Macromedia OnLocation - CS3 User Guide

ADOBE® ONLOCATION™ CS3

USER GUIDE

© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Adobe® OnLocation™ CS3 for Windows®

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Contents

Chapter 1: Getting started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

System requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Install the software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Activating the software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Registering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Read Me. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Adobe Help resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Adobe Video Workshop. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Extras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Adobe Design Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Adobe Developer Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Customer support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Downloads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Adobe Labs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

User communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Chapter 2: Setting up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Step 1 - Connecting cameras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Connect a single camera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Connecting multiple cameras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 2 - Setting the monitor aspect ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Step 3 - Setting the Flip Mode option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Step 4 - Calibrating the Field Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Step 5 - Calibrating the camera with SureShot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 3: Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

User interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Window controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Scrolling in the main window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Right-click menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Graphical dials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Settings Menu in the Field Monitor panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Shortcut keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

iii

Adding components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Removing components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Arranging components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Quit Adobe OnLocation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Field Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Digital Video Recorder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Waveform Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Vectorscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Spectra 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Audio Spectrum Analyzer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

DV Grabber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Shot Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Automatic Quality Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

SureShot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 4: Analyzing lighting, exposure, and color . . . . . . . . . . .29

Evaluating brightness with Zebras. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Enable or disable a Zebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Setting a Zebra to identify bright or dark areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Setting the threshold for a Zebra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Using the Dark Zebra to preserve shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Evaluating brightness with the Waveform Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

About video dynamic range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

About the waveform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Configuring the IRE Setup option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Configuring the Waveform Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Waveform mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Line mode and Full mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Intensity and Illumination dials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Position and Scale dials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Panning and zooming in the Waveform Monitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Analyzing color with the Vectorscope and Spectra 60. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Vectorscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Configuring the Vectorscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Panning and zooming in the Vectorscope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Spectra 60 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Maintaining consistent color and brightness for bluescreen or

greenscreen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

About video clipping alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40

About the Split Screen and Onion Skin features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Enable the Split Screen feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Move the split region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Resize the split region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

iv

Maximize or restore the split region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Adjust the split region opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Checking continuity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Creating stop-frame animation sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Setting the Split Mode option. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Replace the image in the split region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Chapter 5: Monitoring the audio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Audio Spectrum Analyzer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Stereo and Mono modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Peak, Wave, and Spectrum modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Linear and Log modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Hold and Freeze modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

About audio alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Audio popping alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Audio clipping alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 6: Checking the framing and focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Overview of framing and focusing tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Aesthetic framing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

About the Grid feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

About the Underscan and Overscan modes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

About the Video Safe Area display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

About the Letterbox Mask feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

About the Zoom feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 7: Recording and reviewing clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Recording clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Settings for recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

DV File Format option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Pre-Record Time option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Configuring MPEG decompression to avoid dropped frames . .57

Recording methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Standard recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Controlling recording from Adobe OnLocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Controlling recording from the camera (Slave Recording) . . . . 58

Timecodes for recorded clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Motion-activated recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Stop-motion recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Time-lapse recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Time-lapse frequency settings for DV and DVCPro . . . . . . . . . . 62

Time lapse frequency settings for HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Pause and resume recording. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

v

Reviewing recorded clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Selecting a clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Using basic playback commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Scrubbing and navigating in a clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Add notes to clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Reviewing clip information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

DV Grabber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Setting the grabbed still pixel ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Capture still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Configuring the DV Grabber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Accessing grabbed stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Recording HDV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Balancing video quality and system resource usage . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Visible Lines option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

MPEG Resolution and MPEG Frames options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Choosing the best combination of settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Recording DVCPro HD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Chapter 8: Managing projects and clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Managing projects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Create a new project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Open a project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Moving projects between computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Managing clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Renaming clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Moving clips within the DVR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Removing clips from the Clips in Use folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Emptying the Garbage Clips folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Importing clips and still images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Working with DVCPro clips in a video editing application . . . . . . . . . . 76

Recommended project settings for video editing applications. . . . 76

24P pulldown with Adobe OnLocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

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CHAPTER 1

Getting started

Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read an overview of
installation and the many resources available to users. You have access to instructional videos,
plug-ins, templates, user communities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.

Installation

Check the system requirements. Then install and activate Adobe OnLocation. Register the
product for the greatest benefit.

System requirements

■ To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® software,

refer to the Read Me file on the installation disc.

Install the software

1

1. Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.

2. Insert the installation disc into your CD or DVD drive, and follow the on-screen

instructions.

Activating the software

If you have a single-user retail license for your Adobe software, you will be asked to activate
your software; this is a simple, anonymous process that you must complete within 30 days of
starting the software.

For more information on product activation, see the Read Me file on your installation disc, or
visit the Adobe website at www.adobe.com/go/activation.

1

Registering

Register your product to receive complimentary installation support, notifications of updates,
and other services.

■ To register, follow the on-screen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which

appears after you install and activate the software.

TIP

If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Register
Adobe OnLocation CS3.

Read Me

The installation disc contains the Read Me file for your software. (This file is also copied to
the application folder during product installation.) Open the file to read important
information about the following topics:

■ System requirements

■ Installation (including uninstalling the software)

■ Activation and registration

■ Troubleshooting

■ Customer support

■ Legal notices

Resources

Adobe provides resources in a variety of media to help you get the most out of Adobe
OnLocation.

Adobe Help resources

Documentation for your Adobe software is available in a variety of formats.

In-product and LiveDocs Help In-product Help provides access to all documentation and

instructional content available at the time the software ships. It is available through the Help
menu in your Adobe software.

LiveDocs Help includes all the content from in-product Help, plus updates and links to
additional instructional content available on the web. For some products, you can also add
comments to the topics in LiveDocs Help. Find LiveDocs Help for your product in the
Adobe Help Resource Center, at www.adobe.com/go/documentation.

2Getting started

Most versions of in-product and LiveDocs Help let you search across the Help systems of
multiple products. Topics may also contain links to relevant content on the web or to topics
in the Help of another product.

Think of Help, both in the product and on the web, as a hub for accessing additional content
and communities of users. The most complete and up-to-date version of Help is always on
the web.

PDF documentation The in-product Help is also available as a PDF that is optimized for

printing. Other documents, such as installation guides and white papers, may also be
provided as PDFs.

All PDF documentation is available through the Adobe Help Resource Center, at

www.adobe.com/go/documentation. To see the PDF documentation included with your

software, look in the Documents folder on the installation or content disc.

Printed documentation Printed editions of the in-product Help are available for purchase in

the Adobe Store, at www.adobe.com/go/store. You can also find books published by Adobe
publishing partners in the Adobe Store.

A printed workflow guide is included with all Adobe Creative Suite® 3 products, and stand­alone Adobe products may include a printed getting started guide.

Adobe Video Workshop

The Adobe Creative Suite 3 Video Workshop offers over 200 training videos covering a wide
range of subjects for print, web, and video professionals.

You can use the Adobe Video Workshop to learn about any Creative Suite 3 product. Many
videos show you how to use Adobe applications together.

When you start the Adobe Video Workshop, you choose the products you want to learn and
the subjects you want to view. You can see details about each video to focus and direct your
learning.

Community of presenters With this release, Adobe Systems invited the community of its

users to share their expertise and insights. Adobe and lynda.com present tutorials, tips, and
tricks from leading designers and developers such as Joseph Lowery, Katrin Eismann, and
Chris Georgenes. You can see and hear Adobe experts such as Lynn Grillo, Greg Rewis, and
Russell Brown. In all, over 30 product experts share their knowledge.

Tutorials and source files The Adobe Video Workshop includes training for novices and

experienced users. You’ll also find videos on new features and key techniques. Each video
covers a single subject and typically runs about 3-5 minutes. Most videos come with an
illustrated tutorial and source files, so you can print detailed steps and try the tutorial on your
own.

Resources 3

Using Adobe Video Workshop You can access Adobe Video Workshop using the DVD

included with your Creative Suite 3 product. It’s also available online at www.adobe.com/go/

learn_videotutorials. Adobe will regularly add new videos to the online Video Workshop, so

check in to see what’s new.

Extras

You have access to a wide variety of resources that will help you make the most of your Adobe
software. Some of these resources are installed on your computer during the setup process;
additional helpful samples and documents are included on the installation or content disc.
Unique extras are also offered online by the Adobe Exchange community, at

www.adobe.com/go/exchange.

During software installation, a number of resources are placed in your application folder. To
view those files, navigate to [startup drive]/Program files/Adobe/Adobe OnLocation CS3.

Adobe Design Center

Adobe Design Center offers articles, inspiration, and instruction from industry experts, top
designers and Adobe publishing partners. New content is added monthly.

You can find hundreds of tutorials for design products and learn tips and techniques through
videos, HTML tutorials, and sample book chapters.

New ideas are the heart of Think Tank, Dialog Box, and Gallery:

■ Think Tank articles consider how today’s designers engage with technology and what

their experiences mean for design, design tools, and society.

■ In Dialog Box, experts share new ideas in motion graphics and digital design.

■ The Gallery showcases how artists communicate design in motion.

Visit Adobe Design Center at www.adobe.com/designcenter.

Adobe Developer Center

Adobe Developer Center provides samples, tutorials, articles, and community resources for
developers who build rich Internet applications, websites, mobile content, and other projects
using Adobe products. The Developer Center also contains resources for developers who
develop plug-ins for Adobe products.

In addition to sample code and tutorials, you'll find RSS feeds, online seminars, SDKs,
scripting guides, and other technical resources.

Visit Adobe Developer Center at www.adobe.com/go/developer.

4Getting started

Customer support

Visit the Adobe Support website, at www.adobe.com/support, to find troubleshooting
information for your product and to learn about free and paid technical support options.
Follow the Training link for access to Adobe Press books, a variety of training resources,
Adobe software certification programs, and more.

Downloads

Visit www.adobe.com/go/downloads to find free updates, tryouts, and other useful software.
In addition, the Adobe Store (at www.adobe.com/go/store) provides access to thousands of
plug-ins from third-party developers, helping you to automate tasks, customize workflows,
create specialized professional effects, and more.

Adobe Labs

Adobe Labs gives you the opportunity to experience and evaluate new and emerging
technologies and products from Adobe.

At Adobe Labs, you have access to resources such as these:

■ Prerelease software and technologies

■ Code samples and best practices to accelerate your learning

■ Early versions of product and technical documentation

■ Forums, wiki-based content, and other collaborative resources to help you interact with

like-minded developers

Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process. In this environment,
customers quickly become productive with new products and technologies. Adobe Labs is also
a forum for early feedback, which the Adobe development teams use to create software that
meets the needs and expectations of the community.

Visit Adobe Labs at www.adobe.com/go/labs.

User communities

User communities feature forums, blogs, and other avenues for users to share technologies,
tools, and information. Users can ask questions and find out how others are getting the most
out of their software. User-to-user forums are available in English, French, German, and
Japanese; blogs are posted in a wide range of languages.

To participate in forums or blogs, visit www.adobe.com/communities.

Resources 5

6Getting started

CHAPTER 2

Setting up

Step 1 - Connecting cameras

Adobe ® OnLocation™ CS3 works with NTSC or PAL DV cameras, as well as HDV and
DVCPro cameras. The application automatically detects the camera’s standard and video
format, so you do not have to change any switches or set any project properties. For a few
cameras, however, you must set the color space manually through the Field Monitor overlay
menu.

Adobe OnLocation communicates with cameras and other OHCI-compliant devices using
the IEEE 1394 standard, which is also known as FireWire and i.Link. If the camera does not
have a 1394 connector, you can run its signal through an analog-digital converter that
outputs an OHCI-compliant signal.

NOTE

Adobe OnLocation does not support camcorders that record onto DVDs, hard disks, or
solid-state flash memory unless they support DV or HDV output over a FireWire
connection.

Connect a single camera

1. Plug one end of a 1394 cable into a FireWire port on the computer.

2. With the camera turned off, plug the cable’s other end into the camera’s FireWire port.

CAUTION

Although some IEEE 1394 devices may be hot-swappable, FireWire ports might be
damaged if you plug in a cable when the camera is turned on. Therefore, Adobe
recommends that you turn off the camera before connecting the cable.

2

3. Turn on the camera, and set it to the Record/Camera mode.

4. Choose the camera from the Devices menu.

7

Connecting multiple cameras

Adobe OnLocation lets you connect as many cameras as you have 1394 buses. However,
Adobe OnLocation does not support multiple cameras connected to one FireWire card. The
system must have one FireWire bus for each camera.

To switch between cameras that are connected to the computer, choose the desired camera
from the Devices menu, or right-click anywhere on the interface and choose Devices. You
cannot switch cameras during recording.

NOTE

The Split Screen feature is useful for comparing and calibrating the brightness and color
of two or more cameras so that video from all of them has a common appearance. If two
cameras are close enough together, plug both of them into the computer, adjust the
manual settings on one of them, and record a small clip to the hard drive. Then switch to
the second camera, and enable the Split feature between the recorded clip from camera
one and the live feed from camera two. Now adjust the iris, white balance, and other
settings so that the image from the second camera has good continuity with the image
from the first camera.

1394 ports: If the computer has either no 1394 ports or too few for your purposes, you can

add one or more FireWire cards—PCI cards for a desktop, PCMCIA for a laptop.

1394 cables: Most 1394-compliant cameras have a 4-pin port. Computers can have 4-pin or

6-pin ports. Before buying a cable, check whether you need a 4-pin to 4-pin or 4-pin to 6-pin
type cable.

With DV and HDV cameras, you can use 1394 cables up to 25 meters (80 feet) in length.
The maximum cable length for DVCPro HD is 4.5 meters (15 feet) because the data rate is
much higher. You can use repeaters to daisy-chain up to 16 cables.

NOTE

Visit the Adobe knowledgebase at www.adobe.com/support for the latest information on
troubleshooting digital video capture in Adobe OnLocation.

Step 2 - Setting the monitor aspect ratio

The aspect ratio of a rectangular image describes its dimensions in width relative to height.
Although Adobe OnLocation has no way of knowing what the correct aspect ratio is for a
given video signal, it does provide you with precise control over the aspect ratio of the image
displayed in the Field Monitor. To change this setting, change the Monitor Aspect option in
the Field Monitor Menu.

8Setting up

Although aspect ratios are typically represented as ratios, such as 2:1, using that type of value
is limiting for this control. Instead, this control works with a decimal value, which equals the
first value in the ratio divided by the second. For example, the value of 1.333 equals 4 divided
by 3, or 4:3.

Set the Field Monitor aspect ratio

In the Field Monitor, click the Menu button. Then, in the overlay menu, click Next Page.

Do one of the following:

■ Choose the Monitor Aspect ratio from the range of 1.000 (1:1, which defines a square) to

2.400 (12:5).

■ For 4:3, press F8, or set the aspect to 1.333.

■ For 16:9, press Ctrl+F8, or set aspect to 1.778.

TIP

If you’re not sure what this setting should be, you can check the setting by pointing the
camera at a circular image that’s parallel to the plane of the lens. If the shape looks
circular in the Field Monitor, then the setting is correct. If not, then change the setting
until the shape is correct.
If the shape of the image is not what you expect with the current setting, check whether
the Letterbox Mask feature is enabled, in which case the mask bars might limit what you
see. See

“About the Letterbox Mask feature” on page 52 for more information.

Step 3 - Setting the Flip Mode option

Some lens adapters, such as the RedRock Micro M2, invert the image. In some shooting and
editing situations, you might want to view the video reversed in one dimension or the other.
To accommodate these situations, the Flip feature in Adobe OnLocation lets you flip the
image in the monitor horizontally, vertically, or in both dimensions.

Flip the image in the Field Monitor

Do one of the following:

■ Click the Menu button <<icon>> in the Field Monitor. In the overlay menu, click Next

Page. In the next screen, click Next Page again. Select a Flip Mode in the Field Monitor
menu settings.

■ To flip the image horizontally, press Alt+Shift+H.

■ To flip the image vertically, press Alt+Shift+V.

■ To flip the image both vertically and horizontally, press Alt+Shift+M.

Step 3 - Setting the Flip Mode option 9

Step 4 - Calibrating the Field Monitor

The built-in color bars calibrate the computer screen to display levels of brightness, white, and
color to match what the camera records. This step ensures that what you see in the Field
Monitor accurately reflects what you will see in post-production. Adobe recommends that
you recalibrate the screen whenever the lighting around the computer changes significantly.

NOTE

Calibrating the Field Monitor affects only what you see within Adobe OnLocation. It has
absolutely no effect on the brightness, color, and other settings of recorded clips.

Calibrate the Field Monitor

Because the various properties that you change when calibrating the Field Monitor interact
with one another, it is important to perform the steps in the following procedure in the order
specified.

TIP

For finer control when adjusting a dial, hold down the Ctrl key before selecting and
dragging the dial.

1. If the color bars are not already displayed, click the Bars button. (If the Blue button is

enabled, click it to turn it off.)

2. Turn the Chroma dial all the way down. This eliminates all color, reducing the bars to

shades of gray.

3. Locate the set of three narrow, dark bars below the second and third bars from the right.

These bars are called pluge bars and are used to calibrate the contrast. Adjust the Contrast
dial so that the bar on the left and the bar in the center are identical and the bar on the right
is faintly lighter than the other two.

10 Setting up

4. Locate the set of three narrow, white bars below the second and third bars from the left.

Adjust the Bright dial so that the two bars on the left are indistinguishable and the bar on
the right is slightly darker than the other two.

5. Click the Blue button. This turns the bars to shades of blue.

6. Adjust the Chroma dial until the tall section at the top of each outer bar is the same shade

as the small block just below it.

A) Adjust Chroma until tall outer bars match adjacent small blocks B) (Step 7) Adjust Phase
until third and fifth tall blocks match adjacent small blocks.

7. If necessary, adjust the Phase dial until the third and fifth bars are the same shade as the

small blocks just below them.

8. Click the Blue button and Bars button to return to displaying video.

TIP

Position the computer screen at an angle that reduces the amount of glare. When
shooting in direct sunlight, you might want to consider using a computer screen
sunshade for better visibility.

Step 4 - Calibrating the Field Monitor 11

Step 5 - Calibrating the camera with SureShot

The best, most expensive cameras are inadequate unless the focus and exposure are set
accurately. Conversely, if the focus is crisp, white balance is properly set, and camera exposure
and scene lighting yield maximum dynamic range, you can achieve perfectly acceptable video
even from a modest camera. To help you achieve the best results from the camera, the
SureShot component in Adobe OnLocation digitally analyzes the image from the camera and
provides graphical feedback that takes the guesswork out of calibrating the camera and
adjusting the lighting.

Although the Waveform Monitor, Vectorscope, and Field Monitor features provide the
analytical tools that allow you to assess focus, exposure, and white balance, SureShot has
several advantages. First, it digests data into a single meter that’s easy to read. Second, it
analyzes only a defined region of the frame (specifically the area where you’ve placed the
SureShot cards).

Working with SureShot requires the Focus, Exposure, and White Balance cards that come
with the boxed version of Adobe OnLocation and are optional with the downloadable
version.

Calibrate SureShot

1. Disable the camera’s automatic controls, particularly auto-focus, auto-white balance, and

auto-iris. Also, frame and light the scene as you will shoot it.

2. Do one of the following:

12 Setting up

■ If SureShot Camera Setup Module is not open, right-click anywhere in the interface,

choose Add Component, and then choose SureShot Camera Setup.

■ If SureShot is already open (lower-right corner of the rack layout), continue with the

next step.

3. In the SureShot Camera Module, click each of the numbered buttons in order, and follow

the instructions for calibrating SureShot.

4. To turn off the yellow mask after you finish the SureShot steps, return to the first page by

clicking the 1 button.

You’re now ready to use SureShot.

Step 5 - Calibrating the camera with SureShot 13

14 Setting up

CHAPTER 3

Workspace

User interface

Customize Adobe OnLocation for specific tasks by adding or removing components. Then,
control components much as you would their hardware counterparts.

Window controls

If the computer monitor is set to a resolution higher than 1024 x 768, Adobe OnLocation is
displayed in a standard resizable window. If the monitor’s resolution is set to 1024 x 768,
Adobe OnLocation occupies the entire screen and doesn’t have a title bar. In this case, you
can switch to another running application by either clicking the Windows button or pressing
Alt+Tab. Adobe OnLocation doesn’t support resolutions lower than 1024 x 768.

Scrolling in the main window

Scroll in the main window

■ To scroll up and down through components, drag the scroll bar on the right side of the

window.

■ To move up or down a few pixels at a time, click the up or down arrows on the scroll bar.

Each click equals 100

■ If the mouse has a wheel, it also serves to scroll through the interface, with two exceptions.

If the pointer is over the DVR the wheel scrolls through the list of clips. If the pointer is
placed over the video frame in the Field Monitor after clicking the Zoom button, the
wheel will zoom in or out of the clip.

pixels, or 1 U in rack terminology.

3

Right-click menu

Clicking the right mouse button (or touchpad equivalent) anywhere in Adobe OnLocation
opens a menu through which you can perform the following tasks:

15

■ Open the Add Component submenu, where you can display any Adobe OnLocation

component.

■ Open the Help submenu, where you can start the online help, access several Adobe web

pages, or check for updates.

■ Access help about the component the pointer is currently over.

■ Create a new project or open an existing project.

■ Open the folder containing any of the following files: ejected clips, clips that you moved

to the garbage, and still images captured with the DV Grabber.

■ Empty the Garbage Clips folder.

■ Select a device to monitor from a list of available devices.

■ Quit Adobe OnLocation.

Graphical dials

Several of the components in Adobe OnLocation use graphical dials as controls. To turn a
dial clockwise, click the dial and drag downward. To turn a dial counterclockwise, click the
dial and then drag upward. To reset a dial to its default position, double-click the dial. This
action has no effect on dials that do not have a default setting, such as Line Select on the
Vectorscope.

For fine control, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting and dragging a dial.

Settings Menu in the Field Monitor panel

The Menu button in the lower-left corner of the Field Monitor opens and closes an overlay
menu with settings for a variety of components. To choose an option, either click it or use the
up and down arrow keys to scroll to it.

Change the setting for the current option

■ Select and drag horizontally.

■ Click the right or left arrow following the menu entry. If you click and hold one of these

buttons, the value scrolls rapidly through the available settings.

■ Press the Right Arrow or Left Arrow key. If you hold one of these keys, the value scrolls

rapidly through the available settings.

The following table briefly defines the functions of these menu options. Each setting is
addressed in greater detail in the appropriate section elsewhere in this guide.

16 Workspace

Click Next Page or Previous Page to move between Menu pages.

Setting Function

DV File Format Specifies the DV file format in which Adobe OnLocation saves

clips. The options are:

• AVI T1 for Type 1 DV .avi files

• AVI T2 for Type 2 DV .avi files (default setting)

• QUIKTM for standard QuickTime .mov files for use on an

Apple platform

See “DV File Format option” on page 56.

HDV File Format Specifies the format in which you want to record HDV clips.

The options are:

• MPEG (MPEG-2 Program Stream): Allows time-lapse and
stop-motion recording, and provides the maximum
compatibility with editing and post-production applications.

• M2T: Preserves the tape timecode (Sony cameras only) and
other metadata from the camera.

See “DV File Format option” on page 56.

TmLps Frequency Controls the exposure frequency for time-lapse recording. The

default is 30

TmLps Net Frames Pauses recording after the specified number of frames are

captured when you are recording in time-lapse mode. See

“Time-lapse recording” on page 61.

DVR Slave To Sets the DVR to automatically start and stop recording either

with the camera (see

(Slave Recording)” on page 58) (default) or when triggered by

motion (see “Motion-activated recording” on page 59).

Motion Threshold Specifies the amount of motion required to start recording

when motion-activated recording is enabled. See

activated recording” on page 59.

FramesTo Trigger Specifies the number of consecutive frames that must exceed

the Motion Threshold before motion-activated recording starts.

“Motion-activated recording” on page 59.

See

Motn NoiseFilter Specifies a subtractive value that prevents noise in the video

signal from triggering motion-activated recording. See

“Motion-activated recording” on page 59.

Motn Stop Time Specifies how long motion-activated recording continues after

motion has dropped below the Motion Threshold. See

“Motion-activated recording” on page 59.

frames. See “Time-lapse recording” on page 61.

“Controlling recording from the camera

“Motion-

User interface 17

Setting Function

Pre-Record Time Specifies the length of the DVR Preroll buffer. The range is 0 to

seconds for NTSC video and 0 to 40 seconds for PAL

34
video. A setting of zero effectively disables the DVR Preroll
buffer. The default is 5

option” on page 57.

HDD Space Disp Specifies when the Field Monitor displays the space remaining

on the hard drive. The options are Always and Warning.

HDD Warning Specifies the threshold of free hard drive space at which a

warning is displayed if the HDD Space Display option is set to
Warning. The setting is in megabytes.

HDD Record Stop Specifies the threshold of free hard drive space at which Adobe

OnLocation automatically stops recording. The setting is in
megabytes.

Auto Mute Camera When enabled, automatically turns off the computer’s audio

output (speakers or headphones) when recording or
monitoring live input. This feature helps avoid feedback. This
setting does not affect the audio during playback. The default is
On.

Monitor Aspect Specifies the aspect ratio at which video is displayed in the

Field Monitor. The range is 1.000 (1:1, square) to 2.400 (12:5).
The default for the 4:3 Field Monitor is 1.333 (4:3). For 16:9,
set this option to 1.778.
The keyboard shortcut for switching directly to 4:3 is F8. The
keyboard shortcut for switching to 16:9 is Ctrl+F8. See

- Setting the monitor aspect ratio” on page 8.

Letterbox Ratio Specifies the aspect ratio of the Letterbox Mask. The default is

1.778. See

Letterbox Mode Specifies how the Letterbox Mask is displayed. The options are

opaque black or white and semitransparent shadow. The
default is Shadow. See

on page 52.

Flip Mode Controls the orientation of the video in the Field Monitor. This

setting serves primarily to accommodate lenses that invert the
image. See

Visible Lines Specifies whether all of the lines in the video frame are

displayed or only half of them (Odd or Even lines). For more
information, see

“About the Letterbox Mask feature” on page 52.

“Step 3 - Setting the Flip Mode option” on page 9.

seconds. See “Pre-Record Time

“Step 2

“About the Letterbox Mask feature”

“Recording HDV” on page 68.

18 Workspace

Setting Function

MPEG Resolution Specifies whether video is displayed at half or full resolution.

For more information, see
setting applies only when using HDV cameras.

MPEG Frames Specifies whether all frames are displayed or some are skipped

to reduce CPU usage. For more information, see

HDV” on page 68. This setting applies only when using HDV

cameras.

Zebra 1 Value Specifies the Zebra 1 threshold level. The default is 100 IRE.

“Evaluating brightness with Zebras” on page 29.

See

Zebra 1 Mode Changes the Zebra 1 mode to detect areas that are darker or

lighter than the threshold value. The default is Light. See

“Evaluating brightness with Zebras” on page 29.

Zebra 2 Value Specifies the Zebra 2 threshold level. The default is 80 IRE.

See

“Evaluating brightness with Zebras” on page 29.

Zebra 2 Mode Changes the Zebra 2 mode to detect areas that are darker or

lighter than the threshold value. The default is Light. See

“Evaluating brightness with Zebras” on page 29.

Safe Area Size Specifies the size of the Video Safe Area that is displayed

when you click the Safe button. The default is 90%. See

“About the Video Safe Area display” on page 51.

Grid Scale Specifies the grid position by screen percentage. For example,

33% divides the screen into thirds. The default is 33.3%. See

“About the Grid feature” on page 50.

Grid Mode Specifies whether the grid mode displays tick marks along the

edges or lines across the whole monitor or is off altogether. The
default is Tick. See

Split Mode Specifies whether the split image updates automatically during

stop motion recording. The default is Auto. See

Split Screen and Onion Skin features” on page 41.

Color Space Lets you manually set the color space for the Field Monitor and

Vectorscope to 601 or 709 if the correct setting is not
determined automatically. The default is Auto. See

“Configuring the Vectorscope” on page 37.

IRE Setup Specifies whether the value for pure black is zero or 7.5. This

setting affects the Waveform Monitor and Spectra 60. The
default is 7.5. See

on page 33.

“Configuring the IRE Setup option”

“Recording HDV” on page 68. This

“Recording

“About the Grid feature” on page 50.

“About the

User interface 19

Setting Function

Shotclock Slave When enabled, allows the Shot Clock to automatically reset to

zero and start running when recording starts. The Shot Clock
time does not include any Pre-record time. The default is On.
See

“Shot Clock” on page 27.

Grab Pixel Ratio Specifies whether DV Grabber stills are saved for video use (.9

aspect ratio) or computer viewing (1.0 aspect ratio). The default
is PC. See

“Setting the grabbed still pixel ratio” on page 66.

Shortcut keys

Adobe OnLocation includes many keyboard shortcuts and lets you create your own key
combinations. The following table identifies a few shortcuts.

Action Shortcut keys

Record and playback

Record F2

Stop recording F4

Stop-motion recording F3

Time-lapse recording Ctrl+F3

Play clip Space bar or F5

Pause recording or playback Space bar or F6

Stop playback (return to live camera) F7

Previous frame Left Arrow

Next frame Right Arrow

Skip back (rewind) Shift+Left Arrow To set the number of

Skip forward (fast forward) Shift+Right Arrow

Jump to beginning of a clip Home key

Jump to end of clip End key

Previous alert Ctrl+Left Arrow

Next alert Ctrl+Right Arrow

Previous clip Ctrl+Page Up

Next Clip Ctrl+Page Down

frames skipped, press 0
to 9.

20 Workspace

Action Shortcut keys

Monitor settings

Full-screen Field Monitor Alt+Enter

Press Alt+Enter again to return to normal view.

Letterbox (toggle on and off) Alt+L

Zebra 1 (toggle on and off) F9

Zebra 2 (toggle on and off) F10

Safe Area (toggle on and off) Alt+S

Underscan and overscan Alt+U

Color bars (toggle on and off) Alt+T (as in Test Pattern)

Blue Gun (toggle on and off) Alt+B

4:3 monitor aspect ratio F8

16:9 monitor aspect ratio Ctrl+F8

Horizontal flip Alt+Shift+H

Vertical flip Alt+Shift+V

Flip in both dimensions Alt+Shift+M

Audio

Mute (toggle on and off) Alt+M

Increase volume Ctrl+Plus sign (+)

Use the computer’s numeric keypad.

Decrease volume Ctrl+Minus sign (-)

Use the computer’s numeric keypad.

DV Grabber

Grab still image F12

Miscellaneous

Reset dial or slider to default Double-click the dial or slider.

Not all dials have a default setting.

Refine control of dials Hold Ctrl while selecting and dragging.

Zoom in and out on the Field Monitor,
Waveform Monitor, or Vectorscope

Pan in on the Field Monitor, Waveform
Monitor, or Vectorscope

Hold Shift while selecting and dragging vertically
on the desired display.

Select and drag in the desired direction.

User interface 21