Pinnacle Systems NewsCutter - 2.0 Setup Guide

Avid® NewsCutter

Setup Guide

Release 2.0

tools for storytellers®

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. The software may not be reverse assembled and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement. Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following United States patents: 4,746,994; 4,970,663; 5,045,940; 5,063,448; 5,077,604; 5,245,432; 5,267,351; 5,309,528; 5,325,200; 5,355,450; 5,396,594; 5,440,348; 5,452,378; 5,467,288; 5,513,375; 5,528,310; 5,557,423; 5,568,275; 5,577,190; 5,583,496; 5,584,006; 5,627,765; 5,634,020; 5,640,601; 5,644,364; 5,654,737; 5,701,404; 5,715,018; 5,719,570; 5,724,605; 5,726,717; 5,729,673; 5,731,819; 5,745,637; 5,752,029; 5,754,180; 5,754,851; 5,781,188; 5,799,150; 5,812,216; 5,828,678; 5,842,014; 5,852,435; 5,883,670; 5,889,532; 5,892,507; 5,905,841; 5,912,675; 5,929,836; 5,929,942; 5,930,445; 5,930,797; 5,946,445; 5,966,134; 5,977,982; 5,986,584; 5,987,501; 5,995,079; 5,995,115; 5,999,190; 5,999,406; 6,009,507; 6,011,562; 6,014,150; 6,016,152; 6,016,380; 6,018,337; 6,023,531; 6,023,703; 6,031,529; 6,035,367; 6,038,573; 6,052,508; 6,058,236; 6,061,758; 6,072,796; 6,084,569; 6,091,422; 6,091,778; 6,105,083; 6,118,444; 6,130,676; 6,134,379; 6,134,607; D352,278; D372,478; D373,778; D392,267; D392,268; D392,269; D395,291; D396,853; D398,912. Additional U.S. and foreign patents pending. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Avid Technology, Inc.

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THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

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Portions of this software are based on work of the Independent JPEG Group.

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Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

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“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to perform reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the software; or any other damages, including but not limited to, incidental, direct, indirect, special or consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

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Trademarks

AirPlay, AudioVision, Avid, Avid Xpress, CamCutter, Digidesign, FieldPak, Film Composer, HIIP, Image Independence, Marquee, Media Composer, Media Recorder, NewsCutter, OMF, OMF Interchange, Open Media Framework, Pro Tools, Softimage, and tools for storytellers are registered trademarks and 888 I/O, AirSPACE, AirSPACE HD, AniMatte, AudioSuite, AutoSync, AVIDdrive, AVIDdrive Towers, AvidNet, Avid Production Network, AvidProNet, AVIDstripe, Avid Unity, AVX, DAE, D-Fi, D-FX, D-Verb, ExpertRender, FilmScribe, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, Intraframe, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, Lo-Fi, Magic Mask, Matador, Maxim, MCXpress, MEDIArray, MediaDock, MediaDock Shuttle, Media Fusion, Media Illusion, MediaLog, Media Reader, MediaShare, Meridien, NaturalMatch, OMM, Open Media Management, QuietDrive, Recti-Fi, rS9, rS18, Sci-Fi, Sound Designer II, SPACE, SPACE Shift, Symphony, Vari-Fi, Video Slave Driver, and VideoSPACE are trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc.

Adobe and Acrobat Reader are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. FaderMaster Pro is a trademark of JL Cooper, a division of Sound Technology. Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. IBM and IntelliStation are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. iNEWS is a trademark of iNEWS. JVC is a registered trademark of JVC Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Panasonic is a registered trademark of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. Philips is a registered trademark of Philips Electronics N.V. Profile is a registered trademark of Grass Valley Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Sony, Betacam, Betacam SP, DVCAM, Hi8, and U-matic are trademarks of Sony Corporation. TARGA is a trademark of Pinnacle Systems, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Videomedia, V-LAN,

are registered trademarks of Videomedia, Inc. Yamaha is a registered trademark of Yamaha Corporation of America. All

and VLX other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Footage

Arizona Images — KNX-TV Production — Courtesy of Granite Broadcasting, Inc., Editor/Producer Bryan Foote. Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service, Harpers Ferry, VA. WCAU Fire Story — Courtesy of NBC-10, Philadelphia, PA. Paragliding — Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment, Inc. Renaissance Cruises Aegean I — Courtesy of Sondra Byington — Reel Art Productions, Irving, TX.

Avid NewsCutter Setup Guide • Part 0130-04675-01 Rev. A • November 2000

Using This Guide

Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

About This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Using the Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Related Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

If You Have Documentation Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chapter 1 Introduction

NewsCutter System Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Meridien I/O Box Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Checking the Installation Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Rack-Mounting Kits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Chapter 2 Setting Up the NewsCutter System

Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Arranging Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Assembling the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Connecting the Keyboard and Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Installing the Application Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Connecting the UI Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Connecting NewsCutter to the Meridien I/O Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Avid MediaDrive or MediaDock Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Supported MediaDrives and MediaDock Storage Devices . . . 43

Connecting Avid Drives to NewsCutter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Data Rate Calculations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Drive Striping Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Optional NewsCutter Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Local Area Network Workgroup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Fibre Channel Workgroup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Avid Unity for News Workgroup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

SDTI Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Chapter 3 Connecting Audio and Video Devices

Avid Meridien I/O Box Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Audio Interface Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Video Interface Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Serial Digital Interface Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Connecting the Reference Signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Controlling a Video Deck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Connecting a V-LAN VLXi Controller and GPI Devices. . . . . . 67

Video Local Area Network. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

General-Purpose Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Master Clock Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

SDTI Device Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Chapter 4 Running the System Diagnostics

Turning On the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Avid System Test Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Starting Avid System Test Pro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Quick Start Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Understanding the Main Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Understanding the Avid System Test Preferences Window. . . 78

Running the Standard Diagnostics Suite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Running the External/User Interaction Diagnostics Suite . . . . 81

External Diagnostics Audio Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

External Diagnostics Component Video Cabling . . . . . . . . 82

External Diagnostics Composite Video Cabling . . . . . . . . . 83

External Diagnostics Serial Digital Video Cabling. . . . . . . 84

External Diagnostics S-Video Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Running the External Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Understanding the Error Log Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Avid StorEx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Running Avid StorEx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Avid StorEx Disk Test Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Test Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Console Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Test Preferences Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Tests Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Control Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 5 Troubleshooting Chapter 6 Setting Up Workgroups

Using TransferMananger as a Peer-to-Peer Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Media File Transfers to Playback Devices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Cabling NewsCutter to the Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Connecting NewsCutter and the Playback Device for

Ingest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Setting Up the Playback Device for Ingest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Setting Up NewsCutter for Ingest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Connecting NewsCutter and the Playback Device for

Playback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Connection Between NewsCutter and the Fibre

Channel Switch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Connection Between the Playback Device and the

Fibre Channel Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Connection Between the Playback Device, NewsCutter,

and the Ethernet Hub or Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Transferring Files from NewsCutter to the Playback

Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Transferring from the Playback Device to NewsCutter . . . . . 119

Transferring Media Files from NewsCutter for

Play-to-Air. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Chapter 7 Connecting Fader Controllers and a VTR Emulator

Connecting Fader Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Connecting to the MIDI Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Connecting JL Cooper Fader Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Initializing and Testing the JL Cooper Fader Controllers. . . . 126

Connecting the Yamaha 01V Mixer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Connecting a VTR Emulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Appendix A Servicing the Avid Meridien I/O Box

Meridien Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Meridien I/O Box Board Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Serial Digital Interface Board Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Appendix B Supported Serial Control Video Decks

General Deck Selection Recommendations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Direct Serial Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Edit Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Record Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Play Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

V-LAN Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Edit Decks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Record Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Play Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

VTRs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Appendix C Regulatory and Safety Notices

FCC Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Canadian ICES-003. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

European Union Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Australia and New Zealand EMC Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Taiwan EMC Regulations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Index

Figures

Figure 1-1 Meridien I/O Box Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Figure 1-2 Meridien I/O Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Figure 2-1 Configured System Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Figure 2-2 IBM IntelliStation Z Pro — Rear View . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Figure 2-3 Meridien I/O Box Rear Panel Board Slots . . . . . . . . . . 36

Figure 2-4 Keyboard and Mouse Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Figure 2-5 Application Key Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Figure 2-6 VGA Cable Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Figure 2-7 Connection Between NewsCutter and Meridien

I/O Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Figure 2-8 Dual-Channel SCSI Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Figure 2-9 Connecting the MediaDrive or MediaDock SCSI

Cable to NewsCutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Figure 2-10 Ethernet Workgroup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Figure 2-11 Fibre Channel Workgroup Configuration . . . . . . . . . . 54

Figure 2-12 Avid WorkGroup Flow Diagram. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Figure 2-13 Sample Layout for an Avid Unity for News

Workgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Figure 3-1 Audio I/O Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Figure 3-2 Video I/O Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Figure 3-3 Serial Digital Video I/O Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Figure 3-4 Reference Signal Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Figure 3-5 Video Deck Control Cabling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Figure 3-6 V-LAN VLXi Deck Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Figure 3-7 Timecode Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Figure 3-8 SDTI Interface Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Figure 4-1 Avid System Test Pro Quick Start Dialog Box. . . . . . . 76

Figure 4-2 Avid System Test Pro Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Figure 4-3 Avid System Test Preferences Window

— Test Control Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Figure 4-4 Avid System Test Preferences Window

— Video Subsystem Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Figure 4-5 Audio Test External Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Figure 4-6 Component Video External Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Figure 4-7 Composite Video External Cabling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Figure 4-8 Serial Digital Video External Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Figure 4-9 S-Video External Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Figure 4-10 Error Log Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Figure 4-11 Avid StorEx Disk Test Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Figure 4-12 Avid StorEx Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Figure 4-13 Avid StorEx Test Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Figure 4-14 Avid StorEx Test Preferences Window

— Tests Tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Figure 4-15 Avid StorEx Test Preferences Window

— Options Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Figure 6-1 Audio, Video, and Serial Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Figure 6-2 Fibre Channel and Ethernet Connections. . . . . . . . . . 116

Figure 6-3 Digital Cut Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Figure 7-1 IBM IntelliStation Z Pro — MIDI Connector . . . . . . . 123

Figure 7-2 Fader Controller Cabling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Figure 7-3 MCS-3000X Fader Controller Rear View . . . . . . . . . . 125

Figure 7-4 Connecting JL Cooper Fader Controllers . . . . . . . . . . 126

Figure 7-5 Yamaha 01V Mixer Rear View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Figure 7-6 Connecting a VTR Emulator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Figure A-1 Meridien Audio Connectors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Figure A-2 Meridien Video Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Figure A-3 Meridien Serial Digital Interface Connectors. . . . . . . 135

Figure A-4 Meridien I/O Box Thumb Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Figure A-5 Circuit Board Connector and Rails . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Figure A-6 Video I/O Board Blank Panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Figure A-7 Meridien Serial Digital Interface Connector . . . . . . . 138

Tables

Table 1-1 NewsCutter Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Table 1-2 Optional Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Table 1-3 Meridien I/O Box Indicator Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Table 2-1 Avid NewsCutter Expansion Slot Assignments . . . . . 35

Table 2-2 Meridien I/O Box Peripheral Board Locations . . . . . . 36

Table 2-3 MediaDrive and MediaDock Shuttle Information . . . 44

Table 2-4 Drive Storage Capacities (Minutes) for NTSC

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Table 2-5 Drive Storage Capacities (Minutes) for PAL

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Table 2-6 Data Rate Storage Calculations for NTSC

Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Table 2-7 Data Rate Storage Calculations for

PAL Video . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Table 2-8 Drive Striping Requirements for NTSC Video . . . . . . 49

Table 2-9 Drive Striping Requirements for PAL Video . . . . . . . 50

Table 2-10 SDTI Signal Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Table 5-1 No Display After Power-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Table 5-2 Display Colors Are Incorrect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Table 5-3 Cannot Initialize Meridien II Digital Media

Board Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Table 5-4 UI Monitor Does Not Display Selected

Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Table 5-5 Security Failure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Table 5-6 MediaDrives Not Recognized by System . . . . . . . . . 102

Table 5-7 Cannot Read NewsCutter CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Table 5-8 Video Deck or V-LAN Not Recognized . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Table 5-9 No Video in Playback Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Table 5-10 Sequences or Clips Do Not Appear in the Source

or Timeline Viewers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Table 6-1 Workgroup Cable Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Tab le A - 1 Meridien Audio Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Tab le A - 2 Meridien Video Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Tab le A - 3 Meridien Serial Digital Interface Identifiers . . . . . . . 135

Tab le B - 1 Direct Serial Edit Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Tab le B - 2 Direct Serial Record Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Tab le B - 3 Direct Serial Play Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Tab le B - 4 V-LAN Edit Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Tab le B - 5 V-LAN Record Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Tab le B - 6 V-LAN Play Decks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Using This Guide

The Avid system components. NewsCutter ships with Windows NT Windows the internal hard drive. You should consult the Avid Notes, distributed with this guide, for any late-breaking information that might apply to your system setup.

If for any reason the NewsCutter application needs to be reinstalled, see the release notes for instructions on installing the application. For instructions on how to install Windows NT, see your Windows NT documentation.

NewsCutter® Setup Guide explains how to set up NewsCutter

Service Pack, and the NewsCutter application loaded on

Who Should Use This Guide

You should have some prior knowledge of computers before attempting to install this product. If you are not familiar with computers, you should obtain qualified help before installing any hardware or software for this product.

4.0,

NewsCutter Release

About This Guide

Use this guide when you are connecting the peripherals and cables to the NewsCutter system. After you complete the installation, you might want to consult this guide if you need to add external drives and video decks to the NewsCutter system.

After you set up the NewsCutter system and connect it to the Avid Meridien

System Diagnostics” to verify that your hardware is functioning

properly. Troubleshooting information is also provided to help if you encounter any problems. To install the optional Meridien serial digital interface board or to replace a subassembly in the Meridien I/O box, see Appendix A.

The Index helps you locate the information you need.

™

input/output (I/O) box, see Chapter 4, “Running the

Symbols and Conventions

The Avid NewsCutter Setup Guide uses the following special symbols and conventions:

1. Numbered lists, when the order of the items is important.

a. Alphabetical lists, when the order of secondary items is

important.

• Bulleted lists, when the order of the items is unimportant.

- Indented dashed lists, when the order of secondary items is

unimportant.

A note provides important related information, reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions.

A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data.

A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this guide or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment.

Using the Help System

You can get help and background information for tasks, windows, dialog boxes, and screen objects through the Avid Help system. The Help system is HTML-based and operates in a Web browser. To open the Help system, start the NewsCutter application and choose NewsCutter Help from the Help menu. The Help system for NewsCutter opens and displays a list of topics in the Contents frame on the left side of the screen. Click an entry in the list to display the related topic.

The NewsCutter application also provides context-sensitive Help. While the NewsCutter window is active, press F1 to display information about that window or tool. Right-click a screen object in

the NewsCutter application for a shortcut menu. Click What’s This? to display a description of the screen object.

ToolTips are pop-up labels that appear when the cursor is over any NewsCutter button. You can turn on or turn off the ToolTips feature by clicking the Settings tab in the Project window, selecting Interface, and selecting or deselecting Show ToolTips in the Interface dialog box.

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using NewsCutter, you should:

1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide.

2. Check the documentation that came with your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.

3. Check the release notes supplied with your Avid application for information on accessing the Avid Web site and the Avid Knowledge Center.

4. For customer support, contact your local Avid Reseller, or contact Avid Customer Support directly:

• Broadcast customers — call 800-NEWS-DNG (639-7364).

• Postproduction customers — call 800-800-AVID (2843).

Related Information

The following documents provide more information about NewsCutter:

• Avid NewsCutter Release Notes

This document describes new features, hardware and software requirements, software installation instructions, and summary information on system and memory requirements.

• Avid NewsCutter Getting Started Guide

This guide explains the basic concepts and terminology of NewsCutter as well as how to create a project; work with bins; record source material; and compose, edit, and trim a sequence.

• Avid NewsCutter User’s Guide

This guide provides complete information on all editing tasks, such as recording footage, viewing and marking footage, editing, trimming, importing, exporting, and generating final output. This guide also provides a glossary that defines and explains many industry terms.

• Avid NewsCutter Effects Guide

This guide describes techniques for using digital video effects, titles, third-party plug-in effects, mattes, keys, and layering options.

• Avid NewsCutter Quick Reference

This folded card lists convenient keyboard shortcuts.

• Avid NewsCutter Upgrade Instructions

This document explains how to upgrade the hardware and software in NewsCutter systems in accordance with the latest feature and performance enhancements.

• Avid Unity Workgroup Setup Guide

This guide provides information on setting up NewsCutter

™

hardware and software in an Avid Unity

for News workgroup

environment.

• Avid Products Collaboration Guide

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for transferring project files, audio files, and graphics and effects files between various Avid products.

The most recent update of the Avid Products Collaboration Guide is provided online. Check the release notes supplied with your Avid application for information on accessing online documentation.

• Avid NewsCutter Online Publications

This online collection provides electronic versions of this guide and other guides listed in this section. You can view these documents with Adobe

Acrobat

Reader™, which you can install

from the CD-ROM.

• Avid NewsCutter Help

The NewsCutter application includes a Help system that can be viewed using your default Web browser. Help can be run as a standalone application from the Avid NewsCutter Online

Publications CD-ROM.

If You Have Documentation Comments

Avid Technology continuously seeks to improve its documentation. We value your comments about this guide, the Help, the Online Publications CD-ROM, and other Avid-supplied documentation.

Simply e-mail your documentation comments to Avid Technology at

TechPubs@avid.com

Please include the title of the document, its part number, revision, and the specific section you are commenting on in all correspondence.

How to Order Documentation

To order additional copies of this documentation from within the United States, call Avid Telesales at 800-949-AVID (2843). If you are placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local Avid representative.

CHAPTER 1

Introduction

This chapter introduces NewsCutter hardware. The introduction includes an overview of the system and a list of the standard and optional NewsCutter components.

NewsCutter is a computer with an Avid peripheral board set that lets you digitally record and compress high-quality audio and video analog or digital signals to disk. This disk-based, nonlinear, random-access system is designed for editing news stories and other broadcast needs.

A peripheral board set, referred to as the Meridien II digital media board set, fits into full-length PCI slots in the NewsCutter PC system and supports full-screen, full-motion National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) video at 60 fields per second or Phase Alternating Line (PAL) video at 50 fields per second.

The Windows NT operating system and the Windows Service Pack come preinstalled in NewsCutter.

Unpack the hardware (NewsCutter system, monitors, Meridien I/O box, application key, and media storage), and connect the components, as described in the following chapters.

NewsCutter ships from Avid with the application software already loaded on the system.

Before you connect all the hardware, see the Avid NewsCutter Release Notes for the most up-to-date information about the system, including

instructions on how to reinstall the NewsCutter application (if necessary).

A User Interface (UI) monitor displays the user interface, including the Timeline and bins. A customer-supplied Playback monitor displays media the system is playing or recording. The Avid Meridien I/O box is the interface for all the audio and video, input and output connections.

If you have purchased the optional serial digital board for the Avid Meridien I/O box, see Appendix A for installation instructions.

When the system is recording, it stores the audio and video media data in digital format on an external Avid MediaDrive or MediaDock hard disk storage system. The system plays back the digital media from the drives.

There are two optional storage possibilities you can use with your NewsCutter system:

• Avid Unity MediaNet — The Avid Unity MediaNet server and storage subsystem use Fibre Channel (F/C) storage components to provide the shared storage environment for up to 24 MediaNet clients. MediaNet allows all clients to simultaneously read and write to the same shared storage workspace.

• SCSI LVD board — Supports two types of SCSI storage:

- All rS LVD MediaDrive storage systems available in Rack and

Stack (rS) enclosures.

- The MediaDock LVD storage system accommodates

removable MediaDock LVD shuttle devices.

™

As drive size and drive speed improve, different drives and LVD shuttles will be available for use. Contact your local Avid Reseller or call the Avid Sales and Product information line at 800-949-2843 for the available drives and LVD shuttles.

NewsCutter System Features

NewsCutter minimum system requirements include the hardware listed in Ta b le 1 - 1 .

See Figure 2-1 in Chapter 2 for a sample layout of a NewsCutter system.

Table 1-1 NewsCutter Features

Equipment Description

NewsCutter Hard drive

CD-ROM

Floppy drive Expansion slots

Keyboard

Mouse Operating system

Deskside computer system with optional rack-mount kit

Internal hard drive (see the manufacturer’s documentation for details)

Internal CD-ROM reader (see the manufacturer’s documentation for details)

Internal 3.5-inch PCI slots: four 32-bit PCI, two 64-bit PCI; 1 AGP slot (see

the manufacturer’s documentation for details) PS/2-style (with color-coded keycaps, branded with

icons, and linked to commands in the NewsCutter application)

PS/2-style Microsoft

Windows NT 4.0 with Service Pack

Small Computer System Interface (SCSI)

Network interface Ethernet-compatible 10BASE-T/100BASE-T interface

Video board Avid Meridien II PCI edit display controller (EDC) video

A fast and wide external SCSI connector provided for external MediaDrives

connector

board

Table 1-1 NewsCutter Features (Continued)

Equipment Description

Meriden II digital media board set

UI Monitor Color VGA monitor that displays the user interface;

Meridien I/O box Interface for the NewsCutter system; provides

Two PCI boards and a daughter board that provide a PCI interface for direct memory access (DMA) on the system, carry out compression and decompression functions, and act as an interface to the Avid Meridien I/O box

1024 x 768 pixels capability

industry-standard input and output connectors for broadcast video and audio

Ta bl e 1 -2 lists NewsCutter optional or additional equipment that is

purchased separately.

Table 1-2 Optional Equipment

Equipment Description

Playback monitor Displays incoming video when recording. Also displays

playback material during the edit session.

MediaDrives Individual external Avid MediaDrive rS or rS LVD

enclosures linked in a SCSI chain. These drives are audio and video certified with a 15-inch (38-centimeter [cm]) 68-pin cable. The MediaDrive rS or rS LVD enclosures can be rack-mounted or stacked on top of each other.

The first MediaDrive rS or MediaDrive rS LVD in a

daisy-chain configuration connects to the dual-port

SCSI connector installed in the NewsCutter system’s PCI slot. Avid recommends using the 40-inch, 68-pin SCSI cable that ships with NewsCutter to connect to the first MediaDrive rS or MediaDrive rS LVD enclosure.

Table 1-2 Optional Equipment (Continued)

Equipment Description

MediaDock An enclosure that houses up to eight 3.5-inch drives or up

to four 5.25-inch drives. The chassis can stand alone or be rack-mounted. Drives slide into slots and plug into a SCSI bus in the chassis.

Video source A video deck or satellite feed can be used for recording

material to NewsCutter. Recorded media can then be transferred from NewsCutter back to videotape.

Audio amplifier and two speakers

V-LA N® VLXi®If a deck does not support Sony® direct serial protocol,

General-purpose interface (GPI) (optional)

Tim ecode (customersupplied house or master clock)

Black burst generator

SDTI adapter The Serial Data Transport Interface (SDTI) adapter is a

Hardware for monitoring audio. (An amplifier is not required if the speakers are powered.)

control may be possible via V-LAN VLXi hardware, which includes a transmitter and appropriate receivers.

Triggers external hardware to play or create effects, generate characters, or create other special video effects using a parallel control interface.

The timecode is used to synchronize all the input data to a common clock time. The timecode is connected to the Meridien I/O box, video decks, audio, and external devices.

A stable video reference source is required for synchronizing the system.

PCI board that allows NewsCutter to exchange audio and video data with video devices using the SDTI compressed audio and video data interchange standard while retaining the existing SDI infrastructure. The SDTI adapter allows faster-than-real-time video transfers and reduces the number of compression/decompression cycles required during the broadcast production process.

Meridien I/O Box Indicators

The Meridien I/O box provides six indicators along with a power switch on the front of the box (see Figure 1-1). When you turn on the Meridien I/O box, the indicators will turn on and off as it goes through its power-on self-test (POST). After the POST, the 48 kHz and POWER indicators remain on.

44.1 kHz AUDIO SYNC PULL DOWN

44.1 kHz

AUDIO SYNC

48 kHz

VIDEO SYNC

48 kHz VIDEO SYNC POWER

Figure 1-1 Meridien I/O Box Indicators

PULL DOWN

POWER

Power switch

Ta bl e 1- 3 lists the indicator functions.

Table 1-3 Meridien I/O Box Indicator Functions

Indicator Function

44.1 kHz The 44.1 kHz indicator is on when 44.1 kHz digital audio is connected to the Meridien I/O box.

Do not use 44.1-kHz digital audio. The

NewsCutter accepts and outputs only 48 kHz.

48 kHz The 48 kHz indicator is on when 48 kHz digital audio is

connected to the Meridien I/O box.

Table 1-3 Meridien I/O Box Indicator Functions (Continued)

Indicator Function

AUDIO SYNC The audio synchronized indicator is on when audio is

detected by the Meridien I/O box.

VIDEO SYNC The video synchronized indicator is on when video is

detected by the Meridien I/O box.

PULL DOWN The pulldown indicator is on when performing a telecine

film-to-tape transfer whereby 24-fps film material is adapted to the 30-fps NTSC videotape format. Extra pulldown fields are eliminated to achieve true 24-fps film editing.

This function is not used in NewsCutter.

POWER The power indicator is on when the Meridien I/O box

power switch is in the on (I) position.

Checking the Installation Materials

When you purchase NewsCutter, you should receive the following items in the package. Make sure you have everything before you start.

• NewsCutter system

A computer with specific peripheral boards for recording, editing, and playing back clips. Included with the computer is a keyboard and mouse. An optional rack-slide rail kit is available for mounting the NewsCutter system in a rack.

• NewsCutter application key

This copy-protection device (also called a dongle) attaches to the parallel port on your computer. A parallel printer can be connected to the application key if you want a local printer.

• Meridien I/O box

In a separate package, you will find a Meridien I/O box that connects to the NewsCutter system. The Meridien I/O box provides the video and audio interface connectors for the system.

• VGA cable

The hardware items in the shipping box include a standard 15-pin VGA cable for connecting the UI monitor to the VGA adapter installed in the NewsCutter system.

• Audio and video cables

The Meridien II digital media board set includes a Meridien digital media cable that connects NewsCutter to the Meridien I/O box.

• Serial adapter (Rosetta Stone)

A serial adapter is included for remote video deck control through COM1 of the NewsCutter system. The adapter converts the NewsCutter RS-232 signals to RS-422.

• NewsCutter CD-ROMs (2)

One CD-ROM contains the NewsCutter application. NewsCutter ships from Avid with the application already loaded on the system. If you ever need to reinstall the application, see the Avid NewsCutter Release Notes for instructions.

The second CD-ROM provides you with a copy of the NewsCutter application HTML-based, context-sensitive Help and an online version of the printed documentation (in PDF format).

• NewsCutter documentation:

- Avid NewsCutter Setup Guide (this guide)

- Avid NewsCutter Getting Started Guide

- Avid NewsCutter Release Notes

- Avid NewsCutter Upgrade Instructions

- Avid NewsCutter User’s Guide

- Avid NewsCutter Effects Guide

- Avid NewsCutter Quick Reference

- Avid NewsCutter Help

Other items you need to supply:

• XLR cables for audio connections

• Speakers

• Speaker wire (or cables) to connect speakers

• Broadcast-quality BNC cables for connecting video devices

• Flat-tip and #2 Phillips-head screwdrivers should be available for component installation, setup, or attaching an optional rack-mount kit to NewsCutter

• Wrist strap (recommended for grounding when handling circuit boards)

Rack-Mounting Kits

If you have purchased an optional rack-mount kit for NewsCutter, install the kit before making any connections to the NewsCutter system. A stationary rail is attached to each side of the system and the sliding rails are attached to the rack. The NewsCutter system typically requires a minimum of five rack units. (Your system might require

Bracket

more.) Detailed instructions for attaching the rails are included with the kit.

The Meridien I/O box also comes with two rack-mount brackets. Allow three rack units for the Meridien I/O box in the rack.

To attach the brackets to your Meridien I/O box:

1. Locate the two brackets and four screws that come with the Meridien I/O box.

2. Position one of the brackets so that the two holes in the bracket line up with the holes in the side of the Meridien I/O box (see

Figure 1-2).

3. Secure the bracket with the screws provided.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other side.

Figure 1-2 Meridien I/O Box

Meridien I/O box

+ 130 hidden pages