Video SwitchersMr. Specter
Steel Valley High School
What Are They?
Video Switchers are used to determine what source will be put on-air or recorded.
From the earliest days of TV these units were expanded to include limited special effects such as dissolves and wipes.
Later expanded to include “digital effects”.Digital effects included the ability to compress and manipulate images in real time.
Production houses used to charge an additional $250 – $350 per hour to use digital effects.
Types of Effects
Basic effects include:Cuts
Dissolves
Wipes
KeysLuminance
Chroma
Blue or Green Screen
Digital Effects
Two basic types:Overlay
Effects happen on top of your live image
TransitionEffects cover a change in source
Digital Effects require that the image be broken down and stored in a computer-style memory. This is necessary for compression.
Our Video Switchers
We Own Three Different SystemsTrinity
Video Toaster
Panasonic WJ-MX-50
Main Switchers
TrinityUsed in the studio
Built around 1998 by Play Inc.
Offers graphics as well as switching
Can do graphics animation and custom special effects
Graphics module called “Titlewave”
Editing module called “Predator”
Switching module called “Air Command”
Framestore and moving video
Important to Know
The bottom row of buttons on the Trinity is Preview, not Program.
Program is what is on the air or being recorded.
This layout is consistent with most other switchers.
The Program buss is the second from the bottom.
The Mix/Effects buttons control which busses are active and how they interact.
The AUX buss is often called the Overlay buss on other switchers.
How to Grab a Framestore
Here’s how to grab a Framestore on the Trinity:Click the “Freeze” button on the switcher interface panel.
Drag the image into the bin in order to add it.
Trinity was designed to directly control a videotape machine.
This feature was used for both playback of material during live broadcasts and editing.
Main Switchers
Video ToasterUsed for remote productions due to size/weight
Built around 1991
Includes:Switcher
Character Generator
Color Effects/Filters
3-D Modeling/Animation
Lightwave
Paint System
Framestore
Cannot playback moving video on its own.
Main Switchers
Both The Toaster and the Trinity were designed by the same people.
Kiki Stockhammer
Michael Moore
Others
Main Differences
Toaster cannot store moving images.
Toaster cannot control videotape machines without additional 3rd party hardware and software.
Toaster includes high-end 3-D software called Lightwave.
Trinity effects are “cleaner” than Toaster effects that use compression.
Next Class
We will have a test on the switchers.
I hope you paid attention!