Back to Virtual Camera Compounds
Introduction
We will discuss two different kinds of input:
- An internal input from inside Aximmetry. We will call it a Test input.
- External input is usually live input coming from a studio camera, but can be other sources as well.
For all Virtual Camera compounds, you will find the INPUT panel on the Billboards control board after importing the compound.
In the example below, we imported the following compound:
[Common_Studio]:Camera\VirtualCam\VirtualCam_3-Cam.xcomp
BILLBOARDS Control Board Content
After navigating to the BILLBOARDS control board, you will see the following control panels.
Each row of panels corresponds to an Input. This is why all rows start with an INPUT # panel.
In this article, we will discuss the INPUT # panel.
If you are looking for other panel settings on the BILLBOARDS control board, these articles will be helpful:
Or just simply follow the Virtual Camera Workflow category.
INPUT # Panel
You can turn each input On or Off with the power button icon on the panel.
NOTE: In the case where there are more INPUT X control panels than the number of inputs your production requires, you can turn Off the extra INPUT X control panels to save some performance of the computer.
If the INPUT# is turned ON, but the input device is not defined, you will see a red rectangle on the Billboard. with the message: "Device not found":
NOTE: Example of the "DEVICE NOT FOUND" message displayed on a Billboard.
Test Input
Test input means that instead of live input from a studio camera (or any external source), you can use a video (or image, image sequence, solid color, etc.) inside Aximmetry. This can be helpful for different reasons. For example, there is no need for the presence of your talent(s) for setting up the virtual scene, lights, etc. You can simply loop a pre-recorded video.
In order, to use a Test input, enable it on the INPUT# control panel:
Once you have enabled it, navigate to the FLOW editor in the Menu bar.
Import the video you would like to use as a Test input, by drag-and-dropping it into the FLOW editor.
NOTE: Aximmetry will automatically open the video in a Video Player module.
Example: [Common]:Videos\Green\Green_Nils_Demonstrate.mp4
Connect the Out pin of the Video player module to the Virtual Camera compound's Test Input # pin:
NOTE: Example of using the Test Input 1 pin to provide a Test video input.
This will start playing the imported video on the Billboard.
Of course, the same steps should be done with the test video as if it were a live input, for example, cropping, keying, etc.
Live (External) Input
External input can mean any kind of input that is not a test input, for example, SDI, SMPTE2110, NDI, etc.
On the BILLBOARDS control board, if the INPUT # panel is selected, you can see the input option on the right in the Pin Values tab.
Input Device
By default, Mapped #1 is the default input, but this will only work if you have mapped any input to #1 id.
More on mapping devices here.
More on supported inputs here.
Mode
Select AUTO for Aximmetry to automatically learn the input resolution and frame rate. You can set an arbitrary resolution and frame rate if needed.
Name
This is the assigned name of the Input (Billboard). It will be written out in various views within the PREVIEW MONITOR OUTPUT panel, the MONITOR panel, and when using the Info button on the ON SCREEN panel.
Timecode Master
Turn this ON if you want this Input’s timecode to serve as Aximmetry’s Master Timecode. If no Input is set as the Master Timecode, Aximmetry will use its internal timecode as the Master Timecode.
The Master Timecode is what Aximmetry will encode into video outputs that support timecode embedding, such as SDI. You can also include the Master Timecode when recording video files, allowing the timecode to be embedded in those recordings.
In a Multi-Machine setup, multiple INPUT panels can have Timecode Master enabled, as each machine in the system can use its own independent Master Timecode.
In Color Space
Aximmetry will automatically detect the color space, but if there is a specific color space you would like to use, you can select it here.
In Gamma Curve
Same as Color Space, but for the Gamma Curve.
Chroma offset
Chroma Offset is used to realign the chroma (color) channels with the luma (brightness) channel to ensure that the pixels of the different channels are correctly positioned. Chroma channels (U and V or Cr and Cb) can have different formatting compared to the luma channel; this difference can cause the color and brightness to be very slightly offset in the image. Adjusting the Chroma Offset helps to rectify this issue.
Vignette options
More on capturing and using vignettes here.
No Input Image
The default no-input image is this:
You can browse your PC for a different image with this option.
Delay
You can add a delay to the input. Value is in frames.
Engine
When using a multi-machine setup, you can select whether this input should be a local one or a remote one.
More on the Multi-Machine setup here.
Continue to Cropping
Once you have finished setting up the inputs, you can move on to the cropping:
