EVS XTract User Manual Version 1.02

USER MANUAL

Version 1.02 - July 2013

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USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

Copyright

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A.– Copyright © 2010-2013. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer

The information in this manual is furnished for informational use only and subject to
change without notice. While every effort has been made to ensure that the information
contained in this user manual is accurate, up-to-date and reliable, EVS Broadcast
Equipment cannot be held responsible for inaccuracies or errors that may appear in this
publication.

Improvement Requests

Your comments will help us improve the quality of the user documentation. Do not
hesitate to send improvement requests, or report any error or inaccuracy on this user
manual by e-mail to [e-mail].

Regional Contacts

The address and phone number of the EVS headquarters are usually mentioned in the
Help > About menu in the user interface.

You will find the full list of addresses and phone numbers of local offices either at the end
of this user manual (for manuals on hardware products) or at the following page on the
EVS website: http://www.evs.com/contacts.

User Manuals on EVS Website

The latest version of the user manual, if any, and other user manuals on EVS products
can be found on the EVS download center, on the following webpage:

http://www.evs.com/downloadcenter.

I

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS III

WHAT'S NEW? IV

1. OVERVIEW 1

2. INSTALLATION 2

3. NETWORK ARCHITECTURE 3

4. OPERATION 4

4.1. Overview 4

4.2. Backing up Clips 6

4.3. Restoring Clips 8

4.4. About Window 9

4.5. Alert and Messages 10

Table of Contents III

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

What's New?

This manual has not been subject to changes associated to new features in release 1.02.

Further to the new EVS branding, the look and feel of the user interface has been slightly
modified.

For the same reason, the look and feel of the user manual has been updated. Some
changes unrelated to new features have been implemented, and are therefore not
indicated with the logo.

IV What's New?

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

1. Overview

The XTract application is an interface software dedicated to the backup and restore of
clips from or to one or several EVS video servers (XT3, XS, XTnano and/or XSnano).
XTract manages the backup and transfer of all clips the operator has marked as "to
archive" via the Remote Panel.

This manual describes the configuration interface, which is easy to use and
straightforward.

XTract acts as a user interface for the background running XTAccess application. XTract
sends its commands to XTAccess using the LinX protocol. Please refer to the XTAccess
manual for detailed instructions about this application.

1. Overview 1

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

2. Installation

The XTract application must be installed on the same computer as the XTAccess
application.

The XTAccess application used by XTract is solely dedicated to XTract and cannot be
used by any other application. It is already configured to process XTract commands.

The XTract setup launches the XTAccess installation only if no XTAccessis installed or if
the already installed XTAccessversion is lower than the new one.

XTAccess is configured only for file transfer with wrapping when required but cannot
perform any format transcoding. The available wrappers are:

• QuickTime Reference

• QuickTime Movie

• MXF OP1a

• MXF EVS

• Avid MXF OP-Atom

XTract is able to communicate with a single XTAccess application installed on the same
computer, but it manages the backup and restore of files from and to multiple EVS video
servers.

As only one XTAccess application is used, only one XML Unit is defined by default for the
communication between the XTract and XTAccess applications using the LinX protocol.
XTract creates xml job files corresponding to the backup and restore jobs requested by
the operator and drops these files in the XML Unit folder. XTAccess regularly pools this
folder and executes any available job described as an xml file.

2 2. Installation

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

3. Network Architecture

XTract is installed on the same computer as an XTAccess application. XTract is the
interface application used to manage the backup and restore functions.

The files to be archived and restored are located on one or several EVS video servers and
storage units connected to the same Ethernet network.

Two networks are used for the various communications and for the file transfers as
illustrated. Physically, these networks can be one and the same or separate for the sake
of performance:

• The PC LAN network is used to detect EVS video servers, to identify them, and to
transfer the list of clips to be backed up.

• The Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) network is used to transfer the clips data between the
XTract and XTAccesscomputer, the EVS video servers and the storage unit.

3. Networ k Architecture 3

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

4. Operation

4.1. Overview

Introduction

The XTract software interface is made of a single window illustrated below. Each tab or
item in the main window opens a specific window or tab described in a dedicated section.

The XTract main window contains the areas highlighted on the screenshot below:

4 4. Operation

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

Area Description

The table below describes the various items or tabs that allow opening a secondary
window or pane:

Part Name Description

1. Backup tab Displays the Backup pane that allows selecting the servers

2. Restore tab Displays the Restore pane that allows selecting the servers

3. About icon Opens the About window that provides information on the

whose clips will be backed up onto a distant storage, as well
as defining the backup parameters.
See section "Backing up Clips" on page 6.

on which the backed up clips will be restored from the distant
storage.
See section "Restoring Clips" on page 8.

application version and support.
See section "About Window" on page 9.

4. Operation 5

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

4.2. Backing up Clips

Overview of the Backup Window

From the Backup window, you can back up clips which have the status "to archive" and
are stored on selected EVS servers. in this window, you will select backup folder, as well
as the file format for the backup files.

The Backup window is open by default when you launch the application:

6 4. Operation

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

How to Back up Clips

To back up clips onto the dedicated storage system from the Backup window, proceed as
follows:

1. In the Server Visibility area of the Backup window, select the type of EVS video
servers the clips to be backed up are stored on.

2. In the Select backup servers area, click the Refresh List button to display only the
EVS servers corresponding to the selected types.

3. Once the server list is refreshed, select all servers on which you want to perform a
backup. All clips tagged as "to archive" by the server operator will be backed up to the
storage unit.

4. In the Browse or type destination folder area, click the Browse button and select
the folder (server on the network, disk and folder on the local machine) where all files
have to be backed up.

5. In the Choose file format area, select the format of the backup files among the
available formats. In an XTract system, XTAccess does not perform any file format
transcoding.

6. Press the Start Backup button.

Note

At any time, you can click the Refresh List button to start a new discovery
process and update the list of EVS servers.

4. Operation 7

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

4.3. Restoring Clips

Overview of the Restore Window

From the Restore window, you can select the EVS server on which the files previously
backed up will be restored.

The Restore window opens when you select the Restore tab:

8 4. Operation

USER MANUAL XTract 1.02

How to Restore Clips

To restore clips onto selected server(s) from the Restore window, proceed as follows:

1. In the Server Visibility area of the Restore window, select the type of EVS video
servers you want to restore the clip backed up to.

2. In the Select restore servers area, click the Refresh List button to display only the
EVS servers corresponding to the selected types.

3. Once the server list is refreshed, select the server(s) on which you want to restore the
clips that have been backed up.

4. Click the Select and Start button to launch the restore process.

By default, the restored clips are sent to page 6 on the destination server.

Note

At any time, you can click the Refresh List button to start a new discovery
process and update the list of EVS servers.

4.4. About Window

This window displays the following items:

• The XTract application version below the application name.

• A link to this user manual in digital format.

• A list of EVS technical support mails and phones if you need further assistance with
this product.

4. Operation 9

EVS Broadcast Equipment S.A. Issue 1.02.A July 2013

4.5. Alert and Messages

The following alert and messages may be displayed in the Backup and the Restore
windows:

Alerts Description

A server name is
displayed in red.

Messages Description

"XML Unit not accessible" The XTAccess application is not started and running.

"Destination not
reachable"

The server had been detected but is not available anymore
(for example due to a connexion lost).

The backup folder located on the remote storage unit is not
accessible (for example due to loss of connection).

10 4. Operation

Corporate
[phone]

North & Latin America
[phone]

To learn more about EVS go to www.evs.com

EVS Headquarters

Liège Science Park

Asia & Pacific

[phone]
16, rue Bois St Jean
B-4102 Seraing
Belgium

EVS Broadcast Equipment is continuously adapting and improving its products in accordance with the ever changing
requirements of the Broadcast Industry.
The data contained herein is therefore subject to change without prior notice. Companies and product names are
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Other regional offices
www.evs.com/contact