Import and Export SD and HD(V) Content with the Grass Valley Turbo iDDR

With the Turbo iDDR (intelligent digital disk recorder) operating in
its Workstation view, pull down the Clips menu and click on Import. You
will see that you can import from another Turbo unit via Stream or a
File from a connected device or drive. Click on My Computer from the
AppCenter screen and you’ll see a familiar view of devices. Here, we’re
going to import an MPEG-2 file from a connected USB 2.0 disk drive. Any
file type that Turbo can import will show up in its view. Double click
on the file that you want to import and the name will appear in the
lower part of the screen. Press OK and the content will start moving
onto the Turbo’s internal hard drives. Files are imported into Turbo
using MPEG-2, 4:2:0, Long GoP compression. Standard-definition clips
are either kept in their original bit rate or, if they are transcoded,
they are generated into a 15 Mb/s clip. High-definition imported clips
are processed into a 25 Mb/s clip. The Turbo can import MPEG, AVI
(DV25), QuickTime, WMV/WMV HD, wrapper types as well as many different
still files and create clips that play back on either of its two
play-out channels.

Content can be imported from a variety of connections including USB
2.0, IEEE-1394 (FireWire), Gigabit Ethernet and shared drives. You can
connect different devices such as DVD-ROM, USB sticks, disk drives and
Iomega REV removable media drive with the Turbo-R model, and even DV
and HDV camcorders or VTRs via the FireWire connection. The transport
functions of these devices can be controlled using the Turbo buttons,
similar to how you control an NLE. Certain HDV cameras provide a "live"
MPEG-2 transport stream that can be recorded by putting the Turbo
Record channel in IEEE-1394 input mode and pressing record.

While you're importing a file, you can monitor the transfer using the built-in Transfer Monitor. You can bring it up on the screen by going to the System pull down menu and clicking on Transfer Monitor. You can also initiate it by clicking on the Transfer Monitor icon in the lower right-hand part of the screen that indicates that a transfer of some type is going on. When the Transfer Monitor comes up you can select to view receiving, sending (Export) or completed transfers. This example shows the clip that's being received. The monitor shows the bit rate at which the transfer is occurring and approximately how much time is left in the transfer process. This can be very useful in characterizing your workflow tasks and the software transcoding time that TURBO uses when transferring clips to the internal MPEG-2 format.

A few seconds after the Clip starts to transfer, its thumbnail icon will show up in the selected bin. To select the Clip from the Front Panel, simply push the Clips button, use the Jog/Shuttle Knob (notice how the Blue LEDs light up behind the knob, indicating you're in a menu type operation) to scroll through the Clips in the selected Bin, push the Knob in and the highlighted Clip will be loaded into the selected Player Channel. Push the Play button and the Clip will start playing. In the Workstation mode the Clip can be loaded by dragging the Clip from the Bin to the Player Channel or just double click on the Clip of choice and it'll be loaded into the highlighted Player Channel. Push the Play button in the Player Channel or just push the Space Bar key on the Keyboard to start the Clip playing. The space bar can also be pushed to stop the Clip. TURBO also has many operation keys on the Keyboard which are highlighted in the built-in help menu. You're now free to trim the Clip, create sub-clips as well as make Play lists from Clips and sub-clips by putting the Player Channel in Play List mode.

Exporting Clips out of TURBO, in various file types, is just as easy as importing them. Highlight the Clip you want to export in the Clips Bin and then click on the Clips pull-down menu in the Workstation view.

Under the Clips menu, click on Send To (Export). You will see that you get a similar screen to the Import screen. The Send To menu allows you to "send" the Clip by various means. It can be sent to another Bin in the TURBO Clips Bin management system, it can be "Streamed" to another TURBO on a Gigabit Ethernet network at a very high speed or it can be sent out as a File to devices that were outlined in the Import step. Here, the selected File is being exported to the TURBO-R unit's built-in Iomega REV drive for archiving. You'll see that there is a pull-down menu within the Export screen that allows you to select different wrapper types to send the file out as.

The wrapper types are MPEG-2, which is standard to TURBO, GXF (SMPTE Standard 360M), AVI to make DV25 type Clips and Windows Media Video. For WMV, TURBO can export a standard definition Clip at selectable bit rates so that web-based streaming files can be created that can be used on a separate streaming server. WMV HD Clips can be created from TURBO HD Clips as well. So once you pick the output file type, press OK and the clip is on its way. You can monitor progress of the transfer using the Transfer Monitor as we used above in Step 2 and by clicking on the Send To button. It's just that easy!

The TURBO system's Importing and Exporting capabilities are very versatile. This chart outlines the various types of files that can be worked with along with some comments on each.

Think enhanced digital workflow: While Turbo is recording a clip on the
standard definition record channel, that same clip can be edited in
Player Channel One using the Sub-Clips function. You can play back the
same Sub-Clips (both SD and HD) in Player Channel Two in a Play List
mode. Or you can put both Player Channels in Play List mode with
different or the same clips. Turbo’s outputs connect to HD plasma,
projectors and LCD screens using DVI-I connections or SD devices using
S-Video, Composite or SDI output connections.

Matt Ivey
Product Manager
Grass Valley

Matt has been in the broadcast and professional video industry for more
than 28 years. With Grass Valley, he’s been involved with bringing
state-of-the-art products to market that bring with them better
workflow efficiencies through progressive technology designs.

Matt Says Keep In Mind…

The Grass Valley Turbo iDDR (intelligent Digital Disk Recorder) and
playback system is, in effect, a bridge between a traditional VTR and a
video server that builds on PC technology. One reason for its
increasing popularity among video and audio pros is that it can

function as a professional AV center, all in one package. You no longer
need multiple VTRs for SD and HD recording and playback for live events
or other fixed facility media use. But how easy is it to import
content? This tutorial shows you how to do it by using either the
Turbo’s Front Panel or AppCenter Workstation mode.

Grass Valley
www.thomsongrassvalley.com
15655 SW Greystone Court
Beaverton, OR 97006
ph. 800.547.8949
matt.ivey@thomson.net