Technical

Tips, Tricks and Technical Information

Multichannel and Surround Sound Monitoring

7 1 channels surround soundsmallIn addition to an unparalleled range of vectorscope/waveform tools, 4KScope, HDRScope, and 2110Scope also feature advanced multichannel audio meters and surround sound audio monitoring and analysis. This article provides details.

HTTPS proxies for Drastic APIs and service

apache logo smIf you want to run APIs or WebRTC connections externally, you can configure Apache to act as a reverse proxy using HTTPS on an external port (like 5000). and forward that traffic to an internal HTTP service running on a different port (like 15000). Here’s how to do it step by step:

Net-X-Code/videoQC/Net-X-Copy Overlay MediaCmds

Net-X -Code, videoQC, and Net-X-Copy provide a number of overlays you can superimpose on the video output. These can be enabled or disabled using various MediaCmd commands, which are detailed in this article. netxcode logosmall

Windows Installer Command Line for Windows Installation

command promptThere is a command line installer for Windows installs which can be used by system administrators, or by other programs calling the Setup program. Here are the details.

How To Delete Your Google Store FlowCaster Account

FlowCaster SwirlDrastic Technologies maintains an account for each of the users who have downloaded a free FlowCaster app from the Google store. This account retains very little actual contact information.

If you prefer to maintain a low profile online though, this account can be very easily deleted once you are done using it. Here is how.

Operating System Support in Drastic Products

os support smDrastic supports Windows, macOS, and Linux in its product lines, depending on the product level and/or version. Here are details on which products support which operating systems.

Viewing FlowCaster Streams

flowcaster swirl 200FlowCaster can send the following IP stream types: SRT, RTP, UDP, RTMP, NDI, CDI, WebRTC, WHIP, RIST, HLS Live, BLS, and ST-2110. FlowCaster's VirtualCam output can also emulate a webcam so it can appear as a guest in meeting sites like Zoom and Skype. There are many ways to monitor and distribute these streams. This article describes some of the available monitoring solutions and their features.

H/S Scope for Light Source Evaluation

chromadumonde chartDrastic Technologies' exclusive H/S Scope allows easy calibration of lighting or cameras to a standard DSC ChromaDuMonde chart. The H/S Scope lets you use chroma values to evaluate a light source's ability to render colors accurately based on the camera's electronic response to the color of the light source.

FlowCaster.Live Integration with Google Chrome

flowcaster.live websiteFlowcaster.live integration with Google Chrome - start, schedule, and invite participants to a new FlowCaster session from within your Google Calendar or Gmail! A lightweight download from the Chrome Store provides quick access to FlowCaster sessions integrated directly into the apps you use every day. Here are details:

Using the Drastic OpenFX plugins in DaVinci Resolve

davinci resolve logo smDrastic Technologies has created two OpenFX plugins to view the output of Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve editors; the FlowCaster Remote Monitoring plugin, and the ScopeDirect Signal Analysis Tools plugin. FlowCaster provides a comprehensive set of collaboration, review and approval tools for editors, and can create and export session markers to/from Resolve. Drastic's 4KScope and HDRScope signal analysis tools are professional vectorscope/waveform/histogram scopes for audio and video signals.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for GoTo

webexIs your company already using GoTo for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like GoTo. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for Skype

webexIs your company already using Skype for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like Skype. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for Meet.Google.Com

webexIs your company already using Meet.Google.com for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like Meet.Google.com. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for Zoom

zoom logoIs your company already using Zoom for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like Zoom. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for Microsoft Teams

webexIs your company already using Microsoft Teams for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like Microsoft Teams. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster VirtualCam for Webex

webexIs your company already using Webex for remote conferencing? Do you need to share high quality video in real time with your stakeholders? FlowCaster has added a VirtualCam setting that lets it show up as a webcam in meeting sites like Webex. Here are details on how to set this up.

FlowCaster Live Review Panel

Adobe Premiere ProDrastic Technologies has provided tools and solutions for Adobe editor workflows for decades, and expands on this relationship with the release of the FlowCaster Live Review Panel. The panel is available for free, and provides additional Drastic related features in a dockable panel within Adobe creative software such as Premiere Pro. This page provides details on how to install and use the FlowCaster Live Review Panel.

videoQC File Analysis

videoqc logo 140x140videoQC can  analyze a video file, and produce PDF, CSV, XML, and HTML reports, along with marker files for editors, and proxy files for viewing. Here are details on the process.

Alternate Language Interface

logoWould you like to use Drastic software in a language other than English? We can provide you with an alternate language interface for most Drastic software. This page explains how.

FlowCaster.live and the Cloud

FlowCaster SwirlUsing FlowCaster with the www.flowcaster.live site may require some setup for your corporate firewall.  This is especially true if your system is running in a cloud environment like Amazon, Google or Azure.  By default these, and many other environments, completely lock down the internet access.  To use www.flowcaster.live, some standard ports must be opened up. 

Asynchronous Collaborative Review

FlowCaster SwirlAsynchronous review lets anyone open a www.flowcaster.live session and add feedack via text, telestration, and emoji, and save the session to send off to the next stage of production.  It is similar to synchronous review, but only requires one person at a time, and may be done by each participant at any time.

IP Video Firewall Setup

FlowCaster SwirlDifferent IP video protocols require different firewall setups.  This article covers the most common ports / firewall access that different IP video protocols require.  

Synchronous Collaborative Review

FlowCaster SwirlThe synchronous collaborative review workflow lets an operator select a proxy file/timeline from any network storage that is available to all participants and share it with a group of participants so their input and feedback can be saved for later review and implementation.

FlowCaster Live Event Review

FlowCaster SwirlFlowCaster Live Event Review captures SDI or IP signals simultaneously as high quality MXF files and as time code matched proxy MP4s. This way the creative team can get started working right away with the proxy MP4s from anywhere in the world, and use the decisions to create deliverable assets as the stream is being captured.

FlowCaster Live Edit Review

FlowCaster SwirlUse FlowCaster on the www.flowcaster.live site for real time group review of edit sessions anywhere in the world, without rendering or uploading your media to a server!  FlowCaster.live receives audio/video/captions/time code from the editor's output in real time, while providing a shared area of talk, webcam, commenting, and collaborative drawing (telestration), all time code locked to your edit. 

Video Review Workflow Comparisons

FlowCaster Swirl

A comparison of www.flowcaster.live's real time video collaboration tool with other tools in the industry.  FlowCaster.live is the only live edit review workflow that allows for instaneous feedback of edits, high quality over the sholder monitoring, deep integration into Adobe and Avid editors, along with a secure set of web based and local tools to allow time code locked, instantaneous review of all your video assets and sequences.

Using HDRScope/4KScope with Adobe ScopeDirect Transmitter

4k 100Drastic's 2110Scope, HDRScope, and 4KScope products provide a ScopeDirect Transmitter for Adobe that allows users to monitor the main output directly from the Adobe creative software such as Premiere Pro without SDI/HDMI or IP Video being used to connect them.  You can take advantage of this feature to analyze the signal through the wide range of signal analysis tools. This article describes how to set up the ScopeDirect Transmitter output though our scopes.

Using HDRScope/4KScope with Avid ScopeDirect OpenIO

4k 100Drastic's 2110Scope, HDRScope, and 4KScope products provide a ScopeDirect OpenIO plugin for Avid that allows users to monitor the main output directly from Avid Media Composer software without SDI/HDMI or IP Video being used to connect them. You can take advantage of this feature to analyze the signal through the wide range of signal analysis tools. This article describes how to set up the ScopeDirect OpenIO plugin output though our scopes.

False Color Exposure

False Color display mode

false colorVersion 7 and greater of videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, and 2110Scope all include a false color display mode. False color mode looks at the IRE values in the signal, and assigns a color to each range. Here is a chart describing which color is assigned to which range(s).

Manual removal of Drastic software

dt logo 1.5inchThis article lists the locations where Drastic software components may be installed, in case the software needs to be removed manually.

Native Final Cut Pro X Edit While Ingest

Adobe Premiere ProVersion 6 and greater of Net-X-Code and MediaReactor both support native editing while ingesting for MXF files in Final Cut Pro X.  

Native Premiere Edit While Ingest

Adobe Premiere ProVersion 6 and greater of Net-X-Code and MediaReactor both support native editing while ingesting for MXF files in Adobe Premiere.  

Linux Requirements for Drastic software

linuxlogosmallMost Drastic software is available on Linux x86_64 as well as Windows (32/64) and macOS (32/64).   This article outlines the minimum packages required to run Drastic software. Note: some of the external resources this article had referenced are no longer available, and their links have been removed. For the latest setup information, please contact Drastic.

Test Media

Our partner TestVid, Inc. offers a full range of video clip sets designed for testing content creation devices and workflows.
testvid logo sm

WMVCore.DLL not found error

dt logo 1.5inchOne of the file format plugins (dtx_aWMFDirect.d1x) for Windows 32 and 64 relies on Microsoft Windows' media components.  With some versions of Windows, Microsoft does not include these components by default.  To fix this error, you can either delete the dtx_aWMFDirect.d1x and dt_WinMedia.d1x from the installation folder, which will disable WMV/ASF read/write, or install the missing components from Microsoft.  

Controlling sdiScope/4KScope/HDRScope/2110Scope

4k 100Drastic 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.

Long Directory/File Names In Windows (Media File Scanner)

dt logo 1.5inchWhen using Media File Scanner, many sources will have directories and file names that exceed Windows' 260 character default limit.  If you are targetting 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.

Optimizing Windows for Drastic Software

dt logo 1.5inchWhen 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.

Media Composer AMA Link Sony XAVC-S

Avid Media Composer 6Avid 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.  

Using FlowCaster with Avid Media Composer

FlowCaster SwirlFlowCaster 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.

Using FlowCaster with Adobe (Premiere, After Effects)

FlowCaster SwirlFlowCaster 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.

Sharing Amazon EFS Volumes To Windows

netxcode logosmallAmazon (as of 2023) does not have a direct driver for EFS 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.

Controlling FlowCaster

FlowCaster SwirlFlowCaster creates a virtual I/O board for your creative software, desktop, SDI I/O board, or NDI source that 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.

DTMediaRead Pipe Utility

dt logo 1.5inchThe 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.

FlowCaster RTMP Quick Start

FlowCaster SwirlFlowCaster 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.

videoQC Viewing Modes

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

 

FlowCaster SRT Quick Start

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

videoQC Network Stream Monitoring

dt logo 1.5inchvideoQC software supports playing back 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.

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For more than two decades, Drastic™ has been developing cutting edge digital video solutions for television, post production and sports broadcasting, from real time web delivery to 8K broadcast.

We offer standalone software for the end user or enterprise, integrated solutions for automated workflows, and OEM tools for custom applications or branded devices.

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