Drastic signal analysis products support both command line parameters and keyboard control.  This command line parameters can be used to allow them to open automatically on startup in the mode and size required. The keyboard commands can be used to capture compressed and uncompressed frames directly from the incoming signal.

Drastic supports a wide variety of audio and video hardware for products such as 2110Scope/HDRScope/4KScope/sdiScope, videoQC, FlowCaster, and Net-X-Code Server. We have tested extensively on AJA hardware, and also support Bluefish444 and Blackmagic adapters for audio/video I/O, and AMD or NVIDIA for video processing. For a more detailed list of supported hardware and driver recommendations, please continue reading.

When using Drastic software on Windows, for some operations system settings must be altered to allow for the performance necessary for the workflow. This includes Net-X-Code Server, videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, FlowCaster, and 2110Scope.  By default, Windows is designed for multiple, low performance loads and UI experience.  The suggested changes allow Drastic software to get the required resources and performance required for consistent operation.

Many modern productions require sending out multiple versions of shows to multiple groups.  A single in-process show will require versions to be sent for captioning, audio composition/mixing, ratings, producer proof, edit check, and QA.  To facilitate this, without using creative workstations, Net-X-Code allows you to set up to 10 targets and produce 10 watermarked/time coded/named versions of a show at one time.

When using Media File Scanner, many sources will have directories and file names that exceed Windows' 260 character default limit.  If you are targeting an NTFS, or other Windows drive, you will need to enable long directory and file name paths in the Windows permissions.  This limit is to preserve compatibility with older, and MS-DOS, programs.  If you need that compatibility, you may want to target a NAS as the Media File Scanner output, which will support long directory/file names natively.

There are a huge variety of MXF types and directory styles.  This article goes through some of the most common types, and describes how they are used in Net-X-Code (Multi Software Server System), videoQC (HD-SDI/VGA media player, with analysis, reports, scopes and more), and MediaReactor Workstation (Adobe/Apple/Avid/SCRATCH plugins) software.

Avid tools support MPEG-4 using QuickTime as well as using MediaReactor Workstation. QuickTime cannot handle newer MP4 formats like XAVC-S and MPEG-2 from Sony and other manufacturers' cameras. MediaReactor can, but when adding them to Media Composer/NewsCutter/etc, you must specify which reader you want to use.  

When using Drastic software on Windows, for some operations the network settings must be altered to allow for the performance necessary for the workflow. This includes Net-X-Code for UDP/RTP/RTSP streams, SMPTE 2022-6, and SMPTE 2110 streams, and any other workflow that requires high throughput from the Windows network stack.

FlowCaster creates an Open I/O board in Avid creative software like Media Composer.  As a virtual video board, it can send the same high quality audio, video and captions from a real or virtual machine to wherever you are doing your creative work for output on a 'third monitor'.  This article demonstrates configuring FlowCaster in Avid Media Composer.

Drastic's software products install and will run without a license, but will severely limit its features. We are happy to provide you with a fully functional temporary license if you would like to test our software. Here are details on how to obtain a license.

FlowCaster creates a virtual I/O board as a transmitter for Adobe creative software like Premiere and After Effects.  As a virtual video board, it can send the same high quality audio, video and captions from a real or virtual machine to wherever you are doing your creative work for output on a 'third monitor'.  This article demonstrates configuring FlowCaster in Adobe creative software.

2110Scope, Net-X-Code, videoQC, and FlowCaster software support Rivermax for software based SMPTE 2110 input and/or output with NVIDIA Rivermax®, ConnectX-6/7/8/9, and BlueField network adapters. This article outlines the appropriate driver, firmware and software setup. It also includes links to articles on optimizing your system to best make use of Rivermax as a SMPTE-2110 I/O system.

Amazon (as of 2025) does not have a direct driver for EFS (Elastic File System) volumes for Windows.  If you are using Net-X-Code in a cloud environment we recommend running the Linux version for direct access to the EFS volumes.  For other software [like Adobe/Avid] that does not run on Linux, you can still access the files on the EFS volume by resharing the mount, internally or externally. This article explains how to do that. Also see: Setting Up Amazon S3 AWS Access, and Setting Up TAMS and Google Cloud.

4KScope, HDRScope, and 2110Scope support 8, 10, and 12 bit color in both YCbCr 4:2:2 and RGB 4:4:4 modes. Correct measurement of signals requires the correct setup of the bit depth, color format, primaries and transfer mode of the signal you are measuring. This article covers the most common configurations.

FlowCaster creates a virtual I/O board for various local, baseband, editor, and IP sources and sends a high quality video signal through the network for display on a local monitor.  This article covers controlling and configuring FlowCaster through command line, its settings, and via remote control.

Various Drastic products support closed caption decode and display.  Video I/O products such as Net-X-Code Server can capture and output closed caption information.  MediaReactor can convert closed caption formats along with the video and audio files. videoQC (Pro level and above) can decode and display both 608 and 708 captions for preview and confidence monitoring.  DrasticScope licensed at the 4KScope level and above can display closed captions along with the picture. For some captions, default language/fonts can be set up, which are described here. 

The DTMediaRead SDK includes a utility called dtmrpipe. This utility allows the user to 'pipe' out uncompressed YUV2 or BGRA video data to another application. It can also be used to pipe an uncompressed stereo audio stream in 16 or 32 bit little endian. This is useful for feeding other applications, such as ffmpeg, with the output of file formats, types or codecs it doesn't support.

Version 7 or greater Net-X-Code Server supports writing a proxy file at the same time as it writes the main file when transcoding files, capturing from IP compressed sources (NDI, RTP, UDP, RTSP, TR-01, TR-03), capturing from uncompressed IP streams (SMPTE 2022, 2110), from SDI (12G/6G/3G/1.5G), or from HDMI.  The proxy creation is available on a per channel basis, and is automatic once set up. The Net-X-Player HTML5 player can be used to play back the proxy file while it is still recording, allowing for time code accurate clipping of the proxy or main file.

FlowCaster Quick Start for RTMP. This article explains how to set up and test the FlowCaster output with streaming services like flowcaster.live, youtube.com and twitch.tv.

Drastic products like videoQC and Net-X-Code Server support a wide variety of time code sources. The default selectable configurations will usually be the correct ones for most standard workflows.  For other workflows, the time code sources can be more finely controlled. 

Compare two files with visual viewing and comparison modes in videoQC.  Seamless split, dissolve, 3D modes and more. 

Net-X-Code can be run on local servers, local VMs or cloud based VMs.  The VMs can be using Red Hat/CentOS, Windows, Windows Server, or even Docker.  File access methods include local file systems, network shares (smb, nfs, etc.), or cloud storage (aws s3, google cloud, https, ftp),  Any mix is allowed for both conversion, capture and scanning/proxy generation.

FlowCaster Quick Start for SRT (Secure Reliable Transport).  This article explains how to set up and test the FlowCaster output with freely available player tools.

(Legacy information)

Most Drastic DDR and video I/O products (like MediaNXS, DTReplay, SyncControl Pro) support a variety of GPI (General Purpose Interface) interfaces. Because of the variety of hardware and usage types, the GPI setup requires a special configuration. This document describes the setup and use of GPI devices with DrasticDDR, MediaNXS and other Drastic software.

videoQC software supports playing a variety of network audio/video IP protocols including:  UDP, RTP, RTSP, SRT, and NDI. Optionally, videoQC can also output SMPTE 2110/2022.  This document describes how to access network streams with videoQC.

Avid MediaCentral provides a convenient method to share media and projects among a group of Media Composer stations or other Avid products.  Drastic's Net-X-Code Server supports direct communication with Avid MediaCentral servers, include checkin, direct write and edit while capture (EWC) when using the Net-X-Convert module (file to file) or Net-X-SDI (SDI/IP to file).

videoQC software supports playing back a wide variety of file formats, including MXF/MP4/MOV/AVI, image sequences like DNG/EXR/TIFF/TGA, camera raw files like Cine/KRW/MLV/DNG, and even more esoteric files like AAF, IMF, DCP, AS-02, OP Atom, Raw, and JPEG-XS.  Because videoQC includes a FlowCaster component, these files can also be streamed out to your browser via BLS (Browser Live Stream), or to a WebRTC/SRT/UDP/RTP/ST-2110/CDI/NDI viewer such as VLC or NDI Studio Monitor.  videoQC also includes a REST api that allows remote control of the stream from the browser for loading, playing, pausing, seeking, and setting up your QC session.

MediaReactor software integrates tightly with installed operating systems and applications.  This section has tips and tricks on getting the most out of MediaReactor Lite and/or MediaReactor Workstation.

JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122) is a wavelet-based image compression standard that provides high compression ratios, low latency, and high image quality. It supports multiple image resolutions and color depths in a single stream, making it well-suited for adaptive streaming. JPEG XS has been adopted as the compression in broadcast and post for both TR-07/08, SMPTE 2110-22 and IPMX.

HDRScope supports 8, 10, and 12 bit SDI inputs.  This article maintains a list of compatible hardware for 10 and 12 bit 4:4:4 RGB signals.  Please note, if the board is not on this list, it is likely limited to 8 or 10 bit YCbCr inputs. 10 and 12 bit 4:4:4 require direct SDK access to the board, and are therefore only available on AJA, Bluefish444, Blackmagic, and specific Matrox (OEM) boards.

Drastic software and hardware products support a wide variety of camera raw devices, from standard files like DNG/cDNG, through esoteric files like fhgDI, to more recent formats like MLV. This article lists the supported raw file formats, and which Drastic software they work best in.

AJA video boards generally include a Mixer Keyer element.  Drastic software does not directly control the Mixer Keyer, but are designed to allow the user to use the Mixer Keyer alongside the main software.

SMPTE2NET/SDI2NET is part of Net-X-Code Server software. These tools convert from SDI, SMPTE2110 or NDI to NDI, UDP, RTP, or SRT.  They include command line parameters that can do basic configuration for automated or remote operation.

MediaReactor Workstation and MediaReactor Lite add support for a wide variety of file formats to Avid Media Composer, including HEVC, AS-02, IMF, DNG, VRAW, CDX, YUV, and many more.  These files can include a mix of audio rates (normally 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz), and Media Composer requires some setup to allow them to be used in a standard project.  

ProRes itself is very well defined, and should be completely gamma/color shift free in the YCbCr domain at 10 bits per component.  The transform to YCbCr from RGB can be specified within the compressed frame, and this same specification can be used to properly convert YCbCr to RGB.  With both 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 variants and the metadata/compatibility of the MOV container, ProRes should be an ideal format for post production.  This article explores why it often isn't.

Connecting single and dual link inputs incorrectly can cause odd looking signals.  Here are each of the incorrect paths shown as they would be with a standard SMPTE bars input.

4KScope, HDRScope, and 2110Scope have the ability to use the individual inputs in supported multichannel boards separately (like AJA, Bluefish444, and some Blackmagic boards).  When setting it up this way, you will lose the ability to do multi cable input for dual link, QHD/4K and other modes. This feature will be mooted on release of NetXScope multi user signal analysis for the enterprise.

Drastic software outputs a lot of information when running.  Working with our APIs and command line tools, having the debug logging can help sort out interface and programming issues.  Storing these logs locally, off via a syslog server, can also help sort out issues by comparing the unexpected behavior to the corresponding time in the logs.

Drastic software that uses video hardware supports the Blackmagic series of DeckLink and Intensity cards. Blackmagic has a wide range of current and legacy cards. This article lists the in house and third party tested Blackmagic cards and provides some useful operational tips.

The Drastic DT3D stereo file is an XML based re-director file that can merge two separate 'eye' files into a stereo pair, as well as adding audio and optional closed captioning. The stereo file reader will open two video files of the same file type, and internal compression type, and an optional set of audio files, and combine them for 3D use in videoQC, DrasticDDR, Net-X-Code Server, MediaReactor and other Drastic products.

ddrSetup is included as a setup and configuration utility in Drastic software. ddrSetup has a convenient GUI, as well as a command line tool that can do basic configurations for various Drastic software as well as command line licensing for headless servers via terminal/telnet/ssh/etc.

Autodesk's creative software, Flame/Flare/Smoke/Lustre, support MediaReactor's file import so that the wide array of Drastic supported files can be read and used directly in Autodesk projects.  Autodesk supports two modes of import:  16 bit half float and 16 bit integer.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages, which will be discussed here.

We are always happy to receive product ideas, new file/codec/feature requests, and bug/issue reports.  To make these reports as effective as possible, please read the following article on what we need to know to in order for us to respond to the request or issue in a timely manner.

Drastic Technologies' VTR and DDR products include the necessary conversion hardware for RS-232 (your computer's serial port) to RS-422 (broadcast VTRs and controllers).  If you are evaluating Drastic DDR software such as videoQC, you will need to set up this conversion to test the serial control capabilities of the system. 

Many of the tools in ccConvert, videoQC and Net-X-Code can be run as command line tools, as well as via REST API.  With command line tools, there are ways to set up automated processes, from interpreted languages (such as PHP and PERL), from full programming environments, and from batch files and watch folder utilities. This article describes setting up one such watch folder utility as a template for setting up your own workflows.

Net-X-Code is normally run on a server, where the parts of Net-X-Code run automatically as services. For some applications, only part of Net-X-Code needs to be run, or it only needs to be run some of the time. This article explains how to set up Net-X-Code server on Windows so that its parts can be run manually.

videoQC Inspect and videoQC Workstation include the ability to re-wrap, convert and export all, or parts, of files they have loaded.  This article explains how to set up profiles, set start and end points, and export to new files.

When working with RS-422 protocols (Sony 422, Odetics, Pioneer, VDCP, etc) it is often useful to directly monitor the incoming, return or both serial streams.  This is a cable that can be built to use two RS-422 ports to monitor one or both streams.