[Adam Cravens]

I second Mpeg Streamclip. What I do is export QT refs out of Media Composer and run a batch through Mpeg Streamclip. Then you can keep working in MC. If you do this I would suggest dropping a submaster over the topmost layer of video before you export. I’ve occasionally encountered gamma shifts and weird anomalies when I export refs without doing this.

[Adam Cravens]

So… I totally stand corrected. I restarted all of the gear and voila- I was able to control the deck. I then went back to my 1080p timeline in MC and exported a quicktime ref of what I wanted to lay back to digi. I then opened the ref file in VTR exchange, adjusted my secondary formats to 525i29.97 with an anamorphic downconvert in the AJA control panel, cued it up in VTR exchange and layed back to digi. It worked quite well and looked great. The only down side is where I would previously be able to run an assemble edit to digi out of my old symphony set up, it seems that I need to pre-black and insert edit via this method. Small price to pay. Thanks very much for the help Gary! I think this is a great work-around. It’s a pity that you can’t simply do this out of the AVID software directly since the IOXT seems totally up to the challenge.

[Adam Cravens]

Thanks for the suggestion Gary,
I downloaded the app (version 5.2) and checked out the accompanying PDF which lists pretty much every other AJA device being supported with the VTR Xchange except the IOXT. Undeterred, I forged ahead and hit another road block when I tried to get deck control with a digibeta and was told “no serial port has been chosen- look in preferences” When I check prefs it lists the IOXT serial under “serial port” but I still get no control of the deck. Poking around the app, it seems to be much more geared toward capturing footage than laying off with only 1 menu item on the top bar called “playout” which seems to do nothing. I think I’m kinda stuck on this path, but I genuinely appreciate your suggestion.

[Adam Cravens]

Anybody have a good solution to this problem? Am I only able to crash record a downconverted sequence onto digibeta this way or is there a way to lay down a sequence with proper timecode from a 1080PsF timeline to a 29.97 digibeta? How are other people doing this?

[Adam Cravens]

So I have given the hardware downconvert a try and have hit a snag. When I try to lay off a 29.97 digibeta from a 1080 PsF timeline I am met with the following error:

The NTSC machine “Sony DVW-A500” cannot be used for 24fps I/O. Please manually configure the deck.

I have adjusted the outputs in the IOXT to downconvert to 525i 29.97 and I’m feeding proper reference everywhere. When I try to configure the deck, I have no options other than 24 frame deck configs. Am I doing something wrong here or is this the limitation of not having the “universal mastering” of a Nitris DX?

Anybody have any ideas?

[Adam Cravens]

Thanks very much Shane. I’ll give the hardware downconvert a try. I’m very pleased that should work as I wind up doing a lot of those and I vastly prefer the hardware method to the software.