Hooking Up Your Equipment

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If you're reading this book, I assume you have a working knowledge of Pro Tools and are able to perform basic recording, editing, and mixing functions. I will not go into the setting-up of the normal audio hardware that came with your system. If you have not already set up your basic Pro Tools system, please refer to your user 's guide provided with the system. If you would like more detailed information than the literature that comes with Pro Tools, you can refer to your manual and to the companion book in this series Pro Tools Power! , by Colin MacQueen and Steve Albanese, where you will find detailed information on the operation of your Pro Tools system. Pro Tools for Film, Video, and MultiMedia will go into detail about operations related to video and post-production only.

That said, some special hardware requirements must be met in order to work with video. A synchronization device must be plugged in and configured. Video monitors must be hooked up and provided with images to display. If other tape decks, such as VTRs, DATs, or MDMs are involved, then you must connect and configure a 9-pin machine control or MIDI Machine Control (MMC). In addition, you must set up and configure any DV video equipment.

After your equipment is set up, you must test the whole system for sync accuracy. To do ao, you will need some video material that has audio with itpreferably something with lip-sync dialog for checking sync. Any video monitors or projection systems that you plan to use in the studio should be ready. Any third-party synchronizers or special hookups to a video machine room should be present and functioning. If you are working in a larger facility that has other video and audio studios connected together, it is a good idea to be in touch with the technical personnel in charge of maintaining and configuring the machine room and other systems. These people can be a valuable source of help and information.

You'll also need to make sure that any digital connections are clocked properly and any audio connections to video equipment are working well. You should plan a synchronization layout for your setup. Take a moment and make a list of all of the gear you want to work with and identify the pieces that will need to run in sync with Pro Tools. Consider all sources of audio that you will be using, which could include DAT, Nagra, ¾" or Betacam VTRs, DV, MDM, studio microphones, CDs, mobile hard drives such as FireWire devices, and even cassettes. Having all these elements readily available to you while you work can help speed up your workflow, thus allowing more time to be creative.

Typical Equipment Setups

While there are many possible ways to set up a Pro Tools workstation, certain situations might lend themselves to a particular setup. In the next subsections we'll examine several studio scenarios.

Audio Suite within a Multi-Room Facility

The most complicated and involved setup would be an audio suite within a larger, multi-room facility such as a video post-production house. In this situation, audio from your edit suite must stay in sync with other equipment in the facility in order to be available to the machine room where the VTRs and routers reside. Typically, a facility like this will have a house sync generator, such as the Tektronix shown in Figure 4.1, that sends out signals to all tape machines and processorsincluding the edit suitesand keeps each piece running in sync with one another. This synchronization of all the equipment allows everyone in the facility to access any tape machine or any processor in any room in the entire facility, which in turn allows for flexibility and compatibility between all of the studios.

Figure 4.1. The Tektronix SPG-422 Component Digital Master Sync Generator. This unit is capable of generating stable clock signals for analog and digital video systems as well as for digital audio systems.

You will need to derive your digital clock source from the house sync generator. This can be done in several ways. Some house sync generators will have a dedicated audio word clock output that can be used to drive many digital audio devices. Typically, this word clock will run at the video standard of 48kHz. Pro Tools HD hardware is capable of using a word clock as a clock source, but Pro Tools Legacy hardware (888s, 1622s, etc.) cannot use this type of signal directly. A Universal Slave Driver or other similar device must be used to convert the incoming word clock into Digidesign's 256 x Superclock. It is also possible to use another device that will lock to 1 x Word clock, such as the Yamaha 02R digital mixer and then slave Pro Tools to the digital audio outputs of that device. Chaining several digital devices together like this can lead to increased jitter in the resulting signal and should be avoided if possible.

Video black burst is a signal used to synchronize multiple video tape decks. It is based on the 29.97Hz rate of video frames in NTSC video. The Pro Tools Sync I/O and Universal Slave Driver can use this signal to keep Pro Tools synchronized with other video devices. The Sync I/O and Universal Slave Driver can reference the video black burst signal and generate both the standard word clock and the older Superclock used in Digidesign legacy hardware.

Most multi-room facilities use an audio-video router to connect each room to the central machine room. These routers can connect various types of signals to and from every room. These signals include analog video, analog audio, analog SMPTE time code, serial digital video (SDI), AES digital audio, 9-pin machine control, and more. If AES digital audio is supported by the router and used in the machine room, then an AES digital audio signal can function as a sync source. As long as the digital audio signal is resolved or sync'ed to the house clock, everything should work fine.

Single-Room Audio Studio

In a single-room audio studio, synchronization is simpler. If you are not synchronizing to a VTR, then sync is much easier. Simply use internal sync in Pro Tools for your reference. If you need to pull down your system for film or HD work, then you'll need a Digidesign Sync I/O, Universal Slave Driver (USD), or some third-party synchronizer to generate pull-down clock speeds.

If you are synchronizing to a VTR, the Sync I/O or other synchronizer will be necessary to resolve Pro Tools to the VTR's video output, or you'll need to use a black burst signal as a reference by both Pro Tools and the VTR. If the video sync signal is not somehow connected between the VTR and Pro Tools, unpredictable sync will result.

Home or Project Studio

In a home or project studio on a limited budget, sync will most likely take the form of using QuickTime movies for video reference. This way, no extra hardware is needed to sync Pro Tools with video. The computer itself acts as the synchronizer by playing the movie files internally. The only disadvantage to this is that the computer will use resources to play a QuickTime movie that could otherwise be used for audio processing. You might not be able to play as many tracks with as many plug-ins while viewing QuickTime movies.

Audio Clock Source

The audio clock source is perhaps the most important element in any digital audio system. This clock determines how fast and accurate the sample rate of digital audio is. The quality of any digital audio signal is in no small part determined by the quality of the clock driving it. In the case of audio for video, it is also the method used to control the speed of audio during playback.

Digital audio clocks are found in several forms. The most commonly used form is in the digital audio signal itself. Any AES, S/PDIF, Toslink, ADAT, TDIF, or other digital audio signal contains, embedded within it, a clock source determining the sample rate of that signal. Any time you connect one digital output to another input, the clock information from the source can be used by the destination device to synchronize the two. This principle can be used to synchronize Pro Tools with video equipment as well.

Another typical source for audio clock is Word clock, which is a square wave signal oscillating at the sample rate's frequency, 48kHz for instance. This signal can be connected via BNC cables to many digital audio devices, ensuring that they will all be running at the same sample rate. Pro Tools legacy interfaces use a proprietary work clock signal called slave clock that is 256 times the sample rate of the current session. Standard 1 x work clock will not work with older Digidesign hardware (888s, ADAT Bridges, 001s). The HD series of hardware will accept 1 x Word clock and 256 x slave clock as sync sources.

Digidesign's Sync I/O and Universal Slave Driver

Digidesign's Sync I/O (shown in Figure 4.2) and Universal Slave Driver (USD) are both capable of resolving many types of audio and video sources. For instance, they can be connected to a black burst video sync source (a type of sync used in video post-production) and derive a word clock or Superclock that will sync Pro Tools hardware to the black burst signaland thereby all video equipmentusing the same black burst reference. The following is a list of all sources that the Sync I/O and USD can use to resolve the audio clock:

Figure 4.2. The Sync I/O flagship synchronizer for Pro Tools HD

Video black burst. A standard NTSC video signal that is entirely black in color .
Normal NTSC video signal. Any video source such as the output of a VTR.
Word Clock. The standard digital audio clock signal.
LTC. Longitudinal time code in SMPE format; regular, analog SMPTE.
AES digital audio. The clock information contained in every AES digital signal.
Bi-phase. Used with mechanical, mag, and film machines.
Tach. A variation of bi-phase.
Pilot Tone. AC line frequency (60Hz or 50Hz) used on film locations to sync cameras with audio tape deck. This is not used very much today.

Both the Sync I/O and USD are capable of reading VITC through a video signal and then "burning" the time code into a window on the video image. This is called a time code burn-in and can be very helpful when spotting audio to video.

Third-Party Synchronizers

There are many third-party synchronizers available today that can resolve the audio clock to a number of sync references. While not being as integrated with Pro Tools as the Sync I/O and USD, many of these units are capable of doing the same things. One fine unit is the Aardsync II, pictured in Figure 4.3. This unit also provides outstanding audio fidelity due to the quality of its clock signal.

Figure 4.3. Aardvark Audio's Aardsync II Master Clock Generator

SMPTE Time Code Reader, MIDI Interface

As discussed in the Chapter 3, positional information is necessary to synchronize two systems. SMPTE time code, whether LTC or VITC, provides positional information, but it needs to be converted into a format Pro Tools can use. You need a time code reader to do the conversion. The Sync I/O or USD interface will read incoming SMPTE, convert it to MTC, and send it to Pro Tools to get positional references. Most MIDI interfaces are capable of doing this as well. The only difference is that the Sync I/O or USD can also provide a clock source for resolving the speed of your system to any fluctuations in the incoming SMPTE. MTC by itself is not capable of continuously resolving the speed of Pro Tools. Thus, over time, the sync may slip. MTC, when used in conjunction with a third-party audio clock resolver such as the Aardvark Audio Aardsync II, is able to keep Pro Tools in sync with external devices over longer periods of timetheoretically forever.

NOTE

LTC VERSUS VITC TIME CODE

LTC or Longitudnal Time Code is an analog signal recorded onto a track of its own. You can listen to LTC just like any other audio signal. VITC or Vertical Interval Time Code, however, is not a signal you can listen to. It is recorded along with a standard NTSC video signal on a VTR in between video fields. In order to use VITC, you must have a Sync I/O or Universal Slave Driver. These devices can extract the VITC signal from the video output of a VTR.

In all situations, a SMPTE time code reader is essential when working with external hardware. If you plan on only working with QuickTime movies internally with Pro Tools, you don't need a synchronizer, as Pro Tools itself handles synchronization internally. Capturing and creating QuickTime movies is another story, one I will address later in this chapter.

9-Pin Machine Control

The Machine Control option for Pro Tools is almost essential for post-production work. This option allows you to use the industry standard 9-pin remote protocol to control many types of video and audio tape decks from the transport controls in Pro Tools. When paired with the proper synchronizer, the MachineControl option allows for seamless synchronization control when locking Pro Tools to a tape machine or hard disk recorder.

Once you have connected the 9-pin cable to your VTR, you'll be able to operate all transport controls of the 9-pin deck along with track arming abilities . When using machine control while locked to Pro Tools, the 9-pin machine will automatically locate to the cursor position in your session. You will also be able to automate laybacks just by selecting the area of the timeline that you would like to record onto the remote deck, arming some tracks, and hitting the Record button. Machine Control can be used to automate load-in of production audio through the use of an edit decision list EDL exported from a video- or film-editing workstation. This process requires additional software, such as Digidesign's PostConform, that can import industry-standard EDLs such as CMX and Sony 9000, create a list of audio files that need to be recorded, and then utilize machine control to automate the conforming process. I'll go into more detail about conforming EDLs in Chapter 5.

The basic function of 9-pin machine control is keeping a tape machine in sync with Pro Tools while editing and mixing audio. The tape machine provides synchronized video images to look at while you're working on the related audio. 9-pin control allows Pro Tools to direct the tape machine to rewind, fast-forward, locate to specific SMPTE locations, enter play or record modes, and arm certain tracks for recording. The tape machine can relay time code information back to Pro Tools in the form of serial time code.

9-Pin Connections and Settings

If you have a Sync I/O in your setup, then you have two 9-pin ports available on the back of the unit. If not, you need a supported serial connection to your CPU in order to connect the 9-pin cable provided with the MachineControl software package. Currently, the supported serial devices for Apple CPUs are as follows :

Keyspan USA-28x USB-to-serial converter
GeeThree.com Stealth Serial Port
Griffin Technology G4Port Serial Port

Connect the 9-pin cable to the tape machine's 9-pin port. If you're in a multi-room facility with machine control routing, you might have to connect to a router input. Doing so will allow you to control any 9-pin capable deck in the machine room.

Once connected, machine control needs to be enabled and configured. Follow these steps:

Select Peripherals from the Setups menu. The Peripherals setup window will open , as shown in Figure 4.4.

Figure 4.4. The Peripherals setup window, Machine Control tab. Here you can configure the 9-pin machine control connections.
Click the Machine Control tab.
Check the box to enable the 9-pin serial connection.
You can now select the port to which you have connected the 9-pin device.

Once the port is selected, leave the machine type to Sony 9-pin unless your particular tape machine needs another type. The node type BVW-75 will work in most situations. The node type is the protocol that the device is using with the 9-pin connection. The Sony video tape decks are a common standard used in the industry. The BVW-75 is a Sony model video deck with a common protocol. If your deck is older or unique in some other way, another setting might be better. Experiment until you get the best results.

NOTE

SET THE DECK TO REMOTE OPERATION

It is necessary to put any 9-pin device into remote mode in order for Pro Tools to control it. If the device is set to local mode, all 9-pin commands will be ignored.

9-Pin Operation

There are three basic ways to use the 9-pin machine control. The next subsections discuss those methods .

Remote Control OnlyNo Sync

The first way to use the 9-pin machine control is to simply control the deck remotely via the Pro Tools transport controls. This method can be used to cue a tape machine and view video independent of the audio in Pro Tools. It is most useful in a multi-room facility in which the physical deck is not in the same room as you are. Being able to control the deck remotely is a big help in such a case.

In order to enable remote control only, you must select Machine from the Transport submenu found on the Transport control, as seen in Figure 4.5. Once you have done so, the transport controls (Play, Stop, FF, and so on) will control the 9-pin deck only. When you click the Play button, or enable play by hitting the space bar, the 9-pin device will start playing but Pro Tools will remain stopped . Fast-forward, rewind, stop, and slow and fast play commands should work with most decks. You can even type in a time code number, hit return, and have the deck locate to that exact position. Try them all and see what your deck is capable of doing via 9-pin control.

Figure 4.5. The Transport submenu. This selects what device the transport controls in Pro Tools will connect to.

Pro Tools as Transport Master and SMPTE Slave

The second way to use the 9-pin machine control employs Pro Tools as the transport master but makes the deck the SMPTE master, and Pro Tools will slave to its incoming time code. This mode is the one you will use the most. When using this mode, it seems as though Pro Tools is the master and the video deck is slaving to it. Of course, this is not the case. It is an easy mistake to make, but it is one that will make it harder to troubleshoot later if there are any problems locking up the two. Here's how Pro Tools can be the transport master but the SMPTE slave:

Set the transport to Pro Tools in the Transport submenu on the Transport window.
Click on the Sync icon on the Transport window (cmd+Shift+J). The button will start flashing. This indicates that Pro Tools is waiting for incoming time code to lock to. You will also see the message "waiting for sync" flashing in the lower left-hand corner of the Edit window, as shown in Figure 4.6.

Figure 4.6. Pro Tools in transport-master/time codeslave mode. Notice the "waiting for sync" message in the Edit window.
Now when you enable Play, the tape deck will locate to a point equal to the cursor position in the Pro Tools Edit (the same as the Start time) window minus the amount of pre-roll set in the 9-pin setup window. If you have a pre-roll amount enabled in the Transport window, this amount will be included in the position of the remote deck.
You will see a moving vertical line in the edit window that represents the position of the 9-pin device as it locates to the proper pre-roll position. Both the Fast-Forward and Rewind buttons flash during this phase.
Next, the video deck will enter play and Pro Tools will flash the Play button, indicating that it is waiting for valid time code and the starting frame number to begin synchronized playback.
Once the original cursor position in Pro Tools has been reached, the Play button will stop flashing and illuminate steadily, indicating that synchronized playback has begun.

Congratulations, you're in sync! Locating to a new start position is as simple as clicking somewhere in the Edit window and hitting Play.

Remote Deck as Transport and SMPTE Master

The third mode of machine control is used for laying back to the tape machine or recording your final mix onto tape. In this mode, the tape deck is the transport master and time code master. Pro Tools merely slaves to the incoming time code. The unique aspect of this mode is the ability it affords you to automatically punch in and out on the remote deck. Here's how remote punch-in and -out works with the remote deck as transport master and Pro Tools as SMPTE slave.

Select Machine in the Transport submenu.
Click the Sync icon in the Transport window (cmd+Shift+J). This mode behaves very much like the previous mode except when you enable Record.
Recording will occur on the remote deck and not in Pro Tools. You must first configure the Record-enabled tracks and the Edit mode on the remote deck. This is done in the Machine Track Arm window, which is shown in Figure 4.7. Depending on the type of deck you're controlling, there will be anywhere from two to eight Record buttons corresponding to the tracks on the remote deck. Usually, the first two Record buttons are the first two audio channels on the deck.

Figure 4.7. The Machine Track Arm window. Here, you can record-enable tracks on the 9-pin remote tape deck and choose a record mode.

NOTE

ARM WITH CAUTION

Be careful when arming tracks on a remote deck! Sometimes, the video track can be inadvertently record-enabled and then you run the chance of erasing someone else's work. Make sure you experiment first to determine how the record-enable buttons operate your particular machine.
Next set the Record mode of the remote deck. The choices are Auto Edit or Punch In/Out. In Auto Edit mode, the deck will enter record at a specific time code number and stop recording at another time code number. Recording will occur only on the record-enabled track. In Punch In/Out mode, you can manually punch in and out on the remote deck.
In Assemble mode, all tracks, including time code, will enter record immediately after the transport starts to play. Assemble mode is not the common usage for audio layback. Insert is what you want to use most of the time. In Insert mode, only the tracks you record-enable will be recorded on. This prevents accidental erasure of the video and time code tracks. You should always use Insert mode.
Determine your punch-in and punch-out times and enter them into the Pro Tools Edit window, or select the corresponding area on the timeline using Grid mode set to one frame. This will determine exactly when the remote deck will enter and leave record.
Make sure you are in Auto Edit mode. Press the Record and then Play buttons on the transport and watch the cursor move to a cue point ahead of the record-in point and begin playing.
Pro Tools will sync to incoming time code, and when the in-point is reached, the remote deck will go into record on the tracks that were enabled and continue until you press Stop or the end point is reached.

9-Pin Remote

On the Machine Control tab of the Peripherals window, there is another checkbox for 9-pin remote, as shown in Figure 4.8. Checking this box allows Pro Tools to be controlled by another device via 9-pin connections. For example, this would be used when working on a large film mix in which the master controller used 9-pin to operate all the tape decks and other devicessuch as Pro Toolstogether. Many large-format , film-mixing consoles have 9-pin control built into their work surfaces. This mode is rarely used, and if you're mixing entirely inside of Pro Tools, it's not needed at all. You can enable the 9-pin remote by selecting it as the transport in the Transport submenu.

Figure 4.8. The Machine Control tab of the Peripherals window. The 9-Pin Remote option is checked, allowing another device to control Pro Tools via a 9-pin connection.

MIDI Machine Control (MMC)

MIDI Machine Control (MMC) is a protocol that uses MIDI connections to allow remote control of certain tape decks and other MIDI software. It is supported in equipment such as the Tascam MMR-8, Digital Performer sequencing software, and the Sony PCM-800. It is similar to 9-pin remote in that you can control transport and record-enable functions on the remote unit. The only connections necessary are MIDI cables to and from your Pro Tools MIDI interface and the remote device. MMC does not provide sample-accurate sync. It is merely a form of positional information combined with transport commands and track-arming capabilities similar to 9-pin control.

MMC Connections and Settings

You configure MMC in the same place as 9-pin control. You must define what MIDI ports the MMC device is connected to. The device should be connected both ways, as MMC requires information to travel back and forth between the master and slave for best operation. If you only have a connection to the MMC device, MMC will still work. You must assign an ID number to MMC devices in order to use themas it is possible to connect many MMC devices together in one system, each one needs to be identified separately. The slave device ID needs to be set the same in both Pro Tools and the MMC device's setup.

MMC Operation

MMC operation is very similar to 9-pin operation once it has been configured. In fact, you can use the above examples of 9-pin operation and substitute "MMC" for "Machine" and MMC will operate the same. The one noticeable difference in operation will be that nonlinear MMC devices such as sequencers will locate instantly to any SMPTE number. Also, Pro Tools does not allow arming of record tracks through MMC; you must manually record-enable them. Virtual VTR is an example of a non-linear device that can be used as a MMC slave. It will seamlessly follow every move you make in Pro Tools.

It is possible to run both a 9-pin device and a MMC device in sync together. All machine control modes operate the same way. The mode depends on which devices are "online" as determined by the Online submenu of the Transport window. If there is a check beside the device name , then it will be synchronized to the system when the Sync icon is on or flashing, as shown in Figure 4.9. Typically, MMC is used for audio devices such as sequencers or multi-track decks such as the Tascam DA-88 or Sony PCM-800. These decks can be used to mix down multi-channel mixes such as 5.1 surround.

Figure 4.9. Here, the Transport submenu has been set so that both 9-pin and MMC transports will be locked together along with Pro Tools.

Video Playback Monitors

In some situations, seeing the movie image on the computer monitor will be sufficient. Whenever you're recording something in which the performer needs to see the picture (like in ADR recording), you'll need a second monitor in the studio. In the case of an orchestral scoring session, a large projection system might be necessary. In any of these situations, a secondary video feed for the studio must be hooked up. If you're slaving Pro Tools to a dedicated VTR, then a simple mult (multiple or Y-connection) of the video output of the deck can be used to send a composite signal to a TV monitor in the studio. It is also nice to have a separate monitor and speakers for your client to watch where they are sitting. This can help keep them from lurking over your shoulder.

Dedicated Video Card

If you're playing back video using QuickTime, then a dedicated video capture and playback card might be a wise investment. Digidesign offers the AV Option for Pro Tools that includes a dedicated video capture PCI card that handles video playback and output for Pro Tools. While this option is expensive, those who work all day, everyday, on complex video projects can benefit from it. The video card reduces the load on the CPU by handling all of the video compression and de-compression that otherwise would be done by the host processor. This way, you're free to use more RTAS plug-ins and run higher track numbers in your sessions without overloading the CPU. The video output on the card can be used to feed any number of monitors for you, the client, and talent in the studio.

FireWire and DV De-coders

A more cost-effective method of outputting NTSC video for monitoring utilizes "pro-sumer" DV video de-coders to handle video output. The DV codec has become a popular pro-sumer-level video format, and entry-level hardware is not expensive. Most video-editing facilities support this format and will be able to give you dubs on one of several sub-formats of DV with time code.

Mini DV tapes can be played by consumer camcorders, such as the Sony TVR-17, and support hi-quality digital video, 16bit/48kHz stereo audio, and SMPTE time code. By using video software such as iMovie or Final Cut Pro, you can capture these movies through a FireWire connection and create QuickTime movies that Pro Tools can use. Manybut not allMini DV camcorders allow time codesynchronized control through the FireWire connection.

NOTE

NOT ALL DV EQUIPMENT IS CREATED EQUAL

The DV video format has evolved into several different tape formats. MiniDV is essentially a consumer format. Sony's DVCAM is designed for more professional applications. Panasonic DVC-Pro is an alternative professional format. The data stream for all three of these formats is essentially the same, with certain modifications to increase the record time on tapes or to improve linear editing capabilities. Equipment made to the MiniDV spec might not always contain professional features needed in the studio. Not all MiniDV camcorders support time code and would not be usable in this situation. Be sure to have the latest information before purchasing a consumer-level camera or deck.

When Pro Tools is playing back the DV movie, it can be sent back out through the FireWire connection to the camcorder to be de-coded by the camera. Connect a monitor to the camera's output, and voil ! you have full-screen video playback in sync with audio. The camcorder acts like a dedicated video card in the computer. It will reduce the CPU usage, thus allowing more horsepower for audio. For a modest investment of a thousand dollars or so, you can have a digital video tape deck capable of de-coding the FireWire output of QuickTime movies played by Pro Tools. That's a lot of bang for the buck! There are also stand-alone de-coders, such as the Canopus ADVC-100, and DVCAM VTRs, such as the one shown in Figure 4.10, that will stand more abuse than will delicate consumer camcorders.

Figure 4.10. The Sony DSR-1500A DVCAM tape machine. This is a professional-level DV format video tape deck capable of converting DV movies via FireWire into full-screen video output suitable for normal video monitors.

NOTE

CAVEATS ABOUT DV DE-CODING

The DV camcorder requires some time to process the DV stream from the computer. It will be necessary to compensate for this induced delay, and Pro Tools has an option for doing so. Under the Movie menu, choose Set Movie Sync Offset. Here you can enter a value in quarter frames to offset the playback of the DV stream in order to compensate for processing delays in the decoder. You'll have to load some audio from the video clip into Pro Tools for reference. View the video along with the audio to determine how much of an offset is needed. Some experimentation will be required to get it just right, but once it is set up for a particular DV device, it will not need changing until another device is used.

Virtual VTR Software

If CPU usage is a big concern, and you have another Macintosh computer available in the studio, then you can use a software solution that keeps all of the video processing on another computer. Gallery Software (http://www.gallery.co.uk) has a little app called Virtual VTR, seen in Figure 4.11. It can play Quicktime movies while slaved to MTCyou can copy your movie file to another computer, assign a SMPTE start time, feed it some MTC, and watch it sync right up. But you'll still need some way of outputting the video signal in order to connect other video monitors. If you're using DV files, the FireWire connection to a camcorder or other de- coder is possible. (You'll have to calibrate an offset in Virtual VTR to compensate for processing delays in the camera.) Virtual VTR is also capable of capturing video, assuming you have the proper hardware. Another useful feature of Virtual VTR is the ability to create a time code burn-in window for any QuickTime movie. See the section on time code burn-ins at the end of this chapter for more details.

Figure 4.11. The Movie window and status bar in Virtual VTR (OS9 Version)

Dedicated Hard Disk Video Recorders

Another video playback option is a stand-alone video recorder that is hard-disk based, such as the Doremi V1. These types of recorders feature instant random-access playback of video and audio, variable compression ratios, 9-pin control, and frame accurate operation. Such recorders will have to digitize source video in order to use it, requiring another VTR to play source tapes. This type of system is expensive but can provide a more professional degree of functionality and dependability .

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Hooking Up Your Equipment