Pinnacle Systems Pro Tools AVoption - 5.1 Instruction Manual

Pro Tools

AVoption & AVoption|XL Guide

Version 5.1 for Macintosh

Digidesign Inc.

3401-A Hillview Avenue

Palo Alto, CA 94304 USA

tel: 650·842·7900

fax: 650·842·7999

Technical Support (USA)

650·842·6699 650·856·4275

Product Information (USA)

650·842·6602 800·333·2137

Fax on Demand (USA)

1·888·USE·DIGI (873·3444)

International Ofﬁces

Visit the Digidesign Web site

for contact information.

World Wide Web

www.digidesign.com

Digidesign FTP Site

ftp.digidesign.com

This User’s Guide is copyrighted ©2001 by Digidesign, a division of Avid Technology, Inc. (hereafter “Digidesign”), with all rights reserved. Under copyright laws, this manual may not be duplicated in whole or in part without the written consent of Digidesign.

DIGIDESIGN, AVID and PRO TOOLS are trademarks or registered trademarks of Digidesign and/or Avid Technology, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

All features and specifications subject to change without notice.

PN 932708445-00 REV A 01/01

contents

Chapter 1. Introduction to Pro Tools AVoption and AVoption XL

AVoption Components

AVoption XL Components

FilmFrame

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Chapter 2. AVoption Hardware Overview

AVoption Hardware Capabilities

Required Hardware

Sync Hardware

Storage Hardware

Chapter 3. AVoption XL Hardware Overview

AVoption XL Hardware Capabilities

Required Hardware

Sync Hardware

Storage Hardware

Chapter 4. Installing AVoption

Installing a New AVoption System

Installing AVoption as an Upgrade

Installing AVoption Software

Installing AVoption Hardware

Installing the Digidesign SCSI 64 / ATTO EPCI-DC SCSI Accelerator Card

AVoption Video Connections

Configuring AVoption with a Single VGA Monitor

ABVB’s VGA Output

Using NTSC and PAL

Sample AVoption Setup Diagrams

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Contents

iii

Chapter 5. Installing AVoption XL

Installing a NewAVoption XL System

Installing AVoption XL as an Upgrade

Installing AVoption XL Software

Installing AVoption XL Hardware

Installing the ATTO EPCI-UL2D SCSI Accelerator

AVoption XL Video Connections

Meridien I/O Box

Using NTSC and PAL

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Chapter 6. Recording and Adding to the Movie Track

The Movie Track

Setting S-Video or Component Output

Movie Track Options

Recording Video

Exporting Files from Avid Programs

Adding Movie Files with AVoption and AVoption XL

Importing Movies (QuickTime)

Undo/Redo for Video Editing Commands

Performance Guidelines

Chapter 7. Playing and Editing the Movie Track

Movie Online

Movie Offline

Playback Viewing Options

Moving the Movie Track or Video Clips

Copying Video Clips

Clearing Selected Video Clips

Sync Points

Locking the Movie Track

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AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

Appendix A. Slot Configurations for AVoption

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Appendix B. Slot Configurations for AVoption XL

Index

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Contents

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

chapter 1

Introduction to Pro Tools AVoption and AVoption XL

AVoption and AVoption XL combine the powerful audio post-production features of Pro Tools with integrated support for the import, capture, and playback of Avid video media.

AVoption Components

AVoption consists of software and two Avid video cards that you install in a Pro Tools audio system. The Digidesign audio hardware provides digital audio recording, editing, mixing, and processing. The Avid video hardware provides video capture and import, full-screen video playback on an external PAL or NTSC monitor, video playback in an on-screen window, and professional quality video compression.

AVoption Capabilities

AVoption lets you:

• Import and capture multiple NTSC or PAL video clips to the Movie track.

• Play the Movie track with near sample-accurate precision against audio tracks in a Pro Tools session.

• Spot or Slip the Movie track to a new time code location, and spot audio to the video track.

• Spot individual video clips to new locations in the Movie track.

• View video edits and clip deﬁnitions in the Movie track.

• View the Movie track as a series of picture frames.

• Play video on an external NTSC or PAL monitor.

• Play video in a ﬂoating window on your computer monitor.

You can also:

• Import MFM (Media File Manager format) or MSM (Media Stream Manager format) video ﬁles created on Avid systems, such as Media Composer, Xpress/Mac, and AudioVision into the Movie Track of a Pro Tools session.

• Capture MSM format video media in the Movie Track of a Pro Tools session, while recording audio simultaneously.

Chapter 1: Introduction to Pro Tools AVoption and AVoption XL

AVoption XL Components

AVoption XL consists of software, a PCI card that you install in a Pro Tools audio system, and an external I/O box that connects to the PCI card. The Digidesign audio hardware provides digital audio recording, editing, mixing, and processing. The Avid video hardware provides video capture and import, full-screen video playback on an external PAL or NTSC monitor, professional quality video compression, and the capability to record and play back uncompressed video.

AVoption XL Capabilities

AVoption XL lets you:

• Import and capture multiple NTSC or PAL video clips to the Movie track.

• Play the Movie Track with near sample-accurate precision against audio tracks in a Pro Tools session.

• Spot or Slip the video track to a new time code location, and spot audio to the video track.

• Spot individual video clips to new locations in the Movie track.

• View video edits and clip deﬁnitions in the Movie Track.

• View the Movie track as a series of picture frames.

• Play video on an external NTSC or PAL monitor.

You can also:

• Import JFIF video media ﬁles from Meridienbased Avid systems (Mac or Windows) such as Media Composer, Symphony, and Xpress into the Movie Track of a Pro Tools session, while recording audio simultaneously.

• Capture JFIF format video media in the Movie Track of a Pro Tools session.

FilmFrame

The FilmFrame™ option enables 24 fps support in AVoption. With FilmFrame installed and authorized, you can import and play back Avid Film Composer media ﬁles. For more information on FilmFrame, contact your Digidesign dealer or visit the Digidesign Web site.

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

chapter 2

AVoption Hardware Overview

AVoption hardware consists of two cards: an Avid Broadcast Video Board (ABVB), and a Janus Advanced JPEG Compression card. These cards connect with a ribbon cable. The ABVB breakout cable is also included.

AVoption Hardware Capabilities

AVoption hardware:

• Receives composite or component video signal.

• Digitizes incoming video.

• Compresses digitized video using advanced JPEG compression.

• Outputs composite and component video signals.

• Connects to a second VGA monitor (optional) for displaying the Movie window.

Avid Video Resolutions (AVR)

The ABVB captures and plays back video media with JPEG compression technology, expressed as Avid Video Resolution (AVR) levels, in the MSM media format (Media Composer 7.x compatible). AVoption can import both MSM video and MFM video, which is generated by AudioVision 4.x and Media Composer 6.x.

AVR levels dictate the amount of JPEG compression, which determines image quality and storage requirements for digitized video.

The following resolutions are available:

• Single-ﬁeld – AVR 2s, AVR 3s, AVR 4s, AVR 6s, AVR 8s, AVR 9s

• Two-ﬁeld – AVR 12, AVR 70, AVR 70B, AVR 71, AVR 75, AVR 75B, AVR 77

Lower numbered AVR levels require less hard drive space, but provide lower resolution than higher numbered AVR levels.

The lowest resolution is AVR 2m. The maximum resolution is AVR 77 and is considered to be broadcast quality.

Chapter 2: AVoption Hardware Overview

JPEG Compression and Storage

JPEG compression varies according to the complexity of the footage. For example, a medium shot of a talking head with a simple background would compress more (using less disk space) than a panning shot of a stadium full of people.

The following tables list the approximate amount of video storage, in minutes per gigabyte, required for each AVR level.

Storage for AVR 2s – AVR 9s

AVR level

AVR 2s 40–74 50–93

AVR 3s 32–57 40–71

AVR 4s 19–40 24–50

AVR 6s 11–33 14–41

30/25 FPS Storage (Minutes/GB)

24 FPS Storage (Minutes/GB)

Required Hardware

To install and use AVoption, you must ﬁrst install a currently supported version of Pro Tools 24 or Pro Tools 24 MIX hardware. Other hardware required for AVoption is listed in this section, along with system requirements for AVoption.

For an up-to-date list of Digidesign-qualified computers, video cards, SCSI accelerators, and hard drives, visit the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com/compato).

Supported Computers

• Power Macintosh 9500

• Power Macintosh 9600

• Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White)

• Power Macintosh G4

AVR 8s 5–13 6–16

AVR 9s 3–6 4–7

Storage for AVR 12 and AVR 70 – AVR 77

AVR level

AVR 12 18–34

AVR 70 AVR 70B

AVR 71 4–11

AVR 75 AVR 75B

AVR 77 2–6

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

30/25 FPS Storage (Minutes/GB)

5–11

3–8

If you are using a Blue & White G3 or a G4, a qualiﬁed expansion chassis is required.

Older G3 Macintosh systems (beige) are not supported.

Minimum System Requirements

Minimum Pro Tools AVoption System Requirements

Item Minimum Requirement

Computer Power Macintosh 9500

Power Macintosh 9600 Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White) Power Macintosh G4

Pro Tools audio hardware

PCI Expansion Chassis (Blue & White G3)

Pro Tools 24 Pro Tools 24 MIX Pro Tools 24 MIXplus

Magma 13–slot

Storage Hardware

SCSI Accelerators

To support the high transfer rates required by AVoption audio and video, the ATTO Express PCI Dual-Channel SCSI Accelerator (or other AVoption-qualified SCSI accelerator) is required, with audio drives connected to one channel and video drives connected to the other channel.

SCSI Hard Drives

Using Two Hard Drives

SCSI accelerator ATTO ExpressPCI Dual-Channel

(Other SCSI accelerators may be approved. Check the Digidesign Web site for the latest compatibility information.)

SCSI hard drives at least 2 approved SCSI hard

drives

Sync peripheral Universal Slave Driver (USD)

Sync Hardware

Synchronization Peripheral

AVoption requires a Universal Slave Driver (USD).

Sync Source

For accurate synchronization during capture and playback, Pro Tools and AVoption must both be locked to video black burst.

For scenarios that do not require a high audio track count or a very long video segment, use two hard drives. In this scenario, one drive is used to record, import, and play back audio data, and the other is used to do the same for video.

Using More Than Two Hard Drives

To get the highest possible performance from your AVoption system, you can use more than two hard drives. In this scenario, you can use up to four hard drives for audio data and up to four hard drives for video data.

Audio

AVoption can use multiple hard drives to store audio data. You should allocate audio tracks to different hard drives manually. “Round robin” disk allocation is not recommended in a system that includes video drives.

Video

AVoption can capture a contiguous video track to multiple hard drives. This is useful if the length of your video session exceeds the 2 GB Mac OS file size limit, or the storage space available on a single drive. For example, 50 minutes of video material, using AVR 77 compression, requires between 9 GB and 25 GB of storage

Chapter 2: AVoption Hardware Overview

space. To store this much video, you need between one and three 9 GB hard drives. The video is automatically split by AVoption into several linked files of less than 2 GB on each disk.

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

chapter 3

AVoption XL Hardware Overview

AVoption XL consists of two hardware components: a Meridien Digital Media Board that installs in a PCI slot in your computer, and a Meridien I/O Box that connects to the card in your computer. A Video I/O Board, installed in the Meridien I/O Box, provides video inputs and outputs from your computer to the rest of your video equipment.

AVoption XL Hardware Capabilities

AVoption XL hardware:

• Receives composite, component, S-video, or (optional) SDI video signal.

• Digitizes incoming video.

• Compresses digitized video using advanced JFIF compression.

• Outputs composite, component, S-video, and (optional) SDI video signals.

• Captures and plays back uncompressed video.

JFIF Video Compression

The Meridien board captures and plays back video media in JPEG File Interchange Format (JFIF). JFIF compression levels provide variable levels of compression for your video project, depending on the recording input selected. The available JFIF resolutions are:

• Single ﬁeld – 15:1s, 4:1s, 2:1s

• Two ﬁelds – 20:1, 10:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1 (uncompressed)

Higher JFIF compression ratios require less storage space but provide decreased video resolution than lower compression ratios.

The lowest JFIF resolution is 15:1s. The maximum resolution is 1:1 (uncompressed).

JFIF Compression and Storage

JFIF compression levels vary slightly, depending on the video input selected.

1:1 (uncompressed) data storage levels are not approximate. The amount of data required to store 1:1 video is always the same, regardless of the video input used.

Chapter 3: AVoption XL Hardware Over view

The following tables list the approximate amount of video storage, in megabytes per second, required for each JFIF compression level.

Storage for Single-Field JFIF

JFIF level

30/25 FPS Storage (MB/second) (approximate)

Required Hardware

To install and use AVoption XL, you must first install a currently supported version of Pro Tools 24 or Pro Tools 24 MIX hardware. Other hardware requirements and system requirements for AVoption XL are listed in this section.

15:1s .7

4:1s 2.7

2:1s 5.5

Storage Required for Two-Field JFIF

JFIF level

20:1 1.1

10:1 2.2

3:1 7.3

2:1 11

1:1 22

30/25 FPS Storage (MB/second) (approximate, except 1:1)

For an up-to-date list of Digidesign-qualified computers, video cards, SCSI accelerators, and hard drives, visit the Digidesign Web site (www.digidesign.com/compato).

Supported CPU’s

• Power Macintosh 9600

• Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White)

• Power Macintosh G4

Older G3 Macintosh systems (beige) are not supported.

Minimum System Requirements

3:1 Video Compression or Higher

Minimum AVoption XL System Requirements

Item Minimum Requirement

CPU Power Macintosh 9600,

Blue & White G3, or G4

PCI Expansion Chassis

Magma 13-Slot

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

SCSI accelerator Qualiﬁed SCSI accelerator

(ATTO EPCI-DC or Digidesign SCSI 64)

SCSI hard drives Qualiﬁed drives are required;

see the Digidesign Web site for more information.

Sync peripheral Universal Slave Driver (USD)

2:1 Video Compression or 1:1 (Uncompressed)

Storage Hardware

Minimum AVoption XL System Requirements

Item Minimum Requirement

CPU Power Macintosh 9600,

Blue & White G3, or G4

PCI Expansion Chassis

SCSI accelerator (video)

SCSI accelerator (audio)

SCSI hard drives Qualiﬁed drives are required;

Striped hard drives A 2-way stripe is required for

Sync peripheral Universal Slave Driver (USD)

Magma 13-Slot

Qualiﬁed SCSI accelerator (ATTO EPCI-UL2D LVD Accelerator required for 2:1 or 1:1 video compression)

Qualiﬁed SCSI accelerator (ATTO EPCI-DC or Digidesign SCSI 64 required for 2:1 or 1:1 video compression)

see the Digidesign Web site for more information.

2:1 compressed video. A 4-way stripe is required for uncompressed (1:1) video.

SCSI Accelerators

To support the high transfer rates required by AVoption XL video, a qualified SCSI accelerator is required, with audio drives connected to one channel and video drives connected to the other channel. For 2:1 compression or 1:1 uncompressed video, 2 SCSI accelerators are required.

SCSI Hardware and Drives with Video Compression Level 3:1 or Higher

If you are using 3:1 video compression or higher at all times, then your system requires only a single dual channel SCSI accelerator, the ATTO EPCI-UL2D or EPCI-DC, or the Digidesign SCSI 64, with audio drives connected to one channel and video drives connected to another.

Using Two Hard Drives

For scenarios that do not require a high audio track count or a very long video segment, you may use two hard drives.

Sync Hardware

Synchronization Peripheral

AVoption XL requires a Universal Slave Driver (USD).

Sync Source

For accurate synchronization during capture and playback, a house sync source or black burst generator is required.

In this scenario, one drive is used to record, import, and play back audio data, and the other is used to do the same for video.

Using More Than Two Hard Drives

To get the highest possible performance from your AVoption XL system, you can use more than two hard drives. In this scenario, you can use many striped hard drives for audio and video data. Striped volumes appear to AVoption XL as a single volume.

Chapter 3: AVoption XL Hardware Over view

Audio

AVoption XL can store audio data to multiple hard drives. You should allocate audio tracks to different hard drives manually. “Round robin” disk allocation is not recommended in a system that includes video drives.

Both of these options are covered in detail in the

Pro Tools Reference Guide

Video

AVoption XL can capture a contiguous video track to multiple hard disks. This is useful if the length of your video session exceeds the storage space available on a single drive. For example, 26 minutes of video material, using 3:1 compression, requires approximately 11.1 GB of storage space. To store this much video, you need two 9 GB hard drives.

SCSI Hardware and Drives with Video Compression Level 2:1 or 1:1

If you are using 2:1 or 1:1 video compression, your system requires two SCSI accelerators: the ATTO EPCI-UL2D LVD accelerator, and the ATTO EPCI-DC or Digidesign SCSI 64. In this scenario, video drives are connected to the EPCI-UL2D, and audio drives are connected to the EPCI-DC or SCSI 64. Or, two EPCI-DC’s may be used for this scenario.

2-way striped drives should be connected in pairs to the EPCI-UL2D accelerator, with 1 drive connected to each channel.

4-way striped drives should be connected in pairs to the EPCI-UL2D accelerator, with 2 or more (in even amounts) drives connected to each channel.

Pro Tools and AVoption XL do not support striped audio drives.

Striped Drive Requirements

Striped

drives are configured so that multiple hard drives behave as if they are one hard drive. This makes higher data throughput possible. 4way striped drives (4 drives acting as one) are required when capturing, importing, or playing uncompressed (1:1) video. 2-way striped drives (2 drives acting as one) are required when capturing, importing, or playing 2:1 compressed video.

AVoption & AVoption XL Guide

chapter 4

Installing AVoption

This chapter discusses the installation of AVoption software and hardware.

Installing a New AVoption System

Installing AVoption as an Upgrade

If you have currently supported Pro Tools TDM hardware installed in your system, then you can install AVoption as an upgrade.

If you do not already have currently supported Pro Tools TDM hardware installed, you must install AVoption as a new system.

To install a new AVoption system:

Install Pro Tools software using the Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM. The ﬁrst time you launch Pro Tools, you are prompted to enter your authorization code, which is included in your

TDM Software Installation Guide

Install AVoption software. See “Installing AVoption Software” on page 12.

Install Pro Tools and AVoption hardware.

• Determine the proper PCI slots for your instal-

lation. See Appendix A, “Slot Conﬁgurations

for AVoption.”

• Install Pro Tools hardware using the instruc-

tions in the

• Install AVoption hardware. See “Installing

AVoption Hardware” on page 13.

TDM Installation Guide

You must have the latest version of Pro Tools (included in the AVoption package) installed before you install AVoption.

To install AVoption as an upgrade:

1 Install AVoption software. See “Installing

AVoption Software” on page 12.

2 Install AVoption hardware. Determine the

proper PCI slots for your installation using Appendix A, “Slot Conﬁgurations for AVoption.” You may need to rearrange previously installed Pro Tools hardware. To install AVoption hardware, see “Installing AVoption Hardware” on page 13.

Chapter 4: Installing AVoption

Installing AVoption Software

AVoption includes the following software:

• Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM

• AVoption Installer CD-ROM

• AVoption Authorizer diskette

The Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM is provided in case you need to update your Pro Tools to the latest version. AVoption requires Pro Tools 5.0 or later. Owners of Pro Tools versions earlier than 5.0 will need to contact Customer Service for upgrade information.

AVoption is copy protected with a key disk. After you install the software from CD-ROM, the Authorizer diskette permits you to authorize and use a single copy of AVoption.

To authorize or deauthorize AVoption:

1 Insert Authorizer diskette into ﬂoppy drive.

(Pro Tools should NOT be launched during this process)

2 Click Authdeauthorizer in the pop-up win-

dow that appears.

3 Click Set-up Authorizer or Deauthorizer.

4 Choose Remove or Authorize (If you are re-

moving an application and a”?” appears over the application icon, indicates that the diskette you inserted is not the one you originally used to authorize this application. You should see a gold key icon. If you continue through the deauthorization process with a “?” will deauthorize the application but not credit an authorization back to the diskette for your next installation.)

AVoption software is installed in a speciﬁc location in your System Folder, and should not be moved or altered. The Authorizer diskette permits you to reclaim authorization from your hard drive if you want to install AVoption on a different hard drive, or if you want to re-initialize or format your drive.

To install AVoption software:

1 Insert the Pro Tools Installer CD-ROM in your

CD-ROM drive.

2 Follow the installation instructions to install

AVoption.

5 Select disk location and click Remove or Au-

thorize.

6 Quit.

Installing FilmFrame

FilmFrame is optional, and copy protected with a key disk. If you purchase this option, you will receive a FilmFrame Authorizer diskette that permits you to authorize and use this option.

To authorize FilmFrame:

■ Insert the Authorizer diskette into your ﬂoppy

drive, and authorize FilmFrame.

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Installing AVoption Hardware

AVoption PCI Slot Conﬁgurations

To install your AVoption hardware, ﬁrst determine the PCI slots where you will install the hardware. For detailed information, see Appendix A, “Slot Conﬁgurations for AVoption.”

3 Remove the ABVB card from the antistatic

bag, being careful to handle it only by the edges.

Audio Hardware

Refer to the TDM Hardware Installation Guide for audio hardware installation information. You may be required to move hardware that is already installed to new PCI slot locations in your computer or expansion chassis, based on the information in Appendix A, “Slot Conﬁgurations for AVoption.”

Installing AVoption Video Hardware

To install AVoption video hardware:

1 Unplug and open your Macintosh computer

or your Magma expansion chassis according to the instructions included with it.

2 Release any static electricity by touching the

power supply of the CPU, or another grounded item.

ABV card and ribbon cable

4 Line up the ABVB card with the installation

slot, and slide the card gently into place so the PCI connector is lined up with the PCI slot.

5 Press down ﬁrmly on the card with even pres-

sure. The connector should click into place in the PCI slot.

PCI card alignment and installation

6 Repeat this process for the Janus Advanced

JPEG card, making sure that you place it in the proper slot.

Chapter 4: Installing AVoption 13

ABVB card

Janus card

Ribbon cable

ABVB card and Janus Advanced JPEG card installed

7 Attach the ribbon cable from the ABVB board

to the connector on top of the Janus Advanced JPEG card by aligning the cable end with the connector, and gently pressing it onto the card until it clicks into place.

8 Close the computer or expansion chassis.

Installing the Digidesign SCSI 64 / ATTO EPCI-DC SCSI Accelerator Card

Digidesign SCSI64 / ATTO EPCI-DC SCSI Accelerator

To install the ATTO ExpressPCI Dual-Channel SCSI Accelerator:

1 Unplug and open your Macintosh computer

or expansion chassis according to the instructions included with it.

2 Release any static electricity by touching the

power supply, or another grounded item.

3 Remove the ATTO card from the antistatic

bag, being careful to handle it only by the edges.

4 Line up the ATTO card with the installation

slot, and slide the card into place gently so the PCI connector is aligned with the PCI slot.

5 Press down ﬁrmly on the card with even pres-

sure. The connector should click into place in the PCI slot.

6 Fasten the card in place using the included

screw to attach the card bracket to the computer mounting bracket.

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Flashing SCSI ROM with ATTO ExpressPro-Tools

ExpressPro-Tools is supplied with Pro Tools 5.1 and every ATTO SCSI card, and allows you to flash the ROM on the SCSI card. Digidesign strongly recommends that the firmware be set on SCSI channels where audio storage is connected as follows:

1 Launch ExpressPro-Tools after booting your

system and mounting all drives.

2 Double-click Media Drive.

3 From the Sync Rate pop-up menu, select

“20 (10)” (20 MB/sec at 10 MHz).

4 Click “Apply to All” (sets the card for all drive

IDs on that bus).

5 Repeat if necessary for the other bus.

6 Quit ExpressPro-Tools.

7 Restart you computer.

These settings are optimized for the size and frequency of SCSI transactions demanded by Pro Tools.

Pro Tools with No Interchange

In installations where Pro Tools will not be routinely sharing projects with Avid Media Composer systems, ExpressPro-Tools from ATTO (provided with Pro Tools 5.1) should be used to initialize all audio and video drives. Both HFS and HFS+ file systems are supported for audio drives. Only HFS is supported for video drives (HFS+ has not been fully tested with video drives).

Avid to Pro Tools

For projects originating on an Avid Picture Authoring system, such as Media Composer, a single HFS drive initialized with either ADU 2.1 or later is supported. This drive may contain video or audio media files. Pro Tools with AVoption supports playback of audio and video tracks from a single drive, as long as track count does not exceed one stream of AVR77 and a maximum of eight audio tracks. When this drive is used in a Pro Tools session, additional audio tracks (beyond those imported from the Avid workstation) should not be added, for bandwidth reasons.

Initializing Hard Drives

The following is hard drive initialization information for three different scenarios: Pro Tools with no interchange, Avid to Pro Tools, and Pro Tools to Avid.

Pro Tools and AVoption do not support striped audio drives.

Drives initialized by Avid Drive Utility 2.1 or later as 2-way or 4-way are supported in this scenario. It is recommended that drives be added to the SCSI channel dedicated for video to balance demands on the SCSI system. Note that Pro Tools can recognize a maximum seven drives per SCSI channel.

Chapter 4: Installing AVoption 15

Pro Tools to Avid

When a drive is being sent from a Pro Tools system to an Avid picture workstation, the drive should be initialized as HFS using ExpressProTools. When an Avid system is inheriting files from Pro Tools, a “finder copy” of these files may be necessary to transfer them from the Pro Tools drive to an Avid/AU2 initialized drive.

If a drive is sent from a Pro Tools system to an Avid workstation so that files can be consolidated and copied to that drive for use on Pro Tools, the same procedure is required. The drive should be initialized as HFS in ExpressProTools before being mounted on the Avid workstation.

Media Management

It is recommend that you dedicate one SCSI channel to audio drives and one SCSI channel to video drives. Doing this will help you to keep the data bandwidth balanced on your system (and avoid the necessity of constantly moving files around to consolidate bandwidth).

If your Pro Tools system is mounting an interchange drive originated by an Avid picture workstation, it is recommended that this interchange drive be installed on the SCSI bus dedicated to video data.

If your Pro Tools system receives an ADU2 drive with data from an Avid picture workstation, it recommended that you do not record additional audio files or tracks onto this drive.

AVoption Video Connections

The ABVB Video Cable

AVoption includes a cable that provides nine coaxial video connections to connect video and sync components of your system to the ABVB card.

ABVB video connector cable

To connect the ABVB cable to the ABVB card:

1 Remove the ABVB cable from the protective

plastic bag.

2 Connect the single connector end to the

matching connector on the ABVB card.

3 Tighten the screws to lock the cable in place.

Video Connectors on the ABVB Cable

GL IN This “Gen Lock” connector is used to connect the ABVB card to an external reference video (black burst) source.

CV OUT This connector provides Composite Video out. You can use this output to connect an NTSC or PAL video monitor for video viewing. You can also connect this output to a composite input on your VTR.

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