This chapter describes how to use the Clip Manager graphical user interface (GUI) to manage Video Server Toolkit (VST) clips. Clip Manager is a sample GUI application that you can customize.
The following topics are discussed:
For more information about archiving clips, see Chapter 6, “Archiving Clips.”
To start the Clip Manager, enter the following, either from the workstation on the VST server or from a workstation on which the VST tools software[3] has been installed:
% /usr/vtr/bin/mcclips [-v loglevel] [hostname] |
where
loglevel sets the severity level of the messages that are written on STDOUT.
Table 5-1 shows the log severity levels and codes, which are listed in decreasing order of severity
Table 5-1. Log Severity Levels
Priority
Log Level
Description
Emergency
-6
Panic condition
Alert
-5
Condition that should be corrected immediately, such as a corrupted system file
Critical
-4
Critical condition that has system-wide impact, such as a hard device error; immediate action required
Error
-3
Problem that needs correcting but does not require immediate action
Warning
-2
Possible problem but could be a transient problem that corrects itself
Notice
-1
Condition that might require attention, but is not an error condition
Info
0
Informational message
Debugn
n
Informational message that normally is of use to engineers for debugging; may be Debug1, Debug2, or Debug3, with Debug3 producing the most debugging information
Note: The mcclips program writes its log messages to the window from which it is invoked. If the -v option is omitted, all messages with a severity level of Info and above are written to the log. If this option is present, loglevel, which can be a positive or negative number, identifies the minimum level of the messages that are written to the log.
hostname is the name of the host on which VST is running. If this parameter is omitted, it is assumed that VST is running on the same host as the one from which the program is invoked.
The VST Clip Manager is displayed in a separate window, which is shown in Figure 5-1. The window shows the clips that are in VST. For each clip, it shows the name, the duration, and the format. (If the duration contains an “*” it means that no material has been recorded in the clip.)
| Note: You can also start the Clip Manager by choosing Utilities > Clip Manager in the VST Media Control Panel menu bar. |
The File pulldown menu in the menu bar of the Clip Manager window provides the following options:
Info, to obtain information about a clip
Rename, to rename a clip
Delete, to delete a clip
Protect, to set the protection levels for a clip
Close, to close the Clip Manager window
Exit, to close the Clip Manager window and exit the program
Load, to load a clip into a unit controlled by Sony protocols
Except for the Close and Exit options, you must select a clip before requesting one of the options. You can select the clip by pointing to it with the mouse cursor and pressing the left mouse button.
You can also use the Find field to select a clip by entering any number of characters that match the values in either the name, the duration, or the format. For example, if you enter “xxx” in the Find field, the Clip Manager highlights the first clip it finds that contains “xxx.” If you add “y” to the Find field, it searches for a clip that contains “xxxy,” starting with the current clip.
Regardless of the method for selecting a clip, the selected clip becomes highlighted.
| Note: You can access the clip-related functions in the File pulldown menu by selecting a clip and then pressing the right mouse button. You can also access the Info option by double-clicking the clip in the Clip Manager window. |
The Archive pulldown menu in the menu bar provides the following options:
Find, to get information about a clip in the StudioCentral 2.0 archive system
Get New, to bring a new clip from the StudioCentral 2.0 archive system into VST
Get, update an existing clip from the StudioCentral 2.0 archive system
Put, to write a clip to the StudioCentral 2.0 archive system
| Note: You can access the functions in this option menu by pressing the right mouse button and then selecting the Archive option in the pop up menu. |
To obtain information about a clip, follow these steps:
Select the clip in the Clip Manager window.
Choose File > Info from the menu bar. The clip information window, as shown in Figure 5-2, appears.
This window shows the in- and out-points of the clip, the edit points, the size of the clip, and the protection. An asterisk (*) indicates that the value is not set. For example, Figure 5-2 indicates that the edit points are not set.
The remaining sections in this chapter describe in detail the use of the buttons in this window.
To refresh the information in this window, click the Refresh button.
To rename a clip, follow these steps:
Do one of the following:
Select the clip in the Clip Manager window and then choose File > Rename from the menu bar.
If the clip information window for the clip is displayed, click the Rename... button in the information window.
The Rename Clip window, as shown in Figure 5-3, appears.
Enter the new name of the clip.
Click the Rename button.
To delete a clip, follow these steps:
Do one of the following:
Select the clip in the Clip Manager window and then choose File > Delete from the menu bar.
If the clip information window for the clip is displayed, click the Delete button in the information window.
The Delete Clip window, as shown in Figure 5-4, appears.
Click the Delete button to delete the clip.
By default, a clip can be deleted, recorded into, and renamed, and its edit point attributes can be changed. Therefore, if you want a clip to be protected from any of these changes, you must set the protections for that clip. This would be especially useful when multiple applications and/or automation controllers are using the VST.
To set the protections for a clip, follow these steps:
Do one of the following:
Select the clip in the Clip Manager window and then choose File > Protect from the menu bar.
If the clip information window for the clip is displayed, click the Protect... button in the information window.
The Set Protections window, as shown in Figure 5-5, appears.
This window identifies the protections that can be set. Each protection is preceded by a check box. If there's a red check in the check box, the corresponding protection is selected. If there is no red check, the corresponding protection is not selected.
Note: The default is that a clip has no protections set. Therefore, you must set protections if you want the clip to have any. Click the appropriate check boxes to indicate the protections that you want for this clip.
Note: Each check box acts like a toggle switch. Click the check box once to select that protection. Click the check box a second time to deselect it. Click the OK button to have the protections take effect.
[3] To run the Clip Manager from a remote workstation, the vst_eoe.sw32.tools subsystem must be installed on a workstation that has IRIX 6.2 or later. See the for more information.