K2 Stand alone and Final Cut Pro workflow

Here is an illustration for the Hot bin workflow using Final Cut Pro.


To use FCP to edit in place from a stand alone K2 follow that procedure:
First you need to connect to the media drive from the K2 mediaclient. in order to do that you first must share the V:/ drive from the mediaclient:
Go to the K2 Mediaclient windows -->my computer --> right click on the V:/ drive --> sharing and permissions, share the volume and name it DEFAULT (this is important) -->advanced permissions-->everyone check all permissions (you can set permissions to only the admin user if you prefer)-->apply/ok

On the MAC -->finder -->Go menu --> connect to server --> type in the IP address of the MediaClient like this: smb://xx.xx.xx.xx/default --> click the little + sign to add it to your favorites --> connect

Now the default drive is available in the shared section of the finder.

Now that the "plumbing" is done you can start editing: two scenarios:

With the GV CONNECT plug-in:
If you are using the GV connect plug-in you will need to edit the host file on the MAC to set the Stand alone server IP addressing the host editing tool in the GV application folder, create a user account for the MAC user on the K2 (with admin privileges) and then set the permissions on the sabretooth license service in the service manager

-From FCP --> tool-->GV CONNECT --> import tab --> you see all the available content, import to the bin as any as needed --> close plug-in
-Edit
- when done editing --> tool --> GV CONNECT --> export tab --> select custom or quick export (TIP: Set the quick export to the hot bin then you can do a GV connect quick export directly from the tool menu) --> export and close.

Without the GV CONNECT plug-in
-From FCP --> Right click on the bin --> import file --> using the browse button navigate to DEFAULT/ Asset (if K2 Classic) or Media (is K2 Summit)/navigate the bins to find content.
-Edit
-when done editing select your sequence to send back --> right click --> export --> Quick time movie, select the right format that match the K2 system setup --> browse destination: navigate to the default drive/ navigate to the hot bin --> export.

Note that by using the GV CONNECT plug-in this process is highly streamlined.

For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

EDIUS; that file based workflow monster

Working in a lot of different workflows from News to live production, sports, and channel playout, being able to ingest, edit and transfer the result of your editing on the playout server so it can be shared / played or archived whatever the source or destination file formatis, is important.

For that kind of workflow where source format are multiple, EDIUS is the dreamed solution.
You can thrown literally any type of files to it, EDIUS will play them, edit them and with it's integration to the K2 systems, will have the right tools to export that back to the playout system.

Here is a list of files format that I used recently with EDIUS for a project:
HDV, AVCI, AVCHD, DV, J2K, MPEG2 Long GOP, XDCAM HD... and yes, I have been able to mix all of this in my project and make a Master that was playable on a K2 Summit DV100 MediaClient.

EDIUS allowed me to ingest all the files from the different camera vendors, files from my archive and edit, manage the aspect ratio and raster sizes and output a DV100 file back to our K2 Summit MediaClient.

Export from EDIUS in .m2t, MXF, GXF, AVI, QT, MPEG2...

If you want to know more about EDIUS file format compatiblity follow that link: CLICK ME and scroll to the bottom of the page for an extensive list of Supported Project formats and Video Formats.

For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

A well kept secret for editors: K2 HotBins!

The K2 MediaClient stand alone or K2 Server for SAN environment offers a great feature for editors to export files to the MediaClient or SAN and have this files seen by the server and shareable /playable right away by the K2s.

Per the K2 documentation:
A service that will monitor a watched folder, also known as a source
directory, that you specify. Files placed in this watched folder are
automatically imported into the K2 system by the HotBin service

The Capture service is used to setup watch folders that will automatically import files dropped into the watch folders to a predetermined K2 bin.
once the import is over, the files are playable by the K2 MediaClient and are shared as well for other editors or transfer/archive engine.

the Hot bins supports Quicktime, MXF OP1A and AVI type-2 (DV only)for import as well as the "hotbin" XML import is capable of receive MXF O-Atom following the P2 specifications as well.

For more information about the K2 hot bin features follow that link to the PDF system guides: CLICK ME

typical use case is for an editor to ingest a tape on it's local storage, edit, add effects and so on and export a flatten file to the HotBin K2 folder. once the import is done by the editor the K2 Capture service pick up the file and make it available in the K2 bin for playout.
this is a great and simple file based workflow, especially in live production environment where files edited need to be playback as soon as possible.

For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

NEW AT NAB 2009: XDCAM HD and DV100 Transfer to/from Avid: UPDATED JULY '09

With the latest software releases for K2-HD-xx (V3.3) and K2-Summit (V7.0) support is now available for HD file transfers to and from Avid editors running XDCAM HD (K2-HD-xx) and DVCPRO HD (K2-Summit). Transfers require Avid’s Transfer Engine.

K2-HD-xx (V3.3)
- XDCAM HD (new) --> REQUIRES ON THE AVID SIDE A UNITY SHARED STORAGE
- SD MPEG I-Frame
- D10/IMX 30/40/50

K2-Summit (V7.x)
- DVCPRO HD (new)
- DVCAM DVCPRO25, DVCPRO50


There are two versions of the Avid Transfer Engine (available from Avid) depending what type of media you want to exchange:
• AVID Transfer Engine with DHM (Data Handler Module) and the Grass Valley K2 Avid Plug-in (K2-AVIDTM-Client or K2-AVIDTM-SAN). This is used for I-frame SD transfer as well as DVCPRO HD transfers.

• AVID FTP Transfer Engine is used to transfer XDCAM HD content – no need for the K2 Avid Plug-in

Availability
K2 Avid Plug-in is available now from Grass Valley.
The two Transfer Engine options are provided by Avid.
• The AVID Transfer Engine with DHM is available now for DV25/DV50/DVCPRO HD and for D10/IMX (30/40/50).
• AVID FTP Transfer Engine for XDCAM HD is not yet available from Avid. For availability, contact Avid.

For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

NEW AT NAB 2009: EDIUS on K2 SAN with Aurora and MediaFrame integration

EDIUS 5.1 adds support for the EDIUS Aurora Sys Plug-in version 5.1.
This version will let EDIUS users “Edit in place” content ingested and edited by the Aurora News production system and provides seamless Mediaframe support.

With V5.1, EDIUS users will use Aurora Browse to find content in the Database:

Once the editor finds the content he wants to edit, he can drag and drop the file or low resolution proxy to the EDIUS bin or timeline. This will access the high resolution clip on the K2 SAN and lets users edit it in place and in real time.
From within the EDIUS bin, the Editor now has access to the MediaFrame database.



Metadata, Keywords and Keyframes from Aurora MediaFrame are displayed and updated live both in the EDIUS Source viewer and timeline and in the metadata editor property window.


Once the Editor is done, he can send the finished sequence back to the K2 SAN as a finish product. There are several options to export it to the K2 SAN or he can use the NRCS MXF Exporter to link the story to a Newsroom computer system place holder. This will allow direct playback by the Aurora playout news application.


Avaibility and compatiblity:
EDIUS 5.1 will be released April 20th 2009.

EDISU 5.1 will be compatible with Aurora 6.5 and up, K2 3.2.7 and up, K2 Summit V70).

For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

NEW at NAB 2009: GV FCP Connect Plug-in

Grass Valley will demonstrate their new K2-FCP Connect. This includes the new GV Connect plug-in for FCP.
K2-FCP Connect includes the GV Connect FCP plug-in, the iSCSI connection license and software.

In Summary this plug-in will let users quickly and easily locate QT files on the K2 SAN, add them to the current project to allow editing of the QT files from the SAN without file transfer. This capability is called Edit in Place.
The plug-in will also include FCP support for Aurora sequences, growing file support and export/render/flattening of FCP finished sequences on the K2 SAN for sharing or playout.

Prerequisites:
• Mac Pro (intel) with 2 GigE ports
• Mac Os X Leopard 10.5.6 or higher
• XSAN 2.0 client and license

The GV Connect FCP plug-in will be installed in the Final Cut Pro plug-in folder and will show up under the Tool menu in two separate entries as shown in the screenshot below.



The GV Connect menu entry will display the GV Connect plug-in. The GV Quick Export menu entry will bypass the plug-in UI to automatically export the selected items in the FCP bin to a predetermined location on K2.
The GV Connect window has two main tabs, one for exporting and one for importing.
The same tool is used for both tasks and allows batch operations for both Import and Export


Growing File Support:
By installing the GV Connect plug-in, the user will see a GV logo button in the upper right in the Mac OSX toolbar. This logo will change color (white letters to green letters) when a file that is used in the current FCP project has grown. This provides support for growing files in FCP. The user can click on the Icon and the files will be refreshed in the FCP project providing access to the new media. The GV Connect plug-in will be available shortly after NAB.



For any question concerning this subject contact Régis André: regis.andre@thomson.net

NEW at NAB 2009: Final Cut Pro Support, GV K2 SAN and XSAN compatiblity Matrix

Grass Valley will announce at NAB 2009 full native support for Final Cut Pro editors on the K2 SAN.

This new plug-in will be supported with the latest version of the K2 Products:
K2 SD and HD V3.3 and K2 Summit 7.0.

Learn which version of XSAN clients are compatible with Grass Valley SAN Shared storage systems.

Product Affected:
XSAN, K2 SAN and K2 Summit SAN