Tool Box

The Profile® Tool Box is a set of integrated applications for Profile Professional Disk Recorders. These tools use a common graphical user interface (GUI) and perform many of the daily tasks required by modern broadcast facilities. Tool Box applications let users easily perform basic cuts-only editing, build and execute lists of events, and manage lists of archive and network transfers.

Inside the Tool Box

The Tool Box Editor enables you to log and capture new media and provides a cuts-only sequence editing system.

The List Manager provides a simple station automation system. Use it to record incoming audio and video at predetermined times, send incoming video directly to an output, assemble a playlist of commercials and programs, schedule transfers to/from a PLS200 archive library or Profile Fibre Channel network, or combine all operations to automate operation.

The Profile's hierarchical file viewer, called the Media Manager, grants quick access to all media stored on local and remote Profile Video Disk Recorders or Profile Disk Expansion Units. While originally part of the Tool Box this now ships as an integrated component of Profile System Software. You can drag and drop media from the Media Manager into the Profile Tool Box's two applications: Tool Box Editor and List Manager.

The Configuration Manager sets up the Profile system resources. You can easily change video standards, hardware slots, and set input and output timing. While originally part of the Tool Box this now ships as an integrated component of Profile System Software.

The Profile Media Manager

The Media Manager, now an integrated component of Profile System Software, allows you to organize and manage media on disk, in libraries, and across a Fibre Channel Network of Profiles. In a network of Profiles, you can easily copy media between sources without hustling tapes from one end of the station to another. All material is under your control from one location.

The Media Manager offers a hierarchical view of volumes, media, and event lists stored in the Profile file system. Its media tree is organized by clips (indi-vidual digitized audio/video segments), masters (edited sequences of clips), bins (which contain clips and masters - similar to a disk directory or folder) and volumes (disk sets in PDRs or expansion units). The PLS200 Profile Library System can also be managed from the Media Manager. Archive data tapes can be formatted, par-titioned, inventoried and cleaned from one application. Operators can drag-and-drop files from the local Profile onto the particular tape and partition of their choice.

To open a clip or master, simply drag it from the Media Manager and drop it onto the Tool Box application. This makes it easy to select media for editing or to build event lists.

Tool Box Editor

With the Tool Box Editor, your Profile Disk Recorder becomes a media capture and editing station. Create new clips by logging and capturing video and audio from external sources, such as VTRs, satellite and microwave links, live cameras, and microphones. Clips can be created "on-the-fly" while a record is in progress. Then drag and drop the clips and masters onto the edit timeline to use the PDR as an inexpensive, cuts-only sequence editor. Assemble stored clips and masters, send them out to tape or broadcast, or schedule them for playback using the List Manager.

Tool Box version 1.1 adds the ability to run remotely. Users can now use Tool Box Editor to control channels of Profile remotely from a Windows NT® computer. Using a standard ethernet network for control, this allows the Profile to be located in a distant rack room and the operators to edit at their desks. The Tool Box Editor will allow up to four concurrent remote editing sessions on a single four-channel Profile. This allows up to four editors to have a common pool of storage within the single Profile.

Editing capabilities include drag and drop assembly of clips and masters using a graphical timeline method, inserting and appending new clips or masters on the timeline, trimming segments on the master timeline with trim handles, and deleting segments from the timeline. Edited sequences can be viewed in online quality in real-time.

When you launch the Profile Tool Box Editor you either open an existing project or create a new project. Each project includes the list of media and/or masters required and the system resource settings.

New projects begin by acquiring system resources, including video codecs, audio channels, timecode inputs and outputs, and video inputs and outputs. Projects can be named and saved to disk for recall or export.

List Manager

The List Manager lets you automate operation of the Profile Disk Recorder. You can schedule playback of clips or masters created in the Tool Box Editor on designated outputs, record incoming media at predetermined times, send the media directly to an output, or combine control of all functions for complete automation.

Like the Tool Box Editor, the List Manager now has the ability to be run remotely. Users can control channels of a Profile from a Windows NT® computer via ethernet.

All capabilities are available on all four channels. You can schedule record and playback to occur simultaneously on different channels while previewing material on another channel.

List Manager v1.1 supports the ability to schedule media to be transferred to/from the PLS200 Profile Library System, and to/from other Profiles via the Fibre Channel network. This could be used to transfer a finished Tool Box Editor clip from another Profile and to play it to air or send it to the archive. The List Manager uses an easy to read tabular format, allowing you to build and execute a sequence of specific events defined according to a unique set of properties, such as name, start time, and duration. Each event has a trigger and performs some action. Events can be scheduled to occur at an exact time, to follow other events, or to be triggered manually. Once a list is created and scheduled, List Manager checks it for scheduling conflicts. A Monitor function lets you follow list execution.