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1. 5 4 Setting Up Time Delay Channels 00004 5 5 Creating Time Delay Channels 000000005 5 5 Modifying Time Delay Channels 0004 5 6 Deleting Time Delay Channels 0004 5 8 Operating Time Delay Channels 00 0000 e eee 5 9 Starting Time Delay Operations 000 5 9 Monitoring Time Delay Operations 5 10 Viewing Information on Pending Operations 5 10 Resynchronizing Playback with Recording 5 11 Modifying a Time Delay while On Air 0 5 11 Stopping Time Delay Operations 0 0 5 12 Switching to Backup Channels 0000 5 12 6 Troubleshooting 0 0 cece ete n eens 6 1 Diagnostic Guidelines 0 0 0 EARNE AEREE ARRETE R eee 6 2 General Troubleshooting Procedure 0000 6 2 Analyzing Device Status Information 6 3 Analyzing Control Communications 000 6 4 Recording Problems fives Riek Oates RE wk Sank hse PSR Eee 6 5 Playback Problems 9 0 4 en ae Slee teh eee he ed E bee es 6 6 Archive Probles o 0 530835 5 0 8848S 54 SHES Bek eh ewes eae phe eis 6 7 File Transfer Problems j002 canctsbawvebatetlade lt betitihe doe beens 6 8 Time Delay Problems essan fh eee ed Se ee BE AS Bye BAIS 6 9 Contents vi S
2. x SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services YelaScsi 7 BufDry BwifDry ChassisHwDrv GsisDry HlopDrv lop IopScsi ListDry MellDrv MemoryDry MCAServer MCPServer NtfsDry NullDry EdgeDry RaidDry SeaBld SeaFile SeaNet Seaview Spigot SplitDry SsRaid StrServer TcpDrv YelaScsi GDyvbDrv VodDry Ystrm xXstrmDry HD 03SSourcePriorityA esC An HDs 4 HDAudioLevel FRAOFF AQ HDNO4 HDVideoFormat 01040200 HD 04 IsDual 00000001 1 HD 04 SourcePriorityAesaA NotDolby HD 04 SourcePriorityA AesB Any HD 04sSourcePriorityAesC Any HD OSS HDAudioLevel FFAOFFAO 6226016 HDNOSNHDVideoFormat 01040200 17039872 HDNOSN IsDual 00000000 0 HD OSSSourcePriorityAesaA NotDolby HD O5 SourcePriorityAesB Any HDNOSSSourcePriorityAesC Any HDs AudioPairsPerAAC 00000002 2 HD GenlockSDITiming 03700407 57674247 HD Pat Pmt SearchOrder AVF 4 Figure 2 12 Viewing Specific HD Decoder Registry Settings 2 30 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing HD Serial Digital Video 3 Change the HDAudioLevel setting for both heads of the HD decoder as needed for example under both HD 04 and HD 05 above See Format of HD Audio Level Setting page 2 31 for an explanation of the value to use Use the same value for both heads 4 If you made any changes reboot the node to make them take effect Format of HD Audio Level Setting Each HD decoder head has two audio decoder chips The HD Audio Level setting is an eight digit hexadecimal number with the left
3. 00 2 2 Configuring the Encoder 0 00 00 eee ee eee 2 2 Verifying Encoder Functionality 0 0 0004 2 5 Encoding under VDCP Automation 004 2 8 Encoding under Sony Protocol Control 24 2 9 Playing Serial Digital Video 00 0 e eee ee eee 2 10 Configuring the Decoder 0 000 000 0b eee 2 10 Verifying Decoder Functionality 0 00 0 2 13 Decoding under VDCP Automation 0 2 14 Decoding under Sony Protocol Control 2 15 Recording MPEG Transport Streams 000000 2 17 Configuring the MTS Input Device 0 2 17 Verifying MTS Capture Functionality 2 19 MTS Capture under VDCP Automation 2 20 Playing MPEG Transport Streams 0 000 000 00 eeee 2 22 Configuring the MTS Output Device 2 22 Verifying MTS Playback Functionality 2 24 MTS Playback under VDCP Automation 2 25 Playing HD Serial Digital Video 0 0 00 0 0000000 2 27 Configuring the HD Decoder 0000 2 27 Verifying HD Decoder Functionality 2 34 HD Decoding under VDCP Automation 2 35 HD Decoding under Sony Protocol Control 2 36 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing
4. 0 0 0 eee eee eee eee 1 8 Video Data Components 0 00 ee eee eee 1 9 Component Names 0 0 e eee eee eee eee 1 10 Common Management Tools 0 eee eee ee eee 1 13 Management Station 0 00 eee eee eee 1 13 SeaView Witty o0 c5 wide e eee Ee SEAS Cee RES 1 14 MediaControl Utility 0 cee ee eee 1 16 Extensible Disk Utility 0 0 0 00 eee eee 1 18 Flash Update Utility 0 cee eee 1 19 NVsContig OUY eui paea ks etek oe eee ee a eS EB 1 20 Alarm System Optional 0 2 0 0 eee eee eee eee 1 21 Monitoring System Operations 00 0 0 e eee eee eee 1 22 Monitoring the Base System 00 0000 00005 1 22 Monitoring Software Services 0 0 0 0 00 0 urnen 1 27 Monitoring Device and Resource Usage 1 29 Maintaining Hardware and Software 0 000 000 eee eee 1 32 Adjusting Configuration Settings 0 0 00 0 cee eee eee 1 33 Types of Configuration Settings 000 1 33 Modifying eXd Settings 00 0 0 eee eee eee 1 34 Backing Up eXd Settings 0 0 00 0 0 e eee eee 1 35 Restoring eXd Settings from a Backup 0 1 36 Modifying Vstrm Settings 0 0 00 eee eee eee 1 37 iii Contents 2 Video Recording and Playback 0 0 0 eee eee ee ees 2 1 Recording Serial Digital Video
5. 0000000 3 1 Previewing and Segmenting MPEG 2 Files 0 3 2 Editing MPEG 2 Files irra s ea E A eee eee 3 3 Previewing MPEG 1 Files ccs sosete crar eee ensertir ieser 3 4 Installing the Streaming Client Plug in 0 3 4 4 Video Inventory Management 0 eee eee ee eee 4 1 Importing Content from Another Broadcast System 4 2 Viewing and Managing the Video Inventory 4 3 Configuring Inventory Functions 0005 4 3 Verifying Inventory Functions 0 00 00 0000 4 3 Managing the Inventory under VDCP Automation 4 5 Archiving and Restoring Video Files 000005 4 6 Configuring Archive Support 00 00 0000 00 4 6 Verifying Archive Functionality 0000 4 6 iv SeaChange BMC Management Guide Contents Archiving under VDCP Automation 000 4 8 Transferring Video Files Manually 0 0 0 0 000s ee eee 4 9 Transferring Video Files with FTP 00 4 9 Importing Video Files with Content Importer 4 11 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 0 0 0 5 1 How Time Delayed Video Is Stored 0 00000 00 0000 5 2 Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay 00 0 5 3 Preparing Codecs for Time Delay 0004 5 3 Preparing the BOSS for Time Delay
6. IP Network StorageTek DE0DATLORODA Figure 1 4 Video Archive Operations Management Basics 1 5 System Capabilities When transferring a video file to or from another Broadcast system the BMC generally uses its built in IP streaming service to perform the transfer However you can set up such operations to use the SMB protocol if you prefer When transferring a video file to or from a third party archive system the BMC typically uses SMB to perform the transfer Such transfers are often mediated by a third party archive management server residing on the same IP network To request the BMC to perform an inventory or archive operation your automation or asset management system can use either VDCP commands over an RS 422 or TCP IP connection or SeaChange function calls over a TCP IP connection For details on the supported control interfaces see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit Besides supporting automation control of video inventory and archive operations the BMC also provides software utilities that let you manage the video inventory and transfer video files manually in testing or backup situations For details on the different ways to set up and perform video inventory and archive operations see Chapter 4 Video Inventory Management Time Delayed Rebroadcast Capabilities The BMC includes a Time Delay
7. z SEES Fans Alarm Decoder Encoder Status coe c Reset SeaChange International Deedee Clear Power Supply fF f C 31 0 C Cluster node state Channel 0 Controller 1 of 1 Channel 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 N N N N N N N L L L L L L L I l I I l l I N N N N N N N E E E E E E E 4 5 4 5 ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE DAC Menu Cluster View New Target Directory Help Figure 1 16 Viewing Node Status in SeaView The colors of the disk drives and video I O devices in the node view are similar in meaning to the colors of the nodes in the cluster view except that yellow indicates degraded mode and orange is not used For example Channel Drive 2 is dead in the node above making the disk array of which it is a member degraded as a whole but still on line Also the first two decoders and the encoder are operating in degraded mode since they are reading and writing video data on only three of the four cluster nodes The first head of the third decoder has stopped with an error and so is red If you click Node 2 in the right pane of the MediaControl window shown previously an L appears next to that node in the list indicating that it is now the local node to which you are connected If you then click System gt Chassis in the left pane you see detailed status information on that specific node For example here s what you might see for Node 2 Management Basics 1 25 Monitoring
8. Preparing the BOSS for Time Delay Your BMC must have a BOSS or running the Time Delay utility is not supported If the BOSS shuts down while Time Delay is running your time delay operations continue as scheduled so long as the decoders have already received the request to start playout However you cannot monitor or control the operations until the BOSS reboots and you restart the Time Delay utility To prepare the BOSS for time delay operations do the following Ensure that the house clock signal is connected The house clock signal should be connected to the BOSS as instructed in Genlock and House Clock in the Installation Guide This ensures accurate timing for your time delay operations If the Time Delay utility doesn t detect a house clock it lets you continue with time delay operations but warns you that their timing might not be accurate Optional Prepare a backup BOSS To safeguard your time delay operations you can set up a backup BOSS If the primary BOSS fails you can switch to the backup BOSS to continue monitoring and controlling the time delay operations In this scenario you run the Time Delay utility on only one BOSS at a time You set up the time delay channels the same on both BOSS machines using the same codecs except that you configure the primary BOSS to Auto Connect to the codecs whereas you disable that feature on the backup BOSS When you switch to the backup BOSS you start the Time Delay utilit
9. field enter a video ID filename for the new recording Make sure it is unique in the BMC otherwise when you start the recording you will be prompted whether to overwrite the existing video file For video file naming requirements see Component Names page 1 10 In the Duration field enter a duration for the recording If you specified an ending point for the recording in Step 4 the duration value should already be correct Enter zero if you want to do an open ended recording if you plan to stop the recording manually when it is done Ifthe Real Time Preview check box is selected meaning a preview decoder is configured for the encoder and you want the preview decoder to play back the recording in real time automatically starting a few seconds after you begin the recording leave the check box selected Otherwise deselect it For instructions on configuring a preview decoder for the encoder see Configure the Encoders in the Installation Guide Ifthe video source is a live feed click Cue in the Record section to prepare the encoder to record Otherwise skip this step Video Recording and Playback 2 7 Recording Serial Digital Video 17 When the video source is ready either playing from a live feed or loaded and cued in a Sony protocol device click Record to start the recording After you start the recording you can use the controls in the Playback section if it is enabled to contr
10. Video Recording and Playback 2 29 Playing HD Serial Digital Video e Audio source priority for AesB DOLBYE This instructs the HD decoder to play on the second AES port the first available DolbyE audio stream found in the video file If no such audio stream is found play nothing e Audio source priority for AesC MPEG AAC This instructs the HD decoder to play on the third AES port the next available MPEG 1 MPEG 2 or AAC audio pair found in the video file If no such audio pair is found play nothing HD Decoder Audio Volume To adjust the volume of the digital audio played by the HD decoder do the following NOTE You cannot adjust the volume of Dolby AC3 or DolbyE audio streams Therefore this procedure affects only the non Dolby audio streams played by the HD decoder 1 On the node that hosts the HD decoder start the Sea View utility as instructed in SeaView Utility page 1 14 2 Click Vstrm Info gt Registry gt VelaScsi to access the registry settings for the HD decoders in this node Scroll down in the list until you find the registry settings for the specific HD decoder For example the figure below shows the settings for the third HD decoder The first HD decoder or left most when viewing the node from the rear is Heads 0 and 1 the second is Heads 2 and 3 the third is Heads 4 and 5 The head number corresponds to the setting of the round SCSI ID dial at the top of the faceplate of the HD decoder card
11. XSTRM_INPUT1 is bound to INPUT_PORT1 on that node you must bind TSI3 to Input Port 1 in automation e When you request a recording session on the MTS input device the BMC does not reserve the total storage needed for the operation ahead of time It is up to automation to determine whether enough storage space is available based on its knowledge of other operations on the BMC For example if video files are being restored to the BMC from an archive system and those operations are not known to automation the BMC could run out of storage space during the MTS recording session The MTS input device actually starts and stops capturing video material on the nearest I frame to the time when you start and stop the recording session Therefore you should start the recording a little before the actual starting point you want say 3 seconds before and you should stop the recording a little after the actual ending point you want say 2 seconds after This ensures that the clip actually contains the start and end points you want You can use a SeaChange MediaMarker workstation to mark the exact start and end points you want for playout as described in Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing e When you schedule recording sessions for the MTS input device leave three seconds between the end of one session and the beginning of the next This gives the MTS input device enough time to close the video file and perform post processing before handl
12. 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 al Go rT aA M y SB Eue Play Zia Stop SF FE Additonal Audio hannels DOCTESTNODE Connected 14 48 52 PC NTSCDF Figure 2 5 ExdUtil Record Tab 4 Ifthe video feed to the encoder comes from a Sony protocol compliant device that you want to control from this tab continue with the next step Otherwise skip to Step 11 5 Make sure the BOSS has a serial cable connection to the Sony compliant video source device For cabling details see Serial based Equipment in the Installation Guide If your BMC does not have a BOSS controlling a Sony compliant device from the Record tab is not supported 2 6 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording Serial Digital Video 11 12 Load the video source material into the Sony compliant device If the device is a BMC decoder that is configured for Sony control use the Sony utility to do this For details see Sony Utility in the Utilities Reference In the VTR section of the Record tab under Video Source select the serial COM port through which the BOSS will control the Sony compliant device and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check to see if the device is locked by another control application For a BMC decoder you can do this on the Status tab in ExdUtil Use the playback controls in the
13. Index 1 Index E editing support 1 4 3 3 encoder configuring 2 2 signal loss tolerance 2 2 verifying functionality 2 5 ExdSve service description 1 28 ExdUtil utility starting 1 18 Extensible Disk eXd software configuring 1 34 Extra Delay setting 5 2 F file system volumes 1 9 file transfer procedures 4 9 troubleshooting 6 8 using Content Importer 4 11 using FTP 4 9 Flash Update utility 2 10 starting 1 19 using to set encoder signal loss tolerance 2 2 H hardware component names 1 10 maintaining 1 32 summary of components 1 8 HD decoder configuring 2 27 timing to switcher 2 32 verifying functionality 2 34 importing video using Content Importer 4 11 using CTC Archive 4 2 using FTP 4 11 Inventory tab ExdUtil using to verify inventory functions 4 3 inventory video configuring 4 3 summary of capabilities 1 5 Index 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide summary of tasks 4 3 verifying functionality 4 3 IP streaming service description 1 29 K KVM switch using 1 13 M MediaControl utility checking cluster status 1 23 checking node status 1 25 starting 1 16 using to browse inventory 3 4 using to enable Content Importer 4 12 MediaDub software 3 3 MediaMarker workstation capabilities 3 2 usage scenario 1 4 MediaPublisher software 3 3 MediaTransfer software 3 3 monitoring base system 1 22 codecs 1 29 software services 1 27 summary
14. decoders see the corresponding Quick Specs NOTE As of the publication date controlling an MTS input device with Sony protocol is not supported See the Release Notes for the most up to date information This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring the MTS Input Device Verifying MTS Capture Functionality page 2 19 MTS Capture under VDCP Automation page 2 20 Configuring the MTS Input Device When you configure an MTS input device the settings you make apply to all the operations of that MTS input device whether you control the operations through VDCP automation or manually through ExdUtil For each MTS input device you can configure the following Basic settings determine whether the MTS input device expects to process NTSC or PAL video what program ID it gives to the first or only program in the MPEG files that it creates and what time code it uses for the first frame in the video index VIX files that it creates To change these settings use the VsConfig utility as instructed below which requires a node reboot do not change them manually in ExdUtil or the Windows registry Device settings determine which profile set of recording parameters the MTS input device uses and whether the video files created by the MTS input device are sent to an archive system automatically You can change these settings in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab under XstrmInputPorts and apply the changes immediately without
15. the new video file should appear in the BMC inventory and should play back properly as instructed in Playing MPEG Transport Streams page 2 22 If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting MTS Capture under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the MTS input device manually with ExdUtil and verified that it captures MPEG transport streams properly you should test it under VDCP automation if you plan to control it that way for production use Before you control the MTS input device using VDCP automation make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node that hosts the MTS input device This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the MTS input device is configured for VDCP control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the MTS input device using VDCP automation note the following e The video disk device that you use in your automation system to represent the MTS input device must be bound to the same input port number as the MTS input device is bound to in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab For example if you use video disk device TSI3 in the automation system to represent XSTRM_INPUTI in the BMC node and in ExdUtil 2 20 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording MPEG Transport Streams
16. 2 Video Recording and Playback VsConfig Utility VsConfig is a command line utility for modifying BMC base system Vstrm configuration settings You run it on a server node to step you through the process of reconfiguring that node To start VsConfig on a server node do the following 1 Open a command prompt on the server node and change to the C Vstrmkit directory 2 Type vsconfig and press Enter The first prompt in the VsConfig process appears 1 20 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Common Management Tools Command Prompt ysconfig OF Xx Microsoft R gt Windows NT lt TM gt lt C Copyright 1985 1996 Microsoft Corp C WinNT Prof iles Administrator Desktop gt cd ustrmkit C ustrmkit gt usconfig UstrmConfig V4 3 Enter VelaScsi decoder count lt 48 gt Figure 1 13 VsConfig Utility First Prompt For instructions on completing the VsConfig process see Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 Alarm System Optional The SeaChange alarm system is an optional add on software package that lets you set up the BMC to generate alarm notifications whenever significant events occur on the system such as disk drive failures codec errors or software service errors You can specify the events that you want to be notified about and how and where the alarm notifications are to be sent For more information see the Alarms Setup Guide Management Basics 1 21 Monitoring System Operations Mon
17. 29 support technical 1 vii switching keyboard monitor and mouse among machines 1 13 synchronizing inventory with other BMC or BML 4 2 Time Delay output with input 5 11 T technical support 1 vii testing archive functions 4 6 encoder functions 2 5 HD decoder functions 2 34 inventory functions 4 3 MTS I O functions 2 19 2 24 standard decoder functions 2 13 Time Delay configuring backup channels 5 4 example 5 1 modifying while on air 5 11 monitoring 5 10 overview 5 1 procedures 5 5 5 9 starting channels 5 9 stopping channels 5 12 storing extra video 5 2 summary of capabilities 1 6 switching to backup channel 5 12 troubleshooting 6 9 viewing pending operations 5 10 troubleshooting 6 1 analyzing control communications 6 4 analyzing device data 6 3 general guidelines 6 2 problems archiving or restoring 6 7 problems playing 6 6 problems recording 6 5 problems transferring files 6 8 problems with Time Delay 6 9 U using to set decoder signal parameters 2 10 utilities Index 3 Index Content Importer 4 11 CTC Archive 4 2 ExdUtil 1 18 Flash Update 1 19 FTP 4 9 MediaControl 1 16 SeaView 1 14 1 22 summary of common 1 13 VelaCmd 2 32 VsConfig 1 20 V VDCP analyzing communications 6 4 archiving under 4 8 managing inventory under 4 5 playback under 2 14 2 25 2 36 recording under 2 8 2 20 VelaCmd utility 2 32 video editing support 3 3 file component
18. 5 or Verifying MTS Capture Functionality page 2 19 You must use a recording device that has Auto Archive enabled 1 Onthe BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node whose archive functions you want to verify 3 On the Archive tab select the archive system that you want to work with from the Contents of Remote Server drop down list and click Refresh below both lists to display the video inventory of both the BMC and the archive system as illustrated below Extensible Disk Utility DOCTESTNODE Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status Contents of Local Cache amp IDs r Contents of Remote Server 3 IDs Duration __ Date Time_ ARCHIVET EDIT STATION z gt 15Mb_O1_NT 00 00 30 00 09 07 2004 14 50 26 MediaCluster 00 00 00 00 01 25 2005 11 58 22 PLC12MB 00 00 00 00 01 25 2005 11 56 05 mknwfflstest 7520KB 01 11 2005 11 59 14 SeaChange 00 05 37 22 04 23 2001 09 38 07 01 17 2005 15 13 20 TD_Channel2 00 00 00 00 10 22 2004 14 24 40 i 01 17 2005 15 13 2 test3 00 03 00 03 10 20 2004 14 49 34 Refresh Active Status ID Destination Status Operation Percent Completed Abort Recue Refresh Connected 19 09 13 PC INTSCDF Figure 4 2 Viewing the Video Inventory in the BMC and an Archive System Vi
19. 6 procedures for accessing 4 6 SeaChange archive file 1 10 summary of BMC support for 1 5 troubleshooting 6 7 verifying access to 4 6 Archive tab ExdUtil using to archive restore video 4 6 audio configuring HD decoder 2 27 Avid editing support 3 3 backing up configuration settings 1 35 backup channels Time Delay configuring 5 4 switching to 5 12 BMC capabilities 1 2 description 1 2 BOSS preparing for Time Delay 5 4 C cache see inventory capabilities archive 1 5 BMC 1 2 inventory 1 5 preview and editing 1 4 recording and playback 1 2 time delayed rebroadcast 1 6 Channel view Time Delay 5 10 channels Time Delay configuring 5 6 configuring backup channels 5 4 Index creating 5 5 deleting 5 8 see also Time Delay characters disallowed in filenames 1 10 cluster checking status 1 22 colors status indicators in SeaView 1 23 configuration settings archive 4 6 backing up 1 35 Content Importer 4 12 encoder 2 2 eXd software 1 34 FTP service 4 9 HD decoder 2 27 inventory 4 3 MTS I O card 2 17 2 22 restoring from a backup 1 36 standard decoder 2 10 Time Delay 5 5 Vstrm software 1 37 Content Importer service 4 11 CTC Archive utility purpose 4 2 customer support 1 vii D decoder standard configuring 2 10 timing to switcher 2 10 verifying functionality 2 13 delayed rebroadcast 5 1 devices analyzing usage data 6 3 documentation 1 vii
20. At the time of this publishing you cannot use the MediaControl utility to control an MTS output device NOTES e The Playback tab does not let you play video clips back to back based on premarked splice points nor is back to back playout frame accurate since the BOSS controls the MTS output device over a network connection Always use VDCP automation to control MTS playback operations for production use e You should ignore the trick mode controls on the Playback tab as MTS output devices do not support trick mode To verify an MTS output device s playback functionality do the following 1 On the BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node that hosts the MTS I O card 3 When you are connected to the node select the Playback tab illustrated below J Extensible Disk Utility DOCTESTNODE m Play List Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status ID ration Gontrol Track I Trick Mode Syne 0 Frames Loop Ee mE 00 00 00 f Jog Cs Pute aa eT Add Before Add After Insert Break Up Dove E Clear All Skip E Delete foo 00 00 00 ra ID List Duration 00 00 30 00 15Mb_O1_NTSC mknwffls NTSC30MBLC SeaChange TD_Channel2 test3 00 03 00 03 i Search Refresh m
21. Exd Decoders DECODER 7 DOCTESTNODE Connected Figure 2 11 ExdUtil Playback Tab 2 24 SeaChange BMC Management Guide 16 35 14 PC NTSCDF Playing MPEG Transport Streams 4 Create a play list by selecting video files from the ID List and clicking Add Before or Add After Use the Up and Down buttons as needed to arrange the play list in the order you want the video files to be played Make sure to select only MPEG transport stream files which are shown in blue in the ID list 5 Under Exd Decoders select the MTS output device to use to play the video files and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check on the Status tab to see if the device is locked by another control application 6 Use the controls below the play list to play the video files either back to back using the Loop option or one at a time Do not use any trick mode controls except for Pause For details on using the playback controls see Play List Section in the Utilities Reference As you control the MTS output device the audio and video should play out properly on your TV monitoring equipment If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting MTS Playback under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the MTS output device manually with ExdUtil and verified that it plays MPEG transport streams properly you should t
22. Gsis0 which is the left most Genesis board when viewing the node from the rear SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services GsisDrv x BufDry BwifDry ChassisHwDry Dac960nt GsisDry HlopDry lop lopSesi ListDrv MellDrv MemornDry MCAServer MCPServer NtfsDry NullDry EdgeDry FaidDry SeaBld SeaFile SeaNet SeaView Spigot SplitDry StrServer TepDry VelaScsi VGDvbDrv VodDrv Ystrm XstrmDry GenesisV1ltcTicksPerReset 00001770 GsisO AESSynchronizationEnabled 00000000 i Audi oPROMode GsisO AudioSwitchMode 00000001 GsisO BusNumber 00000002 GsisO DropFrameLTCIn 00000001 GsisO DropFrameLTCout 00000001 GsisO FreezeAtEnd 00000000 GsisO0 GenesisPrimeRateinNbps 00000018 GsisO GenesisReadAheadRate 00000030 Gsis0 GenesisRepeat FrameOnPause 00000000 GsisO IdleVideoColor 00000000 GsisO 0SDEnabledMask 4000000F 10737418 GsisO ReadAheadinkB 00006000 24576 GsisO0 Repeat UncompressedAudioJogging 00000000 0 GsisO SlotNumber oooooo04 4 GsisO VideoFormat 00000001 1 MaxinumFramesPerJog 00000000 0 Figure 2 7 Viewing Decoder Board Registry Settings 2 12 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing Serial Digital Video 10 Double click the setting that you want to change enter the same value that you used for the equivalent setting in Flash Update and click OK Repeat this step as needed Verifying Decoder Functionality You can use the Playback tab in ExdUtil to manually control a standard decoder to verify that the decoder plays out standard
23. M Distt indan liian dalan fer OAL AI Figure 2 6 Viewing Decoder Board Firmware Settings 3 Inthe list of firmware settings find the setting that you want to change For a description of each setting right click the setting and select Help from the drop down menu Some settings cannot be changed unless the decoder is idle We recommend that you leave the Drop Frame Input Mode and Drop Frame Output Mode settings unchanged 4 To change a setting double click it in the list enter the value you want in the dialog that appears and click Done Video Recording and Playback 2 11 Playing Serial Digital Video 5 In the main window click Save Settings to Flash and close the Flash Update utility 6 Use the Status tab in ExdUtil to reset the decoder 7 Ifyou changed any of the settings listed in the table below and you want the changes to persist across node reboots complete the rest of this procedure to make the equivalent changes in the Windows registry Otherwise quit here Firmware Setting Equivalent Registry Setting Digital Audio Switch Mode AudioSwitchMode 8 Start the SeaView utility as instructed in SeaView Utility page 1 14 9 Click Vstrm Info gt Registry gt GsisDrv to access the registry settings for the decoder boards in this node Scroll down in the list until you find the registry settings for the specific Genesis board For example the figure below shows the settings for
24. Make sure to connect as the administrator If you don t know the administrator password contact SeaChange as instructed in Getting Technical Support page vii 2 Browse to the C Vstrmkit folder on the server node and double click the SeaView exe file The following dialog appears Remote Connect x System Name AZOTAT M Figure 1 7 Starting the SeaView Utility Remotely 3 From the drop down list select the server node to connect to and click OK 4 Ifyou are prompted for the administrator name and password again reenter them and click OK After you have been successfully connected to the server node the SeaView cluster view appears as illustrated above in Figure 1 6 To start SeaView on a server node do the following e Double click the SeaView icon on the Windows desktop of the server node The SeaView node view appears Management Basics 1 15 Common Management Tools System iew of BMC2 2 Uptime 49 02 4 1 17 iol x Decoder Encoder Status a j Alarm C C C Reset SeaChange Dee coe crear International Power Supply Cc C 31 0 C Cluster node state Channel 0 Controller 1 of 1 Channel 1 3 _ N 2 w mz Z0 mz r zo mz r zo mz r zo mz r zo mz r zo mz rzo 4 5 4 5 ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE DAC Menu Cluster View New Target Directory Help Figure 1 8 SeaView Utility Node View Th
25. Recording MPEG Transport Streams NOTE You can ignore the VTR and Playback sections of the Record tab as they are not applicable to MTS capture operations 4 In the Record section under Encoder Device select the MTS input device to use for the MTS capture operation and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check on the Status tab to see if the MTS input device is locked by another control application 5 In the MPEG section review the current profile settings for the MTS input device If you want to select a different profile or override specific settings for this capture session you can do so in the MPEG section For details see MPEG Section in the Utilities Reference 6 In the Video ID field enter a video ID filename for the new recording Make sure it is unique in the BMC otherwise when you start the recording you will be prompted whether to overwrite the existing video file For video file naming requirements see Component Names page 1 10 7 Inthe Duration field enter a duration for the recording Enter zero if you want to do an open ended recording if you plan to stop the recording manually when it is done 8 Click Cue in the Record section to prepare the MTS input device to record 9 When the MPEG transport stream feed has begun and you are ready to start capturing it click Record When the MTS capture session is done
26. SeaChange development partner to access this kit When you are done performing a recording session under VDCP automation the new video file should appear in the BMC inventory and should play properly when previewed If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Encoding under Sony Protocol Control Once you have tested the encoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it records serial digital video properly you should test it under Sony protocol control if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the encoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both Just as with ExdUtil if a preview decoder is configured for the encoder you should be able to control preview playback using Sony protocol transparently as though the decoder and encoder were a single device Before you control the encoder using Sony protocol make sure the proper serial control cabling is in place from the Sony protocol device to the BMC node that hosts the encoder as described in Serial based Equipment in the nstallation Guide You must also make sure the encoder is configured for Sony protocol control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the encoder using Sony protocol note the following The Sony protocol does not include a way to specify the ID filename of the video that you will record
27. System Operations 3 SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer File Edit Yiew Favorites Tools Help pack gt A A Asearch Favorites CBristory he GH Table of E contents MediaControl SeaView Home vedetta SCP Show Chassis z Content Chassis O TRIMM Alarm Active YES Video Devices Temperature 32 degrees c 89 degrees f S A Monit Temperature Problem NO BEIN ROn Fan Failure No Gpasinni Control CPU Fan Failure NO Power Failure NO IP Streaming User Alarm Set NO System Controller 0 l Drive 0 0 0 ONLINE Drive 0 0 1 ONLINE Drive 0 0 2 ONLINE Errors Drive 0 0 3 ONLINE SON Drive 0 0 4 ONLINE prag Drive 0 0 5 ONLINE Utilities Drive 0 1 0 ONLINE X Drive 0 1 1 ONLINE Drive 0 1 2 DEAD xl mm E E BB Local intranet 7 z Figure 1 17 Viewing Node Status in MediaControl This page provides similar information to the SeaView node view For example you can see that Channel 1 Drive 2 is dead However the individual video I O devices in the node are not shown To access that information you must click Video Devices gt Port List in the left pane while connected to the same node For example here s the video I O device information that MediaControl displays for Node 2 1 26 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Monitoring System Operations 3 SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer File Edit View Favorites Tools Help Back ta A
28. VTR section of the Record tab to mark the starting point and optionally the ending point of the video segment that you want to record For details see Playback Controls in the Utilities Reference In the PreRoll field of the VTR section enter the number of seconds ahead of the selected starting point you want the Sony compliant device to begin playout Providing a preroll merely ensures that the video signal feed has stabilized before the actual recording begins it does not change the video position at which the recording starts In the Sync field of the VTR section enter the sync delay of the Sony compliant device in milliseconds This is how long it takes from the time a command is issued to the device until the device actually executes the command For a BMC decoder this is zero In the Record section under Encoder Device select the encoder to use for the recording and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check on the Status tab to see if the encoder is locked by another control application If the encoder has a preview decoder configured for it check if that decoder is locked In the MPEG section review the current profile settings for the encoder If you want to select a different profile or override specific settings for this recording session you can do so in the MPEG section For details see MPEG Section in the Utilities Reference Inthe Video ID
29. automatically You can also use the Status tab to reset stalled codec devices and release devices from being locked by control applications You may need to reset devices or release them from being locked if for example an application s control connection to the server node goes down during an operation For more information on the fields and buttons on the Status tab see Status Tab in the Utilities Reference For information on resolving problems with BMC operations see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Management Basics 1 31 Maintaining Hardware and Software Maintaining Hardware and Software Occasionally you might need to add replace or upgrade a BMC hardware or software component For example if a hardware component experiences problems you might need to replace it Or you might need to add or upgrade a hardware or software component to get additional performance or functionality If you change the BMC hardware in any way make sure afterwards to rerun the Vstrm software update eXd software configuration and system snapshot procedures You should also rerun the system snapshot procedure if you make a software only change The table below indicates where to get instructions on how to perform these maintenance tasks which are not documented in this manual Maineranco as sreo Add replace or upgrade a See the Hardware Reference section of the hardware component SeaChange Server Reference Reinstall or update the Vstrm or See Step
30. can change these settings using the VelaCmd utility as instructed in HD Decoder Output Signal Timing page 2 32 This requires a node reboot to make the changes permanent Basic HD Decoder Settings To change the basic settings for an HD decoder do the following 1 On the node that hosts the HD decoder start the VsConfig utility as instructed in VsConfig Utility page 1 20 Video Recording and Playback 2 27 Playing HD Serial Digital Video 2 Press Enter to accept the default answer to each VsConfig prompt until you get to the prompts for the HD decoders listed below Answer the prompts as follows Genesis HD 0 output format 1080i29 97 1080i25 Do all Genesis HD ports output the same format Audio pairs per AAC 1 3 For Genesis HD IDs 0 and 1 Audio source priority for AesA NotDolby Audio source priority for AesB Any Audio source priority for AesC Any PatPmt Search order A Dvb Attributes V Vix F Sniff the File AVF 2 28 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Enter 1080i29 97 to set the video mode of the first HD decoder head in the node to NTSC or 1080i25 to set the video mode to PAL The first HD decoder head is the one whose round SCSI ID dial located at the top of the faceplate is set to zero and is typically the left most HD decoder card when viewing the node from the rear Enter Yes to set all the HD decoder heads in the node to the same video mode as the first HD decod
31. enter the same value that you set for the signal loss tolerance in Flash Update and click OK 12 If you want the signal loss tolerance setting to apply to the audio input signals as well recommended set the four AudioLossDuration parameters to the same value Verifying Encoder Functionality You can use the Record tab in ExdUtil to manually control an encoder to verify that the encoder records standard definition serial digital video properly If you have configured a preview decoder for the encoder you can also control that decoder from the Record tab to verify that it plays back the recording properly and that the quality of the recording is as you expect If the video feed to the encoder comes from a Sony protocol compliant device such as a tape deck or a BMC decoder that is configured for Sony control you can also control that device from the Record tab assuming the required serial control cabling is in place to verify that the encoder synchronizes properly with the playout from that device NOTES e Recording with ExdUtil is not frame accurate since the BOSS controls the encoder over a network connection Always use VDCP automation or a Sony protocol device to control recording sessions for production use e We do not recommend using the MediaControl utility to test encoders as it bypasses the configuration settings and safety checks provided by the eXd software If you do use it to test an encoder make sure
32. following 1 In the main Time Delay window select the view of the channel that you want to see information on so that its window is in front 2 On the menu bar click Channel gt Pending Events An information box like the following appears Pending Channel Events Device Input Status CUEING Scheduled Time 11 31 17 05 Device Output Status EVENT SCHEDULED Scheduled Time 12 31 06 22 Figure 5 5 Viewing Information on Pending Operations on a Channel Resynchronizing Playback with Recording If for any reason a playback process on a time delay channel gets out of sync with the recording process on the channel so that the proper delay no longer exists between the two you can manually resynchronize the processes by clicking the resync SJ button on the appropriate output port section of the channel view For example you might need to do this if the recording process experiences a glitch and restarts automatically or if the playback device drifts slightly from the recording device over time which is possible with PAL time delay operations NOTE As a safety measure you can set an Auto Resync option when defining the output ports for a time delay channel This causes the playback processes to resynchronize with the recording process automatically once a day at the time you specify For details see Configure Output Dialog in the Utilities Reference Modifying a Time Delay while On Air Use the procedure below if you ne
33. half first four digits controlling the volume of the audio played by the first audio decoder chip and the right half last four digits controlling the volume of the audio played by the second audio decoder chip The hexadecimal number FFFF signifies full volume and each unit less than that signifies a sixteenth 0 0625 dB reduction in volume The following table lists some possible settings Table 2 2 Possible HD Audio Level Settings sing eseinion Each audio decoder chip can decode only one audio stream from the MPEG file If the audio stream is an AAC stream containing multiple audio pairs and you have configured multiple AES ports to play from that AAC stream the HD Audio Level setting for that audio decoder chip applies to all the AES ports sourced from the AAC stream For example consider an HD decoder with the following settings Audio pairs per AAC 2 Audio source priority for AesA AAC Audio source priority for AesB AAC Audio source priority for AesC Any HD Audio Level FFDOFFAO Video Recording and Playback 2 31 Playing HD Serial Digital Video If this HD decoder processes an MPEG file containing one MPEG 1 audio stream and one AAC audio stream and the AAC audio stream contains two audio pairs the following occurs 1 The first audio decoder chip opens the AAC stream and does the following a Plays the first audio pair on the first AES port with 3 0 dB reduction in volume b Plays the second audio p
34. have sufficient I O bandwidth available Avoid using a node that bears a heavy load of video recording or playback If you have configured a BMC node to automatically archive new video files as they are recorded into the system you can verify this functionality by recording a new video file as instructed in Encoding under VDCP Automation page 2 8 or MTS Capture under VDCP Automation page 2 20 You must use a recording device that has Auto Archive enabled If you rename a video file when restoring it from an archive make sure to adhere to the video file naming requirements stated in Component Names page 1 10 For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit If you encounter problems archiving or restoring video files under VDCP automation see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 4 8 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Transferring Video Files Manually Transferring Video Files Manually The video inventory and archive operations described in the preceding sections all operate upon whole video files that is they handle the three components of each video file described in Video Data Components page 1 9 as a single unit transparently This is true of all operations that are mediated by the eXd software including operations that you request through VDCP automation Sony protocol or eXd utilities The b
35. other backups that have been or will be created Click Save followed by Yes to close the dialog and proceed with creating the backup 6 When the backup has been created a message appears stating that the operation was successful Click OK to close the message Restoring eXd Settings from a Backup To restore some or all eXd settings from a backup on a server node do the following 1 Start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Configuration tab select the server node in the left pane 3 Click the Restore button at the bottom of the window The following dialog appears Exd Settings imata eTa BMC2 Backup Date Monday June 05 2000 Backup Operator Administrator Exd Version R1 4 011 m Description hihih ArchiveM anager AutomationS ettings CacheM anager ComPorts DecoderPorts EncoderPorts LoggerSettings MtsilnputPorts MtsiOutputPorts Close Help Figure 1 23 Restoring eXd Settings from a Backup K K K K K K K K 1 36 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Adjusting Configuration Settings From the drop down list select the backup that you want to restore Check the information displayed for the selected backup to make sure it is the correct one In the list of check boxes deselect any categories of eXd settings that you do not want to restore fro
36. rebooting the node or resetting the MTS input device For details see Xstrm Input Port Settings Device in the Utilities Reference Profile settings determine the specific video capture bitrate the MTS input device uses You can change these settings in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure the MTS I O Cards in the Installation Guide Video Recording and Playback 2 17 Recording MPEG Transport Streams To change the basic settings for an MTS I O card do the following 1 On the node that hosts the MTS I O card start the VsConfig utility as instructed in VsConfig Utility page 1 20 2 Press Enter to accept the default answer to each VsConfig prompt until you get to the prompts for the specific MTS I O card The first MTS I O card left most when viewing the node from the rear is called Dvb734 board 0 the second Dvb734 board 1 and so on 3 Answer the prompts for the specific MTS I O card as follows Will support 29 97 FPS Enter 0 to set the video mode of the MTS I O card to NTSC or 25 FPS PAL NTSC or 1 to set the video mode to PAL Program ID for output Enter the program ID for the MTS output device to give to port the first or only program in the MPEG transport streams that it plays out or accept the default program ID of 2 Starting Program ID for Enter the program ID for the MTS input device to give to first input port the first or only program in the MPEG files that it creates duri
37. rebroadcast is supported only for standard definition SDI broadcasts MPEG transport stream DVB AST broadcasts are not supported See the Release Notes for the most up to date information This chapter covers the following topics How Time Delayed Video Is Stored page 5 2 e Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay page 5 3 Setting Up Time Delay Channels page 5 5 e Operating Time Delay Channels page 5 9 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 1 How Time Delayed Video Is Stored How Time Delayed Video Is Stored When an incoming video broadcast is captured for time delay it is stored in a virtual file in the BMC inventory This is a special circular video file comprised of a series of fixed length segments When the last segment of the file is filled up with captured video the system continues to store video by overwriting the first segment Since time delayed rebroadcast is a continuous operation 24 hours per day 7 days per week the circular file format allows you to keep capturing video indefinitely without filling up the BMC storage space Normally the Time Delay utility stores enough video in the virtual file only to accomodate the longest time delay required for the channel before it starts overwriting the old material If you want extra video material to be stored in the virtual file as a safety measure you can specify an extra delay for the channel You should do this if you think in the future you might need
38. set to tolerate a loss of up to 15 frames of the video input signal without stopping This is equivalent to 0 5 seconds of NTSC video or 0 6 seconds of PAL video If necessary you can configure the encoder to tolerate longer losses without stopping For details see Configuring the Encoder page 2 2 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 3 Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay Disable automation control of the codecs Make sure the codecs that you will use are not configured for VDCP or Sony protocol control on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil If they are the Time Delay utility might not be able to lock them for use For instructions see Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide After disabling automation control of the codecs you might also need to use the Status tab in ExdUtil to release the codecs from being locked by automation Optional Prepare backup codecs To safeguard your time delay operations you can set up a backup time delay channel for each primary time delay channel In this scenario both channels run at the same time but you air the playout from only one You use a distribution amplifier to feed the same video input signal to both encoders and you use an audio video switch to select the playout to broadcast If the primary channel fails you can switch the on air cable to the backup channel You set up the two channels exactly the same except that you assign different codecs as the channels input output ports
39. source system and the current BMC which receives the new content is called the target system NOTE For day to day operations you should use your automation or asset management system to move content between Broadcast systems The CTC Archive utility is intended to be used primarily for initial or one time content import operations To import video content from another Broadcast system using the CTC Archive utility do the following 1 Using ExdUtil connect to the other source Broadcast system and configure one of its server nodes to treat the target BMC as an archive device as described in Configuring Archive Support page 4 6 2 Using the CTC Archive utility import the content you want from the source system to the target system See CTC Archive Utility in the Utilities Reference for detailed instructions 3 Use the Status tab in ExdUtil to monitor the progress of the file transfer operations that you have initiated For details on using the Status tab see Status Tab in the Utilities Reference 4 When all the file transfer operations have completed successfully if you no longer need the source system to treat the target system an archive device use ExdUtil to remove those archive settings from the source system If you encounter problems importing content with the CTC Archive utility see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 4 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Viewing and Managing the Video Inventory Viewing and Ma
40. tab select the server node and click Connect On the Configuration tab expand the server node Double click it in the left pane Optional If you will make significant configuration changes back up the current eXd settings as instructed in Backing Up eXd Settings page 1 35 In the left pane browse to and select the desired category of eXd settings 1 34 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Adjusting Configuration Settings 6 In the right pane double click the desired setting and complete the dialog to modify the setting For details on the specific values that are allowed for each setting look up the setting in the appropriate subsection under Configuration Tab in the Utilities Reference 7 Click Save on the Configuration tab to save the change 8 Repeat the previous three steps to modify other eXd settings as needed 9 When you are done modifying eXd settings and are ready to apply the changes to the server node on the Services tab double click the server node in the left pane 10 In the right pane double click ExdSvc and click Yes to stop the eXd service 11 When the service has stopped double click ExdSvc again in the right pane and click Yes to restart the eXd service If the eXd configuration changes you made do not have the desired effect and you saved your previous eXd settings in a backup restore the previous settings as instructed in Restoring eXd Settings from a Backup pag
41. the BMC as an MPEG file you must use a standard Beowulf series encoder in the BMC If you want to preview the recording in real time you must use a standard Genesis series decoder in the BMC For information on the differences in the encoding capabilities of specific Beowulf encoder models see the corresponding Quick Specs This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring the Encoder Verifying Encoder Functionality page 2 5 Encoding under VDCP Automation page 2 8 Encoding under Sony Protocol Control page 2 9 Configuring the Encoder When you configure an encoder the settings you make apply to all the operations of that encoder whether you control the operations through VDCP automation a Sony protocol device or manually through ExdUtil For each encoder you can configure the following Basic settings determine whether the encoder expects to process NTSC or PAL video and whether it encodes any vertical blanking interval VBI lines In most cases these settings are made correctly for you at the factory and do not need to be changed If you do need to change them use the VsConfig utility as instructed in Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 and then have the eXd software automatically detect the changes as instructed in Detect Any Hardware Changes in the Installation Guide This requires a node reboot Do not change these settings manually in ExdUtil or Flash Update Device settings determine which profile se
42. the BMC is off air e Ifyou record video played from a tape deck the video mode of the encoder must be the same as that of the tape deck NTSC or PAL or the recording will fail If the default video mode of the encoder is incorrect you can override it temporarily on the Record tab in ExdUtil Video Recording and Playback 2 5 Recording Serial Digital Video To verify an encoder s ability to record serial digital video do the following 1 Onthe BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node that hosts the enocder 3 When you are connected to the node select the Record tab illustrated below Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status VTR MPEG Makin Tape Status LOADED User Settings 00 00 00 00 l F Video Resolution fo toln 44 E b gt Ay SB Flay Stop SF Video Bitrate Bit s Stream Type Video Source com x Connect PreRoll sec a Soc iin jo z r Record m Audio Channel 1 and 2 Video ID Duration 00 00 30 00 Progress 00 00 00 0 e _Stop_ _Pause Reue pirate Bits Sample Rate Khz I Real Time Preview Encoder Device ENCODER1 x z m Playback r Audio Channel 3 and 4 I Trick Mode vido a Heren r BE ao 00 00 00 00 OoOo Jog Shuttle mif o Bitrate Bit s Sample Rate Khz
43. to increase the channel s time delay without interrupting service For example if you know that the originating broadcast region will enter daylight savings time at some future point but the time delayed broadcast region will not you should build in an extra hour of delay to accomodate that change Otherwise when the change occurs you ll have to stop reconfigure and restart the channel causing the time delayed broadcast region to go off air for the full duration of the new longer time delay 5 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay Before you set up any time delay channels make sure your BMC has the devices you need for the time delay operations and that those devices are ready to be used in that capacity This section covers the following topics Preparing Codecs for Time Delay Preparing the BOSS for Time Delay page 5 4 Preparing Codecs for Time Delay For each time delay channel that you set up you need one BMC encoder and at least one standard BMC decoder For example if you plan to replay a broadcast at one hour and two hour delays you need one encoder to record the broadcast one decoder to replay it after a one hour delay and another decoder to replay it after a two hour delay To prepare BMC codecs for time delay operations do the following Ensure that the genlock and house clock signals are connected The genlock and house clock si
44. use the Get or Put function of your FTP utility specifying the VIX partition on the source or destination filename For example to retrieve the VIX file for the video clip XYZ_SPOT from the BMC issue the following command at the FTP prompt after establishing an FTP session with the BMC ftp gt get vix xyz_spot vix To send the same VIX file back to the BMC after retrieving it you could issue the following command at the FTP prompt ftp gt put xyz_spot vix vix xyz_spot_2 vix NOTE If a file of the same name as the one you are sending already exists on the BMC you will get an error and the file won t be sent You must specify a unique destination filename on the Put command as illustrated above Importing Video Files with Content Importer The base BMC system Vstrm software includes a built in Content Importer service that lets you set up a folder on the C drive of any BMC node to automatically and immediately import all video files that are dropped into the folder This enables you to use Windows on a network connected workstation to map a drive to the content importer folder on the BMC node and copy any video files that you want imported to the BMC into that folder You can copy any type of file into the content importer folder including MPEG and video index VIX files However by default all files are imported into the video data DVL partition of the BMC You can configure Content Importer to import fi
45. video should play out properly on your analog TV monitor If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Decoding under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the decoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it plays serial digital and analog video properly you should test it under VDCP automation if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the decoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both Just as with ExdUtil you should be able to play video in back to back play to air mode or in trick mode 2 14 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing Serial Digital Video Before you control the decoder using VDCP automation make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node that hosts the decoder This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the decoder is configured for VDCP control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the decoder using VDCP automation note the following e The video disk device that you use in your automation system to represent the decoder must be bound to the same output port number as the decoder is bound to in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab For example if you use video disk device DEC3 i
46. 1 in the BMC node and in ExdUtil GENESIS_HD1 is bound to OUTPUT_PORT1 on that node you must bind HDO3 to Output Port in automation The HD decoder produces HD SDI output from MPEG files containing HD single program transport streams To play video from MPEG files containing multi program transport streams or to play back MPEG transport stream files as DVB ASI output you must use an MTS output device as described in Playing MPEG Transport Streams page 2 22 HD serial digital playback is frame accurate Therefore when you select video splice points using a SeaChange MediaMarker workstation you can select any frames For details see Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing Do not use any trick mode functions except for Pause Step Forward and Fast Forward At the time of this publishing the HD decoder does not support reverse trick mode functions If you use trick mode functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC the HD decoder might not work properly For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit As you control the HD decoder under VDCP automation the audio and video should play out properly on your analog TV monitor If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 2 36 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing HD Serial Digital Video
47. 2 00 NTSC3OMBLC 00 04 59 29 eae SeaChange 00 05 37 22 BA TD_Channel2 00 00 00 00 test3 00 03 00 03 Up Down 5 gt I Clear All Search eftesh Gontrol Track I Trick Mode ea Se _Bshesh Syne p Frames E Loop Chip Delete feat EAEE HE Cog Shuttle ie DECODER Connect foo 00 00 00 foo 00 00 00 Gl AA GG Ce Pause DOCTESTNODE Connected 16 35 14 PC NTSCDF Figure 2 15 ExdUtil Playback Tab Create a play list by selecting video files from the ID List and clicking Add Before or Add After Use the Up and Down buttons as needed to arrange the play list in the order you want the video files to be played Make sure to select only MPEG transport stream files which are shown in blue in the ID list Under Exd Decoders select the HD decoder to use to play the video files and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check on the Status tab to see if the device is locked by another control application Use the controls below the play list to play the video files either back to back using the Loop option or one at a time Do not use any trick mode controls except for Pause SF step forward and FF fast forward as the HD decoder does not support them currently For details on using the playback controls see Play List Section in the Utilities Reference Video
48. 4 Update the Software As eXd software Needed in the nstallation Guide Install or update an add on See the documentation for the add on software component software at docs schange com broadcast Reconfigure the eXd software See Step 6 Configure the System in the for a hardware change Installation Guide Create or restore a system See the Common Server Operations snapshot section of the SeaChange Server Reference 1 32 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Adjusting Configuration Settings Adjusting Configuration Settings If the BMC does not function properly after its initial installation and configuration you might need to adjust some configuration settings You might also need to adjust configuration settings if the system does not function properly after adding reinstalling or upgrading a hardware or software component or after changing how a hardware component is cabled or controlled In all such cases make sure first to complete the applicable portions of the basic software update and configuration procedures described in the nstallation Guide Then if the system still does not function properly follow the instructions in this section to adjust its configuration settings This section covers the following topics Types of Configuration Settings Modifying eXd Settings page 1 34 Backing Up eXd Settings page 1 35 Restoring eXd Settings from a Backup page 1 36 Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 Types of Configurat
49. 4 0 0utputPorts EnableGrooming 00000001 Dvb 734 0O OutputPorts EnablePlayPreemption ooogo001 Dvb 34 0 OutputPorts EnablePreRoll ooogo001 Dvb 734 0 OutputPorts EnableSplicing ooo0go001 Dvb 34 O O0utputPorts EnableSplitSessions 00000001 Dyb 34 0 0utputPorts MaxPrimeLimitInMS 00001388 Dvb 34 ON OutputPorts PreRollInNS 00001388 Dvb 734 O OutputPorts SessionTimeout InSecs 00000000A Dvb 734 ON OutputPorts StartingProgramID 00000002 Dvb 34 ON OutputSpigotCount 00000001 Dvb 734 0 PerfTunings1960InternalArbCt 1AAU 00000002 Figure 2 10 Viewing MTS Output Device Registry Settings 3 Change the following settings as needed C EnablePreRoll The default setting of 1 enables the use of a pre roll based on the two other settings below To disable the use of a pre roll change this setting to O MaxPrimeLimitInMS Both of these settings specify the pre roll in milliseconds Use the same value for both The default setting is 5000 5 PreRolllnM EREMAN seconds Do not set a pre roll lower than 3000 3 seconds 4 Ifyou made any changes reboot the node to make them take effect Video Recording and Playback 2 23 Playing MPEG Transport Streams Verifying MTS Playback Functionality You can use the Playback tab in ExdUtil to manually control an MTS output device to verify that the device plays back MPEG transport streams properly You can play a list of video files back to back to simulate broadcasting to air
50. 4 5 Enabling the Content Importer Service on a Node 3 In the Importer Control section of the page set Switch to On and click Set This enables the Content Importer service on the BMC node 4 In the Importer Directory Configuration section of the page click the icon next to an entry in the list A page like the following appears 4 12 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Transferring Video Files Manually SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer DER File Edit View Favorites Tools Help O BB O F amp B 8 Address E http idoctestnode MediaCtrl DeFault htm Table of z M contents MediaControl SeaChange Content Importer Home MediaCluster Directory 0 Configuration Content Souren Video Devices NTFS Directory C Contentimportervix File Specification Session Monitor Session Control Destination IP Streaming SeaFile Volume System Overwrite Existing vix Storage Utilities On Completion Downloads Delete Content Importer Move To N A Translate Error O Reset Board About C Local intranet Figure 4 6 Setting Up a Content Importer Folder on a Node 5 Complete the settings on the page as indicated in the following table and click Submit NTFS Directory The path and folder to set up as a content importer File Specification The type of files to allow to be imported Use wildcards as needed A single asterisk denotes all fil
51. BMC device such as an encoder decoder or MTS I O card check the status of that device on the Status tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Analyzing Device Status Information page 6 3 If the device is locked or stalled release or reset it as needed on the Status tab before proceeding with the next step Verify that the base BMC system can perform the operation that failed Use the SCP utility to manually peform the operation that failed such as video import recording or playback For information on the SCP command syntax to use see the SeaChange Server Reference If the operation fails using SCP check the error output displayed by SCP and if necessary the Windows event logs to determine the cause of the failure Correct any problems before proceeding with the next step Verify that the eXd software is running Use the Services tab in ExdUtil to check the status of ExdSvc on the BMC node that handled the operation that failed as instructed in Monitoring Software Services page 1 27 If ExdSvc is not running on the node restart it before proceeding with the next step Verify that the eXd software can perform the operation that failed Use ExdUtil to manually perform the operation that failed as instructed in the relevant previous chapter of this manual If the operation fails using ExdUtil check the eXd system log to determine the cause For information on using the eXd system log see System Log in the Utilities Reference Correct a
52. BMC that has been deliberately degraded to show the different status colors used in SeaView and MediaControl An actual BMC will normally appear in the green state The colors indicate the status of each server node as follows Red means the node is not operational usually because of a serious problem For example Node 3 above has a disconnected cluster cable and so cannot record or play video It cannot access video storage on the other nodes You must fix the problem before using the node Orange means the node is degraded due to a single cluster connectivity fault For example Nodes 0 1 and 2 above are degraded they can record and play video but they don t accept video deletion or rename requests A second cluster fault would take the system off air Yellow means there is full cluster connecitivty and the node is operational but the integrity of the video data has not been verified across the cluster yet For example if you reconnect Node 3 above all four nodes will go yellow while the video data is being verified in the cluster You can perform all operations on the nodes but video inventory requests might not return fully accurate results until at least one node goes green and is designated as the master node An M appears after the node number of the master node e Green means the node is fully operational As described previously the MediaControl utility is Web based and so provides a slightly di
53. Cluster GuestServe Networks and MeTIL are registered trademarks of SeaChange International Inc RAID is a trademark of SeaChange International Inc Microsoft MS MS DOS Windows Windows NT and SQL Server are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and or other countries Adobe the Adobe logo Acrobat and the Acrobat logo are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders Manual Title SeaChange BMC Management Guide Printing Date April 6 2006 Published by SeaChange International Inc 124 Acton St Maynard MA 01754 USA 2000 2005 by SeaChange International Inc All rights reserved Contents Contents Preface oran N eects tena dee ea eee aah eke eg vii About This Manual 02 0 0 0 eee ee ee eee vii Getting Technical Support 0 00 0 0 e eee eee vii 1 Management Basics 0 cece eens 1 1 System Capabilities eine beak g siete bye Mags Get ieee Gees 1 2 Recording and Playback Capabilities 0 1 2 Preview Markup and Editing Support 1 4 Inventory Management Capabilities 0 1 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast Capabilities 0 1 6 System Components 0 0 0 E E eee eee 1 8 Hardware Components 0 0 00 0c eee eee eee eee 1 8 Software Components
54. HD Decoding under Sony Protocol Control Once you have tested the HD decoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it plays HD serial digital and analog video properly you should test it under Sony protocol control if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the HD decoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both The Sony protocol does not support back to back playout it is designed primarily to support program preparation marking in and out and quality control operations Since the HD decoder has only limited trick mode capabilities you must take care when controlling it with Sony protocol Before you control the HD decoder using Sony protocol make sure the proper serial control cabling is in place from the Sony protocol device to the BMC node that hosts the HD decoder as described in Serial based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the HD decoder is configured for Sony protocol control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the HD decoder using Sony protocol note the following The HD decoder produces HD SDI output from MPEG files containing HD single program transport streams To play video from MPEG files containing multi program transport streams or to play back MPEG transport stream files as DVB ASI output you must use an MTS output device as de
55. How you want to preview the video files whether in real time while they are recording or only after they have finished recording Which video playback and editing tools are available at your site such as Windows MediaPlayer SeaChange MediaMarker Avid NewsCutter Adobe Premiere and so forth This chapter explains the various options you have for preview markup and editing operations and specifies the procedures to use in each case It includes the following sections e Previewing and Segmenting MPEG 2 Files page 3 2 Editing MPEG 2 Files page 3 3 e Previewing MPEG 1 Files page 3 4 Video Preview Markup and Editing 3 1 Previewing and Segmenting MPEG 2 Files Previewing and Segmenting MPEG 2 Files To preview and segment MPEG 2 video files that are stored in the BMC you have two options Use a standard BMC decoder The standard BMC decoder lets you preview and segment MPEG 2 program streams and MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 system streams but not MPEG transport streams You can preview clips either in real time while they are recording or after they have finished recording To preview clips in real time you must designate on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil the decoder as the preview device for the encoder that records the clips In this case you control only the recording operation the realtime playback occurs automatically Either way you can use VDCP automation or Sony protocol to control the operation See Recordi
56. OTE If the solution to your problem requires hardware or software maintenance see Maintaining Hardware and Software page 1 32 for the instructions to follow If you need help completing any action suggested in this chapter or if the suggested actions do not resolve your problem contact SeaChange as instructed in Getting Technical Support page vii Troubleshooting 6 1 Diagnostic Guidelines Diagnostic Guidelines This section gives general guidelines for BMC problem diagnosis including instructions on how to obtain and analyze status information and event data that can be useful in determining the cause of various types of BMC problems It includes the following sections e General Troubleshooting Procedure e Analyzing Device Status Information page 6 3 e Analyzing Control Communications page 6 4 General Troubleshooting Procedure To determine whether a BMC problem lies with the base system the hardware or Vstrm software the eXd software or the external control equipment use the following procedure 1 Verify that the base BMC system is operational Use the SeaView or MediaControl utility to check the overall status of the BMC cluster or the single node as instructed in Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 If the base system is not operational correct the problem before proceeding with the next step Verify that the specific BMC device is operational If the operation that failed used a specific
57. Recording and Playback 2 35 Playing HD Serial Digital Video As you control the HD decoder the audio and video should play out properly on your TV monitoring equipment If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting HD Decoding under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the HD decoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it plays HD serial digital video properly you should test it under VDCP automation if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the HD decoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both Before you control the HD decoder using VDCP automation make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node that hosts the HD decoder This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the HD decoder is configured for VDCP control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the HD decoder using VDCP automation note the following The video disk device that you use in your automation system to represent the HD decoder must be bound to the same output port number as the HD decoder is bound to in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab For example if you use video disk device HDO3 in the automation system to represent GENESIS_HD
58. S or on the server node in a single node system in case you should need to reinstall the software at any point The kit includes the Vstrm and eXd software that was installed on the BMC at the factory or upgraded by SeaChange personnel at your site plus any free add on software packages that were available from SeaChange at the time The latest versions of these software components are also available for download from the SeaChange FTP site If you need access to this site contact SeaChange as instructed in Getting Technical Support page vii Video Data Components Each video clip that is stored in the BMC consists of the following components e Video data MPEG file The compressed video and audio data for the video clip are stored in an MPEG file in the dvl partition of the video file storage system SeaFile Depending on how the data is encoded the file contains either an MPEG system program or transport stream Video captured for time delayed rebroadcast is stored in a special circular MPEG file that is actually a series of MPEG file segments each named with a TD_ prefix by default e Video index VIX file The VIX file contains a quick look up index of the video frames and the corresponding audio data in the MPEG file relieving the system from having to parse the MPEG file every Management Basics 1 9 System Components time it needs to access the video clip VIX files are stored in the vix partition of SeaFile an
59. SeaChange Broadcast System MediaCluster Management Guide SeaChange SeaChange International Inc April 6 2006 Notice While SeaChange believes the information included in this publication is correct as of the publication date information in this document is subject to change without notice UNLESS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN A WRITTEN AGREEMENT SIGNED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF SEACHANGE INTERNATIONAL INC SEACHANGE MAKES NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN INCLUDING WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PURPOSE SeaChange International Inc assumes no responsibility or obligation of any kind for any errors contained herein or in connection with the furnishing performance or use of this document Software described in SeaChange documents a is the property of SeaChange International Inc or the third party b is furnished only under license and c may be copied or used only as expressly permitted under the terms of the license All contents of this manual are copyrighted by SeaChange International Inc The information contained herein is the exclusive property of SeaChange International Inc and shall not be copied transferred photocopied translated on paper film electronic media or computer readable form or otherwise reproduced in any way without the express written permission of SeaChange International Inc SeaChange SeaChange International Media
60. Search Gij Favorites E hHistory E5 E Address http bme2 MediaCtrl Default htm 5 Tabl a Paa MediaControl Port List 1 al Home MediaCluster Number Vendor Content SeaChange Video Devices SeaChange 5 SeaChange SeaChange SeaChange SeaChange SeaChange Description MPEG Decoder MPEG Decoder MPEG Decoder MPEG Decoder MPEG Decoder MPEG Decoder MPEG Encoder Figure 1 18 Viewing Video I O Device Status in MediaControl You can view additional details on a specific video I O device by clicking its board icon in the port list Both SeaView and MediaControl provide other features for monitoring the BMC Later sections of this manual describe how to use some of these features For more information on using SeaView and MediaControl see their online help or refer to the SeaChange Server Reference For information on resolving problems that you discover using SeaView or MediaControl see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Monitoring Software Services The Services tab in ExdUtil lets you view the status of the software services that are installed on the BMC server nodes For example here s what you might see on the Services tab after double clicking a particular server node in the left pane Management Basics 1 27 Monitoring System Operations Jh Extensible Disk Utility BBE Connect Services Configuration Playback Record l Inventory Archive l Status Service Status Startup Al
61. You must use the Sony utility to cue the encoder to record a specific video ID before you can control the encoder using a Sony protocol device For details see Sony Utility in the Utilities Reference When you request a recording session on the encoder the BMC does not reserve the total storage needed for the operation ahead of time It is up to you to determine whether enough storage space is available based on your knowledge of other operations on the BMC For example if video files are being restored to the BMC from an archive system and you are unaware of those operations the BMC could run out of storage space during the recording session For an Avid editing workstation to control the encoder to record video material into the BMC support for Sony protocol extensions must be added to the BMC node by installing the SeaChange MediaDub software as described in the MediaDub Setup and User Guide e For details on how SeaChange implements Sony protocol support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit When you are done performing a recording session under Sony protocol control the new video file should appear in the BMC inventory and should play properly when previewed If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Video Recording and Playback 2 9 Playing Serial Digital Video Playing Serial Digital Video To play out standard defin
62. air on the second AES port with 3 0 dB reduction in volume 2 The second audio decoder chip opens the MPEG 1 audio stream and plays it on the third AES port with the default 6 0 dB reduction in volume NOTE The HD decoder can play AAC audio only through its first audio decoder chip If you configure the first AES port to play Dolby AC3 or DolbyE audio the HD decoder will use its first audio decoder chip to play that audio and therefore will not be able to play any AAC audio Therefore if you need to play both Dolby or DolbyE audio and AAC audio you should configure the first AES port to play the AAC audio and the second AES port to play the Dolby or DolbyE audio HD Decoder Output Signal Timing To adjust the timing phase of the HD decoder s digital output signal do the following 1 On the node that hosts the HD decoder open a command prompt and change to the C Vstrmkit directory 2 Issue a command of the following format to adjust the digital output signal phase relative to genlock velacmd hdtiming port horizontal vertical switch The command parameters are as follows port The Vstrm port number of the HD decoder head You can view the port number in SeaView by clicking the icon small circle representing the HD decoder head in the node view horizontal The horizontal phase offset from genlock in units of 27 MHz 27 ns This is the fine adjustment The default is 880 for NTSC and 1100 for PAL vertica
63. an MTS input device NOTE MTS capture operations using ExdUtil are not frame accurate since the BOSS controls the MTS input device over a network connection Always use VDCP automation to control MTS capture sessions for production use To verify an MTS input device s ability to capture an MPEG transport stream do the following 1 On the BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node that hosts the MTS I O card 3 When you are connected to the node select the Record tab illustrated below MPEG User Settings l z Video Resolution fea Ay Ai p_ a Video Bitrate Bit s Stream Type Video Source om Connect aE PreRall sec Sync ms F lt lt Record Audio Channel 1 and 2 Video ID Duration 00 00 30 000 Progress 00 00 00 00 e Ly Fea ee ee bee Bit s Sample Rate Khz I Real Time Preview Encoder Device JENCODER1 7 l 7 r Playback m Audio Channel 3 and 4 EEEE a 00 00 00 00 ee Jog C Shuttle MO Bitrate Bit s Sample Rate Kha __ 00 00 00 0 Ea r Tr I SE Gue Play Pause Stap Jg FF DOCTESTNODE Additional Audio Ghannels Connected 14 48 52 PC NTSCDF Figure 2 9 ExdUtil Record Tab Video Recording and Playback 2 19
64. and it is running 5 12 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Operating Time Delay Channels If the BOSS fails while you are running time delay operations you can restart the BOSS and the Time Delay utility to resume control of the existing time delay operations automatically or manually Or you can start the Time Delay utility on a backup BOSS and manually connect to the devices to resume control of the existing time delay operations if you have created the proper backup channels on the other BOSS For information on how to set up backup channels to prepare for the above types of situations see Preparing BMC Devices for Time Delay page 5 3 NOTE If the Time Delay utility detects that a channel device is unavailable in use inoperative or offline it does not try to start the device automatically In such cases you must start the device manually as described in Starting Time Delay Operations page 5 9 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 13 Operating Time Delay Channels 5 14 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 6 Troubleshooting This chapter gives both general guidelines for diagnosing BMC problems and tips for dealing with specific operational problems that you might encounter It includes the following sections e Diagnostic Guidelines page 6 2 e Recording Problems page 6 5 e Playback Problems page 6 6 e Archive Problems page 6 7 e File Transfer Problems page 6 8 Time Delay Problems page 6 9 N
65. armCol Running Automatic SeaBld Stopped Manual Stop SeaMon Running Automatic ExdSve Running Automatic SeaChange Services C All Services DOCTESTNODE Not Connected 16 20 28 PC NTSCDF Figure 1 19 Viewing the Status of Software Services on a Server Node Only a few software services are listed by default You can select the All Services option if you need to view information on services that are not listed in the default view For each software service the Services tab shows whether the service is currently running or stopped and how the service is configured to start up whether automatically when the node boots or only when you manually start it Some of the software services that you should monitor include Enables the BMC to respond to VDCP or Sony protocol requests received from external automation or control systems through RS 422 serial or IP network connections This service is critical to all operations that you control through VDCP automation Sony compliant controller devices or eXd utilities If it stops restart it and check the eXd system log and the Windows application event log to investigate the cause of the problem RemoteVstrmApiSrv Enables the BMC to respond to Vstrm API calls received from remote applications through IP network connections This service is critical to applications that make such calls such as Etere automation It can stop if the remote application has
66. as XSTRM_OUTPUT1 in the figure above can play back MPEG transport streams using the DVB ASI standard from the MPEG files created by the input devices on the MTS I O cards in back to back mode for transmission to a downstream MTS decoder MTS output devices do not have trick mode playback capabilities and so you must use a separate application such as SeaChange MediaMarker to segment the video files Playback of single program transport streams SPTS is GOP accurate so you must choose I frames as the cue in and cue out points in video clips Raw playback without cue in or cue out points of multi program transport streams MPTS is also supported Playing HD serial digital video If the system has any HD decoders such as GENESIS_HD_1 in the figure above it can play back HD SDI video streams from MPEG files containing HD single program transport streams SPTS captured by the input devices on the MTS I O cards in back to back mode for live broadcast HD decoders do not have full trick mode playback capabilities and so you must use a separate application such as SeaChange MediaMarker to segment the video files Playback is frame accurate so you can choose any frames as the cue in and cue out points in video clips HD decoders also provide analog outputs for monitoring video quality You can control all of the above operations using VDCP automation with RS 422 or TCP IP connections You can also use Sony protocol equipment such as a ta
67. ase system Vstrm software also provides utilities for transferring video files to and from external network connected systems However these utilities do not handle the three video file components transparently This section explains how to use the following Vstrm utilities to transfer MPEG files and video index VIX files between the BMC and a network connected workstation Transferring Video Files with FTP e Importing Video Files with Content Importer page 4 11 CAUTION At the time of this publishing neither of these utilities provides a way to transfer the private data component of a video file Transferring Video Files with FTP The base BMC system Vstrm software includes a built in FTP service This enables you to use an FTP utility on a network connected workstation to retrieve video files from the BMC or send video files to the BMC You must transfer the MPEG and video index VIX files separately and you cannot transfer private data You can issue FTP requests to any server node in the BMC Before using FTP to transfer a file ensure the following The BMC node and the workstation are on the same IP subnet and their DNS host names are the same as their NetBEUI Microsoft machine names The FTP service on the BMC node is configured to support the number of FTP connections you will make and the workstation is equipped with a supported FTP utility For details look up Streaming FTP Protocol in the SeaC
68. call back We guarantee a response within two hours regardless of time of day Please have the following information available e The case number if you are calling about a previous problem Your name company name and location city state or province and country Telephone number at which you can be reached for the next two hours Detailed problem description including the symptoms the activities that preceded the problem and your troubleshooting steps and observations vii viii SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 1 Management Basics Managing the Broadcast MediaCluster BMC involves monitoring its operations maintaining its hardware and software adjusting its configuration settings if needed and troubleshooting the system if problems occur To perform these tasks you need to know the basic capabilities and components of the system as well as common tools and procedures for managing the system This chapter explains these items Subsequent chapters provide details on setting up and managing specific operations and on troubleshooting the system if problems occur This chapter contains the following sections System Capabilities page 1 2 System Components page 1 8 Common Management Tools page 1 13 Monitoring System Operations page 1 22 Maintaining Hardware and Software page 1 32 Adjusting Configuration Settings page 1 33 Management Basics 1 1 System Capabilities System Capabil
69. ch device a VDCP output port represents Management Basics 1 11 System Components Sample Names Name Description Sony control CONTROL_PORT1 These are logical Sony ports that represent the BMC playout port CONTROL_PORT2 and recording devices During hardware detection eXd automatically defines one Sony control port for each playout device in the node in the order listed above and one Sony control port for each recording device in the node in the order listed above For example if the node has DECODER1 DECODER2 XSTRM_OUTPUT1 ENCODER 1 and XSTRM_INPUT1 eXd defines CONTROL_PORT1 through CONTROL_PORTS to represent those devices respectively You can change which device a Sony control port represents or you can change a Sony control port to represent both an encoder and an associated preview decoder Serial port COM5 COM6 These are the RS 422 serial communication ports on the server node s serial interface panel COM5 corresponds to the first port on the interface panel COM6 to the second and so on During hardware detection eXd automatically adds one COM port to the Configuration tab in ExdUtil for controlling each video I O device in the node starting with COM5 and counting upward You can add more COM ports to the Configuration tab if needed Network TCP1 TCP2 These are logical network ports within a logical TCP IP socket port on a physical network port in the server node During installation eXd automatical
70. ck Specs NOTE As of the publication date controlling an MTS output device with Sony protocol is not supported See the Release Notes for the most up to date information This section gives guidelines and procedures for e Configuring the MTS Output Device e Verifying MTS Playback Functionality page 2 24 e MTS Playback under VDCP Automation page 2 25 Configuring the MTS Output Device When you configure an MTS output device the settings you make apply to all the operations of that device whether you control the operations through VDCP automation or manually through ExdUtil For each MTS output device you can configure the following e Basic settings determine whether the MTS output device expects to process NTSC or PAL video and what program ID it gives to the first or only program in the MPEG transport streams that it plays out To change these settings use the VsConfig utility as instructed in Configuring the MTS Input Device page 2 17 This requires a node reboot e Device settings determine whether the MTS output device always interprets the Cue In time codes it receives as being relative to a zero SOM and what bitrate it uses for playout You can change these settings in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab under XstrmOutputPorts and apply the changes immediately without rebooting the node or resetting the MTS output device For details see Xstrm Output Port Settings in the Utilities Reference e Pre roll settings de
71. ct Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status Play List I ration Add Before Up Down s E A F Control Track F Trick Mode K Delete Sync J0 Frames cop Skip full 00 00 00 0 o Jog Shut ID List oe 15Mb_O01_NTSC Add After mknuffls 00 00 02 0 NTSC30MBLC 00 04 59 29 ers ee SeaChange 00 05 37 22 mee TD_Channel2 00 00 00 00 test3 00 03 00 03 gt Search Refresh m Exd Decoders DECODER pomm O00 oon R E oom DOCTESTNODE 16 35 14 PC NTSCDF Connected Figure 2 8 ExdUtil Playback Tab 4 Create a play list by selecting video files from the ID List and clicking Add Before or Add After Use the Up and Down buttons as needed to arrange the play list in the order you want the video files to be played 5 Under Exd Decoders select the decoder to use to play the video files and click Connect If you get an error message try connecting again If the error persists check on the Status tab to see if the decoder is locked by another control application 6 Use the controls below the play list to play the video files either back to back using the Loop option or in trick mode using the Trick Mode option For details on using the playback controls see Play List Section in the Utilities Reference As you control the decoder the audio and
72. d Verifying Inventory Functions You can use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to view the video inventory in the BMC and to manually delete or rename video files or set their attributes This allows you to verify the BMC inventory functions before you start using automation to manage the inventory 1 On the BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node whose inventory functions you want to verify Video Inventory Management 4 3 Viewing and Managing the Video Inventory NOTE Each BMC node displays the same video inventory list 3 On the Inventory tab click Refresh to display the list of videos as illustrated below 3 Extensible Disk Utility DOCTESTNODE Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status Duration DateTime VideoFormat_ SOM Pratectec 15Mb 01 NTSC 00 00 30 00 09 07 2004 14 50 26 NTSC DF 00 00 00 00 MediaCluster mpeg 00 00 00 00 01 25 2005 11 58 22 PAL 00 00 00 00 PLC12MB 00 00 00 00 01 25 2005 11 56 05 PAL 00 00 00 00 SeaChange 00 05 37 22 04 23 2001 09 38 07 NTSC DF 00 00 00 00 Delete TD_Channel2 00 00 00 00 10 22 2004 14 24 40 NTSC DF 00 00 00 00 test3 00 03 00 03 10 20 2004 14 49 34 NTSC DF 00 00 00 00 nena Modify 00 07 21 26 14 Storage amp lDs dd hh mm ss DOCTESTNODE Connected 16 27 41 PC NTSCDF Figure 4 1 Vie
73. d have the same filename as the MPEG file but with a vix extension e Private data Private data is video metadata which can include two different types brief private data and user private data Brief private data is basic video attributes like duration and type NTSC or PAL that are stored for every video file User private data is any other metadata that an application might need to store for each video file and is optional Neither brief nor user private data is stored in a particular file but is immediately accessible in the server node s memory whenever SeaFile is running Whenever the BMC transfers a video clip to a non SeaChange archive system or to a BML it packages all of the above video data components into a file of the following format e SeaChange archive file SAF This is a container file for transporting and storing the different video file components together A SeaChange archive file is sometimes stored with a saf extension on the external archive system For more information on SeaChange video file formats see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit Component Names In eXd utilities the various BMC hardware software and video data components are referred to by the following names Sample Names Name Description Video clip TOPGUN The video ID filename of each clip stored in the BMC can HDSPOT have up to 32 characters and must be un
74. definition serial digital video properly You can play a list of video files back to back to simulate broadcasting to air or you can jog and shuttle through a video file to simulate quality control or program preparation operations NOTES e The Playback tab does not let you play video clips back to back based on premarked splice points nor is back to back playout frame accurate since the BOSS controls the decoder over a network connection Always use VDCP automation or a Sony protocol device to control program preparation and playout operations for production use e We do not recommend using the MediaControl utility to test decoders as it bypasses the configuration settings and safety checks provided by the eXd software If you do use it to test a decoder make sure the BMC is off air e Do not use jog or shuttle functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC If you do the decoder might not work properly To verify a standard decoder s playout functionality do the following 1 Onthe BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Connect tab connect to the server node that hosts the decoder 3 When you are connected to the node select the Playback tab illustrated below Video Recording and Playback 2 13 Playing Serial Digital Video Jh Extensible Disk Utility DOCTESTNODE Pi Es Conne
75. deo Inventory Management 4 7 Archiving and Restoring Video Files 4 Select the video file that you want to archive or restore and click Export or Import to initiate the transfer An entry appears in the Active Status list allowing you to monitor the progress of the operation See Archive Tab in the Utilities Reference for details on using the lists and buttons on the Archive tab Try deleting a video file from the archive by selecting it from the list on the right and clicking the Delete button below the list If you encounter problems archiving or restoring video files with ExdUtil see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Archiving under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the BMC archive functionality manually with ExdUtil and have verified that it works you should test it under VDCP automation if you plan to control archive operations that way for production use Make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node to which you will issue archive requests This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide When you perform archive operations using VDCP automation note the following The BMC node and the archive system must be on the same IP subnet and their DNS host names must be the same as their NetBEUI Microsoft machine names The BMC node that you issue archive requests to should
76. e 1 36 Backing Up eXd Settings If you are about to make significant changes to the eXd settings on a server node but you might need to restore the current eXd settings later you should save the current settings as a backup The factory default eXd settings are saved initially in a backup called ControlSet1 and each backup you create thereafter is called ControlSet2 ControlSet3 and so forth up to ControlSet5 If you create a sixth backup it overwrites ControlSet1 so that only five backups are saved at a time A backup is created automatically if you run the Force Auto Config process described in the Utilities Reference To create a backup of the current eXd settings on a server node do the following 1 Start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 2 On the Configuration tab select the server node in the left pane 3 Click the Backup button at the bottom of the window The dialog illustrated below appears The title of the dialog shows the name that will be given to the new backup Exd Configuration Backup ControlSet3 Ea Enter a description for this ControlSet3 I a Figure 1 22 Backing Up the Current eXd Settings Management Basics 1 35 Adjusting Configuration Settings WARNING If a backup with the specified name already exists it will be overwritten when you create the new backup 4 Inthe dialog enter a description for the new backup so that you can distinguish it from any
77. e Delay Channel Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 5 Setting Up Time Delay Channels 3 Fill in the Configure Channel Dialog described in the Utilities Reference and click OK A Channel view appears for the new channel in the main Time Delay window allowing you to control time delay operations Depending on the settings you selected for the channel the video capture recording process might start up automatically on the channel For more information see Operating Time Delay Channels page 5 9 Modifying Time Delay Channels If you want to lengthen or shorten the time delay for an existing channel while it is on air without disrupting service see Modifying a Time Delay while On Air page 5 11 To othewise modify the configuration settings for a time delay channel do the following 1 Ifyou haven t already done so start the Time Delay utility on the BOSS by clicking Start gt Programs gt SeaChange Extensible Disk gt TimeDelay The main window appears T TimeDelay Channel DES File view Channel Configure Window Help 3 Channel folx T Channel2 DER Ss Connect Connect For Help press F1 17 54 29 PC Figure 5 2 Viewing Existing Time Delay Channels 2 In the main window select the view of the channel that you want to modify so that its window is in front 3 If you plan to modify an input or output port for the channel to use a different device and that port is currently rec
78. e same node components appear as in the cluster view plus additional details such as fan and power supply status and RAID controller information From the node view you can access the cluster view by clicking Cluster View For more information on using SeaView to monitor the status of the base system see Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 MediaControl Utility MediaControl is a Web based utility for monitoring the status of the BMC base system You can also use it to control some BMC operations for testing purposes when the BMC is off air only You can run it on any network connected Windows workstation equipped with Internet Explorer 6 0 or later If your BOSS and server nodes have Internet Explorer 6 0 or later which is true of BMC 15000 30000 and 60000 systems you can also run it on those machines To start MediaControl on a network connected Windows workstation do the following 1 In Internet Explorer 6 0 or later go to http nodename where nodename is the network name of the server node that you want MediaControl to connect to initially The default Web page for the specified server node appears 1 16 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Common Management Tools 4 SeaChange Web Microsoft Internet Explorer _ ol x Bie Edt Yew Go Favoies Hep O O00000 e gt Ob A 8g 4s Address http exa0 Links SeaChange Web Demonstration SEACHANGE Documentation INTERNATIONAL M
79. eaChange BMC Management Guide Preface About This Manual This manual tells how to manage a Broadcast MediaCluster BMC 15000 30000 or 60000 system after it has been installed It is intended for the SeaChange personnel who service the system and any other personnel who assist to manage the system at the customer site This manual has been updated for the Broadcast 2 0 release For details on changes and issues in recent Broadcast releases see the Release Notes For the most up to date version of this manual and all Broadcast product documentation visit docs schange com broadcast If you are a SeaChange employee you can find the same information on the company intranet This manual contains the following chapters e Chapter 1 Management Basics e Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback e Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing e Chapter 4 Video Inventory Management e Chapter 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast e Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Getting Technical Support As part of the standard service contract SeaChange provides technical support 24 hours per day 7 days per week and a process to replace faulty components quickly You can send email to techsupport schange com at any time or call the following telephone number directly 1 978 897 7300 Press 1 for Technical Support then press 4 for Broadcast products If a support engineer can t take your call immediately either hold the line or leave a phone number they can
80. ed to adjust the length of a channel s time delay after the channel has already started broadcasting to air If you want to lengthen the delay without disrupting service you must already have an Extra Delay defined for the channel that is long enough to accomodate the change that you want to make as explained in How Time Delayed Video Is Stored page 5 2 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 11 Operating Time Delay Channels To modify a channel s time delay while it is broadcasting to air do the following 1 Inthe main Time Delay window select the view of the channel that you want to modify so that its window is in front 2 On the menu bar click Configure gt Configure Channel The Configure Channel dialog appears 3 In the dialog make one of the following changes to the Extra Delay field Ifyou plan to increase the channel s time delay by an amount of time decrease the extra delay by that same amount of time Ifyou plan to decrease the channel s time delay by an amount of time increase the extra delay by that same amount of time 4 Inthe Decoders list box select the output port whose time delay you want to modify and click the Configure button The Configure Output dialog appears 5 In the dialog change the Delay field to the new value you want and click OK 6 Click OK in the Configure Channel dialog to save and apply the changes immediately The playout should jump
81. ediaControl Jal E E Local intranet zone 7 Figure 1 9 Default Web Page for a Server Node 2 Inthe left pane click MediaControl The MediaControl utility appears Management Basics 1 17 Common Management Tools 3 SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer iol xi File Edit View Favorites Tools Help EJ Back gt A A Asearch Favorites Hristory Gy Address ja http bmc0 MediaCtrl Default htm z Eao Links 2 4 Table of s E contents MediaControl MediaCluster Home MediaCluster ea Cluster Node List Video Devices Id Name Version Base Level Build State FS State IP Sessions IP Bandwidth Session Monitor MLO BMCO Y4 1 0 04 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 2 75 3 Kbps 1 BMC1 Y4 1 0 4 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 2 0 0 Kbps Session Control 2 BMC Y4 1 0 04 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 0 0 0 Kbps IP Streaming 3 Not Reachable System Storage Utilities as gt E Done a Local intranet A Figure 1 10 MediaControl Utility The information on the MediaControl main page is organized as a list of nodes It does not show the individual disk drives or video I O devices in the nodes like SeaView does but that information is available on other pages For more information on using MediaControl to monitor the status of the BMC base system see Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 Extensible Disk Utility The Extensib
82. en Port successes and the Select Port successes should increase uniformly over time If the Select Port successes do not increase alongside the Open Port successes either the control equipment is not sending the Select Port command or it is selecting a different port than it is opening For details on how the BMC requires VDCP and Sony protocol communications to be conducted see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit Open Port Errors If this count increases over time there are several possible causes The codec port might already have been opened or locked by a different control application or the codec device may have stalled You can use the buttons on the Status tab in ExdUtil to release unlock reset or acquire relock codec devices If the codec board is faulty you must replace it If the VDCP input output port number is bound to the wrong device on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil correct the problem as instructed in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide 6 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording Problems Recording Problems The following are possible causes and solutions to BMC recording problems Possible Cause Automation is using the wrong VDCP input port to refer to the recording device The COM or TCP port used by the control equipment to communicate with the recording device is locked by a different control app
83. en received to control any devices in the server node yet If requests were received you would see the name of the requested device the status of the device and information on the specific VDCP commands sent to the device Remote procedure call RPC control connections to the eXd software on the server node For example the first entry in the RPC Connections row above shows that the first RPC connection to eXd on the node comes from node SEACHANGEE5877 application ExdUtil which currently has one eXd cache video inventory session open and no eXd archive sessions open Serial communication COM ports on the server node that are configured for Sony protocol communication If you scrolled down in the above Status window you would not see a Sony row because no COM ports on that server node are configured for Sony protocol communication However if there were any so configured you would see an entry for each one For example you might see that COM8 is being used by a Sony protocol application to control DECODER2 and you would see information on the specific Sony protocol commands sent to the device Network communication TCP ports on the server node s RJ 45 network ports that eXd is configured to listen on For example you might see that eXd is configured to listen on TCP1 and has it locked for VDCP communication When monitoring operations on the Status tab you must refresh the display of information often as it is not updated
84. ent Guide Archive Problems Archive Problems The following are possible causes and solutions to BMC archive problems Possible Cause Archive support is not enabled or configured properly on the BMC node Automation is using the wrong archive drive number to refer to the BMC node or the archive TCP IP communications are not working between the BMC node and the archive The BMC does not have enough storage space to import the video content The network cabling from the archive to the BMC is wrong The BMC has run out of video I O bandwidth The network port on the BMC node is faulty Make sure archive support is enabled on the BMC node and that the allowed archive targets are defined correctly on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure Archive Support in the Installation Guide Make sure the local machine ID for the BMC node and the allowed archive drive numbers are defined correctly on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure Archive Support in the Installation Guide Issue ping commands in both directions between the node and the archive See Archiving under VDCP Automation page 4 8 for TCP IP network configuration requirements Use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to check the amount of video storage remaining See also Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 for background information on this issue Check that the cables are connected firmly to the correct por
85. enter the video file URL and click OK The video file URL syntax is http node file where node is the BMC node name or IP address and file is the MPEG 1 filename for example http bmc1 coke mpg As soon as MediaPlayer has buffered enough video playout begins You can rewind and advance only within the portion of video that has been buffered so far If the video file is still recording on the BMC you must keep reopening the URL to get more video as the recording progresses unless your automation system provides special realtime preview support For details on how an automation system can support realtime preview in MediaPlayer look up Streaming HTTP Protocol in the SeaChange Server Reference e Use MediaPlayer on a Windows workstation with the Streaming Client plug in Streaming Client is free MediaPlayer plug in software from SeaChange It enables you to use MediaPlayer on a network connected Windows workstation to stream MPEG 1 files from the BMC using the proprietary SeaChange streaming protocol and preview the files on the workstation To do this on the workstation in MediaPlayer click File gt Open URL enter the video file URL and click OK The video file URL syntax is sea node file where node is the BMC node name or IP address and file is the MPEG 1 filename for example sea bmc1 coke mpg MediaPlayer begins playout immediately You can rewind and advance anywhere in the video without buffering delays If the video i
86. er head or No if you want to set some differently You should set both heads of the same HD decoder heads 0 1 2 3 4 5 and so on to the same video mode Enter the number of audio channel pairs contained in each Advanced Audio Coding AAC stream within the MPEG transport stream files in the BMC or accept the default setting of 2 If none of the audio streams in the MPEG transport stream files in the BMC are encoded with AAC just accept the default setting Specify the audio stream to play on each AES audio port of the HD decoder by entering a string of the format described in Format of Audio Source Priority Setting page 2 29 or accept the default settings Note Dolby encoded audio can be played passed through only on the first two ports Only two AES playouts are provided unless you use AAC Enter a string indicating how the HD decoders in this node are to find information about the program s contained in MPEG transport stream files To play an MPEG transport stream file an HD decoder must find the program access table PAT and program map tables PMTs in the file This setting specifies the search order to use for optimal performance For example the default AVF setting specifies to search for the PAT and PMT information as follows 1 Query eXd for the video file attributes A 2 If not found query the video index file V 3 If not found parse the video file itself F Playing HD Serial Di
87. er node to make your changes take effect SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback The standard encoders and decoders in the BMC can record and play back standard definition serial digital video under VDCP automation or Sony protocol control The MPEG transport stream MTS I O cards in the BMC can record and play back MPEG transport streams containing standard or high definition video under VDCP automation The HD decoders in the BMC can play out high definition serial digital video from MPEG transport streams containing high definition video under VDCP automation or Sony protocol control For a summary of these BMC capabilities and their limitations see System Capabilities page 1 2 This chapter explains how to configure the video I O devices in the BMC to perform recording and playback operations how to manually test these operations and how to ensure that the BMC works properly with your VDCP automation or Sony protocol control equipment when performing such operations This chapter includes the following sections e Recording Serial Digital Video page 2 2 e Playing Serial Digital Video page 2 10 e Recording MPEG Transport Streams page 2 17 Playing MPEG Transport Streams page 2 22 e Playing HD Serial Digital Video page 2 27 Video Recording and Playback 2 1 Recording Serial Digital Video Recording Serial Digital Video To record a standard definition serial digital video feed into
88. ers Playout devices in the server node For example the first entry in the Decoders row above shows that GENESIS_HD1 is playing video on one head has video cued to the other head is locked being controlled by the application using the first RPC Com Ports Serial communication COM ports on the server node s RS 422 interface panel that eXd is configured to listen on For example the first entry in the Com Ports row above shows that eXd is configured to listen on COM5 and has locked it for VDCP connection on the node and is playing NFL_54HD_1m at position 00 00 10 01 1 30 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Monitoring System Operations Row Shows Information on Encoders Louth Ports RPC Connections Sony Ports TCP Ports Recording devices in the server node This row does not appear in the above example because that server node does not have any recording devices If it did there would be an Encoders row with entries for each recording device For example you might see an entry indicating that ENCODER is recording video under VDCP control through COM5 and is currently recording TOPGUN at position 01 12 55 22 Or you might see an entry providing information on what XSTRM_INPUT1 is doing Communication COM or TCP ports on the server node that are configured for VDCP automation to use For example the first entry in the Louth Ports row above shows that COM5 is locked for VDCP communication but no requests have be
89. ers explain how to record new clips into the system from digital video feeds and how to transfer edited video clips into the system from video editing workstations You can also import the entire video inventory of another SeaChange Broadcast system automatically or import specific video files from any network location manually subject to certain limitations Once you have content in the BMC you can use your automation or asset management system to rename delete archive or restore specific video files as needed See Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 for a summary of these capabilities This chapter explains how to set up and perform the following operations Importing Content from Another Broadcast System page 4 2 e Viewing and Managing the Video Inventory page 4 3 e Archiving and Restoring Video Files page 4 6 e Transferring Video Files Manually page 4 9 Video Inventory Management 4 1 Importing Content from Another Broadcast System Importing Content from Another Broadcast System The eXd software on the BMC includes a Cluster to Cluster CTC Archive utility that facilitates loading the BMC initially with video content from another Broadcast system BMC BMS or BML Actually you can use the utility at any time to fully or partially synchronize the contents of the BMC with another network connected Broadcast system In such an operation the other Broadcast system from which you get the content is called the
90. es Only files that match the wildcard pattern will be imported Video Inventory Management 4 13 Transferring Video Files Manually 6 Repeat the previous step as needed to set up any additional content importer folders that you want 7 Toremove a folder from those that are configured as content importers access the folder s Directory Configuration page and click the Delete button 8 To apply the Content Importer changes to the BMC node in the left pane of the Services tab in ExdUtil double click the BMC node select the All Services option and scroll down in the right pane and select StrService Then stop and start that service 4 14 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast The eXd software on the BMC includes a Time Delay utility that lets you capture an incoming video broadcast and rebroadcast it on a time delayed basis For example if you have a parent broadcast station in a time zone two hours ahead of you you can capture their broadcast delay it two hours and rebroadcast it locally on the same schedule as they use Once you set up a channel in the Time Delay utility to perform such an operation the delayed rebroadcast runs continuously 24 hours per day 7 days per week unless you stop it For an overview of how this process works and the BMC devices it uses see Time Delayed Rebroadcast Capabilities page 1 6 NOTE At the time of this publishing time delayed
91. est it under VDCP automation if you plan to control it that way for production use Before you control the MTS output device using VDCP automation make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node that hosts the MTS output device This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the MTS output device is configured for VDCP control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide When you control the MTS output device using VDCP automation note the following e The video disk device that you use in your automation system to represent the MTS output device must be bound to the same output port number as the MTS output device is bound to in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab For example if you use video disk device TSO3 in the automation system to represent XSTRM_OUTPUTI in the BMC node and in ExdUtil XSTRM_OUTPUT1 is bound to OUTPUT_PORT1 on that node you must bind TSO3 to Output Port in automation The MTS output device produces only DVB ASI output A downstream MTS decoder is required to convert the DVB ASI signal to serial digital video If the MPEG transport stream to be played is an HD single program transport stream SPTS you can use an HD decoder in the BMC to play it out as an HD serial digital video stream as described in Pla
92. extensions to the BMC that enable an Avid editing workstation to control standard codecs in the BMC over a serial cable connection Through a video cable connection to the BMC decoder the Avid workstation can ingest 30 Mbps or lower standard MPEG 2 video clips from the BMC edit the clips and record them back into the BMC through a video cable connection to the BMC encoder For more information see the MediaDub Setup and User Guide Use an Adobe workstation with the MediaPublisher plug in MediaPublisher is a separate SeaChange software product It enables a network connected Adobe editing workstation to retrieve 15 Mbps or lower long GOP 4 2 0 MPEG 2 video clips from the BMC edit the clips and send them back to the BMC for eventual playout For more information see the MediaPublisher Setup and User Guide Video Preview Markup and Editing 3 3 Previewing MPEG 1 Files Previewing MPEG 1 Files To preview MPEG 1 video files that are stored in the BMC you can use a standard BMC decoder as described in Previewing and Segmenting MPEG 2 Files page 3 2 or you can use Windows MediaPlayer 6 4 or later as described in the following options e Use MediaPlayer on a Windows workstation MediaPlayer is part of Microsoft Windows It enables you to use a network connected Windows workstation to download MPEG 1 files from the BMC and preview them on the workstation To do this on the workstation in MediaPlayer click File gt Open URL
93. f the window as illustrated below Flash Update Utility for Genesis and Beowulf File Options Video format Drop frame counting Signal ance frame count Droptrame Source Dropframe LTC Figure 2 1 Viewing Encoder Board Firmware Settings 3 In the list of firmware settings double click Signal Loss Tolerance CAUTION Do not change any other firmware settings in the list as they all relate to the video mode of the encoder and should be changed only through VsConfig as described earlier in this section Video Recording and Playback 2 3 Recording Serial Digital Video The following dialog appears Edit User Parameter Signal loss tolerance frame a id 15 count Cancel i Figure 2 2 Setting the Signal Loss Tolerance in Firmware 4 Enter the maximum number of lost frames the encoder should tolerate and click Done For more information on the values you can enter click Help in the dialog In the main window click Save Settings to Flash and close the Flash Update utility 6 Use the Status tab in ExdUtil to reset the encoder 7 Ifyou want the configuration change to persist across node reboots complete the rest of this procedure to make the equivalent change in the Windows registry Otherwise quit here 8 Start the SeaView utility as instructed in SeaView Utility page 1 14 9 Click Vstrm Info gt Registry gt BwlfDrv to access the registry settin
94. fferent type of cluster view However it uses the same color codes as SeaView does to indicate node status For example here s the same 4 node BMC as it appears in MediaControl Management Basics 1 23 Monitoring System Operations E SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer Ele Edt View Favorites Tools Help e SBak gt A Bsearch GajFavorites lt Hristory G Sp Address ja http bmeO MediaCtrl Default htm gt Go Links al al Table of contents MediaControl MediaCluster Home MediaCluster ee Cluster Node List Video Devices Id Name Version Base Level Build State FS State IP Sessions IP Bandwidth SERAN MONAT MLO BMCO W4 1 0 04 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 2 75 3 Kbps 1 BMC1 V4 1 0 04 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 2 0 0 Kbps Session Control 2 BMC2 V4 41 0 V4 1 17 Built by Boyd 4171 ORANGE REBUILDING 0 0 0 Kbps IP Streaming 3 Not Reachable System Storage Utilities fi le Done ia fez Local intranet A Figure 1 15 Viewing Cluster Status in MediaControl Both SeaView and MediaControl let you access more detailed status information on specific nodes in the cluster For example if you double click Node 2 in the Sea View cluster view shown previously you see a node view like the following 1 24 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Monitoring System Operations System iew of BMC2 2 Uptime 49 02 4 1 17 5 xj
95. forward or back in the video by the amount of time that you changed the delay and the video size field on the output port section of the channel view just below the device control buttons should show the new time delay you specified Stopping Time Delay Operations To stop the recording process on a time delay channel click the stop ll button on the input port section of the channel view If a delayed playback process has already started when you stop the recording process the playback process continues to run until it has played all the video material captured in the virtual file after which it stops automatically To manually stop a playback process click the stop E button on the corresponding output port section of the channel view To stop all current and pending recording and playback operations on a time delay channel immediately make sure the view of that channel is in the front of the main Time Delay window and on the menu bar click Channel gt Stop All If you then need to release the devices from being locked by the Time Delay utility use the Status tab in ExdUtil Switching to Backup Channels If a recording or playback process fails on a time delay channel and does not recover automatically you can try manually restarting the process using the controls on the corresponding section of the channel view Or you can use an audio video switch to switch the on air cable to a backup time delay channel if you have created one
96. gital Video 3 Press Enter to accept the default answer to each remaining prompt until VsConfig exits 4 If you made any changes at the same command prompt run VsInstal bat to write the changes to the Windows registry and reboot the node to make the changes take effect Format of Audio Source Priority Setting The Audio Source Priority setting for each AES port on the HD decoder is a string of keywords indicating in order of priority the audio stream to play from the MPEG file as follows Table 2 1 Audio Source Priority Keywords rome Seo The first pulse code modulated PCM audio stream found in the file if any The first Advanced Audio Coding AAC audio pair found in the file if any Note As of the publication date the HD decoder has not been tested with AAC audio streams If you want to play Dolby AC3 or DolbyE audio on an AES port do not include any other keywords in the string If you want to play a non Dolby audio type on an AES port you can include multiple keywords in the string in this case use a comma to delimit keywords of descending priority or an equal sign to delimit keywords of equal priority For example e Audio source priority for AesA MPEG AAC PCM This instructs the HD decoder to play on the first AES port the first MPEG 1 MPEG 2 or AAC audio pair found in the video file If no such audio pair is found play the first PCM audio stream found If no PCM audio stream is found play nothing
97. gnals should be connected to each codec as instructed in Genlock and House Clock in the Installation Guide This prevents the picture from rolling when you rebroadcast it and ensures frame accuracy for your time delay operations If the Time Delay utility doesn t detect a house clock it lets you continue with time delay operations but warns you that their timing might not be accurate Ensure that the encoder is configured properly in ExdUtil In the left pane of the Conrfiguration tab in ExdUtil under EncoderPorts gt Profiles double click the profile associated with the encoder such as USER3 and make sure the video type and bitrate settings are what you want For the bitrate 12 Mbps is usually adequate higher bit rates are acceptable if your BMC has sufficient storage space Ensure that the digital input signal is clean and stable As described in the Site Preparation Guide the encoder requires a very clean and stable SDI input signal or the video capture process can fail Make sure you install any auxiliary equipment required to meet the input signal specifications If the digital audio signals are separate from the digital video signal consider using a multiplexer to embed them into the video signal to reduce the risk of timing problems or encoder failures due to signal loss Make sure to connect the genlock signal to any ADCs or multiplexers that you use Configure the encoder to tolerate input glitches By default the encoder is
98. gs for the encoder boards in this node Scroll down in the list until you find the registry settings for the specific Beowulf board For example the figure below shows the settings for Bwlf0 which is the right most Beowulf board when viewing the node from the rear SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services BwifDry x BufDry BwlfDrv ChassisHwDry Dac960nt GsisDry HlopDry lop lopSesi ListDry MellDry MemornDry MCAServer MCPServer NtfsDrv NullDry EdgeDrv RaidDrv SeaBld SeaFile SeaNet Seaview Spigot SplitDry StServer TepDrv VelaScsi VGDvbDry VodDry Ystrm XstrmDrv BoardList BoardPos0 00030600 Buf ferAffinityControl 00000001 Bvlf0NAudiolLossDuration 00000000 Bvlf0NAudio2LossDuration 00000000 Bwlf0 Audio3LossDuration 00000000 Bwlf0 Audio4LossDuration 00000000 Bw 1f O BusNumber 00000003 Bwlf0NDropFrameLTC 00000001 Bwlf O DropFrameMode ooooo0o1 BwlfO DropFrameSource 00000001 Bwlf O ReadAheadinkB 00006000 BwlfO0 SlotNumber 00000006 Bulf O VideoFormat 00000081 15 Conf igurationDateTime 12 09 04 17 08 ani aA Figure 2 3 Viewing Encoder Board Registry Settings 2 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording Serial Digital Video 10 Double click the VideoLossDuration setting for the board The following dialog appears DWORD Editor x Data pa Cancel Radix C Binay na Hexadecimal Figure 2 4 Setting the Signal Loss Tolerance in the Registry 11 Make sure the Decimal option is selected Then
99. h BMC node can target as an archive The network name or path the node uses to access the video inventory on each archive e Which protocol the node uses to transfer video files to each archive e Which archive system each node treats as its default archive e Whether automatic archiving of newly recorded video files is enabled on each node How often each node should retry accessing a video file on an archive if the first attempt fails and how long to wait between each retry e Whether any of the archives defined for a node is a BML system or a MediaMarker workstation This setting is required to invoke special handling in these cases For instructions on how to configure these settings on the BMC see Configure Archive Support in the Installation Guide Verifying Archive Functionality You can use the Archive tab in ExdUtil to manually archive video files to any of the archives that you have configured for the BMC and to manually restore video files from any of those same archives This allows you to verify the BMC archive functionality before you start using automation to control BMC archive operations 4 6 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Archiving and Restoring Video Files NOTE If you have configured a BMC node to automatically archive new video files as they are recorded into the system you can verify this functionality by recording a new video file manually as instructed in Verifying Encoder Functionality page 2
100. hange Server Reference If you encounter problems performing the FTP functions described in the following sections see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Getting an MPEG File from the BMC To retrieve an MPEG file from the BMC use the Get function of your FTP utility For example the following figure illustrates how to use the built in Windows command line FTP utility to retrieve an MPEG file 1021_vid0100 mpg from a BMC node IP address 17 0 16 21 and save the file in the current directory C on the workstation Video Inventory Management 4 9 Transferring Video Files Manually c gt ftp 17 6 16 21 Connected to 17 6 16 21 220 seaS5 1621 Ustrm FTP server Version eem 1 0 Alpha ready User 17 6 16 21 lt none gt gt 331 Password required for Cnone gt Password 236 User none logged in ftp gt get 1621_vid6160 mpg 266 PORT command successful 150 Opening BINARY mode data connection for 1021_vid 1G8 mpg 92814412 bytes 226 Transfer Complete 92814412 bytes received in 17 93 seconds 5177 64 Kbytes sec gt ftp gt quit 221 Goodbye Figure 4 3 Getting an MPEG File from the BMC In this example the MPEG file is retrieved from the video data DVL partition of the BMC This is the default behavior if you don t specify a partition on the source filename in the Get command See for more information Putting an MPEG File onto the BMC To send an MPEG file to the BMC use the Put f
101. hat hosts the decoder start the Flash Update utility as instructed in Flash Update Utility page 1 19 2 In the top section of the Flash Update window select the decoder Genesis board that you want to configure The firmware settings for that board appear in the bottom section of the window as illustrated below Flash Update Utility for Genesis and Beowulf oP x File Options Help Boards in this chassis viewed from the rear ce 1 Save Settings to Flash Reset to Factory Default Description User Setting Factory Setting Analog video horizontal time delay for NTSC 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL B D G H and 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL M 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL N 1 Digital video horizontal time delay for NTSC 54 Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL B D G H and I Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL M 54 Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL N Analog audio DAC level Preview output left 0 Analog audio DAC level Preview output right 0 Analog audio DAC level Preview output left 1 Analog audio DAC level Preview output right 1 Analog audio DAC level Active output left 0 Analog audio DAC level Active output right 0 Analog audio DAC level Active output left 1 Analog audio DAC level Active output right 1 Digital video line delay for NTSC Digital video line delay for PAL B D G H and Digital video line delay for PAL
102. his problem follow the instructions in Preparing Codecs for Time Delay page 5 3 The Time Delay utility warns you of this condition and sets the playback device status to offline so that playback will never start Make sure the video format NTSC or PAL is set the same for both the recording and playback device as instructed in Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback and retry the operation If you modified the channel such that its video file format changed but you did not select the Delete On Start option delete the old video file manually using the Inventory tab in ExdUtil and retry the operation Either clean up the video feed to meet the Audio Video Signal Requirements given in the Site Preparation Guide or try reconfiguring the encoder to tolerate longer input signal losses as instructed in Configuring the Encoder page 2 2 Use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to check the amount of video storage remaining See also Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 for background information on this issue Test the codec and replace it if needed as instructed in Step 3 Test the System in Isolation in the Installation Guide See the TimeDelay log file The location and format of this log are the same as the eXd System Log described in the Utilities Reference Troubleshooting 6 9 Time Delay Problems 6 10 SeaChange BMC Management Guide A Adobe editing support 3 3 archive system configuring support for 4
103. if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the decoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both The Sony protocol does not support back to back playout it is designed primarily to support program preparation marking in and out and quality control operations Before you control the decoder using Sony protocol make sure the proper serial control cabling is in place from the Sony protocol device to the BMC node that hosts the decoder as described in Serial based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the decoder is configured for Sony protocol control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide Video Recording and Playback 2 15 Playing Serial Digital Video When you control the decoder using Sony protocol note the following The Sony protocol does not include a way to specify the ID filename of the video to play You must use the Sony utility to cue the decoder to play a specific video ID before you can control the decoder using a Sony protocol device For details see Sony Utility in the Utilities Reference If you use trick mode functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC the decoder might not work properly Support for scratch audio is available only when operating the decoder in jog mode and only if the audio is uncompressed F
104. iginal operation using your control equipment If it fails again check the VDCP or Sony protocol communications data logged for the operation on the Status tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Analyzing Control Communications page 6 4 Correct any problems before proceeding with the next step 10 Verify that the control equipment is compatible with the BMC Retry the original operation using your control equipment If it fails again there might be a problem with how your control equipment communicates with the BMC Details on how the BMC requires VDCP and Sony protocol communications to be conducted are given in the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit Analyzing Device Status Information If a BMC recording or playback operation fails check the status information provided for the recording or playback device on the Status tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Monitoring Device and Resource Usage page 1 29 Check the following data items columns specifically e Port Status If the port status is listed as Inoperative or is stuck in the Cued state use the HW Reset button on the Status tab to reset the device Cue Record Play and Stop Requests If these counts do not increase over time the external control equipment such as the automation system or Sony protocol controller is not communicating with the device If Troubleshooting 6 3 Diagnostic Guideline
105. ing the next recording request e For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit When you are done performing an MTS capture session under VDCP automation the new video file should appear in the BMC inventory and should play back properly as instructed in the next section If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Video Recording and Playback 2 21 Playing MPEG Transport Streams Playing MPEG Transport Streams To play back an MPEG transport stream that has been captured as an MPEG file in the BMC you must use the output device on an MTS I O card in the BMC if you want to play the file as a DVB ASI broadcast Each MTS I O card has one output device If the MPEG file contains an HD single program transport stream SPTS and you want to play it as an HD serial digital broadcast you must use an HD decoder in the BMC as described in Playing HD Serial Digital Video page 2 27 At the time of this publishing neither the MTS output devices nor the HD decoders in the BMC have full trick mode capabilities you must use a separate application such as SeaChange MediaMarker to mark video splice points for broadcasting to air as described in Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing For details on the playout capabilities of the MTS I O cards and the HD decoders see the corresponding Qui
106. ion Settings You can modify the following types of BMC configuration settings eXd settings Vstrm settings Firmware settings Let you configure the BMC functions that operate under VDCP or Sony protocol control including video recording storage archival and playout EXd settings also let you configure time delayed rebroadcast operations Let you configure the BMC base system Vstrm software for the particular set of hardware installed in each server node Vstrm settings also let you configure base system software components on each server node such as SeaNet SeaFile and IP Streaming Let you configure low level parameters for the codec boards installed in each server node For example you can configure an encoder s level of tolerance for video input glitches e Use the Configuration tab in ExdUtil for most settings as instructed in Modifying eXd Settings page 1 34 Use the Time Delay utility to configure time delay operations as instructed in Chapter 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast Use the VsConfig utility for most settings as instructed in Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 Use the SeaView or Registry Editor utility only when specifically instructed to do so in later chapters Use the Flash Update utility and other utilities as instructed in Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback Management Basics 1 33 Adjusting Configuration Settings Modifying eXd Settings The Configu
107. ions Once you have started time delay operations on a channel as described in the previous section you can monitor and control the operations using the input and output port sections of the channel view illustrated below Input1 a port name _r Output1 og 47 10 12 lt _ video position 00 00 00 00 Recording a device status Idle E a control buttons gt 01 00 00 00 a video size p 01 00 00 00 ExD4 age node and device gt ExD4 ENCODER1 DECODER1 SEKENE lt device time _ 23 00 14 044 Restarts 0 lt number of restarts Restarts 3 Figure 5 4 Monitoring Input and Output Ports on a Channel The text fields and their colors provide information and status about the recording and playback devices The buttons let you control the recording and playback devices manually if needed For more information on these features and how to use them see Channel View in the Utilities Reference Viewing Information on Pending Operations Besides viewing information on the current operations of a time delay channel as described in the previous section you can also get information on pending operations for a channel For example if one or more playback processes have not started on the channel yet you can get a list of those events and their scheduled start times 5 10 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Operating Time Delay Channels To get information on pending operations on a time delay channel do the
108. ique in the BMC Uppercase and lowercase letters are not distinguished The following characters are not allowed in video IDs 2 Server node XYZC1NO The first three letters are the company name followed by the XYZC1N1 cluster number C1 C2 and so on and the node number NO XYZC1N2 N1 N2 and so on Server node names are set at the factory and should not be changed BOSS XYZC1BOS The first three letters are the company name followed by the cluster number C1 C2 and so on and BOS The BOSS name is set at the factory and should not be changed Archive ARCHIVE1 You can define one or more external archives for each server system ARCHIVE2 node When doing so you should accept the default names supplied by the system and not change them thereafter 1 10 SeaChange BMC Management Guide System Components Sample Names Name Description Standard decoder HD decoder MTS I O card VDCP input port VDCP output port ENCODER1 ENCODER2 DECODER DECODER2 GENESIS_HD1 GENESIS_HD2 XSTRM_INPUT1 XSTRM_OUTPUT1 XSTRM_INPUT2 XSTRM_OUTPUT2 INPUT_PORT1 INPUT_PORT2 OUTPUT_PORT1 OUTPUT_PORT2 When viewing a server node from behind the right most encoder is ENCODER the next to the left is ENCODER2 and so on These names are set by eXd automatically during hardware detection and should not be changed When viewing a server node from behind the left most standard decoder is DECODER the next to
109. ities The BMC is a high performance server that records stores and plays digital video for broadcast television It s main capabilities include e Recording and Playback Capabilities e Preview Markup and Editing Support page 1 4 e Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 e Time Delayed Rebroadcast Capabilities page 1 6 NOTE See the Release Notes for known limitations with these capabilities Recording and Playback Capabilities The figure below illustrates the types of recording and playback operations that the BMC can perform assuming it is equipped with the required video I O devices Recording eal Playback SD SDI B Encodert Flt Decoder1 SD SDI video 4 video streams Encoder2 Recordings Decoder2 streams are stored 5 R E as MPEG 3 MPEG D Xstrm_Inputt f files F Xstrm_Outputt MPEG transport stream transport s streams gt Xstrm_Input2 Genesis_HD1 P HD SDI video stream Figure 1 1 Video Recording and Playback Operations The supported recording and playback operations include e Recording serial digital video If the system has any encoders such as ENCODER1 and ENCODER2 in the figure above it can encode incoming standard definition SD serial digital interface SDI video streams in NTSC or PAL mode at bitrates ranging from MPEG 1 to main level 4 2 0 or studio quality 4 2 2 MPEG 2 Each encoding session creates an MPEG file tha
110. ition serial digital video from an MPEG file in the BMC whether for live broadcast quality control or to mark video splice points you can use a standard Genesis series decoder in the BMC You can also use a SeaChange MediaMarker workstation to preview and segment MPEG 2 video files or a Windows MediaPlayer workstation to preview MPEG 1 video files see Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing for more information For information on the differences in the decoding capabilities of specific Genesis decoder models see the appropriate Quick Specs This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring the Decoder Verifying Decoder Functionality page 2 13 Decoding under VDCP Automation page 2 14 Decoding under Sony Protocol Control page 2 15 Configuring the Decoder When you configure a standard decoder the settings you make apply to all the operations of that decoder whether you control the operations through VDCP automation a Sony protocol device or manually through ExdUtil For each decoder you can configure the following Basic settings determine whether the decoder expects to process NTSC or PAL video and whether it must play out four AES audio pairs with exact synchronization Genesis I 50 decoders only see the Release Notes for more information In most cases these settings are made correctly for you at the factory and do not need to be changed If you do need to change them use the VsConfig utility as ins
111. itoring System Operations Before you start operations on the BMC you should check the status of the base system using the Sea View utility or the MediaControl utility You should also check the status of the system s software services using the Services tab in ExdUtil Once you start operations you can monitor the status of the specific devices ports and other resources used by the operations on the Status tab in ExdUtil You can also get notifications when device or service errors occur if you have installed the alarms package optional If a problem does occur you should recheck the base system using SeaView or MediaControl and recheck the services on the Services tab in ExdUtil See the previous sections for information on how to get started with these utilities This section covers the following topics e Monitoring the Base System e Monitoring Software Services page 1 27 e Monitoring Device and Resource Usage page 1 29 Monitoring the Base System As mentioned you can check the overall status of the BMC base system using either the SeaView or MediaControl utility For example here is how a BMC might look in SeaView Cluster Topology Yiew of BMC 15 x SeaChange International BMCO 0M New Target Help Fine Outline Counters View Figure 1 14 Viewing Cluster Status in SeaView 1 22 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Monitoring System Operations NOTE The examples shown in this section illustrate a
112. l The vertical phase offset from genlock in lines roughly 64 ns units This is the coarse adjustment The default is 10 for NTSC and 8 for PAL 2 32 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing HD Serial Digital Video Parmeter Species The vertical line number on which to switch the HD decoder heads during back to back playout The default is 7 If you omit the last three parameters the command displays the current settings for those parameters For example the figure below illustrates the command to show the current timing settings for the HD decoder on Vstrm Port 0 mo Microsoft Windows Version 5 2 3790 lt C Copyright 1985 2063 Microsoft Corp C gt ced ustrmkit C ustrmkit gt velacmd hdtiming port number HDT iming 886 16 7 EERNTES 3 a a E Da Figure 2 13 Viewing HD Decoder Output Signal Timing Settings NOTE If you adjust the timing of one decoder head using this command the timing of the other decoder head is adjusted to the same values automatically Any changes you make take effect immediately but do not persist across node reboots If you want the changes to persist across node reboots complete the rest of this procedure to make the equivalent changes in the Windows registry Otherwise quit here Start the SeaView utility as instructed in SeaView Utility page 1 14 Click Vstrm Info gt Registry gt VelaScsi to access the registry settings for the HD decoders in this node Scr
113. le Disk utility ExdUtil is a Windows based utility for monitoring configuring and testing the BMC It is the primary management tool for the BMC You should run it only on the BOSS and you should run only one instance of it at a time If your BMC does not have a BOSS you can run it on a server node To start ExdUtil on the BOSS or on a server node do the following e Double click the ExdUtil icon on the Windows desktop The ExdUtil window appears with the Connect tab selected 1 18 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Common Management Tools Extensible Disk Utility SEACHANGE DOCTESTNODE 7 Figure 1 11 ExdUtil Connect Tab Most management tasks require that you first connect to a server node on the Connect tab However you can use the Services and Configuration tabs without connecting to a node For more information see Extensible Disk Utility in the Utilities Reference Flash Update Utility Flash Update is a Windows based utility for modifying codec firmware configuration settings stored in the flash memory of the BMC codec boards You run it on a server node to configure low level settings for the codecs installed in that node To start Flash Update on a server node do the following Browse to the C Vstrmkit folder and double click the FlashUpdate exe file The FlashUpdate window appears Management Basics 1 19 Common Management Tools Flash Update Utility for Genesis and Beowu
114. lect the device and click Release If it is inoperative or stuck in a cued state select it and click HW Reset If you previously released the device select the correct VDCP or Sony control port and click Acquire Check the profile settings for the recording device on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil Make sure the video format NTSC or PAL is set correctly Also make sure the audio source settings are correct See Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback for the correct procedure to modify any settings for the recording device Either clean up the video feed to meet the Audio Video Signal Requirements given in the Site Preparation Guide or try reconfiguring the encoder to tolerate longer input signal losses as instructed in Configuring the Encoder page 2 2 Check that the cables are connected firmly to the correct ports and that the correct pinouts are used For details see Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the nstallation Guide Check the Windows event logs on the BMC node for error messages about the COM port If there is a problem with the COM port test it as instructed in Test All the Serial Ports in the Installation Guide Use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to check the amount of video storage remaining See also Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 for background information on this issue Test the recording device and replace it if needed as instructed in Step 3 Test the System in I
115. led click Release If it is inoperative or stuck in a cued state select it and click HW Reset If you previously released the device select the correct VDCP or Sony control port and click Acquire The playout device is Check the basic settings for the playout device using VsConfig as configured to play the wrong instructed in the appropriate section of Chapter 2 Video Recording type of video and Playback Make sure the video format NTSC or PAL is set correctly and that you use the prescribed procedure if you modify it The cabling from the control Check that the cables are connected firmly to the correct ports and equipment to the playout that the correct pinouts are used For details see Serial based device is wrong Equipment or Network based Equipment in the nstallation Guide The serial port used by the Check the Windows event logs on the BMC node for error messages control equipment is not about the COM port If there is a problem with the COM port test it as working instructed in Test All the Serial Ports in the Installation Guide The BMC has run out of Use the SeaView utility to check the state of the playout device and video I O bandwidth the BMC cluster or single node as instructed in Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 The playout device is faulty Test the playout device and replace it if needed as instructed in Step 3 Test the System in Isolation in the Installation Guide 6 6 SeaChange BMC Managem
116. les into the VIX partition but you cannot configure it to import private data You can set up multiple folders such as one for importing MPEG files into the DVL partition and another for importing VIX files into the VIX partition Video Inventory Management 4 11 Transferring Video Files Manually To enable and configure the Content Importer service on a BMC node do the following 1 Start the MediaControl utility on the BOSS or on a network connected workstation as instructed in MediaControl Utility page 1 16 Make sure to connect to the BMC node on which you will set up the content importer folder 2 In the MediaControl left pane click Utilities gt Content Importer A page like this appears F SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer DAR ae File Edit View Favorites Tools Help O O Haba G F RO B SHE DSB Address http doctestnade MediaCtrl Default htm Table of b E contents MediaControl Content Importer SeaChange Home MediaCluster Importer Control Content Switch on Oof Log File CAContentImporte Importer log Video Devices Session Monitor Session Control IP Streaming Set System Storage Importer Directory Configuration NTFS Source Directory SeaFile Volume Overwrite On Completion gt 666 C ContentImporterwix VIX Yes Delete gt 666 C Contentimporteridvl DYL Yes Delete gt 666 lt Unused gt gt 666 lt Unused gt a Local intranet Figure
117. lf oy x File Options Help m Boards in this chassis viewed from the rear Cc 1 Reset to Factory Default Description User Setting Factory Setting Analog video horizontal time delay for NTSC 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL B D G H and 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL M 1 Analog video horizontal time delay for PAL N 1 Digital video horizontal time delay for NTSC 54 Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL B D G H and I Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL M 54 Digital video horizontal time delay for PAL N Analog audio DAC level Preview output left 0 Analog audio DAC level Preview output right 0 Analog audio DAC level Preview output left 1 Analog audio DAC level Preview output right 1 Analog audio DAC level Active output left 0 Analog audio DAC level Active output right 0 Analog audio DAC level Active output left 1 Analog audio DAC level Active output right 1 Digital video line delay for NTSC Digital video line delay for PAL B D G H and Digital video line delay for PAL M NMisiksl indan time dalan fer DAL AI Figure 1 12 Flash Update Utility The window shows the codec boards that you can configure in the server node and their current firmware settings The boards are shown in the same order they appear when viewing the server node from the rear For more information on using Flash Update to configure codec board firmware settings see Chapter
118. lication or is not configured properly The recording device is locked for use by a different control application or is stalled The recording device is configured to process the wrong type of video or to process video or audio on the wrong ports The video feed is not clean or stable enough for the device to record The cabling from the control equipment to the recording device is wrong The serial port used by the control equipment is not working The BMC has run out of video storage space The recording device is faulty Make sure the input port number that the recording device is bound to on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil is the same as the input port number you are using in automation to refer to the device See Configure Automation Support in the nstallation Guide for details Check the status of the COM or TCP port on the Status tab in ExdUtil If it is locked by the wrong control application select the port and click Release If you previously released it select the correct VDCP or Sony control port and click Acquire Otherwise on the Configuration tab make sure the COM or TCP port is configured to listen for VDCP or Sony communications as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide In the TCP case also make sure eXd is listening on the correct TCP socket Check the status of the recording device on the Status tab in ExdUtil If it is locked by the wrong control application se
119. ly adds 12 TCP ports to the Configuration tab in ExdUtil for controlling the video I O devices You can add more TCP ports to the Configuration tab but eXd always limits VDCP automation to 12 TCP connections ports at most currently 1 12 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Common Management Tools Common Management Tools To manage the BMC you need to know how to use the management station and how and when to run the various software utilities that provide management functions For a brief overview of the main utilities and their functions see Utilities Overview in the Utilities Reference This section explains how to get started with the following common management tools e Management Station e SeaView Utility page 1 14 e MediaControl Utility page 1 16 e Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 e Flash Update Utility page 1 19 e VsConfig Utility page 1 20 e Alarm System Optional page 1 21 Management Station The management station is a standard Windows computer for running BMC installation and management utilities Generally you do not run such utilities on the server nodes directly unless you have a single node BMC without a management station or you are specifically instructed in this manual to run a utility on a server node The management station also enables you to use the Time Delay utility to run time delayed rebroadcasts of programs and to use the Extensible Disk utility ExdUtil to control an exte
120. m the backup Click Restore followed by Yes and Yes to restore the specified eXd settings When the eXd settings have been restored click Close to close the dialog To apply the new settings to the server node on the Services tab double click the server node in the left pane In the right pane double click ExdSvc and click Yes to stop the eXd service When the service has stopped double click ExdSvc again in the right pane and click Yes to restart the eXd service Modifying Vstrm Settings Vstrm settings let you configure BMC base system components in each server node WARNING You should rarely need to modify Vstrm settings on a node If you set them incorrectly the node can become inoperable Therefore if you don t know the correct value for a Vstrm setting contact SeaChange before trying to modify it as instructed in Getting Technical Support page vii The safest way to modify Vstrm settings is with the VsConfig utility as instructed below This involves rebooting the server node if you make changes You can also use the SeaView utility or the Registry Editor utility to modify Vstrm settings but this is only required if the Vstrm setting has not been incorporated into the VsConfig procedure which is rare For information on Vstrm settings that you might need to modify and the utility to use in each case see the other chapters of this manual To modify Vstrm settings
121. n do the following 1 Start the MediaControl utility on the workstation as instructed in MediaControl Utility page 1 16 2 In the MediaControl left pane click Utilities gt Downloads and then scroll down in the right pane to the SeaChange Streaming Client section of the page illustrated below A SeaChange MediaControl Microsoft Internet Explorer File Edit view Favorites Tools Help oe O BPAO FP HRO B amp BE HB wD SB Address http doctestnode MediaCtrl Default htm apres MediaControl ef SeaChange Downloads Home MediaCluster Content SeaChange Streaming Client Video Devices f The SeaChange Streaming Client Kit contains Session Monitor Allows Windows Media Player to stream in real time media fram a SeaChange MediaCluster Test Tools StrClient is a DOS based streaming test tool Files needed to develop a customized streaming client An SDK Mess application optional Session Control Source Filter IP Streaming System Storage Utilities The kit is a self extracting executable When executed it will start a GUI based Downloads installation utility Importer te Error Prerequisites Windows Media Player see above Download Streaming Client Kit Figure 3 1 Downloading the Streaming Client Plug in 3 Click the button to download the Streaming Client software and save it to a local disk 4 Close the MediaControl utility Internet E
122. n the automation system to represent DECODER in the BMC node and in ExdUtil DECODER 1 is bound to OUTPUT_PORT1 on that node you must bind DEC3 to Output Port 1 in automation If the decoder is configured in the eXd software for mixed mode usage so that switching between play to air mode and trick mode is possible it is up to you to ensure that you don t accidentally use a trick mode function while playing to air on that channel As soon as you use a trick mode function the cued video clip waiting to play next is unloaded from the decoder and must be recued before back to back playout can resume If you use trick mode functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC the decoder might not work properly Support for scratch audio is available only when operating the decoder in jog mode and only if the audio is uncompressed For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit As you control the decoder under VDCP automation the audio and video should play out properly on your analog TV monitor If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Decoding under Sony Protocol Control Once you have tested the decoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it plays serial digital and analog video properly you should test it under Sony protocol control
123. naging the Video Inventory For day to day operations you should use your automation or asset management system to view and manage the inventory of video files in the BMC For information on the protocols that your automation or asset management system can use to request these operations see Inventory Management Capabilities page 1 5 This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring Inventory Functions Verifying Inventory Functions e Managing the Inventory under VDCP Automation page 4 5 Configuring Inventory Functions You can configure the following aspects of the BMC inventory functions e The video and audio bitrates the BMC uses when calculating the number of days hours minutes and seconds of remaining video storage in the system The minimum size that a new video file must reach while it is being recorded or imported into the system before the BMC reports it as a playable clip Whether the BMC automatically upgrades the private data of any legacy video files stored in the system to the current private data format For a description of private data see Video Data Components page 1 9 For instructions on how to configure these settings on the BMC see Configure Video Inventory Functions in the Installation Guide NOTE If you request inventory operations using an application that interfaces directly with the base system Vstrm software instead of with the eXd software these settings are ignore
124. nels for connecting external equipment For example interfaces are provided to connect RS 422 serial control equipment audio video routing and monitoring equipment and IP network devices like video archive and editing systems See Equipment Overview in the Site Preparation Guide for illustrated descriptions of the core components Optional components Some system components vary depending on the options you choose when ordering the BMC For example the number and type of video I O devices installed in the server nodes depend on your order In addition you can order upgrades to some components such as disk drives See the BMC Quick Spec for details on available options Software Components The software installed on the BMC includes the following main components Operating system Windows A slightly stripped down version of Windows is installed on each server node and on the BOSS The familiar Windows user interface make it easy to manage the BMC Each server node actually has two versions of Windows installed one for booting and operating the node in production mode and another for booting the node in a special service mode See the SeaChange Server Reference for more information on these modes Virtual Streams Vstrm Vstrm is the SeaChange firmware driver and service software that turns a Windows machine into a base SeaChange video server node For example it includes encoder and 1 8 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Sys
125. ng Serial Digital Video page 2 2 for more information on realtime preview operations See Playing Serial Digital Video page 2 10 for more information on standard preview operations e Use a MediaMarker workstation MediaMarker is a separate SeaChange software product It enables you to preview and segment both MPEG 2 program streams and MPEG 2 transport streams single program only on a network connected Windows workstation You must wait until the clips are finished recording on the BMC before you can view them on the MediaMarker workstation You can control the MediaMarker workstation using either VDCP automation or Sony protocol although Sony protocol has not been tested as of the time of this publishing For more information see the MediaMarker Setup and User Guide 3 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Editing MPEG 2 Files Editing MPEG 2 Files To edit MPEG 2 video files that are stored in the BMC you have three options Use an Avid workstation with the MediaTransfer plug in MediaTransfer is a separate SeaChange software product It enables a network connected Avid editing workstation to retrieve 30 40 and 50 Mbps IMX video clips from the BMC edit the clips and send them back to the BMC for eventual playout For more information see the MediaTransfer Setup and User Guide Use an Avid workstation and standard BMC codecs with MediaDub extensions MediaDub is a separate SeaChange software product It adds Sony protocol
126. ng capture or accept the default program ID of 2 VIX Time Base Enter one of the following values to specify the time code for the MTS input device to use for the first frame in the video index VIX files that it creates 0 to always use 00 00 00 00 as the first frame 1 to use the time code given by the control application 2 to use the time code embedded in the first frame of the MPEG transport stream being captured 3 to use the current house clock time At the time of this publishing the last option above is not implemented see the Release Notes for the most up to date information For more information on VIX files see Video Data Components page 1 9 4 Press Enter to accept the default answer to each remaining prompt until VsConfig exits At the same command prompt run VsInstal bat to write the changes to the Windows registry and reboot the node to make the changes take effect 6 When the node has rebooted log onto Windows and force the eXd software to auto detect the changes as instructed in Detect Any Hardware Changes in the Installation Guide 2 18 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording MPEG Transport Streams Verifying MTS Capture Functionality You can use the Record tab in ExdUtil to manually control an MTS input device to verify that the MTS input device captures MPEG transport streams properly At the time of this publishing you cannot use the MediaControl utility to control
127. nitoring the Base System page 1 22 for instructions on viewing the cluster state e When renaming a video file make sure to adhere to the video file naming requirements stated in Component Names page 1 10 e For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit If you encounter problems managing the video inventory under VDCP automation see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Video Inventory Management 4 5 Archiving and Restoring Video Files Archiving and Restoring Video Files For the BMC to carry out video file archive and restore requests received from VDCP automation or eXd utilities you must enable and configure archive support on one or more of the server nodes in the BMC This is true whether the target archive system is another Broadcast system BML BMC or BMS a third party archive system such as StorageTek or a SeaChange MediaMarker workstation You must also enable and configure archive support if you want the BMC to automatically archive new video files that are recorded into the system This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring Archive Support e Verifying Archive Functionality page 4 6 e Archiving under VDCP Automation page 4 8 Configuring Archive Support You can configure the following aspects of the archive support on the BMC e Which external systems eac
128. ny problems before proceeding with the next step 6 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Diagnostic Guidelines 6 Verify that the cabling from the external control equipment to the BMC is correct Check the physical cabling between the external control equipment such as the automation system Sony protocol controller or editing workstation and the BMC node that handled the operation as instructed in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide Correct any problems before proceeding with the next step 7 Verify that the serial COM port on the BMC is functional If the external control equipment uses a serial cable connection to the BMC node check the Windows event logs on the node for any messages indicating that the COM port is faulty If you find such a message test the COM port as instructed in Test All the Serial Ports in the Installation Guide Correct any problems before proceeding with the next step 8 Verify that the external control equipment and the BMC node are configured properly Check the VDCP or Sony protocol settings for the BMC node on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide Make sure the settings are compatible with your VDCP automation or Sony protocol equipment settings Correct any problems before proceeding with the next step 9 Verify that the control equipment communicates with the BMC properly Retry the or
129. ocked YDCP COM 5 COME Locked YDCP COM 6 COM Locked YDCP COM 7 Decoders Port Status Lock Holder Active Id Position GENESIS_HD1 Playing Cued Primed RPC 1 NFL_54HD_1m 00 00 10 01 GENESIS_HD2 Playing Cued Primed RPC3 NFL_54HD_30s 00 00 10 23 GENESIS_HD3 Cued Primed UnLocked 00 00 00 00 Louth Ports Device Device Status Preview Device Preview Device 9 YDCP COM 5 Unlocked YDCP COM 6 Unlocked YDCP COM 7 Unlocked RPC Connections Machine Name App Name Cache Sessions Archive Sessions SEACHANGEES5877 _ Exdutll 1 0 gt gt Acquire Release Reset Counters 5SEACHANGEE5877 HW Reset Connected 11 28 12 Pc NTSCDF Figure 1 20 Viewing Device and Resource Usage on a Server Node The rows on the Status tab show information on the major components involved in BMC operations The rows are listed in alphabetical order as follows Row Shows Information on Archive Video file transfers that have been made to or from the archive systems that are defined for the server node since the server node was booted This row does not appear in the above example because no archives are defined for that server node Cache Video files currently stored in the local BMC inventory For example the Cache row above shows 81 video files in the inventory currently and that 5 new video files have been added and 5 old video files deleted since the server node was booted communication Decod
130. of task 1 22 Time Delay operations 5 10 MPEG 1 video previewing 3 4 MPEG 2 video editing 3 3 previewing and segmenting 3 2 MTS T O card configuring 2 17 2 22 verifying functionality 2 19 2 24 N names hardware components 1 10 video files 1 10 0 online documentation 1 vii Index P pending operations Time Delay 5 10 playback procedures 2 10 2 22 2 27 summary of capabilities 1 2 troubleshooting 6 6 Playback tab ExdUtil using to play video 2 13 2 24 2 34 preview summary of capabilities 1 4 private data description 1 10 program preparation MPEG 2 files 3 2 summary of capabilities 1 4 R Record tab ExdUtil using to record 2 5 2 19 recording procedures 2 17 summary of capabilities 1 2 troubleshooting 6 5 release notes 1 vii Remote Vstrm API service 1 28 restoring configuration settings from a backup 1 36 resynchronizing Time Delay 5 11 S SAF file format 1 10 SeaBld service 1 29 SeaMon service 1 29 SeaView utility checking cluster state 1 22 starting 1 14 services software monitoring 1 27 signal loss tolerance encoder 2 2 software maintaining 1 32 summary of components 1 8 Sony protocol analyzing communications 6 4 playback under 2 15 2 37 recording under 2 9 status of BMC checking 1 22 Status tab ExdUtil purpose 1 29 storage for Time Delay 5 2 storage technology 1 5 Streaming Client plug in to MediaPlayer 3 4 StrService service 1
131. ol the preview playback If you left the Real Time Preview option selected preview playback should start automatically a few seconds after the recording starts For details on using the playback controls see Playback Section in the Utilities Reference When the recording session is done the new video file should appear in the BMC inventory and should play properly when previewed If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Encoding under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the encoder manually with ExdUtil and verified that it records serial digital video properly you should test it under VDCP automation if you plan to control it that way for production use You must configure the encoder for either VDCP automation or Sony protocol control you cannot configure it for both Just as with ExdUtil if a preview decoder is configured for the encoder you should be able to control preview playback using VDCP automation transparently as though the decoder and encoder were a single device Before you control the encoder using VDCP automation make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node that hosts the encoder This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide You must also make sure the encoder is configured for VDCP control in the eXd software on the node as described in Configure Automation Suppo
132. oll down in the list until you pass the registry settings for specific HD decoder heads as illustrated below Video Recording and Playback 2 33 Playing HD Serial Digital Video SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services elaScsi j p x BufDry BwifDry ChassisHwDry GsisDrv HlopDry Iop IopScsi ListDry MellDry MemoryDry MCAServer MCPServer NtfsDry NullDry EdgeDry RaidDry SeaBld SeaFile SeaNet Seaview Spigot SplitDry SsRaid StrServer TepDry VelaScsi YGDvbDrv YodDry Ystrm xXstrmDrv HDNO5 SourcePriorityAesaA NotDolby HDNO5 SourcePriorityAesB Any HDNOSSSourcePriority esC Any HD AudioPairsPerAAC Coane HDNGenlockSDITiming HD PatPmtSearchOrder IntegSwitch AGCEnabledMask FFFFFFFF IntegSwitch AGCFineLef tAudioLevel 00 00000048 eho tchSAGCFineLef tAudioLevel 01 00000048 teoSwi tchS aGCFi nelLef taAudinlevel Sn nannannaa Figure 2 14 Viewing General HD Decoder Registry Settings 6 Change the GenlockSDITiming setting to the following value horizontal x 65536 vertical x 256 switch where the horizontal vertical and switch parameters have the same values you set using the VelaCmd utility above For example the default value for NTSC in decimal is 880 x 65536 10 x 256 7 72092167 NOTE As of the publishing date the GenlockSDITiming setting applies to all the HD decoder heads in the node Verifying HD Decoder Functionality You can use the Playback tab in ExdUtil to manually control an HD decoder
133. on a server node do the following l 2 Start VsConfig on the server node as instructed in VsConfig Utility page 1 20 Press Enter to accept the default answer to each prompt until you see the prompt for the Vstrm setting that you want to change Type the new value that you want for the setting and press Enter Repeat the previous two steps until VsConfig exits as illustrated below Management Basics 1 37 Adjusting Configuration Settings 1 38 ommand Prompt x Do you wish Conf iguring to modify the Streaming Service settings No a Dac9 6 NT Generating configuration for 2 Decoder and 1 Encoder ports Conf iguring Conf iguring Conf iguring Configuring Configuring Configuring Conf iguring Configuring Configuring Configuring Configuring Configuring Configuring Conf iguring Ustrn ChassisHwDrv SeaFile SeaNet lop GsisDrv Buwlf Drv ListDrv Sfms Buf Drv StrService driver RemoteUstrmApiSry Service NonPaged Pool Size to 24117248 page table entries Ustrm MM Pool Size to 35627192 UC I SUCCESS UsInstal bat generated successfully UC I SUCCESS Execute UsInstal to set up NT system registry C ustrmkit gt Figure 1 24 Completing the VsConfig Process At the same command prompt type vsinstal and press Enter to write your changes to the Windows registry on the server node When the VsInstal process has finished and exits reboot the serv
134. on resolving software problems that you discover using the Services tab see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Monitoring Device and Resource Usage Once you have started operations on the BMC you can use the Status tab in ExdUtil to monitor the status of the video I O devices ports and other resources that are being used by those operations This is true whether you are controlling the operations using VDCP automation Sony protocol control equipment such as a tape deck or jog shuttle wheel or eXd utilities such as ExdUtil or Time Delay NOTE If you control any BMC operations using an application that interfaces directly with the base system Vstrm software instead of with the eXd software information about those operations is not shown on the Status tab in ExdUtil The Status tab displays information only about the specific BMC server node that you have connected to on the Connect tab For example here s what you might see on the Status tab after connecting to a server node that is playing HD SDI broadcasts on two channels under control of ExdUtil Management Basics 1 29 Monitoring System Operations extensible Disk Utility SEACHANGEESS77 RE Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status SEACHANGEE o l ooo Cache IDs IDs Added IDs Deleted Create Requests CacheCounter 81 5 5 0 Com Ports Port Status Lock Holder COM5 L
135. ons on the channel use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to delete the virtual file manually 7 Click OK in the Configure Channel dialog to save and apply your changes Depending on the settings you selected for the channel the video capture recording process might start up automatically on the channel For more information see Operating Time Delay Channels page 5 9 Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 7 Setting Up Time Delay Channels Deleting Time Delay Channels You should not delete a time delay channel unless you are done using it to perform time delay operations There should be no pending operations on the channel If you delete a channel while there are pending operations those operations will not execute To delete a time delay channel do the following 1 In the main Time Delay window select the view of the channel that you want to delete so that its window is in front 2 On the menu bar click Configure gt Delete and click Yes in the confirmation dialog 3 Use the Inventory tab in ExdUtil to delete the channel s virtual file 5 8 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Operating Time Delay Channels Operating Time Delay Channels Once you have prepared the BMC devices that you will use for your time delay operations and you have set up the required channels in the Time Delay utility as described in the previous sections you can start operations on the time delay channels CAUTION Do not close
136. or an Avid editing workstation to control the decoder to play out video material from the BMC support for Sony protocol extensions must be added to the BMC node by installing the SeaChange MediaDub software as described in the MediaDub Setup and User Guide For details on how SeaChange implements Sony protocol support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit As you control the decoder using Sony protocol the audio and video should play out properly on your analog TV monitor If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 2 16 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording MPEG Transport Streams Recording MPEG Transport Streams Serial digital video that has been encoded as an MPEG transport stream by a Tandberg encoder for example is transmitted using the Digital Video Broadcast Asynchronous Serial Interface DVB ASI standard To capture a DVB ASI stream containing standard or high definition video into the BMC as an MPEG file you must use the input device on an MTS I O card in the BMC Each MTS I O card has one input device If you plan to play out such MPEG files from the BMC using specific cue in and cue out points whether you will play the files using an MTS output device or an HD decoder the files must contain only single program transport streams SPTS For details on the capture and playout capabilities of the MTS I O cards and the HD
137. ording or playing video click the stop m button on that section of the channel view to stop the port s operations Otherwise skip this step 5 6 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Setting Up Time Delay Channels 4 Ifthe channel is currently recording or playing video and you plan to modify a setting that affects the name or format of the channel s virtual file such as Video Name or Segment Duration or a setting in the profile for the recording device on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil on the menu bar click Channel gt Stop All to stop all device operations on the channel Otherwise skip this step 5 On the menu bar click Configure gt Configure Channel The Configure Channel dialog appears Configure Channel Channel Name BiE N Video Name TD_Channel2 Segment Duration 00 15 00 00 Extra Delay 00 00 00 00 Pre Cue frames 450 Start Time frames jo Pre Play frames 150 Max Restarts 3 Auto Connect V Auto Resume Play DVB Channel MV Auto Start IV Delete on start Encoders Decoders Input Outputt Cancel Figure 5 3 Modifying a Time Delay Channel 6 Modify the settings as needed in the Configure Channel Dialog described in the Utilities Reference If your changes render any items in the Encoders or Decoders list obsolete make sure to delete those items If you deselect the Delete On Start option and a virtual file currently exists for the channel from previous operati
138. pe deck or jog shuttle wheel with RS 422 connections to control serial digital recording and playback operations The BMC also provides software utilities for performing recording and playback operations manually in testing or backup situations For details on the different ways you can set up and control recording and playback operations see Chapter 2 Video Recording and Playback Management Basics 1 3 System Capabilities Preview Markup and Editing Support Besides using a standard BMC decoder to preview and segment video files you can also use a separate network connected SeaChange MediaMaker workstation In fact this is required for MPEG transport stream files since neither the MTS output devices nor the HD decoders in the BMC have the full trick mode capabilities needed to locate and mark splice points in video files For MPEG 1 video files you can also use Windows MediaPlayer on a network connected Windows workstation to preview the video clips These options are illustrated below BMC SeaChange MediaMarker Workstation for previewing and segmenting MPEG 2 program and transport a Fi E MPEG Z IP streams files 7 Network eS Windows e MediaPlayer Workstation for previewing MPEG 1 system streams Figure 1 2 Video Preview and Segmentation Operations To edit video files stored in the BMC you can use a network connected Avid or Adobe editing work
139. programming defects If it stops restart it and check the Windows system event log to investigate the cause of the problem 1 28 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Monitoring System Operations SeaBld Checks the consistency of the video data stored in the cluster and rebuilds missing fragments from parity data when needed This service is critical to all operations involving video data access It is installed but not used on single node systems If it stops on a clustered system restart it and check the Windows system event log to investigate the cause of the problem SeaMon Gathers data about the base system for the SeaView utility to display This service is critical to SeaView In the unlikely event that it stops restart it and check the Windows system event log to investigate the cause of the problem StrService Streams video files to and from the BMC over the IP network This service is critical to non SMB based archive operations and to the MediaControl utility as well as to some remote video preview and editing applications The service can stop if a remote application that makes Streaming Server API calls has programming defects If it stops restart it and check the Windows system event log to investigate the cause of the problem Besides viewing the status of software services you can also start and stop services on the Services tab when needed For more information see Services Tab in the Utilities Reference For information
140. ration tab in ExdUtil lets you view and modify the current eXd software settings on each server node For example here s what you might see after expanding a server node in the left pane of the Configuration tab Jh Extensible Disk Utility Mm E Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status VIBBMS1 xYZCINO Berl Archive anager BML System E Automation Protocols ExDPath c SeaChange exd CacheManager ForceAutoContig No ComPorts PreserveValues Yes Version V1 8 006 DecoderPorts EncoderPorts E GenesisHDPorts LoggerSettings MtsilnputPorts MtsiOutputPorts TCP Communication Ports XstrmlnputPorts gt strmOutputPorts B Delete Modify Apply Gave Backup Restore Refresh Refresh All Not Connected 16 10 15 PC Figure 1 21 Viewing eXd Settings for a Server Node The eXd categories listed under the server node in the left pane correspond to the different types of settings you can make for the node When you select a category the current eXd settings in that category are displayed in the right pane For descriptions of the eXd settings in each category see the subsections under Configuration Tab in the Utilities Reference To modify eXd settings for a server node do the following 1 2 3 4 Start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 On the Connect
141. redundancy to make it accessible even if a single disk fails in each disk array or a single server node fails in the cluster Because each video clip is a computer file its quality does not degrade each time you play it like a videotape does The total storage capacity of the BMC depends on the number and size of its disks and the recording bitrate you use Most clustered systems store hundreds or even thousands of hours of video NOTE When you ingest or import new video material into the system the BMC does not reserve the total amount of storage space required for the material ahead of time The automation or asset management system must determine whether enough storage space is available in the BMC based on all the relevant pending operations If the automation or asset management system is unaware of some operations such as file import operations that you have requested manually it might request an ingest or import operation that fails due to insufficient storage space Using your automation or asset management system you can manage the inventory of video files in the BMC You can view the list of files video IDs see the amount of storage remaining rename or delete files set file attributes and transfer files to and from external archive systems The external archive systems can be other SeaChange Broadcast BMC BMS or BML systems or third party storage systems such as StorageTek as illustrated below Archive Systems
142. rnal Sony protocol compliant device such as a tape deck as the video source for a manual recording session The management station is comprised of the BOSS machine and its peripherals keyboard monitor mouse and KVM switch Optionally the BOSS can be equipped with space saving 1 RU slide away peripherals instead of the standard monitor keyboard mouse and KVM switch as described and illustrated in Equipment Overview in the Site Preparation Guide Either way you need to know how to use the KVM switch to select the machine BOSS or server node to connect with the keyboard monitor and mouse The procedure is the same whether you have the standard or space saving peripherals 1 Pull out the keyboard and press Scroll Lock twice to display the KVM switch menu 2 Select the machine you want using the arrow keys from the menu and press Enter The BOSS is typically the first machine listed on the menu followed by Node 0 Node 1 and so on The keyboard monitor and mouse are switched to that machine immediately For more information on using the KVM switch see the KVM switch manufacturer s manual that is included in your BMC shipment Management Basics 1 13 Common Management Tools SeaView Utility SeaView is a Windows based utility for monitoring the status of the BMC base system You can also use it to view or change base system Vstrm configuration settings You can run it on the BOSS on a network connected worksta
143. rt in the Installation Guide When you control the encoder using VDCP automation note the following The video disk device that you use in your automation system to represent the encoder must be bound to the same input port number as the encoder is bound to in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab For example if you use video disk device ENC3 in the automation system to represent ENCODER in the BMC node and in ExdUtil ENCODER is bound to INPUT_PORT 1 on that node you must bind ENC3 to Input Port 1 in automation When you request a recording session on the encoder the BMC does not reserve the total storage needed for the operation ahead of time It is up to automation to determine whether enough storage space is available based on its knowledge of other operations on the BMC For example if video files are being restored to the BMC from an archive system and those operations are not known to automation the BMC could run out of storage space during the recording session When you schedule recording sessions for the encoder leave three seconds between the end of one session and the beginning of the next This gives the encoder enough time to close the video file and perform post processing before handling the next record request 2 8 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording Serial Digital Video e For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a
144. s the communications were working previously the cabling might have been loosened or changed erroneously If you have just started operations the device might not be bound to the correct VDCP input output port number in ExdUtil or in your automation system or the codec board might be faulty For instructions on testing the BMC hardware and on cabling and configuring codecs for control by external equipment see the nstallation Guide Analyzing Control Communications If your VDCP or Sony protocol control equipment is having trouble controlling a BMC device check the communications data logged for the VDCP or Sony control port on the Status tab in ExdUtil as instructed in Monitoring Device and Resource Usage page 1 29 Check the following data items columns specifically e Complete Messages and Incomplete Messages Normally the Complete Messages count should increase over time but the Incomplete Messages count should not If neither count increases the BMC node is not receiving commands from the control equipment If only the Incomplete Messages count increases the BMC node is receiving corrupt communications from the control equipment Either way you should check the cabling pinouts and COM ports as instructed in the Installation Guide For the cabling see Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment For a COM port see Test All the Serial Ports e Open Port Successes and Select Port Successes Normally both the Op
145. s 1 9 file naming 1 10 importing from other BMC or BML 4 2 index file VIX 1 9 input output capabilities 1 2 preview edit support 1 4 3 1 Virtual Streams Vstrm software configuring 1 37 volumes SeaFile 1 9 VsConfig utility starting 1 20 using 1 37 W Web page default for BMC 1 16 MediaControl 1 18 Windows MediaPlayer SeaChange plug in for 3 4 usage scenario 1 4 using to preview MPEG 1 3 4 Index 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide
146. s still recording on the BMC you must keep reopening the URL to get more video as the recording progresses there is no way for automation to work around this currently For instructions on installing the Streaming Client plug in see Installing the Streaming Client Plug in e Use MediaControl on a Windows workstation to browse the video inventory The MediaControl utility lets you use a network connected Windows workstation to browse the BMC inventory To do this start MediaControl as instructed in MediaControl Utility page 1 16 and click Content gt Preview in the left pane The video inventory appears in the right pane If the Streaming Client plug in to MediaPlayer is installed as described above you can click on any MPEG 1 video file in the inventory list and the clip opens in MediaPlayer automatically allowing you to preview it right then Installing the Streaming Client Plug in The Streaming Client plug in to Windows MediaPlayer is free Software from SeaChange that allows you to access video files stored in the BMC using the sea protocol in MediaPlayer as 3 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Previewing MPEG 1 Files described in the preceding section Video files so accessed are streamed to the MediaPlayer workstation faster than they are with the http protocol preventing buffering delays from occuring as you advance and rewind the video in MediaPlayer To install the Streaming Client plug in on a Windows workstatio
147. scribed in Playing MPEG Transport Streams page 2 22 The Sony protocol does not include a way to specify the ID filename of the video to play You must use the Sony utility to cue the HD decoder to play a specific video ID before you can control the HD decoder using a Sony protocol device For details see Sony Utility in the Utilities Reference Do not use any trick mode functions except for Pause Step Forward and Fast Forward At the time of this publishing the HD decoder does not support reverse trick mode functions If you use trick mode functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC the HD decoder might not work properly e For details on how SeaChange implements Sony protocol support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit As you control the HD decoder using Sony protocol the audio and video should play properly on your analog TV monitor If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Video Recording and Playback 2 37 Playing HD Serial Digital Video 2 38 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing The procedures to use to preview segment and edit video files stored in the BMC depend on various factors including e Which type of video files you are working with whether MPEG 1 or MPEG 2 program streams or transport streams and so forth
148. software utility that you can use to set up an encoder and one or more standard decoders to act together as a channel for capturing an incoming standard definition SDI video broadcast and rebroadcasting it on a time delayed basis such as after one hour and two hour delays Such an operation is illustrated below Video Capture Delayed Playback E Captured 3 video is x SD SDI E stored in 1 DECODER1 gt SD SDI broadcast delayed 1 hr video stream gt ENCODER a circular 3 lt E mpeg d DECODER2 SD SDI broadcast delayed 2 hrs Figure 1 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast Operation The overall time delay process works like this 1 You start the encoder which begins recording the incoming broadcast 2 The system waits the amount of time that you have specified and then starts the first delayed rebroadcast of the captured material on the decoder that you have specified If you have scheduled additional delayed rebroadcasts of the same material the system starts those rebroadcasts at the specified times on the specified decoders 3 The video recording and delayed playback processes run in tandem continuously unless you stop them The system assumes you want them to run 24 hours per day 7 days per week 1 6 SeaChange BMC Management Guide System Capabilities The video material that is captured for time delay is stored in a special circular video file When the end of the file is reached the system con
149. solation in the Installation Guide Troubleshooting 6 5 Playback Problems Playback Problems The following are possible causes and solutions to BMC playback problems Possible Cause Automation is using the Make sure the output port number that the playout device is bound to wrong VDCP output port to on the Configuration tab in ExdUtil is the same as the output port refer to the playout device number you are using in automation to refer to the device See Configure Automation Support in the nstallation Guide for details The COM or TCP port used Check the status of the COM or TCP port on the Status tab in by the control equipment to Exdutil If it is locked by the wrong control application select the port communicate with the and click Release If you previously released it select the correct playout device is locked by a VDCP or Sony control port and click Acquire Otherwise on the different control application Configuration tab make sure the COM or TCP port is configured to or is not configured properly listen for VDCP or Sony communications as described in Configure Automation Support in the Installation Guide In the TCP case also make sure eXd is listening on the correct TCP socket The playout device is locked Check the status of the playout device on the Status tab in ExdUtil If for use by a different control it is locked by the wrong control application select the device and application or is stal
150. station so long as the required SeaChange plug in software is installed on the workstation In the Avid case you actually have two options use the MediaTransfer plug in to transfer video files over the IP network or install the MediaDub extensions on the BMC to enable the Avid workstation to control BMC codecs to transfer video material over a serial digital video I O connection Each option supports a different type of MPEG 2 video as illustrated below Adobe Editing Workstation with SeaChange MediaPublisher plug in for transferring 8 15 Mbps 4 2 0 MPEG 2 video files Avid Editing Workstation IP with SeaChange MediaTransfer Network plug in for transferring 30 40 50 Mbps IMX MPEG 2 video files SDI R Avid Editing Workstation Video gt uses extended Sony protocol to 1 0 control SDI video I O Supports editing of 30 Mbps or less standard MPEG 2 video files Figure 1 3 Video Editing Operations 1 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide System Capabilities For more information on setting up and performing video preview segmentation and editing operations see Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing Inventory Management Capabilities Each video clip that you ingest or import into the BMC is stored as a computer file but the file is not written to a single location on disk Rather it is distributed striped across all the disks in the system with just enough
151. t is indexed for frame accurate segmentation The supported encoding bitrates depend on the specific encoder model as described in the appropriate Quick Spec 1 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide System Capabilities e Playing serial digital video If the system has any standard decoders such as DECODER and DECODER in the figure above it can play back SD SDI video streams from the MPEG files created by the encoders either in back to back mode for live broadcast or in trick mode for preview or segmentation Decoders also provide analog outputs for monitoring video quality e Recording MPEG transport streams If the system has any MPEG transport stream MTS I O cards the input device on each of those cards such as XSTRM_INPUT1 or XSTRM_INPUT2 in the figure above can capture incoming MPEG transport streams transmitted by an upstream MTS encoder MPEG transport streams can contain SD or HD video and are transmitted using the Digital Video Broadcast Asynchronous Serial Interface DVB ASI standard If the incoming signal carries a single program transport stream SPTS the capture operation creates an MPEG file that is indexed for frame accurate segmentation If the incoming signal carries a multi program transport stream MPTS the capture operation creates a raw MPEG file without any indexing to support segmentation Playing MPEG transport streams If the system has any MTS I O cards the output device on each of those cards such
152. t of encoding parameters the encoder uses by default whether a preview decoder is associated with the encoder and whether the video files created by the encoder are sent to an archive system automatically You can change these settings in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure the Encoders in the Installation Guide Profile settings determine the specific audio and video encoding standards bitrates and MPEG file structure the encoder uses You can change these settings in ExdUtil as instructed in Configure the Encoders in the Installation Guide Firmware settings let you adjust the encoder s level of tolerance for glitches in the serial digital input signal By default encoders tolerate a loss of up to 15 frames of the input signal without stopping This is equivalent to 0 5 seconds of NTSC video or 0 6 seconds of PAL video You can change the signal loss tolerance setting using the Flash Update utility as instructed below This requires a node reboot if you want the change to be permanent 2 2 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Recording Serial Digital Video To increase or decrease an encoder s tolerance of input glitches do the following 1 On the node that hosts the encoder start the Flash Update utility as instructed in Flash Update Utility page 1 19 2 Inthe top section of the Flash Update window select the encoder Beowulf board that you want to configure The firmware settings for that board appear in the bottom section o
153. tem Components decoder firmware Beowulf and Genesis driver software that implements the video file storage system SeaFile protocol software that runs the high speed cluster data network SeaNet and service software that provides the built in IP based video streaming service SeaSS It also includes utilities ike SeaView and MediaControl that let you monitor and test base video server functions Extensible Disk eXd EXd is the SeaChange application software that turns a base SeaChange video server node into a Broadcast server node It includes service software that implements VDCP and Sony protocol support ExdSve and ExdSvcAp and various utilities that let you manage the system most notably the Extensible Disk utility ExdUtil The eXd service software is installed only on the server nodes The eXd utilities are installed both on the server nodes and on the BOSS although you normally use them only on the BOSS Add on software optional Various add on software packages are available from SeaChange for the BMC Some of these are free such as the Alarms package while others must be purchased such as MediaTransfer and MediaPublisher These products let you integrate the BMC seamlessly with other equipment such as video editing workstations See docs schange com broadcast for documentation on add on products from SeaChange A backup copy of the SeaChange software kit for the BMC is kept in the C Broadcast folder on the BOS
154. termine the delay from when the control application issues a Cue or Play request until the MTS output device actually executes the command The default pre roll is 5 seconds You can adjust it up or down as instructed below which requires a node reboot but you should not set it lower than 3 seconds Set the pre roll in your control application to the same value 2 22 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing MPEG Transport Streams To increase or decrease the pre roll settings for an MTS output device do the following 1 On the node that hosts the MTS I O card start the SeaView utility as instructed in SeaView Utility page 1 14 2 Click Vstrm Info gt Registry gt XstrmDrv to access the registry settings for the MTS I O cards in this node Scroll down in the list until you find the registry settings for the specific MTS output device For example the figure below shows the settings for the output device on Dvb734 0 which is the left most MTS I O card when viewing the node from the rear SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Services XstrmDrv x BufDry BwifOry ChassisHwDry Dac960nt GsisDry HlopDry lop lopSesi ListDry MellDry MemornDry MCAServer MCPServer NtfsDry NullDry EdgeDry RaidDry SeaBld SeaFile SeaNet Seaview Spigot SplitDry StServer TepDrv VelaScsi VGDvbDry VodDry YVstrm XstrmDry Dvb 34 O InputPorts V IXTimeBaseType 00000000 0 Dyb 734 0NInputSpigotCount 00000001 1 Dvb 734 0 0utputPorts DefaultBitRate O127E86E 19392622 Dvb 73
155. tes for the most up to date information on HD decoding limitations This section gives guidelines and procedures for Configuring the HD Decoder Verifying HD Decoder Functionality page 2 34 HD Decoding under VDCP Automation page 2 36 HD Decoding under Sony Protocol Control page 2 37 Configuring the HD Decoder When you configure an HD decoder the settings you make apply to all the operations of that HD decoder whether you control the operations through VDCP automation a Sony protocol device or manually through ExdUtil For each HD decoder you can configure the following e Basic settings determine whether the HD decoder expects to process NTSC or PAL video which audio channels it plays out from the MPEG file and how it finds information about the program s contained in the MPEG transport stream file In most cases these settings are made correctly for you at the factory and do not need to be changed If you do need to change them use the VsConfig utility as instructed below in Basic HD Decoder Settings This requires a node reboot Audio volume settings let you adjust the volume of each digital audio channel played by the HD decoder You can change these settings in the Windows registry as instructed in HD Decoder Audio Volume page 2 30 This requires a node reboot Signal timing settings let you adjust the timing of the HD SDI signal produced by the HD decoder to synchronize it with the switcher You
156. the Time Delay window once you have started time delay operations If you close it when operations are still pending only the operations that have started will run For example if you close the window after recording has begun on a channel but before playback has started the recording will continue but playback will never start Even if you close the window after playback has begun if a glitch occurs thereafter and playback fails the device will not restart automatically This section provides guidelines and procedures for Starting Time Delay Operations page 5 9 e Monitoring Time Delay Operations page 5 10 e Viewing Information on Pending Operations page 5 10 e Resynchronizing Playback with Recording page 5 11 e Modifying a Time Delay while On Air page 5 11 e Stopping Time Delay Operations page 5 12 e Switching to Backup Channels page 5 12 Starting Time Delay Operations If you select the Auto Connect and Auto Start options when creating or modifying a time delay channel the video capture recording process starts up automatically on that channel as soon as you complete the Configure Channel dialog The channel also starts up automatically each time you restart the Time Delay utility thereafter If you deselect the Auto Connect and Auto Start options when creating or modifying a time delay channel after completing the Configure Channel dialog and each time you restart the Time Delay
157. the right is DECODER2 and so on These names are set by eXd automatically during hardware detection and should not be changed When viewing a server node from behind the left most pair of HD decoder cards heads is GENESIS_HD1 the next pair to the right is GENESIS_HD2 and so on These names are set by eXd automatically during hardware detection and should not be changed When viewing a server node from behind the left most MTS I O card is XSTRM_INPUT1 and XSTRM_OUTPUT1 the next to the right is XSTRM_INPUT2 and XSTRM_OUTPUT2 and so on These names are set by eXd automatically during hardware detection and should not be changed These are logical VDCP ports that represent the BMC recording devices During hardware detection eXd automatically defines one VDCP input port for each recording device in the node in the order listed above For example if the node has ENCODER1 ENCODER2 and XSTRM_INPUT1 eXd defines INPUT_PORT1 through INPUT_PORTS to represent those devices respectively You can change which device a VDCP input port represents These are logical VDCP ports that represent the BMC playout devices During hardware detection eXd automatically defines one VDCP output port for each playout device in the node in the order listed above For example if the node has DECODER1 GENESIS_HD1 XSTRM_OUTPUT1 and XSTRM_OUTPUT2 eXd defines OUTPUT_PORT1 through OUTPUT_PORT4 to represent those devices respectively You can change whi
158. tinues to store video by overwriting the beginning of the file This way the storage space used by the operation is fixed If there is a glitch in the video recording or playback process the encoder or decoder resets and the recording or playback process resumes automatically For details on how to set up and perform time delay operations see Chapter 5 Time Delayed Rebroadcast NOTE Time delay operations cannot be controlled by an automation system You must use the Time Delay utility and you must run it on the Broadcast Operation Service Station BOSS If your BMC does not have a BOSS running Time Delay is not supported Management Basics 1 7 System Components System Components The BMC consists of certain hardware and software components plus the video data components that you store in it This section briefly describes these components Hardware Components Software Components page 1 8 Video Data Components page 1 9 Component Names page 1 10 Hardware Components The BMC is a rack mounted video server consisting of either a single server node or a cluster of three to seven server nodes The hardware components include Core components Each server node typically contains several video I O devices and is equipped with an uninterruptible power supply UPS unit Most systems also include a management station consisting of the BOSS keyboard monitor mouse and KVM switch Also included are various interface pa
159. tion or on a server node To start SeaView on the BOSS do the following e In Windows click Start gt Programs gt SeaChange Extensible Disk gt SeaView node where node is the name of the BMC server node you want to connect to initially After you have been successfully connected to the server node the SeaView cluster view appears Cluster Topology iew of BMC lol x SeaChange International anena 4 477 00 04 4 1 17 BMC0O 0M New Target Help Fine Outline Counters View Figure 1 6 SeaView Utility Cluster View NOTE The screenshots shown in this section illustrate a BMC that has been deliberately degraded to show the different status colors used in SeaView An actual BMC will normally appear in the green state For information on SeaView status colors see Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 The cluster view shows all the server nodes the links between them the disk drives in each node the solid rectangles the playout devices in each node the small circles and the 1 14 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Common Management Tools recording devices in each node the small squares For example the above system has four nodes each with twelve disk drives three dual headed decoders and one encoder To start SeaView on a network connected workstation do the following 1 Map a network drive to the C drive of the server node that you want SeaView to connect to initially
160. to verify that the device plays out HD serial digital video streams properly You can play a list of video files back to back to simulate broadcasting to air At the time of this publishing you cannot use the MediaControl utility to control an HD decoder NOTES e The Playback tab does not let you play video clips back to back based on premarked splice points nor is back to back playout frame accurate since the BOSS controls the HD decoder over a network connection Always use VDCP automation or a Sony protocol device to control HD serial digital playback operations for production use 2 34 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing HD Serial Digital Video e Do not use jog or shuttle functions when previewing a video clip that is still being recorded into the BMC If you do the HD decoder might not work properly To verify an HD decoder s playback functionality do the following 1 On the BOSS or on the single node BMC if you have no BOSS start ExdUtil as instructed in Extensible Disk Utility page 1 18 On the Connect tab connect to the server node that hosts the HD decoder When you are connected to the node select the Playback tab illustrated below Jh Extensible Disk Utility DOCTESTNODE Connect Services Configuration Playback Record Inventory Archive Status m Play List m ID List D oo ration Add Before Duration 15Mb_01_NTSC 00 00 30 00 Add After mknwffls 00 00 0
161. tructed in Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 and then have the eXd software automatically detect the changes as instructed in Detect Any Hardware Changes in the Installation Guide This requires a node reboot Device settings determine how the decoder uses its two heads whether for back to back playout only jog shuttle operations only or a mixture of the two whether Jog requests are converted to Goto requests under certain conditions to optimize performance and whether the decoder always interprets the time codes received in Cue In requests as being relative to a zero SOM You can change these settings in ExdUtil on the Configuration tab under DecoderPorts and apply the changes immediately without rebooting the node or resetting the decoder For details see Decoder Port Settings in the Utilities Reference Firmware settings let you adjust the decoder s SDI output signal timing and its analog audio volume levels You can also set the color to be displayed on the screen when the decoder is idle and for a Genesis II 50 decoder turn on or off support for four AES audio pairs and 24 bit embedded audio You can change these settings using the Flash Update utility as instructed below For most firmware setting changes you must reboot the node to make the changes permanent 2 10 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing Serial Digital Video To view or change a standard decoder s firmware settings do the following 1 On the node t
162. ts as instructed in Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide Use the SeaView utility to check the state of the BMC cluster or single node as instructed in Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 Use VsConfig to check the Broadcast Archive settings as instructed in Modifying Vstrm Settings page 1 37 If the network ports on the single board computer SBC card in the BMC node are faulty you might need to replace the SBC card as instructed in Replace Any Faulty Components in the Installation Guide Troubleshooting 6 7 File Transfer Problems File Transfer Problems For information on resolving problems with a file transfer operation see the documentation for the type of workstation that you are transferring the video file to or from MediaMarker preview workstation MediaMarker Setup and User Guide Avid editing workstation MediaTransfer Setup and User Guide Adobe editing workstation MediaPublisher Setup and User Guide Generic workstation with FTP utility SeaChange Server Reference 6 8 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Time Delay Problems Time Delay Problems The following are possible causes and solutions to Time Delay problems Possible Cause A codec used by the time delay channel is locked for use by a different control application or is stalled A codec or BMC node specified for the time delay channel is not valid The BOSS is not using house clock time A codec used by the time dela
163. unction of your FTP utility For example the following figure illustrates how to use the built in Windows command line FTP utility to send an MPEG file cnd00510 mpg from the current directory C TEMP on the workstation to a BMC node IP address 17 0 49 38 WINNT System32 cmd exe C TEMP gt ftp 17 6 49 38 Connected to 17 6 49 38 220 SeaChange4938 Ustrm FIP server Version eem 1 8 Alpha ready User 17 06 49 38 lt none gt gt 331 Password required for Cnone gt Password 230 User none logged in ftp gt put cnd46518 mpg 266 PORT command successful 15 Opening BINARY mode data connection for cnd66518 mpg 226 Transfer Complete ftp 15373686 bytes sent in 87 28Seconds 176 15Kbytes sec Figure 4 4 Putting an MPEG File onto the BMC 4 10 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Transferring Video Files Manually In this example the MPEG file is stored on the BMC under the same name as the source file in the video data DVL partition This is the default behavior if you don t specify a partition on the destination filename in the Put command See the next section for more information NOTE If an MPEG file of the same name as the one you are sending already exists on the BMC you will get an error and the file won t be sent You must specify a unique destination filename on the Put command as illustrated in the section below Getting or Putting a VIX File To retrieve or send a video index VIX file
164. utility thereafter you must manually connect to the recording device and start the recording process on the channel by clicking the Connect button followed by the record button on the input port section of the channel view If Auto Connect is selected but not Auto Start you only need to click the record button to start the recording process Once you have started the recording process on a channel whether automatically or manually each playback process on that channel starts up automatically after the appropriate delay or immediately if the Auto Resume Play option is selected and enough captured video already Time Delayed Rebroadcast 5 9 Operating Time Delay Channels exists to start the playback process The recording and playback processes then run in tandem continuously 24 hours per day 7 days per week unless you stop them To start a playback process manually on a channel after it has failed or you have stopped it click the Connect button followed by the play button on the appropriate output port section of the channel view If you are still connected to the device you only need to click the play button For information on monitoring and controlling time delay operations once you have started them see the next few sections For information on dealing with problems that you encounter when starting operations on a time delay channel see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting Monitoring Time Delay Operat
165. wing the Video Inventory in the BMC The amount of video storage remaining in the system is displayed below the list 4 Use the buttons to the right of the list to delete or rename video files or to modify their attributes See Inventory Tab in the Utilities Reference for details on using the list including understanding the video attributes and colors codes used in the list NOTE To delete or rename a video file the BMC cluster must be in a green or yellow state See Monitoring the Base System page 1 22 for instructions on viewing the cluster state If you encounter problems managing the video inventory with ExdUtil see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 4 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Viewing and Managing the Video Inventory Managing the Inventory under VDCP Automation Once you have tested the BMC inventory functions manually with ExdUtil and have verified that they work you should test them under VDCP automation if you plan to manage the inventory that way for production use Make sure the proper control cabling is in place from the automation system to the BMC node to which you will issue inventory requests This can be serial cabling or network cabling as described in Serial based Equipment or Network based Equipment in the Installation Guide When you manage the video inventory using VDCP automation note the following To delete or rename a video file the BMC cluster must be in a green or yellow state See Mo
166. xplorer on the workstation Video Preview Markup and Editing 3 5 Previewing MPEG 1 Files 5 Locate and run the executable file that you downloaded The installation wizard appears Welcome Welcome to the SeaChangeVideo Setup program This program will install SeaChangeVideo on your ad computer It is strongly recommended that you exit all Windows programs before running this Setup program Click Cancel to quit Setup and then close any programs you have running Click Next to continue with the Setup program WARNING This program is protected by copyright law and international treaties Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this program or any portion of it may result in severe civil and criminal penalties and will be prosecuted to the maximum extent possible under law Cancel Figure 3 2 Installing the Streaming Client Plug in 6 Follow the prompts on the screen to complete the installation NOTE If you get an error message during the installation stating that one or more software files such as SeaSS dll could not be installed search for and rename any existing copies of those files on the workstation and then rerun the installation After rebooting the workstation you can delete the old renamed copies of those files 3 6 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Chapter 4 Video Inventory Management You can get video content into the BMC in several ways For example the two previous chapt
167. y and manually connect to the codecs to resume monitoring and controlling the existing time delay operations 5 4 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Setting Up Time Delay Channels Setting Up Time Delay Channels For each incoming broadcast that you want to time delay you must set up a separate time delay channel in the Time Delay utility You can also set up a backup channel for each primary channel either on the same BOSS or on a backup BOSS as described in the previous sections This section gives procedures for e Creating Time Delay Channels e Modifying Time Delay Channels page 5 6 Deleting Time Delay Channels page 5 8 Creating Time Delay Channels To create a time delay channel do the following 1 On the BOSS in Windows start the Time Delay utility by clicking Start gt Programs gt SeaChange Extensible Disk gt TimeDelay If the Configure Channel dialog appears illustrated below skip to Step 3 Otherwise proceed with the next step 2 Inthe main Time Delay window on the menu bar click Configure gt Create The Configure Channel dialog appears Configure Channel1 Channel Name INTENTEN Video Name TD_Channel1 Segment Duration 00 15 00 00 Extra Delay 00 00 00 00 Pre Cue frames 450 Start Time frames 0 Pre Play frames 150 Max Restarts 3 IV Auto Connect V Auto Resume Play DYB Channel MV Auto Start V Delete on start Encoders Decoders Cancel Figure 5 1 Creating a Tim
168. y channel is not using house clock time or is using a different time code type The time code types of the recording and playback devices for the time delay chanel are different The time delay channel was modified without deleting the old virtual file The video feed is not clean or stable enough for the time delay channel to record The BMC has run out of video storage space A codec used by the time delay channel is faulty Other Check the status of the codec on the Status tab in ExdUtil If it is locked by the wrong control application select the device and click Release If it is inoperative or stuck in a cued state select it and click HW Reset If you previously released the device select the RPC connection used by the Time Delay utility and click Acquire If you specified a BMC node or device name incorrectly when configuring the channel the corresponding section of the channel view is shown in white Correct the node or device name as needed and retry the operation The Time Delay utility warns you of this condition but lets you proceed with channel operations However accurate timing of operations is not assured in this case To correct this problem follow the instructions in Preparing the BOSS for Time Delay page 5 4 The Time Delay utility warns you of this condition but lets you proceed with channel operations However accurate timing of operations is not assured in this case To correct t
169. ying HD Serial Digital Video page 2 27 e At the time of this publishing MTS playback is only GOP accurate Therefore when you select video splice points using a SeaChange MediaMarker workstation make sure to select only I frames For details see Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing e For details on how SeaChange implements VDCP automation support see the Broadcast System Developer Kit You must be registered as a SeaChange development partner to access this kit Video Recording and Playback 2 25 Playing MPEG Transport Streams As you control the MTS output device under VDCP automation the audio and video should play out properly on your TV monitoring equipment If you encounter problems see Chapter 6 Troubleshooting 2 26 SeaChange BMC Management Guide Playing HD Serial Digital Video Playing HD Serial Digital Video To decode an HD single program transport stream SPTS that has been captured as an MPEG file in the BMC and play it out as an HD serial digital video stream you must use an HD decoder in the BMC At the time of this publishing the HD decoder does not have full trick mode capabilities you must use a separate application such as SeaChange MediaMarker to mark video splice points for broadcasting to air as described in Chapter 3 Video Preview Markup and Editing For details on the playout capabilities of the HD decoders in the BMC see the Genesis HD Decoder Quick Spec See also the Release No
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