Pinnacle Systems Thunder - 7.1 User’s Guide

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Avid® Thunder® Products

User’s Guide

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Avid

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. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. 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; 5,267,351; 5,309,528; 5,355,450; 5,396,594; 5,440,348; 5,452,378; 5,467,288; 5,513,375; 5,528,310; 5,557,423; 5,577,190; 5,583,496; 5,584,006; 5,627,765; 5,640,601; 5,644,364; 5,654,737; 5,715,018; 5,719,570; 5,724,605; 5,726,717; 5,729,673; 5,745,637; 5,752,029; 5,754,851; 5,799,150; 5,812,216; 5,828,678; 5,842,014; 5,852,435; 5,999,406; 6,038,573; 6,061,758; 6,141,007; 6,211,869; 6,532,043; 6,546,190; 6,596,031; 6,636,869; 6,747,705; 6,763,523; 6,766,357; 6,813,622; 6,847,373; 7,081,900; D352,278; D372,478; D373,778; D392,267; D392,268; D392,269; D395,291; D396,853; D398,912. Other patents are pending.

This document is protected under copyright law. An authorized licensee of Avid Thunder products may reproduce this publication for the licensee’s own use in learning how to use the software. This document may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this document or providing support or educational services to others. This document is supplied as a guide for Avid Thunder products. Reasonable care has been taken in preparing the information it contains. However, this document may contain omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc. does not accept responsibility of any kind for customers’ losses due to the use of this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

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Avid Thunder Products User’s Guide • 0130-07656-01B • November 2006

Contents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Using This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Accessing the Online Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 1 Fundamentals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Starting Thunder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Using Thunder Hybrid Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Opening a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Network Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Browse Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Picons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Selecting Picons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Picon Sizes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Copy and Replace Still Picons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Show Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Clip Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

MiniMonitor Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Hardware Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Software Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Function Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Preview Dialog Box. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Dockable Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Selecting Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Workspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Copying Clips, Stills, and Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Copying Clips and Stills Between Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Status Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Background Tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Numeric Keypad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 2 File Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Copying Clips and Stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Deleting Clips and Stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Importing Clips and Stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Importing Images into the Thunder Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Dragging and Dropping an Image into the Thunder Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Copying an Image to the Clipboard and then to the Thunder Database . . . . . . 47

Import/Export Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Overwriting Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Default Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Modifying Image File Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Renumbering Clips and Stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Chapter 3 Working with Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Recording a Clip. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Clip Recording Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Bad Frames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Recording a Clip from a VTR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Creating Subclips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Inserting a Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Clips with Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Editing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Using the Item Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Using the Preview Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Playing Clips. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Clip Playback and Encoding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Cueing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Previewing Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Playing in Program Channel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Directed Play in a Database Window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Directed Play in a Sequence Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Clip Picons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Changing a Clip’s Picon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Playing Clips and Stills Together (Compound Playout) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Playing Clips in a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Selecting Multiple Clips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Adding Clips into the Middle of a Sequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Adding Clips to the End of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Sequence Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Item Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Chapter 4 Working with Stills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Capturing Stills With the Air Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Using the Air Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Playing Bugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using Animated Logos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Unloading Bug Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Playing Stills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Cueing a Still . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Previewing a Still . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Item Properties Dialog Box for Still Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Adding Titles to Stills with PostDeko. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Accessing PostDeko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Saving an Image File and Title in PostDeko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Closing a File in PostDeko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Editing a Title in PostDeko . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Exporting a Title File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Chapter 5 Working with Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Creating Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Inserting an Image File or Clip into a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Selecting Multiple Clips or Still Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Adding Clips or Stills into the Middle of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Adding Clips or Stills to the End of a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Default Item Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Editing Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Making Changes to an Event within a Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Item Properties — Sequence Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Playing Sequences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Moving the Play Box to Another Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Using the Play Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Previewing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Playing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Using the General Purpose Interface (GPI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

GPI Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Chapter 6 Working with Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Connecting to a Lightning or another Thunder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Connecting to an ENPS Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Creating a New Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Setting the Default Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Setting Database Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Removing All Locks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Restoring the Full Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Showing Properties for a Database File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Searching the Workspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Search Syntax Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Security Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Network Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Workspace Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Database Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Workspace Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Search Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Chapter 7 Working with Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Using Layouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Creating Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Changing the Placement of an Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Changing the Size of an Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Cropping an Image. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Chapter 8 Working with DNA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Creating DNA Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Browse a ClipDeko Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Connecting to a Quantel Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Connecting to an FTP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Connecting to a Chyron Product. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Appendix A File Formats and Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Image File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Supported Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Unsupported Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Software Application Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Adding Options to Thunder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Hints and Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

General. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Paint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Appendix B Thunder Toolbars and Menus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Main Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Air Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Sequence Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

VTR Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

MiniMonitor Window — MiniMonitor Section. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

MiniMonitor Window — Control Section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Contexts and Controllers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

Title Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

Move. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Minimize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Maximize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Next Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Right-Click Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

File > New Sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

File > Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

File > Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

File > Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

File > Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

File > Lock Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

File > Logout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

File > Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

File > Print Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

File > Page Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

File > Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

File > Advanced Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Edit Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Edit > Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Edit > Copy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Edit > Paste. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Edit > Paste Master Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Edit > Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Edit > Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Edit > Select All . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Edit > Renumber . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232

Edit > Edit Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Edit > Edit Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

View Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

View > Show Main Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

View > Show Air Toolbar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

View > Show MiniMonitors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251

View > Show Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

View > Show VTR Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

View > Show Status Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

View > Text Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

View > Select Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

View > Large, Small, or Tiny Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

View > Sort Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258

View > Key Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

View > Workspace/Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

View > Refresh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

View > Independent Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

Air Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263

Air > Take. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Air > Freeze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Air > Filter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266

Air > Save Still . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Air > Quick Save Still . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Window Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Window > New Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269

Window > Cascade . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Window > Tile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Window > Arrange Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271

Window > Toolbar Layouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272

Window > 1, 2... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Help Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273

Help > Tip Of The Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Help > Help Topics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Help > Display Input Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Help > About... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Appendix C Using ODBC on Thunder and Browse Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Enabling the ODBC Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Setting Up an ODBC Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Using This Guide

Congratulations on your purchase of an Avid® broadcast database server. You can use your application to create broadcast-quality output incorporating every possible production element from full-speed, high-resolution footage, to multimedia artwork and animation, to computer-generated effects and titling.

This guide contains all the task-oriented instructions, conceptual information, and reference material you need to use the effects and titling features of your Avid broadcast database server.

This guide is intended for all Thunder advanced. When Thunder is mentioned, it applies to Thunder Browse as well.

Thunder Browse is a software-only version of Thunder that allows remote users from any PC to connect to any Thunder database. Thunder Browse provides remote content browsing and management and enables users to perform such tasks as browsing media, previewing stills and clips, trimming clips, deleting and copying files, and creating sequences. Remote control also includes complete record and playback capability, allowing a Thunder channel to be controlled from a separate control room.

and Thunder Browse users, from beginning to

The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models. Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware that are covered in the documentation.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

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.

Using This Guide

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the

Margin tips

Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables.

Courier Bold font

Ctrl+key or mouse action Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using Thunder:

1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your workflow.

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

order you select them. For example, File > Import means to open the File menu and then select the Import command.

This symbol indicates a single-step procedure. Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you perform one of the actions listed.

In the margin, you will find tips that help you perform tasks more easily and efficiently.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

mouse action. For example, Ctrl+drag.

2. Check for the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published:

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as printed release notes,

they ship with your application and are also available online.

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as a ReadMe file, it is

supplied in your Avid application folder as a PDF document (ReadMe.pdf) and is also available online.

You should always check online for the most up-to-date ReadMe because the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To

view the online ReadMe, select ReadMe from the Help menu, or visit the Knowledge Base at www.avid.com/readme.

3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.

4. Visit the online Knowledge Base at www.avid.com/onlinesupport. Online services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read or join online message-board discussions.

Accessing the Online Library

The Thunder Online Library CD-ROM contains all the product documentation in PDF format. You can access the library from the Online Library CD-ROM or from the Help menu.

Accessing the Online Library

You will need Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view the documentation online. You can download the latest version from the Adobe web site.

To access the online library from the Online Library CD-ROM:

1. Insert the Online Library CD-ROM into the drive.

2. Double-click the Mainmenu file.

How to Order Documentation

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

Avid Training Services

Avid makes lifelong learning, career advancement, and personal development easy and convenient. Avid understands that the knowledge you need to differentiate yourself is always changing, and Avid continually updates course content and offers new training delivery methods that accommodate your pressured and competitive work environment.

To learn about Avid's new online learning environment, Avid Learning Excellerator (ALEX), visit http://learn.avid.com.

™

For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications, courseware, and books, please visit www.avid.com/training or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).

Using This Guide

Chapter 1

Fundamentals

This chapter describes an overview of the various components of the Thunder application.

The following sections are included:

• Starting Thunder

• Using Thunder Hybrid Systems

• Opening a Database

• User Interface

• Network Tree

• Browse Window

• Picons

• MiniMonitor Window

• Preview Dialog Box

• Dockable Items

• Selecting Images

• Workspaces

• Status Bar

• Numeric Keypad

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Starting Thunder

During the installation process, a shortcut to Thunder was installed on your computer’s desktop.

1. Log into Windows

2. Double-click on the shortcut to launch Thunder.

If a security database has been set up, Thunder will prompt you to enter your ID name and Password in the Login dialog box. In case you need administrator privileges for this system, the default administrators’s password is “avid”.

3. Type the appropriate information and click the OK box or press Enter.

XP.

Thunder will then give you access to the database. If no security database exists, you can skip this stage.

4. After reading the tip of the day, you can choose to receive tips every time you start Thunder, to see another tip, or just close the “Tip of the day” window.

Using Thunder Hybrid Systems

If your system is a Thunder Hybrid (HY), you can work with both standard-definition (SD) and high-definition (HD) formats on the same system. Therefore, you will need to know how to switch between SD and HD formats.

To switch from one format to another:

1. Select File > Preferences > Channel Configuration.

2. Select the desired SD or HD video standard from the Video Standard list.

3. Click OK.

4. Restart the system. The system launches in the selected video standard.

Opening a Database

A database in Thunder is a collection of clips and stills, represented by thumbnail images called picons, and associated data. This data includes the name of the clip or image file, notes about its content, the dates captured, and so on. If the Thunder system has multiple databases installed, or if you have many machines networked together, there can be several folders in the Network Tree. Thunder Browse can also have its own databases, which show up in this location.

Using Thunder Hybrid Systems

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

1. Double-click on a folder. The contents of the folder display in the Network Tree. A folder named DNA (Dynamic Network Access) is a folder containing the DNA connections available to this machine. This is optional software and might not be present on your system.

2. Double-click on the icon for the .pff file (.pff is extension for an image database in Thunder). The database opens. The network tree shows all of the databases that your system is aware of. If no folders are shown, there are no databases currently selected on your system.

3. If you know a database exists somewhere on your system, select File > Open, and navigate to the location of the database.

4. If there are no other databases on your system, create one by selecting File > Advanced > Create New Database. For more information, see “Creating a New Database” on

page 122.

User Interface

Thunder has a graphic user interface incorporating windows, toolbars and menus similar to other Windows-based applications. The following illustration identifies the key elements of the Thunder user interface. The function and use of these elements is discussed in this chapter and throughout this guide.

Network Tree

Control section

MiniMonitor Bug

window

Main toolbar

Air toolbar

Sequence window

Network tree

VRT toolbar

Network Tree

Keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+T

Use the keyboard shortcut to show or hide the Network Tree.

Sequence toolbar

Database window

Picon of a clip

Status bar

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

The Network Tree shows each Thunder or Lightning workstation with its associated files. Each system is represented as a folder. To open a folder, click on the + sign to the left of the folder or double-click on the folder title. Once open, a list of databases on that system appears, followed by a list of sequences.

A database is identified by the blue Thunder icon and a .pff file extension. A sequence associated with a database is listed directly below the database and has a .seq extension. To open a database or sequence, double-click the left mouse button on the icon or name.

The lowest system shown in the example is labeled DNA (Dynamic Network Access) and is neither Lightning nor Thunder. Rather, it is a folder containing the DNA connections available to this machine. DNA is a software option; consequently your system might not show this network.

The Tree can be shown or hidden by using the Tree View command in the View Menu. A check mark next to the menu item indicates the Tree is visible. For more information, see

“Network Tree” on page 135.

Browse Window

The Browse Window, shown in the illustration below, is a picon view of a sequence (top) or a database (bottom) and has several modes and sort orders. The blue title bar indicates that this sequence window is active, while the gray indicates that the database window is not active.

Browse Window

If you want to change the order and quantity of fields for the database and sequence windows, click View > Select Details. See “View > Select Details” on page 257.

Picons might have additional symbols on them to identify the files they represent. For information on these symbols, see “Picons” on page 24.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

To change the sort order of the clips and image files in a database view:

1. Click View > Details or press

2. Click on the criteria to sort by at the top of the window (Title, Category, User, and so

Picons

Ctrl+F2

on). Alternatively, you can use a shortcut button on the Main Toolbar to access the Details view.

The term “Picon” is an abbreviation for Picture Icon, and refers to individual image files and clips used in Thunder’s database and sequence windows. Picons might have additional symbols on them to identify the kinds of files they represent. The following is an example of a picon representing a still image. Picons represent image files and clip files that Thunder stores and manages.

Picons

Green film icon upper right corner: This image is a clip residing on Thunder or another clip server. When the film icon turns RED, the clip will not play. For help in correcting the problem, see “Clip Picons” on page 77.

Green film icon with shortcut arrow: This image is a sub-clip of the original. It contains instructions to play a portion of the original clip as edited.

Yellow key icon upper left corner: This still image file has an associated Key that will be played back along with the video when placed on a hardware channel. Clips might also have keys associated with them.

Yellow rectangle lower left corner: This picon represents a 16x9 image. Thunder displays anamorphic saved images.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

When you first save a clip in Thunder, you have a choice of picons. You can specify an all-black picon and select a representative frame for the picon later. For more information, see “Recording a Clip” on page 55.

The following topics provide more information about picons:

• “Selecting Picons” on page 26

• “Picon Sizes” on page 27

• “Copy and Replace Still Picons” on page 28

• “Show Picture” on page 28

• “Clip Numbers” on page 29

Selecting Picons

Select picons by clicking, Shift+clicking, and Ctrl+clicking on them using standard Windows techniques.

For more information, see “Selecting Images” on page 34.

Picon Sizes

There are several methods to change Picon size in Thunder. Picon size can be changed among large, small and tiny images.

To change the Picon size, do one of the following:

t Click View and select the size you want (Tiny, Small, or Large).

Picons

t Click the Picon size icon you want in the Main Toolbar.

t Right-click on the database window (not on a picon) and select the size you want (Tiny,

Small, or Large).

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Copy and Replace Still Picons

To copy a still image file:

t Right-click on a picon and drag the mouse over another picon.

The Copy and Replace popup menu appears. Some functions only pertain to clips. For more information on these shortcuts, see “Right-Click Menus” on page 181.

Show Picture

The clip or image file’s picon can be enlarged, allowing you to examine the details more closely. Depending on the size of your SVGA monitor, you might have to rearrange toolbars or temporarily hide the MiniMonitors or Database window to make room for the Show Picture window.

If you find imperfections in a still image that you want to touch-up, close the Show Picture window and start Windows Paint or another graphic application.

To enlarge a picon’s image:

t Right-click on the picon and select Show Picture from the menu.

The picon opens in a separate window at 400%.

Picons

To close the Show Picture window and return to your previous Thunder window, do one of the following:

t Double-click on the Avid icon represented by a red P in the upper left corner of the

window.

t Click the Close button in the Window.

Clip Numbers

Each clip has an individual number, and where applicable, a workspace number and a database number. In this example, clip number 41 from Workspace 5 in Database 2, is identified by this number: 2.5.41.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

If you are working in only one database, the clips reflect just the workspace and individual numbers, such as: 5.41.

When only Workspace 0 is open, the clips have only their individual numbers. For example, the clip above would have only the number 41.

Clips will play individually from any workspace and any database that is accessible from the Thunder. The same clips can be placed in a sequence and played as long as they all belong to the same database.

MiniMonitor Window

This window has two major areas: the Control section to the left and the MiniMonitor section to the right. The MiniMonitor window might be hidden and revealed using the View menu, or by selecting Ctrl+M. A check mark in the View menu indicates that the MiniMonitor window is currently visible.

Control section MiniMonitor section

The Control section contains the following selections:

• Tra nsiti on — The transition is used for takes

• Duration — The duration of the transition in hours, minutes, seconds and frames

• Input — The input source used for live video

MiniMonitor Window

The down triangle to the right of each control opens a pull-down list of additional available selections. The current Context is shown underneath the Input field. A Context indicates the assignment of items to an individual controller such as an automation controller or the QWERTY keyboard.

Each MiniMonitor has the components shown in the following figure.

Clip number

Function controls

next clip in cue

System channel number

Play nodes

Cue window

Bug windowBug fader

The MiniMonitor section contains multiple individual MiniMonitors. Each MiniMonitor corresponds to a system channel and can be turned on or off in the Channel Configuration dialog box. For more information, see “File > Preferences > Channel Configuration” on

page 193. There are two kinds of system channels: hardware and software.

The following topics provide more information about the MiniMonitor Window:

• “Hardware Channels” on page 31

• “Software Channels” on page 32

• “Function Controls” on page 32

Hardware Channels

Thunder has one to three hardware channels. Each hardware channel can be assigned as the Program channel, the Preview channel or the Live channel, or some combination of the three. For example, you can configure a single hardware channel as Program, Preview, and Live simultaneously.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Software Channels

The system also supports Soft channels, which are software only. You can use them as a Preview channel if you desire. Although these channels have no hardware associated with them, frame buffers allow them to be included in the user interface. The MiniMonitor section displays the picon of the current clip or image file on that output. Below left of the picon is the clip’s or image file’s number, and below right is the name of that output as assigned in the Channel Configuration dialog box. For more information, see “File >

Preferences > Channel Configuration” on page 193.

Function Controls

Each MiniMonitor has three function controls. The indicator lights vary depending on how the channel is currently programmed:

Indicator Color Video

Left Red Program

Center Yellow Preview

Right Green Live

While you can separate these functions onto different MiniMonitors, we recommend that you keep them together on one.

You can lock channel assignments so they don’t change, or link them so they change together. For more information, see “Air Toolbar” on page 169 and “File > Preferences >

Channel Assignments” on page 196.

Preview Dialog Box

The Preview dialog box, also called Preview window, enables you to do the following with clips:

• Play clips with audio on the VGA monitor

• Scrub and trim clips

• Mark in and out points

• Create subclips

• Set loop points and times

•Set picons

• Create stills

To access the Preview window:

1. Select the picon of the clip.

2. Do one of the following:

t Press

. t Right-click on the picon and select Preview from the menu. For more information, see “Using the Preview Dialog Box” on page 71.

Dockable Items

The MiniMonitor window and the Network Tree, along with the Main toolbar, the Air toolbar and the VTR toolbar are all dockable items. This means they can be moved about the screen in horizontal or vertical orientation. Double-click the left mouse button on the background inside one of the above items, and the bar will be undocked. You can then place it anywhere you like. When you close the application, Thunder remembers the new location for these toolbars.

When there is more than one user, each can save and later recall their own preferred layout under “Window > Toolbar Layouts” on page 272.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Toolbars and windows can sometimes “disappear” when they are moved. For example, the toolbar might have moved behind another object where you cannot see it. To locate the missing toolbar, use the View menu to hide each of the tools one by one until you locate the missing toolbar. You can then reposition it where it is visible.

Selecting Images

There are two methods for selecting multiple images (clips or still image files).

To select individual clips

t Ctrl+click and select individual clips.

To select a series of clips

t Shift+click and select consecutive clips.

You can also use this method to select events in a sequence.

Example of selecting individual clips

In the following database window, clip 0 in the upper left corner was clicked on and while holding down the Ctrl key, clip 12 in the lower right corner was clicked on. Only those two clips are selected.

Workspaces

Example of selecting a series of clips

In the following database window, clip 0 in the upper left corner was clicked on and while holding down the Shift key and clicking on clip 12 in the lower right corner, all clips between 0 and 12 are selected.

Workspaces

Workspaces can be thought of as folders, which subdivide the main database. Individual workspaces have their own set of permissions. Certain users can be granted access to a specific workspace, while others cannot. This concept of workspaces is fundamental to the operation of the database search engine.

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

To show the accessible workspaces, do one of the following:

t Select View > Workspace/Search.

t Press

If Security Administrator software was not purchased and used to create a secure.dbc file for your Thunder, a single workspace is created and named Workspace 0.

All users have access to Workspace 0, regardless of whether Security Administrator is installed. When searching or browsing in Thunder, you must first tell the system which workspaces you want to access. Use the Workspace/Search box to view the list of workspaces.

, to display the Workspace/ Search dialog box.

Searches can only be performed on a database window opened at the base station. If a sequence window is selected, the search area is dimmed.

The following topics provide more information about workspaces:

• “Copying Clips, Stills, and Sequences” on page 36

• “Copying Clips and Stills Between Sequences” on page 37

Copying Clips, Stills, and Sequences

You can copy clip and still image files and sequences from one Thunder Database to another over a network, and from one Workspace to another in either of two ways: Drag and Drop or using the Clipboard.

To select your first Workspace:

t Press F4 to access the Workspace/Search dialog box.

Workspaces

To open another Workspace in the same Database:

1. Select Window > New Window.

2. Press

To copy a clip, still or sequence from one database window to another database window, or one workspace window to another workspace window:

to select the Workspace to which you want to copy.

1. From the Network Tree, open the Database from which you want to copy the image files.

2. Again from the Network Tree, open the Database to which you want copy the image files.

3. With the two Database windows open, tile them with one above the other.

4. Select the files you want to copy.

5. Do one of the following:

t Drag the files from one Database window to the other and release the mouse button. t Click Edit > Copy, then click on the other window and select Edit > Paste. t Press

Ctrl+C

then click on the other window and press

If any of the files you are copying have the same numbers as files that already exist in the target database, you will be asked if you want to overwrite the files. If you do, click “Yes” or “Yes All” to complete the copy and overwrite the files in the target database. If you don’t, click “No” or “No All,” and the new files will be copied to the next available numbers in the target database.

If the Databases are not under your Network Tree, click File > Open to open a Database under the Network Tree. If the Database does not exist, ask your System Administrator to create the Database with the Create New Database command.

Copying Clips and Stills Between Sequences

All sequences are built from clips and stills belonging to a single database. Consequently, you can only build a sequence from the clips and stills from the database to which the sequence belongs.

To copy clips and stills to other workspaces:

t Click+drag the clip or still from one workspace window to the new workspace window.

Ctrl+V

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

In the following example, copy a clip from sequence seq00000.seq to sequence seq00002.seq by click+drag. These two sequences both belong to database 4b.pff, as shown

in the Network Tree.

Copy a clip from sequence to sequence in the same database

Copy a clip from one sequence to the other

In the following example, copy a clip from the sequence seq00000.seq of database 4b.pff to sequence seq00001.seq of database 6c.pff. Since the sequences belong to different databases, you cannot copy clips or stills directly.

Workspaces

Open the two databases and copy the clip from 4b.pff to 6c.pff. Then place the clip from database 6c.pff into the sequence.

Copy a clip from sequence to sequence in a different database

Copy a clip from database to database, then to the sequence

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Status Bar

Use the Status Bar command to show or hide the Status bar which displays across the bottom of the application window. A check mark appears next to the Status Bar command in the View Menu when the Status bar is displayed.

The left area shows the action triggered by buttons and menu items as you move around the menu screen with arrow keys or the mouse cursor. The areas at the right of the Status bar example indicate the following:

Indicator Description

216257 MB Free The amount of free space on the hard drive that holds this

Items:0/14/24 Indicates that 0 items are selected out of 14 displayed in the

database.

currently active window, and that there are a total of 24 items in the database.

75 Shows the number 75 is currently in the keypad.

1/31/05 Shows the current date.

17:05 Shows the current time.

For more information about the Status bar, see “Background Tasks” on page 40.

Background Tasks

The Background Tasks feature allows you to program Thunder to perform time-consuming, low-priority tasks in the background while you continue your work. When Thunder is working on background tasks, a progress bar appears on the Status bar.

You are not required to do anything or wait for processing to take place. For more information on this feature, see “Background Tasks” on page 254

Numeric Keypad

Thunder has different interpretations for the two sets of number keys on the keyboard. The numbers across the top of the keyboard are used to select the Thunder output channels.

The numbers on the keypad (far right of the keyboard) are used to enter clip or image file and event numbers.

Numeric Keypad

Chapter 1 Fundamentals

Chapter 2

File Management

This chapter describes how to manage and move your clips and still images in the Thunder database. The following sections are included:

• Copying Clips and Stills

• Deleting Clips and Stills

• Importing Clips and Stills

• Import/Export Options

• Modifying Image File Data

• Renumbering Clips and Stills

Copying Clips and Stills

Clips and stills can be copied from one Thunder database to another over a network, and from one Workspace to another in either of two ways: Drag and Drop or using the Clipboard.

To select your first Workspace,

t Press F4 to access the Workspace/Search dialog box.

To open another Workspace in the same database

1. Select Window > New Window.

2. Press

If the Databases are not under your Network Tree, use File > Open to open a database under the Network Tree. If the database does not exist, ask your System Administrator to create the database with the Create New Database command.

to select the Workspace to which you want to copy.

Chapter 2 File Management

You can only build a Sequence from files in the database to which the Sequence belongs. In order to copy the events of one Sequence into a Sequence in another database, you must first copy the files to the database, then add them to the Sequence.

To copy from one database window to another database window, or one workspace window to another workspace window:

1. From the Network Tree, open the database from which you want to copy the image files.

2. Again from the Network Tree, open the database to which you want copy the image files.

3. With the two database windows open, tile them with one above the other.

4. Select the files you want to copy.

5. Do one of the following:

t Click+drag the file(s) from one database window to the other. t Select Edit > Copy, then click on the other window and select Edit > Paste. t Press

To select your first Workspace,

t Press F4 to access the Workspace/Search dialog box.

To open another Workspace in the same Database

1. Select Window > New Window.

Ctrl+C

, then click on the other window and press

Ctrl+V

to select the Workspace to which you want to copy.

2. Press

If the databases are not under your Network Tree, select File > Open to open a database under the Network Tree. If the database does not exist, ask your System Administrator to create the database with the Create New Database command.

Deleting Clips and Stills

Clips and stills can be deleted from a database or sequence window as described below.

To delete clips and stills from the database:

1. Select the database or sequence window containing the item(s) to be deleted.

2. Select the desired image files.

3. Do one of the following:

Importing Clips and Stills

t Press t Select Edit > Delete.

4. Click Yes or press permanently deleted from the active window.

Once clips or stills have been deleted from a database window, they are permanently lost and cannot be recovered. However, deleting the events in a sequence does not remove the corresponding clip or still files from the database.

You can protect image files from accidental deletion by selecting read-only or using your permission set, on the Security tab of the Item Properties dialog box. See “Template and

Item Properties — Security Tab” on page 238.

Delete

The Delete Warning appears.

Enter

to confirm the delete. The selected image file(s) are

Importing Clips and Stills

There are three ways to clip and still files into a Thunder Database: Import Image, Drag and Drop, and using the Clipboard. When you import image files, you are converting their file type, such as .bmp or .jpg, to Thunder native .g format.

The following topics provide more information about importing clips and stills:

• “Importing Images into the Thunder Database” on page 46

• “Dragging and Dropping an Image into the Thunder Database” on page 47

• “Copying an Image to the Clipboard and then to the Thunder Database” on page 47

Chapter 2 File Management

Importing Images into the Thunder Database

To import a single image into the Thunder database:

1. Select File Import.

2. Browse to the file you want to import and click on it. Its name appears in the File name box. You can specify the database information for the

new file in the fields at the left. Thunder fills in the next available number for the new item, but you can change it. To change the title to something besides the filename, uncheck the “User Filename as Title” box.

Enter

3. Click Open or press

. The selected image is imported to the currently selected

database window.

The Import Image dialog box imports one image at a time, but you can import a set of .tga or

.tif images as an animation. This feature requires that Apple

QuickTime® is installed on the

Thunder system.

To import a set of images into the Thunder database:

1. Select the “Import As Animation Series” option.

2. Select the first file of the sequence. The files must have sequential numbers at the end of their filenames, for example

“file001.tga, file002.tga, file003.tga, and so on.

Import/Export Options

Dragging and Dropping an Image into the Thunder Database

To drag and drop an image into the Thunder database:

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. Find and select the desired image files.

3. Click+drag the file into a Thunder database window. The file is imported to that database window. Drag and drop allows you to import

several image files at one time.

Copying an Image to the Clipboard and then to the Thunder Database

To copy an image to the clipboard and then Paste it in the Thunder database:

1. Open Windows Explorer.

2. Browse to the image.

3. Select Edit > Copy or Edit > Cut in the Explorer Edit menu. Edit > Cut moves the selected file to the clipboard.

4. Click in the Thunder database in which you want to place the image file and select Edit > Paste. The file is imported to that database window.

These methods for importing an image file into Thunder include the Key if the image has one, whether or not Key is selected in the Video tab of the current Template.

Import/Export Options

Thunder can automatically import clips and stills into its default database when they are placed in a designated “watched” folder. Thunder regularly checks this folder and imports any compatible files into its default database.

Chapter 2 File Management

To set up the import and export option:

1. Select File > Preferences > Import/Export Options. The Import/Export Options dialog box appears.

2. Select the Enable Import Watcher option.

3. Do one of the following: t Type the location of the watched folder, and the database you want (if it is not the

default database).

t Press the ellipsis (...) button and browse to the folder.

4. Select the folder and click OK. The folder appears in the Auto Import Folder field.

5. Click OK again and the Import Watcher is activated.

The following topics provide more information about import/export options:

• “Overwriting Items” on page 48

• “Default Database” on page 50

Overwriting Items

The Import Watcher can be set to automatically overwrite items in the database with new ones.

Import/Export Options

Since there no confirmation that database items are being overwritten, this option can cause inadvertent data loss. Make sure you intend on overwriting the existing items in the database.

To overwrite items:

1. Select File > Preferences > Import/Export Options.

2. Check the “Overwrite Existing Item in Database” box in the Import/Export Options dialog box.

New items replace old ones in the database if their filenames follow these conventions:

Imported

File Name Where Placed Imported Title

xxx.jpg 1st available

database slot

#nnn.jpg Specified #nnn #nnn.jpg 0_nnn

xxx.jpg xxx

Media ID Comments

#nnn xxx.jpg Specified #nnn #nnn xxx.jpg 0_nnn The original file

name has a space between the numbers and letters.

#nnn,xxx.jpg Specified #nnn #nnn,xxx.jpg xxx The original file

name has a comma between the numbers and letters.

In the previous table, it is important to note that n indicates a number, and x indicates an alphanumeric character. It is also important to note that .jpg is used as an example of a media file extension. It can also be substituted with other media file extensions such as .mov, .mxf, .dv, and so on.

Chapter 2 File Management

Default Database

To designate the default database:

1. Click the Network Tree (View > Show Tree) and select a database.

2. Right-click the database and select Set Default Database from the menu. This database opens when Thunder is started and receives files from the watched folder.

Modifying Image File Data

To modify a clip or still image file’s database information:

1. Click the picon to select it.

2. Do one of the following:

Enter

t Press t Right-click on the picon and select Properties from the menu.

to bring up the Item Properties dialog box.

Modifying Image File Data

3. Enter the new database information in the appropriate fields.

4. Click Apply. The new information is immediately transferred to the image file.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and return to the previous window.

When modifying a image file’s database, you can only enter information in the Title, Category, User, Memo, and Media Id fields. The Number and Date fields are dimmed, indicating they cannot be changed.

For more information on the Item Properties dialog box, see “Template and Item Properties

— General Tab” on page 236.

Chapter 2 File Management

Renumbering Clips and Stills

To renumber clip and still image files in a database window:

1. Select the image files to be renumbered.

2. Select Edit > Renumber. The Renumber Items dialog box appears.

3. Enter the new image file number.

4. (Option) Check the Keep Selection Order check box to renumber the image files in the order you selected them.

5. Click OK. The image files selected are given new numbers starting from the number specified. If

image files already exist within the destination range specified, a dialog box appears, asking if you want to overwrite the items at those numbers or place the new items at the next available numbers.

To move image files from one workspace to another:

t Specify a starting number that includes the destination workspace, such as 2.45 for

workspace 2, image file 45.

To move image files from one database to another:

t Specify a starting number that includes the destination database and workspace, such as

3.2.45 for database 3, workspace 2, image file 45.

Renumbering Clips and Stills

To access the Renumber Items dialog box:

1. Select the image files.

2. Right-click on one of the images and select Renumber.

When the Add to End of Workspace option is enabled, and you specify a file number that is not in use, one file goes to that number, but the rest of the files goes to the end of the workspace. If your files do not renumber to the area you expect, check your Database Options.

Chapter 2 File Management

Chapter 3

Working with Clips

This chapter describes how to create individual clips, edit them, and subdivide them multiple times to generate sub-clips, each with its own in-point, out-point, database information and picon. The following sections are included:

• Recording a Clip

• Creating Subclips

• Inserting a Clip

• Clips with Keys

• Editing Clips

• Playing Clips

• Playing Clips in a Sequence

• Item Properties

Recording a Clip

You can record clips from your live video feed. A database window must be open and selected to record the new clips.

To record a clip:

1. Select a Channel’s MiniMonitor.

2. Right-click the MiniMonitor window and select Record Mode from the menu. The MiniMonitor turns red and displays the word Record, indicating it is in

Record Mode.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

3. Right-click the window again and select Record from the menu. The Item Properties dialog box appears.

4. Make your entries on the tabs as required and click OK to close the dialog box and begin recording the clip.

To change compression rate and key type:

t Select Edit > Edit Template and click on the Record Setup tab of the Template

dialog box.

Recording a Clip

If recording clips with Keys:

1. Enable Key recording on the Input Channel you are using. See “File > Preferences >

Channel Configuration” on page 193.

2. Enable Key on the Video tab of the Item Properties / Template dialog box. See

“Template and Item Properties — Video Tab” on page 240.

3. Select the type of filter on the Record Setup tab of the Item Properties / Template dialog box. See “Template and Item Properties — Record Tab” on page 243.

The MiniMonitor turns red and displays a duration window, reading in hours:minutes:seconds:frames.

4. When you have recorded the time you want, click the Stop button below the MiniMonitor.

Stop

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Thunder saves the new Clip to the active database. The Clip will have the same number that appeared at the upper left corner of the MiniMonitor while it recorded. In this example, the clip number is 0.247.

You can record a clip on one channel while playing clips on another.

To record while playing a clip:

t Select an unused MiniMonitor and follow the steps in the topic “To record clips with

Keys:” on page 241.

The following topics provide more information about recording a clip:

• “Clip Recording Methods” on page 58

• “Bad Frames” on page 61

• “Recording a Clip from a VTR” on page 61

Clip Recording Methods

To record clips, Thunder must be in Record Mode. Right-click on a MiniMonitor to see the popup menu and select Record Mode. When a checkmark appears beside it, Record Mode is the active mode.

There are five clip recording methods on Thunder, described below:

Recording a Clip

Recording Methods

Setting Description

Record Brings up the Item Properties dialog box. When you press the OK

button on the dialog box, recording begins. Recording continues until you click the Stop button (black square) or as programmed on the Clip page of Item Properties.

Quick Record Bypasses the Item Properties dialog box. Recording starts

immediately and continues until you click the Stop (square) button or as programmed.

Cue Record Brings up the Item Properties dialog box. Recording does not start

until you press the Record (round) button. Recording continues until you click the Stop (square) button or as programmed.

Quick Cue Record Bypasses the Item Properties dialog box. Recording does not start

until you press the Record (round) button. Recording continues until you click the Stop (square) button or as programmed.

VTR Record Configures Thunder to record clips from a VTR. It controls the

VTR and cues it to in and out points.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

In all five clip recording modes, Thunder assigns the clip the next consecutive number and places it in the active database.

The control buttons (Stop, Pause, and Record) change to red when active in the MiniMonitor while in Record Mode.

Stop Pause Record

Control Buttons

Button Description

Stop Stops recording of the clip. Thunder then saves the clip to the active

database.

Pause Temporarily stops recording of the clip. When recording is paused, click

on Record to resume or Stop to finish recording.

Record Starts or resumes recording of the clip.

To turn off the recording process, do one of the following:

t Right-click the MiniMonitor and select Playback Mode. t Play a clip to the same channel that you were previously recording to.

Bad Frames

When the combined size of clips and their corresponding keys exceeds Thunder’s bandwidth during recording, Thunder displays a bad frames warning in the MiniMonitor. The number of bad frames is given, but just one bad frame can spoil a clip.

Recording a Clip

Select filtered

To correct the exceeded bandwidth error:

1. Stop recording the clip and delete it.

2. Select Edit > Template or press dialog box.

3. In the Key Type drop-down menu, select Filtered.

4. Click OK to record the clip again.

The Filtered Key reduces bandwidth by removing noise before compression. Since this process might reduce image quality, use this Key only when you get a bad frame count during recording.

Recording a Clip from a VTR

This function is an option on Thunder. Before attempting to use it, be sure the Ingest option is enabled and properly configured. See “File > Preferences > Options” on page 217 for installation and “File > Preferences > Configure VTR” on page 202 for configuration.

to bring up the Record Setup tab of the Template

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

To use VTR Recording:

1. Select the MiniMonitor for the Hardware Channel connected to the VTR.

2. Put the MiniMonitor into Record Mode (right-click, select Record Mode).

3. Right-click on the MiniMonitor again and select VTR Record. The VTR Record dialog box appears.

Recording a Clip

4. In the VTR Record dialog box, Mark In and Mark Out points on the tape, using the playback controls to position the tape. If the incoming video has a key, click in the Key checkbox.

The Properties button brings up the Item Properties dialog box. In most cases you do not need to access it.

5. Click Start to begin the recording. Thunder stops recording at the designated out point and saves the new clip to the

active database.

VTR Record Options

Option Description

Stop Stops recording at the current point in the tape and saves the clip in

Thunder.

Delete Stops recording and deletes the clip from Thunder.

Done Closes the VTR Record dialog box. If you click the Done button

during recording, the record stops at the current point and saves the clip in Thunder.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Creating Subclips

A subclip is a subset of a master clip. A master clip is an original clip recorded or imported into Thunder. The sub-clip function enables you to use parts of a master clip individually or in a sequence as many times as required without having to fill up the hard disk with several copies of the same material.

To create a subclip:

1. Select a clip from the active database.

2. Right-click to display the popup menu.

3. Select Preview. The Preview dialog box appears.

Creating Subclips

4. In the Preview dialog box, click the New Sub-Clip button. Thunder assigns the subclip a number, in this case 0.248.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

5. Use the slider, thumbwheel or VTR controls to view the clip as necessary.

Creating Subclips

6. Set the starting point of the subclip with the slider or type in the values and click the Mark In button.

7. Set the ending point of the subclip with the slider or type in the values and click the Mark Out button.

8. Position the slider or type in a value for the frame you want for a picon and click the Picon button.

9. Click the close window button to close the Preview dialog box. The new subclip is added to the Database. The film icon with an arrow indicates this is a

subclip rather than a master clip.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Inserting a Clip

This command is used to insert a new clip into a database. Select Edit > Insert Clip to display the Clip tab of the Item Properties dialog box.

From this dialog box, the specifics of the clip can be entered prior to the clip being inserted into the database. Thunder does not store the actual video for a given clip. The Clip tab contains the following fields:

Item Properties — Clip Tab

Option Description

Clip Name File name of the clip itself. To generate a new clip, leave this field blank.

In In-point of this clip.

Out Out-point of this clip.

Duration Duration of this clip.

Loop In Point in the clip where looping starts.

Key Item number of the key for this clip.

Master Clip Master clip, if any.

Item Properties — Clip Tab (Continued)

Option Description

Base TC Base timecode used by the clip.

Looping How many times to loop the clip.

Server Thunder workstation this clip resides on.

You can play any portion of the clip between the Mark In and Mark Out points. Any frame of video can be selected from the clip and saved as the picon in the database.

Clips with Keys

If you are recording clips with Keys, you must:

• Enable Key recording on the Input Channel you are using. See “File > Preferences >

Channel Configuration” on page 193.

• Enable Key on the Video tab of the Item Properties / Template dialog box. See

“Template and Item Properties — Video Tab” on page 240.

Clips with Keys

• Select the type of filter on the Record Setup tab of the Item Properties / Template dialog box. See “Template and Item Properties — Record Tab” on page 243.

Thunder cannot generate a real-time proxy when recording clips with keys, but you can set it to automatically create a proxy after recording by selecting the “Automatically Generate Proxy After Record” option. Also, you can manually generate a proxy for any clip by rightclicking on it and selecting “Generate New Proxy” from the menu.

Editing Clips

Editing clips can be done using the following two methods:

• Using the Item Properties Dialog Box

• Using the Preview Dialog Box

Using the Item Properties Dialog Box

To edit a clip:

1. Right-click the clip picon and select Properties from the popup menu. The Item Properties dialog box appears.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

2. Click the Clip tab.

The dialog box provides the following fields for data entry:

Item Properties — Clip Tab

Option Description

Clip Name The file name of the clip. To generate a new clip, leave this field blank.

In The in-point of this clip.

Out The out-point of this clip.

Duration The duration of this clip.

Loop In Point in the clip where looping starts.

Key Item number of the key for this clip.

Master Clip Master clip, if any.

Base TC Base timecode used by the clip.

Looping How many times to loop the clip.

Server The Thunder workstation that this clip resides on.

Using the Preview Dialog Box

To edit an existing clip:

t Right-click the Picon and select Preview from the popup list.

The Preview dialog box opens. A proxy of the clip appears in the window.

Editing Clips

Monitor Window

Mark In/Out buttons

Current position

Clip name

Go To buttons

Timeline scrubber

Playback controls

Thumbwheel Set picon

button

Clip duration

The following are the fields and controls used to edit a clip:

Preview Dialog Box Fields and Controls

Setting Description

Clip Name Name of the clip file to load, delete or create.

Current Position Displays current clip position. Click here to specify a timecode position.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Preview Dialog Box Fields and Controls (Continued)

Setting Description

In/Out/Duration Specifies which portion of the clip to play. Click on these buttons to

Picon Sets the picon image. When the monitor window displays an image

Goto Moves you to the beginning, end or picon set point of the clip.

Audio Channels Thunder records the audio portion of its clips in two stereo pairs. This

Looping How many times to loop the clip.

New Sub-Clip Click on this button to create a subclip based on the clip you

New Still Create a still from the frame displayed in the window.

make changes.

representative of the clip, click this button. The timecode shows the position in the clip from which the image was taken.

allows your to record and play back two different sound tracks, for programs broadcast in two different languages. For the purpose of editing a clip, use the radio buttons to select either stereo pair, in audio channels 1 and 2 or 3 and 4.

are previewing.

Scrubber Moves you forward and backward through the full length of the clip.

Thumbwheel Allows fine-tuned searches, but it is limited to a small area. When you

Playback Controls Allows you to play the clip to verify your settings.

Playing Clips

The following topics describe functions you can perform when playing clips:

• “Clip Playback and Encoding” on page 73

• “Cueing Clips” on page 73

• “Previewing Clips” on page 74

• “Playing in Program Channel” on page 74

• “Directed Play in a Database Window” on page 75

• “Directed Play in a Sequence Window” on page 76

• “Changing a Clip’s Picon” on page 78

• “Playing Clips and Stills Together (Compound Playout)” on page 79

reach the end of the scrub, lift the mouse to continue.

Clip Playback and Encoding

Clip playback and encoding on Thunder systems based on the Corsica hardware is restricted to MPEG-2 MXF (I-frame). Thunder transcodes all clips that are copied between databases or imported. In order to do this properly, Thunder databases must have the proper codec selected when they are created. This is done by selecting MPEG-2 IFRAME from the Codec list box on the Create New Database dialog box. For more information, see “Creating a New

Database” on page 122.

Cueing Clips

To play a clip to the selected output, do one of the following:

t Type the clip file number on the numeric keypad and then press the channel number key

at the top of the keyboard. For example, to play image file 45 to channel 1, type

the keypad, then press

Number keys at the top of the keyboard

on the number keys at the top of the keyboard.

Playing Clips

Number keys on the keypad

t Type the clip file number on the numeric keypad and then press a letter A through D.

For example, to play image file 45 to channel 1, type

t Use the directed play features of the numeric keypad. This is where specific keys are is

used to trigger specific play events.The / (slash) keys plays to Program, the * (asterisk) key plays to Preview, and the + (plus) key plays to the Cue window.

t Click+drag a picon to the MiniMonitor to play the clip. t Click+drag a clip from one MiniMonitor to another.

If your Thunder has the Security Administrator option, you could have access to play clips in other workspaces. If your Thunder has the ODBC option, you could have access to play clips in other databases.

on the keypad, then press A.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Previewing Clips

Preview a clip only when you need to see the clip on one channel before it goes out on another channel. Set the Program (red) and Preview (yellow) controls to a different channel before you begin playout.

To play a clip to the Preview (yellow) channel, do one of the following:

t Double-click on the picon. t Right-click the picon and select Play.

t Enter the desired clip’s number on the numeric keypad, press

Spacebar

Enter

, and press

t If you have a middle mouse button, click the picon with the middle mouse button.

You can play a clip on one channel while recording clips on another.

To play while recording a clip:

1. Select an unused MiniMonitor.

2. Drag the clip in the Preview (yellow) channel or the Cue Window.

3. Press

(Take key) or click on the Take icon to move the clip to the Program channel.

Playing in Program Channel

To play, pause, or re-cue a clip in the Program Channel, you can use the “<”, “>”, and “/” keys at the bottom right of the keyboard. You do not need to hold down the Shift key when using these keys.

Directed Play in a Database Window

The following table explains ways to play a clip in the Database window.

To do this: Steps Result

Playing Clips

Play an image file to the Preview channel or Cue window.

Play an image file to a specific channel. Program, Preview and Live controls set to one MiniMonitor (recommended).

Play an image file to a specific channel. Program, Preview and Live controls set to different MiniMonitors (not recommended).

Go to an image file 1. Type the image file’s number.

Cue a file to a specific channel 1. Type the file’s number.

1. Type the image file’s number.

2. Press

1. Type the image file’s number.

2. Do one of the following:

t Press the channel’s number. t Type the image file’s number.

3. Press

1. Type the image file’s number.

2. Do one of the following:

t Press the channel’s number. t Type the image file’s number. t Press t Press t Press

2. Press

Space

(plus)

(forward slash).

(asterisk).

(plus).

Enter

Shift

and the desired

channel number.

The image file is played to the Preview channel.

Image file plays to specified channel.

Plays to Cue on active channel.

Image file plays to specified channel.

Plays to

• Program channel.

• Preview channel.

• Live channel.

The selection cursor moves to the requested image file.

File cued on specified channel.

Cue a file to a specific channel and show the first frame

Use the keys on the numeric keypad to select the image file; use the numbers across the top of the keyboard to specify the channel. For example, to play image file 45 to Channel 3, press 4, then 5 on the numeric keypad, then press the number 3 key on top of the keyboard. (The letters A through D also work to select channels 1 through 4.)

1. Type the file’s number.

Ctrl

2. Press number.

and the channel

File cued on specified channel with first frame visible.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Directed Play in a Sequence Window

The following table explains ways to play a sequence in the Database window.

To do this: Steps Result

Insert an image file into a sequence. 1. Type the image file’s number.

Play an sequence event. Program, Preview and Live controls set to one MiniMonitor (recommended).

Play an sequence event. Program, Preview and Live controls set to different MiniMonitors (not recommended).

2. Press the

1. Type the image file’s number.

2. Press

1. Type the image file’s number.

2. Do one of the following:

t Press t Press t Press

Insert

(plus) Plays to Cue on active channel.

(forward slash).

(asterisk).

(plus).

key.

Go to a sequence event. 1. Type the event number.

Enter

2. Press

Use the / * + keys on the numeric keypad. See the following illustration.

The image file is inserted into the sequence immediately after the currently selected sequence event.

Plays to:

• Program channel.

• Preview channel.

• Live channel.

The selection cursor moves to the requested sequence event.

Play A: program channel

Play B: preview channel

Play D: cue on active channel

Clip Picons

Clips are identified within the database by a picon with a green film icon, located in the upper right corner. When a red icon appears on a clip picon, it indicates that one or more of the following must be corrected in order for the clip to play:

• The Thunder or other clip server where this clip resides is unknown or improperly selected. See “File > Preferences > Configure Clip Servers” on page 207.

• The clip has invalid In and Out points. See “Editing Clips” on page 69.

The MiniMonitor display turns brown when Thunder begins recording and orange when it begins playing back.

Playing Clips

Green icon Red icon

The MiniMonitor displays the delay time you specified and turns brown. Thunder begins recording.

After the delay period has passed, the MiniMonitor turns orange. Thunder begins playback.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Changing a Clip’s Picon

A clip's picon image is taken from the first, middle or last frame of the clip, or it is completely black, depending on the Default Picon setting.

To change the picon image:

1. Right-click on the picon and select Preview, or press F3. The Preview dialog box appears.

2. Move the timeline slider to until the picture field shows a frame you want to represent this clip.

3. Click the Picon button to set the image.

picture field

Set picon button

Timeline scrubber

Playing Clips

The clip now has a new picon image and is ready to play. This clip also has a key, as shown by the key icon in the upper left corner.

key icon

When a clip is a subclip of another master clip, it displays the subclip icon (arrow within the film icon) in the upper right corner.

subclip icon

Playing Clips and Stills Together (Compound Playout)

Thunder enables you to associate a clip with a still. Once this association is made, every time that still is played, the associated clip plays with it, whether it be within a sequence, through drag and drop from the database up to a MiniMonitor, or directly via direct number recall. Compound Playout allows for many different stills to have the same background clip without creating unique clips of each, saving creation time and storage space. It also provides the ability to quickly and easily change background clips.

Because of the way the hardware is being utilized, Compound Playout does not work on a channel if the bug layer of that channel is being used, or if you use a transition other than Cut or Dissolve. You can not use a Wipe transition to bring a compound item on or off. Compound Playout can use layouts.

Compound Playout only works on Master Clips.

The following topics provide more information on playing clips and stills together:

• “Associating a Clip with a Still” on page 80

• “Changing or Removing a Compound Clip Association” on page 81

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Associating a Clip with a Still

To associate a clip with a still:

1. Determine which clip and still you want to play together.

2. Select a still (with key) that you want to play with a clip.

If you want to associate a clip with multiple stills, you can select all of the desired stills at once using any of the multi-select options (Ctrl+click, Shift+click, drag rubber band).

Still with key

3. Right-click on the still and select Properties from the menu. The Items Properties dialog box opens for that still.

4. Select the Clip tab.

Type the number of the master clip you want to associate with the still here

5. In the Master Clip field of the metadata, type the clip number for the clip that you want to play each time that this still is played.

6. Click OK.

7. Load the still. You should see a yellow picon with a “C” in the lower right hand corner, indicating that there is an associated clip for this still.

Compound clip picon

The mark in and mark out information for the clip should be retained.

Changing or Removing a Compound Clip Association

Thunder enables you to change or remove the associated clip from the still.

To change or remove the associated clip from the still:

1. Right-click on the still and select Properties from the menu. The Items Properties dialog box opens for that still.

2. Select the Clip tab.

Playing Clips

3. In the Masterclip field of the metadata, change or remove the clip number for the associated clip.

4. Click OK.

5. Load the still. If you:

- Removed the clip number, the yellow “C” picon no longer appears on the still.

- Changed the clip number, the yellow “C” picon remains in the lower right hand

corner of the still, indicating that there is an associated clip for the still.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Playing Clips in a Sequence

There are two methods of sequence play. Once a sequence window is active, you can make play mode selections from the Air Menu, or the sequence play buttons in the Sequence window.

Sequence play buttons

A clip, when it is part of a sequence, is referred to as an event. There are three basic methods for inserting clips into a sequence.

To insert clips into a sequence, do one of the following:

t Drag their picons from the Database window to the Sequence window. t Copy their picons to the Clipboard and paste them into the sequence. t Type their number and press Insert on the keyboard.

Dragging is faster, but copying allows you to paste a group of picons into the sequence more than once without having to return to the Database window to reselect them. The clips will be placed into the sequence window in the order that you selected them. You can repeat this action as many times as you want.

The following topics provide more information about playing clips in a sequence:

• “Selecting Multiple Clips” on page 83

• “Adding Clips into the Middle of a Sequence” on page 83

• “Adding Clips to the End of a Sequence” on page 83

• “Sequence Play” on page 84

Selecting Multiple Clips

To select multiple clips or image files:

1. Ctrl+click on their individual picons or click and drag over multiple picons.

2. Drag the selected picons into the Sequence window.

Adding Clips into the Middle of a Sequence

To add clips or image files to the middle of a sequence, select their picons in the database window and drag them to the sequence window. Release the mouse over the event that you want to immediately precede the ones you are adding. Alternatively, left-click on an event to select it, then perform a copy-and-paste as detailed above. The new events are inserted into the sequence after the event you selected.

Adding Clips to the End of a Sequence

To add clips or image files at the end of a sequence:

1. Select their picons in the Database window.

2. Drag the picons to the Sequence window.

Playing Clips in a Sequence

The sequence is created as a standard Program/Preview list, and all image files first play to the Cue window, then are transferred to the selected Channel.

To play the sequence, do one of the following:

t Press t Click the red monitor icon in the Sequence toolbar. t Send a Take command from your ShotBox.

spacebar

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Sequence Play

Sequence play can be controlled by one of two methods. Once a sequence window is active, you might make play mode selections from the Air Menu.

Sequence Play Menu

Command Description

Play Forward Plays the sequence forward.

Loop Forward Loops the sequence forward.

Play Backward Plays the sequence backward.

Loop Backward Loops the sequence backward.

Stop Stops the sequence.

Preview Event Causes an event with inhibited preview to play to the Preview channel.

Play Event Plays the currently selected sequence event.

Once a sequence window is active, make play mode selections in the Sequence Toolbar.

Playing Clips in a Sequence

Remember these rules when you create sequences with clips:

• Do not change Duration (event duration), as it might cause your clips to play abnormally. But you can have pauses between clips.

• If you changed Duration and want to change it back, enter the clip’s original duration in the Duration column. To find the original duration, right-click on the clip’s picon and select Properties from the popup menu to bring up the Item Properties dialog box. Click the Clip tab where the clip’s original duration is listed.

The color of the Current Event box provides information about which outputs will be altered by the event. A purple box appears in the example above.

Current Event Color Information

Color Description

Red This is an A-Play event which plays directly to Program without

being previewed.

Pink This event is preview inhibited.

Yellow This is a B-Play event which plays directly to Preview.

Green This is a C-Play event which plays directly to Live.

Orange This is a normal transition event which previews and then

transitions to program.

Magenta This is a normal transition event that will not be previewed

Enter

(because preview is inhibited). Press

to force a preview.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Item Properties

When you use Record, the Item Properties dialog box displays before recording begins. Quick Record uses the settings in the Template, so you do not see Item Properties.

To access Item Properties for a specific clip:

t Right-click on the item and select Properties.

The Item Properties dialog box appears with the General tab displayed.

Item Properties

Information from the template is automatically entered into the Item Properties of individual image files as they are quick saved. During a regular save, the Item Properties dialog box appears, giving you an opportunity to make changes.

For more information on the Item Properties dialog box see:

• “Template and Item Properties — General Tab” on page 236

• “Template and Item Properties — Security Tab” on page 238

• “Template and Item Properties — Video Tab” on page 240

• “Template and Item Properties — Clip Tab” on page 242

• “Template and Item Properties — Record Tab” on page 243

• “Template and Item Properties — Sequence Tab” on page 246

• “Item and Template Properties — Sequence Details Tab” on page 248

To perform database searches:

t Select View > Workspace Search. For more information, see “Workspace Search” on

page 137.

Chapter 3 Working with Clips

Chapter 4

Working with Stills

This chapter describes the functions you can do when working with still images. The following sections are included:

• Capturing Stills With the Air Toolbar

• Using the Air Menu

• Playing Bugs

• Playing Stills

• Item Properties Dialog Box for Still Images

• Adding Titles to Stills with PostDeko

Capturing Stills With the Air Toolbar

The Air toolbar contains the following buttons and are used as shortcuts to many of the tasks in the Air menu.

The Air toolbar can be used to capture and store still image files.

To capture and store images using the Air toolbar:

1. Select the channel you want to use.

2. Make the channel live (green).

F10

3. Click the Freeze button or press

to freeze the channel.

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

4. Click Save or Quick Save to store the result to the database.

You can perform the following actions using the buttons on the Air toolbar. Some actions are also controlled by the function (“F”) keys. The action of capturing still images uses the Live (green) channel of Thunder only.

Perform a Take. (F12)

Freeze or unfreeze the Live channel. (F10)

Apply the Filter. The filter modifies the image in the Live channel by removing interfield flicker or motion. (F11)

Quick Save an image file to the active database window using the template for the database information. (F8)

Save an image file to the active database window while entering database information. (Shift+F8)

Lock the Channel assignments to their current settings.

Link the Channel assignments so they move together from one MiniMonitor to another.

Using the Air Menu

To use the Air menu (or its shortcut keys) to capture and store still image files:

1. Select the channel you want.

2. Make the channel live by deselecting Air > Freeze in the Air menu (or press check mark disappears and live video appears as the Live channel’s output.

3. Select the required input in the control section of the MiniMonitor window. The video input is displayed on the output of the Live channel.

F10

). The

Using the Air Menu

4. Reselect Freeze by selecting Air > Freeze (or press

F10

) to capture the image.

5. When frozen, the image might exhibit jitter due to motion between the fields. Correct

F11

this jitter by selecting Air > Filter (or press

6. Select Air > Save Still (or press

Shift+F8

) to save the image into the database.

The Item Properties dialog box appears.

7. Fill in the information under the General, Security and Video tabs. The date field automatically is filled in by the system when you are finished. The

General tab defines the text data associated with the clip or image file.

8. Use the Security tab to set Read and Write permissions for the image file or mark it as read-only. The Owner field is automatically filled in with your user name.

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

9. Select how you want video to be stored with the still. Options are Key, Shaped, and 16X9.

10. The check boxes indicate whether the still has a key signal, is shaped, or is a 16x9 format.

11. (Option) If you want to associate this still with a clip so that the clip plays every time the still does, click the Clip tab, and type the number of the master clip in the Master Clip field. For more information, see “Playing Clips and Stills Together (Compound

Playout)” on page 79.

12. Click OK to complete the storage of the image file.

13. If you are capturing a batch of image files, record and save an image and then proceed to

use the Air > Quick Save Still (or press

The Quick Save Still command uses the data from the template in the Properties tabs, while changing the image file number to the next one. Quick Save Still saves time and effort.

) instead of Save Still.

Playing Bugs

Bugs are a special type of still or clip commonly used to display a small logo on a lower corner of the viewer’s screen.

To add and play a still bug:

1. Create the bug in applications such as Adobe Photoshop or Avid Deko®.

2. Import the image file into the Thunder database you are using. A key is required with the image, since you want the background to be visible around the image.

3. Click on its picon in the Database window and drag it to the bug window under the MiniMonitor.

Playing Bugs

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

4. Click on the edge of the yellow slider to adjust the opacity (transparency). The percentage displays as you move the slider. The bug’s database number returns automatically.

Adjust the opacity

The bug appears on your video monitor. You can use bugs in conjunction with layouts. Bugs work equally well with sequences. Take time to experiment with several combinations until you find one that suites your needs.

Newly added bug

The following topics contain more information on playing bugs:

• “Using Animated Logos” on page 95.

• “Unloading Bug Layers” on page 96.

Using Animated Logos

You can convert an existing clip into a moving bug, or what is referred to as an animated logo.

To convert an existing clip into a moving bug:

1. Right-click the clip and select Create Bug Clip from the menu. The Create Bug Clip dialog box opens.

Playing Bugs

You can apply a pre-defined layout to the clip or create a new one. If you create a new layout, you can choose between making a standard hardware layout or one based on software.

2. Click Create Bug to create the new bug clip. You can identify a bug in a database or sequence by the small yellow icon in its lower right corner.

Bug clips play in parallel with the regular video clips in a sequence.

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

Unloading Bug Layers

You can remove a cel animation or still from the bug layer of a channel.

To remove a still or cel animation from the bug layer of a channel:

t Right-click on the MiniMonitor on the channel that has the cel animation or still

playing, and select Unload Bug from the menu. The bug layer for that channel will be emptied.

Playing Stills

When playing stills, you have the following two options:

• Cueing a Still

• Previewing a Still

Cueing a Still

To play a still to the output you select, do one of the following:

t Type the desired still image file number on the numeric keypad, then press the channel

number key at the top of the keyboard, or use the letters A through D. For example, to play image file 45 to channel 1, type 45 on the keypad, then press the 1 on the number keys of the keyboard, or the letter A.

Number keys on the keypad

Number keys at the top of the keyboard

t Use the directed play features of the numeric keypad. This is where specific keys are is

used to trigger specific play events.The slash (/) keys plays to Program, the asterisk (*) key plays to Preview, and the plus (+) key plays to the Cue window.

Playing Stills

t Position the mouse pointer on a picon, then click and drag the mouse pointer to a

MiniMonitor. Once inside the MiniMonitor, release the mouse button to play the still.

t Click and drag a still from one MiniMonitor to another.

If your Thunder has the Security Administrator option, you can have access to play stills in other workspaces. If your Thunder has the ODBC option, you can have access to play stills in other databases.

Previewing a Still

Preview a still on a channel before it goes out on another channel only when you need to check the still.

Set the Program (red) and Preview (yellow) controls to a different channel before you begin playout.

To play a still to the Preview (yellow) channel, do one of the following:

t Double-click on a picon. t Right-click on a picon and select Play from the menu. t Enter the still number using the numeric keypad and press t (Three button mouse) Click the picon using the middle mouse button. t Place the clip in the Preview (yellow) channel or the Cue Window then press the Take

key (or press

Enter

, then press

F12

) or click on the Take icon to move the still to the Program channel.

Spacebar

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

Item Properties Dialog Box for Still Images

The multi-purpose Item Properties dialog box is displayed when using Save to record the image file in the Live channel. You can also access it by right-clicking on an image file and selecting Properties.

The Item Properties dialog box appears with the General tab displayed.

Adding Titles to Stills with PostDeko

For more information on the Item Properties dialog box, see “Template and Item Properties

— General Tab” on page 236.

Adding Titles to Stills with PostDeko

With the included PostDeko software, you can add titles to your still image files. When you save these files in PostDeko, an updated Thunder (.g) file is created along with the corresponding Deko title (.dko) file.

The following topics contain more information on adding titles to stills with PostDeko:

• “Accessing PostDeko” on page 99

• “Saving an Image File and Title in PostDeko” on page 100

• “Closing a File in PostDeko” on page 100

• “Editing a Title in PostDeko” on page 101

• “Exporting a Title File” on page 101

For more information on using PostDeko, see the Avid Deko Products User’s Guide.

Accessing PostDeko

To access PostDeko:

1. Select the image file you want.

2. Right-click on the image and select Open with PostDeko. The PostDeko application launches, with the selected image file appearing in the

PostDeko application window.

Chapter 4 Working with Stills

A .dko file is created that contains the title information for each image file that has been modified. Since it’s a separate file, you can reopen and edit it using any stand-alone Deko product. You cannot open the .dko file in Thunder.

Saving an Image File and Title in PostDeko

To save an image file and title in PostDeko:

t Select File > Save.

When you save an image file from Deko, it saves an updated Thunder (.g) file and a corresponding title (.dko) file created for it. The title appears with the image file when it plays in Thunder.

Closing a File in PostDeko

To close the graphic without saving your changes:

t Click the close button on the Graphic Window (showing the selected still and your

added title). The graphic closes and any changes to the title are lost.

100

Pinnacle Systems Thunder - 7.1 User’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

Accessing the Online Library

How to Order Documentation

Avid Training Services

Fundamentals

Starting Thunder

Using Thunder Hybrid Systems

Opening a Database

User Interface

Network Tree

Browse Window

Picons

Selecting Picons

Picon Sizes

Copy and Replace Still Picons

Show Picture

Clip Numbers

MiniMonitor Window

Hardware Channels

Software Channels

Function Controls

Preview Dialog Box

Dockable Items

Selecting Images

Workspaces

Copying Clips, Stills, and Sequences

Copying Clips and Stills Between Sequences

Status Bar

Background Tasks

Numeric Keypad

File Management

Copying Clips and Stills

Deleting Clips and Stills

Importing Clips and Stills

Importing Images into the Thunder Database

Import/Export Options

Dragging and Dropping an Image into the Thunder Database

Copying an Image to the Clipboard and then to the Thunder Database

Overwriting Items

Default Database

Modifying Image File Data

Renumbering Clips and Stills

Working with Clips

Recording a Clip

Clip Recording Methods

Bad Frames

Recording a Clip from a VTR

Creating Subclips

Inserting a Clip

Clips with Keys

Editing Clips

Using the Item Properties Dialog Box

Using the Preview Dialog Box

Playing Clips

Clip Playback and Encoding

Cueing Clips

Previewing Clips

Playing in Program Channel

Directed Play in a Database Window

Directed Play in a Sequence Window

Clip Picons

Changing a Clip’s Picon

Playing Clips and Stills Together (Compound Playout)

Associating a Clip with a Still

Changing or Removing a Compound Clip Association

Playing Clips in a Sequence

Selecting Multiple Clips

Adding Clips into the Middle of a Sequence

Adding Clips to the End of a Sequence

Sequence Play

Item Properties

Working with Stills

Capturing Stills With the Air Toolbar