Thanks Scott. I too have been reading your doc on Mobile TV Group and it is helping me to understand some stuff. I'm still new to the Kalypso/Zodiak/Kayak so I'm just now starting to learn how to use macros. I guess I'd better get it figured out. :)

Hi "Reccles", The 1ME panel is small. Here is what you will have: 12 unshifted crosspoints and 12 shifted crosspoints. 2 keyer rows with 12 shifted, 12 unshifted crosspoints. Access to K3 and K4i s via alt buss buttons. 4 keyers with trans buttons. no cut buttons for the keyers. Full next trans module, just like big brother's. The emem panel is a bit out of reach. Everything you expect is there. The 1ME is acquired as a PGM/PST buss. It will run Master Timelines. You will have 2 transform engines. Timeline editing on the panel is different. I would suggest using the menu until you figure the panel out. Macros attach 2 buttons off wher you think they shoul attach. For example if you attch a macro to the User Trans 3 buttom in the menu, it will show up on the User Trans 1 button on the panel. There is a document at MTVG's website in the dual feed section that explains how to runs the switcher with macros to give some flexibilty to the 1ME panel. It was writtten for doing a Dual Feed Fox Sports style, which has changed since the document was written. The ony thing that it really affects is how you treat the lack of a replay bug. I hope this helps. Scott

Does anyone happen to have a picture of the Kalypso sub pannel? I am doing my first dual next month and I've only seen one of these things once. I kinda want to get a feel for what buttons I do have and what I dont. Any help or prayers would be appreciated.

Scott, your dual doc is "tops"

Hi Dan, There is a document on the Mobile TV Group website that explains how I do duals with macros. Clay Armstrong also has a setup that works pretty slick from a TD in Detroit. Scott

Hi all, been busy & couldn't get back to some of you on this posting... We are getting Mira M5. The specs & layout: The 1st & last time I did a dual feed on the 1ME Kalypso, Scott, you had the show set up for me from the night before, with plenty of notes, so none of us here have done a full set-up on the 1ME dual. We've been using a 1.5 ME Sony 8k, and I've done one on a 2ME Kalypso. Glen, when M5 came down here for us to take a peek on the set-up, we loaded your show to see how you did it. I was thinking along the same lines, and we started to build a show, but it was so time consuming, and there were 5 TD's in the room at the time, each person wanted to understand what I was saying/doing, and why use a macro just to change from tele to FF, a separate one to change from box to bug & vice versa, then put each of those steps into a timeline... we never finished. One TD who had to leave said, "F*** it! I'll build it with a regular time line, they get CG's in & out!" I would love to use your set-up, but we don't know enough about it, and all of us hate using someone else's set up, never know what kind of "traps" are in there. Glen, your info was just passed to us from CSN, so you may be getting some emails & calls soon. My experience has been quite varied in these dual feeds. Most production crews are aware of what we have to go through, and don't ask the world. Others still want their home show, with tele, tracker, 14 cameras, etc, split screens, clock over camera, tag box, etc... But we built up to that on the 1.5 ME Sony 8k after 4 years, now we're starting from scratch with a smaller switcher, fewer keyers, fewer x-points, etc. When we started, we would take the home feed, then cut away from action when necessary, now all cut their own show, even taking the Home's low 3rd camera live for a batter ID shot. We're going to look like crap. The 1st 2 shows are Oct 9 & 11, currently no TD's available in the area, so some of you will be called soon, I'm sure. This could be the way the entire NHL & NBA seasons go... Hopefully the Macro issue we were seeing was just a bug at the time, and won't show up again, other wise we could be screwed. Thanks for all your help, past & future. --- Dan

Hi dan, What truck are you guys working on? If Mira, how are the dual feed areas set up? Scott Dailey

Hi Dan, I have been switching duals on M-5 in Seattle since the inception of duals. I can not think of one instance when recording a macro on the back bench was affected by the T.D. on the front bench. Since the two switchers on running in multi-suite mode, they should operate seperately. That being said, it is also quite likely that all these years the two T.D.'s have just not been building macros at the same time. Also, like Paul mentioned, we timeline all our macros. We build many one step macros that do nothing but turn on a keyer, change a source on the keyer, cut pgm, diss pgm, trigger FF, and so on. It has also been my experience that the majority of Directors that come into a dual situation are very forgiving and understand the limitations. You guys in S.F. are very good T.D.'s so I expect that this bump in the road won't be to much of a problem. If you have any M-5 related questions feel free to shoot me an email. I did have a long talk with a representative of Mira, and they are planning on building a couple more trucks in the near future. They really want to build a truck that can be used in a SBS situation but can also do full shows. The thought is to maybe build something like MMT's 21, 22, 23 HDX.

""...if I'm on the "Duel", recording a macro, can the Home TD punch a button that will be recorded on my macro?"" Dan, In short, no. I believe, someone correct me if I'm wrong, it depends if you're in the same suite. The home and away shows are in different suites. That's why an engineer button (menu) punch would show up in a macro - because the engineer was in the suite that the macro was being recorded. Regarding telestrators, yada etc. It was a season or so before we figured out how to include tele's. I think the original FSN spec called for no tele's, but then directors and producers started showing up saying "the TD in so-and-so was able to...". It became a challenge. On my show, tele shares the keyer with the FastForward/Clipstore. Source memory is on (especially with a matte fill tele). Keyer stays on all the time for tele, and is sourced to FF/Clip only during transitions. This is where timelining of macros is crucial, because the M/E itself is NOT part of the timeline. Macros consist of (each one separate): changing keyer to FF/Clip, FF/Clip PBus fire (by using test trigger in menu), cut or trans button on the M/E, changing keyer back to tele. Also remember the first keyframe has to call up the FF/Clip, so PBus has to be in the timeline. Something else I do (which helps me, at least), is to put the transition timelines in the bank2 registers and above (these are run as attached macros) and leave the bank0 and bank1 registers for cams clean and with duet. I leave EMEM00 as an in-game setup - bug in, tele on with all it's parameters - but source hold (A/B bus) on. EMEMs 01-09 cut cameras with bug. These are the only EMEMS that include the Program bus, so your tele parameters, etc., only have to be learned on these. The last macro of my replay timeline calls up EMEM00 which puts me in a position to quickly punch cameras on the EMEM pad. It's also a good idea, since the tele is ALWAYS in, to have a macro that source patches it to black in case it craps out during a show. Or keep the source patch menu handy. One place I do draw the line... no live wiping to split screens. I have a split that sets up as preview during play, so I can cut or dissolve or have tapeland take a feed of my preview bus, but no FF/Clip transition to. Squeeze boxes, 2-Boxes, are also nebulous... set them up on preview, then cut or dissolve. Good luck. Your mileage may vary. Paul

Paul, you brought up a good question that I didn't think of... If I'm on the "Duel", recording a macro, can the Home TD punch a button that will be recorded on my macro? Rick, while we did like NMT, I do like Mira too, & I'm VERY happy that Mountain Mobile didn't win the bid, our home truck would've had a 2.5 ME Kayak! The way the Bay Area works, duals are done out of 2 separate trucks, a main Home truck, and a smaller Side By Side visitor truck. Since Mira doesn't have a SBS truck yet to connect to the brand new M7, we get stuck with M5 until Mira builds or purchases one. M7 is also contracted out for college football right now, so that wouldn't be an option anyway until January. Rumor has us getting M7 + a SBS in January, but could be as late as April for baseball season. All that being said, M5 is temporary, so we are going to look like a lot of TD's did 5+ years ago when they first started learning how to do duals the 1st time on the 1ME Kalypso. So clients are going to come in here, expecting more than we're going to be able to give them, cause everywhere else they get TD's who have been doing this for several years, and we are in a temporary truck, so just as we get good (enough) at it, it's going away anyway... so how much effort do we put into this now???? We can't look like crappy TD's (hard to find in the SF Bay Area), but we will. A few of us are saying that we have to draw the line some place, such as no telestrator... but then others are saying, we can't do that, cause the clients expect it all, we've given it to them in the past, and we have to give it to them, that's what we're here for, figure it out. So, after all that said... we have to build Macros while the other TD isn't running any Macros, is that the deal? If so, GVG has GOT TO FIX THAT! --- Dan

[quote="Rick Tugman"]I heard that NMT was going to lose the contract in the Bay Area about a month ago. Sad to hear and it makes you wonder the state of things with the company.[/quote] Well, HD1 and 12 are now with NEP. Not sure what NESN will do. Right now they and MSG seem to be the only contracts that they have. I wonder if Game Creek and NCP/NEP will end up with those soon?

I heard that NMT was going to lose the contract in the Bay Area about a month ago. Sad to hear and it makes you wonder the state of things with the company. Dan, as Paul mentioned, the duals will get easier as time goes on. All in all they are ok once you figure out that Macros are the way to go with the shows. Additionally, you can only do so much with them because of your limitations although the norm is using 6 keys on the 4 keyers all the time so Source Memory is a must. Good luck with the transition. Best, Rick.

My sympathies. We're on our third year here in Florida doing "duels". It does get easier, sadly. I've seen this behavior, but it seems intermittent. Definitely v14 but can't speak to v15, as the 8HDX, which lives here, hadn't updated yet. One real dangerous thing to be aware of: if the EIC is making changes on their menu screen, those menu punches WILL be remembered if the home TD is recording a macro at the same time, and will be executed every time the home TD runs that macro. We found out the hard way. Every time I ran a certain macro, camera sourcing on the visitor side changed. Took a few days to figure that one out. Shoulda' heard the noise from the visitor side when cameras would disappear from the board. The MTVG engineers are aware of this and should warn you when they're making changes. Just don't record any macros while they're fiddling. They might have actually figured out a way to avoid this, but check first. BTW, timelined macros are a great way to run the small panel, considering all the real estate you don't have. Also, be aware that the attach macro menu is not accurate on the duel side. If you want to attach macros, make sure those are recorded on the physical panel buttons, which are easily attached to other buttons. Good luck. And remember, you can only blame the equipment 40-50 times before your director gets suspicious!