Technical

Tips, Tricks and Technical Information

Supported 3D LUT Formats

LUT tipDrastic software supports a range of standard 3D LUT formats.  These include the following:  3DL, MGA, M3D, TXT, CUBE, DAVLUT and LOOK. Please see the article for more information.

 

MRAnalyze - Command Line Interface

quality comparison

MRAnalyze is a command line tool that compares an original media file with a compressed version of that file to determine the quality of the compression and note any major compression errors.  It supports the traditional PSNR as well as the more accurate SSIM and MS-SSIM.  It is part of the videoQC and Net-X-Code Server toolsets.  This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.

Supported 1D LUT Formats

LUT tipDrastic software supports a range of standard 1D LUT formats for software conversion, and hardware input and output with AJA video boards.

 

Net-X-Copy - Partial File Restore

PFR

Net-X-Copy is part of the Net-X-Code Server software. It is designed to convert audio/video files from one type to another and to perform partial file restores from indexed and non indexed files on disk, tape or cloud. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is also available.

Drastic Log Format

Drastic LogThe Drastic LOG format uses the same basic layout as a LOG/~ALG/~ALE. The main differences are the 'Type:' header and the file name in the comment. The comment is broken up into two sections: The initial comment after the ';' and a file name after a second ';'. This page describes the exact file format used for the Drastic log format.

Net-X-Copy - Create, Convert & Proxy

Net-X-Code

Net-X-Copy is part of the Net-X-Code Server and Net-X-Convert/Proxy workstation software. It is designed to convert audio/video/media files to proxy or broadcast/post files, mix audio, extract metadata, and create one or more jpeg preview images.  It can also embed captions into output files like MXF and MOV, and replace the audio or video tracks of a source file during conversion. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.

Drastic EDL Format

Drastic EDLThe Drastic Edit Decision List (EDL) format uses the same basic layout as a CMX, GVG or Sony 91xx series EDL. The main differences are the 'Type:' header, and the file name in the comment. The comment is broken up into two sections: The initial comment after the ';' and a file name after a second ';'. This page describes the exact format used.

ccExtract - Extract or Convert CC

Closed Captions

ccExtract is part of ccConvert and included in Net-X-Code Server software. ccExtract is designed to extract caption tracks from MXF, MOV, h.264, MPEG-2, TS, etc. to SCC/MCC, and to convert between standard caption formats like VTT, XML, EBU, SMPTE DCP, YouTube, Apple, Avid, and others. This article contains the command line API for this tool. A RESTful API is also available.

VTR Control Setup

Net-X-Code DDRIn Drastic DDRs and Net-X-Code Server software, VTRs appear as EXT (external) channels. External channels can be set up in either LocalConfig or DDRConfig.  This page describes the settings in detail to allow customization or advanced setup.

SMPTE 2110, 2202 & RTP Multicast Setup

dt logo 1.5inchMost operating systems are not set up out of the box to handle heavy multicast loads. With some, multicast reception is actually disabled.  This article contains setup notes for the OS when using Net-X-Code Server, videoQC, or 2110Scope/HDRScope/4KScope with network video sources.

Adding New Languages To QuickClipXO

alternate languagePlease note: QuickClipXO has been deprecated, and is no longer available. To use our current products in an alternate language, please see: https://www.drastic.tv/support-59/supporttipstechnical/212-alternate-language-interface

The QuickClipXO interface was written in the Java programming language. It supported custom message strings which can be used to display alternate text for most of its controls and displays.

videoQC/4KScope macOS Validation

Legacy macOS tipsNote: this area contains legacy information and is presented for reference only)

Apple's High Sierra operating system has changed the validation system, especially for applications downloaded from the internet. This has caused some systems to go into a 'validation loop' that stops our videoQC and 4KScope software from running, as the Apple validation never completes.  We are working on fixing this, but in the meantime, there is a way to stop the validation so our software can run.

ccEmbed - Embed Captions MXF/MOV

Closed Captions

ccEmbed is part of ccConvert and Net-X-Code Server software. It is designed to take MCC or SCC closed caption files and embed them into output MXF, MOV, etc.  It supports re-wrapping the source audio/video, as well as converting while embedding.  This article contains the Linux/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is also available.

Using IP Video Streaming

IP video streamingDrastic software supports a number of IP video standards in videoQC, Net-X-Code Server, FlowCaster and other products.  To access these streams, a URL style string is used to describe them.  For some sources, like RTSP, this string is fairly standard.  For others, like NDI, a URL style has been developed to allow those streams to be specified.  Currently, udp://, rtp://, srt://, rist://, rtsp://, rtmp://, webrtc://, whip://, bls://, ndi://, cdi://, s2022:// and s2110:// are supported.  This document describes the URLs' format in more detail.  We have also added some application specific notes for connecting our software to other applications.

Multi Channel Audio In Drastic Software

AudioDrastic software can support up to 16 channels of audio.  These can be 16 mono channels,  8 stereo pairs or all channels in one, depending on the setup and file type. This article covers the kinds of audio that the software can produce, and the audio setups it is able to read automatically to combine multiple channels of audio with video. 

4KScope AJA Shared Mode

AJA4KScope (and HDRScope/2110Scope) can be set up to share an AJA board with products like Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, Assimilate SCRATCH, Autodesk Flame, Filmworkz Nucoda, Grass Valley Edius, and others.  This mode is available on Windows, macOS and Linux. This article explains how it works and how it can be set up.

Front Panel Controllers

front panel controllerDrastic server software supports different front panel options:  The original 422 Jog/shuttle, the 4 line LCD with command keys and the newest touch screen VGAs.  This page describes the configuration for these front panels.

OpenMXF support

OpenMXFDrastic software supports the OpenMXF specification extension to the SMPTE MXF specification (SMPTE 377M). The advantage of OpenMXF is that while the file is still recording (open) you can read it in many popular servers and editing applications.

Keyboard Layout for Drastic Programs

keyboard commandsAll Drastic software uses a similar keyboard layout for control.  There are some variations for program-specific functions, but the general transport control is shared.  Currently supported software includes:

Net-X-Code Server, videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, 2110Scope

Controlling videoQC

controllingvideoQC can be called by external applications with command line parameters, keyboard/mouse, cut/paste and via a full REST/HTML command set. If there is already an instance of the application running, the parameters will be transferred to the running instance, and the called one will exit.  This is especially useful where the workflow requires the system to display particular aspects of a clip in an automated fashion.

Setting up Amazon S3 AWS Access

Amazon S3 setupAll of Drastic's version 6 or greater software supports authenticating directly with Amazon via AWSAccessKeyId/SecretKey through an https transport. This is most useful for Net-X-Code's partial file restore system, but can also be used from videoQC and MediaReactor.  Accessing these resources requires a second level of setup, beyond the basic software setup, and this article provides an overview on that process.

Edit S3/HTTP/HTTPS Files Directly In Adobe Premiere

Cloud I/ONormally, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, Media Encoder, etc. require a physical file to be located on a standard file system, shared or local.  MediaReactor Lite (and MediaReactor Workstation) allow all these software products to edit files directly from S3/HTTP/HTTPS file stores.  The magic is performed by tiny local text files with the extension .stream.  These are encrypted or unencrypted descriptions of the file's actual location, saved on a local or accessible network storage for Adobe to use.

Setting up Google Cloud (OAuth 2.0) Access

Google Cloud setupAll of Drastic's version 6 or greater software supports authenticating via OAuth 2.0 across an https transport. This is most useful for Net-X-Code's partial file restore system, but can also be used from videoQC or MediaReactor.  Accessing these resources requires a second level of setup beyond the basic software setup, and this article provides an overview on that process.

Java on Dual Monitors

legacy Java(Legacy Java on Dual Monitors - NVIDIA vs. Java.  There are setups required on some systems to allow QuickClipXO and VTRIF to display full screen on the second DVI or VGA monitor.

Running videoQC, 4KScope & Apps Remotely

OpenGL tipssdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, 2110Scope, videoQC, and other OpenGL based apps can have trouble displaying the video in an OpenGL plane when connected via Remote Desktop Protocol or other remote control protocols.  To fix this problem, we supply special start files to be used remotely.

QuickClipXO Flags

 

legacy quickclipThere are some flags that can be used to modify QuickClipXO.

 

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For more than three decades, Drasticâ„¢ 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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