After installing the Digital Media software, the OCTANE Personal Video board, and attaching any video equipment, access the Video Panel to set up for a video source. The Video Panel displays the capabilities of the video devices installed on your workstation and lets you adjust various settings for these devices. If you have not installed the Digital Media software and the Personal Video board, see Chapter 1.
 | Note: The instructions in this section are based on current operating system software. If you have upgraded to a subsequent operating system, some of the instructions may no longer be valid. If this is the case, check the latest information by using the online Digital Media Tools Guide and the help menus on the Video Panel and digital media tools. Also check the Technical Publications Library for the latest version of this book over the Web at http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/. |
For information about digital media software for programming, refer to the online IRIS
Digital Media Programming Guide.
The following topics are covered in this chapter:
The Video Panel is accessed from the Toolchest, or a UNIX shell.
You can access the Video Panel from the Toolchest:
To access the Video Panel, choose Toolchest > Find > Media Tools > Video Panel. Double-click the Video Panel icon in the Media Tools Icon Catalog. Drag the icon to the desktop for frequent usage.
To access the Video Panel from the Toolchest, choose Find > Icon Catalog > Media Tools > videopanel. Drag the videopanel icon to the desktop for frequent usage.
To access the Video Panel from a UNIX shell:
Open a shell by clicking the Console icon or choose Toolchest > Desktop > UNIX Shell.
Enter at the prompt:
/usr/sbin/vcp
The Video Panel appears (Figure 2-1).
Note: For additional information about the Video Panel, use the Help menu.
Under the Device(s) section of the Video panel, select the Default In setting that matches your input channel. This choice becomes your Default In setting.
The choices for Default In are Digital, Camera, and Analog.
The only Default Out setting is Video Out.
Select the Genlock Source setting: Reference Input, Digital, Ksync, Composite, Analog, or Y/C Analog.
Choose Reference Input if you have a supplied genlocking reference to the Reference In BNC port. Make sure that you also choose Genlock in the Sync option.
If you don't have a genlocking reference but to need genlock the Personal Video board, you can select other signals to act as the Reference. From Genlock Source, choose Digital, Ksync, Composite Analog, or Y/C Analog.
The Input(s) section of the Video Panel allows you to select the timing appropriate to your application.
Choose one of the Inputs: Digital In, Camera In, Analog In, or Screen Source.
Each input section has a Timing dialog box. Choose the appropriate timing:
Analog Input has a second category, Format. Choose Composite or Y/C depending on which jack you have used. If Camera or Digital are selected under the Device(s) > Default In section of the Video Panel, you need select nothing in the Analog Inputs section. The timing that shows in Analog Input(s) is not significant.
Your timing selections from Digital In, Camera In, and Analog In may all be different, depending on your purpose. However, when you are capturing from the screen, your selection must match whatever timing you have chosen for Video Out.
Under the Output(s) section of the Video Panel, the timing you choose must be the same as your choice under Inputs(s) > Screen Source > Timing.
When you have finished changing the settings, open the File menu and choose Save Current Setting.
Exit from the program.
You are finished setting up the OCTANE Personal Video board.
See the online Digital Media Tools Guide, Appendix A, for more information about the Video Panel. A list of topics covered in this guide is provided in Table 2-1 below.
Table 2-1. Topics Covered in this Guide
Chapter | Title | Chapter | Title | Chapter | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Media Recorder | 7 | CD Player | 13 | Sound Editor |
2 | Media Convert | 8 | DAT Player | A | Video Panel |
3 | Movie Maker | 9 | CD Manager | B | Audio Panel |
4 | Media Player | 10 | DAT Manager | C | General MIDI Sound Sets and Percussion Maps |
5 | Sound Track | 11 | MIDI Keyboard |
|
|
6 | Sound Player | 12 | Synthesizer Panel |
|
|
To record video input and save it to your hard disk, you need a few additional items that are not included in your Personal Video shipment. Here are some items you may need:
For professional (serial digital I/O) video:
A professional-quality, serial digital interface (SDI) VCR.
One or two cables with BNC connectors on each end.
An adapter for the digital video connector.
For consumer video:
One or two audio cables with 3.5 mm stereo jack connectors on each end.
A VCR, camcorder, or other video source with composite or S-video outputs.
An s-video or composite video cable.
An RCA to BNC adapter for composite video cables (two are included with the Personal Video board shipment).
House sync is a timing signal generated to synchronize video equipment in a studio environment. The OCTANE Personal Video board can be synchronized to a house sync source.
Connect the house sync signal to the Ref In connector on the Personal Video board. Make adjustments on the Video Panel to acknowledge the house sync signal. Refer to “Setting Up for a Video Source” or the Video Panel's online Help.
From a UNIX shell, you can use the video tools listed below. Each of these tools has man pages that can be accessed from the UNIX shell or the Toolchest > Help > Man Pages. Videoin and videoout have a graphical user interface and are in the Media Tools Icon Catalog accessible through the Toolchest.
videoin | Displays video input in a window on the graphics screen |
videoout | Sends graphics from a portion of the screen to a video output port |
vintovout | Receives video input and sends it to a device attached to the output port |
vidtomem | Saves single frames from video input to disk |
memtovid | Sends single frames from disk to an output port |
Use the tools with the -v flag to select inputs. (All outputs are active on the Personal Video board.) For example, to display input from Video In or Digital Video and output it to digital, use the command vintovout -v 1. The defaults are always analog in and analog out.
You can use the OCTANE Personal Video board to record video input from a VCR and save it to your hard disk, or to display video on your OCTANE graphics monitor. The Video Panel shown in Figure 2-1 shows the settings for a VCR.
Topics covered in this section are
Follow these steps to connect the VCR to the OCTANE workstation. (You can also use a camcorder in place of a VCR.) Should you need BNC/RCA adapters, two ship with the Personal Video board.
Attach one end of the video cable to the Video In connector on the Personal Video board.
Attach the other end of the video cable to the (analog) Video Out connector on the VCR.
For Stereo Connections:
Do This:
If the VCR has stereo audio
output.Attach the RCA cables to the Analog Line In Left (white) port, and to the Analog Right (red) port on OCTANE.
Attach the other end of the Left (white) RCA cable to the Left (white) output, and the other end of the Right (red) cable to the Right (red) output on the VCR.
For a Mono Connection:
Do This:
If the VCR has only mono out.
If the VCR has only mono out, use a Y adapter to run the mono output to both Analog Line In Left and Right inputs.
If you choose to use only one input, the Left is generally preferable.
Set up the VCR using the Video Panel. The example shown in Figure 2-1 on page 37 shows the settings for a VCR.
Use the Video and Audio Panels to adjust video and audio parameters when you record or save to your hard disk. Both panels have online Help that describes how to use them.
To open the Video Panel, from the Toolchest choose Find > Control Panels and double click the Video Panel icon. Or, type vcp in a UNIX shell.
To open the Audio Panel, from the Toolchest choose Desktop > Control Audio and double-click the audiopanel icon. Or, type apanel in a UNIX shell.
| Note: The instructions in this section are based on current operating system software. If you have upgraded to a subsequent operating system, some of the instructions may no longer be valid. If this is the case, check the latest information by using the online Digital Media Tools Guide and the help menus on the Video Panel and digital media tools. Also check the Technical Publications Library for the latest version of this book over the Web at http://techpubs.sgi.com/library/. |
To save to the OCTANE hard disk and display video, follow these steps:
From the Toolchest choose Find > Control Panels and double-click the videopanel icon. Or type vcp in a UNIX shell. The Video Panel appears.
Choose the appropriate Input source.
To start Media Recorder, double-click the camera icon on the desktop. Or, from the Toolchest, choose Find > Media Tools > and double-click the mediarecorder icon.
For information on using Media Recorder, refer to the Media Recorder online help.
Once you have recorded the videos, you can use Movie Maker to cut and past the video and audio clips to make a movie.
From the Toolchest, choose Find > Media Tools > and double-click the moviemaker icon. Movie Maker opens, and the Movie Setup dialog box appears.
Use the Movie Maker online Help for information on editing.
To play your movie to the graphics screen, or to send it to video out, use Media Player.
| Note: Make sure you have installed the patch software from the CD before using Media Player. |
From a UNIX shell, enter
setenv MV_TRY_VIDEO 1
From the Toolchest, choose Find > Media Tools > mediaplayer icon.
Open Media Player by double-clicking the icon.
From the File menu, choose Open and select your movie file.
Use Media Player's online Help if you need additional information.
This section provides you with information about the O2Cam features and provides introductory instructions on using it with the Media Recorder software.
Use the illustration above to familiarize yourself with the O2Cam's features.
The camera has a built-in microphone that points in the same direction as the lens.
When recording audio, speak toward the front of the camera (not toward the microphone opening on the side).
If you wish, position the camera on your monitor.
Attach the camera to the Presenter 1280 flat panel monitor by sliding the tab into the slot at the top of the Presenter flat panel monitor.
Before using the O2Cam camera, access the Video Panel, and choose Devices > Default In > Camera. See “Setting Up for a Video Source” for instructions on accessing the Video Panel.
If you connected the O2Cam camera before turning on the workstation, you see a camera icon on your desktop. Double clicking the camera icon opens Media Recorder. Media Recorder allows you to record and preview video, snapshots, and audio from the desktop. You can also open Media Recorder from the Toolchest > Media Tools. Double click the icon to open Media Recorder.
Double click the desktop camera icon to open Media Recorder.
The Media Recorder window appears. See Figure 2-8.
The three icons in the lower left corner of the screen allow you to make a movie, record audio, and take a snapshot.
Click the appropriate icon for your task.
To take a snapshot:
Open the lens cover on the camera.
From the Media Recorder panel, click the Image menu button (the button with the face) to reveal a menu. Then choose Image from Connected Source > OCTANE Personal Video Hardware.
Position the subject in the Media Recorder viewing area, and focus the camera.
The viewing area reflects the image that will be captured.
Click the Record button (the button with the red dot in the lower right portion of the Media Recorder panel) to take the picture.
If the Clip Bin is displayed (Options menu > Show Clip Bin), the image file name appears in the Clip Bin as soon as the snapshot has been taken.
To view the image, select the image file name, then click the Play button. (the one with the green triangle). To preview other images, first select the Stop button, then the image, then the Play button.
To make a movie using Media Recorder, see the online Digital Media Tools Guide
Chapter 1, Media Recorder. To access this book, from the Toolchest, choose Help > Online Books > SGI EndUser > Digital Media Tools Guide.
To record audio using the O2Cam camera, be sure you have the audio cable connected between the Personal Video board and the OCTANE system module. To record audio using the Silicon Graphics supplied microphone, or another monophonic electret microphone, connect it to the microphone port on the system module. (See Figure 1-30 on page 34 for the location of the microphone port.)
To record audio using the line inputs or digital inputs, connect your audio source directly to the line-in or digital inputs. (See Figure 1-30 on page 34 for the location of line-in, coaxial, and optical digital inputs.)
Once you have connected your audio device to the OCTANE workstation, you can configure your audio input using the Audio Panel.
From the Toolchest > Desktop > choose Control Audio. The Audio Panel appears. Select the Analog In panel by clicking the left mouse button on it. (A red line appears around the panel when it is selected.) From the Selected menu, choose Input sources > Microphone or Line In.
Use the online Digital Media Tools Guide for information on recording audio. It is found by choosing Toolchest > Help > Online Books > SGI EndUser > Digital Media Tools Guide.
Technical specifications for the O2Cam camera are in Appendix D, “O2Cam Technical Specifications,” page 35.