who uses picture monitor for plugins etc?

[The Cargo Cult]

who likes to put other plugin and utility windows up on their picture monitor?
and who doesn't?

I have a dilemma with the Spanner QT overlay window and it's "window level" - it's position in the stack of windows.

option 1 - it's the same level as the movie window, which means:
plugins, automation & marker windows nicely sit above overlay.
but sometimes the overlay is hidden by the movie (eg, switching back to PT) and needs to be closed/opened to see it again.

option 2 - overlay is 1 level higher than movie window, which means:
plugins and other ancillary windows sit UNDER the overlay and although they're visible you can't click them till you hide the overlay.
but the overlay will always be visible, even when switching back from another app.

any thoughts much appreciated,
justin

[Brandonx1]

I never put plug ins on the video monitor. I also don't use a graphic card output for video. I use gen locked decklink and use other monitors for pro tools

[Frank Kruse]

Same here. Hardly ever use the overlay because picture is coming out a BM card so I can't see it over picture anyway.

Otherwise soundminer on one, edit-window on the other window. When I pan, my fingers are on the ipad and eyes and ears on the picture screen.

[geitz]

Frank and Brandon - is there benefit to having your video playback device (decklink, etc) genlocked if all you do is play video out of it? If one was capturing video through it I could see the need, but looking ahead to purchasing a thunderbolt-based video peripheral I'm wondering if I actually need one that resolves to house sync (like a blackmagic ultrastudio express) or if I can go with a cheaper option that doesn't have a sync input (like a blackmagic intensity extreme.) Thanks for filling in my blanks.

(FWIW We currently use blackmagic decklink extreme cards for PT video playback and do have them resolved to house sync.)

Best,
Greg

Babble-On Recording

[Brent_Sydney]

+1 option 1

[Brandonx1]

Originally Posted by geitz

Frank and Brandon - is there benefit to having your video playback device (decklink, etc) genlocked if all you do is play video out of it? If one was capturing video through it I could see the need, but looking ahead to purchasing a thunderbolt-based video peripheral I'm wondering if I actually need one that resolves to house sync (like a blackmagic ultrastudio express) or if I can go with a cheaper option that doesn't have a sync input (like a blackmagic intensity extreme.) Thanks for filling in my blanks.

(FWIW We currently use blackmagic decklink extreme cards for PT video playback and do have them resolved to house sync.)

Best,
Greg

Babble-On Recording

Yes. If you don't have your video locked to house sync, video will drift. Pt also doesn't start qt at the exact frame edge, si you can be as much as a frame out from the start of playnback and drift out further from there. I don't think it's a Hugh deal but I always like to be 100 confident of sync, so I gen lock everything.

[jeremiahmoore]

on rare occasion, I put metering plugins on my picture monitor.

Specifically, iZotope Insight, in transparent mode.

Unsure what your plans are for overlaying on picture (LCR panning relative to screen position perhaps?) but my off-the-cuff vote would be: be on a higher layer than plug-ins. Users could resize or reposition to avoid being locked out of plug-in UI.

-jeremiah

[The Cargo Cult]

thanks jeremiah
yes, indeed I'm displaying pan position on top of the picture.
also allows for drawing pan directly onto the movie window.
there's a video demonstrating it here

certainly seems like most people are happy to have the overlay sit above plugins.
that's my preference as well so I'm gonna change it for the next point release.
justin

[Craig F]

Justin, given that 11 will have MC's video engine have you looked at making the pan positions a generated overlay like TC window, subtitles or, watermark?

[jeremiahmoore]

The analogue way:
Purportedly, Richard Beggs uses a piece of tape across the bottom of his video monitor, labelled in percentages Left / Center / Right. (per the Pro Tools panner.)