Dalet Amberfin 11 August 6, 2015
User Manual
The information provided in this document contains proprietary and confidential information that is the property of Dalet. Distribution of any information contained in this document to third parties including, but not limited to contractors, system integrators, and other vendors is strictly prohibited without prior written consent of Dalet. Product specifications and availability are subject to change without notice. Dalet is a registered trademark owned by Dalet. All other brands and trademarks are those of their respective owners.
Software Version Amendments This document refers to Dalet AmberFin software and also systems that have been upgraded to Dalet Amberfin Use of this product in any manner that complies with the MPEG-2 standard for encoding video information for packaged media is expressly prohibited without a license under applicable patents in the MPEG-2 patent portfolio, which license is available from: MPEG LA, 250 Steele Street, Suite 300, Denver, Colorado 80206. Copyright Copyright protection claimed includes all forms and matters of copyrightable material and information now allowed by statutory or judicial law or hereinafter granted, including without limitation, material generated from the software programs which are displayed on the screen such as icons, screen display looks etc. Reproduction or disassembly of embedded computer programs or algorithms is prohibited. Quality Control PAR technology is a patented Snell & Wilcox technology protected by US patent 6898321 and European patent 1119978. Microsoft Windows™ is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. QuickTime™ and ProRes™ are registered trademarks of Apple Corporation. Dolby E and Dolby Digital functionality is being provided by SurCode for Dolby E and SurCode for Dolby Digital. SurCode for Dolby E and SurCode for Dolby Digital are manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories. Dolby and the double-D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Confidential unpublished works. 2003-2012 Dolby Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. SurCode is a trademark of Minnetonka Audio Software. AVCHD™ Intra (AVC-I) is a registered trademark of Panasonic. Hyperion is a registered trademark of Snell. Aurora is a registered trademark of Tektronix. Information in this manual and software are subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part of Dalet AmberFin Ltd. The software described in this manual is furnished under a license agreement and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without prior agreement with Dalet AmberFin Ltd. or their authorized agents. © Copyright Dalet AmberFin Ltd. All rights reserved 2015.
Version
Date
Comment
Author
1
December 9, 2014
Document adaption from former iCR
GFN-Documentation
2
August 6, 2015
Update to Dalet Amberfin 11
GFN-Documentation
Table of Contents
1.
About Dalet AmberFin............................................................................................................................ 11 The Dalet AmberFin Product Range .................................................................................................................. 11 New Features in Dalet Amberfin 11 .................................................................................................................. 12
2.
Prerequisites and General Information .................................................................................................. 13 Foreign Language Support ................................................................................................................................ 13 Operational Variances .................................................................................................................................. 14 Prerequisites ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 Software ....................................................................................................................................................... 14 Hardware ...................................................................................................................................................... 14
3.
Installation ............................................................................................................................................. 15 Installation (Standalone) .................................................................................................................................. 15 Installing Matrox Drivers .............................................................................................................................. 15 Getting Ready for Dalet AmberFin................................................................................................................ 15 Uninstall Dalet AmberFin .......................................................................................................................... 15 Save Job Records ...................................................................................................................................... 15 Install Apple QuickTime ............................................................................................................................ 15 Enable the Desktop Feature for Win 2008 R2/2012 R2 ............................................................................ 16 Installing Dalet AmberFin version 11 ........................................................................................................ 16 Select Optional Components ........................................................................................................................ 17 License Manager Options ............................................................................................................................. 19 Applying Workstation Licenses ................................................................................................................. 19
4.
Using the Dalet AmberFin GUI ................................................................................................................ 22 Running Dalet AmberFin and Using the GUI ................................................................................................... 22 Using the Side Bar ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Setup maximized over other panels ......................................................................................................... 23 Docking and Undocking Panels ................................................................................................................. 23 Creating custom layouts ........................................................................................................................... 24
5.
Understanding the Dalet AmberFin Workflow ....................................................................................... 25 Understanding Dalet AmberFin Workflow ........................................................................................................ 25 UQC and the Unified Timeline ...................................................................................................................... 25 Transferring QC data to the UK DPP Plugin .................................................................................................. 25 Flexibility and Control ............................................................................................................................... 26 Where to Find More ................................................................................................................................. 26
6.
Tutorials ................................................................................................................................................. 27 Tutorials ............................................................................................................................................................ 27 Tutorials in this help file ............................................................................................................................... 27 Where to get more ................................................................................................................................... 27 Recording Input Video....................................................................................................................................... 27 Performing Ingest with Transcode .................................................................................................................... 30 Using a File-based QC Template ....................................................................................................................... 33 Creating a Standalone QC Template in Dalet AmberFin ............................................................................... 33 Running a File-based QC Template ............................................................................................................... 36 Panel Positioning .............................................................................................................................................. 38 Working with DPP Assets .................................................................................................................................. 39 DPP Metadata Structure ............................................................................................................................... 40 Saving Metadata ........................................................................................................................................... 41
Using the Time Code Calculator ........................................................................................................................ 41 Time code from the VTR ............................................................................................................................... 42
7.
Using the Main Menu ............................................................................................................................. 43 Using the Main Menu ....................................................................................................................................... 43 File ................................................................................................................................................................ 43 Windows ....................................................................................................................................................... 44 Panel selector ............................................................................................................................................... 44 Plug-in Folder ................................................................................................................................................ 44 Appearance ................................................................................................................................................... 44 Layout ........................................................................................................................................................... 44 Available Layouts .......................................................................................................................................... 45 QC Settings ................................................................................................................................................... 46 Help ............................................................................................................................................................... 46
8.
Hotkeys .................................................................................................................................................. 47 Hotkeys ............................................................................................................................................................. 47 Clip/QC Player Hotkeys ................................................................................................................................. 47 Recorder (VTR) Hotkeys ................................................................................................................................ 48 Modifier Codes ............................................................................................................................................. 48
9.
Understanding GUI Panels...................................................................................................................... 49 Understanding GUI Panels ................................................................................................................................ 49 Using the Recorder Panel .................................................................................................................................. 49 Recorder Controls ......................................................................................................................................... 49 The Record Button ........................................................................................................................................ 50 VTR Selection Box ......................................................................................................................................... 50 VTR Shuttle Bar ............................................................................................................................................. 50 DeVTR Status Window .................................................................................................................................. 50 Time code Fields ........................................................................................................................................... 51 Time code Field Submenu............................................................................................................................. 51 Mark out time code field shown: .............................................................................................................. 51 Frame-Rate Pop Up Info Box .................................................................................................................... 51 Reel Number Field .................................................................................................................................... 51 Clip Number Field ..................................................................................................................................... 51 Selecting the Recorder Source Mode ....................................................................................................... 51 Using the Batch VTR Record Panel .................................................................................................................... 53 Performing a VTR Batch Record .................................................................................................................... 53 Setting the Source..................................................................................................................................... 53 Entering the Batch Data ............................................................................................................................ 53 Batch Record Selections ........................................................................................................................... 53 Batch Record Confirmation ...................................................................................................................... 54 Importing EDL Files ................................................................................................................................... 54 Using the Player Panel ...................................................................................................................................... 56 Playing Clips .................................................................................................................................................. 56 Player Controls .............................................................................................................................................. 56 Player Shuttle Bar ......................................................................................................................................... 56 Player Timeline Scrub Bar ............................................................................................................................. 56 Entering time codes ...................................................................................................................................... 56 Player Timeline ............................................................................................................................................. 57 Viewing Long GOP Video .............................................................................................................................. 57 Player Fields .................................................................................................................................................. 57 Creating Subclips .......................................................................................................................................... 57 Using the Timeline Panel .................................................................................................................................. 58 Progress Numbers ........................................................................................................................................ 59 Track Sorting Order ....................................................................................................................................... 59 Detailed Timeline Scroll Bar .......................................................................................................................... 59
Detailed Timeline Zoom Scroll Bar ................................................................................................................ 59 Playback Boundaries ..................................................................................................................................... 60 Segment Track .............................................................................................................................................. 60 Using the Library Panel / Clip Info Panels ......................................................................................................... 61 The Library Panel .......................................................................................................................................... 61 Loading clips in the Player ............................................................................................................................ 61 Modifying Library Fields................................................................................................................................ 61 Working with Library Files ............................................................................................................................ 62 Clip Panel Information .................................................................................................................................. 63 Clip Panel Video Information ........................................................................................................................ 63 Clip Panel Audio Information ........................................................................................................................ 63 Launching Jobs from the Library ................................................................................................................... 63 Using the Setup Panel ....................................................................................................................................... 65 Global Preset ................................................................................................................................................ 65 Ingest Configuration ..................................................................................................................................... 65 Profile Groups and Workflow Templates ..................................................................................................... 65 Using the Job Status Panel ................................................................................................................................ 66 Job Status ...................................................................................................................................................... 66 Jobs Submenu ........................................................................................................................................... 67 Dalet AmberFin Controller Details ................................................................................................................ 67 Topology ....................................................................................................................................................... 67 Adding Transcode or QC Groups/Engines..................................................................................................... 68 Adding Transcode or QC Engines Manually .................................................................................................. 68 Using the Transcode Engine Discovery Tool ................................................................................................. 68 Viewing Repurposing Topology Logs ............................................................................................................ 68 Reload - Cloning configurations and Recovering from Disaster ................................................................... 69 Monitored Folders ........................................................................................................................................ 69 Using the UQC Status Panel .............................................................................................................................. 70 Using the QC Queue Panel ................................................................................................................................ 71 Using the File Explorer Panel ............................................................................................................................ 71 Using the UK DPP Template Panel .................................................................................................................... 72 Saving the UK DPP Panel Template Data ...................................................................................................... 76 Using the Console Panel.................................................................................................................................... 77 Filter Field ..................................................................................................................................................... 77 SDI Board Genlock ........................................................................................................................................ 77 Using the Pulldown Detection Helper ............................................................................................................... 78 Using the File Cutting and Splicing Panel .......................................................................................................... 79 Using the Transcode Scheduler Panel ............................................................................................................... 80
10.
Managing Transcode and QC Jobs ...................................................................................................... 81
Using Templates ............................................................................................................................................... 81 Transcode or file-based QC ........................................................................................................................... 81 Baseband QC during ingest ........................................................................................................................... 81 File-based QC ................................................................................................................................................ 81 Launching Jobs Manually from the Library ............................................................................................... 81 Using a Watch Folder ........................................................................................................................................ 82 Using the Transcode Scheduler ......................................................................................................................... 83 Using LST Files ................................................................................................................................................... 83
11.
Unified Quality Control....................................................................................................................... 85
Unified Quality Control ..................................................................................................................................... 85 UQC Management Components ................................................................................................................... 85 UQC Installation ............................................................................................................................................ 85
Tektronix Aurora ........................................................................................................................................... 85 The Unified Timeline Panel ........................................................................................................................... 86 Performing QC Review .................................................................................................................................. 86 QC Progress Stages ................................................................................................................................... 86 Manually Overriding a QC Event ............................................................................................................... 87 Adding Comments .................................................................................................................................... 87 Working with QC Templates ..................................................................................................................... 87 Using Watch Folders and QC on the Fly.................................................................................................... 88 Monitoring QC Progress............................................................................................................................ 88 Marking Up Files ............................................................................................................................................... 88 Viewing QC Reports .......................................................................................................................................... 90
12. Segmentation, Splicing and J oining .................................................................................................... 91 Segmentation, Splicing and Joining .................................................................................................................. 91 Segmentation................................................................................................................................................ 91 File Cutting and Splicing ................................................................................................................................ 91 Loading Clips ................................................................................................................................................. 92 Loading From the Player ........................................................................................................................... 92 Loading the File from its Storage Location ............................................................................................... 92 Converting the Clips .................................................................................................................................. 92 Using Time Slices ............................................................................................................................................... 94
13.
Workflow Setup ................................................................................................................................. 95
Workflow Setup ................................................................................................................................................ 95 Avid Interplay ................................................................................................................................................ 96 Ingest Settings .................................................................................................................................................. 97 Ingest ............................................................................................................................................................ 97 The SDI Encoder ........................................................................................................................................ 97 SDI Video Settings – Source ...................................................................................... ................................ 98 SDI Video Settings – Wrappers ................................................................................................................. 99 SDI Video Settings - Time Code ............................................................................................................... 101 VTR QC Parameters................................................................................................................................. 103 Baseband QC Parameters ....................................................................................................................... 104 Video QC parameters.............................................................................................................................. 105 Storage Templates .................................................................................................................................. 106 Naming Pattern Templates ..................................................................................................................... 106 Proxy Editor Templates ........................................................................................................................... 108 QuickTime ............................................................................................................................................... 108 Windows Media 9 ................................................................................................................................... 109 MPEG-1 ................................................................................................................................................... 110 Router Control ........................................................................................................................................ 111 Output Settings ............................................................................................................................................... 111 Output Settings ........................................................................................................................................... 111 Output Template Options ....................................................................................................................... 112 Copying Profiles ...................................................................................................................................... 119 Creating Transcode + QC Templates ........................................................................................................... 124 Mark Up Templates ................................................................................................................................ 126 Timecode Templates............................................................................................................................... 127
14.
Template Configuration Reference ................................................................................................... 130
Template Configuration Reference ................................................................................................................. 130 Audio Offset ................................................................................................................................................ 130 File Wrapping / Demultiplexing .............................................................................................................. 131 Using Auxiliary Data ....................................................................................................................................... 131 VBI Data ...................................................................................................................................................... 131 Closed Captions .......................................................................................................................................... 131
Teletext and Subtitles ............................................................................................................................. 131 DVB Subtitling ............................................................................................................................................. 131 MXF Mappings for VBI and ANC ................................................................................................................. 132 Timed Text .............................................................................................................................................. 132 Captions and User Data in MPEG2.......................................................................................................... 132 Configuring Data Source Options............................................................................................................ 132 Input Configuration Example: File Wrapping / Demultiplexing .............................................................. 133 Output Configuration Example: MPEG2 Generic .................................................................................... 133 Example MPEG2 Generic Output Auxiliary Template Settings ............................................................... 134 VBI Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) .................................................................................................... 135 Ancillary Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) ........................................................................................... 135 MPEG-2 ES User Data Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) ....................................................................... 136 File Wrapping/Demultiplexing; Additional MPEG2 ES Data Output Settings ......................................... 137 Captioning....................................................................................................................................................... 138 SCC Captioning Options .............................................................................................................................. 138 WST (Western Standard Teletext) Options................................................................................................. 139 Time Code Selection ................................................................................................................................... 140 Input Time Code Selection ...................................................................................................................... 140 Scaling ............................................................................................................................................................. 141 Scaler Mode ................................................................................................................................................ 141 Disabled .................................................................................................................................................. 141 Advanced ................................................................................................................................................ 142 Auto Width ............................................................................................................................................. 143 Auto Height ............................................................................................................................................. 143 Manual (Absolute) .................................................................................................................................. 143 Output Format Options ................................................................................................................................... 147 Using Standards Conversion ........................................................................................................................... 148 Choosing a Conversion Mode ..................................................................................................................... 148 Output Video Encoding Configuration ............................................................................................................ 150 MPEG4 AVC (H.264) .................................................................................................................................... 150 MPEG4 ........................................................................................................................................................ 152 MPEG4 Advanced Settings (Custom Preset only) ................................................................................... 153 H.264 MXF Proxy ........................................................................................................................................ 154 MPEG2 Generic ........................................................................................................................................... 155 MPEG1 .................................................................................................................................................... 156 QuickTime ................................................................................................................................................... 157 DV ............................................................................................................................................................... 157 AppleProRes ............................................................................................................................................... 158 Avid/Pinnacle Mediastream ....................................................................................................................... 158 MPEG2 IMX ................................................................................................................................................. 159 Windows Media 9 and Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile ...................................................................... 159 Windows Media 9 ................................................................................................................................... 160 Windows Media VC-1 ............................................................................................................................. 160 Windows Media VC-1 ............................................................................................................................. 161 DNxHD ........................................................................................................................................................ 161 VoD Transport Stream ................................................................................................................................ 162 Inserting Logos ............................................................................................................................................ 163 Burning in Text ............................................................................................................................................ 164 The Choose Color Tool ............................................................................................................................ 166 Timecode Burn-in ................................................................................................................................... 166 Using Thumbnails ........................................................................................................................................... 168 Thumbnail Modes ....................................................................................................................................... 168 Audio Gain ...................................................................................................................................................... 169 Audio Gain Example .................................................................................................................................... 169 PCM Routing ................................................................................................................................................... 169 Audio Temporal Settings ................................................................................................................................. 171
Audio Output Encoding .............................................................................................................................. 172 SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoding Options .............................................................................................. 173 Audio Service .............................................................................................................................................. 174 Bitstream Information ............................................................................................................................ 174 Advanced ................................................................................................................................................ 175 Extended Bitstream Information ............................................................................................................ 175 Track orders for discrete AES inputs: ...................................................................................................... 176 Track orders for embedded audio input: ................................................................................................ 176 Using Wrapping Options ......................................................................................................................... 177 Output Processing ........................................................................................................................................... 178 Watermarking................................................................................................................................................. 180 Civolution .................................................................................................................................................... 180 Civolution Teletrax ...................................................................................................................................... 181
15.
Dalet Amberfin Workflow Engine ..................................................................................................... 182
Installation and Activation .............................................................................................................................. 182 The Design Tab ............................................................................................................................................... 183 Creating a Workflow ................................................................................................................................... 183 Saving, Opening, Exporting a Workflow ..................................................................................................... 184 Stencil Sets .............................................................................................................................................. 185 Limitations .............................................................................................................................................. 186 The Manage Tab ............................................................................................................................................. 188 Managing Workflow Designs ...................................................................................................................... 188 Importing Workflow Profiles .................................................................................................................. 188 Disable/Enable Workflows...................................................................................................................... 188 Running Workflow Instances .................................................................................................................. 189 Deleting a Workflow /Deployment ......................................................................................................... 189 The Monitor Tab ............................................................................................................................................. 190 Deleting, Retrying a Job .............................................................................................................................. 191
16.
Amberfin Dark .................................................................................................................................. 192
17.
Trouble Shooting .............................................................................................................................. 194
Trouble Shooting ............................................................................................................................................. 194 Using Logging .......................................................................................................................................... 194 Start/Stop Metashare Services and Dalet AmberFin Servers ................................................................. 195 Recovering the Database ........................................................................................................................ 196 Checking System Software Versions ....................................................................................................... 197 Recovering from a Failed Installation ..................................................................................................... 198 Solving Dalet AmberFin License Problems .............................................................................................. 199
18.
Frequently Asked Quest ions ............................................................................................................. 200
19.
High Availability ............................................................................................................................... 202
Overview ......................................................................................................................................................... 202 Basic Architecture ........................................................................................................................................... 202 High Availability Farm ................................................................................................................................. 202 Planning a Transcode Farm ............................................................................................................................ 203 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 203 Transcode Farm Considerations ............................................................................................................. 203 Deploying an HA Farm .................................................................................................................................... 205 Preparing to Install an HA Farm .................................................................................................................. 205 Windows Firewalls and Ports .................................................................................................................. 205 Fixed IP Addresses .................................................................................................................................. 206 Granting permissions .............................................................................................................................. 206
Creating profiles...................................................................................................................................... 206 HA Farm Installation ................................................................................................................................... 207 HA Farm Testing.......................................................................................................................................... 213 Installation Verification (Communication) .............................................................................................. 213 Example Profile Configuration ................................................................................................................ 213 HA Farm Recovery Operations ........................................................................................................................ 217 Upgrades, Backups, Rollbacks and Recovery .............................................................................................. 217 Verifying the upgrade or roll back .......................................................................................................... 217 Controller Database Recovery ................................................................................................................ 218 Job Database Recovery ........................................................................................................................... 218 HA Farm Failure Mitigation ..................................................................................................................... 218 Cluster Timeouts and Settings ................................................................................................................ 219 Network and Environment ..................................................................................................................... 220
20.
Appendices.......................................................................................................................................221
AmberFin Tachyon Installation Guide ............................................................................................................. 221 Installing the Hardware .............................................................................................................................. 221 Installing Tesla Drivers ................................................................................................................................ 221 Check Tesla Install and Activate TCC Mode ................................................................................................ 221 Install Code Meter Dongle .......................................................................................................................... 222 Automating Dalet AmberFin ........................................................................................................................... 222 External Control of Dalet AmberFin ................................................................................................................ 222 VDCP Control .............................................................................................................................................. 222 VTR Emulation ............................................................................................................................................ 222 AmberFin Gateway ..................................................................................................................................... 223 Gateway Services .................................................................................................................................... 223 iCRControl Supported Methods .............................................................................................................. 223 Standard Port Configuration ................................................................................................................... 224 Dual Port Configuration .......................................................................................................................... 224 Configuring the Gateway to use Dual Ports ............................................................................................ 224 Standalone Configuration ....................................................................................................................... 225 Gateway Service Logging ........................................................................................................................ 226 Load Balancing Configuration ................................................................................................................. 227 Web Services .............................................................................................................................................. 228 Supported VDCP Commands .................................................................................................................. 229 AVC Encoding Level Numbers ..................................................................................................................... 230 Sync References .......................................................................................................................................... 231 Creating a Windows Stripe ............................................................................................................................. 231 Pre-requisites .......................................................................................................................................... 234 Installation .............................................................................................................................................. 234 Installing the Full Application ................................................................................................................. 235 EBU R 123/48 Audio Track Layout .................................................................................................................. 238 HA Farm Terminology and Redundancy Methods .......................................................................................... 239
21.
Glossary............................................................................................................................................240
1. About Dalet AmberFin The Dalet AmberFin Product Range There are many products and options, and not all of the topic sections may apply to your system. The current differences between main and DPP (Digital Production Partnership) variants are as follows:
DA Product
Format Converter
Main Model Number
1101
DPP Model Number
iCR-100 DPP
Standards Converter
Player
1102
200
Ingest
3102
UQC Server
Works
6103
5102/3
iCR-300 DPP
File Transcoding
Transcoding* and Video and file Standards Conversion playback + markup
Soft play to XGA
Option
Option
SDI play to HD/SD Mon
Option
Option
Option
Ingest from HDI/SD SDI
Option
Option
Upgrade to 3102
Option
Option
Video and file ingest, playback + markup
iCR-500 DPP
Server for scaled UQC environments
Transcoding*, Video and file ingest, playback, markup + QC
Pre Encoded File Ingest Content Markup Transcoding* HD Standards Conversion
Option
Included QC Bundles
Option
Option
Option
Option
Option
Option
Option
Option
Option Aurora or "unbundled" for other QC tools
Either Aurora Standard or Hyperion Hardware
Main products support a wide range of file formats and wrappers; DPP products are optimized to support the AS-11 vendor-neutral MXF subset for delivery of finished programming to broadcasters. * or when used in this manual refers to Format Conversion; i.e. changing the file format but not the frame rate. Only Standards Conversion changes . In addition to these differences, there are various options that can be added to main systems.
Dalet Amberfin Additional Options
Details/Comments
SurCode for Dolby Digital (AC-3) support
Dolby Digital (AC-3) 2.0/5.1 audio support. Realtime ingest, playback and transcode
Captioning Advanced US Option
Advanced Captioning for US Market including support for Transcoding captions to and Cable Labs deliverables.
Captioning Option
Advanced Captioning for European STL workflows
VoD TS
Wrap AVC+AAC to ATSC, DVB or CableLabs SD/HD compliant Transport Stream files for VOD. Includes full license of Manzanita. Needs Amberfin transcoder option. support
JPEG 2000 codec support
Watermarking
Watermarking option for Transcoding. Needs AD transcoder option.
AD Cart Control
Software for controlling legacy Sony or Odetics cart machines
Aurora Standard QC Bundle
View + UQC plugin + Controller + VU (Verification Unit)
Aurora Pro QC Bundle
View + UQC plugin + Controller + VU + Additional Metrics
Aurora Verification Unit
For additional remote workstations. Aurora Server required in system.
Hyperion Hardware QC Bundle
Chassis + Card + Viewer + Plugin
Training and Commissioning
On-site operator and engineering training by AmberFin qualified trainer and onsite installation and commissioning
For further details or additional options, please refer to your Dalet AmberFin representative.
New Features in Dalet Amberfin 11 • Workflow orchestration engine and its web-based interface to design, manage and monitor workflows • Extend ProRes support to cover resolutions up to 4K on transcode output (YUV formats only) • Extend ProRes support to cover resolutions up to 4K on transcode input • UHD/4K Profile and Optimise 4K workflows • DPX YUV/RGB File Bundle support on transcode input • HEVC Support on transcode input (MP4 wrapper) • Sorting of Transcode Profiles
2. Prerequisites and General Information Foreign Language Support The most recent Dalet AmberFin versions can display the GUI in a language other than English. Presently Chinese (PRC) is supported. To change to a new language, you need to set the language in the Regional and Language Options window in the Microsoft Windows ™ Control panel.
Click on Install/uninstall languages and select the required language . If necessary, go to the Microsoft Local Language Program website and download the required LIP (Language Interface Pack). Help should be available from Microsoft by clicking on How can I install additional languages? from the Regional and Language Options menu - see screen shot above. When you restart the GUI, it will display its labels in the new language.
If you require the GUI in your local language and are able to help Dalet AmberFin with the translation, then please email
[email protected] with your details.
Operational Variances This document describes and gives operational information about the group of software products collectively titled ‘Dalet AmberFin’. There are different products under this collective term with distinctive features and specific applications. This publication provides pertinent information about system use regardless of any specific configuration. It is recommended to check against the specification of your system and any options fitted.
Prerequisites Software Version 11 requires the following drivers and/or pre-installed software to support all features:
Software / driver
Version
Dependent Functions
Source
Matrox driver
DSX V9.4.0.9028
ingest, play
Dalet AmberFin Installer
QuickTime
V7.69.80
QT, ProRes
Download from QuickTime site
Wildform Flix exporter
Latest
VP6 Outputs
Purchase
Operating System Updates
See Release Notes
Tektronix Aurora
Contact AmberFin
Microsoft AmberFin UQC
Contact AmberFin
64 bit operating systems are recommended for all current versions as there are features that will not work on 32 bit Windows OS. Please refer to the latest release notes, for a list of features that are no longer supported on 32 bit operating systems.
Hardware The following hardware may be required to support all features:
Hardware Matrox PCI-Express card
Model X.mio2 8500/DSX LE3
Dependent Functions Apple ProRes ingest, play
Source Matrox supplier
3. Installation Installation (Standalone) This is a short guide aimed at evaluators and others who need to perform a first-time installation on a single Windows 64 bit workstation; please refer to the HA Farm Installation topic for enterprise or multi-server systems. Install Dalet AmberFin workstation software on a clean installation of one of the recommended and commonly used platforms such as Windows 7 Pro 64bit or Win2008 64bit R2 Std Ed. If a copy of Dalet AmberFin is already installed, it has to be removed using the tool under
in the
.
Installing Matrox Drivers This section can be skipped if no Matrox card will be used (i.e. the install is for evaluation purposes only). Dalet AmberFin version 11 can support two types of Matrox cards, the X.mio.2 or the cost effective DSX LE3 with integral BNCs. The required drivers are included with the Dalet AmberFin installer and are not available from the Matrox site. Native Apple ProRes ingest support is provided from version 10.5 and no longer requires specific Matrox cards. The installation must be ‘clean’ and not performed ‘on top of’ existing drivers. Please remove any previous Matrox drivers via Add/Remove Programs prior to any upgrade otherwise the drivers will not be upgraded correctly. Proceed with the Matrox card already installed as follows: Run the "dsx.utils.exe" to install the driver set A progress bar will show the drivers being installed on the PC
When asked, choose a standard installation with no onboard compositor There should be a confirmation message once the installation is complete Reboot the PC. Verify the Matrox tray tool icon is present in the lower right of the task bar Right click on icon & choose Open X.info
The installed Matrox driver version & hardware status can now be verified. Right click on the Matrox tray tool icon in the lower right of the task bar and choose
Select the required display information
Getting Ready for Dalet AmberFin
Uninstall Dalet AmberFin The Dalet AmberFin installer may ask that any existing Dalet AmberFin installation be uninstalled prior to a new installation; if so, then uninstallation is required; it is also generally recommended.
Save Job Records In case, the uninstall/install removes Job Records from a previous installation, save them before proceeding.
Install Apple QuickTime Certain conversions need QuickTime; the most recently verified version is currently QT V7.7.4. If this is not currently available from Apple, please contact Dalet AmberFin Customer Services. It may be installed before or after installing Dalet AmberFin.
When QuickTime is installed uncheck ‘Update Automatically’.
Enable the Desktop Feature for Win 2008 R2/2012 R2 If is used, please enable the , prior to installing Dalet AmberFin. Always check the Release Notes that came with your software for an up-to-date list of ; an updated list of supported Operating Systems can be obtained from Dalet AmberFin Customer Support.
Installing Dalet AmberFin version 11 Unzip the supplied zip file and extract the Dalet AmberFin_Vx.X.X.XXXX_setup.exe file, then click on it to run it and start the installation. The installation will need to be attended to progress through various simple options.
Confirm Installation of the displayed software version Click on after the Welcome screen to confirm installation of the displayed version Make choices and selections at the prompt.
Select Optional Components An indication is given on this screen of the available and required disk space Helpful text will appear explaining the available options when they are highlighted.
Option
Description
Notes
Application Specific Options
UK Digital Production Partnership (DPP)
Adds GUI Plugin and required components to support DPP metadata interchange in DPP files
Installed GUI plugins are selected from Window menu
MXF AS-03 GUI Plugins
GUI plugins can also be installed manually to \Amberfin\iCR\plugins by copying them from \Amberfin\iCR\PlugingStore)
Transcode Scheduler
Provides GUI panel to run transcodes at predetermined times
Amberfin System Configuration
These options automatically configure Microsoft Windows during
Platform Power Scheme Configure Amberfin Services Login Install RMS Network Licensing
Installed GUI plugins are selected from Window menu
the installation Select to maximize performance
Recommended for High Availability Farms
Enables entry of alternative authentication for certain services
If unchecked, services will be installed with default LocalSystem log-on
Click when done. Depending on various elements of the computer, the setup process may include additional non-Dalet components (Sentinel, Microsoft Visual C+). Just click “next” till “finish”.
Read and accept the License Agreement Read the when it appears and select to be bound and to proceed The installer will prompt for permission to install C++ software. If earlier versions are found they will be updated. If later versions are present, the later version should be displayed and the installer should skip to the next step. Specify a domain user for managing the Amberfin Windows™ services.
The final install option relates to the Network License Manager. After that click and wait for the Finish button to appear.
License Manager Options If this is a stand-alone workstation installation, this option can be left unchecked. If prompted at the end to restart the system, select yes and wait for the system to reboot. If the install process stops before completion, try uninstalling and re-installing Dalet AmberFin. If this does not work or there is no uninstaller installed yet, try the Recovering from a Failed Installation procedure in the Trouble Shooting topic. When Dalet AmberFin is first run, an error message will appear saying If an unlicensed copy is run, a message will appear saying Dalet AmberFin and after clicking , / appears. Dalet AmberFin will shut down after clicking OK. To remove these error messages and run Dalet AmberFin, a trial or full license must be applied.
Applying Workstation Licenses Licenses are unique to each computer where a copy of Dalet AmberFin is installed and to the range of features available. Before requesting a license, please contact your Dalet AmberFin representative to make sure you have: Checked Dalet AmberFin version 11Hardware Specification Downloaded the latest Dalet AmberFin version and read the accompanying release notes Please contact your Dalet AmberFin representative if you are unsure of any of the above.
Installing a Dalet AmberFin License This installation procedure deals with installing a single workstation license, A license is supplied as a file called ‘lservrc’ (without any extension). A software installation can complete without a license file, but will not run. An message will be displayed indicating that there is . The License Manager can be run from the Dalet AmberFin Program Group or from the Dalet AmberFin Tray Monitor. Non-enterprise Dalet AmberFin licenses are node locked only. Floating licenses are only available for enterprise To simplify licensing andsystems. to ensure that the required files are up-to-date, the required licensing utilities are installed in the Dalet AmberFin program group. To obtain and use a license file, proceed as follows: Go to (or right click on the Dalet AmberFin Tray Monitor) and from the License Manager UI, click on . The lock codes displayed in the License Manager will then be saved to the file name and location specified.
Send this file back to Dalet AmberFin support requesting the license required; a file called ‘lservrc’ (without any extension) will be supplied by return. The lservrc file has no extension and is normally distributed using the zip format to prevent certain email systems from appending (.dat) which could prevent the license manager from accepting them. Place this file in a temporary folder. From the License Manager click on and select the location of the lservrc file If you are installing a trial license, you will need select from the License Manager before installing the license. It should also work after installing a trial license. Reboot the PC Right click on the Dalet AmberFin Tray Monitor in the lower right corner of the screen - Check that the Dalet AmberFin services are shown as o If not, then start them; if the license is correct, this process should start Verify that the license is correct by starting Dalet AmberFin and ensuring that the features requested are active If Dalet AmberFin reports it cannot find a valid license, check the lservc file is in the correct windows folder. If it is necessary to locate 'lsinit' or the lock generator directly, the executables are installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\ Amberfin\iCR. Also check that your primary Ethernet network port is active. Internet access can be checked by connecting to the internet, or self-pinging 127.0.0.1 in a DOS command prompt window.
Updating Permanent or Trial Licenses Licenses can be updated by clicking on and selecting the location of the new lservrc file. This should overwrite the old file with the new file. When upgrading from any release prior to V5.5.0, a new Dalet AmberFin license is required. Please refer to the release notes for details.
Activating the GXF Option Obtain a GXF SDK (v1.0.0.17) license from MOG Solutions. Insert the license into registry, by double clicking the license reg-file. Start the "MOGLicensingClient.exe" application. Click the "Go" button to go to the www.mog-solutions.com/activation website. Copy the activation code, and paste it into the corresponding field on the website. Copy the activation code, from the website into the corresponding field in the application. Click Activate.
4. Using the Dalet AmberFin GUI Running Dalet AmberFin and Using the GUI In order to run Dalet Amberfin GUI application, identify its icon desktop, or folder and double click it. A splash screen will appear and the GUI will open.
in the start menu,
The Dalet AmberFin GUI is a flexible collection of panels that can be positioned and resized to create any desired layout. A docking and undocking feature is provided to allow focus on selected panels of interest while minimizing others. A space saving minimized side bar is provided as a vertical strip at the right hand side. This may seem awkward at first, but does in fact provide a quick way of displaying panels to enter or read data and then dismiss them. There are a range of pre-configured layouts and custom layouts are fully supported. For example, in a layout, the player panel could be enlarged for easier viewing and the detailed timeline might be more prominently displayed in the lower portion of the screen. This configuration might be useful for somebody reviewing clips and checking the QC events that occurred during ingest. The following layout is the Mastering Layout.
The Mastering configuration has record and player panels side by side at the top, while the timeline, library and clip information all have separate panels. In the default layout the timeline is minimized and the lower half of the screen is occupied by a Library/Clip Info panel group. To quickly activate the default layout, go to Dalet AmberFin Windows >> Preferences >> Layout and click on . The default color of the GUI is a charcoal gray background with white text with dark gray highlights in the library and light gray highlights in all input fields.
This color scheme may be suited to high quality viewing areas where extraneous light (i.e. from computer LCD screens) needs to be kept to a minimum. While some users may find this color scheme easy to view, others may not. For this reason, Dalet AmberFin also provides a light grey colored configuration (shown above) and a color scheme that is tied to Windows® current settings. These parameters are set in Dalet AmberFin Windows >> Preferences >> Appearance. The color scheme menu is accessed by right clicking on the and selecting .
Using the Side Bar If a panel is not displayed but is minimized with its tab arranged vertically at the right hand side it can easily be displayed without changing the current layout. To quickly display a minimized panel on top of the current layout, simply click its tab on the vertical at the right hand side of the GUI. When a panel is maximized from this bar, it will be displayed on the right half of the GUI over other panels in that area.
Setup maximized over other panels A maximized panel is not a docked panel or a floating panel that can be moved to any position. Vertical tabs allow more of the real estate of a typical widescreen display to be reserved for content. To dismiss the panel back to the side bar after entering or reading data, just click on its vertical tab again. To place or dock a minimized panel actually in the layout, so that space is made for it amongst the other panels, just drag-and-drop its tab into the layout.
Docking and Undocking Panels When a panel is ‘docked’ or locked into position in the layout, an arrow pointing up and right indicates that it can be undocked by clicking on the arrow.
When a panel is undocked or ‘floating’ and free to position anywhere in the layout the arrow changes to a down and left arrow. Clicking on this arrow will dock it again. When an undocked panel is re-docked, Dalet AmberFin remembers where it was previously docked and positions it there.
If panels have been grouped, group docking arrows will be shown as well as docking arrows for each active tab.
Creating custom layouts Starting a new layout
To create a custom layout, process as follows: Select a desired panel from - the panel will be added to the existing tabs on the right side of the GUI. Click on the tab and drag it to a desired position - it will be highlighted with a black outline as the left mouse button is held down and dragged around the GUI – see the Panel Positioning tutorial. Release the mouse button once the desired position is found - the panel will now occupy this space on the GUI. Continue until the required panels are positioned as required To remove a panel from a group, undock it and click on its close (‘X’) icon. To re-insert panels, simply select them from the Windows section on the main menu To save the work done on the layout so far, go to and enter a name
Grouping Panels
To group two panels together, select one of them and drag its tab (left mouse button) over the tab of the other until, the GUI shows their tabs aligned alongside each other Release the left mouse button Further panels can be added in a similar manner
Panel groups can be handled as single panel objects and can be docked, hidden or removed.
5. Understanding the Dalet AmberFin Workflow Understanding Dalet AmberFin Workflow The secret to Dalet AmberFin’s flexibility is not only in its advanced architecture and its potential to use multiple transcode and QC engines, but also its use of a wide range of repurposing profiles for each workflow template. Templates are provided for ingest parameters such as video and audio encoder profile, storage options, naming conventions, multi-vendor QC options and mark up categories, while further templates are provided for conversion and proxy profiles.
UQC and the Unified Timeline Dalet AmberFin Unified QC (UQC) takes Dalet AmberFin’s solution for ingest and transcoding operations and adds a unique, non-vendor specific solution, for applying quality control. It is designed to allow the seamless integration of many industry-leading QC tools. For example, Snell’s Hyperion and Tektronix's Aurora can be combined so that all aspects of QC are integrated within a single unified timeline to provide an instant and highly accurate visual display of potential quality issues throughout the ingest and transcoding process. This new approach to quality control combines multiple tools for baseband checks during tape ingest, filebased QC after ingest, and overall operator-controlled QC, including annotation and markup in one single unified timeline. It gives an accurate and easy to display potential issues of any kind such as simple video and audio problems, file wrapper abnormalities, artifact detection, Harding and loudness violations and potential content-related editorial issues. QC processes can be implemented at any point in the life cycle of an asset, using the most appropriate technique. Human readable reports with time code and thumbnail references can be created and exported, simplifying the decision-making process, while machine readable XML reports can be exported to DAM, MAM and automation systems.
Using the hypothetical workflow illustrated above it is possible to show how combining UQC and one or more powerful repurposing engines in Dalet AmberFin can ensure every clip made is a good one. Here the clip is QC'd before and after ingest and again after the audio is added and the clip is transcoded. The reports from all the QC stages are shown on timeline, allowing users to quickly see that while ingest and encode processes have no errors; miss-configuration or other errors have caused problems in the file in the last stage of the workflow. Operators can therefore fix the errors in the process rather than individual clips, ensuring all future assets moving through the workflow do not exhibit the same errors.
Transferring QC data to the UK DPP Plugin Files that already have QC data associated with them or files passed through Dalet AmberFin UQC will have QC data in the timeline. This can easily be used to populate the UK DPP plugin template so that
audio and video ‘comment’ data can be saved with the currently loaded mxf file or as an xml ‘side-car’. Refer to Working with DPP Assets for more help.
Flexibility and Control Dalet AmberFin setup is understandably very powerful, and not all of the setup controls need to be left ‘live’ once a system has been commissioned for a specific workflow set. A special ‘Lock Down’ facility, provided by Global Presets, is now available to prevent inadvertent mis-configuration. There is also a facility to create master templates that can enforce a common setup across multiple Dalet AmberFin workstations.
Where to Find More This user manual was initially designed to be used a reference book and there are still many in-depth descriptions of each GUI element or ‘panel’ in Understanding GUI Panels and the use of Templates and Profiles are discussed in detail in Workflow Setup. Since some readers may prefer more of a tutorial approach this has now been provided. The following section provides ‘starter’ tutorials which we hope will be of benefit to those learning the system for the first time. It is also planned to provide more tutorials on -line at www.dalet.com.
6. Tutorials Tutorials Tutorials in this help file For those readers who want to ‘learn by doing’, some tutorials can be found in the following sections.
Where to get more There are white papers, blogs, free training videos, support and on-site training portals and more at http://www.dalet.com.
Recording Input Video This section shows how to record clips from a VTR Source.
Choose a layout with a Recorder Panel and Player Panel in it, such as the default layout: . In the above example, the player and recorder panels have been grouped. Although only one video window, (i.e. recorder or player) can display video at a time, it can be useful to have both panels displayed as the player shows time code activity during ingest.
In the Recorder Panel, set input mode to VTR in the drop down box. Any VTRs that adhere to the Sony Control Protocol can be controlled. Use the VTR controls to find the correct mark in position and then click on the
button
Alternatively right cursor on the Mark In time codefields. and select . The time code in clickiswith nowthe displayed in the and Then find the required mark out position using the VTR controls. The mark out can be entered with the VTR stopped or “on the fly”. Click on the button and enter a value; or click on and enter the required duration – the duration must be > 0.
Time code numbers can also be entered using the Time Code Calculator. A similar procedure can be used to ingest live video by selecting Scheduled mode (though VTR controls will be grayed out).
Enter the reel and clip number data. A bar code reader can be used to enter this data. When installed, position the cursor in the Reel or Clip field and scan the reel’s barcode. The info will automatically be added to the fields.
Click on the Start Record Button. The VTR prerolls to a position determined by the VTR pre-roll setting before the Mk In time. The Pos (position) field displays the current time code while the status field shows ‘Prerolling’. The stop button will be inactive and set against an amber background.
At the end of the preroll, the background changes to red and also displays . The Status window displays . When the time is reached, audio preview is heard. The field in the is updated with the same time codes as in the . The time code gradations in both the and detailed panels adjust to show the time code range being recorded. Recording stops at the time code. The VTR continues to play for a period of time determined by the VTR post-roll setting after the value is reached and then stops. If there is an error during the recording process, the console panel will display ‘error’. These errors are not available when using web services. At the completion of the recording, the clip is loaded into the Player Panel and the recorder panel video window will be blank.
The clip can be saved to the Library directly by clicking the green button. Create any required subclips and them to storage as required. Don’t forget to the clip when done. The format of the saved file will be determined by the currently active Encoder format at the top of the Setup tab. See the Ingest topic.
The clip must be unloaded from the Player, to allow any further recording or viewing other clips. The Setup panel will also be grayed out until the clip is unloaded. The function of the
button is discussed in Using the Player Panel.
Performing Ingest with Transcode When an ingest task is performed either by an operator doing it manually or scheduling it as an event, the use of ingest and conversion templates can greatly simplify the task. For an operator, there is no need to enter source, encoder and output format choices if a template has been created to define the required parameters and made active. In this tutorial we are going to select both an Ingest Profile and a Transcode Profile. The objective will be to ingest SDI NTSC video file with embedded audio and convert this to an H.263+AMR file while the ingest is performed. Start by opening the Setup tab.
Leave the Global Preset at its default of Click on the tab and select NTSC 4:2:2 CBR 50Mbps from the drop down box in the area. Leave the template as Two Pairs, Embedded, PCM24. Ensure that the is ‘Detected and Valid’. To select an output folder for the resulting ingest file, click on the tab next to and select a suitable location. The next step will be to select and make active a transcode profile for a Mobile H263 format. This output format will already exist within the group of templates. In the area of the tab, select from the drop down box.
Just selecting this group won’t make any particular transcode profile active for conversion during ingest or when using a watch folder, but it will allow us to enable a profile from those available in this predefined group. An existing individual transcode profile does not need to be selected or enabled here to enable on-thefly transcode from the Library.
With
selected in the Active Transcode+QC Profile Group, click on [ … ] and select
In the list of32 profiles field against Mobile – H.263+AMR (176x144, kbps).place a tick in the Leave the QC fields unchecked for now; QC operations are explored in the next Tutorial. Save the transcoding group changes using and provide a suitable name such as .
Ensure that this edited group is selected as the current
group.
Ingest any video source (except elementary stream). When the ingest stops, the ingested clip is transferred into the Player, where it can be saved or deleted. If save is chosen, it will appear in the Library transcoded according to the parameters checked as active in the newly created transcode group. To view the progress of the transcoding process, click on the real time tab.
Typically, the transcode job will appear in the Job Status panel after a delay of approximately 15 seconds.
Configuring Conversion Templates is discussed in detail in Managing Transcode and QC Jobs and Creating a New Transcode Template. It is not possible to save an edited template group over an existing group i.e. with the same name. Always use and choose a new name.
Using a File-based QC Template This tutorial is based on Aurora QC software and assumes that it has been successfully installed and licensed.
Creating a Standalone QC Template in Dalet AmberFin To select and enable a QC only template in Dalet AmberFin proceed as follows: Click on the tab. Click on the button next to in the Choose . Only choose The
to add QC to existing transcode profile(s). For this tutorial select window appears.
Click on the
tab and click on
section.
.
.
The appears with theand contact field. Dalet AmberFin support if If no QC tab is found, window check that your system is licensed forinUQC not. If there is more than one QC group, select the appropriate one from the Group drop down box. The Vendor Template box will be blank until a QC template is selected.
Click on a QC vendor tab.
There will be tabs for currently supported third party QC vendors. Any third party QC tools not installed will not function. The following example is based on Aurora.
To create or customize Aurora templates, click on . For this tutorial, just use the drop down box to select an Aurora supplied default template i.e. Quick Scan. There might be a slight delay while the templates load. Click on Choose a in the form, i.e. ‘Quick Scan’ and click .
An entry under the default name,
of the QC tab of the
window appears with the
.
Type a descriptive name such as ‘Aurora Quick Scan’ and press enter (or click in another text field) to save the new name. Click on the tab and click on will be selected by default. It will remain red unti l a QC Profile has been selected.
Click on the heading and select the profile just created. Rename the Transcode profile with a descriptive name (i.e. Aurora Quick Scan No Transcode) and press enter (or select another text field). Check the tick-box for clips that already have a QC profile to add any new software QC test results to its QC report.
Click and choose a n or any name that better describes the function to be performed in your workflow.
To ensure that this template will be active, check that it is selected in the dropdown box in the area of the panel.
Although this procedure may seem a little complicated, once mastered it can easily be repeated to create other Transcode and/or QC jobs. If a transcode is also required then return to the transcode tab, highlight the heading, click on and select the desired transcode.
Running a File-based QC Template
Although file operations within Dalet AmberFin can be run on media imported into the library or on files in any attached local or network storage by using the Repurposing File Explorer, there are advantages to running QC on files in the library. When files imported into the library have QC reports associated with them, Dalet AmberFin’s UQC engine can append any new QC data to existing reports, allowing Upstream QC to be verified and/or amended. To run the on an imported file, right click on the file in the library and choose the QC Job profile saved in step 10.
As this job completes, its status can be checked in Dalet AmberFin in the panels.
and
The Job Status Panel
The UQC Status Panel
The UQC Status panel will only be present if the has been installed and has been selected in the Dalet AmberFin File menu. The Detailed Timeline will also show any QC errors for a QC’d file loaded in the player. This may well be the first place to look for such errors during operations that involve combined Transcode and QC or Ingest, Transcode and QC.
In addition, QC job status can also be checked by logging in to http://localhost/auroa and looking at the tab.
Panel Positioning For this tutorial, start with a blank layout; Windows >> Preferences >> Layout >> Blank >> Load >> OK. Select the Player from the Dalet AmberFin Windows menu and it will fill the Dalet AmberFin work area. Follow the screen shots and guide notes to continue.
Start with a blank layout and add a Player panel
Add a Recorder Panel
Hover the cursor ↔ between the panels and click to resize Add a Timeline Panel Dalet AmberFin has grouped the Timeline panel with the Recorder. This isn’t what you want so, grab the Timeline panel and move it around the GUI. To do this, click on its tab, hold the left mouse button down and move the mouse. As you do, a black outline will appear in various positions. If you want it to place the Timeline panel so as to fill the entire lower area of the GUI hover the cursor carefully between the Player and Record panels at the bottom of the GUI. When ready, release the mouse button.
Drag the Timeline panel around using its outline as a guide Drop it in place. You’ll have noticed that the Setup panel is in the layout minimized in the left side bar, even though it wasn’t individually selected. This is good news as it’s an essential panel. Just click on its side bar tab when you want to use it and click again on its side bar tab to minimize it. To minimize a panel to the side bar just drag-n-drop its tab to the side bar. Now add a Clip Info panel.
The Clip Info panel is using too much GUI real estate
Group Clip Info with the Timeline panel.
To group panels drag-n-drop the tab of one of them over the tab of the other panel.
Working with DPP Assets The Digital Production Partnership is an initi ative formed by UK public service producers and broadcasters that use a constrained subset (known as a shim) of the MXF file wrapper format to facilitate common interchange and particularly contribution of completed audio and video programming. There are two DPP shims; one for HD delivery and one for SD material, both are based on the AS-11 contribution format produced with AMWA (Advanced Media Workflow Association). DPP files can only contain one completed program or multiple ‘hard’ (completed) parts of a single program. The basic specifications are as follows: HD 1080i50 Video ‘AVC Intra’ codec @100Mb/s; High Intra 4:2:2 profile at level 4 AS-11 shimmed to UK DPP HD 4 or 16 channels of PCM audio SD 576i50 Video, D-10 @ 50 Mb/s; MPEG-2 4:2:2 P@ML AS-11 shimmed to UK DPP SD 4 channels of AES3 audio Common • Metadata embedded within the MXF file • • •
• • •
Go to http://amwa.tv/projects/application_specifications.shtml for the latest published AS-11 specification which should include details of UK DPP metadata (Appendices D, E and F when downloaded at 18/06/2013). The DPP workflow within Dalet AmberFin uses a UK DPP plugin that provides a template Panel with defined metadata and editorial information fields. Metadata for some of the technical fields is read from the mxf file automatically when the asset is loaded into the player. Metadata can also be read from an xml ‘side-car’ file normally located in the same directory as the mxf file. For free entry fields metadata can also be entered manually or edited.
DPP Metadata Structure Metadata within the DPP plugin can be organized under the following headings: Metadata Class
Examples
Descriptive or Editorial
Series Title*, Program Title*, Episode Title/Number*, Production Number*, Synopsis*, Originator*, Copyright Year*, Other Identifier + Type, Genre, Distributor
Technical Shim type
SD* or HD*
Video
Bit Rate*, Codec* + Parameters*, Picture Format*, AFD, Picture Ratio*, 3D* + Type, Product Placement, FPA / FPA Pass + Manufacturer + Version, Video
Audio
Comments (from UQC) Sampling Frequency*, Bit Depth*, Codec Parameters*, Track Layout*, Primary*, Secondary* + Tertiary* Language, Audio Comments (from UQC)
Timecodes
Line Up Start*, Ident Clock Start*, Total Number of Program Parts*, Number of Parts in Currently Loaded File*, Total Program Duration*
Access Services
Audio Description Presence* + Type, Open Captions Presence* + Type* + Language*, Closed Caption Presence* + Type* + Language*, Signing Presence* + Language,
Additional
Completion Date*, Textless Elements Presence, Program Text Presence + Language, Filename*, File Checksum Type* + Value* (file data not shown in plugin bu t present in xml file)
Contact Information
Email* + Telephone*
Main video, audio and timecode parameters are determined automatically and cannot be edited. Fields with asterisks are required (mandatory). If the UK DPP template panel isn’t loaded, open it from
.
The plugin will only be available if the UK DPP option was selected when Dalet AmberFin was installed.
Context sensitive help can be found in the Dalet AmberFin GUI by hovering the mouse or other controller over each metadata field in the UK DPP template panel.
Saving Metadata Any new or edited descriptive and technical metadata can be kept by pressing . The file destination used when saving metadata depends on the Metadata File Mode. In Auto mode, it is saved to the same directory as the currently loaded mxf file, using the same name bit with an .xml extension. In Manual mode, and name or directory can be chosen. In the ‘MXF_AS02’ mode metadata is saved to a folder named created in the same directory as the currently loaded mxf file. This is similar to the way the AS-02 ‘versioning’ delivery format stores xml data. The need for an xml ‘side-car’ is expected to be dropped when the UK DPP AS-11 shim specification is next revised Operators will be alerted if any normally required fields are missing (highlighted in red when saving) and certain data is constrained to specific types to prevent the entry of non-compliant data. If any normally required UK DPP data is not present in the metadata template when is pressed a warning will be given and the missing item categories will be highlighted in red. The warning can be overridden by clicking on OK in the Save Metadata warning box, but a non-compliant DPP file will be produced. All UK DPP required metadata should be entered before a file is used as a contribution source. A list of the UK DPP metadata fields with explanatory text, can be found in the Using the UK DPP Template Panel topic. For any file loaded into the player, video and audio ‘specification’ data needed by the UK DPP template can be found in the panel while audio and video QC data may already be present in the having been read from an associated QCML file. Refer to the Performing QC Review topic for more information on UQC. There is also a good tutorial on using the Segment Track to collate QC data for transfer to the DPP template on the Dalet AmberFin website in the Dalet AmberFin Training Academy entitled ‘ ’.
Using the Time Code Calculator A time code calculator allows you to more easily manipulate time code values. You can enter time codes in the correct format and easily convert them from frame count to time code with the click of a button. Invoke the time code calculator by simply clicking on the t ime code field or by positioning the mouse over the time code field, right clicking, and selecting the field from the menu. The calculator supports the most commonly used frame rates. A drop down menu displays these values. Enter time code values by either clicking on the numbers using the mouse or by entering them from the keyboard numeric pad.
Time code from the VTR In order for Dalet AmberFin to correctly record clips from a VTR, it needs to receive the time code information from the VTR. Therefore, this function needs to be enabled on the VTR; that is, the time code information needs to pass through the VTR to the Dalet AmberFin mainframe on the SDI video input. For most Sony VTRs, this parameter is found on menu item 703. Set the ‘All Line’ parameter to ‘Throu’ to allow all lines to pass through the VTR.
7. Using the Main Menu Using the Main Menu The Dalet AmberFin main menu provides access to system-wide functions, panel selection and GUI configuration. File
Windows
Underlined first letters indicate that code.
Help
can be used as a quick-access keyboard
File Import files in the library Remove missing entries Web Service Control Publish Template Master template location Allow template updates Exit
– select this to choose clips not st ored in Dalet AmberFin’s library and import them into the system. If the target file’s location is visible to Windows, it can be imported into Dalet AmberFin’s library. – when Dalet AmberFin clips are moved out of their srcinal storage location, a ‘File Not Found’ entry in red text is shown in the library. To remove these entries in one step and clean out the library, select ‘Remove missing entries’ in the main menu. – select the web service function to put the PC into a mode where it can receive various commands over an internet connection. Once this is selected, a check mark appears next to the name and Dalet AmberFin remains in that mode until de-selected. When Web Service Control is activated all pop-up messages are disabled. – name and save the current template at a chosen location for other users – choose a location for Master Templates – allow templates to be updated from the Master Template location specified – closes the application
Windows Repurposing File Explorer QC Queue Job Status Library Player Record Setup
List of available panels
Console Batch VTR Record Timeline Clip Info Pulldown Detection Helper File Cutting and Splicing Plugins
˃
GUI Preferences
Shows contents of the plugin directory Preferences sub-menu
Panel selector A list of all the Dalet AmberFin panels is displayed under the Windows menu. If a panel is inadvertently closed, it can be recovered by selecting it here. When recovered in this manner, the panel returns at the side bar.
Plug-in Folder The plugins window showing contents of the plug-in folder is not present if the folder is empty. GUI Preferences This displays another window that allows you to change the color scheme of the template, or to retrieve saved user-specified configurations.
Appearance
– select the GUI color scheme; Dark, Light, Windows – checkbox that locks the current configuration. Note: Not persistent between reboots.
Layout Allows the selection of previously saved GUI configurations.
– load the default configuration – acts instantaneously – load the selected template in the window above Using the Main Menu – delete the selected template – save the current configuration to a template – click to activate selected layout (not required for Default) menu without making any changes
– back out of this
Available Layouts At installation these can include: includes Recorder, Player, (Timeline, Library, Clip Info; also includes Setup, Batch VTR Record, Console, Repurposing Status and QC Queue. Panels in brackets are grouped. – a good start for those wishing cust omize their own layout; includes SetupStatus, includes Recorder, (Player,toBatch VTR Record), Timeline, (Repurposing Clip Info, QC Queue) and (Library, Pulldown Detection Helper); also includes Setup. Panels in brackets are grouped. includes Recorder, (Player, Batch VTR Record), Timeline, (Repurposing Status, Clip Info, QC Queue) and (Library, File Explorer): also includes Setup. Panels in brackets are grouped. includes Setup, Player, Repurposing Status, Clip Info, Pulldown Detection Helper, and (Library, File Explorer). Panels in brackets are grouped. includes (Library, QC Queue), Player, Clip Info and Timeline; also includes Setup. Panels in brackets are grouped. includes Setup, Player, Repurposing Status, Clip Info, and (Library, File Explorer). Panels in brackets are grouped. includes Recorder, Player, Library and Clip Info; also includes Setup. Panels in brackets are grouped. Any custom layouts created will appear in this list.
QC Settings Enables or disables real-time rendering of QC events during ingest.
Enabling this option with a large number of QC event instances may slow down DALET AMBERFIN’s user interface and it may appear unresponsive for a while. The setting has no effect on the generated QC reports.
Help – a link to the Dalet AmberFin User’s Manual in PDF form. – displays the activated features of this version of Dalet AmberFin as well as relevant version numbers and plug-in authoring information.
8. Hotkeys Hotkeys Dalet AmberFin has hot keys that can be used to control the Recorder or Player viewing windows. The hotkeys for the Player are only active if a clip is loaded in it, whether immediately after ingest or loading a clip from the library. Upper or lower case letters can be used interchangeably for all hotkeys.
Clip/QC Player Hotkeys Player Command
Hotkey
Edit Key?
Play / Stop
Space (toggle)
Yes
Play clip
Shift P (p)
Yes
Go to end of clip
End
Yes
Fast Play*
X (x)
Yes
Go to start of clip
Home
Yes
Jog Forward
Right Arrow
Yes
Reverse Fast Play *
Z (z)
Yes
Reverse Jog
Left Arrow
Yes
Reverse Play
C (c)
Yes
Mark IN
I (i)
Yes
Mark OUT Add from IN and OUT
O (o) ALT A (a)
Yes Yes
Clear IN and OUT
Alt X (x)
Yes
Clear Mark IN
Alt I (i)
Yes
Clear Mark OUT
Alt O (o)
Yes
Cue to segment IN
Shift I (i)
Yes
Cue to segment OUT
Shift O (o)
Yes
Undo Last Change
Ctrl Z (z)
Yes
Previous Event
K (k)
Yes
Previous Error or Warning Event
Ctrl K (k)
Yes
Previous Keep Segment Event
Alt K (k)
Yes
Next Event
L (l)
Yes
Next Error or Warning Event
Ctrl L (l)
Yes
Next Keep Segment Event
Alt L (l)
Yes
Save Clip
Alt S (s)
No
Export Clip
Alt E (e)
No
Unload Clip
Alt U (u)
No
QC Annotation Menu
F1
Yes
QC Add Annotation
F2
Yes
* Successively hitting these keys increases the speed to 48x normal
Hot key assignments with ‘Yes’ in the Column can be changed by editing the entries in the xml file at (C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\iCR\config\HotKeyDefaults.xml).
Recorder (VTR) Hotkeys Command
Hotkey
Edit Key?
Go to end of tape
Ctrl End
Yes
Fast Play *
Ctrl X (x)
Yes
Go to start of tape Jog Forward
Ctrl Home Ctrl Right Arrow
Yes Yes
Play / Stop
Ctrl Space
Yes
Reverse Fast Play *
Ctrl Z (z)
Yes
Reverse Jog
Ctrl Left Arrow
Yes
Reverse Play
Ctrl C (c)
Yes
Mark In
Ctrl I (i)
Yes
Mark Out
Ctrl O (o)
Yes
Increase Shuttle *
Ctrl W (w)
Yes
Decrease Shuttle
Ctrl Q (q)
Yes
Increase Slow Shuttle
Ctrl S (s)
Yes
Decrease Slow Shuttle
Ctrl A (a)
Yes
Toggle Record
Ctrl Alt-R (r)
No
* Successively hitting these keys increases the speed to 48x normal. Hot key assignments with ‘Yes’ in the Column can be changed by editing the entries in the xml file at (C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin\config\HotKeyDefaults.xml). If the HotKeyDefaults.xml file at your facility has been edited or is ‘custom’, or if a later version of Dalet AmberFin or the HotKeyDefaults.xml file is used than the version used to write this document, some of key strokes and their function may vary from the information presented here.
Modifier Codes The following table lists modifier codes used in the HotKey.xml files.
Modifier
Code
Shift
64 (Player)
Ctrl
128 (Player) / 130 (VTR/Recorder)
Alt
512 (Player)
All other codes are those normally associated in Windows with standard keyboards.
9. Understanding GUI Panels Understanding GUI Panels This section introduces each panel that can make up the user interface in more detail.
Using the Recorder Panel The record panel contains controls and a viewer to record from either a VTR or from a live source. If time code is available in the stream, this is shown in the (ition) time code field. When the record field is , or , the , , and time code fields become active and display these time codes.
Recorder Controls The Recorder ‘VTR’ controls, with the exception of the record button, are located just below the video input viewer and provide control of a selected VTR. The VTR can also be controlled using specific key combinations known as hot keys.
The play button also acts as a toggle: it stops a playing clip, or starts a stopped clip.
The Record Button The record button is located to the right of the viewer, immediately below the status window. The background color indicates the current operational mode (Prerolling, Recording, Ready). Record Start/Stop
Indication
Stop Record (prerolling)
Stop Record
Stop Record
Stop Record
Start Record
Start Record
VTR Selection Box A drop down list box that contains the different models of VTR currently connected to the system. Normally only one VTR is connected to the system. Any VTRs that adhere to the Sony Control Protocol can be controlled by Dalet AmberFin.
VTR Shuttle Bar The shuttle bar allows you to move the VTR at various speeds in either direction by moving the slider bar either forwards or backwards. As the slider bar is moved closer to either end, the video moves faster. When the mouse is released, the shuttle bar button returns to the center of the bar.
DeVTR Status Window The status window to the right of the shuttle bar gives the current VTR status. See the table below.
VTR Status Message OK Playing Playing 0.5x, 1x, 2x, … 48x
Interpretation VTR stationary with tape inserted VTR in forward or reverse play mode Fast forward speeds
Playing –0.5x, -1x, –2x, … -48x
Fast reverse speeds
Playing 50x
Go to end of tape
Playing –50x
Go to start of tape
Playing 0.25x, 0.5x
Shuttle forward speeds
Playing –0.25x, -0.5x
Shuttle backward speeds
No tape inserted
No tape in deck
Offline
Remote mode on VTR is off
Prerolling
VTR cueing to mark-in point
Turning off the remote feature of the VTR will display ‘Offline’ in the VTR status window. In this state, GUI the will VTRbe cannot beout controlled DaletPanel AmberFin. Thecode VTR field controls on the AmberFin grayed and the from Recorder Pos time will turn to Dalet the italic font to indicate read only.
Time code Fields Click on the time code fields and enter data using the time code calculator. The calculator will enforce correct time code frame rates for the specific field. Once the complete time code is entered in the calculator, click ‘OK’, and this time code is ent ered in the field. Time code values can also be edited by right clicking on the active time code field and making a selection on its submenu. Copying, pasting and editing time code are some of the options available in this menu When a tape containing time code starts playing, Dalet AmberFin automatically detects if the tape is drop frame or nondrop frame. Simply position the cursor over any of the VTR time code fields and a pop-up information box will appear displaying the time code field name, the frame-rate, and whether the tape is drop or non-drop frame. Recorder Panel Fields – current cued VTR position – mark-in time code – mark-out time code – duration of the record – reel number of the source – clip number of the source – drop down box indicating the source mode – recording status (‘Offline’, ‘OK’ or ‘Recording’) – This field is only active when an valid input is connected and valid time code values a
Time code Field Submenu
Mark out time code field shown:
Frame-Rate Pop Up Info Box
Reel Number Field The Reel Number field can have data entered directly or with a barcode reader.
Clip Number Field The Clip Number field associates each clip with a user-specific clip numbering system. Data can be entered in the clip number field in a similar manner as for the Reel Number field.
Selecting the Recorder Source Mode Mode Drop Down Box Select the recorder source mode from the drop down list Live – the ingest occurs from a live source. Scheduled – a specific time code range is r ecorded from a live input source VDCP – the record process is controlled by an external device using the VDCP protocol. VTR – video data comes from a videotape recorder.
VTR Batch – the input is from a VTR and the record process is controlled by the clip mark-in and mark-out points batch record panel. These values may be manually entered or imported in an EDL file. VTR Emulation – clips within the Dalet AmberFin library are controlled, or live video input can be recorded by an edit control command protocol. Quality Control – the quality control engine can QC fi les in the library or those copied to a designated watch fold An easy-follow tutorial showing how to record from a video source (VTR) try Recording Input Video. See External Control of Dalet AmberFin and Supported VDCP Commands in Appendices for more information on VTR Emulation and VDCP protocol.
Using the Batch VTR Record Panel The batch VTR record mode allows multiple clips to be collated before ingesting them. They are entered manually or imported from an EDL file and then displayed in the batch VTR record panel. This list stores clips in reel number order and the ingest parameters remain the same for any set of clips while the batch record is processing.
Performing a VTR Batch Record
Setting the Source Set the input video source to ‘ ’ in the drop-down box in the Record Panel and then select the recorder panel from its docked location.
The columns of this panel start with on the left side and proceed to on the right side, but they can be re-ordered by clicking on them and dragging them to another position. Before the clip or clips with the same reel number are ingested, Dalet AmberFin prompts you if you want to ingest this clip, skip it, or abort the entire process. Once all of the clips have been ingested, skipped, or the process terminated, a summary screen displays giving the results of the batch process. Clip entries can be requeued or removed by selecting the appropriate choices in this screen.
Entering the Batch Data Manually enter clip mark-in and mark-out points by clicking on and buttons in the VTR recorder and then clicking on button in the VTR batch record panel. The clips are sorted in ascending order by reel number. If you need to edit information already added to the batch record window, simply double click on the field in the batch record panel and edit it directly. The field in this row updates once the cursor is moved to another field. Select end if you want Dalet AmberFin to eject the reel from the VTR once the clips on it are finished ingesting. Once all the required clips have been added to the batch record window, click on the button in the VTR record panel to start the batch record process. If you have selected , you will have to manually change tapes between different reel numbers to continue the batch record process.
Batch Record Selections For each unique reel number, Dalet AmberFin will ask you if you want to record this clip, skip this clip, or abort the record. Insert the required tape number in the VTR and click ‘OK’ to record clips from this reel number. Skipping the clip does not record the clip but keeps it in the queue, while aborting the clip ends the recording process for all clips. As the recording process occurs, the field in the panel shows the current status of that clip. In the column, you can enter extra information about the clip. This information can be used as part of the clip filename. See the section on file naming patterns for more details.
Batch Record Confirmation When the batch record is finished, a confirmation window displays any skipped clips or clips that incurred an error during ingest.
By default skipped clips are re-queued for the next batch recording session while successfully ingested clips are removed from the list. However, de-selecting the appropriate boxes in the confirmation window can change this. The following selections are possible: – clips that encountered an error during ingest will be left in the queue to be ingested with the next group of clips. – clips that were skipped will remain in the queue to be inges ted with the next batch of clips. – all clips ingested successfully are removed from the batch queue. Only one output file type and one set of encoding parameters can be used for all the files in any one batch recording session. If all clips are ingested successfully (no skipped or failed clips), a simple acknowledgement dialog box is shown.
Importing EDL Files To import clips from EDL files, click on the button and select the EDL file you want to import. The clips are displayed in the Preview panel to more easily verify them. Once you’ve selected the file to import, click on the button on the VTR Batch Record screen. A frame-rate confirmation message box will then be displayed. Choose the framerate of the files you want to import and then ‘OK.’ These files will now be loaded to the batch recorder window. To append more clips from another EDL file, simply click on the button again and select the EDL file. Dalet AmberFin will ask you if you want to append to the existing entries or if you want to remove them and add these new ones.
EDL Frame-rate Confirmation Window
EDLs containing content with 29.97 frame rates can be imported at 30 fps and vice – versa. The background color of the status field changes color during the record cycle to show the current record status: OK = default color OFFLINE = default color RECORDING = red PREROLLING = yellow ARMED = yellow
Preroll
Recording
Recording Complete
Using the Player Panel The panel plays clips, either newly recorded or from a storage location. The also be set to loop mode, so that a selected portion of the clip can be played repeatedly.
can
Playing Clips A clip is loaded into the player in two ways: By completing an ingest (except when ingesting in VTR Batch Mode) By double-clicking on a selected file in the Library
Player Controls
These buttons control the playing of the clip much like VTR controls do.
Player Shuttle Bar Click and drag the shuttle bar to move the clip forwards or backwards at different speeds. The further from the midpoint the shuttle bar is moved, the faster the clip moves. Releasing the mouse button will move the shuttle bar back to the middle position.
Player Timeline Scrub Bar Use the scrub bar to perform spot checks by moving it to random places in the clip. Click and hold the cursor on the scrubber icon and drag it across the timeline to the desired location. Alternatively, click at a point on the timeline to advance the clip and scrubber bar to that position in the file.
Entering time codes When the clip is first loaded to the player, the (ition) time code field shows the first frame’s time code. It will continuously update, as the clip plays or is scrubbed. When the Playback mode is set to , the , , and fields become active. Mark in and mark out points are set to the current scrubber position either by clicking on the or buttons or by right clicking on the timeline and selecting or . The field automatically calculates the duration between the mark in and mark out points. The Time Code Calculator can also be used to enter and edit time code data. Long GOP encoded files will only loop between I frames. As a result, to accurately set the mark-in or markout point of a Long GOP encoded file, first move the scrubber to the approximate location and then use the jog key to get the exact location.
Player Timeline When the clip is first loaded, a timeline below the VTR controls shows the clip’s full time code range, the start time code at the left end and the end time code at the right end of the display. As the clip plays, the scrub bar moves along the Player timeline until the clip is finished or playback is stopped. The timeline includes a bar that changes color depending on the QC errors that occur at each particular point. A gray bar represents ‘info’ messages, a yellow bar gives warnings, and a red bar shows errors. Since errors are most important, they are displayed over the other two. These different types of messages are discussed in the section dealing with the detailed Timeline panel.
Viewing Long GOP Video
When scrubbing a file that was ingested in Long GOP, the time code displayed in the Pos field may not correspond to the time code seen overlaid on the video tape. This is because the broadcast monitor only displays I frames. It will always show the first I-frame before the scroll stop point while the Dalet AmberFin Pos field will show the first B frame in the series that immediately precedes this I-frame. This is due to the nature of the GOP structure and how the stream is displayed. If you cue to an I-frame in the clip the ition field time code will be the same as that shown overlaid on the monitor.
Player Fields – current cued VTR position – mark-in time code – mark-out time code – duration of the record – PC audio settings, stereo, mono – name of the file playing – shows either ‘Playing’ or ‘Paused’ Normal, or Loop
aids exporting and
-
– the mark-in and mark-out points define the c between these two points. – the clip plays repeatedly between the mark-in a : Clicking on the button will save the clip along with file format in the library. without saving either metadata or the clip.
The Player time code fields are like those in the VTR panel showing current position, t he markin point, mark-out point, and the duration of the clip. The button leaves the loaded clip in the player, so that it can be marked up easily without reloading. A tutorial on the use of the Time Code Calculator that pops up when any editable time code field is clicked on can be found in the Tutorial topic. An action submenu is also available if you right click on the time code fields. Time codes shown in italics indicate read-only fields. In any clip the end time code shown in the field is exclusive of the mark out time code shown in the field. Therefore, it is impossible to move the clip to exactly the mark out time code. Cueing a clip beyond the mark-out point resets the clip to the beginning
Creating Subclips Subclips can easily be created by applying
and
points.
For each subclip, click on the clip.
button and chose a destination folder and name for the
is particularly useful when ingesting from tapes with discontinuous time code. Start by setting QC to detect time code discontinuities during ingest. Upon completion of an ingest, any detected time code discontinuities would then be transformed into time slices, which would be made to appear as yellow events in the timeline window. The export function can then be used to create the time slices. Upon exporting, the ingested clip is automatically saved. The button then allows the srcinal time code of these clips on tape to be retained instead of using the Dalet AmberFin timeline time code. See Using Time Slices. will remove a clip from the Player. If an ingested clip hasn’t been saved before is selected, a prompt appears asking the used whether or not they want to save the clip. The Player is limited to the frame rates 29.97i, 25i, 59.94p, and 23sF. Clips with other frame rates may not play in the Dalet AmberFin Player. Some file types are decoded internally and do not require the on board video board to decode them for play in the Player. Consequently, a playback-only system does not require the onboard video card.
Using the Timeline Panel The detailed timeline in the
panel provides more information than i s shown by the summary . It is a larger panel, which displays QC error events and their
corresponding thumbnails. When a clip is loaded, the scrubber bar on this timeline moves in unison with the summary timeline scrubber bar.
The left-most side of the panel displays the baseband, QC Vendor specific, or VTR errors encountered during ingest with each detected error occupying a horizontal line across the timeline. The name of error is given on the left column, while its adjacent colored bar shows where the error begins and ends throughout the clip. As the scrubber moves over the timeline, the exact position where an error is detected is displayed on the left-most column.
Progress Numbers These numbers (0, 1, 2, 3 etc.) show the progress of a multifunction QC event. See Unified Quality Control.
Track Sorting Order The Default icon can be used to sort tracks in the following order: Vendor, QC Process No, Metric Name or UQC Severity.
Detailed Timeline Scroll Bar To move along the timeline range, use the scroll bar underneath the scrubber bar. This allows you to move to a specific section of the timeline and is particularly useful when a section of the clip is zoomed in.
Detailed Timeline Zoom Scroll Bar The zoom control allows you to concentrate on a specific portion of the timeline. Moving the zoom scroll bar to the right will zoom in on the scrubber bar’s current location using the scrubber bar as the center point of its zoom. Conversely, moving the zoom scrubber bar to
the left will zoom the timeline out from the current scrubber bar position. To get the currently displayed clip duration, hold the cursor over the zoom bar and a pop up with this information will appear. At maximum zoom, only every third frame is labelled with a time code. For this reason scrubber bar positions between frames do not sit exactly on a gradation mark. Also note that Dalet AmberFin shows a maximum of 1000 thumbnails on the timeline for any one ingest. The detailed timeline shows status bars of various colors across its length. Each color represents something different. Color meanings Gray
Info Only
Dark Yellow
Warning
Dark Red
Error
Light Yellow
Time Slice
The status bar colors depend on how the baseband error parameters are set in the QC template.
Playback Boundaries To properly set the playback boundaries, the clip must not be playing. They are also only respected in play mode, in fast forward, or fast reverse, for example playback boundaries are not used.
To find out how the Timeline is used in QC and QC Review operations see Unified Quality Control. Hotkeys do not function in the detailed timeline if the window is in an undocked position. Right click menus function whether the panel is docked or not.
Segment Track Sections created using Mark In and Mark Out points can be transferred to the Segment Track and then sent to the Cut & Splice Engine. See File_Cutting_and_Splicing for further details.
Using the Library Panel / Clip Info Panels Once a video and audio essence has been ingested it is stored in Dalet AmberFin’s library. In the default window configuration, the library is located at the bottom of the screen grouped with the Clip Info panel.
The Library Panel The library has a flat file structure and contains no directories or sub-directories. This provides direct access to imported files and data associated with a selected file is immediately displayed.
If the filename is shown in red, then Dalet AmberFin has detected that this storage location is not currently accessible. Check that the drive is accessible by reading these files using a Windows explorer window. A FILE NOT FOUND entry indicates that the file does not exist in the indicated storage location. This could be due to an error during the ingest process or an incompatibility between Dalet AmberFin’s database and the files in the storage locations. To clear all of these ‘File Not Found’ entries, click on selection in the main menu and select .
Loading clips in the Player Clips are loaded to the by double clicking on them. You should be able to see the first frame on both the in the GUI and, if available, an attached broadcast monitor. To play the clip, click the play icon on the Player. Once the clip has loaded in the , all of its ‘VTR’ controls are activated. To unload this clip, click on the button. After the clip is unloaded, whatever input is present on either the ASI or SDI inputs (depending on the encoder selected) is shown on the broadcast monitor and in the viewer window.
Modifying Library Fields The default setup for each clip in the library is as follows:
Column Heading
Description
Field Format
File Name
Clip name
User selectable
Import Time
File creation date/time
dd mm yyyy hh:mm:ss
Start TC
Clip start time code
hh;mm;ss;ff
Duration
Clip duration
hh;mm;ss;ff
For greater flexibility, user-selectable columns are displayed. To modify field columns, right click anywhere in a heading bar and select the column headings from the following menu:
Select the data you want to view in the library and then ‘Ok.’ These columns now display in the library. The display order of the files is also user-selectable. By clicking at the top of any one of the columns, the data is sorted according to the data in that column. For example, to sort the data by creation time, click next to the creation time label in that column. A small arrow pointing up will appear next to the label when the data is sorted in ascending order (smallest to largest). To get descending order, click in the same place again. The small arrow will now point down and the data in that column will appear in descending alphanumerical order (largest to smallest).
Working with Library Files Highlight one of the essence files and right click on it for a submenu:
– removes the clip and associated metadata from the library. If is checked at the delete confirmation prompt, the clip and associated metadata will be permanently deleted from the file system. It may be possible to restore deleted library files if other copies exist.
If a proxy is created, it will be removed by deleting its corresponding entry in the library. The proxy file must be deleted separately. – opens a Windows Explorer window at the location where this file is stored – renames the essence file and all its associated files – opens the HTML QC report if one is available in a separate browser window contains a submenu to start transcode and/or QC job jobs using predefined profiles. The rename operation cannot be done while a file is loaded in the player. QC Queue is not available in this version of Dalet AmberFin.
Clip Panel Information
Click on the
tab to view the following clip information for a selected file in t he library.
Clip Panel Video Information – file name for entire clip – path to file – the file format of the file – the codec used to create the file – the nominal encoding bitrate of the file – number of lines in the picture – number of pixels per line in the picture – the ratio of picture width to height the picture field or frame frequency – MPEG-2 coding profile – the frame type
Clip Panel Audio Information – the encoding format – encoding word size – number of stereo pairs – rate at which the signal is sampled before being digitized
Launching Jobs from the Library The submenu allows files in the library to be transcoded or QCd ‘on the fly’ using transcode and/or QC profiles in a template.
– displays all the available group profiles in t he systems. discussed in Creating_a_New_Transcode_Template does have to have its repurposing profiles checked to use them in the submenu. The following diagram shows an example of the necessary steps in sequence. Highlight file in the Right click to display submenu Click on Launch Job Select from list Select All in Group or an individual profile in the group The
Using the Setup Panel This panel is divided into three areas, tools to manage
,
and a number of .
Global Preset Global Presets allow a subset of the available parameters and templates to be defined for a particular workflow. When a particular preset, other than is active, the source selection parameters and Template settings will be grayed out. This allows the Dalet AmberFin interface to be effectively locked down with only an authorized range of parameters available. A new Global Preset should be created once all of the source selection parameters and Template settings have been completed. To create a new Global Preset proceed as follows: Complete a Setup configuration Click on the [ … ] button next to the Global and select Choose a suitable name for the new preset The new preset can be edited and new presets can be created from it by clicking on the [ … ] button and choosing either or . The option will remove the preset.
Ingest Configuration This panel allows the following ingest parameters to be configured; current encoder, local storage and any connected hardware based SDI quality control. - the current encoder can be SDI (default) or the optional Memphis type. The SDI panel allows encoders to be selected and configured. When Dalet AmberFin finds a valid input signal, the window should show . - this allows any attached quality control hardware to check the applied signal during ingest. - the storage location used to hold ingested files. – the file name conventions to be used for ingest. – the viewing quality encoder to be used in the network for ingest monitoring. – a control panel for selecting inputs available on an optional IQ router. This subject is treated in more detail in the Ingest topic.
Profile Groups and Workflow Templates Workflow configuration templates define how ingest is performed and what output formats the ingested assets can be converted to. A dedicated conversion template configuration tool
allows any acquired asset to be repurposed by transcoding to another format to suit various markets and/or by changing the frame rate rendered appropriate for use in other countries. Conversion or repurposing can only include standards conversion (different frame rates between input and output), if that option is present. Some of these templates have default settings, which may be suitable in many situations. However, normally upon installation, these templates are set to suit your specific applications and are only occasionally modified after that. The subject of repurposing and template configuration is discussed in more detail in Managing Transcode and QC Jobs and Workflow Setup. The Using the Job Status Panel is discussed in Understanding GUI Panels.
Using the Job Status Panel The Job Status panel shows a list of the transcoding or QC jobs sent to one or more transcoding or QC engines. It is accessed by clicking on the tab on the right side of the GUI. There are two tabs, and .
Job Status
In this view all the jobs submitted to transcoding or QC engines at IP address 127.0.0.1 are shown. To show only the jobs submitted to a specific transcoding or QC engine, click on its entry in the Topology map. The jobs list shows all queued, waiting, completed or cancelled repurposing jobs that have occurred in the past 24 hours for the selected group/engine. If an error occurs, it displays here and in the messages section below. Job entries are kept in a database and information is not lost if Dalet AmberFin is stopped and re-started. Job entries can be saved to a file or printed. The column shows the current state of each repurposing job. Untick to remove clutter and focus on current jobs only. The list of possible status entries are as follows.
Job Status Entry Waiting
Interpretation Entry waiting to be dispatched by the controller
PreProcessing
Job being dispatched to a specific repurposing engine
Queued
Job waiting in the specific repurposing engine queue
0< % N < 100
Job completion status indicated by %N
Complete
Repurposing Job finished
Connection Lost
Amberfin lost communication with the repurposing engine
Failed to Initialize
Invalid initial job parameters prevented job from starting
Cancelled
A job was terminated by the user
Jobs Submenu Highlight one of the job entries and right click for a submenu:
remove a finished repurposed file entry from this panel or cancel the active job. open Windows Explorer showing the directory where this repurposed file is stored. – import this transcoded/QC’d file into the Dalet AmberFin library. The selection will always be active if a script was set when the conversion process was done. The active state of this selection does not depend on the current state of the transcode profile, only on its state when the transcode job was performed.
Dalet AmberFin Controller Details The section in the upper part of the panel shows the repurposing server host IP address, the connection status between Dalet AmberFin and the repurposing server, and the time from which to display the previous repurposing jobs. Select the Host IP address or computer name to see its repurposing jobs. – the PC name or IP address of the repurposing controller – the connection status between the host and the repurposing controller – the database viewing history; can be set to Last Week, Last Hour, or Last Day.
Topology The term Topology, in the context of a network, refers to the way constituent parts are grouped or arranged. Although, most installations have only one repurposing engines, it is possible for one Dalet AmberFin GUI to control several Dalet AmberFin repurposing engines (also called servers or controllers) and/or QC engines arranged in one or more groups.
Adding Transcode or QC Groups/Engines To add new groups to a host configuration proceed as follows: Click on the button in t he Topology sub-panel. The Topology Editor appears.
Follow the Manual or Automatic procedures below for adding engines, then check that the group and engine structure is as expected and test the configuration.
Adding Transcode or QC Engines Manually
Click on and then start by entering an appropriate Then enter the appropriate data for the and select the and If necessary, edit the and click on If the engine name remains red, check that the data entered is correct. When all the required topology data has been entered, click .
Using the Transcode Engine Discovery Tool
To get Dalet AmberFin to find new Transcode Engines click on
Tick the engines to add from the discovered list and then click A standard single Dalet AmberFin engine can only carry out one transcoding or standards conversion at a time. Multiple Dalet AmberFin/QC engines must be installed and licensed to carry out multiple transcodes or QC operations simultaneously. Multiple channels of QC also require multiple CPU cores.
If there are any problems check that the required services are running and any required third party software is installed, licensed and running.
Viewing Repurposing Topology Logs The logs from the same controller or repurposing group can all be collated into this one display. Simply click on the controller IP address or engine name to view the status of current operations.
Reload - Cloning configurations and Recovering from Disaster Topology definitions are stored in the ControllerConfig.xml file. The function can be used to load this file and has a number of uses. It is particularly useful to ‘clone’ multiple configurations is a system where there are many identical or similar setups by copying the config file to other systems and (re)loading it. It can also be used to recover from a configuration disaster and lastly, if the config file has been edited manually or by another process, it may need to be reloaded to reflect changes. To reload a controller configuration click on the button in the tab of the Topology Editor. Then check that the required topology has been updated.
Monitored Folders The second tab displays the monitored folders that are active. These are folders that the transcoding and/or QC engines regularly examine to check for new jobs.
When files are copied to these folders, the transcode/QC engines process them according to set parameters. When a job is initiated by copying the appropriate file in a watch folder its real time status is shown in the job status panel, along with other jo bs. A watch folder’s parameters only display here if the column is set to in the applicable template. Monitored folders are the same as Watch Folders the setup of which are discussed in detail in Repurposing from a Watch Folder. See also: Using the UQC Status panel.
Using the UQC Status Panel The UQC Status Panel is where QC status is shown for every file in the library. The UQC Status panel will only be available if the UQC plug-in has been installed in the Dalet AmberFin plug-in directory and Web Service Control has been enabled under the File menu. QC jobs will also only be shown here if a compatible software QC engine has been installed. See Installing the UQC Dalet AmberFin Plug-in in the Appendices for installation instructions.
The following data is displayed: – the name of the file submitted to the QC Engine. - the location of the file. – the date of t he last QC operation performed. – the status can be one of the following: Status
Icon Color
Details
No QC Data
Gray
No QC data present
Passed
Green
Passed
Warning
Amber
One or more non-critical errors have occurred
Failed
Red
One or more critical errors have occurred
Double click a file to load it into the player and detailed timeline. See also Using the Job Status Panel.
Using the QC Queue Panel The QC Queue panel shows all of the QC jobs submitted to the QC engine. These include finished jobs, currently running jobs, and jobs that are idle and are waiting to run.
The Status column updates as the jobs are processed.
Using the File Explorer Panel This panel provides access to files that are not in the Dalet AmberFin library but are accessible from the Dalet AmberFin mainframe. It works like Windows Explorer® except that it has a filter that displays only video essence files and only accesses drives which are mapped to a letter in Windows.
File extensions such as .mpg, mxf, or m2v are displayed, but not those with .txt, .doc, .xls, etc. Right clicking on an essence file entry shows a submenu with three options: – play the essence in the default media player – choose another program to open the file – place a copy in the library – transcode or QC the file using a programmed profile The Profile category, is only available from the Library.
Using the UK DPP Template Panel If the UK DPP template panel isn’t loaded, open it from
.
Context sensitive help can be found in the Dalet AmberFin GUI by hovering the mouse or other controller over each metadata field in the UK DPP template panel. Fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory. The plugin will only be available if the UK DPP option was selected when Dalet AmberFin was installed. Fields marked with an asterisk are mandatory; indented fields are dependent on selections made in preceding fields. Fields marked with ReadMXF are generated automatically from the loaded MXF file. The Data Element Definitions used below are based on those published in the following AS-11 specification, AMWA_AS-11_10_2012-06-25.pdf, downloaded on 18/06/2013.
Name
Value
Descriptive Metadata (Manual Entry) Series Title*
The final title of a grouping of publishable assets with shared identification and branding linked by common characters, subject matter, style or story. This could be a series, serial or themed grouping. Titles of 'One-Off' programs with a single title should be entered here and in 'Program Title' below.
Program Title*
The title of a Program Version for a specific purpose. Notes: Must indicate the version where applicable – e.g. pre/post watershed. Title may change between the point of commission/production and final delivery. Titles of 'One-Off' programs with a single title should be entered here as well as in 'Series Title' above.
Episode Title/Episode No.*
Final episode name and or number used to identify an individual episode.
Production Number*
A unique number used to identify an individual Program Version. Also known as Program Number, Clock Number or Material ID.
Synopsis*
Descriptive summary of the content of no more than 250 characters potentially suitable for EPG/billings purposes.
Originator*
Company responsible for creating the asset.
Copyright Year*
Year in which production was completed – should be 4 digit number
Other Identifier
A unique code that can be used to identify a piece of content.
Other Identifier Type
Description of other Identifier, for example: ISAN.
Genre
A class type categorizing the whole asset.
Distributor
The name of the person of company/companies providing the content. May be a 3rd party for secondary distribution rights.
Technical Shim Name
The name of the AS-11 shim specification to which the associated MXF file conforms. UK DPP HD (default) or UK DPP SD.
Technical Video Video Bit Rate * ReadMXF
The total video bit rate of the encoded file in bits per second. This is a read only, non-editable field. Typical values are: 100 (For HD), 50 (For SD)
Video Codec * ReadMXF
The video codec employed for the creation of the file. This is a read only, non-editable field.
Video Codec Parameters * ReadMXF
The detailed codec profile and level information used to create the file. This is a read only, non-editable field.
Picture Format *
The picture structure; uses pre-defined codes derived from the MXF file. This is a read only, non-editable field.
ReadMXF
AFD *
Active Format Description code; describes the intended display aspect ratio of the material. This is a user select value field. Values are 9 for 4:3, 10 for 16:9 and 14 for 14:9 (including Title and Caption Safe Area).
Picture Ratio *
Used in addition to the AFD field and the Picture Format to further determine the editorial aspect ratio of the Program. This will cater for ratios greater than 16:9 and vertically shifted images with open subtitles below the active image. This is a read only, non-editable field. Typical values are: 4:3, 14:9, 15:9, 16:9, 16.65:9, 21:9, 21.6:9.
ReadMXF
3D *
This will be set if the material is 3D (SMPTE working group are yet to ratify the spec on 3D for enumeration therefore a new property of '3D type' is to be used in the interim). Values are Yes or No.
3D Type
This allows the description of the type of 3D being delivered but does not define how the 3D was created, e.g., CGI, shot in 3D, derived from a 2D image etc. Values are Side by side, Dual, Left eye only or Right eye only.
Product Placement
Indicate if the content contains product placement. Select Yes or No.
FPA Pass
Status of any flashing and pattern analyzer test carried out on the material for PSE (Photosensitive Epilepsy). Values are Yes, No or Not tested.
FPA Manufacturer
Maker of PSE analyzer. Values are Harding FPA or BRR Gordon.
FPA Version
Version of algorithm used to carry out the PSE analysis. Examples are FPA V2.5, FPA V3.4 or Gordon V1.0.0.
Video Comments
Comments about subjective quality and any known unintended or intended video defects discovered during production, post production, or any subsequent technical QC review process.
Audio Sampling Frequency * ReadMXF
The frequency used in kHz to sample the loaded file (must be the same for all audio tracks). This is a read only, noneditable field.
Audio Bit Depth * ReadMXF
Number of quantization bits in the audio signal within the loaded file (must be the same for all audio tracks). This is a read only, non-editable field.
Audio Codec* ReadMXF Parameters
The audio used tofield. create the loaded file. This is a read only, codec non-editable
Audio Track Layout * Refer to the EBU audio track layout table, EBU R 123/48 Audio Track Layout in the Appendix on page 199 for more information on
In accordance with EBU R 123 (HD) and R 48 (SD). HD files must have 16 tracks, SD must have 4. Unused tracks must contain digital silence. Including valid silence is required. Values may be: EBU R 48 2a (Stereo only) EBU R 123 4b (For Stereo + M&E) EBU R 123 4c (Stereo + AD)
permitted audio track layouts.
EBU R 123 16c (5.1 + M&E or AD) [Following to be used with AD flag] EBU R 123 16d (two 5.1 languages) EBU R 123 16f (three languages) This selection directly also affects Secondary and Tertiary Language.
Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Audio Languages *
Main language used on primary, secondary and tertiary audio tracks. Permissible ISO 639.2 values: None, English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish, Dutch, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish.
Compliant Audio Standard
Details of any compliant audio standard used to constrain the dynamic range of the stereo audio tracks during program production. Values are EBU R128 or None.
Audio Comments
QC comments about subjective quality and any known artifacts or defects. Click to create or edit comments.
Line Up Start *
Timecode for start of line up test signals. Click to display timecode applet and enter data. This is a read only, noneditable field.
ReadMXF
Ident Clock Start * ReadMXF
Timecode for start of countdown clock or static slate. Click to display timecode applet and enter data. This is a read only, non-editable field.
Part Total *
Enter the total number of parts in the program. May utilize more than one file.
Total Number of Parts *
Enter the total no. of 'hard' parts contained within the file. May not be the total for the program if multiple files are used.
Total Program
Total running time of all part durations. Click to display
Duration * ReadMXF
timecode applet and enter data. This is a read only, noneditable field.
Audio Description Present *
Whether the program contains an Audio Description soundtrack. Values are Yes or No.
Audio Description Type
Type of Audio Description soundtrack. Values are Control Data / Narration or AD Mix.
Closed Captions Present *
Whether the program contains closed captions. Values are yes or no.
Closed Captions Type
Type of closed captions used. Values are Hard of Hearing or Translation.
Closed Captions Language
Language used in closed captions. Permissible ISO 639.2 values: None, English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish
Open Captions Present *
Whether open captions are present.
Open Captions Type
Type of open captions. Values are Hard of Hearing or Translation.
Open Captions language
Language used in open captions. Permissible ISO 639.2 values: None, English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish
Signing Present *
Shows if sign language interpreter is in vision. Values are Yes, No or Signer Only.
Sign Language
The language used by a sign language interpreter. Values are BSL (British Sign Language) or BSL (Makaton).
Completion Date *
Date of completion of the edit before delivery of the program; Click on […] to select date from calendar applet. This is a read only, non-editable field.
ReadMXF
Textless Elements Exist
Whether clean textless elements are present after the main program. Values are Yes or No.
Program has Text
Used to identify if the main program is free of any text. Values are Yes or No.
Program Text Language
Language used for program text. Permissible ISO 639.2 vales: None, English, Welsh, Gaelic, Irish
Contact Email *
The contact details for the person in the company responsible for delivering the completed commission.
Contact Telephone Number *
The contact telephone number for the person in the company responsible for delivering the completed commission.
Insert DPP Metadata to MXF
Insert
Press Insert to take UK DPP metadata from the UK DPP panel template and put it into the loaded MXF file.
Extract DPP XML from MXF
Extract
Press Extract to read UK DPP data from the loaded MXF file and enter it into the UK DPP panel template.
Data Element Definitions (seen as ‘Tooltips’ in the UK DPP Panel within Dalet AmberFin) and indeed the entire UK DPP layout including all of its fields can be edited using the Metadata Layout Editor. The active layout is always determined by the metadata schema located at C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\plugins\metadata_layout.xml. If the UK DPP plugin at your facility has been edited or is ‘custom’, or if a later version of Dalet AmberFin or the UK DPP metadata plugin is used than the version used to write this manual, some of the fields and their descriptions may vary from the information presented here. An article entitled ‘5 Steps to Creating or Modifying a Metadata Schema in Dalet AmberFin’, explaining how to edit metadata plugin layouts can be downloaded from the Dalet AmberFin Academy on the Dalet AmberFin website.
Saving the UK DPP Panel Template Data Press to retain any data that has been entered selected or edited to an xml file associated with the currently loaded form. However, where the UK DPP data is saved to, depends on the Metadata File Mode. In Auto mode, the data will be saved to the same directory as the currently loaded MXF file, using the same name bit with an .xml extension. In Manual mode, and name or director y can be chosen. The ‘MXF_AS02’ mode saves the UK DPP xml metadata to a folder named created in the same directory as the currently loaded mxf file. If any normally required UK DPP data is not present in the UK DPP panel template when is pressed a warning will be given and the missing item categories will be highlighted in red. The warning can be overridden by clicking on in the Save Metadata warning box, but a non-compliant DPP file will be produced. No warning is given when saving metadata if the number of audio tracks or required silence is incorrect. All UK DPP required metadata should be entered before a file is used as a contribution source.
Using the Console Panel The console panel shows the most recent errors diagnosed by the system. For example, if a system problem such as ‘video SDI signal lost during the ingest process’ occurs, Dalet AmberFin will log the error in this window. In this way recent system anomalies can be viewed to help diagnose potential problems.
The logged severity levels are: - shows system progress information and is the lowest severity. - shows an unusual system condition that does not affect its operation. - represents a condition that will negatively impact the system’s o peration. This error buffer can be saved to a file for later examination or record keeping.
Filter Field To get Dalet AmberFin to search this panel, enter characters in the Filter box. Only entries that match the string entered will be listed. Normally at least two or three characters are required for it to function correctly.
SDI Board Genlock Because the SDI encoder can be synchronized to other sources, the bottom portion of the console panel shows the SDI encoder synchronization status.
Sync Source
Sync Status
Interpretation
Input
Free
No input signal
Running Locked
Locked to input signal
Internal
Free Running
Internal signal always running
External
Recovering Locked
Cannot find external reference Locked to reference signal
Using the Pulldown Detection Helper The Pulldown Detection Helper panel is used to set the reference time code on a particular source essence, usually a tape.
Make sure that the Pulldown Detection Helper window is visible by selecting it from the Windows menu. Position the panel on the GUI by clicking on its tab with the mouse and dragging it there. From the library, load the clip that you want to repurpose into the Player. In the Pulldown Detection Helper window, set the field to Player. Set the and parameters to the values for your particular essence. If you do not know these values, you can determine them. With the clip loaded in the Player and the SDI output of the SDI encoder card connected to a broadcast monitor jog through the clip until you see a frame consisting of two different fields on the broadcast monitor. Click on the time code on the cadence window that shows two different fields (e.g. AB, or BC). The time code in this field will change to the current frame’s time code. Continue jogging the clip and verify that the cadence in the Pulldown Detection Helper window corresponds to what you see on the broadcast monitor. If it does not correspond at all, try another pattern. When you are satisfied that the cadence pattern on the tape is the same as viewed in the Pulldown Detection Helper window, then click on the button to set the global time code reference for this tape. Check that this value is placed in the reference time code field.
The current frame indicator showing green may not correspond to the correct frame until the ‘Set Ref’ button is selected.
Using the File Cutting and Splicing Panel The file cutting and splicing panel allows several clips or clip segments to be joined together. The clips can be loaded either from the player or from a directory and their order can be easily manipulated in this panel. Mark in and mark out points can be set directly from this panel or can be set in the player before loading the clip to this panel.
– click on this button to add the clip with its mark in and mark out points to this panel – click on this button to open a file explorer window to retrieve a file from its directory – click on this butt on to load the selected clip in the Dalet AmberFin player panel. This is used if the clip was loaded directly from its directory. – use these directional buttons to move the position of the highlighted clip or clip segment in the desired direction – remove the highlighted clip or clip segment from this panel – click on this button to open a menu showing the conversion profiles available Output Mode – two possible selections: Create Separate Clips, or Join Clips – shows the total duration of the file once all of the c lip segments have been joined together – select to allow the first time code of the first segment to be the starting time code or select and enter the start time code – naming or (type the name in the text field) The restrictions on file cutting and splicing are: clips must be MXF files, they must be ingested as ‘I’ frame only and they must have the same number of uncompressed audio tracks checkbox: when checked, files that are dragged into the File Cutting and Splicing menu will also be imported into the Library at the same time.
Using the Transcode Scheduler Panel To set up a list of timed transcode only events from any accessible source and to occur at any future time, use the Transcode Scheduler.
If this panel isn’t loaded, select it from Windows >> Plugins >> Transcode Scheduler. This optional plugin will only be available if has been selected during installation. See also Using the Transcode Scheduler in Managing Transcode and QC Jobs.
10.
Managing Transcode and QC Jobs
Managing Transcode and QC Jobs Transcode and Quality Control operations can be performed on files in a variety of different ways. The main methods available from the main GUI are: Automatic File Operations using Templates with active Profiles Manual File Operations Using Watch Folders Using the Transcode Scheduler Using LST files (only needed for non-compliant elementary stream assets) Using Templates
Launching Jobs Manually from the Library Using a Watch Folder Using the Transcode Scheduler Using LST Files
Using Templates Templates can be used to determine the format of ingested files, transcoded files and the metrics used for both baseband QC during ingest and file -based QC thereafter. It is also possible to create templates to define simultaneous transcode and QC operations using one or more transcode and/or QC engines for simultaneous multiple transcode and QC jobs.
Transcode or file-based QC To create templates using one or more transcode and/or QC engines use a Transcode + QC template and set the desired profiles active. For more detailed guides see the Performing Ingest with Transcode tutorial, Using a File-based QC Template and the Transcode and QC Templates topic in the Workflow Setup – Output Settings.
Baseband QC during ingest Baseband QC during ingest requires Snell Hyperion hardware and an Ingest SDI QC template. See Ingest SDI QC for details.
File-based QC File based QC takes place after ingest and can be performed on newly ingested files, newly transcoded files, library files or any file accessible within the system. See Unified Quality Control for details. A standard single Dalet AmberFin engine can only carry out one transcoding or standards conversion at a time. Multiple Dalet AmberFin engines must be installed and licensed to carry out multiple transcodes or conversions simultaneously. For multiple simultaneous software QC operations, please refer to the documentation that came with your software QC vendor. If Tektronix Aurora is used, spare cores must be available to support additional VUs. See Unified Quality Control.
Launching Jobs Manually from the Library To perform a manual job, right click on a file entry in the library and select the job type in the submenu. 1. Select a library entry and right click on it. 2. Highlight the entry in the submenu. See Launching Jobs from the Library for more information.
Using a Watch Folder For unattended operation, set up a watch folder so that when specific files are copied to it, Dalet AmberFin automatically performs requested operations on them. At the present time a watch folder cannot be used to configure a transcode and a QC operation at the same time. A QC operation can only be configured to run from a watch folder if a ‘No Transcode’ profile is used. In the Transcode/QC template, you can set a watch folder so that once a file is copied to it, and if certain criteria are met, the requested operations commence. These criteria include: The copied file is compatible with the desired conversion The copied file has the proper file extension The watch folder is set in the currently active repurposing template To create a job watch folder, follow these steps Create a file folder either on the local machine or on a remote storage device. In a template, click on the tab. In the panel, click on the button.
Successively double click on each column and fill each one with the following information: - select the file folder created in step 1 as the watch folder. – select a transcode template type here. – select the type of source file for the repurposing. – activate this watch folder by setting it to – set this to if you want the source file to be removed once it has been repurposed. Do not set this to if you want the same file to be repurposed with different profiles in the same watch folder. – fill in the path to the script that runs before the repurposing process starts. if selected, the script starts running as soon as the source file is copied into the watch folder. It does not block the running of the script.
At least one conversion type must be set in a repurposing template before setting the watch folder ‘Conversion to execute’ field. click on the column and select ‘Cancel’ in the file explorer To remove an existing script, double window. When a remote repurposing job is submitted (the repurposing engine is running on another machine), Dalet AmberFin will set the permissions on host machine hard drives to ‘shared’ until the user manually changes them.
Using the Transcode Scheduler To set up a list of timed transcode only events from any accessible source and to occur at any future time, use the Transcode Scheduler.
If this panel isn’t loaded, select it from Windows >> Plugins >> Transcode Scheduler. This optional plugin will only be available if has been selected during installation. Begin by clicking on the to display the tool.
Select a by typing an entry in format, or by clicking on the calendar icon to the right of the entry box to display the applet. Then select a using the spin controls provided. Click on the button to select a file from available storage to transcode. Select a (Profile Group) and , using the dropdown arrows. Click when done.
The selected entry will appear in the scheduler with entries for . Continue to add scheduled events as required. To edit an entry highlight it in the Scheduler and click on To delete an entry highlight it and click on . To remove past events, click on .
,
and
.
The display date order of the events can be changed by clicking on the
next to Start.
Using LST Files LST files are only needed to process elementary stream assets whose audio components do not adhere to the following naming convention: Video_Asset_Name_A0.wav Video_Asset_Name_A1.wav Video_Asset_Name_A2.wav and so on
To get round the problem, the elementary stream components can be repurposed by encapsulating them in another file type, called an LST (List) file and copying that file into a repurposing watch folder. The watch folder in Dalet AmberFin must be programmed to recognize the LST file type (.lst file extension) to apply the repurposing engine to the files indicated inside the LST file. To create a suitable watch folder, follow the steps in the previous example except that: In step 4 ensure that the extension is selected from the drop down box and choose a suitable name for the folder (i.e. WatchFolderLST).
Then create an LST file and copy it to the newly created LST watch folder; i.e. C:\Monitor\WatchFolderLST. An LST file can be created in a simple text editor such as Notepad, but don’t forget to use an .lst extension.
The LST file contains the paths to the elementary stream essence files to be repurposed. Only one video essence file along with its corresponding audio essence files should be in one LST file. This is NOT a batch processing method, and non-related essence files must not be put in the same LST file. Audio essence files should also be in order of ascending track number; A0 first, A1 next and so on. The conversion should appear in the Job Status panel and its progress can be monitored there.
11.
Unified Quality Control
Unified Quality Control UQC (Unified Quality Control) has been introduced to allow multiple vendor QC solutions to be integrated under one Dalet AmberFin hood. Specifically it allows specialist plug-ins to be installed which can then carry out measurements against both preset and custom templates.
UQC Management Components Dalet AmberFin uses a software QC management component that collates the metric data from all the various third party plug-ins.
The UQC Unifier manages all QC jobs and performs two-way translation between third party plug-ins. This ensures that plug-ins are given instructions they understand and that metrics results are always in a format that Dalet AmberFin needs to display in the Dalet AmberFin Unified timeline. This universal format is qcml, and its default viewer is the Dalet AmberFin player and the detailed (unified) timeline. The returned metric data is also available in qcml for integration into Dalet AmberFin status panels and detailed reports that can be viewed using appropriate style sheets in compatible browsers.
UQC Installation Please refer to the knowledge article “Dalet Amberfin UQC Installation Quick Reference Guide”: https://portal.dalet.com/icarewiki/daletwikiv91a.nsf/dx/UQC_Installation_Quick_Reference_ Guide
Tektronix Aurora At present the main third party plug-in supported is Tektronix Aurora. The Aurora Controller is the QC job manager. It has a web interface and is used to configure Aurora templates and receive jobs from the Aurora plug-in. The Aurora Verification Unit (VU) is the QC engine that processes each file. Each VU runs on a single machine core and is licensed separately. Each VU can QC a single file. If more processing throughput is required, then additional VUs can be added to spare cores on the same machine. Once 3 cores are supporting 3 VUs on a single machine, it becomes more cost effective to move to Enterprise Architecture with an Aurora server. Please talk to your Dalet AmberFin representative for more information.
The Unified Timeline Panel The UQC Unifier presents the collated data in the timeline panel in the form of color coded alerts if problems are found and also updates the progress of QC jobs in the Job and UQC Status panels. The following example has QC results in the unified timeline from Tektronix Aurora file-based QC and Snell’s Hyperion baseband QC engine.
Performing QC Review When ingest completes, the ingest file is transferred to the Player and at this point error events can be reviewed and if necessary, accepted as OK, before saving and unloading the file. Color coding is as follows: Color
Meaning
Red
An Error
Dark Yellow
A Warning
Gray
Information
Green
Reviewed; OK
QC Progress Stages However, quality control can be performed at various stages of a job, for example at ingest, after ingest, but before any transcoding or conversion and after transcoding. To help operators easily distinguish between these possible phases of a job, progress numbers are used to identify them. For example a series of QC checks might proceed as follows:
Progress No.
QC Stage
Example Task
0
st 1QC Check
1
2ndQC Check
After Ingest
2
3rdQC Check
After 1
st
3
th 4QC Check
After 2
nd
At Ingest Transcode Transcode
To review error events move through the file and pause where events have occurred. To display the in-context Review menu right click on an error bar. To view error status, hold the button down while positioning the cursor over the colored error bars. In the example pictured below, the cursor is positioned over the dark yellow Minimum APL Warning bar while the button is held down to display the pop up info box.
The pop up window displays a summary of the error information for that particular position in the timeline. Error conditions take precedence over warnings. Therefore, when an error condition exists, a red bar indicating this will cover the previous gold bar that displayed the warning.
Manually Overriding a QC Event To change the status of an error or warning, right click on its bar to obtain the QC menu, select and clicktothe to . If the event’s color bar had been red it would change green. button to change its status from In the following example a dark yellow low APL warning has been accepted as OK.
Errors and warnings accepted as normal can have their status reverted back to at any time during the QC review process. Events marked as gray for information cannot be changed to another color, but comments can be added.
Adding Comments By selecting the option, a comment may be added to justify this change or to provide more details about the event. Simultaneously press the key and the cursor over the QC event error bar to display the window.
Don’t forget to save the file in the Player; the QC report will be appended automatically.
Working with QC Templates Since Dalet AmberFin UQC supports multiple vendors, the range of templates available will be largely dependent on third party software. For example, a hardware based QC engine such as Snell’s Hyperion might be employed to perform QC at Ingest to check for VTR playback issues as well as common audio, video and time code faults. While a software QC
package such as Tektronix Aurora Pro could be used to check for common file and wrapper issues as well as compliance violations such as metadata and delivery metrics. Tektronix Aurora, is an example of a comprehensive QC system that can be used to perform QC at ingest on streams and non-file sources, as well as during transcode and subsequently on any file in the system. For a tutorial explaining how to create a template, useful for running QC scanning without doing any transcode, see Using a File-based QC Template. For a more general approach allowing QC profiles to be added to transcode jobs, see the Transcode and QC Templates topic within Workflow Setup – Output Settings. For help with getting started with Hyperion baseband templates seethe Ingest SDI QC topic in Workflow Setup Ingest. For more information concerning creating custom templates, please refer to the documentation that came with your hardware or software based QC package.
Using Watch Folders and QC on the Fly QC profiles can be run on files in the library. Highlight the library entry and select a QC profile in the same way that that a transcode profile can be applied as explained in Managing Transcode and QC Jobs. Another way to perform QC on a file is to create a QC watch directory and copy files to it. These copied files, if they meet the set parameters, will have the QC engine run on them. See Using a Watch Folder.
Monitoring QC Progress As a QC check completes, its status can be checked in Dalet AmberFin in the panels.
The Job Status Panel The
and
The UQC Status Panel
panel shows the QC status of all files in the library. It will only be present if the has been installed and has been selected in the Dalet AmberFin
File menu.
Marking Up Files The markup function allows you to define categories within a program. For example in a soccer match ‘Bars’ ‘Clock’ ‘Black’ ‘Start’ ‘Kick-off’ ‘Goal1’ ‘Penalty’ ‘Red Card’ ‘Break’ Save’ ‘Substitution’ ‘Goal2’ ‘Final Whistle’ ‘Credits’ ‘End’. This is useful for a range of versioning and review tasks.
To use markup, in select a template and load the required clip in the player panel. Enter and points to identify clip segments that you want to apply textual markup to and then select the . Right click on the timeline to show markup options. The textual categories available are defined in the Mark Up template and must be selected as active before marking up any files. See Mark Up Templates for more information. A QCML file is created whenever a file is loaded in the player and a mark up profile is active. To add a comment to a clip, right click on the marked event in blue and select from the submenu.
Type the user name and comment, click changes click on .
and then click
. To back out without making any
Any comments that have been added are displayed as the cursor is hovered over marked up events in the timeline.
Viewing QC Reports The QC data collected is saved in a qcml file and can be viewed in a browser. Open the , right click on a file that has been reviewed and select . The file will open in the default browser. Use a browser that reads and reformats xml to obtain a user friendly view of the contents. The information is the same as seen on the detailed timeline but is presented in an easy-to-read format. The QC parameters are displayed on the left of the page with the thumbnail images on the right.
A QC report is generated every time the QC engine is run on the file. This includes QC during ingest, when run from the library, and when a file is copied into an active QC folder. If the QC process is run multiple times on the same file, then each series of QC events is appended to the existing qcml report. Differences seen in QC reports generated during ingest from those generated from the library or QC watch folders are related to hardware warm up time and that VBI events are only shown during ingest. Original clips source time code can now be used as a reference point, making it easier to refer back to source material to see where an error may be present. To support this feature, there are improved methods of handling time code breaks.
12.
Segmentation, Splicing and Joining
Segmentation, Splicing and Joining Segmentation The Segmentation track in the Timeline panel has been provided to quickly allow assemble editing of sections of a clip or entire clips. Once with Mark In and Out have been Track, the ‘EDL’ sections can thencreated be transferred to the Cut Mark and Splice Engine fortransferred assembly. to the Segmentation To create a segment for transferal, drag the Scrubber Bar to the beginning of the segment and press the (i) button on the keyboard or right click the t imecode track and select , then drag the Scrubber Bar to the end of the segment and press (o) on the keyboard, or right click the timecode track and select . The keyboard short cuts do not work if the timeline panel has been undocked. Segments can also be quickly created from QC events or manual mark-up by right-clicking on the event and selecting
To use the segmentation sub-menus, right click on the Segment Track.
To play the segment, right click it and select . To transfer it to the Segment Track, select . The sub-menu provides the following commands: – hides the selected segment. There is no delete command. – edit the segment label. – splits the selected segment at the Scrubber Bar position. – performs the described action. – performs the described action. When ready use the command to transfer the visible (not hidden) segments to the panel. See File Cutting and Splicing.
File Cutting and Splicing The clips together.
panel enables you to divide a file into separate clips and/or join several files or
Loading Clips A file is loaded into the panel from the panel, from or from the in the Timeline. See Segmentation for help with using the Segmentation Track.
Loading From the Player Load an ingested file to from the library into the player. Use the scrubber bar to locate the desired clip and set the points in the player to define its start and end. In the panel, click on the button. Continue adding new clips, loading new files to the pla yer if desired.
Loading the File from its Storage Location Click on the button in the panel. Highlight a file and click on to load it. It will appear in the File Cutting and Splicing panel with mark in and mark out time codes that correspond to the first and last frames of the clip. If the loaded clip in the panel needs to be trimmed, double click on the mark in or mark out time code field to invoke the time code calculator. Enter the desired value in the calculator and click ‘OK.’ Alternatively, you can load this clip to the player by selecting the entry and clicking on . In the player set the mark in and mark out points as detailed above and load it back to the panel by clicking on the button. The input file must be an MXF file with uncompressed audio. All the clips must have the same number of audio tracks The srcinal clip remains in the File Cutting and Splicing panel after you’ve added a new clip from the player. If this is not desired, highlight the entry and click on the Remove button
Converting the Clips Once all the clips have been added to the in the field in the by selecting the clip and using the or
panel, select either or panel. If required, change the clip order buttons.
If is selected, select the start time code by either using the first mark in value or by manually setting a beginning time code. Note that the joined file duration is shown in the field. Set the to or . Automatic will name the file using the naming pattern set up in the conversion profile used. Manual will use the name specified. Click on the button and select a repurposing profile.
If was selected, each clip will be repurposed to a separate file and saved in the programmed directory If was selected, all the clips in the panel will be joined in order and then repurposed to a single file.
Using Time Slices The Switch to Time Slice button in the Player menu allows the srcinal time code of multiple clips with discontinuous time code to be used with their srcinal time code instead of the Dalet AmberFin regenerated time code normally shown in the time line. In this example a Dalet AmberFin engine has been set to loop play mode to output a single file many times. Upon ingest in a second Dalet AmberFin, a file is created with multiple short clips, each with the same time code.
obtained by creating one or more sub-clips with the option.
and
The option to use the srcinal time code of each clip can be points and then exporting the clip using
When the button is clicked, the changes to the srcinal time code. To save this clip click , to revert to the timeline time code, click on , to back out without making any changes click on .
13.
Workflow Setup
Workflow Setup The subject of using templates and profiles to define particular workflow setups was introduced in the topic, Using the Setup Panel. Templates are used to customize the entire workflow from ingest to output. They provide flexibility and allow specific needs to be targeted. Rather than manually re-entering many different values for each kind of deliverable, a template can be used to give the exact values needed for a specific job or client. Templates can also be invoked from web services.
The setup panel is divided into four sections. The top section provides access to the ‘lock down’ that can be used to control which parameters are available. The second section is for programming ingest and includes selection and configuration, hardware based Ingest SDI QC and four templates categories; , conventions, and . The are the template categories most associated with performing and/or software and applying in the Detailed Timeline. Each template editor has a similar format. The name of the template editor is shown first. It identifies the type of parameters the template sets. Next is a drop down list which displays the currently selected template. After installation, most templates have at least one default template set with commonly used values. This is intended to provide a starting set of parameters to get the system running as soon as possible. To manage templates and create new ones, click on the more icon [ … ] following a template name in the drop down template name box.
A submenu will be displayed with four choices: Edit
Displays the fields selected for the active template so that you can change them
New
Provides a blank template, which is used to create templates from scratch
Delete
Deletes the currently active template. If there is only one active template, this selection is grayed out
Rename
Allows the name of the template to be changed without affecting its parameter settings
Selecting
will also allow a new template to be created usi ng the existing categories and types.
Avid Interplay If you want to check-in directly to Avid Interplay, do the following 1. 2. 3.
Under Setup Tab, you will find under Active Profile Groups the option - Avid Interplay. Next toit, select the “…” button and select “New” Please configure the IP address, username and password. Please configure an Avid Template Settings dialog / profile for the Interplay root URL. This is a requirement, as you can only connect to “interplay//” + workgroup, and not just “interplay://”
4.
The Headframe offset value (in seconds) is the position from the start of the media that the headframe will be created from. (“Create Headframe” option moved to Output Processing under Avid Settings (see Figure 2). When this option is enabled it will disable all of the thumbnail options apart from Thumbnail Width and Height.)
5.
In the profile, select AAF format under Wrapping, which will enable to configure it for AVID Check In.
6.
Configure AVID Check In under Output Processing.
Ingest Settings Ingest The ingest encoder parameter templates are located in the upper half of the panel. They determine the video and audio setup of the I encoders. The current Dalet AmberFin software release supports SDI video input via a Matrox video card. See Prerequisites. Support for the external MPEG2 Memphis encoder and ASI over SDI has been discontinued.
The SDI Encoder The SDI encoder tab configures the SDI Video I/O card and associated facilities.
– a drop down box containing the programmed SDI encoder video templates – a drop down box containing the programmed SDI encoder audio templates – configuration options for or hardware QC – the current state of the input SDI signal to the SDI card. Possible values are: - input to SDI encoder andisactive template are compatible – no input to SDI encoder detected – input to SDI encoder is not compatible with the acti ve template
SDI Video Settings – Source To access Video settings, click on the [ … ] button next to the video drop down list and select either .
or
The codec options shown in this example depend on the format and frame rate of the connected input and, which of the installed codecs have been selected.
Parameter
Values
Comment
MPEG2 Profile
DefaultProfile.xml XDCAMProfile.xml
Allows custom compliant profiles. Select Open File Location to create a new profile in an xml editor based on the currently loaded version.
Bitrate (Mbps)
3 to 15 Mbps
Value chosen depends on target decoder capability, input picture size and bitrate
Average Bitrate (Mbps)
3 to 15 Mbps
VBR mode only
Mode
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR
Output bitrate varies within a specific range; enables Average Bitrate
Capture VBI
Enable, Disable
Allow the encoder to capture the VBI
I-Frame Only
Enable, Disable
I-Frame only will grey out all GOP and B Frame settings
Number of BFrames
0 to 5
Increments of 1
Number of frames in a GOP
3 to 100
Increments of 1
Closed GOP Interval
Never, or 1 to 20
Use Open GOPs or select length of closed GOP
Adaptive GOP Length
Enable/Disable
Enabling AGOP can improve coding efficiency
Quantization Matrix
High bitrate contoured
Custom Flat Auto Higher DC Precision
Enable/Disable
Insert Omneon captions in MPEG user data
Enable/Disable
Insert S328M timecode in MPEG
Enable/Disable
Allocate more bits to specify the precision of the DC coefficient. May be required for high motion sources to be encoded at high bit rates.
user data
SDI Video Settings – Wrappers Wrapper and audio format options are dependent on the video source and codec chosen.
SDI Inputs and Codecs Video Codec
MPEG-2 4:2:0 MPEG-2 4:2:2
Uncompr essed YUV 4:2: 2 8 bits Uncompr essed YUV 4:2:2 10 bits
SDI Input
NTSC
DVCAM / DV25 4:1:1 (NTSC), 4:2:0 (PAL)
DVCPRO 4:1:1 DVCPRO 50 4:2:2
DVCPRO HD 100 4:2:2
Apple ProRes
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
D10 (IMX)
XDCAM HD
MPEG4 AVC – Intra 10 bit
DNxHD
(720x48 6), 29.971 PAL (720x57 6), 251 NTSC (720x51 2), 29.971
√
PAL (720x60 8), 251
√
720p (1280x7 20), 50P
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
720p (1280x7 20), 59P
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
720p (1280x7 20), 60P
√
√
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 23SF
√
√
√
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 24SF
√
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 25SF
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 251
√
√
√
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 29.97 I
√
√
√
√
√
1080P
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 301
√
√
1080P (1920x1 080), 30 SF
√
√
√
(1920x1 080), 29.97 SF √
√
Codec, Wrappers and Audio Formats
Video Codecs
Wrappers
Audio Formats
MPEG-2 4:2:0 MPEG-2 4:2:2
MXF Op1a interleaved
AES, WAV
Program Stream / Program Stream Elementary Stream
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
AVI / MOV (Final Cut Pro) Uncompressed YUV 4:2:2 8 bits
MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) MOV (Final Cut Pro)
Broadcast WAV
Uncompressed YUV 4:2:2 10 bits
AVI
AES, WAV
DVCAM / DV25 4:1:1 (NTSC), 4:2:0 (PAL) DVCPRO 4:1:1 DVCPRO 50 4:2:2
MXF OP1a interleaved
AES, WAV
Elementary Streams
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
MOV (Final Cut Pro)
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
P2 MXF MOV (Final Cut Pro) Apple ProRes
MXF Op1a (D10/IMX)
D10 (IMX)
MXF Op1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version)
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
Broadcast WAV
Transport Stream / Program Stream Elementary Stream
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
MOV (Final Cut Pro)
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
MXF Op1a(XDCAM)
XDCAM HD
AVI
AES, WAV
MXF OP1a interleaved
AES, WAV
√
Video Codecs
Wrappers
Audio Formats
DVCPRO HD 100 4:2:2
Elementary Streams
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
MOV (Final Cut Pro)
AES, WAV, Broadcast WAV, AIFF
P2 MXF MXF OP1a interleaved
AES, WAV
AAF
DNxHD
MXF OP1a interleaved
AES, WAV
P2 MXF MPEG4 AVC Intra – 10 bit
MXF-AS02 (Simple Version)
Broadcast WAV
MXF OP1a interleaved
AES, WAV
P2 MXF
Details presented in these tables are subject to change and may not represent codecs installed on any particular system.
SDI Video Settings - Time Code
– the line number on the incoming SDI signal that contains VITC – the line number on the outgoing SDI signal t hat contains VITC – the second line on the outgoing SDI signal that contains VITC – select Auto, NDF or DF – a button that passes time code through on the same line as is set on the input line. When done save the video template and provide a name when prompted.
The SDI audio settings can either be embedded audio or AES / EBU audio received on the XLR connectors from the audio daughter board. Each has its own set of parameters that need to be set. The input screen contains parameters that need to be selected according to your specific situation.
– the source of t he audio, either embedded or AES / EBU – the specific audio input pair – checkbox to enable monitoring and encoding of this audio input – the desired format for the output audio. Can be PCM, MP1L2., or SurCode for Dolby Digital. – the PES track number where the audio is encoded. If multiple audio inputs are selected, you can group them using the group button on the right of the panel. In this way, multiple audio inputs can be output on the same channel. To group these audio sources in the same PES, simply hold the Ctrl button, click on the multiple audio sources to select them and then click on the button. This will move all the audio pairs to the same line. The position of each audio pair can also be changed by using the or buttons. This allows you to move any channel pair to any output track. MP1 L2 audio is incompatible with the AVI or MOV wrapper. If you try to set these formats together, an error will display either on setup or during ingest.
Options The audio settings button opens another dialog box where additional audio parameters can be set. For there are three bit rate choices 16, 20, or 24 Kbps. For the options dialog can set several different encode bitrates: 128 Kbps up to 384 Kbps
For there are numerous encoding parameters in the following groups, Audio Service, Bitstream Information, Advanced and Extended Bitstream Information. See SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoding Options for further help (the decoder configuration form has similar options to that used for output encoding). When working with multiple Dolby channels, group them together to configure 5.1 options. From software Dalet AmberFin allows D10 with 4 channels of PCM 24 bit audio, which is carried through to the ingested file. If you set more than 4 channels of PCM 24 bit audio, a warning message is given during ingest and PCM 16 bit is substituted for PCM 24 bit audio in the target file. When done save the audio template and provide a name when prompted.
Having confidence that the ingest quality is good is very important in the ingest process and can be performed using both Aurora and Hyperion. However, only the later system can respond to alerts generated by the VTR transport itself. Hyperion allows quality control parameters to be set and like Aurora, provides real time feedback in the Detailed Timeline together with QC reports once the ingest is finished. Both video and audio parameters are monitored. The default SDI QC templates available are: None No hardware based QC PAR & Audio Picture Appraisal Ratio and Audio Baseband QC is performed by a hardware baseband device such as IQ, Hyperion.The default settings in these default templates start with the same identical values. To configure a selected template to suit your own requirements open the tab and in the top SDI area either select an existing template (i.e. PAR & Audio or Baseband) or click on the [ … ] button alongside and click on to begin from scratch or to start with default values. When all tabs have been configured click on to over write the named template or to create a new one. backs out without making any changes.
VTR QC Parameters To enable VTR monitored alarms select the
the difference is the error level good, indeterminable, doubtful, or no good
tab from the . Check the appropriate boxes to enable the named functions. Check the appropriate boxes to enable the named functions. – reference video is not connected to the reference video in port – hardware anomalies such as tape sticking to mechanism, tape slack and others – capstan or drum servos have lost lock when in play, record, or edit mode – tape transport errors are reported such as tape broken, tape jam or incorrect tape tension – abnormalities seen in either servo or sensor system – errors in system monitors are reported – video playback has lacked data for 12 frames or more – confidence head playback is verified against the recording data; – playback data error levels are
Baseband QC Parameters To configure dedicated QC hardware select the tab from the . Baseband QC uses dedicated hardware such as the 1U or 3U QC hardware gateway to monitor the signal before it goes through the onboard video encoder. Video characteristics such as ‘stillness’ and ‘blackness’ are set at specific thresholds. If the input signal crosses these set thresholds, a baseband error displays on the detailed timeline and is logged in the qcml error report. Check the appropriate boxes to enable the named functions. – the IP address of the hardware rack. Assigned in the hardware gateway card setup – determines if Dalet AmberFin is connected and communicating with the hardware rack – clicking on this button shows all of the hardware parameters in another window – a drop down box that allows the module used to perform QC to be selected – a drop down box that indicates the active baseband QC memory profile being applied There are two types of configuration memory, in the Dalet AmberFin GUI and in the Hyperion. Go to to setup a memory slot in the Hyperion card itself.
Hyperion (Baseband) Configuration Menus Black/Blackish
Log Inp 1 Aud Clipping
Log Inp 1 Monitor 1
Memory 1-16
PID
Ancillary Data
RollTrack
Log Inp 1 Dolby E State
Log Inp 1 Monitor 2
On Screen Display
Audio Level Indicators
Freeze/Stillish
Log Inp 1 Aud Likeness
Log Inp 1 Aud Bit Depth
Log Inp 1 Aud State
Alarm Enable Summary
WSS/VI AFD
Video Monitor
Log Inp 1 UMD/PID
Log Inp 1 Aud Level
Log Misc
Audio Likeness
Audio Data
Closed Captions
Log Out 1 UMD/PID
Log Inp 1 Aud Type
Setup
UMD
Audio Level Detectors
Please refer to the documentation that came with your Hyperion card for a configuration guide.
Video QC parameters To set video alarm limits select the tab from the . Check the appropriate boxes to enable the named functions. – set the desired; values outside this range give an error – set the encoding bit rate range; values outside the limits give an error
To set audio alarm limits select the tab from the . Check the appropriate boxes to enable the named functions. – the absence of sound indicated by a low threshold decibel value and the duration of the silence – a low level of sound indicated by a range of decibel values and its duration – an upper limit of sound indicated by an upper threshold decibel value and a duration To configure time code options select the tab from the .
When enabled, time code discontinuities will be reported. When enabled, allows the 'Number of sequential frames' configuration to be used. (When using VITC) How many linear continuous frames are counted before reporting a new 'time slice'. The default for this value is 10. This means a time code discontinuity which lasts for 9 frames will not be reported as a new 'time slice'. (When using RS422 time code) How many linear continuous frames should be allowed before reporting a new 'time slice'. The default for this value is 5. This means a discontinuity which lasts for 4 frames will not be reported.
Storage Templates Storage templates give the location parameters where ingested clips are saved. The locations can be local to the machine or on a network. These templates are particularly convenient if the path names are long and difficult to remember. Since Dalet AmberFin supports Unicode, file folders given names other than English are recognized as valid storage locations. In addition, Dalet AmberFin verifies that the path is correct and gives an error if it cannot find the path.
Click on the [ … ] button to open the browse panel to find or create an ingest output folder. The write buffer size can also be set in the storage templates. This determines the maximum number of bytes that Dalet AmberFin writes to the disk at any one time. Adjusting this parameter allows Dalet AmberFin to be compatible with various disk storage systems. The default values and restrictions are shown in the table below.
Field Name
Value Restrictions
Automatic
Default Values: MXF – 1 Mbyte TS or PS – 512 Kbyte
Manual Size
Minimum Value: 1 Mbyte
Naming Pattern Templates Naming Pattern templates provide a custom file-naming format for ingested files. Numerous format strings are available for pertinent information such as month, date, or time of day. Simply fill in the file name with the desired format strings in the text box at the top of the window and save under an appropriate template name.
Format Symbol
Format Definition
%f
Current Video Input Template
%g
Current Audio Input Template
%a
Abbreviated weekday name
%A
Full weekday name
%b
Abbreviated month name
%B
Full month name
%C
Data input in the Clip Field
%d
Day of month as decimal number (01 – 31)
%e
Use comment field in VTR Batch Record Panel
%H
Hour in 24 hour format (00 – 23)
%I
Hour in 12 hour format (01 – 12)
%j
Day of year as decimal number (001 – 366)
%m
Month as a decimal number (01 – 12)
%M
Minute as a decimal number (00 – 59)
%p
Current locale AM/PM indicator for 12 hour clock
%R
Data input in the Reel Field
%S
Second as a decimal number (00 - 59)
%U
Week of the year as decimal number, with Sunday as first day of the week (00 – 53)
%w
Weekday as decimal number (0 – 6, Sunday is 0)
%W
Week of the year as decimal number, with Monday as first day of the week (00 – 53)
%y
Year without century, as decimal number (00 – 99)
%Y
Year with century as a decimal number
Putting %z in the string will display the unit's programmed time zone and placing two consecutive % signs will display whatever is after the first % sign. Including %Z at the end adds an incremental number to the end of the file name if an attempt is made to ingest with an identical file name. For example, %d%m%Y_%Z allows multiple ingest using the date. Characters that are considered illegal for Windows f ile naming such as ‘/’ or ‘?” will have the underscore substituted for them in the filename.
Two examples of a naming pattern are given below. In the first, a string, ‘Dalet AmberFin’, is used in conjunction with the month, date, and time. In the second example, the day of the week, month, date and time are used. The formatted string in each case is what appears in the library after the file is saved.
Proxy Editor Templates Dalet generate videoasset. proxies of thecan input asanywhere it is ingested. This provides a do lower easily AmberFin accessiblecan copy of the video Proxies besignal viewed on the network and notquality necessarily demand other instances of a Dalet AmberFin player. For example, if a Windows Media format is chosen, then all that is needed to know is the file name and its location to monitor ingests with Windows Media Player. Currently, Dalet AmberFin generates proxies in the following formats: QuickTime (Sorenson Video 3) QuickTime (H.264 / AVC) Windows Media 9 MPEG-1 (Program Stream) MPEG-1 (System Stream) • • • • •
Program a template of your specific proxy format and Dalet AmberFin will create the proxies. Templates of each type are easily created. The quality of the proxy file is controlled by a quality parameter in the case of a QuickTime proxy and a bitrate parameter in the case of a Windows Media proxy.
QuickTime
The QuickTime (H264 / AVC) has similar parameter fields. The relevant fields to program are: the type of codec that creates the proxy the width in pixels of the proxy output – the default value is 352 pixels and the maximum value is 400 pixels.
the file name pattern to use with the proxy files. The lower half of the panel displays the naming format characters. the location that stores the proxies. the relative quality of the proxy picture with 100 representing the best quality. – checkbox to enable time code burn in on the proxy – controls the vertical position of the time code on the proxy (% of proxy height, 100 = bottom) – controls the size of the time code characters (% of picture width) – choice to blend fields together or to use only one field of the pair to form a picture
Windows Media 9
The relevant fields to program are: the type of codec used to create the proxy the width in pixels of the proxy output – the default value is 352 pixels and the maximum value is 400 pixels. the file name pattern to use with the proxy files. The naming format characters are given in the lower half of the panel. the location where the proxies will be stored. the output bitrate of the proxy picture. Maximum is 3.0 Mbps, and minimum is 0.5 Mbps. – checkbox to enable time code burn in on the proxy – controls the vertical position of the time code on the proxy (% of proxy height, 100 = bottom) – controls the size of the time code characters (% of proxy picture width) – choice to blend fields together or to use only one field of t he pair to form a picture
MPEG-1
The relevant fields to program are: the type of codec used to create the proxy the width in pixels of the proxy output – the default value is 352 pixels and the maximum value is 400 pixels. the file name pattern to use with the proxy files. The naming format characters are given in the lower half of the panel. the location where the proxies will be stored. the output bitrate of the proxy picture. Maximum is 3.0 Mbps, and minimum is 0.5 Mbps. – size of the GOP – checkbox to enable time code burn in on the proxy – controls the vertical position of the time code on the proxy (% of height, 100 = bottom) – controls the size of the time code characters (% of picture width) – choice to blend fields together or to use only one field of the pair to form a picture
Router Control This facility has been provided to allow sources available at an attached IQSRT00 router to be selected during ingest configuration.
An available input is selected by first connecting to an IQ chassis, then selecting an input at one of the installed modules. For further help with using this option, please contact Dalet AmberFin support.
Output Settings Output Settings The ,
area at the bottom of the Setup panel provides controls for the following; ,
,
and
.
For each template category there are four options that appear when clicking on the modify follows the template select [ ] pulldown arrow.
If
tab that
is chosen both and options are provided; overwrites the existing template, but allows an existing template to be modified and saved as a different template with a new name.
Output Template Options Output templates specify system actions on output. These include generating an XML file containing metadata, running a post ingest script, and enabling the display of time code on the displays. There are five tabs in this template:
Output Template Editor - General
Under the
tab, the follow parameters can be set: – this script runs during ingest and starts as soon as the first clip information is returned. The time for this information varies by file type but is signaled by the time code fields updating in the Player. – specifies the path of a script that runs after the c ompleted ingest is saved. – the email addresses of individuals who will be notified when the ingest finishes. Clicking on this selection will show a submenu where specific email parameters need to be entered. – determines the field order of the SDI output stream. – keeps the same order as the input – encode the output to display the bottom field first – encode the output to display the top field first For the field dominance parameter to take effect, you must stop and restart the incoming video stream. This can be done by loading and then unloading a clip from the library. – sets the GUI Player aspect ratio – keep the aspect ratio of the input signal – force the aspect ratio to be 4:3 – force the aspect ratio to be 16:9
Under the
tab of the Output Template Editor the following parameters can be set:
parameters for the time code position in the GUI viewer – checkbox to enable time code display in player/recorder windows – position of the time code from the top of the picture – width of the time code string (minimum 20%, maximum 80% of picture width) – parameters for time code burnt into the output SDI s treams – checkbox to activate time code display on the first SDI output – checkbox to activate time code display on the second SDI output – position of the burnt time code from the top of the picture
Under the Playback tab, the following CC (Closed Caption) parameters can be set:
Play Closed Captions (CC) from: - use this option for SMPTE 436M files such as XDCAM MXF - use this for option to playback Omneon captions from MPEG user data – use this option to playback ATSC A53 captions from MPEG user data – this option is only applicable to caption playback from tall MPEG in SD
Under the PreRoll tab, the following parameter can be set:
Set the Pre Roll (and Post Roll) value in seconds in the box provided.
Under the Transcode tab, the following parameter can be set:
Select the directory configured under
Click on Click on
for storing the output from transcodes. This is not the same as the storage which is to store ingested files.
to name and save the new template. (option present only when editing a template) to save an existing template with a new name.
Transcode and QC Templates The Transcode plus QC tool within the Active Profile Groups in the main Setup tab offers a number of standard factory supplied conversion templates together with user created custom templates. It also allows software QC from multiple QC vendors to be combined with transcode to enable a Unified workflow. This section builds on the conversion and QC tutorials with additional walk-through help and reference material. If you are new to this subject we recommend that you follow the Performing Transcode with Ingest tutorial and the Using a File-based QC Template, tutorial based on using Aurora QC. See also Managing Transcode and QC Jobs for a general discussion of the subject.
Creating a New Transcode Template In this section we will explain the process of editing and creating a conversion template with one Repurposing Profile. An individual conversion profile does not need to be selected or made active in Setup to enable on-the-fly conversion from the Library or File Explorer. The available options depend on Source Selection and Encoder settings. In this section we will discuss the most important settings and provide a worked example based on the MPEG-4 AVC output profile. To create a new transcode template and configure the options, proceed as follows: Open the from the In the Active Profile Groups area select an appropriate template in the drop down box Click on the button to the right of the selection.
Select
from the submenu to create a new template containing the profiles from the existing template, or
select to start from scratch. The Template Editor opens.
Click on the button at the bottom of the . Dalet AmberFin can now support both Transcoding and QC in one profile. If UQC has been licensed, a third tab labelled QC appears between Conversions and Watch folders. Please refer to Creating Software QC Templates for further details. A new Profile entry appears with the default name of .
Rename the profile to reflect the required task, then hit return (or click in another text entry field) and click on Edit.
Use the pull-down Conversion Profile selector to choose the required transcode. The title will change to reflect the new profile name when the form has been saved. – drop down box containing the available target file formats, which may include: MPEG-4 AVC (H.264)
Avid Pinnacle Mediastream
MPEG-4 AVC Intra
MPEG-2 IMX (D10)
MPEG-4 H.264 MXF Proxy
MPEG-2 IMX (D10) - Video Windows Media 9
MPEG-2 Generic
Windows Media 9 - VC-1
MPEG-1
DNxHD
QuickTime
File Wrapping / Demultiplexing
DV
Uncompressed
Apple ProRes
JPEG 2000
Some of the codecs in the above table are licensed and the list may not represent the actual codecs available on your system. – contains the IP address or PC name of the machine running the controller server. The controller can send a job to one of many groups. This server must be running on a machine that is on the local LAN because access across gateways is not possible. By default, the controller is local to the machine. This can be left as (except when working with HA Farms, see HA Farm Installation). – refers to the specific group of repurposing engine servers or HA Farms which can be local to the machine or on remote machines. The group handles the job allocation to the specific repurposing engines. The area headed Parameters is used to define a wide range of settings for the chosen Conversion Template. Global Preset and Source/ Encoder settings that are selected at the top of the Setup panel determine the options that the Repurposing Configurator will offer. All of these settings will in turn, affect what is displayed in other on-screen forms and not just what type of target output is to be created.
Example Transcode Configuration Form
The next section provides an example of the type of configuration available.
New Conversion Template Example An example of the parameters available for the MPEG-2 Generic conversion profile is included below. Available transcode parameters may change as software is updated or options are added.
Input
Function
Value
Comment and more values
Video
Field order (Interlace Dominance) Override
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (Bottom field first)
MPEG2
Checkbox
Tick to remove visible VBI Lines
QuickTime
Yes/No
Use QuickTime SDK (if possible)
Audio
-250 to +250 milliseconds
Apply time offset to group. See Audio Offset.
Origin/Precharge Handling
Checkbox
Remove Frames
Auxiliary Data
Source priority for Aspect Ratio signaling (WSS / AFD) data Select sources for CEA608/708 caption data, VBI bypass and Ancillary bypass
See Using Auxiliary Data
Timecode Selection
Manual start time code Choose timecode stream initialization sources
See Time Code Selection.
Output
Function Picture Compression Preprocessing
Value
Off, Soft 4. Soft 3, Soft 2, Soft 1, Sharp 1, Sharp 2
Comment and more values A factor applied before conversion to improve picture quality for the same bitrate or the same quality at a lower bitrate. See note*.
Scaling
Scaler mode, Output Interface and Conversion quality
Determines how the scaler function is to be used – see Scaling.
Format
Output Chroma, Color Space Conversion, Bit Depth, Dithering Mode
Determines quality associated with the settings profile. See Output Format Options.
Temporal
As Input, Nearest Frame, Motion Compensated (SD), Advanced Motion Compensation (SD/HD)
See Choosing a Conversion Mode.
Overlays
Logo Inserter: Enable/Disable, choose location of Image File; define v ariables Text Burn-In: Enable/Disable; define variables Timecode Burn-In: Enable/Disable; define variables
See Using Overlays.
Encoding
Select video Codec, Encoding Type, Bitrate and other options
See Output Video Encoding Configuration.
Thumbnails
Thumbnail details and naming pattern.
Timed and scene change low res single frame visual reference. See Using Thumbnails.
*Compression preprocessing features a series of softening and sharpening filters that deliver even better picture quality when performing Up or Down conversion as well as when targeting low bitrates. Soft 1 to Soft 4 can be used to improve low bitrate compression (SD less than 8Mbit/s, HD less than 40Mbit/s). Sharp 1 or Sharp 2 can be used to enhance detail for higher bitrate compression. It is not recommended to use them on low bitrate images as they will produce artefacts. See also AVC Encoding Level Numbers when using scaling with the AVC codec. See also Time Code Selection for support for , S328M subtitling using the template and inserting VITC with the template.
Output
Function
Value
Comment and more values
Sound I/P Bypass
Checkbox
Tick to enable bypass
Gain
-30 dB to +30 dB
See Audio Gain.
PCM Routing
Number of channels per output Bits per PCM sample Channel Matrix to select passthrough or mute
See PCM Routing.
Temporal
PCM Resampling Quality: Best or Fast As Input or select from 8,000 Hz to 192,000 Hz range
See Audio Temporal Settings.
Encoding
Audio Codec: AAC, AMR, SurCode for Dolby Digital, Uncompressed AAC Settings: Compatibility, Profile, Compression Mode, Bitrate, Quality High-Frequency Cut-Off: In/Out.
See Audio Output Encoding.
Output
Function
Value
Comment and more values
Auxiliary Data
VBI Output Settings for SD and Ancillary Output Settings for ST-436 and AFD/CEA608/708 for VANC
See Using Auxiliary Data.
Wrapping
Select file format and other options
See Using Wrapping Options.
Output Processing
Naming Pattern, Pre conversion script, Post conversion script, Email notification setup
See Output Processing.
Watermarking
None, Civolution, Teletrax, NexGuard
See Watermarking.
Captioning
Select SCC Captioning Options
See Captioning.
Select WST options
These parameters may look similar to those used by other profiles however some settings, such as those related to auxiliary data or audio, can be very different even though many of the parameters for (say) a shared MPEG encoder are identical. For example, a format that does not include audio compression (such as DV) will have limited options when Sound – Encoding is selected. Whereas MPEG 1 supports MPEG 1 Layer 2 and MPEG4 AVC (H.264) supports AAC, AMR, Dolby Digital and Uncompressed; these profiles therefore have many more available audio settings. When the configuration is complete click on Save, select a conversion name and remember to set it active.
Copying Profiles Repurposing profiles can be copied from one template to another. To use these options click on a profile and right click for a sub menu.
The the
option will not be available for factory supplied conversion templates. Either use option before entering this menu.
or select
Transcode + QC Template Editor Submenus
Use the submenu to edit or remove the profile or to copy the profile from one template to another. This feature frees you from having to program existing profiles into other templates. To copy a profile to another template, simply right click on the profile you want to copy, select and then destination template. To copy a profile to the present template, right click anywhere in the window, select and then the profile you want to copy. Standard Conversion Templates and Codecs Standard Templates Dalet AmberFin comes with a number of conversion templates programmed with conversion profiles for commonly used applications, including portable devices, web broadcasting, and non-linear editing applications. The following table lists those commonly found, though individual installations will vary.
Category
Profile
Mobile
Mobile H.263+AMR (176x144, 32kbps) Mobile ASP+AMR (176x144, 64kbps) Mobile AVC+AAC (320x240, 128kbps) 4x3 Mobile AVC+AAC (320x240, 128kbps) 16x9 LB Mobile H.263+AMR (176x144, 32kbps) 16x9 LB Mobile ASP+AMR (176x144, 64kbps) 16x9 LB
XML Baseconversion
XML Baseconversion
Export
Export
Potable Players
iPod Video Classic (320x240) iPhone / iPod Touch(480x320)
Web
Web – WM9 (640x480, 1Mbps) Web – WM9 (480x360, 512Kbps) Web – WM9 (320x240, 256Kbps) Web – SV3 (320x240, 512Kbps) Web – SV3 (256x192, 100Kbps) Web – SV3 (320x240, 200Kbps) Web – SV3 (320x240, 400Kbps) Web – SV3 (192x144, 56Kbps) Web – H.264 (512x384, 1024Kbps) Web – H.264 (320x240, 512Kbps) Web – H.264 (320x240, 256Kbps, ½ Rate) Web – H.264 (192x144, 56Kbps, ¼ Rate)
VOD. IPTV
VOD – SD 25i/29i MPEG-2 CableLabs (3.75Mbps, Stereo AC-3) VOD – SD 25i/29i MPEG-2 CableLabs (18.1Mbps, 5.1 AC-3) IPTV – SD 25i/29i MPEG-4 CableLabs TS (3Mbps) IPTV – HD 25i/29i 1920 MPEG-4 CableLabs TS (10Mbps) IPTV – HD 25i/29i 1440 MPEG-4 CableLabs TS (10Mbps) IPTV – HD 25i/29i 1280 MPEG-4 CableLabs TS (10Mbps) NOTE: IPTV profiles run a post conversion script that requires Manzanita be installed on the system
XDCAM HD
HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (17.5Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (25Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 720 (35Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (35Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 720 (50Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (50Mbps) MXF HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (17.5Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (25Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to XDCAM HD 720 (35Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (35Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to XDCAM HD 720 (50Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to XDCAM HD 1080 (50Mbps), MOV (Final Cut Pro)
Multiplexing / Demultiplexing
Demultiplex Multiplex to MXF OP1a (MPEG2, DV, DVCPROs) Multiplex to Transport Stream (MPEG2) Multiplex to Program Stream (MPEG2) D10(IMX)/DVCPRO/DVCPRO HD Multiplexing to MOV DV/DVCPRO/DVCPRO HD Multiplexing to P2 MXF
Submastering
1080 23sf to 1080 25i, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to 1080 29.97i, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to 720 50P, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to 720 59P, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to NTSC, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to PAL, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P to 1080 25i, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P to 1080 29.97i, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P f to 720 50P, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P to 720 59P, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P to NTSC, MPEG2, MXF 1080 24P to PAL, MPEG2, MXF 1080 23sf to 1080 24P, MPEG2, MXF
NLE
SD to D-10 (IMX) 50 Mbps MXF SD to D-10 (IMX) 50 Mbps MOV (Final Cut Pro) SD to D-10 (IMX) 40 Mbps MXF SD to D-10 (IMX) 40 Mbps MOV (Final Cut Pro) SD to D-10 (IMX) 30 Mbps MXF SD to D-10 (IMX) 30 Mbps MOV (Final Cut Pro) SD to DVCPRO 50 P2 MXF SD to DVCPRO 50 P2 MOV (Final Cut Pro) SD to DVCPRO P2 MXF SD to DVCPRO P2 MOV (Final Cut Pro) HD to DVCPRO HD MXF HD to DVCPRO HD MOV (Final Cut Pro)
AVC AVCi M4 AVCHD Prxy M2 M1 QT DV
Input
Click links help
Video Decoding
A/P VCF VoD APR D10 D10V WM9 DNxHD Uncmp J2k Thmbs M 1 W/D TS
for
Field order override
MPEG2
QuickTime
Advanced
Remove visible VBI lines
X
Use SDK if possible
X
Assume X Source Omneon MXF
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Apply time offset to group -see Audio Offset
X
Origin Handling
Remove Frames
X
X
Auxiliary Data
Aux data processor controls– see Using Auxiliary Data
X
X
Audio Offset
Timecode Selection
Output
Choose manual TC start and TC stream sources - see Time Code Selection Click link for help
Compression Preprocessing
Picture
VBI Preservation Scaling
Format
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Choose Scaler Mode – see Scaling
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Profile Quality - see Output Format Options
X
See Choosing a Conversion Mode
X
X
Overlays
See Using Overlays
X
X
Encoding
See Output Video Encoding Configuration
Temporal
Thumbnails
X
X
See Using Thumbnails
X
X
X
X
X
Sound Gain PCM Routing Temporal
See Audio Gain
X
X
X
X
X
X
See PCM Routing See Audio Temporal Settings
X X
X
X
X
Encoding
Auxiliary Data
Wrapping
See Audio Output Encoding Aux data processor controls– see X Using Auxiliary Data
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Naming Pattern– See Output Processing
Watermarking
Select Watermarking Vendor See Watermarking
X
X
X
See Using Wrapping Options
Output Processing
Captioning
X
X
X
X
Captioning Options See Captioning
X
AVC AVCi M4 AVCHD Prxy M2 M1 QT DV
X
X
X
X
X
A/P VCF VoD APR D10 D10V WM9 DNxHD Uncmp J2k Thmbs M 1 W/D TS
By default, profiles are not set to active. To set profile(s) active create a custom template, add profiles and mark them active. See the Performing Transcode with Ingest tutorial to see how.
Standard Conversion Codecs The following list of Conversion Codecs (also called Profiles in the GUI) provides links to help topics that explain the type of data that can be entered.
Abbr
Codec
AVC
MPEG 4 - M2 AVC (H.264)
Abbr Codec MPEG 2 Generic
A/P M
MPEG 4 - M1 AVC Intra AVCHD AVCHD QT (MTS
MPEG 1
D10
Digital Video Apple ProRes
WM9 Windows J2k JPEG 2000 Media 9 VC-1 WIndows VC- Thmbs Thumbnails 1
AVCi
M4 Prxy
Transport Stream) MPEG 4 DV H.264 MXF Proxy
APR
Abbr Codec
Abbr
Codec
Avid/Pinacle DNxHD Avid DNxHD Mediastream
Abbr Codec VoD TS
Video on Demand Transport Stream
MPEG 2 IMX F W/D File Wrapping / (D10) Demultiplexing QuickTime D10V MPEG 2 IMX Uncmp Uncompressed (D10) - Video
Codecs can be highly configurable and can be made to work in a variety of different workflows, such as Mpeg2 Generic which can be configured to provide for Avid or for Final Cut Pro. The New Conversion Template Example shows how to configure a New Conversion Template using the MPEG 4 AVC (H.264) codec.
Creating Transcode + QC Templates Third party QC software may vary in functionality but typically can detect tape drop outs and all s ignal related errors as well as file related problems such as wrapper abnormalities, coding rate variations, artifact detection, PSE (Photo sensitive Epilepsy) Flash detection and loudness violations. Checking tape transport problems requires a physical link to the VTR; which tends to be supported by dedicated hardware QC devices such as Snell’s Hyperion. The choice of QC and/or transcode engine to use is made by creating a template in the in the panel and ensuring that the required profile(s) are marked as active. To select a QC template for a QC job proceed as follows: 1. Click on the tab. 2. Click on the button next to in the section. 3. Choose to create either a template or an existing template. Editing a profile has the advantage of being able to add QC to existing profiles in the template group. The window appears.
: create a new profile
4.
Click on the
tab and click on
: modify an existing profile .
Click on the tab and click on . 5. If no QC tab is found, check that your system is licensed for UQC and contact Dalet AmberFin support if not. The window appears with in the field. If there is more than one QC group, select the appropriate one from the Group drop down box. 6. Click on a QC vendor tab. The rest of this guide is generic and applies to any QC vendor. To follow a tutorial based on using Aurora Q C see Using a File-based QC Template. Select one of the Vendor QC tabs and select a template for the chosen group (i.e. Local QC Group). 7. Click on choose a and click . An entry under the of the QC tab of the window appears with the default name, . 8. Type a descriptive name and press enter (or click in another text field) to save the new name. 9. Click on the tab and click on . will be selected by default. It will remain red unti l a QC Profile has been selected. 10. If a QC profile is to be added to one or more existing transcode profiles, highlight the profile and then select the QC profile name chosen in from the appropriate dropdown box.
Run during ingest is not ticked as this example is a file only operation. 11. Add QC profiles as required and if necessary, delete any unwanted transcode profiles and/or add additional transcode profiles. Only one QC profile may be added per transcode profile. 12. Check the tick box for clips that already have a QC profile. This will add software QC test results to a clip’s existing QC report. If the clip to be QCd does not have an existing QC report do not check that option, otherwise Dalet AmberFin may hang waiting for the clip to be QCd. 13. Click (or if editing a template) and enter a in the box that appears and click . You can order the list of profiles alphabetically, by clicking on the displayed field header
To ensure that this template will be active check that it is selected in the area of the panel.
drop-down box in the
Mark Up Templates There are two templates for Mark Up, None (default) and Common. To view the categories in Common, open Setup and select Common from the drop down list.
Then click on the [ … ] button and select
to make changes or
to create a new template.
Click on a category to see the available types when editing an existing template. The template includes the following categories and types:
Category
Type
Sport
Race, Goal, Wicket, Lap, Putt, Booking, Basket, Home Run, Foul, Crash
Descriptive
Location, Person, Scene, Event
Segment Marking
Bars, Clock, Program, Commercial, Front Credits, Back Credits, Trailer
To add a category click on , to remove one highlight it and click on To add a type click on , to remove one highlight it and click on . When done, click on to keep the changes, to create a new template or without making any changes.
. to back out
Timecode Templates Time code templates control the time code source for the ingest process from devices such as VTRs and video servers. Normally the time code is extracted from the VITC in the incoming SDI video stream. The line number for this extraction is found in the encoder templates. However, Dalet AmberFin also reads time code from its RS422 port. In this way, Dalet AmberFin merges time code from an external source to essence that does not contain time code.
Timecode Template Editor - Timecode
– sets the start or mark in time code of the first frame of any file ingested to the value box. - when this is checked, inst ead of using the time code that is embedded in the incoming video, Dalet AmberFin polls the VTR connected to its master RS422 port for time code. This allows you to merge ‘VITC less’ video MPEG data with this external time code source. This method must be calibrated with each encoder MPEG setting since each setting may have different buffer sizes and hence different delays associated with them. This is done by matching the time code shown on the broadcast monitor from the VTR SDI ‘Super’ output with the time code shown on the Dalet AmberFin Player specified in the
after a short ingest. adjusting the frame offset parameter and doing short test ingests, it is possible to get these twotest time codes By equal. – the VTR that is used as the time code source. If the system is connected to multiple VTRs select the ‘Use currently selected VTR’ entry and the system will use the VTR that is selected in the panel. See the panel controls for the position of this drop down box. If the VTR model selected is not the one currently connected to the system a “VTR Not Found” message will be displayed beneath the VTR drop down box. – the number of frames required to adjust time code source to video source. Values range from +30 to – 30; accuracy: +/- 1 frame. If the time code source and the input SDI framerates are very different, Dalet AmberFin will use the input SDI framerate as the reference for ingest. A console warning is given in this case. – the number of frames required as a timecode offset up to a maximum of 9 frames.
Timecode Template Editor – VTR Ingest
– select the com port of an attached VTR from the drop down list. The list wil l not be populated if there are no VTRs or servers with VTR emulation connected.
Timecode Template Editor – VTR Playback
– select the com port of an attached VTR from the drop down list. The list wil l not be populated if no VTRs or servers with VTR emulation are connected. – select the preroll to be used as default from the drop down box. Values range from 0 to 30 seconds. – select the required sensitivity from the drop down box. Values range from 1(fast) to 10(slow). – select the required offset from the drop down box. Values range from -10 to +10 frames.
Timecode Template Editor – VDCP
– allows a video server to be controlled as a VTR using VDCP protocol. Select the required port from the drop down list. This Setup setting sets the sync source independently for Ingest and Playback between the internal clock of the PC running Dalet AmberFin or the incoming video source at the Matrox card.
Select the required source between Internal and External from the appropriate drop down box. If there is no Matrox card in the system, the external option will not be present.
14.
Template Configuration Reference
Template Configuration Reference The following topics are provided as a reference to assist those responsible for setting up a Dalet AmberFin system to configure the parameters required to build new Conversion Profiles.
Audio Offset Audio offset is a timing adjustment in milliseconds that is applied to each audio group of the input file to align the audio with the video. The input file may contain multiple groups of audio, with each audio group containing one or more channels of audio.
Table Tab
Description
Group Index
Audio Group
Offset Value (ms)
By default, the offset value is zero milliseconds (ms) with no timing offset. Double click an Offset Value table entry to change the value.
Audio Input Bypass
Bypasses audio decoder and input processing.
Disable Audio
Comma separated list of audio channels carrying compressed
Crossfade
data.
For a positive offset the offset can be used to compensate for early audio relative to video. If the audio offset is set to a positive value then the audio will start playing after the offset time in milliseconds (ms). Silence will be inserted to the beginning of the audio of the offset value. For a negative offset, the offset can be used to compensate for late audio relative to video. If the audio offset is set to be a negative value then the offset amount of audio is removed from the clip and the end of clip is padded with silence.
File Wrapping / Demultiplexing By default audio inputs are passed directly to the Output router stage. For rewrap jobs an additional tick box control has been added to handle compressed audio sources. This allows for mixed rewrap type jobs where increased audio processing is possible. – tick this box to enable decoding of supported audio sources to uncompressed PCM. Currently supported audio formats include MPEG1 layers 1 & 2, AAC, and AC-3 (Dolby Digital).
Using Auxiliary Data Ancillary data is typically any non-video/audio information inserted into unused areas of the signal such as the VBI in analog and SD formats or the HANC or VANC in HD formats. Examples of these additional payloads include, closed captioning, teletext, wide screen subtitling, AFD descriptors, timecode, test signals, user data and even control codes to turn transmitters on and off. The Dalet AmberFin input and output processors have been enhanced to handle these ancillary or auxiliary data types during both transcode and re-wrapping (re-multiplexing) jobs. At present only transcode and re-wraps where the source and output frame rates are identical are supported.
VBI Data The Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) and Horizontal Blanking Interval owe their existence to limitations in the technology at the heart of CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based analogue transmission when the srcinal specifications were drawn up. The vertical blanking period was the largest accounting for some 8% to 9% of the available number of lines in each field. However as receiver technology improved it became possible to ‘unblank’ some lines at the start of each field and so enable other services. VBI is a PCM waveform encoding base data in a storable form. However, it tends to be degraded by lower bitrate compression encoding with in-vision modes such as IMX/D10 at 30 Mbit/s, especially if re-encoded for multiple generations. In this case some dropouts may occur due to decoding errors.
Closed Captions An agreed specification for CC appeared in the form of the EIA-608 standard for Closed Captioning in 1994. This has been updated and is now known as the CEA-608E standard for Closed Captioning. To keep data rates low, it specifies a code based system where just two 7-bit ASCII characters are encoded on a single line of video in each field, providing an overall maximum data rate of 120 characters per second (2 characters x 2 fields at 30 fields per second in the NTSC system) or 960 b/s. The upgraded standard defines Extended Data Services which may be added to line 284. In practice, where only one channel of captions is used without EDS, the effective data rate is only 60 cps. The standard specifies two 32 X 15 character memories, one for the currently displayed caption and a second which acts as an off-screen composition area. This allows for more complex caption effects such as roll-up, rolldown and snap-on. VBI decoding scans for data on all VBI lines starting from top of the first field and then the second field. Only the first (top) data line is usually stored, with the exception of CEA608 which appends data so that data on line 284 of field 2 data follows data on line 21 of field 1. Blank and erroneous lines are dropped. The closed captioning standard created for the US ATSC digital television is CEA-708. It supports a near tenfold increase in data rate over CEA-608 and caters for a wide range of optional features.
Teletext and Subtitles Teletext is a mainly text based information system encoded using multiple lines in the VBI. It was de veloped in the UK by the BBC in the seventies for analogue PAL transmissions. It spread to many countries and has become a World Standard (WST). Limited graphics were supported and text was transmitted as character codes enabling decoder designers to render characters and graphic primitives at whatever resolution they desired.
DVB Subtitling There are two ‘head-end’ methods used to encode subtitles into the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) format: . This is similar to teletext, where characters are represented by codes which are sent to the user’s receiver. The user’s decoding equipment is responsible for formatting the text on the screen.
. This the most popular system in Europe where subtitle text can be authored with any suitable system, since the output is always rendered as a bit-map graphic which is encoded in a similar way as the MPEG-2 video it will be associated with when inserted into the multiplexer as a PES stream. These standards do not specify how teletext data is carried to head-end multiplexers to create the broadcast signal. The coded data could be sent as files over IP in any number of subtitle formats, it could also be inserted into the VBI of SD video or the VANC of HD video.
MXF Mappings for VBI and ANC The aim of carriage of ancillary data in MXF is transparency or opaque transport, so that the data can be faithfully reproduced. To simplify and help standardize this SMPTE 436M defines a Data Track for either VBI or ANC data in the SMPTE 379 Generic Container.
Timed Text The FCC has ruled that captioning and DVS should be compliant with the SMPTE-TT standard for timed text (SMPTE ST 2052-1:2010). SMPTE-TT is an XML based profile or application of the W3C Time Text Markup Language. One of its main benefits (similar to MXF) is that content can be verified and error checked within file based workflows. It allows legacy formats such as CEA-608 and CEA-708 closed captioning, WST and DVB Subtitles (EBU STL) to be tunneled within the XML. The equivalent standard for Timed Text in Europe is the emerging EBU Tech3350 or EBU-TT standard. It is also based on TTML and XML and is intended to follow on from the EBU STL subtitling format (EBU Tech 3264).
Captions and User Data in MPEG2 CEA-708 captions are inserted into MPEG-2 video streams encoded according to ATSC A/53 in the picture user data as DTVCC Transport Stream. It is a fixed-bandwidth 960 bit/s channel for backward compatibility with Line 21 captions or 8640 bit/s for CEA-708 captions. MPEG2 video (to ISO/IEC 13818-2) also supports carriage of data as User Data within the bitstream. This is used for a variety of uses with packet sizes varying from a few bytes to many kilobytes per frame for VBI use, and its use has an impact on net bitrate available for video and VBV (Video Buffer Verifier) buffer regulation. Any change to VBV characteristics can adversely affect playability, and some decoders may refuse to play an output stream. For example, if ES user data is used within a rewrap context the availability of space and VBV compliance will depend on the allocations used in the srcinal encoding. ES data allocations can only be changed by re-encoding in a transcode. If an unsuitable srcinal allocation was used data loss may occur due to lack of space. And any noncompliant trimming or extending of the MPEG2 bitstream length will tend to cause VBV buffer use infringements. Only the first contiguous user data space each frame is processed for erasing and/or insertion. If there are mixed extension and user data header types in the MPEG2 Picture Extension area, only the first User Data chunk (or position if no UD exists) will be recognized. See ISO/IEC 13818-2 for further details.
Configuring Data Source Options The configurable options from within the conversion profile editor depend on the conversion profile selected. For example, the MPEG4 AVC (H.264) and MPEG4 conversion p rofiles allow the source priority for Aspect Ratio (WSS/AFD) to be configured, while MPEG4 AVC-Intra and File Wrapping/Demultiplexing also support configuring the source for CEA608/708 caption data, VBI bypass and file type for ancillary bypass.
Input Configuration Example: File Wrapping / Demultiplexing
Menu item Source priority for Aspect Ratio signaling (WSS / AFD) data
Select source for CEA608/708 Caption data
Values Ignore all ES, VBI, VANC, File File, ES, VBI, VANC VBI, ES, VANC, File VANC, ES, VBI, File None File (ST- 436 or PES mux) MPEG2 Elementary Stream In-vision VBI from tall MPEG
Comment Select the source priority order for Aspect Ration signaling (WSS/AFD) data. If multiple data types are found, the highest (first) is processed first.
Select which carriage mechanism is used as the source for CEA608/708 caption data (unless caption options are used). If none of the expected data is found in the selected source or the stream is incomplete, a message will indicate this as a missed data frame count in the Transcode Status window.
Select source for VBI bypass
None File: (ST-436 or PES mux) MPEG2 Elementary Stream In-vision VBI from tall MPEG
Select which carriage mechanism is used as the source for VBI signals. This data will be passed to the transcode output stage without modification. This option forces unrecognized and non-decoded VBI PCM data to be reinserted in the same line on output. No errors are reported if no data is found.
Select source for Ancillary bypass
None File: ST-436 ANC track
Select which carriage mechanism is used as the source for Ancillary data. This data will be passed to the transcode output stage without modification. Unlike VBI, multiple data items on the same video line is valid. No errors are reported if no data is found.
Output Configuration Example: MPEG2 Generic Some Conversion Profiles support an Output Auxiliary Transcode template which contain the required output processor controls, together with relocated S328M and VBI controls. Depending on the output format and job
type selected some of the output processors may not be available, and there will also be restrictions such as when SD video outputs are being produced. These controls are grouped by the primary encoding formats in use – VBI (Vertical Blanking Interval) signals, Ancillary packetized data, and MPEG-2 ES (Elementary Stream) User Data packetized data. There are cases where data is wrapped in more than one layer, e.g. CEA608 VBI carried as GXF VBI in MPEG2 elementary stream.
Example MPEG2 Generic Output Auxiliary Template Settings
VBI Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) This group controls the generation of all output VBI data for Standard Definition (525-line and 625-line TV systems), including the various transports for VBI. Depending on the job context some options may not be available.
Menu item
Values
Comment
Write VBI into Output File Stream (ST-436 / PES)
Enable, Disable
Enable to insert VBI data from input Auxiliary Data form into an ST-436 or Pinnacle PES output stream. By default, this will be VBI bypass data, unless the VBI overrides below are selected.
Insert GFX VBI in ES user data
Enable, Disable
Insert GFX uncompressed VBI to ST-360 into MPEG2 ES user data. Warning; this takes considerable space. Source selections for VBI and ES insert mode are available below
Insert Omneon VBI in ES user data
Enable, Disable
Insert Omneon VBI (proprietary V1.2 specification) into MPEG2 ES user data. Warning; this takes considerable space. Source selections for VBI and ES insert mode are available below.
VITC Timecode
None, Lead Timecode Stream, Timecode Stream A or Timecode Stream A
Select a source for SMPTE 12 VITC (VBI) timecode embedding if required.
VITC output line
7 to 22
Select required line using spin box.
Second VITC output line
7 to 22
Select required line using spin box.
Insert WSS into output VBI
Enable, Disable
Enable for ETSI 300294 (VBI) Widescreen Signaling embedded in line 23.
Insert CEA608 into output VBI
Enable, Disable
Enable for CEA608 (VBI) Closed Caption embedding in line 21 (284). If no valid source CEA608 captions have been found, no output will be created.
Ancillary Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) Menu item
Values
Comment
Write Ancillary into Output File Stream (ST-436)
Enable, Disable
Enable to insert VBI data from input Auxiliary Data form into an ST-436 or Pinnacle PES output stream. By default, this will be VBI bypass data, unless the VBI overrides below are selected.
Insert AFD into output VANC
Enable, Disable
Enable for SMPTE 2016 (VANC) Active Format Descriptor embedding.
AFD VANC output line
1 to 45
Select required line using spin box.
Insert CEA608/708 into output VANC
Enable, Disable
Enable for SMPTE 334 (VANC) CDP Closed Captions output. If no valid source CEA608 or CEA708 captions have been found, no output will be created. In SD a smaller packet will typically be created for CEA608 only. Choose the line below.
CEA708 VANC output line
1 to 45
Select the virtual line in the stream using the spin box. This corresponds to a field 1 line for interlaced video, or a frame line for progressive video.
MPEG-2 ES User Data Output Settings (MPEG2 Generic) Menu item
Values
Comment
Insert 328M in ES User Data
Enable, Disable
Insert 328M Timecode into MPEG2 ES User Data. This creates SMPTE ST-328 packets for editing (timecode 1 and 2 items only supported). Source selections and ES insert mode are available below. See MPEG2 ES notes above.
Insert ATSC A/53 in ES User Data
Enable, Disable
Insert ATSC A/53 encoded captions containing CEA608/708 data into MPEG2 ES User Data. See MPEG2 ES notes above.
S328 Timecode 1
None, Lead Timecode Stream, Timecode Stream A or Timecode Stream A
Select a source for SMPTE 12 VITC (VBI) timecode embedding if required.
S328 Timecode 2
None, Lead Timecode Stream, Timecode Stream A or Timecode Stream A
Select a source for SMPTE 12 VITC (VBI) timecode embedding if required.
A/53 Caption CEA708
None, CEA708 Caption Stream A
Choose source for caption information (CEA608/708 caption) within the ATSC A/53 packets, or None for a blank packet.
File Wrapping/Demultiplexing; Additional MPEG2 ES Data Output Settings
MPEG2 Elementary Stream user data Insert Mode File Re-wrap controls can have a large impact on the insertion process and the validity of the resulting file. It is recommended to choose the mode carefully according to the application and target player or decoder.
Menu item MPEG2 User Data Insert Mode This allows selection of the mode for user data handling within an existing MPEG2 elementary stream to suit the application. See MPEG2 ES notes above.
See the A/53 Caption CEA708 options.
Values Adaptive Safe for demux. Unchanged unless ES inserters are enabled
Comment By default, the MPEG user data is passed unchanged. Any ES data enables, including ES VBI, will cause all source MPEG user data to be erased and only the new data will remain. No MPEG file size occurs so VBV characteristics are preserved. Any new packets that don't fit within the space will be discarded with a log message.
Overwrite Always pad old ES user data
By default, the MPEG user data is overwritten with valid padding. Any ES data enables, including ES VBI, will cause new data to be inserted in the same space. No MPEG file size occurs so VBV characteristics are preserved. Any new packets that don't fit within the space will be discarded with a log message.
Trim Always remove old ERS user data. Change stream length
Existing MPEG user data will always be deleted, and any new user data will be written at this point, extending the stream as necessary. MPEG user data size changes can potentially cause VBV violations and failure to play on some decoders.
table for S328M Timecode 1/Timecode 2 and
Captioning There are a wide range of mainly proprietary formats for caption data throughout the world. However, within the US, the open broadcast format used is the Scenarist Closed Caption format (extension .SCC); other proprietary formats include Cheetah CAP and Swift Interchange Format. In Europe Technical Reference 3264-E defines a caption format with the extension .STL which is widely used. For internet delivery emerging standards include SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language) and W3C Timed Text DFXP (Distribution Format Exchange Profile), but again there are mainly proprietary standards also in use. Here is an example captioning configuration form from an MPEG2 Generic profile:
SCC Captioning Options Menu item
Description
CEA 608: SCC
Select this option to encode CC data in the SCC format according to CEA 608
ATSC A/53 MPEG User Data Insert CEA608 into A53 User Data
Select this option to encode user data according to A/53 Select this option to use CEA608 CC in MPEG2 user data
Insert CEA708 into A53 User Data
Select this option to use CEA708 CC in MPEG2 user data
Insert SCTE-20 into A53 MPEG User Data
Select this option to use SCTE-20 CC in MPEG2 user data
Insert SCTE-21 into A53 MPEG User Data
Select this option to use SCTE-21 CC in MPEG2 user data
SMPTE 436 MXF Track
Select this to create an ST436 compatible MXF track
SMPTE 436 MXF Track Type
Select either CEA 608 or CEA 708
SMPTE 2052 Timed Text
Select this to create CC according to SMPTE 2052 TT
DFXP
Select this to create a Timed Text track compatible with the W3C Distribution Format Exchange Profile
SMIL
Select this to create a SMIL compatible CC track
Counting Mode
Select From Video, 24fps, 30fps or 30 drop frame
WST (Western Standard Teletext) Options Menu item
Description
WST Options
None; selecting this option will remove dependent options Invision VBI to ST-436 VANC ST-436 VBI to ST-436 VANC MPEG2 Elementary Stream to ST-436 VANC
Page Number
The carousel page number that the caption data should reside on
VBI Line Numbers
The VBI line numbers to output caption data. Use a comma to separate multiple entries, i.e. 21, 284
Output VANC Field 1 Line Number
Valid line numbers are 0 to 1080 in increments of 1
Output VANC Field 2 Line Number
Valid line numbers are 0 to 1080 in increments of 1
Time Code Selection Original files can have time code stored in multiple places. Each of these locations may contain a different value. During Transcoding, users may want to change which time code goes where in the new file that is created.
Input Time Code Selection
The controls.
menu associated with the
Menu item
in the
tool has the following
Description
Manual Start Timecode
Enter desired Hours:Minutes:Seconds:Frames time code
Initialize ‘Lead’ Timecode Stream’ from
See Time Code Source Option
Initialize ‘Timecode Stream A’ from
See Time Code Source Option
Initialize ‘Timecode Stream B’ from
See Time Code Source Option
Time Code Source Option
Description
Manual Start Timecode
Accepts a value entered in the provided timecode field
File Header (as seem in library)
Uses time code* from the lead time code (file header) of the input file wrapper.
MPEG2 GOP Header Timecode
Uses time code from the GOP headers of the video stream (MPEG2 only).
SMPTE328M Timecode 1 and ES VBI
Covers MPEG2 elementary stream data and uses time code from the first time code element contained in SMPTE ST-328 timecode1 packets, Omneon (proprietary) VBI containing VITC, GXF ST-360 VBI containing VITC.
SMPTE328M Timecode 2
Uses time code from the second time code element contained in the SMPTE 328M User Data Element (MPEG2 Only).
In Vision VITC from tall MPEG(D10)
Uses time code from the first VITC Element found in picture.
File VITC from S436 VBI (or PES VBI)
SMPTE ST-436 VBI track containing VITC, Pinnacle PES VBI track containing VITC.
*In MXF, time codes are read in the following order: Material package, Source package Output File Lead and Output GOP time code is always sourced from the Lead Timecode selection.
Scaling Dalet AmberFin up and down converters use adaptive interpolation filters and do not have to rely on simple pixel repetition or decimation. But, to get the best out of these powerful Dalet AmberFin scaling processors, there are a number of user configurable scaling modes. Scaler mode configuration is one of the conversion options when a new conversion profile is created using the menu. Refer to Creating_a_New_Transcode_Template to learn how to make a New_Conversion_Template.
Scaler Mode Scaler Mode Choose one of the following:
Disabled Advanced Auto Width Auto Height Manual (Absolute) Manual (Relative) SD Presets (NTSC) SD Presets (PAL) Expert
Disabled Input pixels are mapped to output pixels. No scaling takes place but conversion quality can be configured.
Conversion Quality Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Advanced The following parameters can be configured:
Source Display Resolution
NTSC 720, NTSC 704, PAL 720 PAL 704, HD 1080, HD 720, Other (assumes square pixels)
Width /Height
Fixed unless Other is chosen
VBI in video
Check this box if there are VBI lines in SD video (changes height value)
Blanking
Select analog or digital blanking from drop down box
Picture Type
Select Full, Letterbox / Pillarbox or Anamorphic from drop down box
Aspect ratio of video content
Fixed unless Letterbox/Pillarbox or Anamorphic is chosen When variable select 4/3, 16/9, 14/9, 1.37, 1.85, 2.4 or Other For Other choose aspect ratio as a ratio , e.g. 2.7. An incorrect entry made here will appear in red.
Crop
Select values here to reduce the active video by a variable crop amount. Top: 0 1024
Left: 01024
Bottom: 0 - 1024
Right: 0 - 1024
Destination Display Resolution
NTSC 720, NTSC 704, PAL 720 PAL 704, HD 1080, HD 720, Other (assumes square pixels)
Width /Height
Fixed unless Other is chosen
VBI in video
Check this box if VBI lines in output SD video are desired (changes height value)
Insertion Method
Fit Width, Fit Height, Fit width and height
Allow anamorphic
Only available for Fit width and height insertion method
Borders
Select values here to add a variable border around the active video Top: 01024
Left: 01024
Output Aspect Ratio Select:
As Input 4/3 16/9
Output Interlace Select:
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Bottom: 0 - 1024
Right: 01024
Conversion Quality Select:
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Auto Width Auto Width Options Scale to Width
Grayed out in Auto Width mode
Scale to Height
Scaled Picture Height (pixels) min =1 max = 1080 incr = 2
Output Interlace
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Auto Height Auto Height Options Scale to Width
Scaled Picture Width (pixels) min =1 max = 1920 incr = 2
Scale to Height
Grayed out in Auto Height mode
Output Interlace
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Manual (Absolute) Manual (Absolute) Options Scale to Width (pixels)
Sets the width of the output container. See note below. Scaled Picture Width (pixels) min =1 max = 1920 incr = 2
Scale to Height (pixels)
Sets the height of the output container Scaled Picture Height (pixels) min =1 max = 1080 incr = 2
Output Interlace
Determines how the scaler is applied to the input. None (as Input) Progressive - scaler is applied to the whole picture Interlaced (top field first) - scaler is applied to each field independently Interlaced (bottom field first) - scaler is applied to each field independently
Crop to Width (scaled pixels)
Sets the width of the content within the output container Select previous settings then crop to Width (pixels) min =1 max = 1920 incr = 2
Crop to Height (scaled pixels)
Sets the height of the content within the output container Select previous settings then crop to Height (pixels) min =1 max = 1080 incr = 2
Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
To understand the difference between the size of the container and the size of the content, consider three possible relationships between the two. If the container is the same size as the content, the scalar will reduce both in the same proportion, conserving the native aspect ratio. If the container is larger than the content, the scalar will create a smaller content window within the container window. This is what is seen in the letterbox format. If the container is smaller than the content, then portions of the content may be clipped with only the center part of the content shown. This is what is seen in pan and scan.
Manual (Relative)
Manual (Relative) Options Scale to Width
Set the output picture width as a percentage of input width Scaled Picture Width (% of input width) 1% to 100%
Scale to Height
Set the output picture height as a percentage of input height Scaled Picture Height (% of input height) 1% to 100%
Output Interlace
Determines how the scaler is applied to the input. None (as Input) Progressive - scaler is applied to the whole picture Interlaced (top field first) - scaler is applied to each field independently Interlaced (bottom field first) - scaler is applied to each field independently
Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
SD Presets (NTSC/PAL)
SD Presets (NTSC/PAL) Option Output Aspect Ratio
As Input 4/3 16/9
Output Interlace
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Picture Format
Select the desired output picture format. The active format is highlighted in white. Use the scroll arrows to show more formats.
The screen shot is shown is for an NTSC output format; the choices for a PAL output format are similar, except that the conversion direction is expected to be from NTSC to PAL.
The expert mode provides better control over the scaling process, closely aligned with the capabilities of the Transcode web service interface. In particular, it was developed to simplify 486 (BFF) to 480 (TFF) workflows.
SD Presets (NTSC/PAL) Option Output Aspect Ratio Output Interlace
Conversion Quality
As Input 4/3 16/9 None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Picture Format
Select the desired output picture format. The active format is highlighted in white. Use the scroll arrows to show more formats.
The screen shot is shown is for an NTSC output format; the choices for a PAL output format are similar, except that the conversion direction is expected to be from NTSC to PAL.
Output (Display) Frame
Width
Scaled Picture Width (pixels) min =1 max = 1920 incr = 2
Height
Scaled Picture Height (pixels) min =1 max = 1080 incr = 2
Interlace
None (As Input) Progressive Interlaced (top field first) Interlaced (bottom field first)
Output Aspect Ratio
As Input 4/3 16/9
Scale Cropped Input
Select values here to reduce the active video by a variable crop amount. X Offset: 0
Y Offset: 0
1920
1080
pixel resolution
pixel resolution
Width: 2 - 3840
Height: 2 2160
half pixel resolution
half pixel resolution
Border (Black)
Outside Border
Select values here to reduce the active video by a variable crop amount. Top: 0 - 1080
Left: 0 - 1920
Bottom: 0 - 1080
Right: 0 - 1920
Conversion Modifiers Conversion Quality
Adaptive (High Quality) Interpolated (Fast)
Output Format Options The following table outlines the available output format profiles and their configuration options.
Profile
Configuration Options
MPEG4-AVC (H.264)
Output Chroma 4:2:0
Color Space Conversion None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
Bit Depth 8 Bits
Dithering Mode Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
Video Legalisation No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG4-AVC - Intra
4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601)
10 Bits
-
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
AVCHD (MTS Transport Stream)
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
-
-
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG4
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
H.264 MXF Proxy
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG2- Generic
4:2:0 4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG-1
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
QuickTime
4:2:0 4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
DV
-
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
Apple ProRes
4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
10 Bits
-
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
Avid/Pinnacle Mediastream
4:2:0 4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG2 IMX (D10)
4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
MPEG2 IMX (D10) - Video
4:2:2
None,
8 Bits
Simple Rounding
No Legalization
HQ Dithering
Simple YUV Clipping
SD to HD (601 to 709)
HD to SD (709 to 601) Windows Media 9
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
Windows Media VC-1
4:2:0
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
DNxHD
4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
-
See Encoding
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
File Wrapping / Demultiplexing
No format applicable, wrapping options only, See Using Wrapping Options.
Uncompressed
4:2:0 4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 / 10 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
Jpeg 2000
4:2:2
None, HD to SD (709 to 601) SD to HD (601 to 709)
8 / 10 Bits
Simple Rounding HQ Dithering
No Legalization Simple YUV Clipping
Refer to the Dalet AmberFin GUI software itself for the most up-to-date formats and configuration options.
Using Standards Conversion Dalet AmberFin includes a range of tools for format conversion and standards conversion of SD and HD. Format conversion might involve changing image size, for example scaling up from SD to HD or down from SD to a custom deliverable. Standards conversion means changing frame rate, for example when exchanging information internationally.
Choosing a Conversion Mode The Standards conversion functionality is in the dialog box dialog.
in the
There are up to four conversion modes available: Conversion Mode
Comment
As Input
This is a non-conversion mode and so preserves the input frame rate; i.e. no frame rate conversion will be applied.
Nearest Frame
In this mode, the output frame rate is created by dropping and repeating frames; this mode would be a good choice to perform a 24p to 29i conversion using a 2:3 process.
Motion Compensated (SD)
This mode uses the existing SD only standards convertor that ships as standard with the relevant products, e.g. AD Format Converter, AD Works.
ACC (Expert Mode)
Advanced Cadence Conversion for restoring the 2:3 cadence on 29i or 30i material that contains 2:3 or mixed material.
ACC –Tachyon (Expert Mode)
Advanced Cadence Conversion via Tachyon hardware acceleration.
Advanced Motion Compensated (SD/HD)
This is the optional HD Standards Converter.
Advanced Motion Compensated (SD/HD) Tachyon
This is the optional HD Standards Converter using the Tachyon hardware acceleration
The settings available for the three active conversion modes are as follows: Conversion Mode
Nearest Frame
Motion Compensated (SD)
Advanced Motion Compensated (SD/HD)
Output Framerate (Hz) 24p (Film) Originated Content
√ √
√
√
Enable Cadence and Timecode Alignment
√
Align Cadence with Input Timecode
√
The applicable to the
profile only supports
and profile.
, and standards conversion is not
When setting the output frame rate, always configure the scaling and output interlace appropriately in the Scaling menu to create the right format output.
Output Video Encoding Configuration The following sections describe some of the various video and audio encoder configuration options. This manual does not cover all installations and some details may not be shown here. It is recommended to refer to your Dalet AmberFin GUI for the most updated encoder support and configuration.
MPEG4 AVC (H.264)
Parameter
Values
Comment
Coding Effort
Set slider for 1 to 10
Default 6.
Preset
Baseline, Main, High Blu-ray Disc Sony PSP* iPod*, iPod640
Custom enables advanced parameters – see next table.
AVC HD Custom Macroblock Adaptive Field Frame
Check box to enable
iPod* and Sony* PSP have specific scalar requirements; large picture sizes may not convert properly Advanced Settings (Custom Preset only)
Parameter
Values
Comment
Profile
Baseline, Main High**
Level***
Auto, 1, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 3, 3.1, 3.2, 4, 4.1, 4.2, 5, 5.1
Value chosen depends on target decoder capability, input picture size and bitrate
Compression Mode
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR (1 pass)
Output bitrate varies within a specific range
VBR (2 pass)
Output bitrate varies within a
Constant Quantizer
specific range Number of bits required to represent a portion of the signal is constant. Lower values gives a more accurate representation.
Output Bitrate (bps)
Min = 1000 Max = 300,000,000 Incr = 1
Sets the target output bitrate
Maximum VBR Bitrate (bps)
Min = 1000 Max = 30,000,000 Incr = 1
Sets the absolute maximum VBR output bitrate
Quantizer IMacroblocks Value
Min = 1, Max = 51 Incr = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer mode only
Quantizer PMacroblocks Value
Min = 1, Max = 51 I ncr = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer mode only
Quantizer BMacroblocks Value
Min = 1, Max = 51 Incr = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer mode only
Slice Count
Auto, 1 to 8 in integer steps
The number of slices in a picture where a slice represents an encoded unit that contains all the information required to be decoded. Allows decoding to be done in a multi-threaded system.
Aspect Ratio Mode
Picture, Sample
Aspect Ratio
Auto, 1:1, 1.25:1, 4:3, 1.5:1, 16:9, 1.85:1, 2.00:1, 2.21:1, 2.35:1, 2.39:1
Refers to the ratio between picture width and picture height
Number of Frames in a GOP
Min = 1, Max = 300 Incr = 1
Sets the Group of Pictures (GOP) size
Minimum Number of Frames in a GOP
Min = 0, Max = 299 Incr = 1
Sets the minimum GOP size
B-frames
0, 1, 2, 3
Sets the number of B frames in the GOP
Reference Frames
Min = 1, Max = 16, Incr = 1
Sets the number of frames used to encode the picture
PullDown
None, 2:3i, 3:2i, 2:3p, 3:2p
Enable Scene Detection
Enable, Disable
Checkbox to enable scene detection
For proper conversions, level***, bitrate, and profile values are all associated. See AVC Encoding Level Numbers.
MPEG4
Parameter Preset
Values Simple Profile Level 0 Simple Profile Level 1 Simple Profile Level 2 Simple Profile Level 3 Advanced Profile Level 0 Advanced Profile Level 1 Advanced Profile Level 2 Advanced Profile Level 3
Comment Custom enables advanced parameters – see next table.
Advanced Profile Level 4 Advanced Profile Level 5 IPod Sony PSP Custom
MPEG4 Advanced Settings (Custom Preset only) Parameter
Values
Comment
Profile
Simple Advanced
Level
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Value chosen depends on target decoder capability and input picture size and bitrate
H263 Mode
Enable, disable
Check box to enable this mode
Compression Mode
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR (1 pass)
Output bitrate varies within a specific range
VBR (2 pass)
Output bitrate varies within a specific range
Constant Quantizer
Number of bits required to represent a portion of the signal is constant. Lower values give a more accurate signal representation.
Output Bitrate (bps)
Min = 10,000 Max = 38,400,000 Incr = 1
Sets the target output bitrate
Maximum VBR Bitrate (bps)
Min = 10,000 Max = 38,400,000 Incr = 1
Sets the absolute maximum VBR output bitrate
VBV Buffer Size
Min = 1024 Max = 38,400,000 Incr = 1
Quantizer IMacroblocks Value
Min = 1 Max = 31 Incr = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer mode only
Quantizer PMacroblocks Value
Min = 1 Max = 31 Incr = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer mode only
Quantizer B-
Min = 1
Adjustable in Constant Quantizer
Macroblocks Value
Max = 31 Incr = 1
mode only
Slice Count
Auto, 1 to 8 in integer steps
The number of slices in a picture where a slice represents an encoded unit that contains all the information required to be decoded. Allows decoding to be done in a multi-threaded system.
Pixel Aspect Ratio
1:1 Square 4:3 PAL
4:3 NTSC 16:9 PAL 16:9 NTSC Custom Custom pixel aspect ratio
User defined
Number of VOP between two Keyframes
Min = 1, Max = 1000 Incr =1
B-frames
0, 1, 2, 3
Sets the number of B frames in the GOP
Enable Scene Detection
Enable, Disable
Checkbox to enable scene detection
H.264 MXF Proxy
Parameter Coding Effort Output Bitrate Preset
Values
Comment
Set slider for 1 to 10; default 6. 1, 1.5, 2
Profile
Baseline
The H.264 MXF Proxy conversion profile uses the baseline profile of the MPEG AVC (H.264) codec.
Level
3.1
Fixed
Compression Mode
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
Output Bitrate (bps)
Min = 1000 Max = 300,000,000 Incr = 1
Sets the target output bitrate
Slice Count
Auto, 1 to 8 in integer steps
The number of slices in a picture where a slice represents an encoded unit that contains all the information required to be decoded. Allows decoding to be done in a multi-threaded system.
Aspect Ratio Mode
Picture, Sample
Aspect Ratio
Auto, 1:1, 12:11, 10:11,
Refers to the ratio between picture width and
16:11, 40:33, 24:11, 20:11, 32:11, 80:33, 18:11, 15:11, 64:33, 160:99
picture height
B-frames
0
Number of B frames in the GOP
Reference Frames
1
Number of frames used to encode picture
PullDown
None
Enable Scene Detection
Enable, Disable
Checkbox to enable scene detection
MPEG2 Generic
Parameter
Values
MPEG2 Profile
DefaultProfile.xml XDCAMProfile.xml
Video Codec
Quality MPEG2 Fast MPEG2
Encoding Type
VBR (1 pass)
Comment Choose a default or XDCAM profile and in each case, edit the xml file as desired to customise the encoding.
Output bitrate varies within a specific range
VBR (2 pass)
Output bitrate varies within a specific range
Constant Bitrate
The number of bits required to represent a portion of the signal is constant.
Constant Bitrate (bps)
Min = 1000 bps Max = 200 Mbps Incr = 400 bps
Target encoding bitrate in constant bitrate mode
Maximum Bitrate (bps)
Min = 192000 bps Max = 180 Mbps
Maximum bitrate allowed in variable bitrate mode
Average Bitrate (bps)
Incr = 1 Min = 192000 bps Max = 180 Mbps Incr = 1
Average target bitrate in variable bitrate mode
Minimum Bitrate (bps)
Min = 192000 bps Max = 180 Mbps Incr = 1
Minimum bitrate in variable bitrate mode
I Frame Only
Checkbox
Disable to configure encoder
Number of B frames
0, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5
Number of Frames in a GOP
Min = 3 Max = 100 Incr = 1
Closed GOP Interval
Never, 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 15, or 20
Adaptive GOP Length
Disable Enable (and close GOP on shot change)
Profile & Level
Auto
Higher DC Precision
Enable, Disable
Sets the 10-bit DC Precision for higher bit rate use. Recommended for XDCAM.
MPEG1
Parameter Constant Bitrate (bps)
Values Min = 192,000 bps
Comment Target encoding bitrate in constant bitrate mode
Max = 15 Mbps Incr = 10 bps I Frame Only
Checkbox
Number of Frames in a GOP
Min = 3 Max = 100 Incr = 1
Constrain to VCD format
Checkbox
Disable to configure frames in GOP
Conform video to compact disc format
QuickTime
Parameter Exporter Profile
Values
Comment
Output file wrapper format: AVI (.avi) DV Stream (.dv) QuickTime Movie(.mov)
Click on Configure to display the appropriate installed encoder configuration tool.
ON2 Technologies Flash Video FLV (.flv) ON2 Technologies Flash Video SWF (.swf) Fast Start
Enable, Disable
See Dalet AmberFin Release Notes for QuickTime version compatibility.
DV
Parameter
Values
SD Video Codec
IEC DV DVCPRO DVCPRO 50
HD Video Codec
DVCPRO HD 100
Comment
QuickTime player, version 7.5, has no codec to play DVCPRO 50 or DVCPRO HD in MOV
AppleProRes
Parameter Codec
Values 422(HQ), 422, 422(LT), 422(Proxy)
Comment Determines how the video data is to be handled
Avid/Pinnacle Mediastream
Parameter
Values
Comment
Video Codec
MPEG2 Long GOP
Determines how the video data is to be handled
GOP Length
Regular 12 (50Hz) video Regular 15 (59.94 Hz) video
Group of Pictures size
MPEG2 IMX Picture encoding configuration for
and
:
MPEG2 IMX (D10) tape version has the same output encoding options as the D10 ‘Video’ version. Each MPEG2 IMX (D10) codec configuration as follows:
Parameter Bitrate (Mbps)
Values
Comment
50 Mbps 40 Mbps 30 Mbps
The IMX D10 codec follows the D10 (tape) format which means the D10 MXF can only contain a maximum of 8 x 16 bit audio tracks or 4 x 24 bit audio tracks. The Dalet AmberFin IMX D10 video option produces IMX constrained MPEG2 video but allows more audio tracks. This is then wrapped in a generic MXF OP1a container and not a D10 MXF container.
Windows Media 9 and Windows Media 9 Advanced Profile
Windows Media 9 Codec Type
Comment
Windows Media Video 9
Windows Media Player codec.
Windows Media Video 9 Advanced Profile
The Advanced Profile implements a more recent and fully compliant Advanced Profile of the VC-1 codec standard.
Parameter
Values
Compression Mode
Comment
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR (2 pass – peak bitrate)
Output bitrate peak rate can be set.
VBR (2 pass – average bitrate)
Output bitrate average rate can be set. The actual rate will vary above and below this rate.
Constant Quality
Select the number of bits to represent a portion of the signal. A lower value gives a more accurate signal representation.
Bitrate
Min = 2000 Max = 20000000 Incr = 1000
Enable for CBR and VBR Disabled for Constant Quality
Quality
Min 0, Max 100 Incr 1
Enabled when Compression Mode is Constant Quality
Keyframe interval selection
Checkbox
Enable / Disable
Keyframe interval
Min 0, Max
I-frame = 0
(seconds)
99,900 Incr 100
Buffer Window
Set slider for 1 to 15; default 3.
Coding Effort
Set slider for 1 to 10; default 5.
Windows Media VC-1
Windows Media VC-1 Parameter Compression Mode
Values
Comment
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR (1 pass – average bitrate)
The actual rate varies above and below the average rate. 1 pass – timeline versus bitrate survey 2 pass – encode: more bits for complex video less bits for low motion/detail.
VBR (2 pass – average bitrate) Constant Quality
Select the number of bits to represent a portion of the signal. A lower value gives a more accurate signal representation.
Bitrate
Min = 2000 Max = 20000000 Incr = 1000
Enable for CBR and VBR Disabled for Constant Quality
Quality
Min 0, Max 100 Incr 1
Enabled when Compression Mode is Constant Quality
Keyframe interval selection
Checkbox
Enable / Disable
Keyframe interval (seconds)
Min 0, Max 99,900 Incr 100
I-frame = 0
Buffer Window
Set slider for 1 to 15; default 3.
Coding Effort
Set slider for 1 to 10; default 5.
1 pass – timeline versus bitrate survey. During this pass the encoder analyses the video for sections with significant motion or detail so that a higher bitrate can be assigned. pass – encode. This is the actual encode, where the bitrate assigned depends on the result of the 2 analysis carried out in the first pass.
DNxHD
The Avid DNxHD video codec offers a choice of bit rates, bit depths and dithering modes.
Parameter DNxHD Bitrate
Values Low Quality 8bit 36Mbps, 23.976sf only
Comment
Medium Quality 8-bit 120Mbps / 145Mbps High Quality 8bit 185Mbps / 220Mbps High Quality 10bit 185Mbps / Dithering Mode
220Mbps Simple Rounding High Quality Dithering
Dithering helps to soften gradients in the picture to lessen banding. It is particularly helpful when only 8 bits are used.
DNxHD data is typically stored in an MXF container, although it can also be stored in a QuickTime (AAF) container. See Using Wrapping Options on page 175. File Wrapping / Demultiplexing There are no encoder parameters for this option. Uncompressed There are no encoder parameters for this option. Thumbnails There are no encoder parameters for this option.
VoD Transport Stream VoD encoder settings are determined by the encoder selected (i.e. MPEG4 AVC (H.264).
Parameter
Values
Comment
Profile
Xml definition e.g: DefaultProfile.xml IngestProfile.xml
Path to xml definition
Compression Mode
CBR
Output bitrate is constant
VBR
The actual rate varies above and below the average rate. In this mode Enable Max Bitrate is active and TQE is enabled
Lossless
In this mode Enable Max Bitrate is active
The xml profile definition can be used to set or limit compression mode options. The following table shows some examples for the default profile:
Compression Mode Options
Values
Comment
Target Quality Threshold
10 to 100 Slider Default = 100
Enabled in VBR only
Enable Max Bitrate
Enable; disable
Enabled in VBR only
Set a maximum bit rate
Set bit rate
Default 100,000,000
Output Bitrate
Set bit rate
Enable for CBR and Lossless; disabled for VBR
To view (or edit) the attached xml profile click on
and open the xml file in a suitable editor.
Using Overlays Overlays refers to inserting logos, burning in captions and burning in timecode.
Inserting Logos
Logo Inserter
Values
Comment
Image File
Path to the file
Location of the picture file that contains the logo
Logo Position
Custom Top Left Top Left Safe Area Top Middle Top Right Safe Area Top Right
Position selection as described. Select Custom to enable X and Y position spin boxes.
Bottom Left Bottom Left Safe Area Bottom Middle Bottom Right Safe Area Bottom Right X Position
-1920 to 1920
Horizontal position of the logo in the file (in pixels)
Y Position
-1080 to 1080
Vertical position of the logo in the file (in pixels)
Resize
Checkbox
Tick Resize to enable Logo Width/Height control
Logo Width
0 to 1920
Width of the logo in (in pixels)
Logo Height
0 to 1920
Height of the logo in (in pixels)
Opacity
Slider bar from 1 to 100
Lower values give more logo translucence.
Pre-Keyed
Checkbox
Select this if the image has been multiplied by the alpha channel
Alpha-Present
Checkbox
Indicates presence of an alpha channel. If no alpha channel is present, the logo inserter will derive a box key the size of the logo to place around the image.
Burning in Text
Text Burn-in
Values
Comment
Enable Text Burn-in
Checkbox
Check to enable Text Burn-In
Text Position
Custom Top Left Top Left Safe Area Top Middle Top Right Safe Area Top Right Bottom Left Bottom Left Safe Area Bottom Middle Bottom Right Safe Area Bottom Right
Position selection as described. Select Custom to enable X and Y position spin boxes.
Text Box X Position
-1920 to 1920
Horizontal position of the text box file (in pixels)
Text Box Y Position
-1080 to 1080
Vertical position of the text box (in pixels)
Text Box Width
0 to 1920
Width of the text box in (in pixels)
Text Box Height
0 to 1920
Height of the text box in (in pixels)
Text Box Color
Hex, Decimal, RGB or Hue, Saturation, Brightness
Use the Choose Color tool to select color
Fill Background
Checkbox
Tick this box to display the text over the text box. Leave it disabled for text burned into the video.
Text
alphanumeric characters
Click on the [ … ] button to enter text
Text Font
Arial, Lucinda Console, Times, Times New Roman
Choose the desired font from the drop down box
Text Font Size
0 to 50
Select font point size
Text Font Style
Regular, Bold, Italics and Bold Italics
Select the font style
Text Horizontal Alignment
Left, Center, Right
Select the horizontal font size
Text Vertical Alignment
Top, Center, Bottom
Select the vertical font size
Text Color
Hex, Decimal,
Use the Choose Color tool to select color
RGB or Hue, Saturation, Brightness Preview Text
Submit
Click Submit to preview the text. An onscreen pop up will display the text and background as it will appear in the repurposed output
Opacity (%)
Slider bar from 1 to 100
Adjust the transparency of the text and background. 100% will display text with solid background, 0% will display nothing.
The Choose Color Tool
The six tabs in the Color Tool are: Standard Color Wheel RGB Sliders Apple, Crayons and Web Safe Color palettes A color grid A simulated crayon box An Advanced Color Wheel that combines: Hue, Saturation and Brightness Hex and Decimal RGB Web Safe Color filter
Timecode Burn-in
Timecode Burn-in
Values
Comment
Enable Timecode Burn-in
Checkbox
Check to enable Timecode Burn-In
Timecode Position
Custom Top Left Top Left Safe Area Top Middle
Position selection as described. Select Custom to enable X and Y spin boxes.
Top Right Safe Area Top Right Bottom Left Bottom Left Safe Area Bottom Middle Bottom Right Safe Area Bottom Right X Position
-1920 to 1920
Horizontal position of the timecode box (in
Y Position
-1080 to 1080
pixels) Vertical position of the timecode box (in pixels)
Background Width
0 to 1920
Width of the text box in (in pixels)
Background Height
0 to 1920
Height of the text box in (in pixels)
Text Font
Arial, Lucinda Console, Times, Times New Roman
Choose the desired font from the drop down box
Timecode Font Size
0 to 50
Select font point size
Fill Background
Checkbox
Tick this box to enable white timecode values displayed over a black background
Timecode Source
Lead Timecode Stream Timecode Stream A Timecode Stream B
Using Thumbnails Thumbnails are small low resolution video frames created during a conversion which act as visual references. An xml file is also created that contains thumbnail filenames as well as their time codes and frame counts. There are two modes, Scene Change or Regular (for timed snap shots). Both modes can be selected at the same time. The tab can be found in the section of the .
Thumbnail Modes This is timed snap shot mode where thumbnail video frames are created at regular intervals. To enable this mode tick and select a value in seconds for the .
In this mode thumbnails are created when shot-changes are detected. To enable this mode tick .
Enter values from 10 to 1920 pixels in the box and 10 to 1080 in the box. To preserve aspect ratio, video frames may be wrapped in a letter or pillar-box when creating thumbnails. Specify a filename and output directory subdirectory for the thumbnails. The default subdirectory is “thumbnails” and the default filename is “%o_%hh_%mm_%ss_%ff.jpg”. The filename can contain patterns that will be replaced dynamically by the application.
Symbol
Format Definition
%o
Output File
%h
Timecode Hours
%m
Timecode Minutes
%s
Timecode Seconds
%f
Timecode Frames
%fc
Relative Frame Count. (starts at frame number 1)
%afc
Absolute Frame Count (starts at frame number calculated from start time code)
The default format is jpg. To output to png format replace the “.jpg” suffix with “.png”.
Audio Gain Audio gain applies a single positive or negative peak gain value to all of the audio channels in the repurposing profile.
Function Audio Gain
Value Set slider for -30 to 30
Comment Click default unity gain value of 0dB (Zero) The gain value either attenuates or boosts the audio level of the all of the audio channels. It is applied to the whole length of the input file audio.
* Audio gain is not applied to compressed sources such as Dolby E, MPEG 4 AAC, AMR or AIFC source audio. Compressed audio of type MPEG 1 Layer 2 and AC3 (Dolby Digital) is supported as it is decoded to uncompressed inside Dalet AmberFin.
Audio Gain Example Here is a typical use case: if the input file is an MXF source file containing uncompressed audio with 8 channels of 48kHz audio, with a bit width of 16 bit has line up tone which has been referenced at -20dBfs (a typical reference level for US broadcast delivery specs). The output audio must have line up tone at 18dBFS. A +2dB gain must be applied to the audio.
PCM Routing
Function
Values
Comment
Number of channels per output
1 - 16
Set the number of input channels per output channel.
Bits per PCM Sample
16, 20, 24
Specific MP4 settings compatible for specific targets
Fixed Number of Output Tracks
Default = off
When enabled, the Number of Output Tracks drop down box is enabled
Number of Output Tracks
1-16
Apply a fixed number of output tracks irrespective of the number of tracks in the source file.
When is enabled, the will be updated to ensure that the correct number of channels can be selected. The Tracks refers to tracks not channels. If there are fewer tracks in the source, additional silent tracks will be added. If there are more tracks in the source file than the fixed number chosen, after routing has been applied un-routed audio will be dropped. In this way audio rules can be strictly enforced without knowing the number of tracks in the source.
Function
Comment
Channel Matrix
Grid relating the source channel to the output channel. Double click on a source channel to assign an output channel.
Passthrough
Select one or more channels and press either Mute or Passthrough
Mute Select All
Use to select all channels
Audio Temporal Settings The only adjustments that can be made under this Conversion Profile audio function are PCM Resampling Quality and PCM Sample rate.
Function
Values
Comment
PCM Resampling Quality
Best Fast
Adjust the audio resampling quality
PCM Sample Rate
As Input 8,000 kHz 11.025 Hz 22,050 Hz 32,000 Hz 44, 056 Hz 44, 100 Hz 48,000 Hz 50,000 Hz 88,200 Hz 96,000 Hz 176,400 Hz 192,000 Hz
Sampling frequency of the audio signal. The higher the sample rate, the higher the resulting audio quality.
Audio Output Encoding Video Codec
Supported Audio Codecs
MPEG4 AVC (H.264) – AAC
AAC
AMR
SurCode for Dolby Digital
Uncompressed
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
√
MPEG1 Layer 2
WMA
MPEG4 AVC – Intra
None
√
AVCHD (MTS Transport Stream) MPEG4 H.264 MXF Proxy
√ √
√
MPEG2 Generic MPEG1
√ √
√
QuickTime
√
DV Apple ProRes
√
Avid/Pinnacle Mediastream
√
MPEFG2 IMX (D10)
√
√
MPEFG2 IMX (D10) Video
√
√
√
Windows Media 9
√
Windows Media VC-1
√
DNxHD
√
File Wrapping/Demultiplexing
√
Uncompressed
√
JPEG 2000
√
Configuration parameters are largely similar for the same audio codecs, though there are some differences. The following table shows the parameters available.
Audio Codec
Parameters
Values/Comments
AAC
Compatibility (Not available with H.264 MXF Proxy)
Default 3GPP, 3GPP2, iPod, PSP, isma Note:this parameters is not available with H.264 MXF Proxy
Profile
Low Complexity High Efficiency v1 / v2 – (not available with H.264 MXF Proxy)
Compression Mode
CBR VBR – not available with H.264 MXF Proxy
Bitrate
7000 to 1024000 bps (enabled in CBR only)
Quality (Not available with H.264 MXF Proxy)
High quality mode 3 (best) High quality mode 2 High quality mode 1 Medium quality mode 3 Medium quality mode 2 (medium) Medium quality mode 1 Low quality mode 3 Low quality mode 2 Low quality mode 1 (worst)
High Frequency Cut-off
Check box; enable/disable
AMR
Bitrate
4750 to 12200 bps
MPEG1 Layer 2
Bitrate
32 to 384 kbps
Uncompressed
None
Note:Uncompressed encoding only valid when using MPEG4 AVC (H.264) – AAC with Elementary Streams
WMA WM9
Compression Mode
CBR VBR Quality (enabled in VBR mode only)
Bitrate
24000 to 320000 bps (enabled in CBR only)
WMA VC-1 Dolby
VBR Quality
25, 50, 75, 90, 100
Bitrate
24000 to 320000 bps See next topic; SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoding Options on page 171
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoding Options
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoding options can be obtained during Ingest Audio configuration and Output Sound Encoding when configuring a transcode profile audio codec.
3/2 audio config mode is only available if a 6 channel group has been configured.
Audio Service Field Values
Description
Field Name Audio Coding Mode
2/0 (L, R) 3/2 (L, R, C, LFE, LsRs)
Only Stereo (2/0) and 5.1 (3/2) Dolby Digital channel mode configurations are supported at present. 3/2 mode is only available if a 6 channel group has been configured
Data Rate
Values ranging from 224 kb/s to 640 kb/s
Output data rate
Bitstream Mode
Complete Main (CM) Music and Effects (ME) Visually Impaired (VI) Hearing Impaired (HI) Dialog (D) Commentary (C) Emergency (E) Karaoke (K)
Describes the audio service carried in the bitstream. For informational purposes only.
Dialog Normalization
Values ranging from –31 to – 1
Parameter used to set the average audio output of the decoder to a preset level. -31 indicates no dialog normalization is required. -1 indicates maximum dialog normalization is required.
Bitstream Information Field Values
Description
Field Name Dynamic Compression Preset
None Film Standard Film Light Music Standard Music Light Speech
A list of dynamic range control presets. These presets have settings to enable the decoder to adjust the signal’s dynamic range.
Center Downmix Level 1)
0.707 (-3.0 dB) – default 0.596 (-4.5 dB) 0.500 (-6.0 dB)
Indicates the downmix level for the center channel when the end user does not have a center speaker
Surround Downmix Level 1)
0.707 (-3.0 dB) – default 0.596 (-4.5 dB)
Indicates the downmix level for the surround channels when the end user has no surround speakers
Audio Production Information
0.500 (-6.0 dB) Checkbox
Indicates whether or not these specific parameters are carried in the bitstream
Room Type
Not Indicated Large Room Small Room
Size and calibration of mixing room used in final mixing session. For information only.
Mixing Level (dBSPL)
0 – 31
Indicates the absolute acoustical SPL (sound pressure level) of the main dialog channel during final mixing. For information only.
Copyright exists
Checkbox
Bitstream is copyrighted. For information only.
Original
Checkbox
Bitstream is the master. For information only
Advanced Field Values
Description
Field Name LFE Lowpass Filter 1)
Checkbox
Applies a 120 Hz low pass filter to the LFE channel before SurCode for Dolby Digital
Channel Bandwidth Lowpass Filter
Checkbox
DC Filter
Checkbox
Applies a DC blocking 3 Hz highpass filter before SurCode for Dolby Digital encoding
90 Degree Phase Shift 1)
Checkbox
Before encoding, it creates phase-shifted surround channels necessary to create a Lt /Rt output that can be ProLogic decoded to L, C, R, S.
3 dB Surround Attenuation 1)
Checkbox
Attenuates surround channels 3 dB before encoding
RF Pre-emphasis Filter
Checkbox
When enabled, the encoder includes preemphasis in its calculations for RF Mode compression to protect against overmodulation.
De-emphasis
Checkbox
Determines whether or not a 50 / 15 digital de-emphasis is applied to the main input channels
encoding Applies a lowpass filter to the main input channels before SurCode for Dolby Digital encoding
Extended Bitstream Information These fields are only valid in 3/2 (5.1) coding mode.
Field Values
Description
Field Name Enabled
Checkbox
Indicates that extended bitstream information is available
Preferred Stereo Downmix Mode 1)
Not Indicated Lt / Rt Downmix Lo / Ro Downmix
Selection of either Lt / Rt or Lo / Ro downmix. Allows a decoder to play a 5.1 channel in Lo / Ro mode without user intervention
Lt / Rt Center Mix Level 1)
3 dB to -
When the downmix mode is Lt / Rt , this
incrementally
parameter gives the downmix level for the center channel when the user does not have a center speaker
Lt / Rt Surround Mix Level 1)
3 dB to incrementally
When the downmix mode is Lt / Rt , this parameter gives the downmix level for the surround channels when the user does not have a surround speaker
Lo / Ro Center Mix Level 1)
3 dB to incrementally
When the downmix mode is Lo / Ro, this parameter gives the downmix level for the
center channel when the user does not have a center speaker Lo / Ro Surround Mix Level 1)
3 dB to incrementally
When the downmix mode is Lo / Ro, this parameter gives the downmix level for the surround channels when the user does not have a surround speaker
Input is Dolby Surround EX encoded
Checkbox
Identifies audio as Surround EX encoded and requires Surround EX decoding
A / D Converter Type Indication (HDCD)
Checkbox
Identifies the audio has been passed through an A / D conversion
For direct encode to SurCode for Dolby Digital at Ingest the track order is fixed (e.g. there is no individual channel routing available if the Ingested input is directly encoded to Dolby Digital). If the track order is not as stated below then a 2 pass Ingest to intermediate file (such as MXF OP1a) and then a separate repurpose job to Dolby Digital using the repurposing audio routing menu is the solution.
Track orders for discrete AES inputs: AES Input
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoder
AES Pair 1 Channel 1 = L
L
AES Pair 1 Channel 2 = R
R
AES Pair 2 Channel 1 = C
C
AES Pair 2 Channel 2 = LFE
LFE
AES Pair 3 Channel 1 = Ls
Ls
AES Pair 3 Channel 2 = Rs
Tape Input (HDCAM)
SurCode for Dolby Digital Coding Mode 5.1
Rs
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoder
AES Pair 1 Channel 1 = L
L
AES Pair 1 Channel 2 = R
R
SurCode for Dolby Digital Coding Mode 2.0
5.1 layout defined as per SMPTE 320M
Track orders for embedded audio input: SDI/HD-SDI Channel Group 1 Pair 1 Channel 1 = L Group 1 Pair 1 Channel 2 = R Group 1 Pair 2 (Channel 3) = C Group 1 Pair 2 (Channel 4) = LFE Group 2 Pair 1 (Channel 5) = Ls Group 2 Pair 1 (Channel 6) = Rs Tape Input (HDCAM) Group 1 Pair 1 Channel 1 = L Group 1 Pair 1 Channel 2 = R 5.1 layout defined as per SMPTE 320M
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoder L R C LFE Ls Rs
SurCode for Dolby Digital Coding Mode
SurCode for Dolby Digital Encoder Minnetonka L R
SurCode for Dolby Digital Coding Mode
5.1
2.0
Using Wrapping Options The file wrapper available for each output format varies and therefore the options available in the depend of the selected. In addition there will be configuration options that are specific to each wrapper.
Profile
Wrappers Available
MPEG4-AVC (H.264)
MP4 3GPP Elementary Stream
MPEG4-AVC - Intra
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 P2 MXF (OP(Simple Atom) Version)
AVCHD (MTS Transport Stream)
Transport Stream
MPEG4
MP4 3GPP
H.264 MXF Proxy
MXF OP1a interleaved
MPEG2- Generic
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) XDCAM HD MXF XDCAM HD MOV (Final Cut Pro) XDCAM EX MOV (Final Cut Pro) Elementary Stream Program Stream (CBR streaming and VBR DVD compatible) Program Stream (VBR SCVD compatible) Program Stream (VBR download compatible) Transport Stream GXF
MPEG-1
Elementary Stream Program Stream (Streaming compatible) System Stream (VCD compatible)
QuickTime
Proprietary Format – no additional wrapper
DV
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) P2 MXF (OP Atom) MOV (Final Cut Pro) AVI Elementary Stream DV DIF Sequence GXF AAF
Apple ProRes
MOV (Final Cut Pro)
Avid/Pinnacle Mediastream
Mediastream group of files
MPEG2 IMX (D10)
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) MOV (Final Cut Pro) Program Stream Transport Stream
MPEG2 IMX (D10) - Video
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) Elementary Stream Program Stream Transport Stream GXF
AAF Windows Media 9
.wmv Proprietary Format – no additional wrapper
Windows Media VC-1
.asf Proprietary Format – no additional wrapper
DNxHD
AAF
MXF OP1a interleaved MOV (Final Cut Pro)
Profile FileWrapping/Demultiplexing
Wrappers Available MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) P2 MXF (OP Atom) XDCAM HD MXF MOV (Final Cut Pro) Elementary Stream Program Stream Transport Stream MXF OP1a interleaved (IMX/D10)
Uncompressed
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) MOV (Final Cut Pro) AVI
JPEG 2000
MXF OP1a interleaved MXF-AS02 (Simple Version) MJ2
Refer to the Dalet Amberfin GUI software itself for the most up-to-date codecs, wrappers and configuration options.
Output Processing Naming templates are supported to format the names of conversion output files and both Pre and Post scripts are supported to automate processing. Email notification of completed conversions can also be configured. To configure output processing click on in the tool.
Format Symbol
Format Definition
%i
Input file name (without file extension)
%c
Output type
%n
Conversion Name
%Z
Auto-increment output name (only valid if at end of naming pattern)
%a
Abbreviated weekday name
%A
Full weekday name
%b
Abbreviated month name
%B
Full Month Name
%d
Day of month as decimal number (01 – 31)
%H
Hour in 24 hour format (00 – 23)
%I
Hour in 12 hour format (01 – 12)
%j
Day of year as decimal number (001 – 366)
%m
Month as a decimal number (01 – 12)
%M
Minute as a decimal number (00 – 59)
%p
Current locale AM/PM indicator for 12 hour clock
%S
Second as a decimal number (00 - 59)
%U
Week of the year as decimal number, with Sunday as first day of the week (00 – 53)
%w
Weekday as decimal number (0 – 6, Sunday is 0)
%W
Week of the year as decimal number, with Monday as first day of the week (00 – 53)
%y
Year without century, as decimal number (00 – 99)
%Y
Year with century as a decimal number
Putting %z in the string will display the unit's programmed time zone and placing two consecutive % signs will display whatever is after the first % sign. Characters that are considered illegal for Windows file naming such as ‘/’ or ‘?” will have the underscore substituted for them in the filename. Click on the appropriate [ … ] button to browse for or locations. Click on the [ … ] button to enter the contact information.
Watermarking Content protection is increasingly important and the Digital Watermarking option allows an invisible identification signal to be added. The watermarking types supported are Civolution and Civolution Teletrax. For a quick guide on the Teletrax installation, licensing and watermarking, consult the knowledge article: https://portal.dalet.com/icarewiki/daletwikiv91a.nsf/dx/Dalet_Amberfin_and_Teletrax_Watermarking
Civolution
Function
Value
Comment
Payload
0 to 2097151
An identification number used to watermark the video image
Advanced
Checkbox
Tick to enable Key Index
Key Index
1 to 5
Strength
Global Depth
The Key Index control allows one of five key layers to be applied to the video
Max Depth
Comment
Studio
0.0125
3
Studio Plus
0.025
5
Broadcast
0.05
5
Broadcast Plus
0.1
5
Strength increases the strength of the watermark. Higher values are more robust but may not be imperceptible. Select CUSTOM to allow Global and Maximum depth to be manually modified. They can be reduced it if the watermark becomes visible.
Custom
0 to 0.25
1 to 5
Defaults are Global: 0.25 and Max: 5.0
Civolution watermarking requires a minimum clip length of 30s.
Civolution Teletrax The optional Teletrax watermarking application may also be available
Function
Value
Comment
Working Directory
Location
Click on [ … ] and browse for a suitable location
Program name
Text
Type a suitable name, default: Quick Watermark
Database Location Enable Teletrax Logging
Location Checkbox
Click on [ … ] and browse for a suitable location Tick to enable logging
Logfile Location
Location
Click on [ … ] and browse for a suitable location
Logfile Name
Text
Type a suitable name, default: Quick Watermark
Customer ID
Text
Type suitable alphanumeric characters
Item ID
Text
Slug
Text
Description
Text
Write a suitable description
Watermark embedding takes place in every frame and is updated every second as date and time information is embedded. Watermark detection is done in 0,5 second intervals as watermark material is gathered to calculate the watermark payload. The 0,5 second accumulation time was selected to guarantee a watermark detection of 1 second granularity.
15.
Dalet Amberfin Workflow Engine
Specially tailored for media workflows, Dalet Workflow Engine is a key foundation of Dalet’s commitments: help broadcasters and media professionals to increase productivity, provide operational and business visibility and offer agility and openness through SOA. Dalet Workflow Engine automates back-office tasks. On the back-office side, it manages metadata services by enabling many tasks and third -party processes such as QC, conversion, media exchanges and transfers to be fully automated. By using simple drag & drops, administrators model all their workflows in details, including user and service tasks sequencing, task types, parallel or exclusive paths, timeout and escalation management. This visual modeling based on BPMN 2.0 standardized notation helps define roles, responsibilities and processes. Precise graphical representation helps identify and correct gaps, redundancies and inefficiencies. It greatly improves agility and flexibility as existing workflows can quickly and easily be modified to meet new business requirements
Installation and Activation The foundation for the workflow engine is provided by the Amberfin setup. Once restarted after the setup procedure, the computer will host the Windows service, “AmberFinWorkflow DataStore” and “AmberFin Workflow Server, running under local system accounts
In order to access the Workflow Engine, you have to have a browser installed and access the following URL: http://
:31013/WorkflowEngineService/
The open workflow interfacebrowser features a can eachengine in a separate tab.
;a
; and a
tab. For you convenience, you
Initially the Manage tab will be empty, because you need to create workflow profiles first.
The Design Tab Creating a Workflow Make sure to have all functional QC processes, conversion/transcode profiles prepared in the client. Open the Design tab of the Engine. The Designer consists of a three vertical areas, the stencil, design, and properties area. The stencil and properties area can be minimized sideways, by clicking the two cursor icons side -lining the designer. Event types and stencil sections, you can open/close sub sections if they exist, by clicking the cursor down/up icon next to each event.
The designer will always open ready-to-go with an empty page. If already existent, you can begin a new one by clicking the empty page icon:
You drag and drop the desired stencil (1) into the design area (2), one after the other, from start event till end event. It is imperative that every workflow must begin/finish with a start/end event. You streamline and connect the components by drawing links between them (3). For each element, you will have to define the relevant properties (4) in the properties side bar. Mandatory fields appear in red.
In order to delete an element, click it with the mouse. It will highlight in blue. Then press the delete keyboard button. You can copy blue).
/paste
You can redo/undo sequentially
/cut
/delete
elements, while an element is selected (highlighted in
actions, zoom in/out
,and automatically arrange all elements horizontally-
.
Saving, Opening, Exporting a Workflow In order to save a workflow for the first time and/or to save its current state, click the disc icon in the horizontal upper icon area
.
On the first save, you have to provide a name for the design.
In order to save an existing design under a new name, click “Save as”: By clicking the Open icon
, you can select a design to be opened for editing.
Worklflows are saved under …ProgramData\AmberFin\AmberFinWorkflow\WorkflowEngineService\workflows
You can download designs as ZIP to use them on a different platform, by clicking the icon. Just unzip to that other platforms …ProgramData\AmberFin\AmberFinWorkflow\WorkflowEngineService\workflows
Stencil Sets Start Events Start Event Start With Parameters Event Start Timer Workflow Error Watch Folder
Start the workflow from the web interface or the workflow API Start the workflow from the workflow API with a given Transcode Parameters XML document. Start the workflow at a given date and time Start the workflow when an error occurs in any running workflow Start the workflow when a file appears in a given folder
Gateways Exclusive Gateways
Inclusive Gateways
Parallel Gateway
Select a single branch from one or more conditional and default branches Select multiple branches from one or more normal, conditional or default branches Start multiple parallel branches
Boundary NOTE: Boundary Error events are not available by default. Please contact Dalet support if you require them to be enabled.
Boundary Error Event Boundary Timer Interrupting Boundary Timer NonInterrupting
If a transcode job is problematic, a boundary event can be started Move to a new branch when an activity doesn't complete within a given duration Continue the existing and start a new branch when an activity doesn't complete within a given duration
Artifacts Text Annotation
You can add description to workflow steps
Analyze Media
Analyse a media file using the AmberFin Media Analyser to retrieve wrapper, video and audio information Analyse a media file using the AmberFin Media Analyser to create a Media Description XML file. Analyse a QCML file to retrieve the overall QC result.
Analysis
Analyse Media (XML)
Analyse QCML Transcode Transcode
Transcode content from a single source using mediathe format to a new target format AmberFin Transcoder.
Transcode with Parameters
Transcode media content using the AmberFin Transcoder with a given Transcode Parameters XML document
Transport FTP Upload
Upload a single file to an existing FTP folder
Move Rename Copy Delete
Move a single file to an existing Windows destination folder Rename a single file Copy a single file to an existing Windows destination folder Delete a single file
Quality Control
Generate a QCML report for Nexidia QC/Tektronix Cerify/Tektronix Aurora/Venera Pulsar/VidCheck VidChecker/Metaglue MXFixer/Interra Baton
XML Operation XML transform
Transform an XML file into a new format using XSLT
Notifications Email
End Events
Send an email to one or more recipents using an SMTP mail server (if no SMTP settings are provided then this activity will use the default SMTP settings)
End the workflow
Cloning Stencils If you right click a stencil you can select “Clone” from the contextual menu.
Assign a name and alias to the clone. The fields and default settings of the mother stencil will be inherited, but you can modify default values, make relevant fields editable or hide/show them. Click Create when satisfied.
Editing, Deleting, Exporting Stencils You can edit, and export stencils by selecting the respective command from the contextual menu on a selected stencil. Only cloned stencils can be deleted.
Limitations 1. Watch Folders: If n number of workflows are deployed (imported) to Manage panel, No two workflows should have (same watch folder and same condition) combination. If such combination exists, one of the workflow would not run (does nothing)- Known Limitation 2. When only Dalet workflow is installed- without Amberfin and a valid license, no error message is reported, but it does not open/start the workflow web page. The logs do show that the Workflow license is missing.
3. When using a parallel gateway, it should be used at both ends, i.e. a parallel gateway can have both fork and join behavior, if there are multiple incoming and outgoing sequence flow for the same parallel gateway.
The Manage Tab Managing Workflow Designs Open the Manage tab. It can be reached under: http://:31013/WorkflowEngineService/#Manage
Even if you have created workflows in the Design tab, there will be no workflow visible when you first open the Manage tab. You have to import any workflow, even those created in the Design tab or copied man the page will be empty, and only the import icon is visible (which is also the case when profiles are listed but none is selected).
Importing Workflow Profiles You can click the import icon and browser to the workflow location of the workflow XML on the Amberfin host computer: …ProgramData\AmberFin\AmberFinWorkflow\WorkflowEngineService\workflows If you got workflows from another platform (there exported as ZIP), unzip them into the folder mentioned above.
Once a workflow is imported, it will be automatically deployed, but not run. You can import (select) several XML files at the same time. Reimporting the same XML again, increases the version of the workflow.
Disable/Enable Workflows If you wish to disable/re-enable such a deployment, you can deactivate/reactivate a selected workflow by toggling the square/checked square icon.
Running Workflow Instances You can mark a workflow and click the play icon instance.
. This will manually run a workflow
Deleting a Workflow /Deployment You can mark a workflow and click the trash icon /deployment.
. This will remove the workflow
The Monitor Tab The monitor tab (http://:31013/WorkflowEngineService/#Monitor) shows all workflow instances and their metadata. Selecting an instance gives you additional information.
There are three information areas, the upper Workflow Instances list, the middle Workflow Instances Details, and the lower Workflow Logs area. Each can be opened/collapsed independently.
In the graphical area, the current state of the job is shown by a red border:
;’
Deleting, Retrying a Job Once an instance is selected, you can click the cancel or retry icon actions. You cannot make multiple selections.
to perform these
16.
Amberfin Dark
In today’s increasingly file-based media workflows, file transcode operations have ass umed critical importance. With media facilities both receiving and distributing content as media files, broadcasters, content owners, sports organizations and post-production houses rely on their transcode chain to deliver their content on multiple platforms, including the Internet, VoD, mobile and other small screen devices. Dalet AmberFin Dark efficiently turns the content that owners have into the content their customers want. Including format and standard conversion, Dalet AmberFin Dark offers bestin-class image processing and allows for fast and effortless content delivery and repurposing. To streamline full transcoding and content repurposing operations, Dalet AmberFin Dark delivers superior looking even you at low bitmoney rates, keeping distribution and transmissions costs downpictures and helping save on each your byte storage, you produce. With Dalet AmberFin Dark, transcoding is more than just a wrapper change as we bring you the world’s best scaling, de-interlacing and film cadence processing available today. Dalet AmberFin Dark integrates advanced audio routing, coding and rate manipulation as well as broad support for different audio formats. Dalet AmberFin Dark builds on the successful AmberFin iCR transcode farm providing a completely scalable, fault tolerant high quality transcode environment. With all components running as windows services, users can build transcode farms on commodity IT hardware as virtual appliances, thus minimizing downtime, reducing maintenance costs and enabling complete “lights-out” operations. Dalet AmberFin Dark offers the highest quality video scaling and interlace/progressive handling while complete incremental scalability & resiliency provide the most cost-effective scaling transcode farm. Flexible licensing enables complete three-dimensional scalability; Installations can start as a single node and easily scale to tens or hundreds of transcode nodes, while additional Farm Controller nodes provide resiliency and fault tolerance. Dalet AmberFin Dark also scales in terms of functionality with options abl e to “float” across nodes allowing high value add-ons such as motion compensated frame rate conversion and adaptive cadence correction or optional codecs such as JPEG 2000 to be deployed only as throughput requires. Dalet AmberFin Dark provides a highly efficient workflow, with extensive integration and automation capacities to third-party software and storage technology. Transcoding jobs can be created within Dalet AmberFin Dark GUI, hot folders, directly from the Dalet Galaxy MAM platform or via third-party systems or web servers - all from the basic transcode engine and embedded processes such as multi-channel audio handling. Closed Captioning and Ancillary Data handling further add to the efficiency of the farm. Dalet AmberFin Dark maintains use of the profiles and APIs from previous versions ensuring a simple upgrade path for customers of AmberFin iCR but also provides confidence for new implementations with full support for previous third-party integrations and proven interoperability. You have to define the transcode profiles in the Amberfin GUI, but
Once the profile is configured, you can in addition to execute a job manually from within the GUI, have files added to a watchfolder or via an API integration with MAM or automation systems. These jobs are then executed by the Amberfin services without the need to have an active user/GUI logged in.
17.
Trouble Shooting
Trouble Shooting The following diagnostic procedures may help with trouble shooting Dalet AmberFin.
Using Logging Dalet AmberFin, by default will maintain lists of events as they occur. These events are not necessarily faults, but will reflect the operations that have been carried out such as manual or automatic ingests, transcodes and conversion. There is also an Extended logging mode that can capture a wider range of events.
Retrieving Diagnostic Logs Right click on the Dalet AmberFin logo in the lower right corner, and select
>>
A file will appear on the PC desktop named in the format: UserName_Year_Month_Day_HourMinute_logs.zip. An example could be: AmberFinUser_2011_08_11 18h29_logs.zip. This zip file contains files and folders such as the following:
File/Folder name
Location
controller
C:\program files\AmberFin\Repurposing\
DA Controller
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\
JPEG2000Profiles
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\iCR\config\
Naming Service
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\Nami ngService\
AsteroidDevice.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
config.xml
C:\program files\AmberFin\Repurposing\
Console.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\iCR\
Diagnostic.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
GenericVTRDevice.l og
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
iCR.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\iCR\
Install_UserName.l og
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\
LinearInitApp.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
Metashare.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
MonitorApp.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
Status.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\iCR\
NamingService.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\
Profiles.tpl
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\iCR\config\
repurposing.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Repurposing\
repurposingcontroll er.log
C:\program files\AmberFin\Repurposing\
setup.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\ (ext ended only)
system.log
C:\Program Files\AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\ (ext ended only)
If difficulty is experienced with running Dalet AmberFin it is recommended to change the logging mode to extended; right click on the Dalet AmberFin logo in the lower right corner, and select . Run Dalet AmberFin a few times and allow the extended logs to accrue; then select >> and send the zip file to with a brief description of the fault Other useful logs include those created by the operating system. For example, go to shows critical system events and warning. Events can be copied as text. A performance monitor tool is also available to help solve network storage problems. It can be launched from or by typing in the pressing enter. AmberFin and system event logs can help troubleshoot both and Dalet AmberFin and Dalet your network!
Start/Stop Metashare Services and Dalet AmberFin Servers There are a number of Dalet AmberFin applications that must run successfully to use the Dalet AmberFin GUI. The application components common are: AmberFin Application Server primary AmberFin Dark service. Runs the services for Transcode, Transfer and Unified QC job creation and management and the Profile service; AmberFin DataStore H2 database for storing AmberFin job metadata AmberFin License Manager handles communication between licensed AmberFin components and the SafeNET license server(s) AmberFin Management Server manages start-up and shutdown of AmberFin Dark services AmberFin Orca Legacy workflow system (Disabled by default) AmberFin Unifier manages QCML updates and Unified QC jobs including conversion from vendor QC reports to QCML Metashare Metadata Server database backed service for storing AmberFin library metadata MetaShare Naming Service CORBA naming service for MetaShare Metadata Server and Playback/Ingest Realtime Server (Asteroid.exe)
AmberFin Workflow DataStore
H2 database for storing workflow deployments and instances primary AmberFin Workflow service. Runs the Workflow GUI and Engine
AmberFin Workflow Server
When Dalet AmberFin is started normally, these applications and services will start automatically. However, they can also be started and stopped manually. For example, starting and stopping services may be necessary when loading new versions of software or when debugging a problem on Dalet AmberFin. To do so is easy if you perform the following instructions. From the PC go to . This will give a window showing all the currently active services on your system. The services of most concern for Dalet AmberFin start with the word ‘Metashare’. To turn off or turn on a service, first ensure that the Dalet AmberFin application is not running and then simply highlight the service name, right-click, and select either ‘Stop’ or ‘Start’. The actions highlighted in black are those that are permitted while those not active are grayed out. An alternate method is to use the selections on the menu. Highlight the service, and select one of: - Start - Stop - Restart - Pause Again, only those menu selections that are active will be in bold, the rest will be grayed out. To restart the Dalet AmberFin Device service shut down the Dalet AmberFin application then right-click on the tray icon and then .
in the lower right corner of the PC, and select
When the icon turns gray right-click on it again and select
and then
If for some reason you cannot restart this service restart the Metashare Metadata Server service as detailed above reattempting to restart the Dalet AmberFin Device service.
Recovering the Database On the rare occasion that you see a ‘Database corrupt’ message on boot up and need to recover your database, follow this procedure. Make sure that the Dalet AmberFin application is not running The database restore utility is kept in the directory and is named Doublethe click on this file to start running When utility window appears, select it click . A message box saying
, the most recently saved database, and appears; click
The system will start restoring the database, which may take a few minutes. When it is finished, a message will appear saying that the restore was successful.
Checking System Software Versions Operating System To check the software versions, go to Start >> Control Panel >> System. Check the version of the Windows operating system by double-clicking on the ‘System’ selection in the Control Panel. The front panel displays the Windows version number and if there is a service pack installed.
Dalet AmberFin To check the Dalet AmberFin version when the program is running click on . This will also show System Capabilities, Plugins and Credits. To check the Dalet AmberFin version when the program is not running go to . Highlight the ‘Dalet AmberFin’ entry and click on the support link.
DVB ASI card Driver Version To get the driver version of the installed Linear Systems DVB ASI card go to Control Panel >> System >> Hardware >> Device Manager >> Sound, video and game controllers >> DVBLink >> Driver From the Control Panel, double click on ‘System’ and select the ‘Hardware’ tab and click on the ‘Device Manager’ button. In the Device Manager, open the ‘Sound, video and game controllers’ directory and double click on DVBLink. Then select the ‘Driver’ tab to get the version. Control Panel →System→Hardware →Device Manager →Sound, video, and game controllers →DVBLink →Driver
Onboard Video I/O Card Driver To discover the Matrox driver go to Control Panel >> Add or Remove Programs >> Matrox DSX.utils. From the Control Panel, select ‘Add or Remove Programs’. Highlight the ‘Matrox DSX.utils’ entry and note the version number to the right of this label.
Recovering from a Failed Installation Although Dalet AmberFin products undergo extensive testing, not every combination of previously installed software or operating system update status can be anticipated. This guide offers a manual procedure to remove Dalet AmberFin software from a Windows Server 2008 Std normal uninstall routine does not work. The procedure should also workR2 forinstallation Windows 7where 64 bitasystems. Always try to remove Dalet AmberFin first by using the uninstall tool in the panel before attempting a manual ‘force’ uninstall. This procedure requires the use of the registry editor. Although with care, no damage should occur to the installed operating system it is recommended to back up the partition on which the OS is installed prior to performing this procedure. Always back up the Operating System partition to external media after each successful installation or uninstallation of any major software. 1) Remove Dalet AmberFin registry entries Open the registry editor and check the following locations:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WoW6432Node\ AmberFin HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WoW6432Node\JavaSoft HKEY_USERS\S-1-5…(long string)\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\SOFTWARE \WoW6432Node\JavaSoft Remove the three entries above if they exist. 2) Stop Dalet AmberFin Services In the tab of the running: Metashare Metashare Naming Service Unifier Orca
, ensure that the following services are not
3) Save important Dalet AmberFin Data Save the following files to a safe location. License file: C:\ProgramFiles(x86)\ AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\lservrc Templates file: C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\ AmberFin\config\profiles.tpl GUI Layout file: C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\config\layout JPEG2000 Encoding file: C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\ AmberFin\config\JPEG2000Profiles Controller Configuration (if remote transcode engines configured): C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\ AmberFin Controller\ControllerConfig.xml
SD Standards Conversion Controller: C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\Repurposing\controller\servers.xml Dalet AmberFin specific plugins: C:\Program Files(x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin\plugins Depending on your system setup, you may not need to save all of these files.
4) Delete Dalet AmberFin folders Remove the following Dalet AmberFin installation folders: C:\Program Files\ AmberFin C:\Program Files(x86)\ AmberFin C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin
It may be necessary to check Show hidden files, folders and drives under Folder Options to see the ProgramData folder. 5) Reboot Reboot the computer. Re-install Dalet AmberFin Reinstalling Dalet AmberFin will re-copy all relevant files and Windows registry entries. Restore saved files Copy the files saved in step 3 back to their locations, and launch the GUI.
Solving Dalet AmberFin License Problems When upgrading from any release prior to V5.5.0, a new Dalet AmberFin license is required. Please refer to the release notes for details. If Dalet AmberFin gives an error message saying it cannot find a valid license, check the lservc file is in the correct windows folder (see note below) and that your primary Ethernet network port is active. Internet access can be checked by connecting to the internet, or selfpinging 127.0.0.1 in a DOS command prompt window. If it is necessary to locate 'lsinit' or the lock generator directly, the executables are installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin or in C:\Program Files\ AmberFin\ AmberFin for older versions of Windows.
If the Isinit file is not successful in applying a limited trial license, try running it with Administrator privileges (right click and select ) and try running Trial Preenable again when replacing a Trial license. For any other error, please contact your local Dalet AmberFin representative. On some Windows Server 2008R2, you may get an error message preventing Dalet AmberFin installation to complete asking you to install 'Windows 2008 Desktop Experience ' before continuing. You must install it from the Server Manager application, go to Features, Add Features, and select Desktop Experience option to install. If Dalet AmberFin gives an error message stating it cannot start the application server, make sure the service is started from the task bar Dalet AmberFin icon tray (Start Dalet AmberFin Application Server).
18.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a quick guide to some common fixes for operational problems you might encounter. One group of common problems are loss of reference/locking to incorrect reference that can cause a range of issues, so it’s always good practice to check for these in the event of frame drops during ingest or other picture disturbances. Another common problem is licenses which are deleted, incorrectly installed or ‘edited’. Typically this might result in missing features or functions (including that the GUI will not start. Do not edit a license and please make sure you have followed the installation procedures correctly. Q Why do I get a 'Windows 2008 Desktop Experience’ error message when installing Windows Server 2008 R2? On some Windows Server 2008R2, you may 'Windows get an error message preventing Dalet AmberFin installation to complete asking you to install 2008 Desktop Experience ' before continuing. You must install it from the application, go to , , and select the option to install. Q Why do I get an Application Server error message when starting Dalet AmberFin? If Dalet AmberFin gives an error message stating it cannot start the application server, make sure the service is started from the task bar Dalet AmberFin icon tray (Start Dalet AmberFin Application Server). Q How can I recover from a failed Dalet AmberFin installation? Try uninstalling the Dalet AmberFin software using the Operating System Uninstall Tool; in Windows 7 Enterprise this is the tool under in the . If the failure has occurred part-way into a first time install, there may be no uninstall tool for Dalet AmberFin installed yet. In this case, or if the uninstall tool does not work properly, refer to the Recovering from a Failed Installation procedure in the Trouble Shooting topic. Q Dalet AmberFin reports that it cannot find a valid license, what’s wrong? The Dalet AmberFin license is handled by the accessible from the Dalet AmberFin Program Group under the Start menu and from Dalet AmberFin icon in the system tray. Licensing is explained in detail in the Applying Licenses section of the Installation topic. If it is necessary to locate 'lsinit' or the lock generator directly, the executables are installed under C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin or in C:\Program Files\ AmberFin\ AmberFin for older versions of Windows. Also check that your primary Ethernet network port is active. Internet access can be checked by connecting to the internet, or self-pinging 127.0.0.1 in a DOS command prompt window.
Q Adjust the VTR preroll in presets. Make sure pre-roll is at least 5 seconds. Q GUI does not respond after ingest, what’s wrong? Hit save or cancel to unload clip. Check that web services has not been enabled - this prevents some GUI functions from taking place. Q Why can’t I find a Transcoded clip? Right click on job and select "browse for clip" Q Why is Playback of Jpeg2000 jerky?
This can be caused by insufficient PC resources. If your PC is not powerful enough for this task, consider a CPU upgrade. Q I can’t cut / splice a MOV clip, what’s wrong? This only works for MXF at present - please rewrap to MXF and try again Q Transcode shows connection lost; what’s wrong? Look in the logs to see if the job has failed Q There is no response from VTR, what might be wrong? Check for online / offline status Q Why does the clip name in the library appear in red? The file is missing or network storage is not mounted Q Why does deleting a P2 file from the library leave garbage behind? Deleting a P2 MXF from the Dalet AmberFin library deletes its essence files only. The P2 MXF directory structure is left intact. Q Is it possible to perform multiple transcodes simultaneously? Yes it is. A single instance of the Dalet AmberFin software can control multiple transcodes provided more than one transcode engine has been installed. See Adding Transcode or QC Groups/Engines in the Using the Job Status Panel topic for more details. For pricing contact your Dalet AmberFin representative. Q There is no QC tab visible when editing Transcode + QC profiles, what’s wrong? UQC must be licensed for this tab to appear. Q Topology details in the Job Status window are grayed out or incomplete, what’s wrong? It may need updating, try clicking on the button next the host details and then clicking in the Topology Editor and seeing if the correct details appear. Entries for a single repurposing group/engine appear by default but third party QC group details must be entered manually. See Adding Transcode or QC Groups/Engines Manually in the Using the Job Status Panel topic. Q Help, my Transcodes are overwriting each other? See Naming Pattern Templates in the Ingest Settings topic in Workflow Setup. Sometimes you want to create a unique filename, sometimes automation systems require overwrite. Dalet AmberFin's naming conventions allow you to do both - check the setting is what you want. Q Why don’t the links provided in this document always work? Links outside this document to locations in the Dalet AmberFin support site, only work when this document is read on-line. Always visit the Dalet AmberFin support site for up-to-date documentation. Q Why has support for 32 bit operating systems been withdrawn? Legacy 32 bit operating systems are only able to address a limited memory address range. Recent 64 bit operating systems overcome this limitation and are proving reliable and well supported. Running software, such as Dalet AmberFin, that has been designed for 64 bit operating systems on a 32 bit system may encounter some of the following problems: Lower virtual address space limit issues Reliability issues due to address space fragmentation that may be seen when running for long periods on 32-bit O/S systems Single pass J2K encode only uses the 64-bit only Kakadu speed pack Playback of mpg, m2v files with more than 16 audio channels has a memory requirement that only a 64 bit system can provide Q What software and hardware requirements are there for Dalet AmberFin V9.0? The most up-to-date list of pre-requisites for installing and running Dalet AmberFin are to be found in the updated release notes. See also the Prerequisites section in the Before you Begin topic. Q What foreign language support is there? • •
• •
Foreign language support is provided by the operating system. A quick guide can be found in the Foreign_Language_Support section of the Before you Begin topic.. Q What is a script and how do I use one? A script is a short program written in (say) JavaScript that can be used to carry out detailed instructions prior or during a workflow task. For example a pre-conversion script used prior to an unattended transcode from a watch folder. The path to a script must be entered when setting up a watch folder. See Using a Watch Folder in the Managing Transcode and QC Jobs topic.
19.
High Availability
Overview High Availability is a strategy that allows a highly resilient architecture to be created that it is tolerant to a number of different failure modes that might otherwise cause resources to be reduced or become unavailable.
Basic Architecture High Availability Farm A high availability farm comprises one or more controllers that are responsible for managing a number of transcoder nodes. Each controller act as a pair. One is always active while the other acts as a slave in standby. When a fault occurs with the active controller, the slave becomes active to continue delivering jobs to the farm. The transcode nodes can run on any server, blade, desktop, virtual machine or laptop on the network - that's your choice. Maximum throughput is determined by the types of CPU, motherboard, network IO, disc bandwidth and, most importantly, by the mix of transcode jobs put through the system. For example, a rewrap from Program stream to MXF might have a throughput that is 10000 times faster than a full HD standards convert between JPEG2000 master files. See Optimizing a Transcoder Farm for more information. Transcode nodes are monitored by a watchdog process that looks for processing nodes that have hung (i.e. they started executing a job, but are no longer producing an output) and is able to terminate them. This happens in parallel to the job execution and works in a multitude of hang scenarios such as network storage failure, growing files that stop growing and toxic files crashing libraries. If a server / blade / vm failure occurs, then jobs-in-flight on that server are likely to be lost and the licenses that were in-use will be checked back into the central license pool after a timeout.
Planning a Transcode Farm Introduction The key to a good transcode farm is good planning.
Transcode Farm Considerations There are many different aspects to deploying a successful farm, but the best approach is to start with some idea of how success is measured to get a better chance of achieving it. While throughput is often used as a basic measure of success, it is not standardized and care must be taken with any units employed. This HD file transcoded in 1.14x real time This HD file transcoded in 70% of duration This HD file transcoded at 35fps
This is an ambiguous and often misinterpreted way of quoting throughput. In a brief trade-show survey we found about 60% of people thought this expression meant faster than real time and 40% thought it meant slower than real time. This is a much better unit of measure because it is clear that the processing of the file was shorter than the duration and therefore faster than real time. This measure can be very useful when files are of the same frame rate and resolution, but rapidly becomes meaningless when dealing with a mixed population of media. The underlying file properties have to be known before the measure can be evaluated.
Having established a way to express throughput, it is also important to understand how throughput affects the business goals of the farm. Some businesses require individual files to be processed very fast whereas other businesses want the best average throughput for the hardware / software that they have bought. Throughput measured by the shortest amount of time taken for an individual file to be transcoded is, in effect, measuring the peak throughput of the farm and is often used by sports, news and advert producers for reducing the time-to-live of a given clip. In this throughput configuration, it is often the case that the number of nodes per server will be less than the case where optimizing the average throughput is required. Throughput measured as a global average across the whole farm leads to Transcode Farm implementations where the utilization of the underlying hardware is maximized but some individual files could be transcoded faster on hardware that is less resource constrained. The Dalet AmberFin Transcode Farm architecture requires only that the farm controller and nodes are visible on the same network. The choice of how many nodes to run on any given server is covered in Sizing a Farm and basic network issues are covered in Network and Environment.
Sizing a Farm Sizing a transcode farm is non-trivial. A full tutorial on some of the issues affecting farm sizing and optimization is available to Bruce's shorts subscribers on the Dalet AmberFin Website. One of the first considerations is to work out what you are trying to optimize when sizing the farm. Best Average throughput per day / week & Best server / VM utilization When optimizing for the average throughput, the goal is to maximize the occupancy of the physical hardware of the farm and to keep CPUs / Memory / Disk IO balanced to process the maximum amount of content per week. •
•
delayato finishjob any one priority. job In some environments theMinimum time to finish single takes In these environments it is often better to under-utilize the physical hardware to ensure that, on average, a job will finish faster Minimum cost of the farm To minimize the cost of the farm, it may acceptable to let certain jobs take longer to process if they involve expensive options. •
Influence of transcode types Dalet AmberFin supports a broader range of conversion types than many other transcodes. The nature of these transcodes dramatically affects the throughput of a job. The list below gives an idea of the considerations, starting with the jobs that complete with the highest
throughput (completion time as a percentage of duration) and ending with those job types with the lowest throughput.
Bundling operations These are transcodes that affect only version files (AS02 and IMF), caption files or metadata. They tend to act on very small files and can be completed in a very small number of seconds. Touching every byte of the media is not required Audio-only transcodes Dalet AmberFin supports a limited number of audio only transcode functions. These tend to be very fast due to the relatively small amount of data in audio assets and the relative simplicity of the algorithms. Wrapping operations A wrapping operation involves only changing the outer wrapper of a file (e.g. QuickTime to MXF). In these operations, every byte of the entire input file needs to be read, and every byte of the output file needs to be written. In most cases the throughput is limited by the wire •
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speed and congestion of the storage / network combination.
Codec changing transcodes A transcode that merely changes the codec type (e.g. DNxHD to XDCAM) involves decoding all the input pixels / audio samples and re-encoding all the output pixels / audio samples. The limiting speed factor here tends to be the complexity of the video encoding algorithm and the number of audio channels requiring compression. Selecting higher qualities on the output codecs can result in more CPU effort being applied inside the coding algorithm to improve quality. Up / Down / Cross conversion High quality video processing consumes CPU and memory resource. Fast throughput can be achieved by enabling poor quality deinterlacing and scaling can be done in Dalet AmberFin. Conversely, when high quality deinterlacing and scaling is selected (by default), extra CPU resource is applied to preventing temporal and spatial artefacts appearing in the pictures and sound. Frame Rate Standards Conversion This class of transcode involves significant CPU calculation to measure the movement and properties of every pixel in every image. The memory bandwidth requirements are large and this corresponds to low throughput compared to simpler jobs •
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Influence of resolution and codec types Dalet AmberFin supports all the major video and audio codecs along with a number of minor codec types. The computational load for different codec types can dramatically change the throughput of a farm. The following list is ranked with the easier, faster codecs at the top and the harder slower codecs at the bottom. IMX, DV and other simple Standard definition codecs Fundamentally, SD images have less than a quarter of the pixel density of HD images. Add to that, the fact that many of the SD codecs are quite old and simple compared to a modern codec and you end up with transcoder requirements that need small amounts of memory and can go fast. Intra-only encoding Simple codecs that do not need motion estimation will have better throughputs that complex inter-frame codecs that require motion estimators. Intra frame codecs are also more suited to cut/splice or EDL processing than Long-GOP codecs because frame boundaries are easier to find. MP2, DNxHD, ProRes These codecs are all similar in terms of throughput for equivalent resolutions, although they scale a little differently as the underlying codecs have different core limits. •
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Long GoP variants of MPEG2 such as XDCAM can consume as much processing power as JPEG2000 when the quality modes are turned to maximum and the motion vector search range is set to maximum. AVC (H.264) AVC is a much more sophisticated codec and can require significantly more computation and memory resources than its predecessors. Even modes like AVCIntra can be more CPU intensive than MPEG2 long GoP in standard quality mode. JPEG2000 JPEG2000 is more intensive than H.264. JPEG2000 and is also more symmetrical than H.264 meaning that decoding is also an expensive CPU process. JPEG2000 often requires a smaller number of faster CPUs inside a server whereas other codecs can benefit from a larger number of slower cores (e.g. MPEG2) •
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HEVC High Efficiency Video Coding is in alpha development in 2013 and will be in production in 2014. It is significantly more computation intensive than AVC(H.264) and also more intensive than JPEG2000. Decoding in real time is feasible in software on a single server. Real time encoding on a single server is probably not possible without some hardware assistance. •
Sizing and common rules of thumb There really isn't a simple rule that guarantees all the interactions will work in your favor when creating a farm. Our approach is to distribute jobs in the farm so that every server gets one job before any server is allocated two jobs. Every server has two jobs before any server gets 3 jobs and so on. This keeps the loading as flat as possible to ensure that throughput is maximized. Tests on broad mixes of content give the following "Rules of thumb" for SD / HD mixes For HD only content - 2 nodes per server with at least 8 cores/ node is advisable •
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For SD only content - up to 4 nodes per server with at least 4 cores per node is advisable For a mix of SD / HD content, then 3-4 nodes per server will give good results All servers should follow the Dalet AmberFin hardware guide recommendations. It is highly recommended that a test system is built with a representative mix of content to validate throughput of specific files on a specific server to ensure that components such as motherboards and networks are able to provide sufficient bandwidth to allow the CPUs and memory to provide the desired throughput. •
Deploying an HA Farm Preparing to Install an HA Farm This section outlines the steps required to prepare for an HA Farm installation and concentrates on the configuration of the farm tools to map controllers and nodes onto the underlying infrastructure to ensure that your farm acts as planned. Familiarity with installing non-HA or standalone Dalet AmberFin software as described in the basic Installation topic will be helpful, though all essential details have been repeated here together with extra steps required for HA Farms and Network Licensing. System Requirements and Perquisites These details will be as supplied in a separate IRQ document.
Windows Firewalls and Ports Windows firewall can block some control and licensing communications. It is recommended that Windows Firewall be disabled on HA Farm installations. If it is not possible to disable Windows or other Firewall devices, the following applications and ports should be added to the exception list: C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin Controller\JRE\bin\Java.exe, Port 21012; C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\DataStoreService\datastore.exe, Port 9092; C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\Repurposing\framework.exe, Port(s) 22022, 23032, 24042, 25052, 26062,27072, 28082,29092; C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\QC\apache-tomcat-6.0.32\bin\ tomcat6.exe, Port 8081; C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\Orca\apache-tomcat-6.0.35\bin\ tomcat6.exe, Port 8082; C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\Metashare\Engine\LMService.exe, Port(s) 5093,14139; It is also recommended that UAC (User Access Control) is set on its lowest setting to ease installation andthe configuration. HA Farm uses following Ports to communicate; other ports may also be used.
Port Number
Purpose
5093
Network License Communication
8080
WebService
8081
UQC Communications
8082
Future Implementation
8083
Future Implementation
8084
Future Implementation
8085
Controller Database Monitoring (optional)
9092
Controller Database Synchronization
14139
Network/Local License Communications
21012
Controller
22022
Transcode Node Communication
23032
Transcode Node Communication
24042
Transcode Node Communication
25052
Transcode Node Communication
26062
Transcode Node Communication
27072
Transcode Node Communication
28082
Transcode Node Communication
29092
Transcode Node Communication
Fixed IP Addresses The installation of HA Farm includes the installation and configuration of redundant license servers within the HA Farm Controller. Each machine on which a redundant license server resides must have a fixed IPX address. Therefore, DHCP should not be used to dynamically allocate IP addresses for those machines. Other instances of Dalet AmberFin, e.g. transcode nodes, may use dynamically assigned addresses, however using fixed IP addresses for these machines may provide latency gains in the internal licensing mechanism.
Granting permissions Each instance of Dalet AmberFin requires access privileges to all machines and areas of the network and storage on which it will be installed and operated. Dalet AmberFin must be installed under a Windows user account with Administrator privileges.
Creating profiles It is recommended that Windows Power Options are configured as follows. Press Windows key, and click on Control Panel. Select and on the left side of the window select . Choose and name the plan in the box directly below
and click . Set all Sleep and Display settings to and click . Finally, close the Power Options window. Windows can also be configured automatically during the installation of Dalet AmberFin.
HA Farm Installation These installation instructions may need to be read in conjunction with any customized instructions (IRQ) for specific environments. Locating the software The latest version of Dalet AmberFin software should download automatically from the FTP link provided.
HA Farm Install Example Installation of two instances of Dalet AmberFin Platform and configured to be used as High Availability Farm Controllers. Installation of four instances of Dalet AmberFin Platform and configured to be used as Transcoders. The expected duration of this HA Farm example is 4 hours. Extract the files in the installation package 1.
2. 3.
Double click Dalet AmberFin__setup.exe Click at the version c onfirmation welcome window
4.
Select Installation Options
Option
Description
Required Options for this HA Example
Application Specific Options
UK Digital Production Partnership (DPP)
Adds GUI Plugin and required components to support interchange of DPP metadata in DPP files
NO
Transcode Scheduler
Provides GUI panel to run transcodes at pre-determined times
Optional
Amberfin System Configuration
Automatically configures Microsoft Windows options during Amberfin installation
Platform Power Scheme
Select to maximise performance
YES - always recommended for High Availability Farms
Configure Amberfin Services Login
Provides additional prompts during installation to provide domain account details for registering services. Leave this box unchecked if using a local administrator account.
Optional See Steps 7 and 8
Amberfin Plugins
Some of these configuration options may be further described in any custom (IRQ) instructions for specific environments. 5. Click 6. Click after reading the license agreement and checking The installer should proceed anda install allofnecessary If this is a first time installation, number additionalcomponents redistributable packages (e.g. Microsoft Visual C++) may also be installed if not already present on the host. If an installation of QuickTime is not found on the host, the user will be notified during installation. QuickTime installation may happen at any time pre/post installation of Dalet AmberFin if required. Configuring Services Authentication
7. Enter User name and password for each Dalet AmberFin installation to be used with the UOC Unifier service and become part of an HA Farm If was selected in the second page of the installation, a prompt will appear to provide Log-on details.
User accounts should be entered in the format [Domain Name]\[user account]; if entered correctly, the following prompt should appear:
8. 9.
Click to Proceed Select Network Licensing Option
If the required components forThis theoption Network Licensing Manager are not found on the system, an install prompt will appear. should be selected before selecting If the Network Licensing Manager was selected it install when Finish is selected. Accept the license agreement for the licence manager, enter any 10. required information obeying prompts as required to progress through the remainder of the install If a request appears to unblock the system firewall, ensure is checked. Depending on the machine state, a reboot request may appear upon completion of installation, if so please click or reboot the system at the next convenient opportunity before continuing with the following steps.
Generating License Lock Codes Launch the License Manager (Start>All Programs>Dalet 11. AmberFin>Dalet AmberFin>Licensing) 12. Choose from the File Menu and save the file to your desktop 13. Email the file to Dalet AmberFin Support along with, if applicable, the (Fixed) IP address and hostname of each machine
For Redundant Networked Licensing Redundant Licensing requires 2 License Servers and 1 Transcoder to be configured as a cluster. In order to generate the shared license, license lock codes are required from each of these 3 machines that will to serve as Controller(s) and one other Transco de machine. Additionally, to configure the license cluster, the hostname and (fixed) IP address of each Farm Controller machine is required.
Standalone Licensing For standalone network licensing only the lock code of the (first) Farm controller is required. See Installing_License_Packages below when the required license files have been received.
Configuring the Controller Cluster 14. On each instance of Dalet AmberFin to be a Farm Controller, stop the Controller from the system tray
15.
Launch the database configurator
On each instance of Dalet AmberFin to be an Farm Controller, from the Start Menu launch the Controller DB Configuration application (Start>All Programs>Dalet AmberFin>Dalet AmberFin> Dalet AmberFin Controller >Dalet AmberFinControllerDBConf)
16.
Set Database location
In the Dalet AmberFin Controller Database Configuration application, enter the IP address or hostname of the 2 Farm Controllers.
The default for on each machine is are localhost. The use of localhost or loopback addresses not recommended in clustered environments. Ensure that the values for Server 1 and Server 2 are the same in each instance of the configuration. 17. Click the button to save and apply the configuration 18. Click Check next to cluster status Cluster status will change from UNKNOWN against a white background to Disabled/ Single Node Running highlighted in orange if there is only a single controller Cluster Status will change to Both Cluster Nodes Running highlighted in green if 2 controllers are successfully clustered. If an error is found, Error Checking Cluster Status highlighted in red will appear (check Database Configuration). 19. Re-start the Controller when done
CDB Fault Finding If and error similar to the following message is seen:
Run the Dalet AmberFin Controller Database Configuration application again. If that fails refer to the Controller Database Recovery topic for further help.
When Dalet AmberFin Technical Support has received the lock codes and other information detailed in earlier steps, a package for each farm will be delivered containing a license file (lservrc) and a redundant license configuration file (lservrlf).
Installing Farm Controller license (lservrc) files 20. the 21. 22.
On each Farm Controller, from the
tray or
menu, launch
Click , select the appropriate license file ) and click When prompted to reboot the machine, click
Installing the Redundant Farm Controller license (lservrlf) file To install a redundant network license on each Farm Controller and the 3rd nominated license server proceed as follows: 23. Copy the lservrlf file to C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\Sentinel RMS License Manager\WinNT
Setting Environment Variables Environment variables can be set by accessing options of the applet in the (System>Advanced System Settings>Environment Variables>New). 24. For each license server (1 for standalone or all 3 for redundant) create a new variable with the name and value C
25. On each machine to run Dalet AmberFin create an environment variable with the name: and value: If configuring a redundant license server the variable value should be entered as a tilde separated controller IP address list; ensuring a space before and after each tilde character.
26.
Reboot all machines in the farm
Configuring Farm Topology Farm topology will need to be configured from the Topology configurator located in the panel for each Farm Controller. 27. Open the panel of each controller in the farm. All entries in the default topology configuration of each controller should be deleted and new entries created to reflect the IP addresses and port numbers of the transcode nodes in the farm. If there is more than one Farm Controller, the left hand side of the Topology Editor will display all of the controllers with the active one in bold at the top of the list. The default topology configuration will appear on the left.
28. On the tab of one of the controllers replace the default host IP address of 127.0.0.1 with the IP address or host name of one the Dalet AmberFin Farm Controllers and press . The status should display followed by . 29. Once connected, click the button to the right of the window to launch the .
The port number for the first transcode node on each machine is 22022, the second is 23032 and so on up to 8 nodes per machine to 29092. Nodes can be configured without license meaning that more nodes than available licenses can be configured for 'n+1' redundancy. 30. Repeat the topology configuration for each controller. It is recommended, but not essential, to remove the default configuration of transcode and QC nodes on each of the transcode node installations. See the HA Farm Testing topic for a quick way to confirm communication between controllers.
HA Farm Testing
Installation Verification (Communication) Locate the Dalet AmberFin icon in the Windows System Tray, right click on it 1. and confirm that all Services have started. 2. Launch the Dalet AmberFin user interface by locating the Dalet AmberFin program within the and clicking on it. Ensure that there is a check mark against under the 3. . 4. Send a basic SOAPui information request to verify comms.
Example Profile Configuration The following steps will detail the configuration of an example profile to help test a newly installed HA Farm. In this example a new XDCAM transcode profile will be created that scales a source media file by 50% and reduces its bit rate. While this simple example may provide some help to show how to go about setting up profiles in general, every user has different needs and will require profile(s) dependent on the specific particular source material being handled and their desired destination. 1. Launch Dalet AmberFin and click on the tab on the right of the screen Select from the drop down menu in the 2. area then click on the icon to the right and select Choosing Group.
enables a new group to be created based on an existing Conversion Profile
The
appears with the XDCAM group l oaded. Click and type in a suitable name (i.e relevant t o the job you 3. wish to perform such as HD to XDCAM SD Rescale) and press to enable the button.
Remember to use the option from within the completed if the existing profile group is in mode. 4. With the new selected click destination type ( i..e. MPEG2 Generic)
5. Select scaling set at 50%
and hoose
when editing is and select a suitable
and leave
6. Select the option and set the desired as CBR reduced from 50Mbps to 25Mbps
7.
Set the
as desired
such
8.
Finally select the
type as desired and the click on
9. To save this modified XDCAM Template as a Profile Group with a suitable name, click on before dismissing the Template Editor
10.
Type a suitable name for the new conversion template
11. Click on to finish and then close the Template Editor The new rescale conversion can now be chosen from the modified profile group.
Verifying the configuration 12. To verify that your Profile is configured correctly, send a test job via a SOAPui command. See HA Farm Testing.
HA Farm Recovery Operations Upgrades, Backups, Rollbacks and Recovery Performing Upgrades and Rollbacks To upgrade to a newer (or older) version of Dalet AmberFin software, proceed as follows: Uninstall Dalet AmberFin using the applet in . Repeat the steps from the standalone Installation or HA Farm Installation as required to install the upgraded (or older) version of software. The previously installed license will support any (recent) version of Dalet AmberFin software.
Verifying the upgrade or roll back Since a complete uninstall and re-install is required, please refer to HA Farm Testing to verify that the installation.
Configuration Backup To backup the configuration, right-click on the Dalet AmberFin Icon in the Windows System Tray, select Dalet AmberFin Logs and click on •
A zip file will be placed on the local system desktop that contains a backup of all files necessary to restore all as well as log files capturing the of the system •
Start/Stop and Recovery This section covers the logical step-by-step procedures for stopping and restoring the component, or the workflow for planned and unplanned activities, including HA.
Planned
To close Dalet AmberFin gracefully simply click on the in the top right hand corner of the application and it will shutdown. The application can be relaunched from the Start Menu or a desktop shortcut.
Unplanned Review the logs described in the Configuration Backup section above. The machine should then be rebooted to ensure that all the underlying Dalet AmberFin services are correctly restarted.
Controller Database Recovery When a controller recovers from a failure, it will automatically go into standby mode. In the current version of Dalet AmberFin, no attempt is made to auto-fix any cause of failure. If the active controller recovers from its fault condition faster than the watchdog timer duration, then the controller may return as an active controller. Timeouts are set such that the standby controller will takeover in a much shorter time than the reboot time of the active server.
Job Database Recovery When a controller recovers from a serious failure, synchronisation in the Farm controller will be lost. To recover High Availability status, database synchronisation will need to be restarted. In the current release, the active controller may disappear for up to a minute during the recovery process. 1. Press the windows key and type . Click the icon to start the services explorer.
From the list, click on Dalet AmberFin DataStore Service, right-click 2. and click on . Press Windows-E to start windows file explorer and navigate to 3. C:\ProgramData\ AmberFin\ AmberFin Controller\ 4. Delete the file Dalet AmberFinCDB_H2.h2.db and Dalet AmberFinCDB_H2.lock.db 5. From the Services window, start the Dalet AmberFin DataStore Service 6. Stop all Controllers that use the DataStore service (Server 1 and 2 Controllers) Launch the Controller DB Configuration application Start>All 7. Programs>Dalet AmberFin>Dalet AmberFin> Dalet AmberFin Controller >Dalet AmberFinControllerDBConf Click the synchronizer button for this server address 8. Start all Controllers 9. Between steps 6 and 9 above, the farm controller will be temporarily unavailable. This small window of service loss will be reduced in future versions of Dalet AmberFin.
HA Failure Mitigation The Farm HA Farm Controller environment is intended to be robust amongst a wide variety of failure conditions. Some of those conditions and mitigation strategies are discussed here.
Database Node failure Databases (even robust ones) can fail for many reasons. Whether this is a hardware or software issue, the net result is that one of the two instances of the Dalet AmberFin Database Service goes offline. The following behaviors have been tested and shown to work despite a database failure. Active Controller Power Loss Losing power on the active controller has no effect on executing jobs. The standby controller will take over after the timeout period has elapsed. Standby Controller Power Loss •
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Losing power on the standby controller has no effect on executing jobs. Database Node failure during job submission This should be transparent to a controller. The redundant spare ensures no job submissions will be lost. Database Node failure with long queue of pending jobs. This should be transparent to a controller. The redundant spare ensures no jobs in a queue are lost. Active Controller loses connectivity Removing the active controller during submission of jobs does not cause the loss of jobs Standby Controller loses connectivity Removing the standby controller during submission of jobs has no effect on the performance of those jobs Active Controller' database loses connectivity Removing the active controller's database during submission of jobs does not cause the loss •
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•
•
•
of jobs (simulation of firewall configuration error) Standby Controller's database loses connectivity Removing the standby controller during submission of jobs has no effect on the performance of those jobs (simulation of firewall configuration error) GUI / Web Service listener failure If the GUI / Web service listener were to crash for any reason, it would appear to the Farm Controller that the controller had stopped running and the same behavior as controller loss should take place. Controller internal failure Operator forces active controller change Dalet AmberFin Upgrade Standby Controller returns http 404 error •
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• • • •
Database Recovery behavior During database recovery, there will be increased network traffic during the synchronisation of the database instances. Tests have been performed to ensure that activity by Farm Controllers is not impaired during the re-synchronisation period. • Database Node Recovery does not lose job information Testing has been carried out with large datasets to ensure that database recovery does not lose any jobs that were in the database before, during or after the recovery process.
Transcode Node interaction
Recovery procedures can be sensitive to the timing of the failure incident and the timing of the recovery process. The following scenarios have been tested. Transcode job hangs When a transcode node hangs (for whatever reason) the communication connection to the job controller may be lost. No corruption of the job data occurs. Connection lost jobs are considered as failed. Default failure handling takes place. License not available for job (LEBNA) When a transcode license exists, but is not available, a job will remain in the job controller queue until a transcode node is available and the job will be retried. The job status is marked LEBNA (License Exists But Not Available) Transcode engine blocks the addJob() web service •
•
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Cluster Timeouts and Settings The cluster configurations are stored in a file called haMonitor.properties as shown below and the properties have the following behavior
Dalet AmberFin.ha.monitor.self.delay Heartbeat time (in seconds) that a controller will use to write its keep-alive timestamp into the database. Increasing this value will increase the amount of time taken for the standby controller to detect that the active controller has failed. Decreasing this value will cause the synchronisation bandwidth required by the cluster to increase. Dalet AmberFin.ha.monitor.active.delay The period (in seconds) between which the standby controller will check the active controller's timestamp. This value should always be bigger the Dalet AmberFin.ha.monitor.self.delay otherwise a pathological condition might occur where the delay in detecting the failure of the active server may increase Amount of time (in seconds) that must elapse before the active controller is considered to be in a failed state. It is best set to the same value as . Dalet AmberFin.ha.monitor.internal.threads Do not adjust this value Dalet AmberFin.ha.engine.monitor.tolerance Do not adjust this value Dalet AmberFin.ha.job.scheduler.tolerance Do adjust not adjust value Dalet AmberFin.ha.orphaned.tolerance Do not this this value Dalet AmberFin.ha.gui.shortcut This is the command shortcut used for the HA system to launch the Dalet AmberFin GUI and web service listener. Only to be changed under the direct guidance of Dalet AmberFin Support team.
Network and Environment Topics to cover: Network nets & subnets • NAS vs SAN vs JBOD vs local storage • • DFS • OP1a vs AS02 / IMF VMs vs blades vs servers •
20.
Appendices
AmberFin Tachyon Installation Guide Installing the Hardware Please install the display card and the Nvidia Tesla card according to the instructions for each specific card. Ensure that the PC power supply meets the requirements for the Tesla card. All power connections on the Tesla card should be connected to avoid any potential power issues. In the PC BIOS setup, ensure that the display card is set to be the Primary VGA Card (refer to BIOS manual). Connect the monitor to the display card and ensure that nothing is connected to any of the monitor outputs of the Tesla card.
Installing Tesla Drivers Download and install CUDA toolkit (3). Download and install drivers for the Tesla card. Driver versions 320.78 (1) and 333.11 (2) have been used successfully. When running the installer, select the Custom Install and Remove Existing Components options.
Check Tesla Install and Activate TCC Mode Open the Windows Command Prompt as Administrator. Change directory to C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\NVSMI and run the following command to display a list of Nvidia cards present in the system:
Note the GPU ID of the Tesla card. Run the following command, using the GPU ID from the previous command to display details of the Tesla card:
Check the Driver Model value displayed for the card. If the current value is not set to TCC then run the following command to change the Driver Model:
Reboot the PC. When the PC has rebooted, run the query command again to confirm the Driver Mode is now correct:
Install Code Meter Dongle Run the Code Meter installer. When the installer completes, insert the Code Meter dongle into a USB port. The Code Meter icon in the system tray should now turn green.
Links: 1. http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/65881/en-us 2. http://www.nvidia.com/download/driverResults.aspx/75456/en-us 3. https://developer.nvidia.com/cuda-toolkit-60
Automating Dalet AmberFin Full documentation of the commands available to automate Dalet AmberFin is available on the Dalet AmberFin developer site http://dev.AmberFin.com. Access to this site is available on request. Please contact Dalet AmberFin support if you are a customer, otherwise please contact cto@ AmberFin.com.
External Control of Dalet AmberFin It is possible to control the Dalet AmberFin software mainframe from an external device. This makes the Dalet AmberFin unit a very flexible and powerful machine that can easily adapt to your workflow. Dalet AmberFin accepts commands in the Sony protocol or VDCP format. This allows Dalet AmberFin to be controlled like a VTR using its clip library as the video and audio source. In addition automation systems sending commands in the VDCP format can control the playback of Dalet AmberFin clips as well as setting encoding parameters. Dalet AmberFin also has a web services control mode, which permits control of the Dalet AmberFin mainframe when it is connected to a network. Commands received via its network connection control various functions of Dalet AmberFin. Finally, Dalet AmberFin provides two RSS feeds that external devices can query, which gives users information they can view in a browser.
VDCP Control Many parameters and Dalet AmberFin functions can be set and run through VDCP. For a complete list of supported VDCP commands see Supported VDCP Commands.
VTR Emulation The Dalet AmberFin mainframe can also receive commands adhering to the Sony command protocol on the COM2 input command port. Set the drop down box in t he VTR recorder panel to and connect the mainframe to a Sony command compliant device in the same manner as for VDCP. Now with a clip loaded in the Player panel, any Sony VTR commands received on the Command Input Port reflect on the
player. In this way, Dalet AmberFin mimics the action of a VTR. Depending on the precision of the input device, you can control the clip to 1/20 the real time playback speed. You can also do crash records of the input SDI signal.
AmberFin Gateway 24/02/2014 AmberFin Gateway is a front-end proxy, load-balancer and API adapter service designed to provide a single consistent endpoint interface through which you can access AmberFin Dark web-services. The Gateway service is part of the default ICR installation but it can also be deployed as a standalone service for example to be used as a front-controller in a AmberFin farm installation. One of the main benefits of the Gateway Service is to enable customers to transition from a GUI based iCR deployment to an AmberFin Dark lights-out deployment (no AmberFin GUI running) but still have access to legacy API Transcode and Profile Service methods without having to re-develop existing interfaces. The Legacy API Adapter maps legacy web-service methods to the new Transcode and Profile Services which are also available through the Gateway.
Gateway Services to enable customers to use Transcode and Profile service methods in the iCRControl API without having to change calling code. Many of the methods in the legacy iCRControl API are specific to GUI functions and cannot be supported in a non-GUI installation (see which Supported Methods are available). for new AmberFin Dark Transcode Service and Profile Service. for all AmberFin Web-Service APIs allowing customers to configure multiple service endpoints for failover. In future the Gateway will support service adapters for other AmberFin and Third Party APIs including FIMS Transfer.
Installation The Gateway is a web-service component which is installed along with the other AmberFin Dark components and is included with the default ICR installation role. Gateway can also be deployed in a standalone configuration using the API_GATEWAY role (see Standalone Configuration).
iCRControl Supported Methods
transcode
Add a new transcode job to the job queue.
cancelTrascodeJob
Cancel running transcode job.
cancelRepurposingJob
Cancel running transcode job.
getRepurposingJobsStatus
Get the status of all transcode jobs for date.
getRepurposingStatus
Get the status of a transcode job using UUID Get the progress of a transcode job using UUID.
getTranscodeJobProgress getTranscodeJobStatus
Get the status of a transcode job using UUID.
getTranscodeJobsStatus
Get the status of all transcode jobs for date.
setJobPriority
Change an existing transcode job priority level.
getConversionNames
Get a list of all available conversions by template.
getTemplateNames
Get a list of all available conversions.
listTemplateInstances
Get a list of all available templates.
isWebServiceControlEnabled
Test to check that iCR web services are available.
getVersion
Get AmberFin version number.
* NOTE: All other iCRControl Methods are not supported in the Gateway Legacy Adapter and will return a HTTP 1.1 / 500 Error with the faultstring “Not supported by AmberFin Legacy API Adapter.” e.g. soap:Server Not supported by AmberFin Legacy API Adapter.
Standard Port Configuration By default Gateway will use the Amberfin Dark application server port number 21012: e.g. http://localhost:21012/ http://localhost:21012/icr/ICRControl?wsdl http://localhost:21012/dark/ws/ProfileWS?wsdl http://localhost:21012/dark/ws/Transcode?wsdl
This means that customers currently using iCRControl methods on port 8080 will have to change port number although the method (and parameters) will be identical.
Dual Port Configuration It is possible to configure the Gateway to use both port 8080 and 21012 so that iCRControl methods are accessible at the srcinal iCR port number and AmberFin Dark API’s are available on port 21012. http://localhost:8080/icr/ICRControl?wsdl
However, this dual port configuration will affect some AmberFin GUI functions which use the iCRControl API on port 8080: ● UQC Plugin ● Event Logger Plugin ● Transcode Scheduler Plugin other GUI functions will work as normal.
Configuring the Gateway to use Dual Ports Follow these steps to configure AmberFin Gateway to monitor port 8080 and 21012.
Steps: 1.
Check that Amberfin dark services are running (
http://localhost:21012/)
2. Stop Amberfin Dark service using the taskbar applet.
3.
Open the Tomcat server configuration file (server.xml) from the following location using an editor such as Notepad++ C:\Program Files (x86)\AmberFin\AmberFinDark\AmberFinApplicationServer\apache-tomcat-7.0.56\conf\ server.xml
4. Find the line containing the Connector definition for port 21012:
redirectPort="21443" />
5. Copy this and add a new xml Connector definition for port 8080:
6. Save the file and restart AmberFin Dark using the taskbar applet.
7. Check Amberfin services are running by opening the url http://localhost:8080/ in a browser. You should see the top level service description. The same API will be available on port 21012 as well. 8. The other AmberFin Dark API’s (Transcode Service and Profile Service) will also be available on port 21012 and port 8080.
Standalone Configuration AmberFin Dark can be configured to run in specific configurations defined by a role definition. The default role configuration for an AmberFin Dark installation is ICR which includes the Gateway service automatically. You may wish to configure a Gateway as a standalone service depending on the topology of your network. The way to do this is switch the server role to API_GATEWAY. You can do this with a web-service call to the AmberFin Dark Management service API ‘ChangeServerRole’ method. The role definition will persist until you change it again. Steps (using SoapUI): 1. Add a new SOAP project by clicking Ctrl-N and paste in the ComponentManager WSDL URL: http://localhost:11091/ComponentManager/ws/ComponentManagerWS?wsdl
2.
Expand the ChangeServerRole method in the left hand panel and double click on the SOAP Request1 icon to bring up a new SOAP request editor in the Right-Hand panel.
3.
Edit the SOAP request xml to replace the default question mark ? with API_GATEWAY:
4.
Submit the SOAP request to Component Manager by pressing the green arrow button:
If the role change request is successful, you will get a response with no message.
5.
You can check if the role change was successful by submitting a ‘GetServerRole’ request from the same API which should return a message containing the current role definition:
6.
The server is now configured as a Standalone AmberFin Gateway.
API_GATEWAY
Gateway Service Logging The Gateway Service conforms to standard AmberFin logging configuration. Logging level for the service can be set to Normal or Extended using the taskbar applet:
The current set of logs can be exported to the desktop using the ‘ Zip local logs to desktop’ option.
Load Balancing Configuration The AmberFin Gateway offers a simple load balancing service which can be used to set up multiple alternative failover endpoints for Transcode and Profile services.
Steps: 1. 2.
Stop AmberFinDark services on the Gateway server. Open the GatewayService.properties file in an editor such as Notepad++ from the location: C:\ProgramData\AmberFin\AmberfinDark\GatewayService\GatewayService.properties
3.
Add a comma separated list of servers with (optional) port numbers to the transcode.servers property and the profile.servers property:
4.
The example above shows Transcode and Profile Services co-located on the same server. It is also possible to configure an alternative list of endpoints for Transcode and Profile Services if, for example you have a Farm Controller and a Profile Server you can configure separate endpoints for both servers:
5.
Restart AmberFinDark.
Web Services All the commands available on the GUI can also accessed over Ethernet connection usingweb the SOAP protocol. Web service definitions (WSDL) can be be accessed from thean Dalet AmberFin application page. To access the Dalet AmberFin application web page, ensure that the Dalet AmberFin application is running and type ‘ .’ Click on the links under the WSDL heading to display all the available web service commands.
Dalet AmberFin Application Web Page.png"="" width="424" height="329" border="0" />
The User manual referred to is a set of developer reference material, this and sample client applications are available from Dalet AmberFin upon request.
Supported VDCP Commands Video Disk Control Protocols used to control a disk using a shuttle controller or other device.
Cmd 1
Cmd 2
0X
14
Command Name Delete from Archive
1X
00
Stop
1X
01
Play
1X
02
Record
1X 1X
04 05
Still Step
1X
06
Continue
1X
07
Jog
1X
08
Variable Play
1X
0A
EE Mode
2X
21
Close Port
2X
22
Select Port
2X / AX
23
Record Init
2X / AX
24
Play Cue
2X / AX
25
Cue with Data
2X / AX
26
Delete ID
2X /
27
Get from Archive
AX 2X / AX
2A
Send to Archive
2X
2B
% signal full
2X / AX
2C
Record Init with Data
2X
43
Disk Preroll
2X
80
Template Select
2X
81
VTR Status Sense
3X
01
Open Port
3X / BX
02
Next
3X / BX
03
Last Port
3X
05
Port Status Request
3X / BX
07
Active ID Request
3X
08
Device Type Request
3X
10
Sys Status Request
3X / BX
11
ID List
3X / BX
14
ID Size Request
3X
15
Ids Added to Arch
3X / BX
16
ID Request
3X / BX
18
IDs Added to List
3X / BX
19
IDs Deleted from List
AVC Encoding Level Numbers The Advanced Video Coding standard supports different levels that specify certain constraints indicating required decoder performance. The following table shows which constraints and resolutions/frame rates each level can be associated with. Level
Max macroblocks per second
Max frame size Max video bit rate (VCL) (macroblocks) for Baseline, Extended and Main Profile
Max video bit rate Examples for high resolution @ frame rate (VCL) for High Profile (max stored frames)
1
1485
99
64 kbit/s
80 kbit/s
[email protected] (8) [email protected] (4)
1b
1485
99
128 kbit/s
160 kbit/s
[email protected] (8) [email protected] (4)
1.1
3000
396
192 kbit/s
240 kbit/s
[email protected] (9) [email protected] (3) [email protected] (2)
1.2
6000
396
384 kbit/s
480 kbit/s
[email protected] (7) [email protected] (6)
1.3
11880
396
768 kbit/s
960 kbit/s
[email protected] (7) [email protected] (6)
2
11880
396
2 Mbit/s
2.5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (7) [email protected] (6)
2.1
19800
792
4 Mbit/s
5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (7) [email protected] (6)
2.2
20250
1620
4 Mbit/s
5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (10) [email protected] (7) [email protected] (6)
3
40500
1620
10 Mbit/s
12.5 Mbit/s
3.1
108000
3600
14 Mbit/s
17.5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (13) [email protected] (11) [email protected] (5)
3.2
216000
5120
20 Mbit/s
25 Mbit/s
[email protected] (5) [email protected] (4)
4
245760
8192
20 Mbit/s
25 Mbit/s
[email protected] (9) [email protected] (4) [email protected] (4)
4.1
245760
8192
50 Mbit/s
62.5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (9) [email protected] (4) [email protected] (4)
4.2
522240
8704
50 Mbit/s
62.5 Mbit/s
[email protected] (4) [email protected] (4)
5
589824
22080
135 Mbit/s
168.75 Mbit/s
[email protected] (5) [email protected] (12) [email protected] (10) [email protected] (6) [email protected] (5)
[email protected] (13) [email protected] (13) [email protected] (12) [email protected] (5) 3680x1536/26.7 (5)
5.1
983040
36864
240 Mbit/s
300 Mbit/s
[email protected] (16)[email protected] (5) [email protected] (5)
When using specific AVC Level numbers in the repurposing templates of Dalet AmberFin ensure that the repurposing server will function properly by adhering to the following equation: where is the scaler height in pixels, is the scaler width in lines and the maximum macroblocks per second for that level.
is
AVC values that fail to meet this restriction may result in an ‘Invalid level in configuration’ error in the repurposing server.
Sync References Operating Standard
Bi-level sync SD Tri-level sync HD Reference Signal Reference Signal 525i
525 (480) / 29i
625i
1125 (1080) / 30i
X
1125 (1080) / 29i
1125 (1080) / 23sF
1125 (1080) / 24sF
750 (720) / 60p
750 (720) / 59p
750 (720) / 50p
X X
625 (576) /
1125 (1080) / 25i
25i 1125 (1080) / 30i
X X
X
1125 (1080) / 29i
X
X
1125 (1080) / 25i
X
X
1125 (1080) / 23sF
X
1125 (1080) / 24sF
X
750 (720) / 60p 750 (720) / 59p
X X
750 (720) / 50p
Creating a Windows Stripe Not only is the amount of data being written to disk during an uncompressed HD ingest huge, but ingest is a very time critical operation. This is why disks used with Dalet AmberFin must be structured so that the high throughput is always available. With th is in mind Dalet AmberFin recommends that any system designed to perform uncompressed HD ingest has four 7200rpm disks configured in a RAID0 Stripe. This Stripe can be configured in Windows; the process to achieve this is outlined below: To open 1. Select 2. available disks in the system
right click on
and select
in the left-hand panel of Computer Management This will identify all
The Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard will start automatically, click Next 3. Start by initializing the newly installed disks; ensure the check boxes beside the new disks are checked and click Next
The next step is to convert the new disks to Dynamic. 4. Ensure the check boxes beside the new disks are checked and click
.
5. Verify your selections in the next screen and click . Now that the disks are Dynamic we can create the stripe. 6. To create the stripe, right click on one of the new disks and click . This will invoke the New Volume wizard, click . In the next window you are asked to select what type of volume you would like to create, 7. choose Striped and click Next.
Now you have to identify and add the required disks to the stripe, include all the newly installed disks. Highlighting the disks individually and click Add. Once this is done, click Next. 8. In this window you are asked to assign a drive letter to the stripe, choose one and click next. 9. Now you will be asked to decide on a File System, Allocation Unit Size and a volume label. The File System should be NTFS, the Allocation unit size should be left as Default and the volume label can be anything. Before clicking next select the quick format check box, otherwise you will be waiting a long time for the disks to become available. Once the format is complete the Windows Stripe is configured and available, this can be verified in Disk Management.
Installing Aurora Software QC This guide details the required steps to install and license Tektronix Aurora QC software and the UQC Dalet AmberFin Plug-in to enable Dalet AmberFin Unified Quality Control (UQC).
Pre-requisites The minimum pre-requisites must be present prior to installing Aurora. Dalet AmberFin version 7.5 or later installed on a PC meeting published specifications Tektronix Aurora software QC installer version 3.5.388.00x64 or higher with a valid Aurora license Refer to Dalet AmberFin release notes for any further recommendations including the required Matrox driver version. • •
It is recommended to check that the Dalet AmberFin installation is properly licensed and enabled for UQC and that the following is true: A tab appears when editing or adding a new template If there is no tab when editing or adding a new template, then contact Dalet AmberFin support. A and have been added manually in the section of the panel and that the host connection is •
•
QC Group details MUST be added manually to the Job Status, Topology panel. If the host is disconnected click on the box next to the local host IP address of 127.0.0.1. The Topology details should gray out and then be restored with a valid connection with and any relevant details.
Installation If the minimum version of Dalet AmberFin is not installed, it is best to uninstall both the Matrox driver and Dalet AmberFin from the Uninstall control panel feature and replace them with the required version as detailed above.
Aurora recommends that is turned off, if possible. This may make installing required software easier to perform unattended. There are several methods that can be used to turn off UAC; here’s one of them (using Windows 7): 1. Type “MsConfig” in Start Search to start System Configuration, open the Tools tab, select and click on the button.
2. Move the slider bar all the way down ( ) and click . 3. Restart the computer for the change to take effect. Remember to turn UAC back to your preferred level after the install process has completed.
Installing the Full Application Tektronix Aurora can be installed in one of two main configurations: Aurora Server plus an Add-on Verification Unit on a single PC Aurora Server on a single PC with Aurora VUs on other workstation PCs This guide will focus on installing the full Aurora install locally on the same PC that runs Dalet AmberFin. Install Aurora QC software and accept all default options: 1. • •
Full Application Default Templates Shell Extensions
Password fields may be left blank; the default is admin, admin (it can be changed later). The install should then proceed unattended until a reboot is required. The install progress will be shown on screen:
2. Review the install using the scroll bars in the Setup Wizard window to check that no components failed to install. Any components not already present such as Quick Time will be automatically installed and any previously installed components are not normally replaced.
If UAC has not been turned off and Java Standard Edition (SE) Runtime (minimum version: 6 update 18) is not installed, it must be installed manually from a command prompt as explained below. You will be prompted to install it from a given location. The location and Java version may be installation dependent. A typical location is C:\Program Files\Tektronix\Aurora\Prequisites\jre-6u18-windowsi586.exe. Java SE runtime run time can also be obtained from the developer (Oracle) website. However, it is not recommended to install a higher version than Aurora normally installs as it may not have passed compliance testing. Any applicable updates will be downloaded and can be manually installed as required, but always check with Dalet AmberFin support. 3. To install Java from the given location proceed as follows: Click on Start and type in the Search bar Then click on the executable file that search finds A command prompt window opens Type cd C:\Program Files\Tektronix\Aurora\Prerequisites (or whatever path is required by the • • • •
Wizard) Then type (or whatever executable is required by the Wizard) If required, Java SE may be installed after re-booting the PC. 4. When done, reboot the PC; this may be done from the Tektronix Aurora Setup Wizard. Once Aurora and all pre-requisite software are installed, the Aurora software must be licensed. 5. Open a browser page, and log in at http://localhost/Aurora with username=admin and password=admin. Click on the Settings tab. 6. •
7. Type in the license 28 digit alpha-numerical string (xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx )in the License Key field and click on . Installing the UQC Plug-in To enable QC status monitoring in the UQC Status panel of all files in the library, the UQC Plug-in must first be installed. To install the plug-in proceed as follows: 1. Quit Dalet AmberFin and copy UQCPlugin.jar to the C:\Program Files (x86)\ AmberFin\ AmberFin\plugins folder. The UQC Plug-in should have been included with your copy of Dalet AmberFin, it can also be downloaded; please contact Dalet AmberFin if this has not been supplied. Start Dalet AmberFin. 2.
3. Make sure that is selected in the . 4. A new tab, , should appear in the Dalet AmberFin side bar (if it is not present select it from Dalet AmberFin >> ).
The installation is now complete and may be tested by creating one or more Software QC profiles and running UQC during transcode or on existing files in the system. Jobs can be checked in the Aurora Dashboard Jobs section.
EBU R 123/48 Audio Track Layout EBU reference codes for EBU R 123 (HD) and R 48 (SD) used for UK DPP audio track layouts are shown in the table below.
EBU Code R48: 2a Prog Type Stereo
R123: 4b
R123: 4C
R123: R123: R123: 16C Opt 1 16C Opt 2 16d
Stereo + M&E
Stereo + Stereo 5.1 Audio Desc + M&E
3
St Final Mix L St Final Mix R Silence
St Final Mix L St Final Mix R St M&E L
4
Silence
St M&E R
St Final Mix L St Final Mix R St Aud Desc L St Aud Desc R
Stereo 5.1 + Audio Desc
R123: 16f
5.1 Two languages
Three languages
5.1 Lang 1 L 5.1 Lang 1 R 5.1 Lang 1 C 5.1 Lang 1 LFE 5.1 Lang 1 Ls 5.1 Lang 1 Rs Other
St Lang 1 L
Other
Not Used
5.1 Lang 2 L 5.1 Lang 2 R 5.1 Lang 2 C 5.1 Lang 2 LFE 5.1 Lang 2 Ls 5.1 Lang 2 Rs Other Other
St Lang 3 L
Track Nos 1 2
St Final Mix St L Mix L St Final Mix St R Mix R St M&E L St Aud Desc L St M&E R St Aud Desc R 5.1 Final 5.1 Final Mix L Mix L 5.1 Final 5.1 Final Mix R Mix R 5.1 Final 5.1 Final Mix C Mix C 5.1 Final 5.1 Final
5
N/A
N/A
N/A
6
N/A
N/A
N/A
7
N/A
N/A
N/A
8
N/A
N/A
N/A
9
N/A
N/A
N/A
10
N/A
N/A
N/A
11
N/A
N/A
N/A
Mix LFE 5.1 Final Mix Ls 5.1 Final Mix Rs 5.1 M&E L
12
N/A
N/A
N/A
5.1 M&E R 5.1 M&E R
13
N/A
N/A
N/A
5.1 M&E C 5.1 M&E C
14
N/A
N/A
N/A
15 16
N/A N/A
N/A N/A
N/A N/A
5.1 M&E LFE 5.1 M&E Ls 5.1 M&E Rs
Mix LFE 5.1 Final Mix Ls 5.1 Final Mix Rs 5.1 M&E L
5.1 M&E LFE 5.1 M&E Ls 5.1 M&E Rs
HD files must have 16 tracks, SD must have 4. Unused tracks must contain digital silence.
St Lang 1 R Not Used Not Used St Lang 2 L St Lang 2 R Not Used
St Lang 3 R Not Used Not Used Other Other Other Other
HA Farm Terminology and Redundancy Methods
21.
Glossary
A Advanced Authoring Format; a video post-production file interchange format. See MXF. A range of templates selected for a transcode and/or QC operation. Categories include Output Options, Transcode+QC, MarkUp, Timecode/VTR and Sync Source. Auxiliary information inserted into unused areas of the signal such as the VBI in analog and SD formats or the HANC or VANC in HD formats. Examples of these additional payloads include, closed captioning, teletext, wide screen subtitling, AFD descriptors, timecode, test signals and even control codes to turn transmitters on and off. With the advent of filebased workflow, VBI/ANC data can now be stored in MXF files. For examples see EBU R 122 (source timecode carriage), EBU R 133 (EBU-TT/ANC packets) and SMPTE 436M (general datatrack). A lossy intermediate codec for video editing developed by Apple Inc. It supports resolutions up to 4k. The six part US Digital Television Standard for Advanced Television (ATV). B A Dalet AmberFin record mode that allows multiple clips to be collated for ingest. C In the US, CEA-608, or line 21 closed captioning for analog reception, mainly used line, 21 on field 1 with extended functionality using line 284 on field 2. The CC standard created for the US ATSC A/53 digital television is CEA-708. It supports a near tenfold increase in data rate over CEA-608 and caters for a wide range of additional (and optional) features while supporting backward compatibility. CC data (including legacy CEA-608) may be added to the MPEG-2 bitsream as user bits in the VANC. Closed captions, which can be turned off by the
viewer, supply a simplified transcript of spoken words with a certain level of action description. A CC system was first previewed to the public at the First National Conference on Television for the Hearing Impaired in Nashville, Tennessee. The Federal Government funded the final development and testing and the Federal Communications Commission reserved line 21 for closed captioning in 1976. See CEA608/708.The console panel shows the most recent errors diagnosed by the system. D An MPEG-2 4:2:2 I frame based, professional video format defined by SMPTE 356M-2001. The format also became known as IMX because of a range of IMX branded D10 VTRs from Sony. An intermediate lossy HD video post-production format developed by Avid wrapped in either a QuickTime or MXF container. It was used as the framework for the SMPTE VC-3 standard. An initiative formed by UK public service producers and broadcasters that subsets use SD and HDASshim-constrained of the 11 MXF file wrapper format to facilitate common interchange. Aimed at the general consumer, DV is a Digital Video specification srcinally called Blue Book that was created by a consortium of camera manufacturers for storing interlace scanned video on cassette tapes at 25 Mbps. Chroma subsampling is followed by lossy intra-frame DCT compression with audio, video and metadata multiplexed into DIF (Digital Interface Format) bit streams that can be stored as raw data or wrapped in containers such as AVI, QuickTime or MXF. Professional versions have been introduced mainly by Sony and Panasonic. Sony’s professional version of DV. Although the data rate stays at 25Mbps, wider video tracks improve multi-generation performance and locked audio ensure audio-sync during editing. See also HDCAM and XDCAM. The srcinal DVCPRO from Panasonic was the first DV variant
to benefit from wider tracks and locked audio. The data rate also stays at 25 Mbps but chroma subsampling is improved in PAL from 4:2:0 to 4:1:1; the same as DV NTSC subsampling. Panasonic’s ENG/Digital Cinema DVCPRO50 format increases the data rate to 50Mbps and provides 4:2:2 chroma subtitling. It doubles the tape budget but is still a standard definition format.
SR solid state memory cards take advantage of the move to file based working to support transfer rates up to 5 Gbps with storage capacities up to 1TB. Hot keys are keyboard shortcuts that can be used to control the Dalet AmberFin Recorder or Player viewing windows. See Modifier codes. I See D10. Glossary
With a frames, data rate of 100Mbps at 50/60 DCVPRO HD (or DVCPRO 100), supports both interlaced and progressive formats, though actual progressive recording is not supported. Because horizontal resolution is slightly reduced, upsampling is used on playback. E A set of audio track allocation schemes adapted for UK DPP file-based program exchange. The EBU caption format defined by Technical Reference 3264-E. Not to be confused with a Spruce Technologies subtitle format with the same extension. F
The process of acquiring a video/audio asset into the system. It is usually associated with transcoding the asset into one or more chosen formats. Note that Dalet AmberFin allows multiple QC operations to be performed during and after ingest. J A manual or scheduled task such as transcode, QC or standards conversion. The Job Status panel shows a list of the transcoding or QC jobs assigned to one or more transcoding or QC engines. It also provides configuration controls for Dalet AmberFin transcode and/or QC
file cutting and splicing panelThe is actually a simple assembly tool. It allows several clips or clip segments to be joined together. This panel provides access to files that may not be in the Dalet AmberFin library but are accessible from Dalet AmberFin. Changes the file format but not the frame rate. Only Standards Conversion changes frame rate. G General eXchange Format is a simplified file exchange format for SD and HD video. H An HD version of digital
engines. Monitoring tab displays all active Amonitored (watched) folders. A scalable wavelet based image compression system that supersedes the srcinal DCT version. L There are a variety of Dalet AmberFin panel (or window) layouts optimized for specific workflows. A dedicated 'project' area for ingested and repurposed assets and associated metadata. It is explored and controlled using the Library Panel where files can be imported from other areas and loaded into the Player for review and/or assigned to transcode and
Betacam, DCTMbps. compressed, 8 bit, 3:1:1 at 144 Standardized as SMPTE 409M-2005, HDCAM SR uses improved tape formulation to achieve 10 bit 4:2:2 at 440 Mbps (SQ) or 4:4:4 RGB at 880 Mbps (HQ). HDCAM SR Lite adds a 220 Mbps codec based on the open MPEG-4 SStP (Simple Studio Profile) that can be wrapped as an MXF file.
QC engines. The name of the Dalet AmberFin license file; note that no extension is used or required. M Markup refers to operator generated comments and annotations about a currently loaded asset that are can be permanently associated with that asset by manual entry into the Dalet
AmberFin detailed timeline and saved to a qcml file. MHEG-5 is an international standard devised by the Multimedia and Hypermedia Experts Group (MHEG) to describe interactive television services. A common application is the delivery of interaction services on the Freeview and Freesat television program platforms. In the UK this allows extra content (including PPV) to be delivered via an IP connection.
into many different ‘parts’ that cater for a wide range of bit rates; for example Part 10 applies to Advanced Video Coding (AVC) codecs and is technically the same as ITU-T H.264 and Part 14, known as the MP4 format, applies to 3GP and Motion JPEG 2000 and is technically the same as ISO/IEC 15444-12. Material eXchange Format is a container or wrapper format for professional digital video and audio
codes are special keyboardModifier keys that are held down to activate certain Hotkey functions when other, usually more commonly used keys are also pressed. First of a series of lossy DCT based audio and video compression standards developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group. Work started in 1988 with the first public release date in 1993. Although it was capable of higher bit rates, compatibility with Audio CD bitrates of 1.5 Mbits/s was a significant design goal. Three levels of audio compression were specified, with Layer 3 being more easily recognized as the universal
with support forfrequent metadata and timecode. With updates and improvements MXF has proved to be an ideal basis for file-based workflows. It is a subset of the Advanced Authoring Format which is designed to extend file-based workflow to include (Non Linear Editing) NLE systems and cameras and other systems that require device specific support. N A technique that allows automatic naming for different file types in a system according to selected data-type ‘patterns’ that together define a naming template. For example, %d%m%Y_%Z allows multiple ingest
MP3 format. Before MPEG-1 was
using the date as an identifier. P The Player panel plays clips, either newly recorded or from a storage location. Files must be loaded into the player to be reviewed in the timeline. A plug-in enables a featureset when installed in a dedicated Dalet AmberFin folder. Examples include Software QC, UK DPP, and the Transcoding Scheduler. Extra Windows or Panels are usually associated with plug-ins for operation and configuration. A standardized form of spoken Chinese that is the official language of the People's Republic of China. Conversion
released the Moving Picture Experts Group had already begun work on MPEG-2, an improved DCT based compression standard compatible with full-broadcast CCIR 601 (DVD quality) video. There are a number of Levels and Profiles defining different resolutions from backward compatibility with MPEG-1 up to full HD such as the US ATSC A/53 standard and the European DVBT1/2 standard which both use the Main Profile @ High Level (MP@HL). An XML based standard related to digital rights management. The work by the Moving Picture Experts Grouprange on HDTV in the 20 to 40 Mbits/s dubbed MPEG-3 was included in the MPEG2 standard. There is no MPEG-3 standard as such today. Work by the Moving Picture Experts Group on MPEG-4 began as early as 1988 and has continued to take advantage of improvements in data encoding and compression efficiency. It is split
Profile: Theaspecific codec chosen to perform transcode operation such as AVC (H.264), AVC Intra, MPEG-4, QuickTime, DV or DNxHD. See also Transcode+QC Profile. Transcode+QC Profile: A family of QC and/or Transcode parameters typically performed for a target application such as Mobile, Web,
VoD, NLE or Submastering. See also Conversion Profile. A selected codec, typically low resolution, which is used purely for preview editing video files or for monitoring transcode progress. They are particularly useful for remote viewing over an internet connection and for previewing operations performed on HD sources that may require rendering time. Pulldown is the name
The operating mode of the Dalet AmberFin Recorder may be one of Live, Scheduled, VTR, VTR Batch, VDCP, VTR Emulation or Quality Control. A viewing window with clip, reel, timecode, preroll and VTR controls for acquiring content. Dalet AmberFin accepts the definition of Transcoding or Repurposing to mean Format Conversion; i.e. changing the file format but not the
commonly used for an algorithm matching the slower frame rates for of film to the faster rates of television by repeating selected fields of each interlaced-scanned frame in a mathematically consistent sequence called a cadence. This somewhat misleading term derives from a claw mechanism in early telecines that could be controlled to effectively pause the film advance or ‘pulldown’ as it is interlace-scanned for TV and so repeat selected fields. The electronic removal of the repeated content is sometimes confusingly called ‘reverse pulldown’. Dalet AmberFin uses a Pulldown Detection Helper that
frame rate. A video or audio router
helps synchronizes withstart the of the timecode values at the detected cadence to remove only repeated content and achieve the srcinal film's true frame rate but without interlace artifacts. Q A dedicated panel to allow a user to monitor submitted QC Jobs. See also Job Status and UQC Status panel. Dalet AmberFin's Unified QC combines multiple nonvendor specific tools for baseband checks during tape ingest and filebased QC after ingest together with overall operator controlled QC. See the Understanding Dalet AmberFin Workflow topic for an overview.
typically cutfor intolater shorter sections called clips assembly, and not necessarily in the same order, to produce a different 'edited' version. See Segment track and the topic Segmentation, Splicing and Joining. The Setup panel provides access to a series of workflow settings and templates and is divided into three areas, Global Preset, Ingest Configuration and Active Profile Group template selection and configuration. A tabbed panel docking bar at the right hand side of the GUI. A software only codec solution for SMPTE 2019-2006 (VC-
extensible multimedia An framework and wrapper developed by Apple Inc., to handle a wide range of digital media formats and animation. R A GUI Preferences setting that enables or disables real-time rendering of QC events during ingest.
3) video streams.
works as a crosspoint matrix or switcher to allow selected sources to be routed to selected destinations. It should not be confused with an IT component by the same name that allows multiple devices to connect to a network. S A dedicated track in the Timeline that can be used to manage clips created from the currently loaded A/V asset. Selected clips can be sent to the File, Cutting and Splicing Panel to be joined to create a new file. Segmentation is a process whereby a video asset is
Changing a video source from one standard to another particularly where a change of frame rate is required. An example would be changing a 625/50 PAL source to 525/59.94 NTSC, but not 625/50 Secam to 625/50 PAL. In Europe subtitling may refer to both captions for the hard
of hearing and foreign language dialogue support. See Ancillary Data, EBU-STL, Timed Text and Subtitling (DVB). There are two ‘head-end’ methods that can be used to encode subtitles into the DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) format, ETS 300 472 where characters are represented by codes which are sent to the user’s receiver in a similar way to teletext and the most popular system ETS
captioning and DVS should be compliant with the SMPTE-TT standard for timed text (SMPTE ST 20521:2010). In Europe similar work is underway with EBU Timed Text (EBU-TT) which is regarded as a follow-up to the EBU STL format. An interface that allows one or more video or audio files to be viewed as a chronological sequence of scenes or frames together with annotations and review mark-up. See Unified
300 743, as where subtitle text is rendered a bit-map graphic which is encoded with MPEG-2 video it will be associated with when inserted into the multiplexer as a PES stream. See Ancillary Data for information about carrying ancillary data such as timecode, subtitling and captions through production and on to transmission. The Timecode/VTR sync source can be independently set for Ingest and Playback between the internal clock of the PC running Dalet AmberFin or the incoming video source at a Matrox card. T Teletext was a mainly text based information system encoded
Timeline.
using multiple lines inUK theby VBI. was developed in the theItBBC in the seventies for analogue PAL transmissions. It was used for magazine and news content, as well as subtitling. The most dominant system is CCIR System B or WST (World System Teletext) which is used as the standard for teletext throughout Europe. The defining standards are ITU-R BT.653 and ETS 300 706. The generic name for a range of user configurable forms accessed from the Setup panel in Dalet AmberFin that define settings for specific operations. Templates may be published and shared with other
from AmberFin for applying QC toDalet transcoding operations that implements easy mark-up in the Dalet AmberFin timeline. The UQC Status Panel is where QC status is shown for every file in the library. Requires the UQC plug-in and Web Service Control enabled in the File menu. V The Vertical Blanking Interval was the largest of the analog television vertical and horizontal blanking periods required to prevent active picture during CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) electron beam flyback. As receiver technology improved it became possible to
users.
‘unblank’ lines at the start of each field some and so enable other services such as Closed Captions or Subtitling. Video on Demand Transport Stream. Feature that allows an edit controller to play clips within the Dalet AmberFin library or record live video via the Sony command protocol.
Timed Text, an XML based profile of the W3C Time Text Markup Language has emerged as a format for closed captioning and subtitling across a wide range of media including material published on the web. One advantage is that as with MXF, content can be verified and error checked within file based workflows. The FCC has ruled that
Allows a list of timed transcode only events from any accessible source to occur at any future time. Dalet AmberFin accepts the definition of Transcoding or Repurposing to mean Format Conversion; i.e. changing the file format but not the frame rate. U A technique developed by Dalet AmberFin that allows annotation and mark-up for a source to be managed from a single 'unified' timeline throughout its Quality Control life-cycle. A non-vendor specific solution
W A watch or 'monitored' folder facilitates unattended operation when files are copied to them so that Dalet AmberFin can perform requested operations on them. At the present time a watch folder cannot be used to configure a transcode and a QC operation at the same time. A QC operation can only be configured to run from a watch folder if a ‘No Transcode’ profile is used. Digital watermarking allows an invisible identification signal to be added to images and video. A web service function that puts a computer into a mode where it can receive commands over an internet connection. It is accessible from the Dalet AmberFin File menu. Exports high quality On2 VP6 video for Adobe Flash Player and JavaFX from any QuickTime application. X A series of solid-state memory products introduced by Sony for digital recording. It is also the general name for a range of associated containers; formats DVCAM;and (DV:their AVI, MXF), MPEG IMX (MPEG-2 422P@ML: MXF), MPEG HD422 (MPEG-2 MP@H14/HL: MXF, MP4), MPEG HD422 (MPEG-2 422P@HL: MXF) and Proxy AV (MPEG-4 Part-2: MXF).
