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Merlin 2003

DV and MPEG-2 Recorder and Dual Stream Decoder

Users Manual

The Sky is the Limit

Summary of Contents for Merlin 2003

Page 1: ...Merlin 2003 DV and MPEG 2 Recorder and Dual Stream Decoder Users Manual The Sky is the Limit...

Page 2: ...g recording or otherwise without written permission from Skymicro Inc Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp All in Wonder is a registered trademark of ATI Corp Norton Utilities is a regi...

Page 3: ...are 3 0 Computer Installation 10 4 Installing the Software 4 0 Driver Installation 12 4 1 Application Installation 12 5 Quick Start 5 0 Running the Application Software 15 5 1 Recording to files 16 5...

Page 4: ...st File B 0 Audio Play List File Format 46 Appendix C Writing your own Application C 0 Example Source Code Using Method 1 47 C 1 Command Line Examples using Method 1 48 C 2 Simpleplay Application usin...

Page 5: ...time or vice versa The Merlin board can also play audio and video at variable speed Merlin has many elaborate Non Linear Editing features one of these is to allow you to play back two streams of vide...

Page 6: ...ion allowing Merlin to be used as a SDI video Jitter reducer in pass through mode Merlin can also be used as an Analog to SDI Serial Digital video converter and vice versa Decodes two DV or MPEG 2 vid...

Page 7: ...Transceiver Used for AES audio or as a high speed link to supply up to 10 audio channels to a Panel Box SDI Digital Video Serializer 2 DRAM 8 Megabytes VIP Headers and General Purpose I O Header Vide...

Page 8: ...f system DRAM A high performance Disk Drive or Disk Array for storing Audio Video files At least 10 Megabytes of available Disk space for the Merlin Application Software Approximately 10 to 100 Megaby...

Page 9: ...re is a list of recommendations on how to optimize the performance of the Audio Video A V partition that you use Try not to store anything other that Audio Video files on your A V partitions Defragmen...

Page 10: ...les attached to your computer including the power cord 3 Loosen any screws required to remove the computer cover and remove the cover 4 Position the computer so that the PCI expansion slots are visibl...

Page 11: ...not apply excessive force If necessary pull the board out and try installing it again 9 Tighten the screw over the slot cover to hold the Merlin board in place 10 Replace the cover and tighten any scr...

Page 12: ...t to it indicating it is hardware without a driver loaded Be sure the CD is in the CD ROM drive or the files are on your hard disk The wizard usually searches the CD ROM drive for drivers so if the CD...

Page 13: ...are installing two boards you should click the Install Two Boards radio button and then click the Next button This will bring up the next dialog box 5 If you want to change the location where the sof...

Page 14: ...fferent folder or if the default is acceptable click the Next button This will bring up the next dialog box 7 At this point the installation is complete However some registry settings are only checked...

Page 15: ...rst Since this is the first time you are starting the application either one may start You can switch to the play application window by clicking on the PLAY button and you can switch to the record app...

Page 16: ...rd to 4 Make sure the Link to Video check box is checked in the Audio group box 5 Map and audio source to the 1st encoder input by selecting an audio source in the Encoder Inputs group box 6 Select th...

Page 17: ...he location where you saved the first video file in the record example above and select that video file 3 Click on the FILE button in the Video B group box Browse to the location where you saved the s...

Page 18: ...button in the Video B group box Now by clicking on the View Video B and View Video A radio buttons you should be able to view either video file 12 Now copy the file sum alp from the CD that came with...

Page 19: ...Merlin 2003 DV and MPEG 2 Recorder and Dual Stream Decoder Page 19 6 Application Software 6 0 The Player Application Window 10 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 14 11 12 13 6...

Page 20: ...ite video input connector 2 SVHS Selects the Black S VHS 4 pin mini din video input connector 3 SDI Selects the BNC Serial Digital Video SDI input connector 4 VP Selects the 26 pin internal VIP port c...

Page 21: ...reverse byte ordering If the mdb file is missing the Total Frames will be incorrect It will normally read 18 32 13 12 when this happens f Slider position This text box specifies what frame the slider...

Page 22: ...itted to make it easier to enter time codes quickly g Motion control buttons These six buttons are used to control video motion 1 PLAY Starts playing audio 2 VAR PLY Variable Play Starts playing audio...

Page 23: ...r position This text box specifies what field the slider now points to It also lets you type a field number directly The format is field number g Motion control buttons These four buttons are used to...

Page 24: ...d shows you the time code of the current video frame e Total Flds This field specifies the total number of frames in the Video Play List file f Slider position This text box specifies what frame the s...

Page 25: ...mpressed file is closed and can then be used by other programs The currently supported uncompressed video formats are Adobe Premiere filmstrip format flm Targa file sequence format a sequence of files...

Page 26: ...ble This check box should be checked when the Merlin2003 is connected to a Skymicro Panel Box Note AES 1 and 2 are not operational without a panel box connected d Stopped View This check box switches...

Page 27: ...or Setting Opens a dialog box that lets you set the color that is displayed when video is stopped and the reference check box is not checked 2 Video Settings Opens a dialog box that lets you adjust th...

Page 28: ...es This dialog box lets you pick the type of alpha file and it lets you pick the field count of the alpha which translates to how long the transition will last 2 Byte Swap Opens a dialog box that allo...

Page 29: ...number of audio samples per frame the fraction below the audio sample rate radio buttons specifies how far from an exact cut the audio lands This mismatch is usually negligible but if audio and video...

Page 30: ...e B So if you want to keep the original file B you should make a copy of the file before this operation is executed 5 Update EEPROM This option is not applicable to the Merlin board e Help This Menu o...

Page 31: ...2 4 2 0 MPEG 2 4 2 2 and MPEG 1 The DV to MPEG transcode modes will be available soon MPEG 2 4 2 0 mode lets you record up to 15 Mbs and MPEG 2 4 2 2 mode lets you record up to 50 Mbs MPEG 2 4 2 2 mo...

Page 32: ...llows analog video that comes from a jittery source to pass through the Merlin board and get jitter reduced so that it can be passed out the D1 port and have low enough jitter to meet the very tight j...

Page 33: ...hese drop down lists let you select which audio input to map to the encoder inputs as well as how many channels of audio to capture g Sample Rate These radio buttons let you select the sample rate tha...

Page 34: ...frame results in bitrates higher than the maximum allowable In this case Merlin will increase the Q higher Q values reduce video quality to force the bitrate below the maximum allowable This section o...

Page 35: ...o the Merlin hardware 2 Set Log File Turns on logging of commands sent to the Merlin hardware This menu option also brings up a file dialog box so that you can set the file name of the log file 3 Exit...

Page 36: ...ettings Opens a dialog box that lets you adjust the input audio gain and output audio level e Tools f Help This Menu option displays the Merlin about box Occasionally you may see this dialog box This...

Page 37: ...ditor Application to communicate with the Player Application and adjust the scroll bars to the current position of Video A in the Player Application This is useful for find cut points By using the sli...

Page 38: ...and Audio Play Preview windows These windows show the relationship between all the files in the play list By adjusting the slider and pressing the PLAY button the video or audio file can be played fro...

Page 39: ...coder Page 39 The Audio Play List Editor is very similar to the Video Play List Editor with the exception that there is no alpha file setting Refer to the description of the Video Play List Editor for...

Page 40: ...select the MPEG audio layer to use when the audio is converted to MPEG audio Layer 2 is the most common used 6 Bitrate Control If the audio file is a WAVE audio file this list box allows you to select...

Page 41: ...tton brings up a dialog box allowing you to specify the base name for the split elementary files 4 File name This text box specifies the current base name and also lets you type a file name directly 5...

Page 42: ...played next to the radio button controls that let you select the time code source 2 VTR Controls These buttons directly control the VTR that is connected using RS422 The choices are fast rewind unity...

Page 43: ...ection of the recorder application 1 File A New B Open C Save D Save As E Close 2 Port A None B COM 1 C COM 2 D COM 3 E COM 4 3 Video A Input Select Selection for video input during recording 1 NTSC C...

Page 44: ...s is VBR or CBR Video Bitrate Horizontal and Vertical resolution GOP structure Audio Bitrate and which audio input to capture Any of the fields can be changed by right clicking on them New jobs can be...

Page 45: ...o file Here is an example of a Video Play List File Video File Start End Repeat Alpha File Alpha Frame Start d mpeg clip1 mpg 50 500 0 d mpeg alpha crossfade50 alp 450 d mpeg black1 mpg 0 250 250 d mp...

Page 46: ...that has arguments always contains four arguments Each Audio File will start immediately after the last Field of the previous Audio File Here is an example of a Video Play List File Video File Start...

Page 47: ...becomes available from the hardware The Batch recorder was written using this interface because it required more control of the data that is stored to files Another example of an application that may...

Page 48: ...nes that were added to the exampleDlg h file Refer to the source file to see what lines were added For information on Merlin command strings refer to the cmdline txt document C 1 Command Line Examples...

Page 49: ...Merlin 2003 DV and MPEG 2 Recorder and Dual Stream Decoder Page 49 Appendix D Cable Pinouts D 0 Cables 1 Digital Cable 2 Analog Cable 3 RS422 Control Cable...

Page 50: ...ignal Ground Signal Ground Signal 5 9 4 8 3 8 2 7 1 6 Label Label Label Label Label Merlin 2003 Digital Cable Female BNC Female BNC Female BNC Female RCA Female RCA Male DB9 Front View Blue Green Red...

Page 51: ...male RCA Ground Signal 1 9 Label Female RCA Female RCA Female RCA Ground Signal 8 15 Label Black Ground Signal 7 15 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 Female Mini DIN Front View Female Mini DIN Ground Signal 5 12 Label...

Page 52: ...Merlin 2003 DV and MPEG 2 Recorder and Dual Stream Decoder Page 52 Batch Recorder Serial Cable...

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