Instruction manual

28
Video Source
Selecting the Main and Sub Video Sources
is the first thing to do when setting up the
SE-800.
The source you select (by pressing one of
the buttons; a bright red LED on the
selected button lights for confirmation) on
the Main Source bus is what is sent to the
Video output. This means that you can perform cuts between sources by simply pressing different buttons.
(If A+V is engaged, video and audio from the selected source will switch together. See A+V, page 35 for
more details on this function.)
The Sub Source selection determines which input will be transitioned to when using any of the transition
controls (Wipe, Fade, and Zoom) and provides the video for Picture in Picture and Chroma Key functions.
(See Using Transitions, page 35, and Using Effects, page 41 for more details.)
Channel selections are not “remembered” after you power down the SE-800. In other words, each time you
power up your Switcher, channel A will be selected as the Main Video Source and channel B will be selected
as the Sub Video Source.
In addition to selecting which video input channel will be present in the Main and Sub Source busses, you
must also select the appropriate format for each channel in use. (See Input Format, below.) If the incorrect
format is selected or if there is no valid video signal present, you will see frozen or distorted video when that
channel is selected for output. For example, if you have a DV Bank connected to channel A through the DV
In port, and you have selected channel A’s input format to be composite, you will see a freeze frame, even if
the DV Bank is playing a clip. You will also see a freeze frame if the DV Bank is not in play mode, even if DV
is selected as the input format.
Tech note: The frozen image is a function of how the time base corrector (TBC, a.k.a. frame synchronizer)
works. The SE-800 has a TBC at the Main Video Source and the Sub Video Source inputs. Their purpose is
to stabilize the video signals as they come into the switcher, and to synchronize their timing so that they can
be switched and otherwise combined with no disruption to the video signal. When the TBC stops receiving a
video signal, the only signal it can output is the last frame that passed through its memory. Hence, the freeze
frame. For more information on TBCs, see What is a frame synchronizer? page 6.