Avid® NewsCutter® and NewsCutter XP Site Preparation Guide
Copyright and Disclaimer Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc. The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software.
The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.: “Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.
Adobe, Acrobat, and Reader are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. Compaq is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. IBM and IntelliStation are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. RCA is a registered trademark of General Electric Company. Texas Instruments is a registered trademark of Texas Instruments. Videomedia, V-LAN, and VLXi are registered trademarks of Videomedia, Inc.
Contents Using This Guide Who Should Use This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 About This Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 If You Need Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Related Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Telephone Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Environmental Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Networking Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Fiber-Optic Switch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Ethernet Hub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Patch Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Figures Figure 1 Sample NewsCutter System Layout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Figure 2 Sample Layout for an Avid Unity for News Workgroup Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Figure 3 Meridien I/O Box Audio Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Figure 4 Meridien I/O Box Video Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Figure 5 Meridien I/O Box Serial Digital Connectors . . . . . . . . 27 Figure 6 1394 Board DV Connectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Tables Table 1 NewsCutter Connector Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Table 2 Meridien I/O Box Audio Identifiers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Table 3 Meridien I/O Box Video Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Table 4 Meridien I/O Box Serial Digital Identifiers . . . . . . . . . .27 Table 5 System Cable Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29 Table 6 Physical Specifications for Components . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using This Guide This guide provides site requirement information for the Avid® NewsCutter® and NewsCutter XP systems. Unless noted otherwise, “NewsCutter” refers to both NewsCutter and NewsCutter XP throughout this guide. n The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models. Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware that are covered in the documentation. Who Should Use This Guide This guide is intended for all NewsCutter users, from beginning to advanced.
About This Guide This guide provides specifications for your NewsCutter system components in the following areas: • Connectors • Cabling • Physical (dimensions and weights) • Power • Environmental Symbols and Conventions Unless noted otherwise, the material in this document applies to the Windows® 2000 operating system. The NewsCutter documentation uses the following special symbols and conventions: 1. Numbered lists, when the order of the items is important. a.
w A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this guide or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment. If You Need Help If you are having trouble using the NewsCutter system, you should: 1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in this guide. 2. Check the documentation that came with your hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues. 3.
• Avid NewsCutter User’s Guide This guide provides complete information on all editing tasks, such as recording footage, viewing and marking footage, editing, trimming, importing, exporting, and generating final output. • Avid NewsCutter Effects Guide This guide describes techniques for using digital video effects, titles, third-party plug-in effects, mattes, keys, and layering options. • Avid NewsCutter Quick Reference This folded card lists convenient keyboard shortcuts.
• Avid NewsCutter XP User’s Guide This guide provides complete information on all editing tasks, such as recording footage, viewing and marking footage, editing, trimming, importing, exporting, and generating final output. • Avid NewsCutter XP Effects Guide This guide describes techniques for using digital video effects, titles, third-party effect filters, mattes, keys, paint effects, and layering options. • Avid NewsCutter XP Quick Reference This folded card lists convenient keyboard shortcuts.
• Avid Products Collaboration Guide This guide provides step-by-step instructions for transferring project files, audio files, and graphics and effects files between various Avid products. The most recent update of the Avid Products Collaboration Guide is provided online. Check the release notes supplied with your Avid application for information on accessing online documentation. If You Have Documentation Comments Avid Technology continuously seeks to improve its documentation.
Avid NewsCutter Site Preparation This guide provides information about requirements for the site where the NewsCutter system will be installed. Electrical (power) and physical specifications on the system components are also included. Connector information and pin assignments are given if customized cabling is required. Avid ships NewsCutter XP as a desktop system. You can also purchase NewsCutter XP software and install it on supported laptop systems.
Avid System Layouts This section provides typical system layouts. Diagrams of NewsCutter components identify the rear interface connectors. The exact orientation of the equipment depends on the following: • Available space in the work area: This document provides the dimensions of the equipment (see “Component Dimensions and Weights” on page 31). However, Avid recommends additional space for access and ventilation. • Length of the cables: Avid does not recommend excessively long cables.
V-LAN VLXi device Video deck Playback monitor Speaker UI monitor Amplifier Speaker Optional rack VLX O AUDIO SYNC PULL DOWN kHz VIDEO SYNC POWER l 44.1 kHz 48 Meridien I/O box NewsCutter ID SCSI Slots Act Wide us Dualb Fans Pwr 2 Pwr Keyboard Figure 1 1 Mouse MediaDock device Sample NewsCutter System Layout The NewsCutter system has the following features: • Internal hard drive with an NTFS partition; primary drive that contains the operating system. • 3.
Avid Unity for News Workgroup Layout NewsCutter can work as a standalone system or as part of a broadcast network such as an Avid Unity™ for News workgroup. The Avid Unity for News workgroup environment consists of the following functional components: n n • Supported Avid editing systems (such as a NewsCutter system). • Avid Unity MediaManager server to track and manage Avid Unity media files.
The purpose of the workgroup is to enable collaborative workflows by allowing multiple NewsCutter editors to share media files and other project data. Figure 2 shows a typical shared-storage workgroup configuration that includes the necessary connections if you are planning to transfer media files over a network to an optional playback device. The playback sequences are cued and sent to air by the optional Broadcast Control System (BCS). The BCS controls the playback devices using a serial connection.
n Follow the procedures in the Avid Unity MediaNet Windows Client Setup Guide in order to make your NewsCutter system operational in the Avid Unity environment. Fibre Channel Workgroup Configuration An optional Fibre Channel connection kit is available for NewsCutter. If you are installing a Fibre Channel connection kit, follow the instructions provided by the computer manufacturer for removing the cover and installing an expansion board in NewsCutter.
Table 1 provides a description of each system or peripheral board connector. Avid customers sometimes request pin assignments for customizing their interface cables. See “Pin Assignments” on page 38 for information on which signals are on which pins.
Table 1 Connector Name NewsCutter Connector Identifiers (Continued) Connector Function SDTI board (NewsCutter only option) Serial Data Transport Interface board; contains receive and transmit male multipin connector that connects to female multipin connector on breakout box, which connects to a video deck through a cable MPEG SDTI-CP board (NewsCutter only option) Serial Data Transport Interface adapter board, optimized for MPEG 50; contains four BNC connectors that connect through cables to an M
Avid Meridien I/O Box Connectors The Avid Meridien I/O box provides all the audio and video input and output connections for the NewsCutter system (including four-channel audio with the second audio interface installed). Figure 3 identifies the audio connectors. See Table 2 for a description of each connector.
Table 2 Meridien I/O Box Audio Identifiers Number Label Function 1 AUDIO IN MIC Microphone audio input, female connector 2 AUDIO IN CHAN 1 Channel 1 audio input, female connector 3 AUDIO IN CHAN 2 Channel 2 audio input, female connector 4 AUDIO OUT CHAN 1 Channel 1 audio output, male connector 5 AUDIO OUT CHAN 2 Channel 2 audio output, male connector 6 AES/EBU IN AES/EBU digital input, female connector 7 AES/EBU OUT AES/EBU digital output, male connector 8 S/PDIF IN S/PDIF dig
Figure 4 identifies the video connectors on the Meridien I/O box. See Table 3 for a description of each connector. 1 17 3 5 2 4 6 16 14 12 15 13 7 10 11 8 9 Figure 4 Meridien I/O Box Video Connectors Table 3 Meridien I/O Box Video Identifiers Number Label Function 1 COMPONENT Y IN Video Y component input, BNC connector. Connects to analog video output of decks, satellite feeds, or routers. 2 COMPONENT R-Y IN Video R-Y component input, BNC connector.
Table 3 Meridien I/O Box Video Identifiers (Continued) Number Label Function 6 COMPONENT B-Y OUT Video B-Y component output, BNC connector. Connects to analog video input of decks or routers. 7 SYSTEM IN/OUT Audio and video I/O connector from NewsCutter. 8 LTC OUT Longitudinal timecode (LTC) output, male connector (timecode output currently is not functional). 9 LTC IN Longitudinal timecode input, female connector.
Figure 5 identifies the optional serial digital connectors on the Meridien I/O box. See Table 4 for a description of each connector. n Instructions for installing the optional serial digital board are provided in the Avid NewsCutter Setup Guide. 2 1 4 3 Figure 5 Meridien I/O Box Serial Digital Connectors Table 4 Meridien I/O Box Serial Digital Identifiers Number Label Function 1 SERIAL DIGITAL IN Composite video input, BNC connector.
1394 Board Connectors Transcoders and DV devices, such as digital video decks and digital cameras, connect to a 1394 PCI board installed on your NewsCutter XP system (see the Avid NewsCutter XP Setup Guide for more information on installing the 1394 board). You can use either a 6-pin cable or a 4-to-6-pin 1394 converter cable to connect digital devices to NewsCutter XP. Figure 6 illustrates the connections on the 1394 board.
Table 5 lists the standard and maximum lengths that Avid recommends for the system cables. n These guidelines refer to the cable lengths and not the physical distances of the equipment. Table 5 System Cable Lengths Cable Standard Length Maximum Length Connects Power cables 6 ft (1.8 m) Included with system components A quality power strip can be used (not supplied). NewsCutter and system components to ac source (or power strip) Keyboard cable 6 ft (1.
Table 5 System Cable Lengths (Continued) Cable Standard Length Maximum Length Connects IEEE 1394 cable (NewsCutter XP option) 14.7 ft (4.5 m) 236 ft (72.0 m) Transcoder or DV device to NewsCutter XP SCSI cable (optional) Customer supplied Up to 6 ft (1.8 m) Optional through Avid SCSI devices (MediaDock™ and MediaDrive) to NewsCutter n Fiber-optic cable (optional) The last SCSI device in the SCSI chain must be terminated. Terminators are customer supplied and are available through Avid.
Table 5 System Cable Lengths (Continued) Cable Standard Length Maximum Length Connects BNC timecode cables Customer supplied Up to 25 ft (7.6 m) V-LAN VLXi to deck (required only if deck does not have a built-in timecode) Printer cable Customer supplied 6 ft (1.8 m) NewsCutter to customer-supplied printer RJ-45 Category 5 cables Customer supplied Up to 330 ft (100.
Table 6 Component Physical Specifications for Components (Continued) Rack- Rack mount Units Height x Width x Depth Weight External drives MediaDrive rS LVD (with interlocking stacking brackets) Yes 2 3.1 x 8.2 x 9.9 in (7.9 x 20.8 x 25.1 cm) 7.1 lb (3.2 kg) MediaDock LVD rackmount (includes a maximum of eight MediaDock Shuttle™ drives and two power supplies) Yes 4 + 1 for cables 5.3 x 17.6 x 16.3 in (13.5 x 44.7 x 41.4 cm) 63.0 lb (28.
Site Requirements The following are the site requirements for NewsCutter. Power Requirements Avid strongly recommends using a surge protector and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). If the computer loses power even for a moment, the entire system will stop functioning. There must be a 20-A, 110- to 120-V ac, 60-Hz circuit or a 10-A, 220- to 224-V ac, 50-Hz circuit for each NewsCutter system. The circuit must have a dedicated circuit breaker and an isolated ground.
Table 7 lists the power requirements for individual system components. Surge protectors and a UPS are recommended but are not supplied by Avid.
Table 7 Item Power Requirements (Continued) Type Voltage Frequency Power GPI controller Autosensing 90 to 240 V ac 47 to 63 Hz 30 W Black burst generator Switch selectable 120 V ac 240 V ac 60 Hz 50 Hz 20 W V-LAN and VLXi Autosensing 120 V ac 220 V ac 60 Hz 50 Hz 20 W Video and input/output hardware Source Requirements Avid systems accept video and audio that adhere to broadcast standards. Excessive jitter and noise on a signal is not an acceptable source.
Telephone Requirements Systems do not include a modem. Communication outside the NewsCutter system should be done through the network board. A telephone near the system is recommended if you need to communicate with your Avid representative. Avid encourages all customers to use the Avid Customer Support Knowledge Center to access the latest news. Environmental Requirements Table 8 lists the environmental specifications for a standard NewsCutter environment.
Networking Requirements NewsCutter is designed to work over industry-standard local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs), using standard networking protocols. The NewsCutter system uses an Ethernet 100BASE-T connection. Avid recommends you use a Category 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable when connecting NewsCutter to a network. Install network cabling before the equipment arrives (for example, lay out the network cables between rooms before setting up the equipment).
Patch Panel A patch panel is used as a junction box to centralize all the incoming connections from the workstations and network devices in the computer room. The incoming connections access the system through the patch panel. Patch panels allow you to reconfigure and diagnose the system with minimal effort; failed computer components can be bypassed easily. Avid recommends the system administrator keep a log of each device connected to the patch panel.
Figure 7 shows the connector pinouts. 1 5 6 Figure 7 9 5 7 1 6 9-Pin Serial Connector Table 9 lists the pin assignments for the serial connectors. Not all serial devices use every signal.
VGA Monitor Port The UI Monitor port uses a 15-pin female VGA connector. Figure 8 shows the connector pinouts. 5 1 10 6 15 Figure 8 11 15-Pin VGA Monitor Connector Table 10 lists the pin assignments for the VGA UI monitor connector.
Table 10 VGA Monitor Connector Pin Assignments (Continued) Pin Signal 10 SYNC Ground 11 Ground 12 Serial Data 13 Horizontal SYNC 14 Vertical SYNC 15 Serial Clock Keyboard and Mouse Connectors NewsCutter provides two PS/2-style 6-pin female connectors for the keyboard and mouse. Figure 9 shows the connector pinouts.
Table 11 lists the pin assignments for the PS/2-style connector. Table 11 PS/2 Connector Pin Assignments Keyboard/Mouse Pin Signal 1 Data 2 NC 3 Ground 4 +5 volts 5 Clock 6 NC NC – no connection RJ-45 Jacks Category 5 UTP cable supports up to 1 Gb/s (1000 Mb/s). The cable contains four twisted pairs of wires, for a total of eight wires. Avid recommends using Category 5 cables for serial connections whenever possible.
Figure 10 shows the standard connector pinouts for an 8-pin RJ-45 jack (used on Category 5 cables). 1 Figure 10 8 8-Pin Category 5 RJ-45 Connector Table 12 lists the pin assignments with color code according to the IEEE specification for an EIA/TIA-568B RJ-45 wiring scheme. Not all devices use every pin. Pairs are identified by colors. Ethernet 100BASE-T data connections use only the orange (pins 1 and 2) and green pairs (pins 3 and 6).
1394 Connector (NewsCutter XP Only) The OHCI-compliant 1394 board contains a Texas Instruments® chip set and two 6-pin 1394 connectors (see Figure 11). 1394 cables contain two sets of twisted-pair wires carrying signals between DV devices and NewsCutter XP. For a list of qualified boards, see your Avid Reseller. 2 1 4 6 3 5 Figure 11 6-Pin 1394 Connector Table 13 lists the standard pin assignments for 6-pin 1394 connectors.
GPI Connector The Videomedia® VLXi-GT GPI controller contains six programmable general-purpose interface (GPI) inputs/outputs with quick-disconnect terminal connectors. Each connector contains three terminals: the left terminal is the GPI input, the center terminal is the GPI ground, and the right terminal is the GPI output. Remove about 1/4-inch of insulation from the appropriate wire and then insert the bare wire into the appropriate terminal.
The MPEG SDTI-CP option does not connect to a breakout box. Instead, cables from the MPEG SDTI-CP video deck connect directly to the BNC connectors on the optional MPEG SDTI-CP adapter board. Figure 14 identifies the signals for each connector on the adapter board.
Regulatory and Safety Notices FCC Notice This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1. This device may not cause harmful interference. 2. This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules.
Canadian ICES-003 This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada. European Union Notice Declaration of Conformity (According to ISO/IEC Guide 22 and EN 45014) Application of Council 73/23/EEC, 89/336/EEC.
Product Name: Products for the Windows NT or Windows 2000 Operating System: Media Composer, Film Composer, Avid Xpress, Avid Xpress DV, Avid Unity, Avid|DS, NewsCutter, NewsCutter XP, NewsCutter DV, Symphony Products for the Macintosh Operating System: Media Composer, Film Composer, Avid Xpress, Avid Unity Products for the UNIX Operating System: AirPlay, VideoSPACE Base Model Numbers: None Product Options: All Year of Manufacture: 2002 (1) Products for the Windows NT or Windows 2000 Operating Sy
Australia and New Zealand EMC Regulations N1709 John Kells, Australian Operations Manager Avid Technology (Australia) Unit B 5 Skyline Place French Forest NSW 2086 Australia Phone: 61-2-8977-4800 Taiwan EMC Regulations Taiwan EMC Regulations BSMI Class A EMC Warning Regulatory and Safety Notices
Index ABCDEFGHKLMNPRSTUVW Numerics C 1394 cables 30 connectors 22, 28 Cables Avid-supplied 29 Cabling guidelines 28 Category 5 description 42 Components dimensions 31 Connectors 1394 22, 28 GPI 45 keyboard 41 RJ-45 43 SDTI 22, 45 SDTI-CP 22, 45, 46 serial 38 UI monitor 40 A Audio dimensions 31 power 34 Avid system components 16 linking 37 Avid system components dimensions 31, 34 B Basic system setup 16 Black burst generator dimensions 32 power 35 D Device connections 38 Dimensions of components 31
Drives dimensions 32 power 34 E Enhanced system setup 16 Environmental requirements 36 F M MediaDock dimensions 32 power 34 MediaDock Shuttle 32 MediaServer components 17 console 17 Monitors dimensions 32 power 34 Fibre Channel 18, 20 N House clock 26 Network connections 37 Ethernet hub 37 site 37 Network connection 37 Networking requirements 37 NewsCutter layout 16 Newsroom Computer System Ethernet hub 37 patch panel 38 K P Keyboard connector 41 Patch panel description 38 Physical dimensions
serial 39 UI monitor 40 Ports See Connectors Power connections 33 requirements 33 specifications 34 Printing requirements 35 R T Telephone requirements 36 U Uninterruptible power supply See UPS UPS (uninterruptible power supply) description 33 UTP (unshielded twisted pair) 42 Requirements See Site requirements V S SDTI-CP 22, 45 Serial connector 38 Serial Data Transport Interface (SDTI) 22 Setting up work environment 16 to 20 Site network 37 Site requirements environmental 36 network 37 power 33 pr
