Page 1 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual NCast Product Specification Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Revision 1.1 May 5th, 2011 PR-720 Software Release 6.1.7 Copyright © NCast Corporation, 2011 NCast Corporation Revision 1.1 Page 1...
Page 2: Table Of Contents
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Table of Contents 1. Introduction ........................... 6 1.1. Purpose ..............................6 1.2. Document Overview ..........................6 1.3. Terms and Definitions ..........................6 1.4. Presentation Recorders ......................... 7 1.5. Presentation Recorder Modes of Operation ................... 9 1.6.
Page 3 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 4.5. Channel Settings – Image Overlays ..................... 56 4.6. Channel Settings – Text Overlays ......................56 4.7. Channel Settings – Upload ........................59 4.8. Channel Settings – Notifications ......................61 5. Archives Page ..........................63 5.1.
Page 4 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Regulatory Compliance Information Equipment Label The Presentation Recorder meets all applicable FCC, CE and ICAN radiation and emission standards: Report 3054-1 Electromagnetic Compatibility Test Report 47 CFR Part 2 Subpart J Paragraph 2.906 Report 3054-2 Electromagnetic Compatibility Test Report 44366 S.
Page 5 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual “How to Identify and Resolve Radio-TV Interference Problems” Stock Number 004-000-00345-4, available exclusively from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402 (telephone +1-202-512-1800). FCC WARNING Changes or modification not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance to Part 15 of the FCC Rules could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.
Page 6: Introduction
1.1. P URPOSE The NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual is intended for the Audio/Video or Network engineer who will be tasked with the job of installing and setting up a Presentation Recorder or a system of multiple Presentation Recorders. This guide is designed to cover topics in depth and to assist in optimizing the performance of a Presentation Recorder.
Page 7: Presentation Recorders
The following Presentation Recorder models are covered by this documentation: PR-720-R – A rack-mounted unit with streaming and archiving capabilities. The PR-720-R introduces support for up to WUXGA (1920x1200) input resolutions with up to WXGA (1280x720) capture resolutions and PiP (Picture In Picture) video and graphics overlay.
Page 8 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual PR-720-D – A rack-mounted unit with streaming and archiving capabilities. The PR-720-D introduces support for up to WUXGA (1920x1200) input resolutions with up to WXGA (1280x720) capture resolutions and PiP (Picture In Picture) video and graphics overlay. This unit has two independent and identical encoders in a single 1U rack-mount chassis (each encoder and its power supply occupy ½...
Page 9: Presentation Recorder Modes Of Operation
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual All PR-720 Series units share a core operating system and base set of features. The mainboard and connector set is identical for all units. 1.5. P RESENTATION ECORDER ODES OF PERATION The Presentation Recorders have four major modes of operation: Streaming Send –...
Page 10: Startup
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Automatic Unicast – In this mode of operation the Presentation Recorder sends a unicast stream to a streaming server which then reflects the stream to one or more client PCs for live streaming playback. The unit is able to stream and record simultaneously.
Page 11 Transmission can be automated so that all that is required is to press the power-on button. Please feel free to contact NCast Corporation if you have any questions about the use or configuration of the Presentation Recorder.
Page 12: Connections
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 1.7. C ONNECTIONS The following diagram describes the back-panel connectors available: • Serial Control – Wired control from a touch panel, such as Crestron or AMX • Ethernet – Connection to the Internet • XLR Audio – Balanced XLR input connector and additionally a balanced 0.25” connector •...
Page 13: Installation
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 1.8. I NSTALLATION The diagram below shows a typical room installation: NCast Corporation Revision 1.1 Page 13...
Page 14: Theory Of Operation
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 2. Theory of Operation 2.1. P RESENTATION ECORDER OMPONENT LOCK IAGRAM The Presentation Recorder consists of these main hardware functions: Capture Hardware – A custom designed, high-performance module is used to grab and digitize the RGB or video signals created by the presenter or media source.
Page 15: Capture Module Function
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 2.2. C APTURE ODULE UNCTION The capture module selects one of the available six inputs (VGA, DVI-D, DVI-A, HDMI, Composite, S-Video) and locks onto the signal. The signal is converted into the appropriate digital formats, and each pixel in the image is stored in a local memory buffer on the module.
Page 16: Configuration Settings And Parameters Reference
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3. Configuration Settings and Parameters Reference 3.1. U PTIONS ETTINGS The Unit Options page gives the Presentation Recorder its unique ID and provides a place to enter system- wide settings. The ID and contact information are transmitted over the Internet to identify this Presentation Recorder as a member of an ongoing conference session.
Page 17 The Contact e-mail should be the address of the owner/administrator of the unit or an address where questions or service requests concerning the unit are sent. The email address should be formatted according to RFC 822, for example, info@ncast.com. 3.1.4. Contact phone The Contact phone should be the number of the owner/administrator of the unit or a number of a service desk, which a user could contact for help with regards to the media stream being generated.
Page 18: Passwords
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Disable this selection if access to the network time servers is not available (closed network) or if the unit is being used in a temporary location with a standalone hub or router (e.g. a tradeshow, conference or demo).
Page 19: Web Control
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.2.1. Admin password The Admin password grants rights to all configuration and setup options for the Presentation Recorder. This password should be chosen carefully and with security in mind. Avoid use of common names, dictionary words and the like.
Page 20: Display Settings
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual the Presentation Recorder in open and insecure networks without the use of HTTPS presents a security risk and should be avoided. The Web Control page allows three different options related to Viewer and Administrative access.
Page 21 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.4.3. Display Component Output Only At this time the Presentation Recorders only support Component output (Y-Pr-Pb) and this will usually require use of a VGA-to-Component breakout cable. A VGA-to-VGA cable will not function correctly with many LCD displays.
Page 22: Custom Settings
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.5. C USTOM ETTINGS The Custom Settings page allows users of the Presentation Recorder to define unique dimensions for the Frame Size (capture window), Aspect Ratios, Main and PIP windows, and Graphics and Text Overlay images.
Page 23 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The two entry fields define, in pixels, the width and height of the frame. The width must be in the range 128- 1280, and the height must be in the range 128-720. 3.5.2. Custom Aspect Ratios The aspect ratio defines the visual geometry of the Frame (capture surface).
Page 24 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The values entered for W,H are integers in the range 1-1000. 3.5.3. Custom Windows The Main and PIP input streams must be associated with a Window to define their placement and size on the frame surface area. The Channel and Sources page defines common settings (such as Full-screen and Top-right corner), but for custom compositions ten new Windows may be defined.
Page 25 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual For example, if Image Overlay 4 contains the presenter's name and topic in a multi-presentation recording, Overlay 4 on this page can be uploaded and enabled when that presenter begins his/her delivery. 3.5.5. Overlay n to upload Use the “Browse …”...
Page 26: Network Settings
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Text overlays can implement dynamically displayed text such a news tapes, stock tickers, closed captions, and for other purposes such as changing the name of the speaker for a presentation due to a last-minute change of presenters or participants Details of using Custom Text Overlays are discussed in Channel Table setup (Section 4.6).
Page 27 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The following parameters may be configured on the Network page: 3.6.1. DHCP If DHCP is enabled the unit will automatically receive an IP address from the network’s DHCP server. Some networks require MAC address registration with the DHCP server before an IP address can be allocated.
Page 28 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.6.8. MAC Address The Ethernet address of the Presentation Recorder. There is no provision for changing this address. Some networks may require registration of the MAC address for proper operation. 3.6.9. Use HTTP proxy Software updates for the Presentation Recorder are achieved through use of HTTP protocol. If the network being used is firewalled and requires the use of HTTP Proxy services, then this checkbox must be enabled for proper downloads of new software updates.
Page 29: Telnet Settings
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual If the audio meter is displayed (on the local loopback screen) the current IP address of the unit will be shown with the meter, allowing verification of the unit’s address. 3.7. T ELNET ETTINGS The Telnet Configuration page is used to enable the Telnet Serial Interface to the unit, an interface, which may be used to send and receive command and control, strings over IP-based networks.
Page 30: Scheduler
(e.g. clock widgets, PDA’s, other calendar systems) to access and create events within a Google calendar. NCast has taken advantage of this programmable API to implement a scheduling system for Presentation Recorders where the web-based Google Calendar is the administrative interface for defining session start/stop times for one or more Presentation Recorders within a customer’s network.
Page 31 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual to-Friday repeating event. An event is associated with a single Presentation Recorder listed in the “Where” field. Two events with the same start/stop times on the same day can be directed to two different Presentation Recorders simply by changing the contents of the “Where” field. The “Description” field (discussed below) allows customization of the actions executed at scheduled start time.
Page 32 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The "What" field (Title shown above) must contain (anywhere in the field) the letters “PR720” to identify this as a Presentation Recorder event. Additional words can further describe the nature of this entry (e.g., “Chem 101”, “Weekly Staff”, etc.).
Page 33 Presentation Recorder the results will occur in the order scheduled 3.8.7. iCalendar Overview There are many different calendar applications in use, both PC based and Web based. NCast provides a facility to utilize these other calendar applications to generate schedules through a file interchange standard known as “iCalendar”.
Page 34 ToDo’s, meeting invitations and blog entries between different computer applications, and indeed, many different programs now support this standard (including Google Calendar). The NCast Scheduler can read standard iCalendar (.ics) files containing scheduled events, and can control Presentation Recorders based on the contents of these events.
Page 35 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.8.12.Configuration These parameters control scheduler process: • Google calendar – Enables or disables scheduling using Google Calendar data. • Google username – The account containing the calendar to be used. • Google password – Password for the above account •...
Page 36: Notifications
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual When all fields are filled, click on the “Update” button. 3.8.15.Viewing Scheduler Activity The Logs page (See Section 3.10) permits viewing the scheduler activity logs for possible error messages, reports on scheduled events and other actions. The Serial log contains information on serial command activity.
Page 37 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 3.9.2. E-mail address Enter the e-mail address of the administrator to be informed about system-wide events. 3.9.3. E-mail from address Enter the e-mail address denoting the source of this email (this unit). Something like PR- 720.RoomA105@myorganization.com would instantly identify the source of the e-mail.
Page 38: Logs
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual There are two methods by which to choose a notification to be reported: • Select by event type – Any event which is assigned the selected severity level is reported. Selecting “Info” will report Info level events, but not others. You must also select “Critical” and “Error” to be informed about events classified as Critical and Error.
Page 39 Scheduler interface. This screen allows inspection of recent activity for the Serial link. 3.10.3.Download Logs Log reporting is an important tool which NCast uses to diagnose any problems, whether they hardware or software, bugs or operational issues. When reporting a problem, please click on the “Download Logs” button NCast Corporation Revision 1.1...
Page 40: Update Tool
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual which will create a .zip file of recently logged activity. Make a note of the time of the incident (if known) and forward this information to NCast for analysis. 3.11. U PDATE The Update Tool page lists the current release(s) of software available for this Presentation Recorder. If no information is listed then there is a problem reaching the update server.
Page 41: The Channel Table
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 4. The Channel Table 4.1. C HANNEL ETTINGS A channel is a collection of parameter settings that defines the operating characteristics for a streaming, webcast or collaborative session. Just as Channel 2 on your TV defines the video carrier to be “55.25 MHz.”, Channel 2 on a Presentation Recorder might define the graphics multicast address to be “239.192.0.1”.
Page 42: Channel Settings - General
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Setup of a Channel is divided into seven parts: • General – Channel name and network parameters • Recording – Recording options and archive naming • Layout – Frame size and placement of the Main and PIP windows •...
Page 43 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Channel 3 – The PR-720 unit initiates an Automatic Unicast to the required CDN. Enter a descriptive name for the channel. This could be by department “Engineering”, by location “Sunnyvale”, by content “HR Training”, by bit-rate “High Resolution Webcast”, by arbitrary token “Red”, or any other scheme that makes sense to the administrators or users.
Page 44 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual • Global Addresses – The range of multicast addresses 224.0.1.0-238.255.255.255 are used for global communications. These addresses are dynamically allocated and not statically reserved. These addresses are unsuited for static assignment in the Channel Table.
Page 45 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Resolution Minimum Bit-rate Preferred Bit-rate QVGA (320x240) 128 kbps 192 kbps VGA (640x480) 220 kbps 330 kbps SVGA (800x600) 310 kbps 465 kbps HD720 (1280x720) 550 kbps 800 kbps Settings below these values will generate pixelation and other visual artifacts in the received image. Also, use of the minimum bit-rates will increase end-to-end latency, may reduce the visual clarity of the image and introduce lip-synch problems.
Page 46 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual All units in one session use the same multicast address. The Graphics, Audio and Collaboration multicast addresses for a session can be the same if the Port numbers are different. Units engaged in different sessions should use different multicast addresses to minimize traffic loading on the network (the multicast routers distribute all traffic to all points subscribed on a particular multicast address, independent of the port number).
Page 47 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Scope Restricted to the same host. Won't be output by any interface. Restricted to the same subnet. Won't be forwarded by a router. <32 Restricted to the same site, organization or department. <64 Restricted to the same region.
Page 48 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The following parameters related to the Announce capability are available: • RTSP server - IP address or name of the streaming (QTSS/DSS, NWay, Flash) server • RTSP port - server RTSP port number (554 for QTSS/DSS, 1935 for Flash) •...
Page 49: Channel Settings - Recording
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual network transmission is acceptable, it is possible to disable this option to get extra low video latency. This is a video encoder option - it doesn't affect the decoder. 4.2.20. Graphics Quantizer These options set minimum and maximum video quality. The valid range is from 1 (best quality) to 31 (worst quality).
Page 50 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 20071119-143206-001.mp4 which represents the start time of the recording through use of the fields: year, month, day, hours, minutes, seconds, channel-number, filetype. This default filename format may be altered to reflect more customized filenames through use of a formatting...
Page 51: Channel Settings - Layout
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Acct101-2007-11-23.mp4 … Using this formatting notation, the default value of the format string for standard archive filenames is this: %Y%m%d-%H%M%S-%n The counter variables start at 0001 or 000001 and go to 9999 or 999999. Only one counter variable is permitted per filename.
Page 52 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual secondary image stream (the PIP image, but placed outside the boundaries of the Main image) and possibly an overlay graphic. A “Main” and “PIP” side-by-side composition would also dictate that the Main image only occupies one-half of the capture surface area.
Page 53 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual In a typical conference it is quite common to have different input resolutions during the course of one session (graphical input from laptops set for SVGA and XGA resolution, and video input from a camera). These different resolution images can be transmitted in their native dimensions, or stretched or shrunk to some common size for the webcast or the recording.
Page 54 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual This menu selection item allows specification of five standard aspect ratios and ten custom aspect ratios (which are defined in the Custom menu under the Configuration tab). “Square pixel” derives the aspect ratio from the given capture width and height.
Page 55 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 4.4.4. PIP Video/Graphics Window This pull-down menu specifies the positioning of the secondary (PIP) image input onto the frame. The most common selection would be one of the corner settings (Top-left, Top-right, Bottom-left, Bottom-right). The custom window selections (Window 1, Window 2, ...) allow for placement of the PIP window in arrangements not covered by the standard selections.
Page 56: Channel Settings - Image Overlays
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 4.5. C – I HANNEL ETTINGS MAGE VERLAYS Customized images may be added to the media stream being created. These images would typically be corporate or organizational logos, trademarks or watermarks, copyright statements, media content or date annotation, or descriptive information on the course or presentation being viewed (speaker, topic, etc.).
Page 57 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual RS-232 or Serial Telnet IP commands. See the Presentation Recorder Serial Interface Specification for details on these commands. Text overlays can implement dynamically displayed text such a news tapes, stock tickers, closed captions, and for other purposes such as changing the name of the speaker for a presentation due to a last-minute...
Page 58 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Specifies a minimum distance (in pixels) between the frame of a window and the text. This option keeps the text from crowding or adjoining the edge of the window. 4.6.7. Foreground (R/G/B/A) The (R,G,B) color values for the text and alpha value (transparency setting) for the characters are specified here.
Page 59: Channel Settings - Upload
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Format Function String Abbreviated weekday name (for example Sun) Full weekday name (for example Sunday) Abbreviated month name (for example Jan) Full month name (for example January) Day of the month (01 to 31) Archive description...
Page 60 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The system marks an archive for automatic upload right after it was created if auto upload is enabled. If auto upload is disabled archives are not marked and will be not uploaded even when auto upload is later enabled.
Page 61: Channel Settings - Notifications
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual • (S)FTP username - FTP server username • (S)FTP password - FTP server password • FTP anonymous login - login as anonymous (username & password are not used) • (S)FTP upload directory - directory where to upload archives, which may be absolute or relative •...
Page 62 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual with the operation of that Channel will be informed of any normal or unusual events. A typical use would be to inform a presenter or lecturer that the recordings and transcodes have completed and are available on the VOD server.
Page 63: Archives Page
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 5. Archives Page 5.1. A RCHIVE ETTINGS The Presentation Recorder units with archive disks allow complete recording of audio and graphics streams onto a hard-drive for later retrieval and playback. The estimate for recording time is a simple calculation based on the bit-rate set for the channel.
Page 64 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Note that during recording two separate files (one video, one audio) are being created and at the end of recording these two files must be multiplexed into a single .mp4 file. This multiplexing is not permitted during active Sessions.
Page 65 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual </archive> The use of XML format allows the content to be encoded in the Unicode (UTF-8) character set. The <main_window> and <pip_window> tags record the position of these windows at the start of a session.
Page 66 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual There are several tools which have been used to edit and manipulate MPEG-4 archive files: Quicktime Pro, Adobe After Effects and Streamclip. There may be, and probably are, other tools as well, but these are known to work.
Page 67: Sources Page
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 6. Sources Page 6.1. S OURCES ETTINGS The Sources Page controls what graphics/video or audio inputs will be sent to the compression engines. 6.1.1. Main input The user may select one of the following graphics/video sources for capture as the primary image:...
Page 68 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The DVI input is compatible with the DVI 1.0 specification and the VESA DCC/EDID 1.3 specification. The required interface cable is a DVI-D (Single Link Digital) or DVI-I (Combo Analog and Digital) or DVI-A (Analog RGB). A DVI-D (Dual Link) cable is also acceptable.
Page 69 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual The settings of these buttons are OVERWRITTEN during Session start. 6.1.7. Audio input There are three audio input connectors on the chassis, XLR (balanced), line (high-level) and microphone (low-level). This control selects the primary audio input source. If recording in Mono, make sure the active audio is available on the LEFT channel.
Page 70 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual pickup this output signal, serious feedback loops (whine) will result. Setting this value to non-zero where speakers and microphones are in the same space is not recommended. Audio Gain Charts Mic Gain Amplification Line-in Gain...
Page 71 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 6.1.16. Video Preview This button launches a new web page with a single-frame capture of the composite image currently being encoded and compressed. Provides an excellent confidence check of the video and graphics capture in progress without the need for an attached local output display.
Page 72: Information Pages Reference
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 7. Information Pages Reference 7.1. S ESSION The Session Page summarizes the current operational state of the Presentation Recorder. The bulk of the information listed here comes directly from the Channel Table parameters. When a Session is started, the Channel in use is queried and all addresses, ports and other controls listed for the Channel are activated.
Page 73: Viewers Page
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 7.2. V IEWERS The Viewers Page lists units that are currently on-line and active in this Session. This information is derived from RTCP (Real-time Control Protocol) reports. The descriptive information comes from entries made in each unit’s Unit Options page.
Page 74: View Page
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 7.3. V The View Page allows users at their desktops or laptops to launch client media players, which will receive and decode the media streams for playback to the user. Access controls on the “Passwords” page may be used to restrict viewing to selected users or groups.
Page 75: Vlc Media Player
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual In all cases these files contain parameters such as the address of the server, media stream types, multicast groups, etc. To view samples of these files, right-click and “Save Target As …” to a directory on your desktop.
Page 76: Media Players
A codec required for playback has not been installed. Windows Media Player does not natively support MPEG-4 files and needs a plug-in to be installed to properly decode Presentation Recorder streams. Contact NCast Corporation for details concerning availability of its MPEG-4 plug-in. Some other application has associated with one of the above file extensions.
Page 77: Closed-Caption Support
Subtitle 1 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:27,800 Subtitle 2 The NCast Presentation Recorders support real-time caption or sub-title capture through use of serial commands which define timings and durations of sub-title text. See the Presentation Recorder Serial Interface Reference Manual for complete details.
Page 78 The following sample .smil file launches a QuickTime player with a closed-caption text area: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <smil xmlns:qt="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/resources/smilextensions" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-smil" qt:time-slider="true"> <head> <meta name="title" content="NCast PR-720 Series Commercial"/> <meta name="author" content="VP Sales"/> <meta name="copyright" content="NCast Corporation 2007"/> <layout> <root-layout height="285" width="330" background-color="black"/>...
Page 79 MAGpie 1.0 can be used to export the captions to three multimedia formats: SAMI, RealText Apple's Timed Text and SMIL (which can also be used by Apple and Real). Magpie 2.02 is the newest version, and adds functionality for Flash, and can play NCast’s MPEG-4 media files. The tool can be found here: http://ncam.wgbh.org/webaccess/magpie/#v2 World Caption is a program written by a University of Wisconsin staff member and is distributed free.
Page 80: Custom Layouts
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 8. Custom Layouts 8.1. F RAME AYOUTS AND RESETS The main Frame of a Presentation Recorder composition consists of the following elements: • The Main Window • The PIP Window (optional) • Graphical Overlays (1-4) •...
Page 81 For archival purposes or for playback on hi-definition 16:9 screens the following example gives the dimensions of a 720p layout that NCast and its customers have used successfully to capture conference proceedings and other seminars. The capture window used is WXGA at 1280x720 resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio.
Page 82 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 8.1.3. Overlay Layout Placement Conference rooms or presentation auditoriums typically have the speaker’s podium to the right or left of the projection screen being viewed by the audience. A potential problem in using the PIP video window or speaker shot as a side-by-side layout is to position the window in the wrong spatial relationship to the screen being discussed by the presenter.
Page 83 Here is an example of a mismatched left-right alignment: 8.1.4. Customer Layout Examples NCast customers and associates have created some outstanding examples of graphically interesting and aesthetically pleasing layouts using this overlay facility. The following are some examples of captures done...
Page 84 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual HASTAC Conference, courtesy of Duke University TeraGrid Conference, courtesy of UCSD Virtual Teams Conference, courtesy of Media-X HP Historical Presentation NCast Corporation Revision 1.1 Page 84...
Page 85: Presentation Recorder Interfaces
Interface. One such program is called the “Presentation Recorder Management System” and there is a version written in Java and Python. See the “Download” area of the NCast web site. An example of the interface implemented by TMS is shown here: For simple operations such as starting and stopping a Presentation Recorder from a controlling system, simple scripts will be adequate.
Page 86: Http Interface - Archive Download
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual if [ $# -ne 2 ]; then echo "This script stops a Presentation Recorder session using the telnet interface." echo "Synopsis: stop.sh address password" exit ADDRESS=$1 PASSWORD=$2 ( echo "IdTelnet,002,$PASSWORD" sleep 1 echo "PE" sleep 1 echo "QT"...
Page 87 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual exit 1 endif # Get list of current archive files if (-e PR720-filelist) then rm -f PR720-filelist endif wget $verbosity --output-document=PR720-filelist --http-user=backup --http-passwd=$passwd http:// $PR720ip/backup/list.cgi if ($status != 0) then echo "PR720files: Error in accessing archive"...
Page 88 #! /usr/bin/python """ ncfiles.py -- A Python program to download NCast archive files This program allows downloading of archive files from one or more Presentation Record- ers. It requires installation and use of the Python programming language. The most recent versions of the language may be installed by visiting "www.python.org"...
Page 89 A simpler alternative is to create a shortcut to "ncfiles.py" and then using the Properties tab for the shortcut enter the required arguments: "C:\Documents and Settings\owner\My Documents\Python\ncfiles.py" 192.168.0.5 Please send comments or questions to "info@ncast.com". Copyright (2005) NCast Corporation All rights reserved """...
Page 90 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual filelist.close() if debug: print "ncfiles: Download list", files if len(files) == 0: print "ncfiles: No files to download" return True # Download each file for mp4 in files: url = "http://" + host + "/backup/download/" + mp4 print "ncfiles: Downloading", url...
Page 91 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual filein.close() fileout.close() # Remove file if requested if remove: url = "http://" + host + "/backup/remove.cgi?file=" + mp4 if debug: print "ncfiles: Removing", url try: filerm = urllib2.urlopen(url) except urllib2.URLError, msg: print "ncfiles: Urllib2 error (%s):" % msg return False except socket.error, (errno, strerror):...
Page 92: Http Interface - Image And Thumbnail Capture
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual if inputfile : try: f = open(inputfile, 'r') for line in f: host = line.strip(' \n\r') if host == "": continue if host[0] == '#': continue if host[0:4] == 'pswd': pswd = host[5:] continue print "ncfiles: Adding host", host, "to list of hosts"...
Page 93: Http Interface - Graphics Overlay Upload
-u api:ncast -F "overlay_1_file=@test.png" http://w.x.y.z/api.cgi The following program is an example of a Python utility which may be used to upload multiple new graphics images on command (check the NCast website for the latest version of this program): #!/usr/bin/env python Tool to upload graphical overlays to an NCast Presentation Recorder.
Page 94 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual try: getopt_func = getopt.gnu_getopt except AttributeError: getopt_func = getopt.getopt shortopts = 'dhp:v1:2:3:4:' longopts = ('debug', 'help', 'pswd=', 'version', 'g1=', 'g2=', 'g3=', 'g4=') try: opts, args = getopt_func(sys.argv[1:], shortopts, longopts) except getopt.GetoptError, e: print >>sys.stderr, 'Error: %s' % str(e) print >>sys.stderr...
Page 95 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual # upload print 'ncgo: uploading image(s)' url = 'http://%s/api.cgi' % server # Create an OpenerDirector with support for Basic HTTP Authentication... auth_handler = urllib2.HTTPBasicAuthHandler() auth_handler.add_password(realm='NCast Presentation Recorder', uri=url, user=user- name, passwd=password) opener = urllib2.build_opener(auth_handler) # ...and install it globally so it can be used with urlopen.
Page 96: Techniques For Presentation Capture
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Techniques for Presentation Capture 10.1. W EBCASTING ODCASTING AND RCHIVING The new world of webcasting meetings and conferences, recording presentations and running effective distance learning operations requires some thought, planning, and understanding of the objectives to be met for the operation.
Page 97 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual check out the A/V equipment in the room the day before the recording, if possible, or to consult with the A/V staff to plan how these video, graphics and audio connections will be made. There are several ways to solve this problem: •...
Page 98: Conference Day Problems And Issues
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual • Lavalier Microphone – The best audio capture is through use of wireless lavalier (lapel) microphone on the speaker. Including one in the Presentation Recorder gadget bag is a really good idea. The levels will be consistently correct (through experience), and the results will be predictable.
Page 99: Video Post-Production
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual talk or tell a story while this speaker transition is occurring. It is hard to capture clean recordings when one presentation runs right into the next one. • Session Length – If the cameras are recording a backup copy of the sound and video (which is a really good idea) the MC must know that MiniDV tapes only record for an hour (or some other length of time) and need to be changed at some point.
Page 100 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual To use Streamclip to trim a file, follow these steps: Open the .mp4 file to be trimmed Drag the slider to the starting sequence of your new clip and select the “In” point where the new clip should start Align the “In”...
Page 101 NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual Drag the slider to the end of the new clip and select an “Out” point where the new clip ends Save the file as a new .mp4 file. You should override the “.mov” suggested suffix with “.mp4”.
Page 102: References
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 11. References 11.1. MPEG C OMPRESSION ISO 14496-12 - ISO base media file format ISO 14496-14 - MP4 file format 11.2. P ACKET RANSMISSION IETF RFC 3550 “RTP: A Transport Protocol for Real-Time Applications”, H. Schulzrinne, et. al., July 2003 IETF RFC 3551 “RTP Profile for Audio and Video Conferences with Minimal Control”, H.
Page 103: Revision History
NCast Presentation Recorder Reference Manual 12. Revision History • Revision 1.1 – Updates based on software Release 6.1.7. There is a new Date & Time configuration screen. Also a new option to set the Max Recording Time on the Channel Settings Recording tab.

This manual is also suitable for:

Pr-720-p Pr-720-d Pr-720-m

NCast PR-720-R Reference Manual

1 Introduction

2 Theory of Operation

3 Configuration Settings and Parameters Reference

4 The Channel Table

5 Archives Page

6 Sources Page

7 Information Pages Reference

8 Custom Layouts

9 Presentation Recorder Interfaces

10 Techniques for Presentation Capture

11 References

12 Revision History

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Summary of Contents for NCast PR-720-R

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Table of Contents