SMPTE Operation for Show Director Choreography Software and Pyrodigital Field Controllers

June 04, 1999 SMPTE MODEM USER'S GUIDE For Alpermann + Velte TC 60 RL -72 Portable SMPTE Time Code ReaderPlease refer to provided TC 60 RL User's Guide for Technical Details TC 60 RL CONFIGURATION Remove 4 screws and set DIP Switches as follows: 1=OFF, 2=OFF, 3=ON, 4=OFF, 5=ON, 6=ON, 7=OFF, 8=ON {Configured for 9600 Baud, with Parity, Auto Data Transfer, LED On} TC 60 RL OPERATION w/ SHOW DIRECTOR SOFTWARE 1) POWER SOURCE: a) For Portable Use 9 vdc Battery; Note that BATTERY IS ALWAYS ON Unless a Connector is PLUGGED INTO External Power Input Jack Use Supplied Cable Connector as Battery On/Off switch by plugging into jack, thus DISCONNECTING BATTERY (Cut provided stepped connector from wire if desired, which will "Lock" in place and not fall out) (Wall Pack WHEN CONNECTED will also Disconnect Battery) b) For Office use 9vdc Wall Transformer (Center pin positive) (Battery NOT required) 2) Connect a 9 Pin M/F SERIAL Cable (RS-232) to COM Port of Computer. (use 9 Pin F to 25 pin M Adapter for easy switch to PD Modem) 3) Connect SMPTE Time Code Audio Source to RCA jack of TC 60 RL. 4) Configure SHOW DIRECTOR, "Configure" pull Down Menu, "Timecode" to EXTERNAL SMPTE (AV 60 RL), select SMPTE Time Code Type (Frame Rate), select Com Port # to which AV 60 RL is connected via SERIAL Cable. 5) Play SMPTE Source and observe that RED LED on AV 60 RL will FLASH during Valid SMPTE Input. 6) In Show Director, Enable CUE CAPTURE. Verify SMPTE Time Code work- ing by observing increasing Time Numbers in lower right Tool Bar. EOF June 04, 1999 SMPTE TIME CODE SPECIAL NOTES AND PRECAUTIONS VERY IMPORTANT SMPTE USERS SHOULD ABSOLUTELY READ AND UNDERSTAND THESE PRECAUTIONS > THE SMPTE FRAME RATE TO WHICH YOU SCRIPT YOUR SHOW MUST MATCH THE TYPE OF SMPTE TIME CODE BEING USED - Be sure to set Show Director to the same Frame Rate as being used. Make a note of the Script's frame rate as part of the top information line of your script. WARNING If you Script in Show Director with the WRONG SMPTE frame rate setting you WILL have Cues which are UNFIRED or FIRED at slightly the wrong time with the Field Controller. If you are unsure of the SMPTE frame rate, play the SMPTE into the Time Code Input of the Field Controller set to the Time Code Operating Mode, SMPTE Option 2, and observe the indication; 30ND, 29DF, 25FPS, or 24FPS. Set Show Director to match. 30 Drop Frame IS NOT SUPPORTED. > SMPTE TIME CODE IS NOT NEARLY AS ROBUST AS PYRODIGITAL TIME CODE. SMPTE Time Code WILL NOT work through normal Phone Lines, normal Radios, or any other limited bandwidth transmission systems. SMPTE Time Code DOES NOT have Parity Error Checking, as DOES Pyrodigital Time Code. Full audio quality (20Hz to 20kHz) transmission systems are REQUIRED for SMPTE to work at all. SMPTE works fine with DIRECT CABLE CONNECTIONS (Hard Lines) over 600 ohm BALANCED LINES or short RCA Cables when the Field Controller is within a few feet of the SMPTE Source. DO NOT SIMPLY SWITCH TO SMPTE BECAUSE IT IS A MORE COMMON STANDARD AND THE CLIENT / TECHNICIANS PRESSURED YOU TO DO SO. THERE ARE VALID AND EXTREMELY IMPORTANT REASONS FOR INSISTING ON USING PYRODIGITAL TIME CODE. KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING IF YOU USE SMPTE. WARNING DO NOT USE SMPTE TIME CODE IN THE MANNER IN WHICH YOU ARE ACCUSTOMED TO USING PYRODIGITAL TIME CODE, OR YOU WILL HAVE A SHOW FAILURE. TEST VERY CAREFULLY any transmission system when using SMPTE to BE SURE that you can receive it correctly. > DO NOT MANUALLY ADJUST THE FRAMES ON THE FIELD CONTROLLER TO UNUSED / OUT OF RANGE SMPTE FRAMES BECAUSE THOSE CUES WILL NOT BE FIRED. The Field Controller's Data Table is structured for 30 frames per second. Frames numbers between 0 to 29 CAN ALWAYS be entered (or changed) within the Field Controller's Data Table. So, for example, if you change a frame time from 24 to 25 (25 fps SMPTE), then this cue WILL NOT be fired, BECAUSE it is NOT a valid frame at 25 fps. With SMPTE 24 fps, valid frames are from 0 to 23 With SMPTE 25 fps, valid frames are from 0 to 24 With 29DF (Drop Frame), "A frame PAIR is dropped at the start of each minute, except minutes 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, & 50" Thus (2 x 60) - (2 x 6) = 120 - 12 = 108 frames are DROPPED every hour. Thus these par- ticular frames are NOT VALID. example 1 - SMPTE Time Code frames are; 00:08:59:28 00:08:59:29 00:09:00:02 00:09:00:03 frames 0 and 1 dropped every minute except every 10 min as next; example 2 - SMPTE Time Code frames are; 01:09:59:28 01:09:59:29 01:10:00:00 01:10:00:01 no frames dropped because this is 10 minutes With SMPTE 30 ND (Non Drop), ALL frames are Valid (from 0 to 29). THIS IS NORMALLY NOT A PROBLEM, because Show Director will automati- cally LIMIT the frames according to the frame type selected when you Script your Show. The problem arises when you change the frame time of an event in the Data Table DIRECTLY ON THE FIELD CONTROLLER. Therefore be aware of what you are doing if you change frame times directly in the Field Controller (with other than 30ND SMPTE). > V3.00 FIRMWARE BUG - 29DF INTERNAL CLOCK SPEED FOR FIELD CONTROL- LER - There is a SERIOUS PROBLEM with Field Controller in using 29DF in that the INTERNAL CLOCK RUNS WAY TO FAST. So if you run 29DF on the Field Controller and THEN loose the Time Code Feed, the Field Controller's Internal Clock will run way too fast, gaining about 17 seconds in only 3 1/2 minutes, which will FIRE way to soon as compared to the actual Time Code (simply unplug 29DF on the FC and compare Show Director also running same 29DF to FC running on internal clock). Pyrodigital is anticipating releasing an Updated Firmware EPROM which corrects the 29DF internal Clock speed, AVAILABLE BY SPECIAL REQUEST. Y2K & MIDNIGHT 2000 - The Field Controller DOES NOT use or have any DATE chips, so it doesn't care what year it is. However with New Year's 2000 Displays, it is likely that some Displays will be Fired with SMPTE Time Code BECAUSE SMPTE IS the master timing reference for virtually all TV Stations. They will be using 29DF SMPTE (USA / NTSC). THIS IS FRAUGHT WITH POTENTIAL SERIOUS PROBLEMS WHICH THE USER SHOULD BE AWARE OF (Nothing to do with Y2K, just the transition of SMPTE at midnight which occurs EVERY DAY). RECOMMEND PD Time Code. > 24 HOUR CLOCK - MIDNIGHT CHANGE OF SMPTE TIME - AT MIDNIGHT ALL TYPES OF SMPTE CHANGE FROM 23:59:59:29 TO 00:00:00:00 (example for 30 fpsND). NEITHER SHOW DIRECTOR OR THE FIELD CONTROLLER WILL MAKE THE TRANSITION FROM THE END OF 24 HOURS BACK TO ZERO HOURS (Midnight). At 24 hours YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF THE SCRIPT AND THE END OF FIRING. Think about it; your script (and the FC) work by INCREASING time num- bers; if time suddenly goes to zero you are at the beginning, or before the beginning of your Script & Show. At the SMPTE midnight transition, Show Director cannot continue to Capture/Display cues be- cause Time is now for the beginning of the Script. The FC will post the "END OF TABLE" message (and then beeping to turn key off). SMPTE Time Code simply DOES NOT have any DATE support for the "next day". > WORK AROUND SMPTE 24 HOUR CLOCK TRANSITION AT MIDNIGHT - Have MIDNIGHT and NOON Reversed at the SOURCE. Therefore midnight becomes 12:00:00:00 and there is no problem. THE PROBLEM IS CONVINCING YOUR TV STATION / RADIO STATION / SPONSOR TO DO THIS. Normally SMPTE Clocks which run TV Stations and the Networks will change to 00:00:00:00 at midnight and it may be difficult or impossible to make them change. Tell them Y2K, DO IT!! It may be possible to use a spe- cial SMPTE Offset Processing Device that CAN transition smoothly over the 24 hour change with an offset and NOT crash / Die. Check for Y2K. Attempting to use the Field Controllers SMPTE Offset feature to reverse Midnight and Noon DOES NOT WORK because the offset SUBTRACTS time by design (for VER250 Special application) and at 00:00:00:00 there is NO TIME to subtract from, so TIME STOPS. EXPERT USER Work Around - The Field Controller, however will at mid- night (with a SMPTE offset) switch to it's internal clock and keep shooting (setup option, tape clock mode, set to auto), assuming a DATA TABLE set to match the offset time (must be increasing time). There is another problem with doing this in that for 29DF, the internal clock for V3.00 Firmware in the Field Controller, WILL RUN FAST without the EPROM update. If you attempt this type of Work Around, you should Test & Re-Test VERY Carefully and be aware that you WILL be running on the internal clock ONLY at midnight. Check the internal Clock speed if attempting to Sync w/ music. There also remains the problem of Scripting the Show which CANNOT be done on Show Director directly, but could be cleverly Offset, or scripted directly on the Field Controller. TEST, TEST, Re-TEST!!