< Previous | Contents | Next >

SECTION 22.3 TRICASTER™ 8000 CS

This spectacular and innovative control surface is the perfect complement to TriCaster 8000. TriCaster 8000’s unparalleled integration of advanced live production technologies offers many exciting new creative possibilities. Fittingly, an incredibly powerful and innovative control surface is included with the system.

TriCaster™ 8000 CS provides more than just control; it goes well beyond the norm in providing useful feedback. You’ll quickly find yourself at home with its features and functions.

22.3.1 OVERVIEW

The TriCaster 8000 CS control layout closely conforms to the user interface, the principle exception being that singular M/E and Position control groups governed by delegate buttons serve the purpose of multiple controls in the UI.

Controls are comprised of grouped sets including the following hardware types:

 Backlit push buttons

 Twist knobs

 T-bars

 3-axis joystick

22.3.2 DELEGATES AND SYNCHRONIZATION

Both TriCaster’s Live Desktop and the control surface supply delegate button groups to govern other controls. This is extends the capability of controls and also supports multi-selections, thus permitting simultaneous operations.

When initially selecting multiple delegates, the settings and states of the individual members selected will often vary. For example – when you delegate several M/Es at once, the transition Rate for various channels in the multi-selection could very well be different. Generally, wherever it makes sense to do so, settings for multi- delegated groups the settings are progressively synchronized as you make adjustments.

FIGURE 328

SWITCHER CONTROLS

DSK, PROGRAM AND PREVIEW

The DSK, PROGRAM and PREVIEW rows each present the following source selection buttons:

1. 1 – 8, Camera inputs

2. NET 1 and NET 2

3. Media Players:

a. DDR 1 and DDR 2

b. GFX 1and GFX 2

c. BFR (Buffer)

d. M/E 1 - 8

e. BLACK

Switcher row buttons are mutually exclusive, and the active selection button remains lit. (The subordinate role of the DSK row is subtly reinforced by the use of slightly smaller buttons.)

Hint: Hold down CTRL when clicking a button on the PREVIEW row to toggle LiveMatte on/off for that source. Likewise, hold SHIFT while pushing a PREVIEW row button to toggle its Proc Amp. Note that the source need not be actually selected on the PREVIEW row to do this, and multi-selections are supported.

MAIN DSK DELEGATE

FIGURE 329

MAIN DSK DELEGATE button

selections govern which DSK layer(s)

FIGURE 330

the row is currently controlling; or – from another perspective – which video layers the selected source is assigned to.

Note: When possible, all related button selections (and illumination state) are updated to show their current states when new delegate selections are first made. This is true for all delegate groups.

(An exception is made when newly selecting multiple delegates with control settings that do not initially match. For example, if DSK1 and DSK 2 have different sources assigned and are newly multi-selected in the delegate group, no buttons on the DSK row are lit.)

22.3.3 MAIN TRANSITION GROUP

The controls in this group are analogous to those in the corresponding area on the

Live Desktop, performing the same functions in much the same manner.

(In one deviation, switcher layer positioning is provided by a single, shared set of

Positioner tools, discussed later.)

DELEGATE

As on the Live Desktop, active delegate buttons remain lit. Multiple selections can be performed by pressing one or more buttons at the same time.

DELEGATE buttons determine what video layers the main Take, Auto, and T-Bar

affect, and the scope of the Select and Rate knobs.

FTB

Note that FTB (Fade to Black), although not located beside the other delegates as it is in the user interface, is a delegate button – not an action button – and works exactly the same manner as its Live Desktop twin.

Note that FTB has no dedicated transition controls; its fade in/out duration is derived from the BKGD transition setting.

Hint: When FTB is displayed on Program Out, it obscures all other Switcher activity. To alert you to this important fact, the FTB button flashes for several seconds if you should make a new TRANSITION DELEGATE selection that does not include FTB.

TRANSITION BIN CONTROL

The control surface does not have Transition Bins for the different video layers as such, but can nevertheless control the transitions (and their attributes) for delegated video layers.

SELECT

When a single layer, such as BKGD, is selected in the MAIN TRANSITION > DELEGATE group on the control surface, rotating the SELECT knob cycles the current transitions in the Transition Bin for that layer.

When multiple video layers have been delegated, turning SELECT affects the transitions for all layers as follows:

 When all delegated layers are currently on the same transition bin 'slot', the selection in the corresponding transition bins simply cycles left or right synchronously.

 Otherwise (when the Transition Bin slots for multi-delegated layers are not harmonized), rotating the knob moves the selection layer by layer as the knob turns until the selected slots are aligned. From that point, continuing to twist SELECT moves the transition selection in lock step.

The SELECT knob also acts as a push button:

 Push SELECT to toggle the Reverse setting for the BKGD transition.

 Push SHIFT + SELECT to toggle the Ping Pong switch for the BKGD transition.

RATE

Hint: Multi-delegate selections are handled as for Select (for twist and push operations alike).

The RATE knob operates in similar fashion to SELECT. Rotate the knob to modify the transition Rate for delegated layers. Or press the knob to cycle through the standard Slow, Medium and Fast presets.

FADE & TRANS

These two buttons provide a quick way to control the Transition Bin selection for the delegated switcher layer(s). The FADE and TRANS (Transition) buttons are mutually exclusive; selecting either one cancels the other, and only the currently active button remains lit.

Pushing FADE offers a quick and convenient way to select the Crossfade transition. Push the TRANS button to activate the last-used transition icons for a video layer (or layers. For new sessions, TRANS jumps to the first transition in the bin.

FIGURE 331

PERFORMING TRANSITIONS

Just as in the user interface, the TriCaster control surface provides both local and main transition controls.

MAIN T-BAR, TAKE AND AUTO

These controls correspond exactly to their Live Desktop counterparts, and affect all currently delegated video layers (BKGD, DSK 1-4, or FTB) at the same time.

LOCAL TAKE & AUTO

Local Take and Auto buttons are provided for DSK 1 - DSK 4 (but not FTB). These perform a cut or transition respectively, affecting only the corresponding switcher layer.

Hint: When a DSK layer is fully displayed on Program out, its local Take button (on the Live Desktop as well as the control surface) remains lit.

FIGURE 332

22.3.4 M/E CONTROLS

This section of the control surface corresponds to the tabbed M/E pane on the Live Desktop. The M/E DELEGATE button group determines which M/E (from the eight available) is being controlled.

M/E DELEGATE

As you’d expect, the eight buttons in the M/E DELEGATE group (Figure 333) let you select (or multi-select) which M/E(s) are being controlled.

FIGURE 333

Hint: Punching the selected delegate a second time toggles the M/E pane open or closed

FOLLOW PVW

Enabling the FOLLOW PREV button forces the DELEGATE selection to track the Switcher's PVW row selection. This can be very valuable, as it automatically ensures that adjustments you make to settings will affect the M/E that you plan to display

next.

The M/E control section actually employs three additional sets of delegate controls to provide full control over all aspects of your M/E composition. The first two of these are discussed next (M/E TRANSITION DELEGATES are in M/E TRANSITION

group discussed a bit layer).

M/E LAYER AND KEY DELEGATE

These two delegate button groups control the functionality of the source selection rows at left, allowing you to specify sources for any or all of the video layers of all currently delegated M/E(s). Naturally, the M/E KEY DELEGATE selection(s) govern the KEY row buttons at left

Just beneath the KEY row you will notice two identical rows labeled A/C and B/D. The result of selections in the A/C source row is controlled by the M/E LAYER DELEGATE buttons labeled A and C. Likewise, B and D buttons in the M/E LAYER DELEGATE group govern the B/D row.

FIGURE 334

SHOW PREV

This buttons toggles the Tabs Follow All Delegates option in TriCaster, which in turn causes M/E Preview monitor panes to update when a new M/E Delegate selection is made.

INPUT ROWS

All three input, or ‘source selector’ row rows provide buttons for all camera inputs,

Net 1, Net 2, Buffer, Media Players (excluding Sound), and Black.

Hint: The Buffer source for every row in all M/Es are independent, configured in the user interface. As you’d expect, selecting this button invokes the assigned Buffer for each delegated M/E, even for multi-delegate selections.

M/E TRANSITION CONTROLS

The final set of M/E delegates referred to earlier is located in the M/E TRANSITION control group. A cursory glance at this control group reveals that is for all intents a twin of the MAIN

FIGURE 335

TRANSITION group, discussed back in Section 22.3.3. Using these controls, you can manage all layers of a composite effect, or even produce a complete secondary switch for output.

FIGURE 336

LIVESET SHOT

The LIVESET SHOT group buttons labeled 1-8 select the active Zoom Preset for the delegated M/Es. The ANIM ZOOM button toggles the CUT (Duration) option for delegated M/Es. When ANIM ZOOM is enabled, pressing an unselected zoom preset button initiates a smooth zoom from the current level to the new level.

Otherwise, preset selections apply directly to all delegated M/Es. If you push a zoom preset button a

FIGURE 337

second time at any point, the animated zoom will ease-out and stop. Press it again to re-commence the zoom and complete it.

FIGURE 338

22.3.5 POSITIONER GROUP

DELEGATES

The Positioner section allows you to adjust position attributes for any video layer in the Switcher or any M/E effect using the Joystick. Positioner delegates are in two groups at left.

The first Positioner delegate group consists of eight buttons, one for each of the primary M/E input layers (A-D) and KEY layers. These delegate Joystick operations to the corresponding layers in the M/Es currently selected M/Es in the M/E DELEGATE group. The second Positioner delegate group relates to the four DSK layers of the main Switcher.

Hint: See Section 22.3.13 for information on controlling PTZ cameras with the joystick.

JOYSTICK DELEGATES

The type of operation applied to delegated video layers is further modified by button selections in other sections of the control surface.

FIGURE 339

Hint: For finer control, hold down CTRL when operating the joystick. This will increase its sensitivity by a factor of 10.

Two joystick mode buttons are placed separately at left. LiveSet Zoom and SHTL (Shuttle) modes are special in that they dedicate the joystick to operations that are not strictly speaking ‘position-related’.

Hint: The buttons in the other joystick mode group (such as POS/SCALE, discussed shortly) cannot be multi-selected with either LIVESET ZOOM or SHTL.

LIVESET ZOOM

Selecting LIVESET ZOOM assigns the joystick to control the zoom level and pan position of the currently delegated M/E(s).

Use the joystick to control zoom and pan as follows:

 To zoom in/out :

o Rotate the joystick clockwise/counter-clockwise (as viewed from above)

 To pan:

o Title the joystick backward, forward, left or right.

SHTL (SHUTTLE)

Push SHTL (Shuttle) to delegate the joystick to shuttle the Media Player(s) currently selected in the MEDIA PLAYERS > DELEGATE group. (Again, the other joystick mode buttons cannot be multi-selected with SHTL.)

 To shuttle delegated Media Players, move the joystick horizontally (as viewed from above).

Note: You can zoom multiple LiveSets simultaneously when these are delegated together, just as you can also shuttle several delegated Media Players.

Let’s turn now to the members of the second joystick mode delegate group.

POS/SCALE

 Move the joystick horizontally, vertically or diagonally (as viewed from above) to move delegated video source(s) on its X and Y axes.

 Twist the joystick clockwise to scale delegated source(s) up, or counter- clockwise to scale down.

Hint: When multi-delegate selections are active for the Positioner, adjustments are generally relative to the current state for individual delegates, as opposed to absolute.

ROT (ROTATE)

 Move the joystick horizontally (as viewed from above) to rotate delegated sources on the Y axis.

 Move the joystick vertically to rotate delegated sources on the X axis.

 Twist the joystick clockwise/counter-clockwise to rotate delegated sources on the Z axis.

CROP

 Twist the joystick clockwise (as viewed from above) to crop delegated sources inward on all four edges, maintaining the original aspect ratio.

 Twist the joystick counter-clockwise to reduce cropping of delegated sources on all 4 edges.

 Move the joystick horizontally to crop only the left edge of delegated sources.

 Move the joystick horizontally with the joystick button pressed to crop only the right edge of delegated sources.

 Move the joystick vertically to crop only the top edge of delegated sources.

 Move the joystick vertically with the joystick button pressed to crop only the bottom edge of delegated sources.

RESET

Despite its location, RESET is really an action button (not a Joystick mode). Press it to restore all position settings for currently delegated source(s) to their defaults. (This is also why RESET does not stay selected when pressed, nor does it change the current Joystick mode. The two special delegate selections also work differently with RESET:

 When VIRTUAL ZOOM is delegated, the LiveSet preset for delegated M/Es) is reset to the #1 preset.

 When SHUTTLE is delegated, selected Media Players are reset to the starting point of the current item (or playlist).

MONITORING

While using the joystick in most POSITIONER DELEGATE modes, many adjustments are temporarily shown on the Live Desktop’s Preview monitor. The Preview monitor reverts to its default display a few moments after releasing the joystick to its at-rest position, just as occurs when using Positioner tools on the Live Desktop.

22.3.6 MEDIA PLAYERS GROUP

MEDIA PLAYER > DELEGATE

FIGURE 340

The MEDIA PLAYERS > DELEGATE group contains buttons for TriCaster’s DDR1, DDR2, GFX1, GFX2, and SND (Sound) modules.

This selection determines which Media Player is being controlled at the moment. (Support for multi-selection allows you to do things like start and stop both DDRs at the identical moment.)

FIGURE 341

PREV/NEXT PRESET

These two buttons let you to cycle backwards or forwards respectively through existing presets for the delegated Media Player.

MARK IN/OUT

Click these buttons to set the in point or out point for the current playlist item in delegated players to the current frame. Press SHIFT with the button to reset the end point to its full limit.

TRANSPORT CONTROL

 | (Previous Item) – Press this button to go to the previous playlist entry in delegated Media Players. (The selection cycles to the last playlist entry when necessary.)

  (Stop) – Push once to end playback for delegated Media Players; push a second time to return to the start position (this operation respects the Single setting for individual Media Players

  (Play) – Push to initiate playback for delegated Media Players.

 | (Next Item) – Push this button to go to the next playlist entry in delegated

Media Players. (The selection cycles to the first playlist entry when necessary.)

MEDIA PLAYER OPTIONS

LOOP, SINGLE, and AUTOPLAY are mode buttons, and toggle the respective settings for all delegated Media Players as appropriate (for example, the Sound player has no Autoplay feature, so logically AUTOPLAY does not affect it).

22.3.7 RECORD GROUP

Three buttons labeled REC, STRM, and GRAB are located in the RECORD group.

 REC – Pressing this button enables TriCaster's Record feature. As a safety measure, pressing the REC button when

recording is underway does not stop recording.

Instead, the CTRL button flashes to reminds you that you must hold the CTRL button down while pushing REC to end recording.

FIGURE 342

 STREAM – Push to enable or disable TriCaster’s live streaming feature.

 GRAB – Push to store a snapshot of Program output using TriCaster's Grab

feature.

22.3.8 SPECIAL BUTTONS

The SHIFT, CTRL and ALT buttons provided on the control surface support extended features and future expansion. To the extent that these buttons are currently assigned to any feature, they have been described in context earlier.

22.3.9 MACRO

FIGURE 343

The last button we will discuss offers spectacular convenience. TriCaster’s powerful macro system is fully addressable from 8000CS. A macro can be assigned to any

button on the control surface in much the same manner as it can be assigned to a keyboard button. The steps are as follows:

1. On TriCaster’s Live Desktop, open the Macro Configuration Editor.

2. Select the macro you wish to assign in the onscreen lister.

3. Click the mouse in the Listen field at bottom left.

4. Hold down the MACRO button and press a suitable button on the control surface.

That’s it – you can close the Macro configuration Panel and test the result. To play back the macro at any time, press the MACRO button along with the assigned key.

22.3.10 T-BAR ILLUMINATION

TriCaster 8000CS uses colorful illumination to provide feedback and status updates your control surface selections and operations. The lighting schemes for both the M/E and MAIN TRANSITION T-Bars reinforce the traditional button illumination in a way that soon becomes instinctive and which provides unparalleled confidence in use.

The following tables provide a color code for your convenience.

22.3.11 M/E TRANSITION – LIGHTING

Control surface T-Bar illumination largely conforms to M/E tab color on the Live Desktop.

1. If BKGD is delegated alone, the T-Bar color is as shown in the table above, identifying which M/E is delegated in the M/E DELEGATE group. (When multiple M/Es are delegated, the first selected delegate determines the color.)

2. This color is at its brightest when the A source (effectively the Program row for a

Mix effect) is fully displayed. As the T-Bar is moved (or AUTO is pressed) to

begin a transition, the color gradually dims until the effect is complete. At that point, it pops back to full brightness, just as the onscreen T-Bar returns to the top of its stroke.

3. In a mixed delegate situation (BKGD along with one or more KEY layers) the T- Bar is lit it medium blue, and conforms to the BKGD behavior described above.

4. If one or more KEY layers are delegated without BKGD, the T-Bar color is purple. When the KEY layer (or, for multi-KEY selections, the first KEY layer) is fully displayed, T-Bar lighting is at its brightest. Removing the layer dims the illumination.

22.3.12 MAIN TRANSITION

1. Just as you would expect, the illumination of this T-Bar uses red-green coloration, standard color coding for Program and Preview rows.

2. As for M/Es, described earlier, DSK-only delegate operations result in the T-Bar being lit in purple.

3. Mixed mode (BKGD plus DSK delegates) likewise result in blue illumination, just like the M/E T-Bar behavior previously described.

22.3.13 PTZ CONTROL

Pan, tilt, zoom control over connected robotic cameras is also provided using the joystick.

Note: Joystick operations do not affect stored PTZ preset values.

To delegate the joystick to control a PTZ camera assigned to a specific TriCaster input, hold down SHIFT button on the control surface and press a button (1-8) in the M/E Delegate group. (Afterward, the button corresponding to the current PTZ camera selection will light whenever SHIFT is pressed.)

 Pan: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick left-right.

 Tilt: With SHIFT depressed, tilt the joystick backward-forward.

 Zoom: With SHIFT depressed, twist the joystick clockwise or counter- clockwise.

 Focus: When Auto is off, and with SHIFT + CTRL both pressed, twist the joystick clockwise or counter-clockwise.

o Auto Focus toggle: With SHIFT + CTRL held down, press the joystick button.

 Preset selection: Press CTRL + LIVESET SHOT (1-8) to choose a preset for the selected camera.

 Press CTRL + RATE (M/E Transition group) to adjust the camera’s Animation Speed.

Hold down SHIFT and press the top joystick button to update the current PTZ preset

(position, zoom and thumbnail icon).

22.3.14 AIRSEND™ CONTROL

AirSend™ is the software API (application programming interface) providing network A/V support in NewTek products (see Section 17.6). Various systems and software (both native and third-party) can take advantage of AirSend to send and receive control instructions. As one example, NewTek’s own 3Play™ instant replay natively systems support AirSend.

AirSend commands have pre-assigned to TriCaster 8000CS. The following table lists control combinations that trigger AirSend operations and provides both a brief description of each operation and, for reference, the AirSend command invoked.

< Previous | Contents | Next >