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Viz Artist

Version 3.10 | Published May 03, 2018 ©

Playback of Media Assets

The playback of Media Assets depends on the machine and video board configuration. There are three Media Asset playback methods:

Media Assets are applied to a Scene either as DVE or as a Texture.

Before video can be played, the Video Input settings must be configured as described in the section Configuring Viz of the Viz Engine Administrator’s Guide. These settings determine the frame rate (PAL/NTSC) of the whole video system.

Video clips transfered from Viz One can be played if the clip’s container and codec combination is supported by the currently installed video card and the corresponding clip player (Matrox clip player for Matrox video card, DirectShow player for all other boards).

These video cards are supported for video playback:

  • DVS

  • Bluefish

  • NVIDIA Quadro Digital Video Pipeline

  • Matrox

The Matrox DSX LE2<n> (see the release notes for supported <n> versions) does not have any input, codec support or compositor. Furthermore, for DSX LE3, X.mio, X.mio2 and X.mio2 Plus Matrox cards video inputs and clip channels can be disabled in the Matrox panel, as described in the section Configuring Viz of the Viz Engine Administrator’s Guide.

IMPORTANT! The most basic rule for working with the video version of Viz Engine is to always have a valid genlock attached to the video board, no matter which board is installed. Without the correct genlock setup there is no guarantee that the Engine will function correctly (see Video Output as described in the section Configuring Viz of the Viz Engine Administrator’s Guide).

Media Asset parameters are modified in the Media Asset Panel Tab in the Scene Settings.

To control Media Assets from an external control application, see the Viz Command Interface Documentation located in the <Viz Installation Folder>.

This section contains the following topics:

Media Asset Application

Media Assets are applied in Viz Artist either as Digital Video Effect (DVE) or as a Texture:

DVE

The playback of external video through DVE does not have any impact on rendering performance, since it is handled solely on the board.

When DVE is used, the graphics scene and the channel are composited on the video card (Matrox X.mio) and an SDI monitor is needed to show the video channel. There is also a limited set of 2D control options available in the design and animation of the Viz Artist scene (position, size, crop and alpha).

Chroma keying is not supported for channels set to DVE. The DVE Alpha setting for GFX Channels allows Media Assets as DVE to be blended, however, setting alpha for nested DVEs is currently not supported.

Texture

The playback of external video through Texture will have an impact on rendering performance, since the live video needs to be transferred to the graphics board.

When a video is applied as a Texture, the video is part of the graphics.

When more control of a video is needed, for example, to map the video onto a 3D object in a Scene, then Texture mode can be used. The video would then have the same control parameters as an image in Viz Artist. However, the video may now affect rendering performance, since it needs to composite the video into the render window.