The TRANSITION panel is where the user clicks to trigger a video transition from one scene to the other. All changes done to the scene, whether they are source changes, new graphs to be overlayed, or a new news ticker are applied using a soft fade transition effect lasting 500mS. This provides multimedia radio broadcasters with an agile and professional look comparable to commercial TV broadcasts.

 

This panel has a PROGRAM/PREVIEW button that visually mimics the 'bar' control found on traditional hardware video mixers. The operation of this bar is described below associated with the operation of PREVIEW mode.

 

TRANSITIONS UNDER MANUAL OPERATION

 

To activate the PREVIEW mode, click on either the VIDEO or the TITLE buttons until they lit in green. When the PREVIEW mode is active any changes made to the scene will not be applied immediately. The changes will go on-air only after pressing the PREVIEW/PROGRAM 'bar' button. Applying changes will generate a smooth transition in the main video output (PROGRAM) from the previous scene to the new one. It's therefore very easy to perform several changes at once: first change the elements of the scene and then press the 'bar' when you are ready to air the new scene.

 

AUTOMATIC TRANSITIONS

 

Sometimes the operator needs to change the video sources on the fly and as fast as possible. Avoiding to hit the 'bar' button each time a source change is needed would be a plus in such circumstances. HDVmixer provides an AUTO apply mode for these applications. For example, if the operator wants to switch from 'Camera 1' to 'Camera 2' as fast as possible, he can do so with a single click. As soon as the AUTO button is activated (it's located next to the VIDEO PREVIEW button), changes to the SET will go on-air immediately. When the AUTO mode is active, both the AUTO and the PREVIEW buttons will lit in red indicating that changes will be applied automatically. When the AUTO mode is active the following changes will apply intermediately: selecting a new SET template, clicking any of the video input matrix buttons in the MONITOR panel, or selecting a background image in the BACKGROUND panel.

 

Both AUTO apply feature is only available to the MONITOR, SET and BACKGROUND panels. The TITLE panel does not have an AUTO apply changes feature, as text/graphic layers have to be carefully configured before been displayed on the air. Most of the time this involves changing more than one text at a time, so automatically applying changes does not seem to be a good idea.

 

SPLIT SCENE CHANGES FOR WORKLOAD SHARING

 

HDVmixer has separate buttons for controlling VIDEO and TITLE (text/graph layers). This allows to split the workload between the station's staff members in a logical workflow. As one person can be responsible for changing the video scenes, whereas another can be in charge of text and image updates (TITLE). There can be several HDVmixer clients running on different workstations, and all connected to the same HDVmixer server. Therefore, it is possible that journalists in the news room use their workstation's HDVmixer to update the news tickers, while the producers of a show are in charge of updating the names of the interviewee, while SET changes correspond to the video operator (or are automated using autoVJ rules). As HDVmixer has separate buttons to apply VIDEO and TITLE changes, one HDVmixer terminal can be locked to change only VIDEO or TITLE elements, not allowing it to interfere with the rest of the scene configuration. To grant permission to modify either VIDEO or TITLE objects, is as simple as activating/deactivating either VIDEO or TITLE buttons in the TRANSITION panel.