Supported input and output types
For formats see Supported video formats and frame rates
AJA
See System Requirements for supported AJA video cards
Input/Output options
Input | Input source | Spigot number |
|---|---|---|
Channel |
Use a media input for Key - External Key. The camera system needs to be Fill. | |
Output | Output destination | Spigot number |
Output type |
Learn more about Compositing modes | |
Audio | Enable Learn more about how to Configure audio output |
BMD
See System Requirements for supported BlackMagic Design DeckLink video cards
Blackmagic Desktop Video Setup
Set the Connector Mapping to
SDI 1 In or Outin the Blackmagic Desktop Video Setup application
SDI 1 & 2 In, SDI 3 & 4 Out | This option requires two cables for a single input. Not something that you would often use. |
|---|---|
SDI 1 to 4 In or Out | This option is for 8k or UHD2, it requires all four cables to be used for a single input or output. Not something that you would often use. |
SDI 1 In, SDI 2 Out | This option is a full duplex mode, if you use this you must use the same spigots within Director (e.g. Camera SDI 1, and Output SDI 1). This can help if you have no reference -- but not having a Genlock reference is STRONGLY not advised. |
SDI 1 In or Out | This option treats all spigots as either a single input or single output (e.g. Camera SDI 1, and Output SDI 2). This is the suggested mode for Pixotope. |
Input/Output options
Input | Input source | Spigot number |
|---|---|---|
Channel |
Use a media input for Key - External Key. The camera system needs to be Fill. | |
Output | Output destination | Spigot number |
Output type |
Learn more about Compositing modes | |
Audio | Enable Learn more about how to Configure audio output |
NDI
Video streaming protocol - What is NDI?
Input | Input source | Any NDI stream on this network |
|---|---|---|
Output | Output destination | Name of your output stream |
Output type |
Learn more about Compositing modes |
SRT
SRT is an established open source video streaming protocol
Input and Output | Mode |
|
|---|---|---|
Send to | Applicable for Caller mode
| |
Port | Port number - default: | |
Codec |
| |
Latency buffer | Latency in ms - default: | |
Password | If a password is set, the stream is encrypted - default: no password set |
The frame rate of the incoming stream (caller) and the input (listener) must be the same!
If the Editor drops its frame rate well below the one chosen, it will lead to an SRT input buffer overflow. This then causes a rebuild of the videoIO pipeline which will, during rebuild, display “Misconfigured Input Signal”.
The frame rate of the output (caller) and the listener of the stream must be the same!
If the receiver of the output is not able to consume the incoming packets fast enough its SRT receiver buffer will overflow and most likely break the connection.
Ways to send an SRT stream
Pixotope
You can use another Pixotope machine to output an SRT stream.
Learn more about how to Configure routing
FFMPEG
Run ffmpeg as source via command line
ffmpeg.exe -fflags nobuffer -re -protocol_whitelist file,srt -i <here_input_file> -r 30 -g 30 -b:v 25M -vcodec mpeg4 -f mpegts srt://10.11.36.22:16210Options used:
-fflags nobuffer- lower latency
-re - realtime playback with frame pacing here defined by -r 30
-i <here_input_file> - input source, may be a file (with path) or a url
-protocol_whitelist file,srt - on some (older or not full build) ffmpeg versions, a manual whitelisting of protocols may be required
-g 30 - GroupOfPictures size, here every the 30th frame is a key frame. Lower value means lower latency but very low values may impact quality whilst using temporal codecs (mpeg4, h264)
-b:v 25M- maximum bitrate used - here 25 MBps - quality versus required bandwidth. If user see frame drops (in the logs) it will cause broken image after decoding (broken macroblocks or whole areas of frame) should try to lower that value
-vcodec mpeg4- recommended codec
-f mpegts- transport format (only mpegts is supported)
srt://10.11.36.22:16210 - target IP and port
Ways to read an SRT stream
Pixotope
You can use the stream as an input to another Pixotope machine.
Learn more about how to Configure routing
VLC (only as Caller)
Open Network
Enter the IP address in the following format:
srt://192.168.1.1:16213
FFPLAY
Run ffplay as sink via command line
ffplay.exe srt://0.0.0.0:16210?mode=listener -framerate 30Options used:
srt://0.0.0.0:16210 - target port
-framerate 30 - for older versions of ffplay one has to specify the frame rate to secure against buffer overflow
Experimental
File input
Experimental feature. Use with caution!
Supported video formats: avi, dds, mov, mp4, mpeg, mpegts, ts, webm
Supported image formats: bmp, jpeg, jpg, png, tiff
File input
This allows you to use an image or video file as input.
Go to SETUP > Configure > Routing
Set the Input to File (experimental)
Select the image or video file you want to input
Playing of the file starts immediately and is played in a loop
Limitations
No play/pause controls available
The frame rate can not be changed
There is no guarantee of fluent playback. The speed depends on the read rate of your hard drive.
GPU
Experimental features can be enabled in SETUP > Show > Show settings
Use with caution!
GPU output
This allows you to output to an HDMI output of your graphics card directly. The output is stretched to the whole monitor’s resolution and put in the "background". It can be used seamlessly in a dual monitor setup.
Set the Output to GPU (experimental) in SETUP > Configure > Routing
Use the Output destination to select which output on your graphics card to use
Change the Output format to a custom format if needed
GPU output does not support Genlock
Pass-through mode
Experimental features can be enabled in SETUP > Show > Show settings
Use with caution!
Pass-through mode
This mode allows a machine to embed the incoming tracking data in the video signal and output it via SRT.
Enable pass-through mode via the overflow menu in SETUP > Configure > Routing > Machine header
Enable Embed Tracking
Keep the Editor/Engine closed on that machine
