When taking/fading DSK, a few frames of black appear

[brians0105]

Hi all,

We use the VT4 in a live environment with 3 cameras. We use the CG Designer to customize the weather templates and other CG options. During a live show, we use DDR's to load the .PNG files from CG designer that we make.

I will use our weathercast as an example... we take to cam1 with the talent framed on the right of the screen. At the same time, the TD takes the DSK (set as DDR1 with the weather graphic over the shoulder on the left.) When we do this combination of taking the camera and key at the same time, the key comes in immediately and the video goes black for 8 seconds and then the correct video shows up on the right side of the screen.

However, sometimes this combination of taking CAM/DSK at the same time works perfectly. Plus, the 8 frames of black sometimes show up with we fade other keys, such as rolling credits... WITHOUT taking to a different source at the same time.

Anyone have any ideas as to what might cause this?

Here is the weather example that I am talking about. http://www.welovebigbrother.com/take_cam_and_key.wmv

Thanks!

Brian S

[Cineman]

It sure appears that you are trying to do two different takes at the same time. VT can't do that. It will complete one and then do the other.

Keyboard Shortcut "a" will do what you want.

I believe that learning and using Keyboard Shortcuts "a", "s", 'd", and "f" will fix the other problems you mention as well. See Manual, Appendix A, Page 9 "Switcher".

Nes Gurley

[PIZAZZ]

Or even better use VT5. :)






Soon real Soon......

[Cineman]

Or even better use VT5. :)
Where this would work exactly the same with the exact same Keyboard Shortcut.

Nes Gurley

[billmi]

Where this would work exactly the same with the exact same Keyboard Shortcut.

Nes Gurley

Really?

I thought that was the whole point of the virtual set system - that you could cut from one camera to another, while seamlessly using a keyed background.

What other surprise issues have you found with VT[5]?


As for doing this in VT[4], there are some limitations to what you can do in terms of switching with keys, as different sources need a moment to synch. I would think the smoother work-around would be taking to the background shot of the key, bringing on your key, then having the talent walk into the shot.

[SBowie]

I thought that was the whole point of the virtual set system - that you could cut from one camera to another, while seamlessly using a keyed background.You can, though you don't really need LiveSet to do it - you can assign just the LiveMatte (chromakey) effect in the Input Setup panel (with or without LiveSet) ... though of course, VT[5] has not seen the light of day quite yet, so we must refer to TC as exemplar.

[brians0105]

Thanks everyone for the info!

[Cineman]

Welcome Brian,

I took a swing and a miss, but not as bad as the static might imply. My graphics card was down, so I didn't try to duplicate on my VT before posting, which I usually do. I missed calling the correct Keyboard Shortcut for your cut. Maybe you caught the right one since it was in the four listed. The correct shortcut is "s" for the cut.

One other thought is to ask if your "cam1" is always preset to Preview? If your cameras are not genlocked to the VT, and I would guess that they are not, there would be a delay until "cam1" genlocked to the VT. That should be in the range of two frames, certainly not eight. I can't count frames in a wmv. (Sometimes a glitch can seem for much longer than it actually is.)

Still, it seems that would just cause a delayed switch, instead of your DSK source showing blanking until "cam1" genlocked and switched.

Please try the "s" shortcut with "cam1" already selected on Preview and let us know if it worked.

Nes Gurley

[brians0105]

Hi Nes and thanks for the welcome... the school I work for is one of Jef Keathley's many projects. Glad to be here at the forums.

I did play around with it, and the "s" key does work perfectly. We have the RS-8, so I'm not familiar with any of the keyboard shortcuts. But I'm glad to know that the "s" key does the trick of taking to a source with the key.

And to answer your questions... no, our cams aren't genlocked. However, we did have cam1 in preview before we were taking to it with the key.

Also, I wasn't estimating with 8 frames... when I play back our recording and go frame-by-frame, it is 8 and is obviously noticible.

On another note, I am able to "hot-punch" any and all of our sources, including 4 cams, on the program row without much delay. I have read horror stories about that, so I will knock on wood. But so far, when we hot-punch cameras, they seem to work without too much delay.

Thanks

Brian