EVS GX, User Manual

Page 1: ...USER MANUAL Version 1 10 ...

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Page 3: ...is publication Improvement Requests Your comments will help us improve the quality of the user documentation Do not hesitate to send improvement requests or report any error or inaccuracy on this user manual by e mail to doc evs tv Regional Contacts The address and phone number of the EVS headquarters can be found by clicking the icon in the user interface You will find the full list of addresses ...

Page 4: ...Issue 1 10 D GX server Version 1 10 User Manual EVS Broadcast Equipment September 2012 II ...

Page 5: ...tandards 11 2 3 4 Controller 11 2 4 Client Control PC 12 3 GX SERVER SETUP 13 3 1 Chapter Overview 13 3 2 Cabling 13 3 3 Installation 15 3 3 1 GX Server Installation and Ghost Restore 15 3 3 2 Switching on versus Starting the Server 15 3 4 Gigabit Port Configuration 15 3 4 1 Uses 15 3 4 2 Constraints 16 3 4 3 Typical Configurations 16 4 GX WEB INTERFACE 18 4 1 Chapter Overview 18 4 2 Server Config...

Page 6: ...ace 39 5 3 6 Raw Materials Tab 40 5 3 7 Fields in the Raw Materials Tab 40 5 3 8 Deleting a Material from the Raw Materials Drive 41 5 4 Managing GX Clips 43 5 4 1 GX Clips Tab 43 5 4 2 Fields in the GX Clips Tab 43 5 4 3 Switching GX Clips Online or Offline 45 5 4 4 Deleting GX Clips 46 5 5 Preparing GX Clips for Playout 48 5 5 1 Edit GX Clip Window 48 5 5 2 Editing GX Clips Parameters 49 5 5 3 G...

Page 7: ... in the table below and are identified in the user manual by the New logo in the margin Updates for GX Server Version 1 10 Section 2 3 1 New video input format supported combined fill key videos encoded by the Apple Animation codec named with the MOV extension Support of compressed video files supported by EVS servers Section 4 3 2 Import raw materials from an EVS server ...

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Page 9: ...n external control device through a standard protocol like VDCP and be played back under the control of these protocols on 2 SDI outputs key and fill The GX server allows the synchronized playout of uncompressed fill and key GX files and embedded audio The server is able to handle separate video nested loops with user defined loop points 1 1 2 General Architecture and Workflow Schema The following...

Page 10: ...thernet connection 3 Users associate the original files define synchronization parameters and upload them switch them online as GX clips onto the GX Clips drive Solid State Disk drive The files are then ready for playout 4 When users start the GX server from the web interface the GX clips that correspond to the requested video standard are published to the switcher The operator can then select the...

Page 11: ...hat about Section Page Hardware Specifications 2 2 1 Page 4 Chassis 2 2 2 Page 4 Front Panel 2 2 3 Page 6 Rear Panel 2 2 4 Page 7 Safety Compliance and Operating Conditions 2 2 5 Page 8 Input Video Sequences Page 10 Input Audio Sequences Page 10 GX Clips 2 3 2 Page 10 Supported Video Standards 2 3 3 Page 11 Controller 2 3 4 Page 11 ...

Page 12: ...owing table gives an overview on the hardware specifications of the GX server Component Specification CPU Core i7 RAM 3 GB Hard disk drive Raw Materials drive 400 GB SATA Solid state drive GX Clips drive 2 x 128 GB SSD Playout board PCX3 2 2 2 Chassis The following picture shows the 1U GX server The schemas below provide full information on dimensions ...

Page 13: ...GX server Version 1 10 User Manual EVS Broadcast Equipment September 2012 Issue 1 10 D 5 ...

Page 14: ...mber 2012 6 2 2 3 Front Panel The front panel features the elements displayed in the picture and specified in the table below Description 1 DVD Player 2 Power indicator green PWR light 3 Server activity indicator orange PWR light 4 eSata connector 5 Power switch 6 USB connector ...

Page 15: ...e table below Description Description 1 Power supplies 9 Gigabit Ethernet connectors 2 Mouse connector 10 Fill BNC connector 3 Keyboard connector 11 Key BNC connector 4 n a 12 n a 5 USB connector 13 n a 6 RS422 connector 14 Genlock connector 7 n a 15 n a 8 VGA connector 16 n a Note The two connectors labeled IN1 and IN2 on the right of the Fill and Key connectors are not currently used ...

Page 16: ...eir conformity Power Supply This equipment is equipped with AUTOSWITCH and hot swappable power supply Connection to supply Pluggable equipment Type A EN60950 1 2 5 Equipment which is intended for connection to the building power supply wiring via a non industrial plug and socket outlet or a non industrial appliance coupler or both Correct mains polarity must always be observed Do not use reversibl...

Page 17: ...on condensing Hot Swappable Power Supplies Both power supplies are hot swappable The second power supply should be connected to mains to allow automatic power switching to the second power supply in the event that the first one fails Grounding Ensure the disk recorder unit is properly grounded at all times to avoid electrical shock hazard Ventilation Rack Mounting Adequate ventilation is obviously...

Page 18: ...les Uncompressed TIFF files or LZW compressed TIFF files are supported Combined fill key videos encoded in Apple Animation codec and wrapped in MOV files Video sequences of either fill or key encoded in one of the following format o Apple ProRes o AVC Intra Class 100 o Avid DNxHD o DVCPro 50 HD o IMX o MJPEG SD HD Input Audio Sequences The supported input audio files are stereo WAV files of 16 bit...

Page 19: ...76 2 1080i60 DF or NDF 1080i60 29 97 fr s 59 94 fl s 1920 x 1080 3 1080i50 1080i50 25 fr s 50 fl s 1920 x 1080 4 720p60 DF or NDF 720p60 59 94 fr s 59 94 fl s 1280 x 720 5 720p50 720p50 50 fr s 50 fl s 1280 x 720 Important Only online clips having the video standard selected in the configuration are visible from the control device In other words if the GX is configured in 720p59 94 you will not se...

Page 20: ...sers are requested to install it when they launch the GX web interface for the first time The system requirements for Microsoft Silverlight are the following on Windows or Mac operating systems Windows Operating System Windows 7 Windows Vista Windows XP Service Pack 2 Intel Pentium III 450MHz or faster processor or equivalent 128MB of RAM Mac OS Operating System Apple Mac OS X 10 4 8 or above Inte...

Page 21: ...uences and audio files and to create the GX clips on the server from the client PC Operators to control the playout via the switcher Important The GX server is connected to the protocol clients through the RS422 port Once the GX clips are ready for playout the GX server however needs to be manually started from the GX web interface for the communication between the GX server and the protocol clien...

Page 22: ...S422 port on the GX server 3 Connect one or both of the GigE ports of the GX server to the local area network This will allow users to connect remotely to the GX server via the GX web interface See section Gigabit Port Configuration on page 15 4 Connect the KEY and FILL connectors to the video equipment that will perform the keying of the GX outputs 5 Connect the Genlock feed to the GLK connector ...

Page 23: ...to start it to allow external controllers to connect to the GX server and to access the GX clips for playout For more information refer to the section 4 2 5 Starting the GX Server on page 23 Before you can start the server you need to make sure that The server is properly configured for the external controllers to access the GX clips The GX clips have been created on the GX server and are online r...

Page 24: ...The IP addresses of the EVS servers GigE port to be used for video transfer are transferred as the GX server discovers the EVS servers The GigE port of the GX server used for video transfer must be on the same subnet as the GigE IP addresses of the EVS servers 3 4 3 Typical Configurations Taking the constraints into account many configurations are possible but the following ones are the most typic...

Page 25: ...iguration both GigE ports are used and the PC LAN and GigE IP address of the EVS servers are on different subnets Port 1 of the GX server is used for the remote connection to the GX server and for the server discovery through the PC LAN of the EVS servers Port 2 of the GX server is used for the transfer of video material through the GigE ports of the EVS servers ...

Page 26: ... start the GX server This chapter gives an overview on the user interface of the web application and on the general workflow you will follow It contains the following sections What about Section Page Accessing the GX Server from a Remote PC 4 2 1 Page 19 Server Control Window 4 2 2 Page 19 Server Settings 4 2 3 Page 20 Server Status Information 4 2 4 Page 21 Starting the GX Server 4 2 5 Page 23 Im...

Page 27: ... PC whose GigE connection is set up to communicate with the GX server When you access the GX web interface the following main window is displayed 4 2 2 Server Control Window You can configure and start the GX server from the Server Control window In the top right corner of the main window the Server Control button gives you access to the Server Control window where you can do the following Start t...

Page 28: ...T Network Discovery port GigE port of the GX server through which the GX server will discover the EVS servers This port must be on the same subnet as the PC LAN port of the EVS server Video Standard Video standard the GX server can run in See also section 2 3 3 Supported Video Standards on page 11 Any change in the standard is immediately reflected on the output and status screen When the GX serve...

Page 29: ...DCP protocol to be used in communications between the server and the controller Available versions are 2000 1998 This field will not be displayed when a protocol other than the VDCP protocol is selected in the Protocol field Genlock Phase Phase of the genlock input on the GX server video board Enable OSD Tick the check box to activate the OSD status screen on the SDI output of the GX server Advanc...

Page 30: ...e Settings area Genlock status Quality of the genlock signal The messages on the genlock quality can be the following Valid Good genlock Bad no signal No genlock signal detected Bad mismatch Genlock signal detected but not in the correct format If the genlock quality is bad the genlock information is displayed in red Otherwise this is in green Running process Activity status on the GX server The s...

Page 31: ...nges from to To stop the GX server click on I The icon changes from to Principles About Starting the Server Once the GX server is switched on users can connect to and work on the server via the web interface The following principles apply with a GX server The GX server is not automatically started when it is switched on Users need to start the GX server manually via the Start Server button in the ...

Page 32: ...12 24 4 3 Overview of Main Window 4 3 1 Introduction The main window in the user interface contains two main areas briefly described below 1 3 4 2 4 Zone Name See also 1 Import area Section 4 3 2 2 Manage area Section 4 3 3 3 Server control button Sections 4 3 4 4 2 2 4 Resize controls ...

Page 33: ... drive In this area you actually tag the media and create an entry for it in the GX server database Overview The Import area includes the zones shown in the following schema and described in the table below 1 2 3 Zone Name Description See also 1 Tree structure Tree structure of the mapped EVS servers and drives available on the GX server Section 5 2 2 Source Material list List of the source files ...

Page 34: ...uploaded onto the GX Clips drive Raw Materials Tab The Raw Materials tab provides a list of the video sequences and audio files available on the Raw Materials drive From there you can manage the original materials The Raw Materials tab includes the zones shown in the following schema and described in the table below 1 3 2 4 5 Zone Name Description See also 1 Drive Capacity information Information ...

Page 35: ... the GX Clips The GX Clips tab includes the zones shown in the following schema and described in the table below 1 3 2 4 5 Zone Name Description See also 1 Drive Capacity information Information on the space used and available capacity on the Raw Materials and GX Clips drives 2 GX Clips list List of all GX Clips available on the GX Clips drive regardless of the server settings defined Section 5 4 ...

Page 36: ...d information on this area in the section 4 2 2 Server Control Window on page 19 4 3 5 Rules for Row Selection The following rules apply for the selection of rows corresponding to source files or clips in the Import area raw materials in the Raw Materials tab or GX clips in the GX Clips tab To select an individual row tick the check box in front of the row To select all rows tick the check box at ...

Page 37: ... 5 3 4 Page 38 Display of Imported Elements on the User Interface 5 3 5 Page 39 Raw Materials Tab 5 3 6 Page 40 Fields in the Raw Materials Tab 5 3 7 Page 40 GX Clips Tab 5 4 1 Page 43 Fields in the GX Clips Tab 5 4 2 Page 43 Edit GX Clip Window 5 5 1 Page 48 General Principles about TC Fields on the GX Server 5 5 3 Page 52 General Settings in the Edit GX Clips Window 5 5 4 Page 53 Video Settings ...

Page 38: ...n Page How to Connect and Disconnect a Network Drive 5 2 3 Page 32 How to Import Files on the GX Server 5 3 3 Page 38 Deleting a Material from the Raw Materials Drive 5 3 8 Page 41 Switching GX Clips Online or Offline 5 4 3 Page 45 Deleting GX Clips 5 4 4 Page 46 Editing GX Clips Parameters 5 5 2 Page 49 ...

Page 39: ...ront of this location To view the source material available in a given location click the location name The supported source files or clips included in the location selected will be displayed on the right hand box in the Import area 5 2 2 Automatic or Manual Display The removable drives connected to the GX server USB eSata and the DVD drive are automatically displayed in the tree structure The dri...

Page 40: ...d drive window opens 3 Type the full path to the folder to be mapped in the Network Path field using the following pattern ComputerName FolderName 4 Select a drive letter to be associated to this mapped drive 5 Type an existing Windows user name to access the given machine in the User field using one of the following patterns o Domain Username or username domain when the target computer and userna...

Page 41: ...rver onto the GX server proceed as follows 1 Click the symbol at the top of the tree structure A list opens Note If you want to close the list without taking any action click the symbol again 2 Click the Add XT server item The Connect to XT window opens 3 Type the PC LAN IP address of the EVS server to be mapped in the XT IP Address PC LAN field 4 The User and Password fields are correctly pre fil...

Page 42: ... If you want to close the list without taking any action click the symbol again 2 Click the Discover XT server item The Discover XT window opens On the left side a list of EVS servers found on the network is populated On the right side the list containing the EVS servers to be mapped is empty 3 Select one or several EVS servers in the list on the left and click the button between the two areas The...

Page 43: ... tree structure are displayed in the Source Material list on the right hand of the Import area This list allows you to select the files or clips that you will import using the Direct Online or the Import button For more information on importing files refer to the section 5 3 3 How to Import Files on the GX Server on page 38 When a source file has already been imported onto the GX server the corres...

Page 44: ...ile sequence The audio files available in the drop down field are Audio files already copied to the Raw Materials drive Audio files selected to be copied to the Raw Materials drive Progress Progress bar to show the progress of the copy to the Raw Materials drive The progress bar displays The percentage of the file that has already been copied during the import process Completed once the import pro...

Page 45: ...g displayed in this list Only the fill or key clips relevant for this clip are displayed same duration complementary type Type Set the type you want to assign to the clip The values can be Fill Key or None If there is audio information the icon is displayed ID Louth Unique identifier for the clip on the XNet network Video Standard Video standard used in the clip Select the video standard variant y...

Page 46: ... check box in the list o To select individual items tick the check box in front of each item you want to import 4 Import the selected items in one of the following ways o Click the Import button to import the files or clips solely to the Raw Materials drive o Click the Direct Online button to import the files or clips to the Raw Materials drive and to the GX Clips drive with predefined settings de...

Page 47: ...s Parameters on page 49 5 3 5 Display of Imported Elements on the User Interface Raw Materials Tab Both import methods have the following impact on the Raw Materials tab A new row is added on the Raw Materials tab for each newly imported video or audio element For more details see also the section 5 3 6 Raw Materials Tab on page 40 The progress bar in a row displays the status Completed after the ...

Page 48: ...ls drive If an audio file is associated with several Fill Key files the audio file will be imported once and will appear once in the Raw Materials tab 5 3 7 Fields in the Raw Materials Tab The Raw Materials tab provides the following information on the material available on the Raw Materials drive The field values are not editable Field Name Description Values Name Name of the material clip audio ...

Page 49: ...t been imported last Error when there has been an error in the import process The tooltip provides information on the given error Action Displays icons corresponding to possible actions on the raw material preview the raw material 5 3 8 Deleting a Material from the Raw Materials Drive Important You should always delete the materials stored on the Raw Materials drive from the GX web interface never...

Page 50: ...o the other selected files or clips tick the check box Apply to X selected items Results Deleting Video Raw Material Only Deleting only the video raw material corresponding to an online GX clip will however impact the GX clip in the following way If the GX clip is offline it is automatically deleted If the GX clip is online it remains available as long as it is online but will be deleted as soon a...

Page 51: ...tab provides the following information on the material available on the GX Clips drive The field values are not editable You can edit the GX clip parameters in the Edit GX Clips window For more information refer to the section 5 5 2 Editing GX Clips Parameters on page 49 Field Name Description Values ID8 8 character ID presented to a VDCP client when it obtains a list of GX clips It is generated b...

Page 52: ...ressed in HH MM SS ff Size Size of the GX clip on the GX Clips drive The value is expressed in MB or GB When the GX clip is not uploaded onto the GX Clips drive the value is 0 MB Online Progress Progress bar to show the progress of the upload to the GX Clips drive The progress bar displays Which percentage of the file has already been copied during the upload process Completed once the upload is f...

Page 53: ...lips are defined in the GX server database but not yet uploaded on the GX Clips drive When GX clips are offline they are fully editable and can be edited in the Edit GX Clips window See also section 5 5 When the clips are ready for playout you need to upload them to the GX Clips drive this is the process of putting the GX clips online Only the GX clips imported using the Direct Import option are a...

Page 54: ... offline the row corresponding to this GX clip on the GX Clips tab will appear as follows After the upload the Progress bar displays the None status The size of the GX clip on the GX Clips drive is back to 0Mb The status of the GX clip changes from green to gray 5 4 4 Deleting GX Clips Important You should always delete the files stored on the GX Clips tab from the GX web interface never from Wind...

Page 55: ...abase are displayed in the tab 2 Select the GX Clips to delete in one of the following ways To select all displayed GX clips tick the top check box in the list To select individual GX clips tick the check box in front of each file you want to delete 3 Click Delete Results Whatever the GX clip status online or offline the GX clip will be removed from the GX Clip drive and from the Raw Materials dri...

Page 56: ... Playout 5 5 1 Edit GX Clip Window Accessing the Edit GX Clip Window You access the Edit GX Clip window by clicking the pen icon which is highlighted in orange in the screenshot below The pen icon is located on the GX Clips tab of the Manage area of the GX web interface Overview of the Edit GX Clip Window 1 2 3 6 4 5 ...

Page 57: ... Editing GX Clips Parameters Introduction In the Edit GX Clip window you can perform the following actions Preview the fill key or fill key tracks of a GX clip Monitor the audio track of a GX clip Specify the various settings for playing out the GX clip The values you have edited in the Edit GX Clip window are only validated as you press OK to leave the window Important You can edit GX clip parame...

Page 58: ...an two digits you will jump to the next two digits on the right 3 Press ENTER to validate the change or ESC to cancel it The updated timecode is displayed If the timecode you have typed is not valid the original value is kept Editing Actions In order to Do the following Modify the IN point of a GX clip for both video and audio tracks Enter the requested TC in the IN field in the General section an...

Page 59: ...er the Loop field type the timecode of the loop point and type the number of loops for the GX clip During playout when the clip reaches its OUT point it will loop back to the loop point as many times you have defined The loop point has to be defined between the IN and OUT points See also the section Video Loop Fields on page 56 Associate an audio track to the video track of the GX clip Click the d...

Page 60: ...er fields displayed in the Edit GX Clip window and the GX Clips tab The IN and OUT points and other TC related fields defined as general video and audio settings for the GX clip refer to the timecodes defined on the raw materials In other words the reference timecode is always TC 00 00 00 00 of the raw material The start timecode of the GX clip as it is played out and displayed to the external con...

Page 61: ... is defined in the database but is not uploaded on the GX Clips drive The GX clip is defined in the database and is being uploaded on the GX Clips drive to be ready for playback The GX clip is defined in the database and uploaded on the GX Clips drive Id8 Field The Id8 field provides the 8 character ID presented to a client when it obtains a list of GX clips It is generated by incrementing by 1 th...

Page 62: ...ich the GX clip should start This is applied to both the video and audio tracks The reference timecode 00 00 00 00 corresponds to the beginning of the corresponding video and audio raw materials Example If the IN field value is 00 00 00 10 this means both video and audio tracks of the GX clip will start playing 10 frames after the start of the raw material ...

Page 63: ...layed to external controllers Video Out Field The video OUT field gives the timecode on the video raw material at which the GX clip should end The reference timecode 00 00 00 00 corresponds to the beginning of the video raw material Example In this example the video raw material used for the GX clip is 2 seconds The IN field is 00 00 00 10 The video OUT point defined for the GX clip is on TC 00 00...

Page 64: ...f the video raw material used in the GX clip This field is not editable This duration does not take into account the following elements the start timecode for the GX clip defined in the IN field the end timecode for the video track of the GX clip defined with the Video OUT point the loops defined number of loops and loop length Video Loop Fields Loop Check Box The Loop check box needs to be ticked...

Page 65: ...p recurrence is defined the total duration of the GX clip specified below the video display is automatically adapted Note You will find an example on loops in the section 5 5 9 GX Clip Duration and Timecodes on page 63 5 5 6 Audio Settings in the Edit GX Clips Window Note about the examples The frame rate used in the examples below is 50i 25 f sec The schemas in the examples show the field values ...

Page 66: ...0 00 10 up to TC 00 00 02 09 of the audio raw material In the example the audio track defines the length of the GX clip since it is the longest track Video Raw Material 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 05 00 00 00 10 00 00 00 15 00 00 00 20 00 00 01 00 00 00 02 00 00 00 03 00 GX Clip IN 00 00 00 00 GX Clip OUT 00 00 01 24 Audio Raw Material GX Clip GX Clip Playout 00 00 01 20 OUT FIELD Video 00 00 02 10 OUT F...

Page 67: ...onds has been defined Silence will be added from the GX Clip IN point for the length of the delay The audio track will then be played normally until the audio track OUT point Video Raw Material 00 00 01 00 GX Clip IN 00 00 00 00 GX Clip OUT 00 00 01 24 Audio Raw Material GX Clip Video Track 00 00 02 00 Audio Track SILENCE 00 00 00 00 Note Possible IN and OUT points defined on the audio track are t...

Page 68: ...al GX Clip Video Track 00 00 02 00 Audio Track AUDIO TRIMMED 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 5 5 7 Clip Preview in the Edit GX Clip Window Video Display The video display makes it possible to preview the fill element key element or combined fill key elements depending on the radio button you select below the video display The preview will fill the preview screen for 16 9 clips The preview of 4 3 clips wil...

Page 69: ...GX clip Dragging the bullet you can also scrub along the clip to preview it 2 Current TC Shows the timecode of the current position in the GX clip preview The GX clip always starts at 00 00 00 00 3 Total Duration Shows the protocol duration of the GX clip this means the duration of the GX clip as it will be displayed to the protocol clients The duration will depend on the following elements IN poi...

Page 70: ...epresent the playback position in the corresponding raw material The bars and the displayed elements have the following meaning The bars represent the raw material The sign represents the IN point It will be positioned relative to the IN field value in the raw material The sign represents the OUT point It will be positioned related to the OUT field values separate fields for audio and video in the...

Page 71: ...e window 5 5 9 GX Clip Duration and Timecodes Purpose Based on an example this section explains how The protocol duration is calculated The timecodes of the GX clip are displayed compared to the timecode of the raw materials Example In the example the following settings have been defined The video raw material is 2 seconds The audio raw material is 3 seconds The GX clip starts at TC 00 00 00 10 of...

Page 72: ...ration of the Video and Audio Tracks The duration of the video track in the GX clip can be calculated as follows OUT IN 1 loops OUT Loop 1 00 00 01 20 00 00 00 10 1 4 00 00 01 20 00 00 01 10 1 00 00 01 11 00 00 00 11 4 00 00 01 11 00 00 01 19 00 00 03 05 Duration of the GX Clip The GX clip length always has the length of the longest track Without the 4 video loops the GX clip would last 3 seconds ...

Page 73: ...clips with or without embedded audio that has been uploaded to the GX Clips drive and is ready for playout An offline GX clip is a GX clip only defined in the GX server database An online GX clip is a GX clip defined in the GX server database and uploaded on the GX Clips drive Import Process of copying the material from the removable drive or from an EVS server to the Raw Materials drive Key clip ...

Page 74: ...ipment is continuously adapting and improving its products in accordance with the ever changing requirements of the Broadcast Industry The data contained herein is therefore subject to change without prior notice Companies and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies EVS Headquarters Liège Science Park 16 rue Bois St Jean B 4102 Seraing Belgium ...