance and practice to the DSK controls located in the main Switcher (see Section 9.3.1).  FIGURE 227 Even the central control group mimics the main Switcher, with its Transition controls and options, T-bar and delegate buttons and so on.
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 As required, as many as 4 input rows may be shown in Effect mode.  Position controls appear for up to four input layers (A, B, C, and D) as supported by the effect, and depending on which TriCaster model is in use). Let’s consider these reasons behind for these changes in the interface.
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If the source assigned to input A is fully opaque, any content in the layers below is hidden. Or if input A is at least partially transparent, the source assigned to input B is blended into the M/E background layer, and so on. Hint: Don’t overlook the fact that the input Position controls allow you to create more elaborate compositions even with these simple compositing effects.
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4. Add the clip named “Bumper Cars.mov” (Samples group) to DDR 2, set it to Single and Loop as well. 5. Add an attractive full frame graphic to the Graphics 1 player. 6. Select M/E 1 on the main Switcher’s Program row, to make it easy to view the result of the following steps. 7. In the M/E 1 tab, select DDR 1 on the input A row. 8. Select DDR 2 as input B. 9. Select GFX 1 as input C. 10. Double-click the monitor for DDR 1 to open its Input Configuration panel.
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On the Program monitor, you should see the talent clip overlaid on the image from GFX 1 (LiveMatte is turning the green pixels in the DDR 1 clip transparent). You’ll also see imagery from DDR 2 displayed wherever the (originally) orange card appears in the frame. What’s happening is that the Advanced Tracking effect is applying the values from the (DDR 1) Tracker for a secondary iteration of LiveMatte. Our LiveMatte settings cut away the green, revealing the C layer behind.
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FIGURE 234 Now would be a good time to test the effect of the Scale, Rotation, and Aspect controls in the Tracker tab for DDR 1 (remember you can double-click the DDR 1 monitor to open this panel). U TILITIES Effects can take other forms as well. We’ve looked into the Default effects group; now let’s consider Utility effects. FIGURE 235 If you were following along in the previous section, replace the current effect in M/E 1 with the Show Alpha effect from the Utilities group.
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With this in mind, it won’t be hard to guess what Show Inverse Alpha does. In contrast, the Show Color effect in this group passes the full color output of LiveMatte prior to being multiplied by the alpha channel. (It might seem as though this would be identical to the original source, but you may notice subtle differences. This is because of the Spill Suppression processing.) FIGURE 236 Let’s look at another of the effects in the Utilities group, Color Correction.
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the effect. The current shot is bordered in blue. Clicking a shot selects it for editing. Click the Preview switch at lower left to view the effect of adjustments you make on the Program monitor. The large Effect Preset Editor canvas is interactive. Zoom in the shot you chose, using either the nearby T-bar in the M/E panel, or the mouse-wheel. As you do so, observe that color is progressively added to the video scene (note that it’s not necessary to open the Editor to zoom in this manner).
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TriCaster provide easy access to anaglyphic technology by means of the Anaglyph effect. The effect combines 2 video inputs selected in an M/E. 3D output can then be switched easily like any other source. No complex configuration steps or tricky control surface operations are required. 14.2.5 VIRTUAL SETS We’ve considered TriCaster’s Default and Utility effects. Let’s move on to a more glamorous species, the virtual set, presented in TriCaster as LiveSet™ effects.
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To select a LiveSet, click the label above the effect icon in the M/E to open the Media Browser (Section 11.2.2). FIGURE 242 The Location List of the Media Browser lists any installed LiveSet groups under the heading “LiveSets”. Select an entry beneath to show thumbnail icons in the Browser’s File Pane (Figure 242 shows the content of the NewTek location under the LiveSets heading). I NPUT P OSITION We discussed Position controls for M/E video inputs previously (Section 14.2.3).
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Hint: The Align group of LiveSet effects is provided especially to make it easier for you to adjust cameras and position talent on your physical set to suit the design of typical virtual sets supplied with TriCaster. S HOTS AND A NIMATION In LiveSet terminology, shots are different ‘virtual camera’ position presets, represented by the eight icons in the Shot Palette. Click the effect icon to show this.
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FIGURE 245 Operations in Effect Preset Editor are very easy to perform. The current shot is bordered in blue in the selector across the bottom of the pane. Simply click to choose another shot to modify. To change the zoom level of the LiveSet shown on the large canvas, roll your mouse wheel; or drag the M/E’s T-bar; or hold down the right mouse button while dragging vertically. To pan the preview on the canvas, left-click, hold and drag. T HE T- BAR The Zoom T-bar is located beside the Effect icon.
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It’s important to realize that the Key (and FTB) Delegate buttons continue to serve their normal purpose in Effect mode. That is, they enable you to perform an Auto affecting the associated channel(s); they do not perform a zoom on these layers. Only the Background layer (which includes the virtual set) zooms during an Auto operation. 14.2.6 HOLOGRAPHIC LIVESETS A special variant of TriCaster’s LiveSets are referred to as ‘holographic’.
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FIGURE 249 Preset adjustments made using the mouse and canvas vary slightly, however, for holographic effects. For a standard LiveSet effect, dragging the mouse left, right, up or down changes the camera position in the frame; the mouse-wheel zooms in or out. In a holographic LiveSet, mouse-wheel operations are the same, zooming in or out. However dragging the mouse laterally or vertically on the canvas modifies camera rotation, rather than position.
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SECTION 14.3 KEY CHANNELS The Key channels in M/E panes match the DSK channels found in the Switcher’s main Transition section in almost all respects. Unlike the DSKs, though, they constitute a ‘pre-Switcher’ sublayer. This means that Key channels are applied before the composition is sent to the Switcher (or another M/E). Content in a Key channel appears beneath anything displayed via the (Switcher) DSK channels.
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Chapter 15 AUDIO Less than 100 years ago, movies were silent. We’ve come a very long way since “The Jazz Singer” (1927, Warner Bros.), and great audio now plays a huge role in video production. TriCaster™ provides an extensive set of professional quality audio tools, which we’ll explore in this chapter. External audio connections and basic configuration were touched on back in Sections 3.5.1 and 3.8.1.
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NOTE: 4-input TriCaster systems do not provide analog output connections for channel C and D. However the extra channels can be recorded, streamed, or output via SDIembedded connections. 15.1.1 AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS TriCaster’s analog audio conforms to SMPTE RP-155. The maximum input/output level is +24 dBu. Nominal input level is +4 dBu (-20dBFS), and the sample rate is 96 kHz. Levels above 0dBVU are shown in red in the VU meters, to caution you that overly high levels can result in clipping in recordings.
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left to open a small menu offering three options as follows:  dBVU – most familiar to users of typical analog audio mixers  dBFS – dB ‘Full Scale’ – the digital standard; see notes under the heading Audio Headroom in Section 3.13  dBu – based on a voltage of 0.775 VRMS (a shy scale rarely seen in public, supplied for completeness, comparison, and the amusement of audiophiles) SECTION 15.
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Naturally, only one connection type can be active for a given audio input group at any moment. To access the Connection menu, move the cursor into the box just below the label for an input, and click the Configure (gear) button (Figure 255). The advanced Audio Configuration panel (Figure 256) will be shown.
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SECTION 15.5 COMMON CONTROLS Many important features and optional settings are common to most source types, and some even appear for outputs. Let’s review these before continuing. 15.5.1 MUTE Mute switches for audio sources are located (Figure 257) just above the in the main Mixer panel. A single button may control one or two channels, as appropriate for that source. Enabling Mute removes the sound from that source from all downstream audio mixes and outputs.
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15.5.3 TALK (TALK OVER) It is often useful to reduce all other audio source levels so that an important announcement can be clearly understood by the audience. The Talk button (also known as “Talk Over”) is only shown at the bottom of input groups when the Connection Type for is set to one of the Mic options. Enabling Talk for a source (typically a microphone) reduces the output level of all other audio sources by 20dB. 15.5.
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To audition an audio source in this manner: 1. First Mute the source, removing it from primary outputs. 2. Then enable Solo to hear it on the Headphones output. SECTION 15.6 INTERNAL SOURCES FIGURE 259 Besides external audio sources, sounds played from TriCaster’s internal storage volumes (including removable media such as external hard drives or ‘thumb’ drives) via the Media Players (DDRs, etc.) can be added to the output mix. 15.6.
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15.6.3 EFFECTS (TRANSITIONS) This control group governs the sound embedded in Animation Store Transitions. The remaining control groups in the Audio Mixer are dedicated to TriCaster’s various audio outputs. We’ll come back to them in Section 15.8, but before we do so, let’s drill further down into more advanced audio options and tools. SECTION 15.
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To mitigate this sort of external problem, TriCaster provides an adjustable Audio Delay setting. E.g., many cameras support simultaneous digital and analog audio output. In-camera processing can delay digital a/v output, resulting in analog audio output actually leading the digital output by a meaningful measure. 15.7.2 FOLLOW Enabling Follow Video options for an audio source directs TriCaster to track switcher operations affecting the related video source.
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Pan is a very useful feature. It adjusts placement of sound from source audio channels on the stereo channels comprising the audio mix(es). FIGURE 262 Using Pan, you can place all or part of channel A onto channel B, and vice versa.  When Pan is set to the extreme left position for Input 1a, its audio is sent exclusively to the first channel for the Input 1 group.  Centering the Pan knob labeled A splits the sound received by Input 1a equally onto channels A and B.
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The controls in this group determine output routing of the stereo pair(s) comprising the input group. Switches let you send channels A and B to different internal audio buses maintained by TriCaster. When present, channels C and D can be separately routed. Let’s talk about what an audio bus is and how it is useful before proceeding. B USSES AND O UTPUTS Consider a very basic audio mixer. Its main audio signal path, from input to output, is properly called the ‘master bus.
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Each audio bus is discrete. Each can be directed along different output paths. And even when the blend of signals it carries is otherwise identical to another bus, it can be processed separately; its level, equalization, and compressor/limiter settings can be unique. TriCaster provides four primary audio busses.
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Bus Master 1 Master 2 Aux 1 Aux 2 Output Connectors Analog Outputs SDI Outputs AES Outputs 1a, 1b 1 (channels 1 & 2) 1a,b 3 (channels 1 & 2) (8-input models) 1c, 1d 1 (channels 3 & 4) 1c,d (8-input models) 3 (channels 3 & 4) (8-input models) 2a, 2b 2 (channels 1 & 2) 2c, 2d 2 (channels 3 & 4) (8-input models) However, the standard mapping of busses to outputs can also be modified to suit your specific needs – See Section 8.1, Output Configuration (Figure 265).
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Suppose your interviewer is speaking into a microphone connected to Input 1. The audio from your interviewee is routed into Input 2. 1. For Input 1, enable both the Master 1 and Master 2 switches under Routing in the Audio Configuration panel. 2. For Input 2, enable only Master 1. This setup gives you a clean output consisting of just the interviewer’s voice on the Master 1 bus. You can then proceed as follows: 3. Assign Master to Output 1 in Output Configuration (Figure 265). 4.
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FIGURE 266 Enable or disable the Equalizer using the switch beside the label above its control group. The sliders attenuate or boost the tonal range centered on the frequency shown at the top. The effect applied falls off gradually as sound draws closer to neighboring frequencies on either side. Click Reset to return all sliders to 0dB. Hint: Naturally, reducing or increasing the level of one or more tonal bands affects the overall output level as well.
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Being able to do this independently for each output too is icing on the cake, especially for Internet streaming, as it ensures correct levels at any time. T HRESHOLD Sound above the set Threshold level will be compressed; the amount of compression and the manner in which it is applied are both dictated by the other settings. R ATIO A Ratio of 4:1 means that if input level is 4 dB over the threshold, the output signal level after compression will be just 1 dB over the threshold.
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Shorter values are more aggressive, while longer values are more subtle (and tend to be less noticeable to the audience). R ELEASE Release is similar to Attack in many ways, but refers instead to the speed with which the compression effect is removed as a source signal falls back on its own so that it no longer exceeds the Threshold. G AIN Naturally, compression impacts the overall output level of the source or output.
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Settings in all of the control groups in this section (Figure 267) take effect downstream from all audio sources, further modulating and processing audio sent to outputs as the Aux and Master mixes, for recording, and for Internet streaming. Note: Record and Stream are logical outputs with their own control groups in the Audio Mixer’s output section. This allows them to be governed independently of other outputs that the same mixes may have been assigned to. 15.8.
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Hint: The Audio Mixer also provides Compressor/Limiters for each input and output. These can also be invaluable in defeating clipping due to over-modulation. 15.8.2 RECORD The Record control group provides dedicated level modulation over the audio recording chain applying to *most sources assigned to Output 1 and Output 2 in the Output Configuration panel. Again, this control group has no effect whatsoever on audio sent to output connectors.
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Chapter 16 NETWORK INPUTS TriCaster™ supports two simultaneous network sources, letting you switch displays from networked computers or other network video sources – including streaming video – as part of your production. Also, when connected to a networked workstation or laptop computer running LiveText™, NewTek’s powerful realtime titling software, you can assign your CG duties to a second operator, freeing you to focus on live switching.
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Let’s consider some of the available network source types. SECTION 16.1 IVGA iVGA is the proprietary NewTek utility supplied to let you use data directly from the interface of a networked computer. It has a tiny footprint, and can even be run from a USB thumb drive, without no need to install it directly on the hard drive of the remote client system. iVGA client programs are supplied for both Microsoft Windows® and Apple OS X®.
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FIGURE 270  Drag the iVGA icon from the finder to your Applications folder.  Run it by double-clicking the icon, and in a moment or two the iVGA swirl will be placed in your Dock, and an onscreen dialog reporting ‘iVGA Ready and listening!’ When you roll your mouse over the Net 1 or Net 2 monitors in TriCaster’s All Monitors tab, a triangular button appears next to the Configure button (gear).
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 The Options list contains settings for Open at Login, Remove from Dock, and Show in Finder. 16.1.2 IVGA PRO (WINDOWS) The iVGA PRO™ installation for Microsoft Windows® systems is supplied as an executable (program) file. To use it, copy this file to the client system from its location in the iVGA folder (found inside on C:\TriCaster\Extras). Run iVGA on the client computer by double-clicking its icon (iVGA PRO will run from anywhere you put it on the client system – even a thumb drive).
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Afterward, several things will occur:  A small icon is added to the Windows® task bar notification area.  The iVGA PRO control panel opens on your computer desktop. The control panel, Taskbar iVGA PRO icon (and its context menu) along with a marquee discussed momentarily provide all the settings and controls you need to configure and manage the application and its output.
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When a TriCaster you have not previously connected to selects your iVGA output, iVGA pops up a ‘connection request’ dialog. You can then authorize or decline the connection request (click the gear icon next to Destination and checkmark Accept All Connections in the menu if you prefer that this dialog not be shown). Note: If you decline a connection request from a TriCaster with "Always do this" enabled in the dialog, future requests from that unit will simply be ignored.
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Note: Gigabit network connection provides the best transfer rates and the best quality video output. Slower connections may cause dropped frames, and should be considered unsuitable, especially for HD sessions. In extreme cases, where network capability is low or unreliable because of other traffic, iVGA may still be useful for static displays. V IDEO S OURCE The video source menu governs the imagery iVGA transmits or captures. The menu lists a number of important options (Figure 276).
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For example, you might designate just the video player pane on a browser page as the source; or perhaps you might want to snap to the video display pane in an application such as Skype™. When you select the Window option in the Video Source menu, a new icon is shown at right (Figure 277). Click the mouse on this icon, and then drag it to the application window you want to assign as the source. (The marquee updates as you drag the mouse around the screen from one application window to another.
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S END /R ECORD /S TOP A multi-function button at the bottom of the iVGA PRO control panel toggles output (or recording) on and off. The button label updates to display the action that will occur if you click it according to the current operation and state of the application. It may variously show Send, Record or Stop, as appropriate. 16.1.3 TASKBAR ICON MENU FIGURE 279 A ‘radio beacon’ icon (shown at left in Figure 279) is shown in the system taskbar when iVGA PRO is running.
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Privacy mode allows the user to check e-mail, or perhaps view or arrange something, without risk of the audience observing. The taskbar icon shows a red indicator when Privacy mode is engaged. Hint: If an image named “privacy.bmp (or privacy.jpg) exists in the folder that iVGA is launched from, it will be sent. Otherwise the default privacy screen is used.  About – displays information about the application.  Exit (exits the iVGA application) 16.1.
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 You select the AirPlay entry in the Source menu for Net 1 or Net 2, just as you would select an iVGA or LiveText source. (Unlike iVGA, embedded audio, with level control, is supported.)  TriCaster identifies itself as a network client for AirPlay apps/applications.  You can then designate TriCaster as the output device for content played on the device.  AirPlay streams audio, video, or both from the device to the local network, and on to TriCaster.
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SECTION 16.4 3PLAY™ 3Play’s Output A and Output B are available as Switcher sources to TriCaster. They appear in the source selector menu for TriCaster’s network inputs as “3Play(A)” and “3Play(B),” where “3Play” is the name for the system. Conveniently, 3Play’s network output also includes embedded audio, freeing up multiple TriCaster a/v inputs for other purposes. FIGURE 282 SECTION 16.
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FIGURE 284 Afterward, the new entry appears in the Source menu (Figure 285) along with any other network sources that have been detected or added manually. FIGURE 286 FIGURE 285 Notice that moving the mouse over the new entry in the menu adds two control gadgets. The familiar gear icon reopens the Configuration panel, to allow you to edit the details. The small x button removes the entry from the menu.
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Chapter 17 MACROS, AUTOMATION AND REMOTE CONTROL Macro capabilities smooth out your workflow, reducing complex operations to a single button press, and make it easy to produce sophisticated programs. Combined with TriCaster’s Hotspot automation, macros provide many opportunities for both workflow streamlining and creative applications. (As well, macros can reduce or eliminate embarrassing operator errors.
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Click Macros to show a menu (Figure 288) containing a Configure Macros item. This opens the Macro Configuration Editor, which is where you can create and manage macros. Hint: The Switcher: Reset entry is permanently included in the Favorites menu. This macro sets all effects (including DSK and Key transitions) to the default Fade, and assigns M/Es to Mix mode. It does not alter active source selections. SECTION 17.
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System Commands are actually the very same shortcuts called by the user interface and Control Surface to operate your TriCaster. Expand this entry by clicking the triangle at left to see a long list of these important macros. Hint: Notice that keystroke shortcuts for macro entries are shown at right, which is a convenient reference if nothing else. It’s worth noting a few unique aspects of System Macros. First, System Macros are specially safeguarded within the system.
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Of course, you can modify the playback rate using the menu next to the Record button. You can even set macros to loop using the button at extreme right. S NAPSHOT M ODE One option in this menu bears explanation – Snapshot is rather special. When you choose Snapshot as the macro’s ‘speed’, you essentially force it jump to its end result. Any operation that is ultimately irrelevant in achieving that end result is simply omitted.
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To set a new shortcut or modify an existing one, click in the Shortcut field at lower left in the Macro Configuration Editor panel (it will display a “Listening …” tag). Then press the desired keystroke. Hint: For clarity, lower-case characters are shown as capitals. True upper-case letters are displayed in the form [Shift + (character)]. Shortcuts are ‘per user’, allowing you to employ your personal favorites without conflicting with the shortcut preferences of other users.
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A good deal of time can be spent preparing complex macros designed to support your production. It would be a shame for these to be lost unintentionally through some mishap, as by some tidy soul deleting a folder on your day off (or perhaps by performing a System Restore). For this reason, we encourage you to use the Export feature to prepare a backup archive of your painstakingly designed macros. (This is quite easy to do, since Export of entire folders is supported, as is multi-selection.) SECTION 17.
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 Reveal an over-the-shoulder Skype® shot and configure audio for a remote interview, then close it and restore the ‘local’ sound setup with a wave of the hand; or trigger a sound – a drum roll, gong, or the entire Muppets® anthology. Hint: Use the Overlay option Flip View Horizontal to let talent see for exactly where their marks are on the screen – See 0. SECTION 17.
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Right-clicking opens the shortcut row menu. When done, click the Apply button (or Cancel to close the editor without saving your changes). Hint: Use the Record button in the foote rof the Editor to insert newly recorded entries into the current at the selected line. SECTION 17.6 REMOTE CONTROL (TriCaster 8000 only) In high-end broadcast applications and multimedia production environments, it can sometimes be quite important for redundant TriCaster systems to be operating synchronously.
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o Create a new session in the desired format. o Go on to configure cameras, Proc Amps, media content, Audio Inputs and Mixer settings, M/E configurations, etc., just the way you want for your production. 2. Exit the session, and use TriCaster’s Backup Session feature (see 5.3.3) to back it up, gathering all media assets in the process. 3. Click the Shutdown icon on the Home Page, and select Administration Mode. 4.
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Chapter 18 STREAMING Live webcasting has dramatically altered the broadcast landscape. Information can now be shared among audiences around the world with very small transmission costs. The live streaming market provides many creative and profitable opportunities. When it comes to taking advantage of this new medium, TriCaster™ places you in the forefront of all the excitement.
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The information you enter for a given Connection is retained in a preset that is easily accessed afterward from a convenient drop-down me. In addition, this panel has built-in web browser capabilities, permitting you to both view your stream from the remote site (just as your audience will see it) and access webpage based controls as required. SECTION 18.1 OVERVIEW To open the Configure Stream Connection panel, click the Configure button (gear) at right in the Dashboard’s large Stream button.
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18.1.1 COMPACT VIEW FIGURE 301 Just to mention it in passing, after configuring one or more Connections, you can collapse the header to a compact view using the up/down control just below the connection name field (Figure 301). SECTION 18.2 WEB BROWSER A simple set of navigation controls (Figure 302) is provided above the Web Browser viewport. FIGURE 302 Easily recognizable Backward, Forward and Refresh buttons operate just like those on a typical web browser.
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FIGURE 303 Hint: The Connection Type options may seem unfamiliar if you are new to streaming. You may find it helpful to read over Section 18.6, entitled Streaming Strategies. After selecting a Connection Type and clicking OK, the Name field in the main Configure Stream Connection panel is highlighted, to encourage you to supply a descriptive name for the preset. 18.3.1 RTMP TriCaster’s first encoding and streaming alternative is the RTMP protocol, popularized by Adobe Flash®.
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FIGURE 305 At right, you will see the Server control group (Figure 305), where you will enter the specific parameters required by your streaming service (or CDN – Content Delivery Network). Let’s consider the information you need to complete this successfully. The Username and Password are supplied to you by the streaming service, and are specific to your account.
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One other Flash-related detail deserves mention. The first time you configure a RTMP stream, a webpage applet may pop-up up a configuration dialog asking you to permit Adobe Flash Player to access your TriCaster audio and video devices. Click Allow, and checkmark Remember, too. Then, in turn, click the ‘microphone’ button and ‘webcam’ button, selecting TriCaster’s audio and video devices from the drop down menus provided.
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IMPORTANT Note: routers provide a measure of network security by masking the details of systems connected to them, thus preventing direct external access. If TriCaster is connected to the network by a router, the IP number shown in the location field is only valid for viewers connected on the same side of the router as your TriCaster (as they might be in a local intranet configuration.
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Note: The publishing point is placed at the end of the URL, following a forward slash (i.e., http://225.21.1.4:8080/NewTek). Enabling the Stream button then “pushes” the stream from your location, logging into the pre-arranged web address using the username and password you provided. The streaming service then re-transmits your stream for all to see. Note: You will find information on the use of custom streaming profiles including MBR (multi-bitrate) options at Section A.7.3 in Appendix A. 18.3.
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For Browser Based streaming, the encoding of your program into a stream for transmission to the service provider (and ultimately beyond, to your Internet audience) is performed by an applet running on the website. As mentioned before, however, this arrangement often doesn’t give you as much control or as many options as you might want. Other Connection Type options are more hands-on in this respect, but require you to manually select related settings, as discussed next for each type.
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And it may not be as expensive as you think (costs vary based on considerations such as how many viewers you expect, how much web bandwidth you use each month, and so-on). Some services based on an advertising model will even host your stream free. 18.6.1 ON DEMAND OR LIVE STREAMING? Not all ‘streaming’ is ‘live streaming.’ The difference is similar to i) watching a television program you previously recorded at a time convenient for you, or ii) watching a live event.
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Delivering a good quality stream requires that you consider both your network connection capabilities and that of your viewers. As well, to ensure reliable delivery, you will ideally have some idea of the size of your audience. Nevertheless, for all cases, TriCaster gives you the tools to do the job. Naturally, streaming video is highly compressed to reduce bandwidth demands and make it available to a wider group.
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You could think of this as being like water flowing through a hose. You control the ‘faucet’, because you get to choose the Stream Profile in TriCaster’s Stream Configuration panel. However, you don’t own the ‘hose’ – or at least, not the entire hose. Once the stream leaves your immediate environment, even if you can supply good throughput locally, bandwidth may be constricted elsewhere along the transmission path.
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P ULL BY E ND U SERS Simply put, the Windows Media Encoder® in TriCaster allows your (networked) audience to connect directly to it, and it distributes the stream to them. Connecting in this manner requires you to have a connection with sufficient bandwidth to deliver a stream to each individual user. For this reason, the simple Pull streaming method rarely works well for more than 1 or 2 viewers.
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encoder, pull the stream to it, and finally begin re-distributing it to everyone requesting it. This method worked passably until firewalls became more common.  Advantages: o Pull doesn’t waste bandwidth; no signal is being sent out to the server unless somebody wants to view it. o If you lose your connection to the (provider side) server, the server will re-connect to your encoder automatically when Internet connection resumes.
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 Disadvantages: o Live streams that have no viewers are still consuming bandwidth. From a provider point of view, it is possible that all of our bandwidth could be utilized with no viewers. However, that is more theoretical than practical. o Some external streaming providers prefer to Pull streams, as reconnection can performed from their end automatically if necessary.
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The popular web resource Wikipedia® hosts many articles on the subject, notably these two: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Push_technology http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pull_technology Microsoft even hosts an animation on the subject at: www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/wminaction/stre aming_pushpull.asx (Ignore the detailed discussion of configuring the encoder, and just enjoy the pretty pictures – your TriCaster makes that part easy for you!) SECTION 18.
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O THER F ACTORS Other variables to keep in mind when you’re creating video for the web are contrast and motion. During video encoding for web distribution, a fair amount of video information and detail can be lost. For this reason, good lighting of your source video is essential. Also, web streaming doesn’t handle detail, transitions and motion all that well -- so your best shots should be close up, and without a lot of movement.
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But you also need to perform onsite testing, to ensure your live stream is working well before ‘zero hour.’ No-one will thank you for excuses, no matter how brilliantly they point the finger at forces beyond your control. 1. Set up and enable a test program stream from your TriCaster. 2. You can use the tools and integrated web browser in the Streaming Configuration panel, but you may want to confirm using an external system, too. 3.
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T ESTING WITH P ING Before your stream can be seen - whether on a local intranet or the Internet - client computers (or your service provider) need to be able to establish a network connection with your TriCaster.
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2. Type “cmd” (without the quotation marks) into the dialog, and press Enter on the keyboard. 3. In the command shell that opens, type “ipconfig” (without the quotation marks) and press Enter again. 4. The IP Address for the system will be reported in the window (listed next to “IPv4 Address”), along with other data. To find the IP Address for a system running OS X® 1. Click the Apple icon at upper left on the Desktop, and select About This Mac. 2. Click More info … in the panel which opens. 3.
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3. Ping will go to work, and in a moment or two begin reporting results. A ping failure (indicating a network problem) will look like Figure 307. A success ping will display a report like Figure 308. FIGURE 307 FIGURE 308 Apple OS X For a system running Apple’s OS X® : 1. Double-click Terminal in the Applications\Utilities folder.
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2. Type the following command into the Terminal (without quotations) and then add the IP number, and press Enter: “ping –c 4 ipnumber.” (So, for example, you might type: ping –c 4 192.168.1.101) The response will be similar to the Windows® example described above. Again, a ping failure indicates a problem with the network connection.
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web browsers URL field, and perhaps also a password you have set previously.  The specific IP local number that the router has assigned to your TriCaster. You can read this right from TriCaster’s Location display. It will comprise the entire string of punctuated numbers before the colon (the colon separates the port number you chose for your stream).  The port number just mentioned (the part after the colon). Although the steps vary a bit by brand and model, generally you would proceed as follows: 1.
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4. Enter the Start and End port values – you can use the same port number in both fields, but of course it must be the one you set in TriCaster’s Port field. 5. IF possible, select Both for Protocol (or select UDP). 6. Enter the full (punctuated numeric) local IP address shown in the Location field of your TriCaster after you enable the stream. 7. Checkmark Enable. Some routers may have other security settings that need to be modified for your Pull stream to be visible from the outside.
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the IP number from the screen. Append a colon and the port number you are using to this number and you’ve got everything you need for your viewers to connect. S PEED T ESTS Are you sure your upload bandwidth is adequate to the bitrate you’ve set for your stream? Why not test and make sure. Again, a number of websites provide free speed testing. These will give you a basic idea of what your local bandwidth really is. One site which provides a list of online speed test resources is: http://www.dslreports.
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Chapter 19 PUBLISH TriCaster’s Publish features allow broadcasters to publish clips and stills from events like syndicated sports, entertainment or news programming to social media sites even while the live action and capture continue. Networks, corporate users and others with sophisticated website and distribution needs can deliver content moments after events occur for all manner of timely applications. SECTION 19.
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Click a specific icon or the neighboring configure button (gear) to open the Account Configuration panel (Figure 311). This is where you enter your credentials and details for social media sites or storage targets (local volumes or ftp sites). Hint: A green checkmark overlay on the Account icon indicates it has been successfully configurated for sharing. FIGURE 311 Click an entry in the Account List at left to display corresponding entry fields for your credentials in the pane at right.
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19.2.3 COMPRESSION A feature common to both File Copy and FTP publishing is the option to compress video before sharing. Enabling the Prepare for Web option encodes files to a compact progressive scan H.264 (MP4) format suitable for the Internet. (Disable this option when you wish to use the files for post-production.) FIGURE 312 19.2.4 WATERMARKING To avoid unauthorized of use private or copyrighted media, you may want to add a watermark before publishing it to public sites.
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In the Dashboard’s File menu, select the Publish Queue … (Figure 314) to open the Publish Queue panel (Figure 315). This is where you will create and manage the Publish Queue – that is, the list of clips and still images you wish to publish. The features of the Publish Queue are easy to comprehend. FIGURE 314 FIGURE 315 Click the Add button in the tool panel at left in this pane to open a Media Browser which you can use to select (and multi-select) content you wish to publish.
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The Comment column allows you to add remarks that will be sent along with the upload to sites that support this. Click in this column to enable keyboard entry, or navigate to it and simply start typing. Press Enter or click elsewhere to end editing. Editing the Title column entry in similar fashion affects uploads to social media accounts, but not FTP or File Copy operations. The Destination column provides a menu that allows you to choose between different publishing targets for the file.
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19.3.1 MANAGING THE QUEUE We touched on the Add button in the previous section. Two other nearby features help you manage your queue entries: Duplicate clones selected entries, allowing you to quickly and easily create versions of the entries that can then be assigned to different social media accounts or target locations. Remove, as you’d expect, deletes entries from the queue, doing so without any effect on the source files. FIGURE 317 19.3.
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Similarly, check-marking File Copy in the For Stills group will cause a matching entry to be added whenever a still image is sent to the queue. Note: You aren’t forced to configure accounts beforehand. You can add media to the queue for un-configured destinations, and then supply the necessary account settings at a later time. A UTO U PLOAD Each group in this sub-menu – Video and Stills – has an additional checkmark-able option – Auto Upload.
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S HARING G RABS The Grab feature has a similar Add to menu, complete with Publish Queue feature, but naturally this operates on still images rather than clips. You can use this to upload the image from Program output to multiple social media sites with a single push of the Grab button. Hint: To add other angles from the same Grad, use the Add button in the Publish Queue; or add them directly from a Media Player they reside in, as discussed next.
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Chapter 20 RECORD AND GRAB You will often want to capture video clips from external sources, as well as to record your own live TriCaster™ productions. Similarly, it can be quite useful to be able to grab stills from Program output for use in the current production. This chapter will provide everything you need to know about this topic. SECTION 20.
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Of course, before you begin recording, you’ll want to determine what to record, where to record it to, and so on. Settings and controls for recording are grouped in the Record Configuration panel. Click the popup Configure button (gear) in the Record control to open the Record Configuration panel. 20.2.
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G LOBAL R ECORDING O PTIONS B ASENAME FIGURE 323 The first thing you may want to do is replace the default Base Name for captured files with a custom file name. TriCaster uses the base name and other information (such as the source) to apply a unique name to each captured file (the names are numerically incremented automatically as well).
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A DD TO Select one or more DDR MEM slots using the menu that opens when you click the nearby gear to automatically append newly completed Primary clips to designated playlist(s) of the corresponding Media Player(s). Hint: You’ll generally this feature enabled and set to “Current” for one of the DDRs when using the optional NewTek TimeWarp™ control surface with your TriCaster for ‘instant replay’ purposes.
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Note that Output 1 and 2 can likewise be configured to use any single camera as source. However – when you opt to record an Output (1 or 2) using the Source selection menu, it may well result in a very different recording than if you directly select the same input as Source in the Record Configuration panel.
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A LTERNATE F ORMATS For certain purposes, you may prefer to capture one or more files in alternative formats. Note: Some TriCaster features do not provide full functionality for some of the alternate formats. For example, certain of the formats do not support embedded timecode. Let’s consider TriCaster’s two MPEG-2 formats first. MPEG-2 TriCaster’s ‘double-rate’ MPEG-2 format for capture is comprised entirely of ‘I-frames’, resulting in excellent image quality.
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S PEED HQ AVI Selecting AVI (.avi) encoding tells TriCaster to capture the designated source using NewTek’s native AVI format, called SpeedHQ. This is a high quality, 4:2:2 file format suitable for both SD and HD applications. (See the hint under Encoding above regarding NewTek codec packs to use this option with your favorite applications.) H.264 Another important encoding type is H.264. TriCaster supports two different bitrates, designated High Quality and Web Quality.
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Click the Add Source button to place an additional entry into the list (up to eight sources in total for 8-input TriCaster models, counting the Primary). To remove an entry, click the corresponding [X] button at left. Secondary recordings are configured in exactly the same manner as the Primary source discussed previously. Caution: It is recommended that any single drive be tasked to capture one or two video sources at most.
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Close the Grab Still Configuration panel by clicking Close, or clicking outside the panel. Then click the Dashboard Grab button to capture the selected a/v source(s) to your hard drive. Image files are stored in a folder named for the session inside the main Still folder for the current session (sub-folders are created for the supplementary files captured when Grab all inputs is in use).
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Chapter 21 LIVETEXT™ AND SPEEDEDIT™ LiveText™ is a powerful title and CG application, allowing you to create title pages for use in the Media Players of your TriCaster™. SpeedEDIT™ provides a great editing tool for pre and post production purposes. It is innovative and powerful, ready to handle numerous editing and also file conversion chores. LiveText and SpeedEDIT are both full-blown, powerful, professional programs also available as a standalone applications.
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When LiveText is running, TriCaster’s video outputs (rows 1-3) will all conform to the session format. That is, if the project is HD, the SDI outputs will all be HD, and the analog outputs will be Component HD. Likewise when the project is SD, the SDI outputs will all be SD.
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Motion pages (scrolls and crawls) that you send to Live are stored as bitmap animation files (with an .avi file extension), suitable for playback in Live Desktop’s DDR. These are sent to the session folder inside TriCaster’s main Clips folders. The content of motion pages cannot be edited in the Live Desktop. When you select Send All Pages to Live, each page in the project is exported in turn to the appropriate format and location.
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21.2.1 SESSIONS, PROJECTS AND DISPLAY Normally, TriCaster uses its current session settings for video output. New SpeedEDIT projects (created using SpeedEDIT’s File menu (New), for example) may be a various resolutions, however. SpeedEDIT sends output to TriCaster’s audio and video outputs continuously, without selecting any menu setting. Unlike the arrangement for Live Desktop output, for SpeedEDIT purposes TriCaster’s video outputs (rows 1-3) attempt to conform to the SpeedEDIT project format.
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If you have a secondary monitor connected to TriCaster, you can drag SpeedEDIT’s Video Output window (opened from the Window menu) onto that screen. Maximize it by double-clicking inside the preview area (double-clicking a second time restores the standard ‘floating’ window). Similarly, you might find it convenient to maximize the SpeedEDIT window to fill the primary monitor display. To do this, double-click the window border.
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PART III (APPENDICES) A time-saving question and answer section, followed by an extensive listing of Shortcut Keys, schematic diagram and keyword index …
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Chapter 22 CONTROL SURFACES This chapter introduces the different control surfaces offered by NewTek®, helping you to see how they complement your TriCaster™ and bring added ability to your production setup. The section also includes brief notes on connecting TriCaster™ control surfaces for use with your live production system. NewTek TriCaster™ systems provide unrivalled live production power. With a TriCaster™ control surface in front of you, all of that power is right at your fingertips.
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features, and even more. At the time of writing, three devices fall into this category, as follows:  TriCaster 8000 CS: A full-function control surface matched to the TriCaster 8000 live production system.  TriCaster 860 CS: A full-function control surface designed to complement TriCaster 860.  TriCaster 460 CS: Similar to the above but, slightly more compact, being designed for use with 4-input TriCasters.
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compact TriCaster 40CS (or the older LC-11) and also third-party MIDI devices. These options will also be reviewed in this Chapter. SECTION 22.2 CONNECTIONS & POWER Simply connect the TriCaster control surface unit to your NewTek TriCaster using the USB cable supplied. There is no need to install drivers, or configure the software. Recognition of the control surface is automatic. 22.2.
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SECTION 22.3 TRICASTER™ 8000 CS This spectacular and innovative control surface is the perfect complement to TriCaster 8000. FIGURE 329 TriCaster 8000’s unparalleled integration of advanced live production technologies offers many exciting new creative possibilities. Fittingly, an incredibly powerful and innovative control surface is included with the system. TriCaster™ 8000 CS provides more than just control; it goes well beyond the norm in providing useful feedback.
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22.3.2 DELEGATES AND SYNCHRONIZATION Both TriCaster’s Live Desktop and the control surface supply delegate button groups to govern other controls. This is extends the capability of controls and also supports multi-selections, thus permitting simultaneous operations. When initially selecting multiple delegates, the settings and states of the individual members selected will often vary.
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Switcher row buttons are mutually exclusive, and the active selection button remains lit. (The subordinate role of the DSK row is subtly reinforced by the use of slightly smaller buttons.) Hint: Hold down CTRL when clicking a button on the PREVIEW row to toggle LiveMatte on/off for that source. Likewise, hold SHIFT while pushing a PREVIEW row button to toggle its Proc Amp. Note that the source need not be actually selected on the PREVIEW row to do this, and multi-selections are supported.
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DELEGATE As on the Live Desktop, active delegate buttons remain lit. Multiple selections can be performed by pressing one or more buttons at the same time. DELEGATE buttons determine what video layers the main Take, Auto, and T-Bar affect, and the scope of the Select and Rate knobs.
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 When all delegated layers are currently on the same transition bin 'slot', the selection in the corresponding transition bins simply cycles left or right synchronously.  Otherwise (when the Transition Bin slots for multi-delegated layers are not harmonized), rotating the knob moves the selection layer by layer as the knob turns until the selected slots are aligned. From that point, continuing to twist SELECT moves the transition selection in lock step.
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P ERFORMING T RANSITIONS Just as in the user interface, the TriCaster control surface provides both local and main transition controls. M AIN T- BAR , TAKE AND AUTO These controls correspond exactly to their Live Desktop counterparts, and affect all currently delegated video layers (BKGD, DSK 1-4, or FTB) at the same time. L OCAL TAKE & AUTO Local Take and Auto buttons are provided for DSK 1 - DSK 4 (but not FTB).
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FOLLOW PVW Enabling the FOLLOW PREV button forces the DELEGATE selection to track the Switcher's PVW row selection. This can be very valuable, as it automatically ensures that adjustments you make to settings will affect the M/E that you plan to display next. The M/E control section actually employs three additional sets of delegate controls to provide full control over all aspects of your M/E composition.
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Hint: Each M/E has its own dedicated Frame Buffer. As you’d expect, selecting this button invokes the appropriate Frame Buffer for each delegated M/E, even for multidelegate selections. If you wish to specify a different Frame Buffer instead of the default one for a given M/E, you can do so using the menus in the user interface. M/E TRANSITION C ONTROLS FIGURE 338 The final set of M/E delegates referred to earlier is located in the M/E TRANSITION control group.
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Otherwise, preset selections apply directly to all delegated M/Es. If you push a zoom preset button a second time at any point, the animated zoom will ease-out and stop. Press it again to re-commence the zoom and complete it. M/E P RESET Four of the buttons in the LIVESET SHOT groups have secondary functions. 22.3.5 POSITIONER GROUP FIGURE 340 DELEGATES The Positioner section allows you to adjust position attributes for any video layer in the Switcher or any M/E effect using the Joystick.
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Hint: For finer control, hold down CTRL when operating the joystick. This will increase its sensitivity by a factor of 10. Two joystick mode buttons are placed separately at left. LiveSet Zoom and SHTL (Shuttle) modes are special in that they dedicate the joystick to operations that are not strictly speaking ‘position-related’. Hint: The buttons in the other joystick mode group (such as POS/SCALE, discussed shortly) cannot be multi-selected with either LIVESET ZOOM or SHTL.
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POS/SCALE  Move the joystick horizontally, vertically or diagonally (as viewed from above) to move delegated video source(s) on its X and Y axes.  Twist the joystick clockwise to scale delegated source(s) up, or counterclockwise to scale down. Hint: When multi-delegate selections are active for the Positioner, adjustments are generally relative to the current state for individual delegates, as opposed to absolute.
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 Move the joystick vertically with the joystick button pressed to crop only the bottom edge of delegated sources. RESET Despite its location, RESET is really an action button (not a Joystick mode). Press it to restore all position settings for currently delegated source(s) to their defaults. (This is also why RESET does not stay selected when pressed, nor does it change the current Joystick mode.
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This selection determines which Media Player is being controlled at the moment. (Support for multi-selection allows you to do things like start and stop both DDRs at the identical moment.) PREV/NEXT PRESET FIGURE 343 These two buttons let you to cycle backwards or forwards respectively through existing presets for the delegated Media Player. MARK IN/OUT Click these buttons to set the in point or out point for the current playlist item in delegated players to the current frame.
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 | (Next Item) – Push this button to go to the next playlist entry in delegated Media Players. (The selection cycles to the first playlist entry when necessary.) M EDIA P LAYER O PTIONS LOOP, SINGLE, and AUTOPLAY are mode buttons, and toggle the respective settings for all delegated Media Players as appropriate (for example, the Sound player has no Autoplay feature, so logically AUTOPLAY does not affect it). 22.3.7 RECORD GROUP Three buttons labeled REC, STRM, and GRAB are located in the RECORD group.
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22.3.9 MACRO The last button we will discuss offers spectacular convenience. TriCaster’s powerful macro system is fully addressable from 8000CS. A macro can be assigned to any button on the control surface in much the same manner as it can be assigned to a keyboard button. The steps are as follows: 1. 2. 3. 4. On TriCaster’s Live Desktop, open the Macro Configuration Editor. Select the macro you wish to assign in the onscreen lister. Click the mouse in the Listen field at bottom left.
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1. If BKGD is delegated alone, the T-Bar color is as shown in the table above, identifying which M/E is delegated in the M/E DELEGATE group. (When multiple M/Es are delegated, the first selected delegate determines the color.) 2. This color is at its brightest when the A source (effectively the Program row for a Mix effect) is fully displayed. As the T-Bar is moved (or AUTO is pressed) to begin a transition, the color gradually dims until the effect is complete.
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To delegate the joystick to control a PTZ camera assigned to a specific TriCaster input, hold down SHIFT button on the control surface and press a button (1-8) in the M/E Delegate group. (Afterward, the button corresponding to the current PTZ camera selection will light whenever SHIFT is pressed.)  Pan: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick left-right.  Tilt: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick backward-forward.  Zoom: With SHIFT depressed, twist the joystick clockwise or counterclockwise.
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FIGURE 346 Apart from these distinctions, the features of both of these control surfaces correspond very closely, allowing us to treat them simultaneously in the following discussion. 22.4.1 OVERVIEW The CS control layout closely follows that of the TriCaster user interface, the principle exceptions being that: 1. The M/E control group on the control surface is located above the main Switcher rows (for comfort). 2.
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  3-axis joystick LED indicators 22.4.2 SPECIAL BUTTONS FIGURE 347 The SHIFT and CTRL buttons provided on the control surface support extended features and future expansion. To the extent that these buttons are currently assigned to any feature, they have been described in context. MACRO The last button in this group offers spectacular convenience. A TriCaster macro can be assigned to any button on the control surface in much the same manner as it can be assigned to a keyboard button.
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When initially selecting multiple delegates, as often as not the settings and states of the individual members selected will vary. For example, when you delegate several M/Es at once, the Overlay Transition Rate of each member of the multi-selection could be different. Generally, wherever it makes sense to do so, when you make adjustments to settings for multi-delegated groups, the settings will be progressively synchronized.
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P ROGRAM AND P REVIEW The Program and Preview rows each hold selection buttons as follows: 4. 1 – (4 or 8); Camera inputs 5. NET 1 and NET 2 6. Media Players: a. DDR 1 and DDR 2 b. STILL or Graphics c. TITLE (TriCaster 855 CS only) d. FRAME BUFFER e. BLACK (TriCaster 855 CS only) f. M/E 1 - M/E 4 (or M/E 8) Switcher row buttons are mutually exclusive, and the active selection button remains lit. Hint: Hold down CTRL when clicking a button on the Preview row to toggle LiveMatte on/off for that source.
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f. g. h. i. [SHIFT + 1] – [SHIFT + (4 or 8] → select VI BFR 1- (4 or 8) [SHIFT + NET 1] → select Preview [SHIFT + NET 2] → select Program [SHIFT + DDR 1] → select Program (Clean) UTIL B US D ELEGATE FIGURE 349 UTIL BUS DELEGATE (Figure 349) button selections govern which switcher layers the UTIL row is currently controlling; or – from another perspective – which video layers the selected source is assigned to.
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T RANSITION D ELEGATE As on the Live Desktop, active delegate buttons remain lit. Multiple selections can be performed by pressing one or more buttons at the same time. DELEGATE buttons determine what video layers the main Take, Auto, and T-Bar affect, and the scope of the Select and Rate knobs. M/E | FTB As a convenience, it is possible to re-purpose the entire TRANSITION control group to control M/Es rather than main Switcher controls. To do this, press the M/E button at bottom right in this section.
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 When all delegated layers are currently on the same transition bin 'slot', the selection in the corresponding transition bins simply cycles left or right synchronously.  Otherwise (when the Transition Bin slots for multi-delegated layers are not aligned vertically), rotating the knob moves the selection layer by layer as the knob turns until the selected slots are aligned. From that point, continuing to twist SELECT moves the transition selection in lock step.
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P ERFORMING T RANSITIONS Just as in the user interface, the TriCaster control surface provides both local and main transition controls. M AIN T- BAR , T AKE AND A UTO These controls correspond exactly to their Live Desktop counterparts, and affect all currently delegated video layers (BKGD, DSK 1, DSK 2, or FTB) at the same time. Note that two small LEDS are situated near the left side of the T-Bar – one at each extreme of its stroke.
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In contrast with the Live Desktop, your TriCaster CS adjusts position attributes M/E video layers using a single set of Positioner tools governed by Delegate controls (see Section 22.4.7). M/E D ELEGATE Your TriCaster CS provides an M/E DELEGATE button group to govern which M/E(s) are affected by operations. Selected DELEGATE buttons are illuminated and, conveniently, multiple selections are supported.
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M/E O VERLAY T RANSITIONS K EY T RANSITION S ETTINGS Rotate the TRANS SELECT knob to cycle the transition bin selection through transitions currently available in the (KEY) Transition Bin in the user interface. Rotate the TRANS RATE knob to modify the transition duration. Press the knob to cycle through the standard Slow, Medium and Fast presets.
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If you push a zoom preset button a second time at any point, the animated zoom will ease-out and stop. Press it again to re-commence the zoom and complete it. The duration of animated zooms is determined by the ZOOM RATE setting. Rotate the knob to modify the duration of the effect, or push it to jump to a preset duration (Slow, Medium or Fast). 22.4.
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 Again, selecting VIRTUAL ZOOM tells the Joystick to control the zoom level of the currently delegated M/Es. The joystick mode buttons (such as POS/SCALE, discussed shortly) are not lit when the POSITIONER DELEGATE selection is VIRTUAL ZOOM. Use the joystick to control Virtual Zoom as follows: o o  To zoom in:  Push the joystick forward (as viewed from above), or twist the joystick clockwise. To zoom out:  Pull the joystick back (as viewed from above, or twist the joystick counter-clockwise.
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J OYSTICK M ODES Generally, changes resulting from joystick operations are governed by the current Joystick Mode. Mode selections are mutually exclusive (only one buttons is illuminated at a time). Also note that when the active Positioner DELEGATE is either Virtual Zoom or Shuttle, the Joystick Mode is irrelevant, and is ignored. POS/SCALE   Move the joystick horizontally, vertically or diagonally (as viewed from above) to move delegated video source(s) on its X and Y axes.
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     Twist the joystick counter-clockwise to reduce cropping of delegated sources on all 4 edges. Move the joystick horizontally to crop only the left edge of delegated sources. Move the joystick horizontally with the joystick button pressed to crop only the right edge of delegated sources. Move the joystick vertically to crop only the top edge of delegated sources. Move the joystick vertically with the joystick button pressed to crop only the bottom edge of delegated sources.
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22.4.8 MEDIA PLAYER GROUP FIGURE 356 M EDIA P LAYER D ELEGATE The MEDIA PLAYER DELEGATE group contains buttons for TriCaster’s DDR 1, DDR 2, Graphics (455 CS), STILL and TITLE (855 CS), and SOUND modules. This selection determines which Media Player is being controlled at the moment. (Support for multi-selection allows you to do things like start and stop both DDRs at the identical moment.
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 | (Next Item) – Push this button to go to the next playlist entry in delegated Media Players. (The selection cycles to the first playlist entry when necessary.) M EDIA P LAYER O PTIONS LOOP, SINGLE, and AUTOPLAY are mode buttons, and toggle the respective settings for all delegated Media Players as appropriate (for example, Sounds has no Autoplay feature, so logically AUTOPLAY does not affect it). 22.4.
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To delegate the joystick to control a PTZ camera assigned to a specific TriCaster input, hold down SHIFT button on the control surface and press a button (1-8) in the M/E Delegate group. (Afterward, the button corresponding to the current PTZ camera selection will light whenever SHIFT is pressed.)  Pan: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick left-right.  Tilt: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick backward-forward.  Zoom: With SHIFT depressed, twist the joystick clockwise or counterclockwise.
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TriCaster 850TW has the same sleek profile as TriCaster 460 CS and TriCaster 860 CS. Of course it delivers the same precise control over TriCaster’s instant replay recording and live playback when used alone. The TW-42 model, though designed for use with earlier TriCasters, continues to provide great functionality. For the most part, both TimeWarp™ models have similar controls, with similar labels, and perform in much the same manner.
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TriCaster 850 TW provides convenient control over TriCaster’s two DDRs as well as the recording of the Primary source configured for capture (Secondary recording on is unaffected by clip marking operations). Qualifie rs Edit Recor d DDR options DDR delegates Preset DDR Transport ALT Mark FIGURE 358 For convenience, related controls and buttons are grouped together on the control surface. We will discuss the features and operations supported by each group in the pages that follow.
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       Play Speed (T-bar and presets) Mark (replay clip creation buttons) ALT and Qualifiers (which modify the operation of other controls) Record toggle DDR options Preset (DDR Playlist) DDR Transport (clip playback and position controls) Let’s take a closer look at the members of each control group and their purpose. 22.5.2 DDR DELEGATE FIGURE 359 Much of the functionality of your TriCaster 850 TW relates to clip playback, navigation, and the like.
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TW-42 NOTES There is no corresponding DDR 1/DDR 2 button on TW-42. Multidelegating DDRs is not supported with this control surface. 22.5.3 EDIT GROUP In general, these buttons operate on selected playlist content in the currently delegated DDR (see Section 22.5.2).  Remove – Push to remove currently selected entries from the delegated DDR’s playlist (selected items are not deleted from the hard drive, however). FIGURE 360 TW-42 NOTES The Remove button is labeled RMV on TW-42.
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(If a DDR is already playing, pushing a speed preset button alters the current playback speed immediately.) FIGURE 361 Hint: If you use an onscreen speed control to change to a new playback speed, the control surface button selection state follows when possible (in cases where no button corresponds exactly to the newly established speed, no preset button will be illuminated).
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enabled automatically (illuminating the interface Record button just as if you had pressed it on the screen). With Record active, an In Point is set for the current clip that will eventually be stored (when you press OUT) in the currently delegated DDR (see Section 22.5.2). Hint: Actually, the IN button can also be thought of as a ‘reset In Point’ function. Pressing it updates the In Point, discarding any incomplete clip (i.e., one for which an Out Point had not been set.
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ALT + OUT A different operation results when you hold down ALT (see Section 22.5.6) at the same time as you push OUT. This operation updates the Out Point of the active clip in the currently delegated DDR to the frame currently displayed. SHIFT + OUT Hold down SHIFT at the same time as you push OUT to automatically trim the play start setting of the newly added clip to a frame five seconds prior to the Out Point (this is a non-destructive trimming operation.
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We’ve discussed one use of ALT in Section 22.5.5; see also Section 22.5.7. At the time of writing SHIFT and CTRL are reserved for as yet unspecified future purposes. 22.5.7 RECORD TOGGLE It’s probably no surprise at all that pressing the REC (Record) button enables TriCaster’s own Record feature. It’s worth mentioning though, that REC is not a simple toggle button (as it is on the user interface). Simply pressing REC again does not turn Record off.
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22.5.9 PRESET (DDR PLAYLIST) “P” is for “preset” … or “playlist”, if you prefer. However you choose to view it, the buttons labeled P1 – P4 allow you to quickly access any of the first four playlist presets for the currently selected DDR. FIGURE 367 TW-42 NOTES Preset selection is not supported by TW-42. 22.5.10 TRANSPORT (CLIP CONTROLS) This group of controls provides a variety of convenient clip transport and navigation tools. The dominant feature is a large, smoothly operating Jog Wheel.
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    Previous (Clip) – Push to highlight the prior clip in the playlist of the delegated DDR. Stop o Push to end playback at the current frame. o When already stopped, push again to go to the first frame of the current clip (or playlist, when Single mode is off for the DDR). o Push Alt + Stop during playback to jump to the end of the current clip. Play – Push to play the current clip in delegated DDR, beginning at the current frame.
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(with its own transition effect). And, of course, something similar can be achieved with either of the primary DSK layers.  Zoom, Crop (etc.) – Use the Position tools for Overlay and DSK layers to zoom in on the action in a replay.  Clip Organization – It can be helpful, at times, to use the MEM slot options in the DDR to collate clips for different purposes. SECTION 22.
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22.6.1 INSTALLING AVID® ARTIST MIX SOFTWARE AVID(R) provides a utility called EuControl for use with the Artist Mix control surface. This software runs in the background, and is required for TriCaster to recognize and respond to the control surface. 1. From the TriCaster Startup screen, click the Shutdown icon, and choose Administrator Mode. 2. Select Exit to Windows to leave the TriCaster environment. 3. Obtain the EuControl installer by using one of the following two methods: a.
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will wish to use a switch or router rather than a direct connection between the two devices, so TriCaster can also connect to the Internet, etc. 4. Power up TriCaster, and wait for the Start screen to appear; then press the POWER button on the control surface. AVID symbols briefly appear on the OLED display above each fader at this point. When EuControl recognizes the control surface, the display shows rectangles in place of the logo icons to tell you the control surface is in a ‘ready’ state.
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22.6.4 PANEL LAYOUT Figure 370 illustrates the control surface layout. FIGURE 370 1. Soft Key navigation buttons 5. SHIFT keys 2. OLED Display 6. Knob Set selectors 3. Power button 7. Fader strips 4. Fader Navigation buttons Of course, Artist Mix can be used with a variety of systems and software applications apart from TriCaster. You may already be familiar with its use for certain other purposes. The Artist Mix User Guide provides details regarding each control.
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22.6.5 NUDGE At any one time, Artist Mix can display controls for as many as eight of TriCaster’s audio inputs, internal sources, and outputs. To access the other audio controls, use the navigation buttons located at right on the control surface, just beneath the POWER button (Figure 371). Two NUDGE buttons in this group move the entire control group currently displayed one slot left or right from the current position.
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22.6.7 LEVEL CONTROL As you would expect, adjusting the position of a given fader modifies the volume level of the corresponding control in TriCaster’s Audio Mixer. For example, pushing the control surface fader labeled Audio1 A raises the volume for the source labeled Audio 1 A in TriCaster’s Audio Mixer. FIGURE 373 22.6.8 KNOB SET SELECTORS A set of Knob Set selectors (Figure 374) runs vertically down the left side of Artist mix (left of the first fader).
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22.6.9 PAN CONTROL Several controls are nested above each fader, along with the matching OLED display group for that audio input or source. Looking at Figure 375 you’ll notice that in the default operating mode (PAN; See the previous section) the Audio 1A track’s display shows a VU meter at left, and a PAN graph below the input label. Rotate the knob below the PAN graph display to adjust PAN for the channel this source is on.
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Hint: Although the GAIN control is shown for other source types, it really only has any effect on inputs configured as Mic types in TriCaster’s audio input source selector. 22.6.10 TALK Push the small ON button to the left of the knob to toggle the Talk (Talk Over) feature for Mic sources. 22.6.11 SOLO & MUTE Two larger buttons labeled SOLO and ON (Mute) are positioned below the knob; that is, above each of the eight faders (Figure 377).
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to consider the tools available in different Knob Set modes. 22.6.13 EQ CONTROL TriCaster provides independent 7-band equalization along with Compressor/Limiter features for each source. And Artist Mix lets you access the controls without ever touching the TriCaster user interface. FIGURE 379 To display EQ controls, it will probably come as no surprise by this point that you need to push the EQ button in the Knob Set control group. FIGURE 380 The OLED display will now appear as seen in Figure 380.
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The highlight in the OLED display updates to show the newly selected source. To enable, disable or reset the EQ, press the EQ (Knob Set) button to enter EQ control mode, and press CHAN, to turn Channel mode off; the display should show the 60Hz level. Select an input (press the SEL Y button beside a fader), and press the SEL button just below the OLED to enable/disable EQ for this input; or press ON (just beneath) to reset the EQ for this input. FIGURE 382 22.6.
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We’ve seen how this works in EQ mode, where it expands the different equalizer bands for a single (selected) audio source across multiple knobs. In fact CHAN mode is so appropriate in this case that it is automatically activated whenever you press the EQ Knob Set selector. (In CHAN mode, a ‘grid’ background is displayed in the OLED - see Figure 384. And as we saw before, the label for the selected source is highlighted in the same manner).
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22.6.17 INSERT The INPUT/INSERTS button serves several important purposes. It can be used to reassign the label for a slider input to a different TriCaster audio control by name, or to insert (or remove) a new (initially unassigned) control column on the surface. Controls for unused inputs or outputs can be removed from the surface, or if you wish, you can re-order controls using the Remove and Insert features. To insert a new control strip on the surface, proceed as follows 1.
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or more sources in a fixed position, thus keeping it in view on the control surface at all times despite any use of the navigation buttons. For example, you may well wish to consider locking the Master audio controls to the seventh and eighth slots, so that these important faders will always be available. To do so, follow these steps: 1. Navigate (using NUDGE or BANK buttons if necessary) to position Master in the furthest right control slot on Artist Mix. 2.
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 Press the SEL button below the PLED label of the reset you want to select. Hint: Rotate the knob below a preset on the OLED display to access copy and paste (preset) functions. SECTION 22.7 MIDI CONTROL Another very useful (and often very affordable) control option available to TriCaster users is MIDI. Literally thousands of devices of this sort are available. (Typically, MIDI devices are used in the audio industry in particular, but often they are used for other applications as well).
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MIDI can be useful in many, many ways Too, a wide variety of MIDI software and extensions are available for other devices. These can be used to create unique custom TriCaster control alternatives. For example, the mockups below depict custom iPad® interfaces (created using third-party iOS® apps) providing wireless control over TriCaster’s Publish features (Figure 387) and DDRs (Figure 388). FIGURE 387 FIGURE 388 Countless other possibilities exist, too, of course – see Section A.7.
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SECTION 22.8 TRICASTER™ 40 CS FIGURE 389 TriCaster 40 CS™, though designed for TriCaster 40 (not covered in this Guide), may be preferred by some users at times. For this reason, it has been supported for all 4input models (only). 22.8.1 DELEGATES AND SYNCHRONIZATION As discussed, delegate button groups govern other controls on the control surface. Some delegate groups support multi-selection, and allow simultaneous operations to be performed.
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This delegate group dictates what the FX/OVERLAY, PROGRAM and PREVIEW rows will control. The options are mutually exclusive – that is, multiple selections are not supported. Choose one of:      MAIN VI – M/E 1 V2 – M/E 2 V3 – M/E 3 V4 – M/E 4 M AIN FX/O VERLAY R OW When MAIN is selected in the SWITCHER DELEGATE group, operations in this row are further modified by the OVERLAY DELEGATE selection in the Transition (T-Bar) group.
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V1-V4 On the other hand, when one of the Virtual Input delegates (V1-V4) is selected in the SWITCHER DELEGATE group, the three rows beneath are repurposed to correspond to the OVERLAY, INPUT A and INPUT B rows of the delegated M/E(s). 22.8.3 SHIFT & ALT S HIFT SHIFT is a ‘qualifier button’ (like ALT), providing access to secondary functions for certain buttons. (For example, SHIFT + (Preview row selection) toggles the LiveMatte feature for the designated video source.
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 (Stop) – Push once to end playback for delegated Media Players; push a second time to return to the start position (this operation respects the Single setting for individual Media Players.  (Play) – Push to initiate playback for delegated Media Players.  | (Next Item) – Push this button to go to the next playlist entry in delegated Media Players. (The selection cycles to the first playlist entry when necessary.) You determine which Media Player to control by pressing ALT.
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TriCaster’s Background layer effectively comprises the program output before any DSKs or FTB are considered. When the BKGD delegate button is selected alone, a TAKE swaps the source selected on the PREVIEW row for the one shown on the PROGRAM row. If one or more DSKs is selected along with the BKGD delegate button, the display state for the delegated DSK(s) will be affected as well. Depending on their current status, this may bring them into view, or remove them from program output.
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These knobs also act like pushbuttons. Push down and release SELECT to toggle the Reverse switch for the current BKGD transition. Hint: Background transitions are the only type to offer a reverse option; DSK transitions automatically toggle their direction. Or – push the RATE knob repeatedly to cycle through the default S (Slow), M (Medium) and F(Fast) transition speeds. Recall that multi-selection is supported, as well.
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FIGURE 395 Hint: With the newer software, LC-11’s EFFECTS works similarly to the UTIL row on the 460 and 860 CS models (documented elsewhere in this Guide).
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A HOW DO I … (?) In this section, we’ll consider the most common questions TriCaster™ operators may have (and of course we’ll provide the answer, too). Answers are intentionally brief – perhaps just a reminder of one or two steps required to perform some operation. For this reason, we’ll also point you to explanatory information elsewhere in this manual whenever that would be useful. If you’ve largely mastered your TriCaster™ but have a specific question, this may be the best place to look first.
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Connect to an AirPlay® source?............................................................................................ 426 Supplement: Why doesn’t my AirPlay® device list TriCaster as a target? Supplement: Why do some clips not play properly across an AirPlay connection? Enable termination for video inputs? ................................................................................... 429 Configure Wirecast® to receive TriCaster’s Network output? ..............................................
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Import media files? .............................................................................................................. 445 ®? Share Files On YouTube ..................................................................................................... 446 Prepare Clips with Embedded Alpha Channel? .................................................................... 446 Add an external File Location to the File Browser? ..............................................................
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A.1 CONNECTIONS A.1.1 CONNECT CAMERAS? 1. Connect video sources to the appropriately labeled BNC input connectors on TriCaster’s backplate according to your camera’s video output connection type (see Section 3.5). (Because of the ‘busy’ nature of the backplate, you may find the BNC removal tool provided with TriCaster helpful for this purpose). 2. Open a TriCaster session (or create a new one) from the Home Page of the Startup Screen. 3.
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5. Roll the mouse pointer over the monitor for the camera you want to set up, and click the Configure (gear) button that appears in its titlebar. 6. Choose the appropriate Connection Type for the source attached to the oddnumbered input in the Input Settings tab (see Section 8.2.1). 7. Choose Act as Alpha Channel for Input (#) as the Connection Type for the even-numbered source in the Input Settings tab. (See Section 8.2.2). A.1.3 CONFIGURE ALPHA MATTE OUTPUT? 1.
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A.1.5 CONNECT MONITORS? C OMPUTER MONITOR With the power off, connect an external computer monitor to the Interface port on TriCaster’s backplate, using an adapter if necessary. M ULTIVIEW MONITOR ( OR PROJECTOR ) TriCaster supports a Multiview output feature by means of the output connector labeled Multiview. 1. Connect the external device to the Multiview output on TriCaster’s backplate using an appropriate cable (and/or adapter, if required). 2.
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(Note that if your display hardware declines to work with additions you make to the menu, the Live Desktop status message display may show an ‘unsupported display mode’ warning, and the monitor may either revert to the previous mode or simply not show anything at all.) NOTE: Changing Output Resolution can cause frames to be dropped briefly. We do not recommend changing this setting during live production. Q2: After reconnecting monitors, my Multiview and Interface monitor configuration is messed up.
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a. Move the mouse over the Program monitor, and double-click to open Output Configuration. b. Click the Output tab, and select one of either Composite + Y/C or Component for Inputs 1-3 according to the connection type used by devices connected to each output. (Please see 0 for more information.) A.1.6 CONNECT A SUPPORTED EXTERNAL CONTROL SURFACE? Connect the USB cable from the Control Surface to one of TriCaster’s USB ports. S UPPLEMENTARY Q UESTION : Q: The control surface has suddenly stopped working.
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2. Refer to Section 17.6.1 for details of preparing the two TriCasters and enabling Remote Control. A.1.8 INSERT/REMOVE A DRIVE FROM TRICASTER’S REMOVABLE DRIVE BAY 3. If TriCaster is running, and if applicable (not a TriCaster 410 feature) – Eject the hard drive you wish to remove (see Section A.1.10). 4. Open TriCaster’s front panel. 5. Open the removable drive bay door. FIGURE 396 6. Pull the hard drive currently in the drive bay (if applicable) to remove it. 7.
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Of course, you are free to purchase storage media from other sources. Keep in mind that manufacturer specifications and reviews may highlight favorable statistics, focusing on results from ‘typical’ (i.e., less demanding) operating environments. (Naturally, NewTek cannot guarantee that hard drives obtained from such sources will provide performance adequate to TriCaster’s requirements.
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A.1.11 CONNECT TALLY LIGHTS? External tally light devices and their connections vary widely. Please refer to Section 3.9 for details on TriCaster’s tally light jack implementation. A.1.12 CONNECT TO A NETWORK? Please refer to Section 3.16 and Chapter 16 Network . A.1.13 LOCATE A SPECIFIC TRICASTER ON MY NETWORK? Please refer to Section 3.2 for details on giving your TriCasters unique network names. A.1.
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o You could simply loop an audio cable from the system’s output back to an input, and select that input as the audio source for iVGA PRO. o Often you may be able to select a different audio device (such as “Stereo Mix” or “SoundMAX”) as the system default. Right-click the ‘speaker’ icon at right in your Windows® Desktop taskbar, and select “Recording Devices”. This opens the audio device control applet, allowing you to choose among those available.
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There are three location options: Home, Work, and Public. If TriCaster’s active network has inadvertently been set to ‘Public’, AirPlay® will not connect. Be sure this is set to either Home or Work. A2: By default, the Windows® firewall is disabled on TriCaster. If your AirPlay device does not recognize TriCaster after enabling AirPlay® for Net 1 or Net 2, it may be that someone has enabled it, and it is preventing connection.
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A3: Make sure you are connected to the correct network, especially for Wi-Fi. iOS® connects to known networks by default. If multiple Wi-Fi connections are available, it may connect automatically to a previously known network. For a wireless AirPlay® source such as iPad®, follow these steps: 1. Tap Settings > Wi-Fi. If Wi-Fi is off, turn it on by tapping the on/off icon. 2. Available Wi-Fi networks appear under Choose a Network... 3. Locate and tap the Wi-Fi network that TriCaster is connected to.
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 Channel Settings should be set to 1, 6 or 11 (11 is the most common choice, since it is the starting channel, making 1 or 6 a good choice).  Channel width should be set to 20 MHz or “Narrow Band” in 2.4 GHz mode.  Channel width should be set to both 20 MHz and 40 MHz in 5 GHz mode.  Ensure that only one DHCP server is active on the network.
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3. At the time of writing, Wirecast® does not fully support interlaced video, so you must also checkmark De-Interlace at the bottom of the Network video source menu. 4. Next, open the Sources menu in the Wirecast® interface (Figure 397), and select the “New Web Stream” option. The Source Settings dialog will open. FIGURE 397 5. Set Protocol to “HTTP”. 6. Type the Network URL displayed in TriCaster’s Output Configuration pane into the Wirecast® URL field.
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A.2.1 START AN SD SESSION? 1. Connect your SD sources to TriCaster’s input connectors (see Section 3.5). 2. Connect your SD monitors to TriCaster’s output connectors (see Section 3.8.1) 3. Select the New icon in the Home Page of the Startup Screen. 4. Click the Enter Session Name link (under Session Name at right) and supply a name for the new session. 5. Select a Volume (hard drive) for the new session. 6. TriCaster Multi-standard only: choose your local Video Standard (NTSC, NTSC-J or PAL) 7.
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Doing so eliminates fielding artifacts that might otherwise occur due to converting fielded video to progressive video for streaming. This will generally result in noticeably better quality. A.2.3 WORK ON A STORED SESSION? 1. Click the Open icon in the Home Page of the Startup Screen. 2. Click the name of the session you want to re-open. A.2.4 BACKUP A SESSION? 1. Open the TriCaster session you wish to backup, then click the Manage icon in the Startup Screen’s Session Page. 2.
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A.2.6 DELETE A SESSION (AND ITS CONTENT)? 1. Right-click the name of the session in Home Page of the Startup Screen. 2. Select Delete from the menu. This will delete the session, and any content that is local to the session, including associated LiveText projects (external data that has not been imported will not be deleted). A.2.7 MANAGE SELECTED CONTENT INSIDE A SESSION? 1. Click the name of the session containing the content you wish to delete in the Home Page of the Startup Screen. 2.
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2. Rename the current session – see Section A.2.8. 3. Restore the backed up session – see Section A.2.5. A.3 LIVE PRODUCTION A.3.1 MAKE CUSTOM TRANSITIONS AND LIVESETS? The Animation Store Creator application is included with your TriCaster. Its documentation can be accessed from the Help menu on the Home Page in Startup. As well, an optional, user-friendly, tool called TriCaster Virtual Set Editor™ is available. This tool makes it easy to modify LiveSets to suit your specific needs. A.3.
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FIGURE 399 This virtual multi-monitor effect depends on a single clip (played from a DDR) which is itself a montage composed of a number of different looping video clips composited into a single frame (e.g., Figure 400). FIGURE 400 FIGURE 401 Hint: A template clip (Figure 401) is supplied in the Clips>NewTek folder (as are several looping sample clips).
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This particular set was designed to work with all TCXD model TriCasters, including those supporting just two primary sources. For TriCaster 8000 (only), which adds C and D inputs in M/E panels, the set has been updated as follows to provide more ability:  Input C targets the ‘virtual ticker’. Knowing this, you might for example use Input C’s positioner to compose a LiveText feed (from a Network input) to correspond to the lower right quadrant of the template clip (as seen in Figure 401 above).
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5. Click the NewTek label under the LiveSet heading in the Media Browser, and choose “3D Center L.LiveSet” from the “Night Beat” folder in the file pane at right. This M/E provides the left angle for the center desk shot of the ultimate 3D result. 6. Choose another free M/E, and set it up exactly as described above – but this time choose “3D Center R.LiveSet” from the “Night Beat” folder. This second M/E provides the right angle for the 3D effect. 7.
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FIGURE 402 Since a single M/E accommodates four independent sources (Inputs A-D) at most, it requires two M/Es to take full advantage of Metropolis A. Here’s how to set up the most complex shot in this network-class virtual set group: 1. Select an unused M/E – let’s use M/E 1 for our example. 2. Click the button labeled Effect above the Effect thumbnail in the M/E pane. 3. Click the + sign that appears when you move the mouse over the label below the thumbnail to open a Media Browser. 4.
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9. Click the NewTek label under the LiveSet heading in the Media Browser, and choose “Metropolis A Quad Split” from the “Metropolis A” folder in the file pane at right. 10. Assign video or graphics sources to Inputs A-C. These inputs supply the three monitors behind your talent shots. 11. Input D is meant to feed animated text (whether from a DDR, or perhaps a Network Input source such as LiveText) to the various news tickers in the scene.
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3. Click the Manage icon on the Session Page. 4. Under Browse at right, click the Clips link. A system file explorer will open. 5. Open the Saved Streams folder in the file explorer. A.3.4 RECORD MY PROGRAM? 1. Open (or create) a TriCaster session (see Section 3.10). 2. Click the Configure (gear) button in the Dashboard’s Record control. 3. Choose your recording options (see Section 4.8.1 and Chapter 20, Record and Grab) and enter a Base Name for the file(s). 4.
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(Note that certain highly compressed video file formats cannot successfully be played back at rates beyond 200%, even though Speed value is set to a higher value.) See Section 11.2.3 for more. A.3.7 DEAL WITH DDR (MEDIA PLAYER) CLIPS THAT SEEM BLURRY? When paused or stopped, TriCasters DDRs perform motion removal (to avoid unwanted flicker). This can make the image seem slightly blurred when paused, but it should look perfect during playback.
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play well in the DDR, please consider converting it to a ‘friendlier’ format. We can recommend NewTek’s own SpeedHQ, or perhaps DV (for Standard Definition clips), M2T or MPG – please continue reading for more information on file conversion. R EMUXING C LIPS Even when a specific AVI exists and can generally be considered ‘friendly’, the manner in which audio and video data is multiplexed (or ‘muxed’, in the jargon) by some few applications can cause playback issues that are only evident under stress.
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tool aggregates the information from all the moof atoms into a single moov atom and outputs a new file” Unconverted F4V files imported will not play in TriCaster’s DDR either. Conveniently, TriCaster can automate the conversion for you to a degree. If you locate the folder named Media\Clips\sessionname\SavedStreams on your primary session drive, you will see the “raw” (unprocessed) streaming file(s) and a batch file (.bat) that can be used to convert all files in that folder. Simply double-click the .
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A.3.10 GET LIVE TITLE PAGES (.CGXML) TO RESPECT ALL LIVETEXT FONT ATTRIBUTES? TriCaster’s Title Page file format (.cgxml) presently supports almost every attribute that LiveText offers – but there are a few exceptions. For example, multiple font styles on one text line are not supported, which means that different words on a single line cannot be different colors, or use different typefaces. (Of course you can achieve the same effect by using additional text objects as necessary.
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A.3.12 IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF MULTIVIEW OUTPUT? For best visual quality, be sure that the Multiview Resolution you choose in the Dashboard’s Workspace menu corresponds to the optimum display size for the monitor connected (see Section 10.1). NOTE: Changing Output Resolution can cause frames to be dropped briefly. Thus we do not recommend changing this setting during live production. A.4 FILES A.4.1 MANAGE FILES? Please refer to the item (How do I) Manage Selected Content inside a Session? (Section A.2.7).
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A.4.3 SHARE FILES ON YOUTUBE®? Although you have opened an account with YouTube® and correctly configured the account (see Section 19.2) for TriCaster sharing, uploading may fail because you have not yet created a YouTube® “channel”. The basic YouTube® account lets you log in to watch existing content and make playlists. To create a channel, follow these additional steps: 1. Browse to YouTube®, login and click Upload at the top of the home page. 2. Follow instructions to add a channel to your account.
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Apple® computer users have several other options available which support an alpha channel, including the Animation and PNG Quicktime® movie codecs (select “Millions of Colors +” in the codec settings to include alpha in the file). A.4.5 ADD AN EXTERNAL FILE LOCATION TO THE FILE BROWSER? 1. 2. 3. 4. Open (or create) a TriCaster session. Click the Add button for a Media Player (DDR, Still or Title). Click the Add Media Location button at bottom left in the File Browser.
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limitation (or you might consider transferring larger files to TriCaster over a network connection). A.4.9 REPAIR DAMAGED RECORDINGS? At times, a catastrophic event (such as a power outage) that interrupts recording will result in a damaged Quicktime® clip. Generally, such a clip can be repaired by simply adding it to a DDR playlist. (Note that this process depends on the clip being stored as-is within the NTFS file system at all times before repair.
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A.5 SOFTWARE, MAINTENANCE AND UPDATES A.5.1 IMPROVE PERFORMANCE? 1. Click the Shut Down icon on the Home Page of the Startup Screen, and click the Administrator Mode link at right to exit the TriCaster environment. 2. In the Administrator Mode screen, click the Defragment Hard Drive link (under the System Utilities heading) and follow directions provided (see the heading System Utilities in Section 5.2.3).
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user might opt to cut and paste relevant lines from the older file into the new one (we suggesting backing up the newer file in this case, too, out of an abundance of caution). A.5.4 UPDATE THE FLASH® AND/OR WINDOWS MEDIA ENCODER®? TriCaster is not designed to be user-upgradable. For certain features to work correctly, specific versions of third-party utilities must be present. These applications are upgraded in timely fashion in official TriCaster updates.
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Hint: In the unfortunate event that malware ever does evade your defensive measures, you can always use TriCaster’s Restore TriCaster function to completely rehabilitate your system.) A.5.6 INSTALL MY FAVORITE SOFTWARE (OR CODEC)? TriCaster is not a ‘general purpose’ computer. The installed software suite is finely tuned to provide reliable performance and amazing features. Anything you install apart from official TriCaster updates places these important goals at risk. Doing so is strongly discouraged.
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Afterward, the backup drive can be removed and stored, to be used later if necessary to i) restore the internal drive should, or ii) in the case of a catastrophic drive failure, to be connected internally to completely replace the original drive. Note: Since opening TriCaster’s case is a breach of warranty, please call Customer Service to obtain direction before proceeding with an internal drive replacement. The actual creation process for the backup is discussed in the next section. A.5.
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 Restore System Partition to Factory Defaults: overwrites the C partition (only) on the existing system drive from the disk image in its local Restore partition. Note: Following a Reset to Factory Defaults operation, the Windows® system software must be re-activated. To do this, you will need the operating system serial number, which you will find on a sticker affixed to the exterior of your TriCaster. This procedure restores your system drive (“C:”) to its ‘as-shipped’ state.
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Note: This feature it is intended to allow a restore operation of the system drive that the clone was prepared on. It is not intended to allow restoration from a ‘foreign’ TriCaster. Using the ‘Restore System Partition from User Backup Drive’ in the latter manner will almost certainly cause multiple problems.
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6. http://www.newtek.com/faq/index.php?contact=service 7. Enter the Registration Code provided into the Registration dialog at Step 3 (Please see Section 3.3 for more detail. Also, note that it’s always good to check for updates after registration.) A.6.2 CONTACT CUSTOMER SUPPORT? Visit the NewTek Website, at www.newtek.com and select Support from the main Customer Care menu at the top of the page. This link leads to the latest support information for your NewTek products, including FAQs and documentation.
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These files are organized according to whether they are WMV or RTMP profiles, again into NTSC or PAL versions (Multi-standard models only), and then finally subdivided into folders labeled 4x3, 16x9 (the latter two being Standard Definition profiles), and HD. (Note that profiles in the various sub-folders only appear in the Stream Type List for the corresponding session type.) The easiest method of creating a custom profile is to modify an existing profile and then store it using a new name.
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C REATING A C USTOM W INDOWS M EDIA ® PR OFILE 1. From TriCaster’s Startup Screen, click the Shutdown icon, and select Exit to Windows. 2. Click the Exit to Windows button in the confirmation dialog that pops up. 3. Double-click the My Computer icon, and navigate to C:\TriCaster\Streaming Profiles\WMVPRofiles. 4. Identify a profile (.prx file) similar to the one you wish to create inside the appropriate sub-folder at that location. 5. Copy the file, and paste the copy in at the same location. 6.
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5. Continue to identify a profile (.xml file) similar to the one you wish to create inside the appropriate sub-folder at that location, and click the Open button in the file explorer. 6. In Adobe Flash Media Live Encoder®, modify the settings for the profile to suit your need. 7. Select Save Profile from the File menu. 8.
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A multi-bitrate profile without “%i” in the Stream ID will produce a Flash Media Encoder® error on attempting to stream. Also, the filename for multi-bitrate streaming recordings TriCaster saves will automatically include the requisite “%i” (because the originating stream ID contains it). S UPPLEMENTARY Q UESTION : Q: Is it better to use a Baseline or Main profile for H.
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 Apple® Bonjour™ PS for Windows®: download this utility to a USB stick from the link below. http://support.apple.com/kb/DL999  A wireless router to connect TriCaster and the iPad® to. (If TriCaster can see AirPlay® or can be controlled by the NewTek iPad Audio Mixer app, your networking configuration is correctly set up.) 1. Once you have the rtpMIDI and Bonjour applications downloaded on the memory stick, plug it into a USB port on TriCaster.
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FIGURE 404 At this point, your computer name will appear in the list (Figure 404). 6. Next to the computer name is a checkbox – check-mark this box. This should make the ‘Enabled’ checkbox turn on (if it doesn’t, check-mark it as well). FIGURE 405 Now we need to configure the iPad.
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Hint: You might see your iPad listed in the directory panel automatically. It is best to add your iPad to rtpMIDI, manually, however. MIDI communication only occurs when the iPad app is open. Adding the iPad manually will succeed even when the app isn’t running. It is recommended that your iPad be configured with a static IP address. You can do this either by i) setting up a static IP in the iPad’s network settings or ii) configuring the router to reserve an IP address for the device in the DHCP settings.
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9. The right side panel lists Wi-Fi access points. The one that is check-marked is the one you have connected to. Press the blue arrow to get details on the connection. Your IP address is shown at the top of the details page. FIGURE 407 10. Click on the + button below the directory listing in rtpMIDI. A window will ask for a name and host/port information. The name can be anything you like. Enter the IP number displayed on the iPad® followed by a colon and the number ‘5004’ into the host/port field (e.g.
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FIGURE 409 You have now successfully configured rtpMIDI for use with your iPad® 12. Start TriCaster and launch a session. 13. Start the MidiPads™ application on the iPad®. 14. Open TriCaster’s Macro panel, select a macro entry, and click in the Shortcut field to ‘listen’ for input. 15. Press the button you want to assign the macro to in the MidiPads™ app and it will be assigned. Afterward, pressing this button in MidiPads™ will run the assigned macro.
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A.8 MORE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS A.8.1 CAN I DO ANYTHING TO IMPROVE LATENCY/AUDIO SYNC? Latency might be defined as the ‘transit time’ for the a/v stream. Each device in the video chain introduces some limited (transmission) delay. TriCaster’s latency is very minimal (as little as 1 frame), but you can take measures to keep it to a minimum – first and foremost, by genlocking your video devices – see Section 8.1.3. For genlocked sources, consider disabling TriCaster’s Frame Sync – see Section 8.2.3.
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FIGURE 410 (8-INPUT TRICASTER SHOWN) S UPPLEMENTARY Q UESTION : Q: Where can I obtain replacement or spare Power Supply modules? A: Contact NewTek Sales for purchase information for spare TriCaster components. A.8.3 WHY DO SOME THUMBNAIL ICONS LOOK WRONG? Some file formats (notably AVI) do not provide embedded aspect ratio information. As a result, their thumbnail image in Media Player icons for may not be properly proportioned.
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B PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS Your TriCaster™ has been carefully designed to faithfully execute its duties under any reasonable circumstances. Still, your production environment – especially in remote locations – may impose limitations that you are wise to consider. This chapter discusses a few matters that may help you get optimal performance in less than ideal settings. B.1 TESTING, ONE TWO … Professionals simply do not leap into new environments blindly.
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B.3 IMAG AND LATENCY What’s IMAG? It’s a compression of the expression “Image MAGnification.” Typically in modern IMAG applications, video cameras supply live imagery to projection systems, magnifying speakers and performers so that audience members further back in large venues can still see what’s going on. IMAG is a very tricky task at the best of times, one that calls for excellent planning, and where possible, testing.
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Still waiting for the promised mention of ‘relativity’? OK, here it is then: E=MC 2 B.3.2 LATENCY AND YOUR AUDIENCE “Latency” - what’s that you ask? In this context, latency refers to the time it takes for the video signal to transit one part of the IMAG path, from camera lens to final display. Latency is usually expressed either in milliseconds or in video “frames” (typically either 25 or 29.97 to the second.
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TriCaster’s portion of the total latency sum is well within acceptable standards for devices of this sort – roughly between 1.5 and 2.5 frames (the actual amount can vary slightly within this range, depending on several factors). For example, suppose a ‘video frame’ supplied by a camera arrives at TriCaster’s inputs one millisecond after a different frame has been sent to the output.
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 When possible, try supplying the projector with analog video. This can eliminate a lot of the complexity from the process (of course, this is not always possible.)  Certain projectors provide a ‘low latency mode’ to disable features of the unit that carry a heavy toll in latency.
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C VIDEO CALIBRATION An oft-heard expression is “Don’t worry – we’ll fix it in post”. Postproduction techniques are invaluable, but they do not invalidate another often repeated axiom – “Garbage in, garbage out.” And, in the case of live production, the results are immediately obvious to your audience … for good or for bad. For these reasons and many more, it’s important to control the visual quality of your work all the way through the production pipeline.
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As a first step, cameras need to be properly calibrated. Ideally, this is done right at the camera. Corrective measures taken downstream never fully compensate for problems at the first link in the chain. Most cameras, even inexpensive consumer models, provide adequate controls for this purpose. Some other video sources do not offer much if anything in the way of adjustment, however.
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Consider what happens if you gradually raise the brightness control on your television. Beyond a certain point (and unlike claims made for laundry detergent) your whites do not become whiter. They can’t – the upper limit (white) is firmly fixed. Instead, parts of the image that are nearly white are boosted, eventually also becoming white. Meanwhile, black portions of the picture are tending towards gray.
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camera’s Auto White Balance feature with the white card – your camera manual will provide instructions. Afterwards, check the black level again. Some more professional cameras offer full manual controls for white balance and/or black level. Use these as instructed to ensure your camera is providing the correct white and black levels.
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As it happens, from the vectorscope point of view, neither black nor white properly have any color saturation. Thus with the lens cap on (or with a white card filling the viewfinder), the vectorscope should show only a small fuzzy trace at its center. If the fuzzy dot is off-center horizontally or vertically, this would indicate that the camera is incorrectly calibrated, actually tinting gray areas.
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FIGURE 413 (NTSC) FIGURE 414 (PAL) You can use color bars in conjunction with TriCaster’s Waveform and Vectorscope to make sure the video supplied to the Switcher is consistent, accurate and broadcast legal. Most video cameras are capable of displaying color bars – check your camera manual to see how to display these (given a choice, use 75% bars). Then look at the Vectorscope to see how it traces the individual colors comprising the image.
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FIGURE 416 If the trace vectors do not line up as they should even after performing a white balance at the camera, you can use TriCaster’s Proc Amp controls to tweak the signal. Adjust the Hue control to rotate the vectors around the center point to line them up correctly on their respective targets. Increasing Saturation will move the trace further out towards the edge of the scope. Decreasing Saturation lowers color intensity, bringing the trace back closer to the center.
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computer monitor, they do differ in a number of important respects. For this reason, we will approach their calibration separately. C.3.1 COMPUTER MONITOR This is a subject that could (and does) easily fill multiple volumes, but which we will sadly give short shrift. It may not be quite as important to achieve ‘spot-on’ color calibration for the monitor used for the user interface. Not surprisingly, video output color is best judged on larger downstream video monitors.
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C.3.3 COLOR ADJUSTMENTS Having set the black and white levels earlier, let’s continue… NTSC 1. If your monitor has a “Blue-gun only” setting, enable it. Depending on the brand of your monitor, the alternating bars will appear either as light gray and black, or blue and black (Figure 417). FIGURE 417 2. If the monitor lacks a “Blue-gun only” feature, you can obtain a colored filter such as a Kodak Wratten #47B gel, and hold that between your eyes and the monitor for a similar result. 3.
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6. Check your results with some familiar imagery, and make any further tweaks you feel are required. PAL 1. If your monitor has a “Blue-gun only” setting, enable it. Raise the Color or Saturation setting until the three right hand bars all appear to be the same shade. 2. If the monitor lacks a “Blue-gun only” feature, you can obtain a colored filter such as a Kodak Wratten #47B gel, and hold that between your eyes and the monitor for a similar result. 3.
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D KEYSTROKE SHORTCUTS D.
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D.2 T-BAR Take Take T-bar Back to Top Transition … Go/Pause Auto Reverse Adjust T-bar… Down/Up Halfway T-bar… Take Return Key Shift + Return Spacebar Shift + Spacebar t / Shift + t (faster add Ctrl) h D.3 RECORD, GRAB, AND STREAM Record on/off Grab (still image) Stream Start Stream Stop r/ Shift + r p Ctrl + / Ctrl + Alt + / D.4 TABS Show (DDR, PTZ, Mixer, etc.; varies by model) tab Select M/E 1- 8 Show M/E pane Hide M/E pane Toggle M/E pane Ctrl + (F1 to Fn) Ctrl + Shift + F1-F8 Ctrl + m Alt + m m D.
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Show Interface D Show Multiview A Show Multiview B Show Multiview C Show Multiview D Alt + Numpad 3 Ctrl + Numpad 0 Ctrl + Numpad 1 Ctrl + Numpad 2 Ctrl + Numpad 3 D.5.2 TRICASTER 410, 460 AND 860 Show Interface > optional layouts, sequentially Show Multiview > optional layouts, sequentially Alt + Numpad 0-4 Ctrl + Numpad 0-7 D.
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Single On/Off Navigate through Playlist items Set In Point for current Playlist Item (Clip or Audio file) Set Out Point for current Playlist Item Alt + q Up/Down/Left/Right Arrows Alt + i Alt + o D.8 GRAPHICS 1 Stop Play Go to previous playlist item Go to next playlist item Autoplay On/Off Loop On/Off Single On/Off Shift + k Shift + l (L) Shift + j (J) Shift + ; (:, colon) Shift + u (U) Shift + ‘ (“, quotation) Shift + 1 (Q) D.
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Loop On/Off Single On/Off Set In Point for current Playlist Item Set Out Point for current Playlist Item Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift + Ctrl + Shift + ‘ (apostrophe) q i o D.11 GENERAL D.11.1 EDIT TITLE PANE Save the current title page Save the current title page, and duplicate it in the playlist Save the page and move to the previous playlist item Save the page and move to the next playlist item Ctrl + Shift+ s Ctrl + Shift+ s Page Up Page Down D.11.
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E DIMENSIONS AND MOUNTING It’s important when planning your installation to provide adequate support for the unit’s weight, with particular attention to providing room for both cable access and adequate ventilation. This section provides physical dimensions and recommendations intended to inform and guide you when mounting TriCaster systems and related control surfaces. SECTION 22.
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The units weigh nearly 25 pounds (>11 KG). A shelf or rear support will distribute the load more evenly if rack-mounted. Good front and rear access is important for convenience in cabling, access to removable drive bays (TriCaster 460). In view of the top panel vents on 2RU models, at least one RU should be allowed above these systems for ventilation and cooling. SECTION 22.
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As these units weigh in at about 40 pounds (>18 KG), we strongly encourage you to provide a shelf or rear support to distribute the load more evenly if rack-mounting is planned. Good front and rear access is important for convenience in cabling, access to removable drive bays, and should be considered mandatory for ventilation and cooling. SECTION 22.12 TRICASTER 8000 CS Normally, the 8000 CS is used in a table-top configuration. Otherwise, the ½” (1.
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FIGURE 421 SECTION 22.13 TRICASTER 860 CS Normally, the 860 CS is used in a table-top configuration. Otherwise, a rabbet on all four sides permits you to embed the base in a cutout prepared for the purpose. FIGURE 422 At the sides, a ½” (1.2 cm) ledge is formed for this purpose. The overlap provided front and back is narrower, about 5/16” (.31 cm).
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FIGURE 423 SECTION 22.14 TRICASTER 460 CS FIGURE 424 Normally, the 460 CS is used in a table-top configuration. Otherwise, a rabbet on all four sides permits you to embed the base in a cutout prepared for the purpose.
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At the sides, a ½” (1.2 cm) ledge is formed for this purpose. The overlap provided front and back is narrower, about 5/16” (.31 cm).
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F RELIABILITY TESTING We know our products play vital roles in the productions of our customers. Durability and consistent, robust performance are much more than just adjectives for your business and ours. For this reason, all NewTek products undergo rigorous reliability testing to ensure they meet our exacting test standards.
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INDEX 3 AVI Codecs, 443 B 3D, 242 8 850 TW Layout, 385 A AAC Encoding, 453 Act as Alpha. See I/O Configuration: Video Input Activate Windows. See Windows Add-Ons, 121 Administrator Mode, 50, 116, 451, 454, 457 Advanced Tracking, 237 AirPlay®, 257, 428 Alpha Channel, 179 Alpha Input. See I/O Configuration: Video Input ALT, 363, 389, 390 ALT + IN, 389, 392 ALT + OUT, 390, 392 ALT + REC, 391 Anaglyph, 242 Animation Store.
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E Edit. See SpeedEDIT Eject, 114, 426 Esc, 387 EULA. See TriCaster: Register Export Media. See Startup Screen, See Startup Screen External Audio. See Live Desktop:Audio Mixer F F4V, 444 Facebook®. See Share Media Fade to Black, 353, 372 Fast Jog, 392 File Copy. See Share Media Files Export, 205, 340, 446, 449 Import, 205, 447 Flash. See Streaming Flash F4V, 444 FTB, 353, 372 FTP. See Share Media G Genlock. See Connections:Genlock Configure.
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Talk, 256 VU Meters, 252 Grab, 79, 336 Media Browser, 82, 200 Add Media Location, 449 Filter, 202 Media Player, 18, 81, 257 Asset Management, 198 Autoplay, 84, 204 Presets, 85, 204 Scrub, 83 Single, 84, 203 Speed, 83, 203, 442 Title Pages, 207 Editing, 207, 208 Stand-In Images, 209, 341 Trimming, 83 Options Menu, 138 Remote Control, 292, 424 Tabs Follow Preview Row, 138 Tabs Follow Preview Row for M/E, 138 Overlay Position, 177 Record, 78, 79, 148, 310, 329, 442 Quality Setting, 334 Switcher, 67, 171, 172 T
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Sharing Buffers, 206 Sharing Media Folders, 206 Testing, 311 Network Sharing, 206 Network Sharing, 214 Next, 393 NTSC. See Video Standard O One Button Marking, 390 Open/Manage Session. See Startup Screen OUT, 389 Overlay M/E. See M/E: Key P PAL. See Video Standard Paste, 387 Pause, 486 Ping, 313 Play, 387, 393 Play Speed, 387 Play, Pause, & Stop, 486 Position, 394 Positioner Delegate, 358, 377 Joystick Modes, 379 Power Supply, 467 Preview Row, 351, 370 Previous, 393 Proc Amp, 352, 370 Profile, H.
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Exit to Windows, 116 System Utilities Defragment, 451 Restore TriCaster, 454 Update TriCaster, 451, 452 Stills. See Live Desktop: Media Player Stop, 393, 486 Storage (external), 426 Stream, 363, 382 Streaming, 298, 303, 304, 306 AAC, 453 Bitrate, 305 Capture, 303, 442 Port Forwarding, 316 Production Tips, 311 Profile, 306, 453 H.
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Y YouTube®.
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CREDITS Acknowledgments: Tim Jenison, Jim Plant Engineering: Andrew Cross, Alvaro Suarez, Bennie Pierce, Bob Peene, Brian Brice, Cary Tetrick, Charles Steinkuehler, Dan Fletcher, Greg Heine, James Killian, Jan Uribe, Jarrod Davis, Jeremy Brosius, Jeremy Wiseman, John Perkins, Karen Zipper, Kevin Rouviere, Kirk Morger, Kristen Perez, Mahdi Mohajer, Masaaki Konno, Menghua Wang, Michael Joiner, Michael Watkins, Mike Murphy, Nathan Kovner, Naveen Jayakumar, Robert Sitton, Ryan Hansberger, Shawn Wisniewski, Stev
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http://www.jrsoftware.org/files/is/license.txt. Inno Setup is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY of FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.