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DD8
plus Version 2.20 - September 1998
RS422 SLAVE FUNCTIONS
It is also possible to use the DD8 on its own under the control of a video edit controller as an
RS422 slave. In this condition, the DD8 will behave much like a VTR. In this way, as you perform
your video edits, the DD8 will capture the audio edits and so the audio tracks will be built up on
the DD8. That disk may then be removed and sent to post-production for ‘sweetening’. In this
way, you alleviate the need for lengthy auto-conform procedures as the audio is being compiled
at the same time as the video edits.
There are two ways the DD8 may be used as an RS422 slave. The first is known as ‘EAVES-
DROPPING’ mode. Here, the DD8 is connected to the video edit controller via a ‘Y’ lead that
goes to the VTR and also to the DD8’s RS422 option board connector (LTC connection to the
DD8’s LTC option board is also required). In this mode, the DD8 will simply ‘copy’ any com-
mands sent to the VTR but will not report back any status to the edit controller - it will simply be
‘listening in’ to anything sent to the VTR and performing the same actions.
FULL SLAVE mode is where the DD8 emulates a VTR exactly, reporting its status back to the
video edit controller.
Either mode is applicable for capturing audio edits with video edits - the mode you choose
largely depends on your setup.
RS422 SLAVE - EAVESDROPPING MODE
In the RS422 SETUP page (SYSTEM->REMOTE->RS422), select EAVESDROP SLAVE in the
RS422 MODE field. You will see this screen:
You will see that F4/F5 show TRACK ASSIGN. Pressing this will show this screen:
A video edit controller will have track assignment keys (usually A1-A4) on it to determine which
tracks on the VTR the audio will be recorded to when an edit is performed. This page allows you
to set which tracks on the DD8 will be used when tracks on the video edit controller are selected.
The top line of the matrix shows the video edit controller’s track select keys and below those,
you may assign the DD8 tracks to those keys. For A1-A4, you may select individual tracks 1 to 8
for mono edits and 1+2, 3+4, 5+6, 7+8, for stereo edits. You may also select tracks 1-4, 5-8 and
1-8. When using A1, A2, A3 or A4 for your edit, the tracks assigned in these fields will be selected
on the DD8. No guidelines can be given here - you must decide according to your video editing
system and requirements.
The field D1-16 has just two states - ON or OFF. Some video edit controllers offer selection of
the VTR’s digital audio tracks which are selected on the video edit controller itself by way of keys
labelled D1-
n (where n is the highest number track available on the video edit controller - e.g.
D1-D16). These may be used to select tracks on the DD8 (for example, selecting to record on
track D5 will cause track 5 to be selected on the DD8).
SYSTEM - 8
