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Depending on your model, four or eight M/E (Mix/Effect) buttons sit innocuously on TriCaster’s Switcher rows. They may seem like other video inputs, but in reality they possess very powerful features. An M/E permits a composition to be prepared from multiple sources as just seen, using keying and other effects. They can be used in many other ways too – perhaps as an additional ‘switcher’ to provide a supplemental video mix, or for more elaborate applications (including virtual sets).
NOTE: In addition to the two sources just considered (Inputs A and B), TriCaster 8000’s M/E’s (only) also provide two more primary inputs – C and D – and four integrated Key (or Overlay) channels, compared to one M/E Key channel on the other models.
When we ended the previous section, the simple ‘weather map’ setup (Figure 74) we created was on Program Out. (Remember that LiveMatte is already enabled for the greenscreen shot from our previous exercise.)
We can use a few of the unique features of M/Es to dress up our production. For example, we might want to transpose the greenscreen talent shot to one side, placing it off center in the result.
1. Click the Position button just to the right of the A row label to open the Position
panel for that input.
There are three sets of numeric sliders in the Position group in this panel: one with a four-pointed arrow button, a Rotation group, and Scale controls identified by a magnifying glass button.
Experiment with these controls a bit to see how they work.
Hint: Shift + double-click a control to reset it to defaults.
You can drag the mouse over the buttons in each group to freely adjust Position, Rotation or Scale on multiple axes at once, or use the numeric mini-sliders to adjust just one property at a time.
As currently configured, Program output displays the result of changes you make. (Of course, during a live production you’d likely use Preview to make these sort of modifications, instead.)
2. Click Reset Positioning to restore default
Position, Rotation and Size.
3. Drag the horizontal (upper) Position mini-slider to the right, locating the foreground (talent) shot as seen in Figure 79.
FIGURE 78 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN)
Without having moved the physical camera, we have changed the apparent position of our talent relative to the virtual backdrop.
Hint: When the Keep Aspect switch for the Scale controls is lit, vertical and horizontal adjustments are locked together – adjusting one affects both. Otherwise, the vertical and horizontal scaling factors are independent.
Drag vertically over the ‘magnifying glass’ button to modify vertical scale, or drag laterally to adjust the horizontal scale. Another way to constrain the action to one axis is to hold down the Ctrl key before dragging.
4.11.2 ADDING AN UPSTREAM OVERLAY
FIGURE 80 (TRICASTER 8000 SHOWN)
To the right of the M/E input rows, you’ll see a T-bar along with, depending on the TriCaster model, up to four control groups labeled Key with drop-down source menu and other controls.
The Key feature in M/Es work very much like the DSK video layers we used back in Sections 4.7.1 and 4.7.2. The difference is that these overlays are embedded in the output of the M/E, and thus are upstream of the main Switcher. (In other words, content in these overlay channels appears beneath anything you choose to display in the main DSK channels on Program output.)
4. Click the GFX 1 tab in the lower section of the desktop.
5. Add the “Breaking News.CGXML” icon (imported back in Section 4.2) from the
Practice Sessions folder to the GFX 1 playlist
6. Edit the top line in the title to say “5 Day Forecast”, as shown in Figure 81 (see the sub-heading Title in Section 4.9.2 if you’ve forgotten how to do this)...
7. Select GFX 1 as the source for Key 1 in the M/E tab, and display the corresponding overlay channel by clicking the Auto button below).
As you can see, we have replicated on our earlier composition, but with additional benefits:
Using an M/E allowed us to offset (and even scale) the primary video source (and of course this works every bit as well with live camera streams).
We’ve added a title page that can be displayed automatically or independently.
We’ve got three more unused Keyer layers that can be used for other graphics relevant to this composition.
The primary DSK video layers are left free for still other applications.
Most important of all – since the entire composition is now represented by a single button on the main Switcher (i.e., the M/E 1 button), it is very easy to Take or
Transition directly to it with a single click – and just as easy to transition from one
M/E to another.
Of course, this is just one way to use the basic M/E features. The creative possibilities are endless.
We’ve saved the best for last in connection with M/E’s, however. This is also where we gain access to TriCaster’s virtual set technology called LiveSet.
FIGURE 82
Note that ‘LiveSets’ need not necessarily be ‘virtual sets’. They include other effects too. If you’ve been following along, you have already used a LiveSet – a simple one, named Default (2 Layer). This effect produces a composite of the video source you select as input A displayed over input B.
Hint: In cases where LiveMatte is active for input A, or perhaps is a 32bit image file (with an embedded alpha channel), or for that matter if input A is scaled or repositioned, input B will automatically show through any transparent areas above it in the composition.
Let’s try something more sophisticated now:
1. Click Take in the Transitions section of the Switcher, to show M/E 1 on the
Preview monitor.
2. Add the file TriCaster Spin Logo.mov from the NewTek > Logos group to the playlist for DDR 2. Enable the Single and Autoplay switches for both DDR 1 and DDR 2.
3. Click the current LiveSet name (above the effect icon) in the M/E 1 tab to display a Media Browser.
4. Select NewTek in the left-hand column under the heading LiveSets.
5. In the file pane at right, click the thumbnail icon named Center.Liveset in the
World Update group, and then click OK at the bottom of the Media Browser.
6. Select DDR 2 as the source for Input B.
The icon in the M/E tab and the label will update, showing that the current LiveSet is now World Update, Center.
Assuming that you still have LiveMatte enabled for the DDR, M/E 1’s input A selector set to DDR 1 and input B set to DDR 2, a little adjustment in the Positioner for input A is all that it should take to produce a result similar to Figure 83 on Preview.
Input A is the primary input for the LiveSet, while input B serves as a secondary source – in this case assigned to the virtual desk-front monitor.
7. Enable the BKGD delegate (if necessary) in the Switcher’s Transition control group, and click the Auto button beneath the T-bar.
Both DDRs will begin running their currently selected clips simultaneously thanks to Autoplay (of course normally your foreground shot would be supplied by a camera).
8. Now, click the effect thumbnail icon in the M/E panel, to display the popup LiveSet Shot bin.
9. With one eye on the Program monitor, click the third preset (#3) in the Shot bin.
Observe that the view on the Program monitor now gradually pans/zooms to the degree represented by the zoom preset icon you clicked.
FIGURE 84
The animated zoom eases out nicely as the animated effect ends at its destination.
The animation duration is controlled by the menu beneath the LiveSet icon.
10. Click the duration, and select a different time for the animated zoom.
11. Click the thumbnail icon to open the Shot bin, and click a different preset icon to test the new setting.
Using virtual set effects along with convenient zoom/pan presets, you can easily mimic a very large studio complex from a much smaller location.