Conference Composer User Guide
Copyright © 2001 Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Because of technical progress, specifications are subject to change without notice. The Polycom logo and Vortex® are registered trademarks of Polycom, Inc.. Polycom, Inc. Installed Voice Business Group 1720 Peachtree Street NW, Suite 220 Atlanta, GA 30309-2439 Phone: (800) 932-2774, (404) 892-3200 Fax: (404) 892-2512 www.aspi.com Technical Support: (800) 932-2774 vortex@polycom.
CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM USER GUIDE Conference ComposerTM Software ..............................................................2 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 2 Installation.............................................................................................................. 2 Features of the Conference Composer Window ..................................................... 3 Operating Conference Composer......
CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM SOFTWARE CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM SOFTWARE INTRODUCTION Conference Composer is the design and configuration software that is supplied with the Vortex®. Its purpose is to make it easy and intuitive to configure Polycom’s Vortex products, share configuration files, create presets, macros, and logic assignments. Conference Composer operates under Windows™ 98, ME, NT, and 2000. INSTALLATION Insert the Conference Composer disk into your CD-ROM drive and run the Setup program.
CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM SOFTWARE FEATURES OF THE CONFERENCE COMPOSER WINDOW 4 1 3 2 Figure 1. Feauters of Conference Composer window 1. 2. 3. 4. © Polycom, Inc. EXPLORER MENU. The Explorer-type menu structure allows you to easily navigate and browse through your device list. Clicking on an item in the tree will display the parameter page to the right of the explorer menu. STATUS METER.
CONFERENCE COMPOSERTM SOFTWARE • • Conference Composer User Guide USER MODE. User mode selects between BASIC and ADVANCED. Basic mode limits user options that can be adjusted. Advanced mode allows control of all parameters available on Conference Composer. HELP. The Help menu contains the ABOUT option that shows the version number of the software. 4 Technical Support: 800.932.
OPERATING CONFERENCE COMPOSER OPERATING CONFERENCE COMPOSER Conference Composer may either be operated online or off-line (not connected to a Vortex or EF device) depending on how you would like to use it. If you work off-line it is easy to save the settings to a file, share the files with others, and then upload the settings into an EF device when you go online.
OPERATING CONFERENCE COMPOSER Figure 3. Select AUTOSCAN to have Conference Composer automatically find online devices. NOTE If you have any devices currently using the serial port on your PC, such as a PalmPilot’s HotSync, please close those programs to free the COM port before running AUTOSCAN. AUTOSCAN will automatically find all EF devices (EF2280, EF1210, EF200) attached to the RS-232 port and then automatically download all the settings into Conference Composer.
OPERATING CONFERENCE COMPOSER look like Figure 4 (the red X’s indicate that you are offline), and you are ready to proceed to the next section. Figure 5. Operating Conference Composer Offline. © Polycom, Inc.
DEVICE PARAMETERS DEVICE PARAMETERS Each device in Conference Composer is represented by a list of sub-entries for that device. For the Vortex, those fields are SYSTEM, MIC/LINE INPUTS, etc. as shown in Figure 4. By clicking on the Device (EF2280:00 in Figure 4) you bring up the SYSTEM page as shown in Figure 6. Notice that each SYSTEM page has tabs corresponding to the list of sub-entries in Figure 4.
DEVICE PARAMETERS be difficult to light. If you set the signal activity level too low, the ambient room noise may light the signal activity LED too easily. Figure 7. Signal Activity LED of Inputs and Outputs. The ability to follow signal flow and the Signal Activity LED can provide useful tools to ensure that the proper input to output mappings have been setup. OPTIONS Figure 8. Options Tab. The OPTIONS tab allows the user to set the following parameters: • © Polycom, Inc. MODEM INITIALIZATION STRING.
DEVICE PARAMETERS • • • • • • will send the desired string to the modem (or any device connected to the RS-232 port) each time the Vortex is reset (either through power-up or a software reset). This allows the Vortex to put the modem into an Auto Answer Mode, and set the baud-rate to 9600 bps. The default string is set to: ATE0F1&B1S0=2. NON-VOLATILE MEMORY LOCK AND PASSWORD.
DEVICE PARAMETERS MIC/LINE INPUTS Figure 9. Vortex MIC/LINE INPUTS tab showing Mic/Line Input 1, Line Input A, and the Signal Generator. The MIC/LINE INPUTS page contains all the controls required to configure the 12 inputs (8 mic/line inputs and the 4 line level inputs). Figure 9 shows a Mic/Line Input channel, a Line Input channel, and the Signal Generator – note that you can enable/ disable an input from view with the numbered buttons on the top of the page.
DEVICE PARAMETERS 33dB of gain is added to the signal. PHANTOM POWER. 24 V phantom power can be enabled or disabled (it is enabled in Figure 9). • MUTE. This button is used to mute or unmute the input signal (MUTE is disabled in Figure 9). • AGC ENABLE. This will enable/disable the automatic gain control (AGC). • AGC MAX GAIN. This can be used to limit the total amount of gain the AGC can apply to the signal. • AGC MIN GAIN.
DEVICE PARAMETERS AUTOMIXER Figure 10. Automixer controls on the Automixer Page. Each Vortex has two automixers that can be controlled: Automixer 1 and Automixer 2. The controls for the two automixers are shown in Figure 10. For most applications, the user will choose a single automixer. However if the Vortex is split to operate in two independent rooms, the second automixer should be used. The HOLD TIME, DECAY TIME, and CAMERA THRESHOLD TIME is specified globally for each of the automixers.
DEVICE PARAMETERS MAX NOM set to 8. To link Vortexes together, use the BUS MIXER number. Put all the Vortexes you would like to operate as one large mixer together on the same BUS MIXER number with the exception of BUS MIXER 0. If the BUS MIXER is set to 0, the Automixer will work independently from other connected Vortexes. Each of the eight signal channels going into the automixer can be configured to be part of a particular automixer (Mixer 1 or Mixer 2).
DEVICE PARAMETERS choices are REFERENCE 1, REFERENCE 2, or NONE. Only one Vortex can put an AEC Reference onto the Bus. The other Vortexes can use this reference. Figure 11. The EF BUS sub matrix. In this example, WB0 is grayed out because we are working with Device 0. Any of the cross points can have arbitrary gains. MATRIX MIXER The Matrix Mixer in Figure 12 allows the user to map any input to any output with an arbitrary gain in dB applied from -100 dB to +20 dB.
DEVICE PARAMETERS To change the gain of an entire row or column you may simply click on the column or row header (any of the labels 1-D on the columns or the rows) to see a collection of sliders as shown in Figure 13. Figure 12. The full cross point matrix for a system using a phone add, a codec, and stereo program audio. Only the bold crosspoints are unmuted. Figure 13. Cross point slider view of how Input A is used in all the output channels.
DEVICE PARAMETERS and a mono mix of the left and right program audio. The program audio is attenuated by 3 dB before adding it into the R1 output. OUTPUT FILTERS Each of the outputs can have up to 5 filters of equalization. These filters include Parametric, Low Pass, High Pass, Low Shelf, and High Shelf. To use the filters, select the type of filter and adjust the controls for the filter.
DEVICE PARAMETERS (labelled NOM) enabled will reduce the gain of the output signal by 3dB for each doubling of the number of open microphones. NOM attenuation is computed separately for each output, depending on the inputs that are used to build each output. The output levels will be displayed in real-time if the LEVELS function is enabled (click the LEVELS button to enable the levels).
DEVICE PARAMETERS closed) will happen when the contact is open. The LED status will also update to reflect polarity status. Figure 16 shows an assignment of Pin 1 to mute Input 1 when active (i.e., the contact closed) and to unmute when inactive (contact open).. Figure 16. Logic pin 1 is assigned to mute input 1 when activated and unmute when deactivated. LOGIC OUTPUT The LOGIC OUTPUT page allows the user to assign a status function to one of the 20 logic status outputs.
DEVICE PARAMETERS PRESETS The Vortex supports 16 factory presets (meaning they can’t be overwritten by the user) and 32 user presets. These presets store all information about the settings for the device: input gains, matrix crosspoints, automixer settings, etc. Everything. Changes to the device’s settings are not automatically saved in the preset -- you must save your changes to the preset by clicking on the SAVE button. Each preset can have a 16 character label.
PROJECT FILES AND CREATING REPORTS PROJECT FILES AND CREATING REPORTS FILE SAVING When working off-line, you may find it useful to save Project files for archival purposes or to allow you to send the configuration to another person. To save a Project file, either left click on the Project and then right click to select SAVE or from the FILE menu, select SAVE PROJECT. Once you enter a file name, you can save the selected Project to disk. A Project file includes all the devices that make up the project.
THE CONSOLE WINDOW THE CONSOLE WINDOW The Console Window provides communication information between your PC and the EF Device. There are two tabs in this window: the Console Tab and the Properties Tab. The Console Tab is a terminal program that allows you to send commands to the EF Device and monitor the acknowledgements. The PROPERTIES Tab allows you to change the settings on flow control and also includes the capability to update firmware.
THE CONSOLE WINDOW PROPERTIES TAB Figure 18. Properties Tab in the Console Window. The Properties Tab provides the capability to change flow control and also update the firmware of your EF Device. UPDATING FIRMWARE The capability to update firmware is included in Conference Composer version 1.62 and higher. Check our website at www.aspi.com for the latest versions of the software and information on our products. The latest EchoFree firmware versions are listed below in Table 1.
THE CONSOLE WINDOW nected to other devices through the ASPI Bus or EF Bus. NOTE 2. In the PROJECT menu, select AUTOSCAN to synchronize the device settings with Conference Composer. 3. Open a CONSOLE window by right-clicking on the Serial Port connected to your EchoFree device in the Explorer type menu on the left side of the Conference Composer window. Choose CONSOLE from the menu that appears. 4. In the CONSOLE window, click on the PROPERTIES tab.
MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX CONFERENCE COMPOSER You will need Conference Composer version 1.62 or later. You can find the latest version of the software on our website at www.aspi.com, on the Vortex page. ON SITE WITH THE VORTEX At the local site with the Vortex, use Conference Composer to enable the modem to auto answer: Figure 19. Modem settings on Conference Composer OPTIONS page. 1.
MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX FROM THE REMOTE SITE At the remote site, open Conference Composer and from the FILE menu choose PREFERENCES. The dialog box that comes up should look similar to the one below in Figure 20. Figure 20. FILE -> PREFERENCES Find the Comm Port that your modem is connected to and make sure the box beside it is checked. Click on the corresponding SETTINGS button. In the dialog box that comes up, go to the MODEM tab (see Figure 21 below). Figure 21.
MODEM USE WITH THE VORTEX After both sides are setup, you should be able to AUTOSCAN from the remote end. Autoscanning will have your modem dial the remote site and connect to the remote modem, which is connected to the Vortex. You can then control the Vortex just like you were connected to it locally.
