User guide

106
SMPTE operation
SMPTE: Abbreviation of Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers. This is a Time code standard which gives a frame rate of 30
frames per second.
Time code: A data signal which contains encoded time information. It is
used by many video and audio media to allow the synchronisation of
different sources to a common time-base.
The current version of Ventura actually requires time codes at 25 frames
per second, which are properly known as "EBU" (European Broadcasting
Union), but this document will continue to use the term "SMPTE".
To enable SMPTE operation: ensure the "root" or starting menu is
displayed; press soft function buttons: [I/O], [IO2], [MIDI/SMPTE]; set
SMPTE Disabled/Enabled to Enabled; press [exit] as many times as
necessary to return to the root menu.
Cues may be triggered when a specific SMPTE time is reached. To
achieve this, the required Cues must be incorporated into a Stack (or cue
list) in running order. Reasons for this are (1) there is no provision for
storing a SMPTE time in the data for a Cue, (2) the same cue may occur
many times in the same Stack. Each Stack Entry contains:
 a reference to the Cue to be triggered
 various cross-fade times
 a SMPTE time
 the Wait Mode, which can be set to one of:
Manual next Cue is triggered by pressing the Go button
Auto next Cue is triggered automatically as soon as the
previous one has faded in
Smpte next Cue is triggered when the incoming SMPTE
time matches the time set for the Stack Entry
Up to 10 Stacks may be stored in the console, but at any time only one of
them may be running (playing back). Creating a Stack is done in the Stack
Set-up Menu: press the [stack] button below the main LCD on the right;
edit the number of the stack required (type numeric buttons or rotate
master select wheel); press [next].
Stack:1 {Stack 1 } Len:0
Entry:1 Cue:1 Cue 1
TP:1 XFade:As Cue --:--.-
Wait:Man 00:00:00:0 [Record] [MAKE]
Ensure that Entry is set to 1, then set all the contents of the first entry as
desired. Then Entry number can then be set to 2 and its contents set etc.,
.. until the entire stack has been built. Alternatively a continuous run of
Cues may be built into a Stack by using the [MAKE] soft function button.
This should be used AFTER setting the contents of Entry 1, because
certain settings (such as Wait Mode=Smpte) will be copied into all
subsequent entries, and this will avoid the need to edit each one
afterwards. SMPTE times can be set in each entry manually by editing
each entry in turn. A faster method is to run the show by starting the
master show control device, then use the [Record] soft function button to
time-stamp the currently displayed entry with the current incoming SMPTE
time. After time-stamping each entry, the Stack should be played back
under SMPTE control to check the timing. To do this, press the [stack] run
button just to the left of the multi-function digital fader and select the
number of the stack. Running the show again will cause each cue to be
triggered at the SMPTE time recorded in the corresponding stack entry.
You will probably find that they trigger late by about 0.5 - 1 second, and
entries will need to have their SMPTE times edited accordingly, or re-
stamped using the [Record] button but anticipating the times by 0.5 - 1
second.
Note that SMPTE times must always be in order - the console does not
check or warn you of out-of-order stack entries. Also there must be a time
interval between consecutive entries, preferable not less than about 1
second (this also means that two entries CANNOT have the same SMPTE
time).