Administration Guide for Cisco Media Experience Engine 3500 Release 3.3

Profile Enabled

Check the box to enable this profile for job processing.

Task Mode

This is a required setting and cannot be changed.

• standard: The Cisco MXE 3500 generates an intermediate uncompressed AVI file as the output of the preprocessing step.
• fast start: The fast start option is only useful when checking the Separate Capture from Preprocess box below. In this case, the Cisco MXE 3500 prefilter runs two passes: first it captures from SDI 'raw' without any filtering, then it preprocesses the capture file according to the preprocessor settings in a second pass. If fast-start is enabled, the second pass will run in fast-start mode.

Separate Capture from Preprocess

Defines whether or not the preprocessing occurs simultaneously with the capture.

MXF Capture Bit Rate

The bit rate for the intermediate MXF file that gets produced during Live captures from HD sources when Separate Capture from Preprocess is enabled.

Normally, the source audio tracks are down-converted to 16 bits before entering the preprocessor audio pipeline. In Audio Passthrough mode, the original audio is preserved during preprocessing. This may be necessary when encoding into formats with 24/20-bit audio or when passing through compressed audio tracks (Dolby-E, etc.). The only audio preprocessing that is still applied in this case is the one specified in the Audio Mapping section.

CPU Usage

Determines the resources available for preprocessing.

Optimized for Quality

• Hardware-based captures : The capture card hardware capability and compute-intensive software preprocessing capabilities are used. This results in the highest quality output and is recommended for video-on-demand encoding.
• IP captures : Compute-intensive software preprocessing capabilities are used. This results in the highest quality output.

Optimized for Speed

• Hardware-based captures : The capture card hardware capability and simplified software preprocessing capabilities are used, leaving the maximum amount of resources available for encoding and distribution. This results in the fastest preprocessing and is recommended for Live Webcasting.
• IP captures : Simplified software preprocessing capabilities are used. This results in the fastest preprocessing but most of the Signal Processing features will not be available. It also greatly improves overall IP capture stability when the source stream is prone to outages and/or missing/corrupted packets. The only supported features in this mode are Graphic Overlays, Video Downscaling, Video Frame Rate Conversion, and Closed Captions Burn-in.

Note This mode cannot be used when output video dimensions are higher than the source dimensions and when the output frame rate is higher than the source frame rate. When used in combination with H.264 IP streaming, setting the encoded width and height to 0 in the H.264 profile enables the Smart Ingest feature and will result in the output dimensions matching the source ones, which allows using the same profile for different source dimensions.

Field Order

Specifies which field will be used as the top field during de-interlacing.

• Automatic Top will be automatically detected. This is recommended.
• First on Top will be used as the top field.
• Second on Top will be used as the top field.
• Frame Footage does not require de-interlacing.

If you have selected an incorrect field order, it will be evident in the quality of the output. Some lesser-used formats will incorrectly report field order. Also, AVI and other formats may not specify the field order. If setting Field Order to Automatic yields poor results, specify First on Top or Second on Top.

Single Field

Specifies the method used to de-interlace interlaced video before it is encoded.

• Single Field Only: The top field will be interpolated. Half of the temporal information will be omitted because only information from the first field will be used. Recommended for fast-motion video.
• Two Fields Blend: Both fields into a single progressive field. All temporal information will be maintained. Recommended for slow-moving or stationary video images.

Motion Compensation

This setting is not available on the Cisco MXE 3500.

Vertical Shift

The number of horizontal lines the video will be moved.

The preprocessor shifts the entire video in the vertical plane by the amount specified. So, if the video is shifted by five pixels then each frame is moved up five lines and the first five lines are out.

Inverse Telecine

Inverse telecine algorithm tracks the 3:2 pull-down cadence even in portions of the media where, due to a lack of motion, the cadence is difficult to detect.

The chance of a telecine phase change is 80% at every edit point.

Note Inverse telecine is not compatible with Temporal Smoothing. If Temporal Smoothing is turned on (set greater than 1), then Inverse Telecine cannot be used. Requesting both results in a warning message, and Inverse Telecine is disabled.

Inverse Telecine in the “perfect” mode can be used when the media is known to have an unchanging telecine phase.

This setting is used to reverse the frame insertion performed by the telecine process when film is converted to video. Inverse Telecine will remove inserted frames, which are unnecessary.

• Off: Processes video with frames as they are. Telecine frames will be retained, if they are present.
• Adaptive: The Cisco MXE 3500 will try to detect the telecine pattern and recreate the original frames. It constantly analyzes and adjusts to discontinuities (due to an edit, for example) in the telecine pattern. This is the most commonly used mode.
• Perfect 3:2: The Cisco MXE 3500 will analyze the footage and then adhere to a pattern without dynamically adjusting it. This mode should be used on unedited footage that was created using a 3:2 pull-down process.

Note Perfect 3:2 does not work when Audio Drift Compensation is enabled in Audio Preferences.

Add/Remove VBI

Note Only use this control when the vertical cropping is turned off.

This setting helps maintain proper aspect ratios when converting between media types that do not both require a VBI. For example, if the a broadcast format is being converted to a web format, the VBI will be stripped from the video before adjusting image size, thus preserving the overall aspect ratio of the media.

Yes: VBI will be stripped from VBI sources and added to non-VBI sources.

No: No action taken.

Auto: If the incoming source contains a VBI and the output media does not, it will be added. If the input media has no VBI and the output is to an analog broadcast format, the VBI will be added.

You can use this feature to strip the VBI out and put in such a way that the aspect ratio is maintained when you go from one format to another. We suggest leaving this feature set to the default settings.

When it is set to “Auto”, and the input height is 480 (or 486) and the output height is 512, or if the input height is 576 and the output height is 608, 32 (or 26) blank VBI lines will be added at the end of the preprocessing stage.

Examples:

1. When set to Auto, and the input height is 480 (or 486) and the output height is 512, or if the input height is 576 and the output height is 608, 32 (or 26) blank VBI lines will be added at the end of the preprocessing stage.

2. If the input is 512 and:

– VBI is set to Yes, 32 top lines will be cropped off (similar to setting the vertical cropping to 32)

– VBI is set to Auto and the output is 480 (or 486), 32 (or 26) lines will be removed before preprocessing.

3. If the input is 608 and:

– VBI is set to Yes, 32 top lines will be cropped off (similar to setting the vertical cropping to 32)

– VBI is set to Auto and the output is 576, 32 lines will be removed before preprocessing.

In Point

Marks the point in time, relative to the beginning of the clip, to start encoding. In points and out points are used when only a section of a larger file will be encoded. In points are marked in hh:mm:ss:mmm, where the last section marks milliseconds.

Out Point

Marks the point in time, relative to the beginning of the clip, to stop encoding. Out points are marked in hh:mm:ss:mmm, where the last section marks milliseconds.

Note In points and out points are not related to video timecodes. They are measured strictly in time elapsed from the start of the clip. Technically, they are not frame accurate, but allow frame accurate capture because they measure to the millisecond.

Fade In

Determines the number of seconds to fade-in from black to full brightness at the beginning of the video clip. Values range from 0 to 10 seconds. Fade In time is appended to the absolute beginning of the preprocess file including any bumpers that may be added. The default value is 0.

Fade Out

Determines the number of seconds to fade out from full brightness to black at the end of the video clip. Values range from 0 to 10 seconds, with 0 seconds the default. Fade Out time is appended to the absolute end of the preprocess file including any trailers that may be added.

Enabled

Turns forward telecine on or off.

Field Dominance

Sets the field dominance for the telecine algorithm, which is important because telecine sometime mixes two input frames to produce an output frame.

• Upper: Upper dominance places the earlier frame on the upper field (the one contributing the uppermost line in the frame). This is the default setting.
• Lower: Since encoders independently set the field dominance, you need to ensure that the telecine dominance matches the encoder dominance. The preprocessor does not know the dominance being created by the encoder. In fact, it is possible to have multiple encoders creating conflicting dominances.

Cadence

Sets the cadence to 2:3 or 3:2. The default setting is 2:3.

Cadence Origin Timecode

Defines the start of the cadence.

Crop Top

Determines the number of pixels to trim from the top of the incoming video image.

Crop Left

Determines the number of pixels to trim from the left side of the incoming video image.

Crop Right

Determines the number of pixels to trim from the right side of the incoming video image.

Crop Bottom

Determines the number of pixels to trim from the bottom of the incoming video image.

Bumper File

Specifies the file to be used as a bumper at the introduction of the encoded clip. Movie files of any Cisco-supported format or still files saved with a.mov file extension can be used as bumpers.

Trailer File

Specifies the file to be used as a trailer to follow the encoded clip. Movie files of any Cisco-supported format or still files saved with a.mov file extension can be used as trailers.

Preprocess Bumper / Trailer

Specifies whether to apply preprocessing settings to the bumper and/or trailer file.

• Checked: Specifies that preprocessing settings should be applied to the bumper/trailer clip. Use the On setting for video clips that have similar requirements to those of the source footage.
• Unchecked: Specifies that the bumper/trailer clip will not have preprocessing settings applied. The clip will be appended to the beginning of the source footage as it is. Use the Off setting for animated GIFs or other bumper/trailer files that do not require the same preprocessing as the source footage.

Separate Capture from Preprocess

Instructs the Cisco MXE 3500 to separate the real-time audio and video capture step from the preprocessing step. As a result, the Cisco MXE 3500 will not apply the preprocessor setting until the media acquisition is entirely completed.

This mode is recommended for encoding Live jobs with non-standard frame sizes such as 400x300 and/or with heavy preprocessor settings such as higher level of blur or noise reduction. Separating the preprocessing from the capture step guarantees that the preprocessing can be performed even while using the capture card as the input device.

• Checked: Specifies that the preprocessing will occur in two passes. The first pass will be capture the input completely, and the second pass will apply the preprocessing
• Unchecked: Specifies that the preprocessing will occur normally, i.e. capture and preprocessing together in the same pass.

MXF Capture Bit Rate

Use this setting for higher quality encodes that require scaling and other preprocessing features. In this mode, a two-stage preprocessing is employed. On the first stage, the incoming video is encoded into a high-bitrate MPEG-2/I-frame only MXF format. The actual MXF bitrate is set in the Preprocessor Profile > MXF Capture Bit Rate. The valid bitrate range is 50 to 300 MBits. On the second stage, a regular file-based preprocessing is executed off that MXF file.

Brightness

Adjusts luminance as measured against the source video. Values range from 50% (half as bright) to 150% (one and a half times as bright). The total value range is from 0 to 200%. Default value is 100%, which leaves brightness unchanged.

Contrast

Adjusts separation between the blackest black and the whitest white. Values range from 50% to 150%. The total valid range is 0 to 200%. The default value is 100%, which leaves color unchanged.

Hue

Adjusts hue of colors in the video from red (decrease) to green (increase). Values range from -10° to +10°. The total value range is -180° to +180°. The default value is 0°.

Saturation

Adjusts the amount of color in the video image expressed as a percentage of source video color. Values range from 50% to 150%. The total valid value range is 0 (remove all color) to 200 (double the color). The default value is 100%.

Gamma

Adjusts the mid-range (gray) luminance values of the video. This adjusts the luminance of mid-range colors, leaving black and white values unchanged. The mapping is applied in RGB space and each color channel independently receives the color correction. Values range from 0 to 40. The total valid value range is 0 to 255. The default value is 1.0.

Black Point

Defines the threshold for 100% black. Any pixel below the number entered here will be converted to black. Values range from 0 to 40. The total valid value range is from 0 to 255. The default value is 0. Setting black point higher will reduce detail in the dark areas of the video increasing compression quality.

Black Point Transition

Sets the amount of smoothing between black and surrounding colors. Black Point affects only pixels below the threshold set. Lower the value to maintain the sharpest transition, or increase the value for smoother transition. Values are 0 to 255. The default value is 15.

White Point

Defines the threshold for 100% white. All pixels above the number entered will be converted to white. Values range from 0 to 255. The default value is 255. Setting white point lower will reduce detail in the light areas of the video increasing compression quality.

White Point Transition

Sets the amount of smoothing between white and surrounding colors. Lower the value to maintain the sharpest transition, or increase value for smoother transition. Values for are 0 to 255. The default value is 15.

Color Rescale

Determines whether color will be expanded from video levels (16-235) to computer levels (0-255). The default value is Yes. Most video formats set 100% black (7.5 IRE) to 16 when mapped to 8 bit sampling and 100% white (100 IRE) to 235. Most computers set 100% black to 0 and 100% white to 255. Color rescale expands the range by mapping 16 to 0 and 235 to 255 to ensure that the color range is optimized for computer display.

• On: Luminance and color levels will be expanded from video levels (16-235) to computer levels (0-255). This is the default value.
• Off : Luminance and color levels will be unchanged from video levels (16-235).

If encoded video looks murky, with no true blacks or true whites, Color Rescale may be Off when it should be On. If encoded video has too much black and white, one possible cause may be that Color Rescale is On when it should be Off.

601-709 Color Space

Determines how color will be adjusted during conversion from HD to SD or SD to HD.

• 601(SD) – 709(HD)
• 709(HD) – 601(SD)

Temporal Smoothing

Defines how frames are combined for interframe smoothing. This specifies the number of input frames to average when constructing an output frame. Values range from 1 to 4 frames in terms of the input frame rate from the source. The default value is 1, which results in no smoothing (a frame compared to itself will be an exact match).

Blur

Specifies how much to blur the source footage. Values range from 0 to 4.0. The total valid values range is from 0 to 10.0. Blur is generally used at lower bit rates to reduce image detail, which improves the overall appearance of the finished clip at high compression rates.

Blurring degrades the image but enables better compression.

Noise Reduce

Used to remove small, irregular detail from the source video. The range of values refers to the size of the detail to be removed. Recommended range is from 0 to 3.0. Complete range is from 0 to 6.0. The default value is 0.

Unsharp Mask Enabled

Used to enhance edge detail in the image without enhancing other detail. If checked the Unsharp Radius and Unsharp Strength sliders are activated.

• Checked: Indicates that Unsharp Mask smoothing will be used. This reduces compression efficiency, but can improve perceived clarity of the image.
• Unchecked: Indicates that Unsharp Mask smoothing will not be used. This is the default value.

Unsharp Mask reduces compression efficiency, but can improve the perceived quality of the image. This is recommended for some video formats, such as VHS, and for multigenerational images where a sharper image is desired.

Unsharp Radius

Used only when Unsharp Mask is set to Yes. Increase the value to increase sharpening on larger objects within the image. Values range from 0 to 8.0. Default is 0.

Unsharp Strength

Used only when Unsharp Mask is set to Yes. Increase to increase the strength of the sharpening effect. Values range from 0 to 200. Complete range is 0 to 200. Default value is 100.

Mange Input Extensions

This option allows you to handle file extensions based on a configuration file.

First, follow these instructions:

1. Create and save a file that matches the XML format in the following example:

Proprietary File Handling XML

In the example:

– Line 2 tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to treat.ts extensions as.mpg extensions and to decode them using the default pipeline.

– Line 3 tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to treat files without an extension as.gfx (Grass Valley) files and to decode them using DirectShow. Line 4 tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to use DirectShow to decode.mp4 files.

– Line 5 tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to use QuickTime to decode.avi files.

2. On the Preprocessor Profile, Manage Input Extensions section, check the Enabled box.

3. Next to Configuration File, click the Browse button, and navigate to the new XML file (created in Step 1).

Note Currently, the “treat-as” option cannot be combined with type=”quicktime”.

None

This setting indicates that no Line 21 data will be added to the output.

VBI (Line 21)

The Cisco MXE 3500 passes the Line 21 information found in the Vertical Blanking Interval (VBI) of the source media to the encoded output. The output encoding differs depending upon the selected option. See also: Extracting VBI Data from SD Pinnacle Sources (Line 21/VANC Data).

• CC passthrough to VBI (Seachange, Pinnacle and GXF)
• CC passthrough to MPEG user data (Omneon, VOD)

Embedded (Line 21 /VANC)

The Cisco MXE 3500 passes the closed captioning information found in the MPEG user data of the source media (currently only in MPEG-2 based.mov and Intermediate.ref files) and in an embedded VANC track (currently only in Avid DNxHD.mov files) to the encoded output. The output encoding differs depending upon the selected option.

• CC passthrough to VBI (Seachange, Pinnacle and GXF)
• CC passthrough to MPEG user data (Omneon, VOD)

Submission (CC File)

The Cisco MXE 3500 will embed the data found in a Scenarist Caption file (.scc), Cheetah Caption file (.cap), NCI Caption file (.cap) or NCI Timed Roll-up file (.flc) to the encoded output. The output encoding differs depending upon the selected option.

• CC passthrough to VBI (Seachange, Pinnacle and GXF)
• CC passthrough to MPEG user data (Omneon, VOD)

File Name: If you enable Closed Captioning from a file source, you must specify the file location on the File Job submission page > Advanced section > Closed Captioning File at the time of submission.

Mode

Stretch to fit: This mode stretches or shrinks source media format to the dimensions of the preprocessor output. There is no adjustment to preserve the original aspect ratio of the image. The pixel aspect ratio settings are not used.

Cropping: This mode changes image size without stretching the image. The Cisco MXE 3500 scales the image linearly, so that the output image is completely covered. The input and output image edges match in either the horizontal or vertical direction. Some of the image is lost to cropping in the other direction. The cropping is done equally from top and bottom or right and left. Cropping mode uses the supplied pixel aspect ratio information.

Letterbox, Curtains: This mode linearly scales the images until they are completely held within the boundaries of the output dimensions. Unused space in the vertical direction introduces black bars (letterboxing) equally on the top and bottom of the output image. Alternately, if there is unused space horizontally, black bars (curtains) appear on the left and right sides of the output image. Letterbox/Curtains mode uses the supplied pixel aspect ratio information.

Non-linear Stretch: This mode stretches the image more at the edges and not at all in the center. The non-linear stretching is in the horizontal direction; the vertical scaling is linear. This option can, for example, provides a full 16x9 output image from 4x3 source with no distortion near the image center. Non-linear stretch mode uses the supplied pixel aspect ratio information.

Anamorphic: Anamorphic source video is a 16:9 widescreen format, which has been compressed horizontally to fit in a narrower, standard-size image, such as 720x480. This means each pixel is wide on the displayed image, with a pixel aspect ratio greater than 1.0.

To tell the Cisco MXE 3500 your source material is anamorphic, you may select one of the anamorphic choices from the Input Pixel drop-down. Alternately, if you know the precise pixel aspect ratio, you can set Input Pixel to Custom and set the Pixel Aspect value manually.

Input Pixel / Input Pixel Aspect

This defines the pixel aspect ratio of the input media.

In general, media presented to the Cisco MXE 3500 for ingest may arrive without specification of their video format. Pixel aspect ratio or simply pixel aspect is part of this format information, and describes the shape of the image element represented by each pixel. Pixels can be square or rectangular, depending on the format. Pixel aspect is pixel width divided by pixel height.

The default setting tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to make certain industry-standard assumptions for the value for the pixel aspect based on the input image dimensions. Other standards may be selected from the drop-down list to override the default. For complete flexibility, there is a custom option that allows the pixel aspect to be set explicitly to any numerical value. This is entered in the Input Pixel Aspect box, which is enabled only for the custom setting.

The MXE 3500 provides 'Smart Ingest' functionality, enabling users to automatically apply aspect ratio conversion algorithms (letterboxing/curtaining) to source footage without knowing source/destination pixel aspect ratios. When 'Auto' is selected for input pixel settings, the preprocessor will attempt to automatically determine aspect ratio of the source footage. In this mode a single preprocessor profile provides proper results for sources with different aspect ratios.

Output Pixel / Output Pixel Aspect

This defines the pixel aspect ratio of the preprocessor output. Note that this is the media presented as input to the Cisco MXE 3500 encoders. For single-encode jobs, the preprocessor produces media sized to match the encoded output dimensions. However, a Cisco MXE 3500 job may produce multiple encoded formats, in which case the preprocessor produces an intermediate media format matching the largest of the requested encode dimensions.

The default setting tells the Cisco MXE 3500 to make certain industry-standard assumptions for the value for the pixel aspect based on the output image dimensions. Other standards may be selected from the drop-down list to override the default. For complete flexibility, there is a custom option that allows the pixel aspect to be set explicitly to any numerical value. This is entered in the Output Pixel Aspect box, which is enabled only for the custom setting.

The MXE 3500 provides ‘Smart Ingest’ functionality, enabling users to automatically apply aspect ratio conversion algorithms (letterboxing/curtaining) to source footage without knowing source/destination pixel aspect ratios. When ‘Auto’ is selected for output pixel settings, a single preprocessor profile provides proper results for sources with different aspect ratios.

Source

Select one of the following:

• User Specified:

– For File Jobs, the timecode is offset by the Start Timecode field set on the File Job Submission page. This value is provided at the time of job submission; it is not stored in the profile.

– For Live Jobs, the timecode is assumed to start at 0.

• VBI: VITC timecode will be stripped from the incoming VBI and added to the appropriate location in the output media. See also: Extracting VBI Data from SD Pinnacle Sources (Timecode).
• Embedded: Timecode will be obtained from the source file metadata (for instance, from the GXF wrapper or from the Timecode track of a QuickTime file) and added to the appropriate location in the output media.
• Profile Specified: Timecodes are offset from the Start Timecode entry below the Source setting. This value is stored in the Preprocessor Profile.

Start Timecode

Enter the timecode that will appear on the first encoded frame. You can match the source file timecode or start the timecode at 00:00:00:00. Indicate drop-frame (semi-colon separated, hh;mm;ss;ff) or non-drop frame (colon separated, hh:mm:ss:ff).

Burn In

When enabled, this feature takes the timecode that it read from the input and burns it into the image it creates. It is included on every frame. If this feature is enabled, you must specify the font height and location.

Font Height (%)

Specifies the size of the timecode.

Horizontal/Vertical

Specifies the location of the timecode.

Image

Determines which image file will be used as a watermark. The format of the watermark file must be.psd,.tga,.pct, or.bmp.

Origin

Identifies the reference point from which X Distance and Y Distance will be measured.

• Bottom-right: Watermark placement will be relative to the lower right corner of the source image.
• Bottom-left: Watermark placement will be relative to the lower left corner of the source image.
• Top-right: Watermark placement will be relative to the upper right corner of the source image.
• Top-left: Watermark placement will be relative to the upper left corner of the source image.

The watermark placement is expressed in terms of the input stream for ease of use. The Cisco MXE 3500 resizes the watermark accordingly and places it on the encoded output. This is important because the watermark is unaffected by other Preprocessor settings (except fade).

If Crop settings are applied, watermark placement will be measured from the new edges defined by the Crop settings.

Mode

Determines the display mode for the watermark image.

• Composite: Straight composite of the watermark onto the source video. If an alpha channel is present, it is used in the compositing.
• Luminance: The luminance and hue of the image is altered according to the luminance and hue of the watermark.

Units

The units select control that has two options: pixels (default) and percent.

If Units drop-down list is set to pixels :

• The X distance and Y distance controls will support pixel values -768 to 768.
• The Width and Height controls are enabled.
• The Coverage area control (see below) is disabled.

X Distance

Changes the location of the watermark image on the finished output file. This setting changes the placement of the watermark along the horizontal axis of the image. X-distance is expressed in pixels of the source image x coordinate. Values range from -768 to +768. The default value is 0, which places the image at the selected Origin.

Y Distance

Changes the location of the watermark image on the finished output file. This setting changes the placement of the watermark along the vertical axis of the image. Values range from -768 to +768. The default value is 0, which results in no change in the placement of the image.

Width

Determines the width of the watermark in terms of pixels of the source image. Values range from 1 to 768. The default value is 200.

Height

Determines the height of the watermark in terms of pixels of the source image. Values range from 1 to 576. The default value is 100.

Coverage Area

Determines the area of the source video that the watermark will cover. Units are in percent of the video image. Coverage area is a numeric control that selects values from 1.0 to 100.0 percent. This control is enabled only if the Units selector (see above) is set to percent.

Opacity

Determines how opaque or transparent the watermark image will be. The watermark can be made more or less noticeable by adjusting the opacity. Values are 0-200%. Default value is 100%. In Composite mode this is effectively an 'alpha' value, where 100% means full opacity. In Luminance mode this parameter effectively adjusts the strength of the watermark.

Start Timecode

This entry specifies the time when the watermark will appear, measured from the beginning of the clip. The format is HH:MM:SS.mmm, where the mmm are milliseconds.

Duration

This entry specifies the length of time in seconds that the watermark will be applied. Enter 0 to have the watermark display for the entire length of the clip.

Fade Time

This entry specifies the length of time in seconds it takes for the watermark to fade in and fade out. Fades happen within the duration time of the watermark, so a fade-in begins at the start time, and a fade-out finishes when the duration has expired.

Audio Passthrough

Passes the input audio through to the output with no preprocessing applied.

Fade In

Amount of time allotted for linear fade-in from silence at beginning of clip. Defined in seconds. Values range from 0 to 10 seconds with 0 seconds as the default. Default value is 0.0 seconds.

Fade Out

Amount of time allotted for linear fade-out to silence at the end of clip. Defined in seconds. Values range from 0 to 10 seconds with 0 seconds the default.

Add Silent Audio Track

When checked, this option inserts a silent audio track into the decoded output of the Preprocessor. This insertion only occurs if the source file does not contain any audio tracks. If the source file contains audio tracks, this option is ignored.

If an Encoder Profile is set up to encode audio but the source file does not contain audio, the encoder will fail. A silent audio track can be inserted to provide an audio source to any encoders that expect/require audio.

Low Pass

Suppresses samples above the frequency assigned. Expressed in kilohertz. Values are 0 to 24. The default value is 0, which disables the filter.

The term Low Pass indicates that lower frequencies are allowed to pass. Audio compression codecs work more efficiently when higher frequencies are suppressed.

High Pass

Suppresses frequencies below the set value. Expressed in kilohertz (kHz). Values are 0 to 200. The default value is 0.

The term High Pass indicates that high frequencies are allowed to pass. Some types of noise or hum may be present at lower frequencies. Suppressing this noise can improve compression efficiency.

Volume Filter Type

Defines how the loudness of the audio is controlled. Specific Filter Type choices can activate controls in the lower part of the window.

• None: No adjustment is made.
• Adjust: Specifies the percentage by which the volume will be amplified or attenuated. The units are linear (waveform) units.
• Normalize: Specifies the percentage of the full scale that the typical volume should match. The Normalize setting is single-pass: it does not look at the entire audio clip. Instead, it uses a measure of the volume obtained in a fading window of approximately 10 seconds duration. This can be useful for Live capture. Values are 0 (silent) to 100 (maximum volume).
• 2-Pass Normalize: The entire clip is scaled so that the maximum sample in the clip is normalized to the given value. The 2-pass normalization is valid only with file-based media. Normalization values range from 0 (silent) to 100 (peak sample set to full scale).
• 1770 2-pass norm: This option enables audio normalization as defined in the international standard ITU-R BS.1770. The processing is two-pass, meaning that the audio content is scanned once by the Cisco MXE 3500 to measure the loudness, and scanned again to normalize the loudness. ITU-R BS.1770 is commonly used for normalizing 5.1 channel surround-sound media. It may also be used with stereo.

– Selecting 1770 2-pass norm displays the Target Volume box. Enter the desired normalization value here in LKFS units, as defined in the standard. These units are similar to dB full-scale units, and are negative. Commonly used values are in the range -17 to -25 LKFS.

Volume Adjust

For the Adjust option, this value specifies the scaling of the output audio. The units are linear (waveform) units as a percentage of the input level. Values are 0% (silent) to 200%, with 50% as the default.

Volume Normalize

For the Normalize option, this value specifies the volume of the output audio. The value is in linear (waveform) units and is a percentage of full scale. Values are 0% (silent) to 100%, with 25% as the default.

For the 2-pass Normalize option, this value specifies the amplitude of the maximum sample in the audio clip. The value is in linear (waveform) units and is a percentage of full scale. Values are 0% to 100%, with 25% as the default.

Compressor Threshold

This is a single-pass dynamic range compressor with no look-ahead. It can be useful for controlling the volume in a Live capture situation. It is not recommended for use with file-based encoding. (A professional-quality two-pass compressor is available from Cisco. Contact your Sales representative.) The compressor maintains an RMS estimate of the typical audio level with a fading memory time constant of many seconds, and compresses relative to this empirically measured level.

The Compressor value is the compression threshold level relative to the typical level measured in decibels of audio power. When the threshold is exceeded, audio loudness is attenuated by the Compressor Ratio. Therefore, lower Compressor values provide more compression. Values are –40 dB to +6 dB.

Compressor Ratio

Determines the amount of attenuation that will occur beyond the point defined in the Compressor threshold field. Values for ratio are 1 (no compression) to 20 (20:1 approaching limit).

Enabled

Check this box to enable the graphic overlay.

Template File

Click Browse to locate an.swf template file.

Meta-Data File/URL

If the.swf requires it, add an.xml file into this field.

To view the overlay metadata content:

The metadata descriptions listed above correspond to database items in the “statisticsType” table of the Cisco MXE 3500 DCS database.

You can view the user-defined metadata items in the prefilter section of the Job XML here:

<eventList>

This tag encloses all the XML for the Flash Overlay metadata.

<event>

This tag encloses metadata to be used at a particular time. Multiple <event> children are allowed for <eventList>

<time>

This tag encloses the time (floating point, seconds since the start of the clip) for the metadata.

<data>

This tag encloses the metadata to be sent to the Flash player at the specified time <var> This tag encloses a.swf variable name and value. Multiple <var> children are allowed for <event>

<var>

This tag encloses a.swf variable name and value. Multiple <var> children are allowed for <event>

<name>

This tag encloses the name of a variable in the Flash.swf file.

<value>

This tag encloses a value for the variable in the Flash.swf file.

<starttime>

or

<time>

The start time of the event, in seconds, measured from the beginning of the clip. <time> may be used as shorthand for <starttime>.

<duration>

The duration of the event in seconds. By default, the duration is infinite (but “live” events have 0 duration by default). By default, overlays are removed at the end of the duration, although the details are controlled by the <off-transition> tag.

<stoptime>

May be used instead of <duration>. The duration is the difference between <stoptime> and <starttime>. If the <duration> tag also appears, the shortest time will be used.

<starttime-from-end>

The start time of the event, in seconds, measured from the end of the clip. Used only for file-based clips.

<stoptime-from-end>

The stop time of the event, in seconds, measured from the end of the clip. Used only for file-based clips.

<on-transition>

and

<off-transition>

These are tags that enclose details of how the transitions happen. By default, the overlay is applied at the start time (this is the on-transition) and removed at the end of the event duration (off-transition). However, each of these tags may contain a block of XML specifying the details of the transition using the child tags below.

<fade>

This child tag specifies a fade time in seconds, either fade-in or fade-out, depending on whether the parent is an on-transition or an off-transition.

<wipe-right>

This child tag specifies a wipe time in seconds. The wipe travels from left to right.

<wipe-left>

This child tag specifies a wipe time in seconds. The wipe travels from right to left.

<wipe-up>

This child tag specifies a wipe time in seconds. The wipe travels from bottom to top.

<wipe-down>

This child tag specifies a wipe time in seconds. The wipe travels from top to bottom.

<slide-right>

This child tag specifies a slide time in seconds. The slide travels right from the left.

<slide-left>

This child tag specifies a slide time in seconds. The slide travels left from the right.

<slide-up>

This child tag specifies a slide time in seconds. The slide travels up from the bottom.

<slide-down>

This child tag specifies a slide time in seconds. The slide travels down from the top.

<lag/>

This child tag specifies that the transitions will lag the event time, that is, the transition begins happening at the event time. This is the default behavior, unless the "lead" or "center" tags appear.

<lead/>

This child tag specifies that the transitions will lead the event time, that is, the transition will start early and will complete at the event time.

<center/>

This child tag specifies that the transitions will be centered around the event time, that is, it will start before the event time and finish after the event time.

<nonlinear>

This changes the animation of a transition, making it go faster at one end and slower at the other. It affects fades, wipes, and slides. A value of 1 corresponds to the linear transitions that are used by default. Higher values slow the animation close to the time when the overlay is fully "on", and accelerates the animation close to the time when the overlay is fully "off". Good values to use are 2.0 to 3.0. Slides in particular benefit greatly with nonlinear motion.

<delay>

The transition is delayed from the usual time (start time or stop time) by a given number of seconds. This can be useful when dealing with rendering delays in the Flash player /.swf file.

<repeat-period>

This specifies that the event will automatically repeat with a period given in seconds. Repeating goes on forever, unless constrained with one of the tags below.

<repeat-count>

This specifies the number of times the event will occur. It is infinite by default. A value of 1 means the event happens one time (as if there were no <repeat-period> tag). A value of 0 turns off the event.

<repeat-duration>

This specifies that the event will repeat within a certain period of time given in seconds. The number of repetitions will be the largest integer multiple of the repeat periods that fit within the repeat duration.

<repeat-stoptime>

This specifies that the event will repeat until the video time exceeds a value given in seconds. The number of repetitions will be the largest integer multiple of the repeat periods that fit before the stop time.

<pause/>

Stop the Flash player rendering.

<resume/>

Start the Flash player running from the point at which it was paused.

<apply/>

Start the overlay. The given value will be the fade-in time in seconds.

<clear/>

Remove the overlay. The given value will be the fade-out time in seconds.

<offset-right-pixels>

Offsets the overlay horizontally by a given number of pixels. Default 0.

<offset-left-pixels>

Offsets the overlay horizontally by a given number of pixels. Default 0.

<offset-up-pixels>

Offsets the overlay vertically by a given number of pixels. Default 0.

<offset-down-pixels>

Offsets the overlay vertically by a given number of pixels. Default 0.

<offset-x-pixels>

Offsets the overlay vertically by a given number of pixels. Default 0.

<offset-y-pixels>

Same as <offset-up-pixels>.

<offset-right-percent>

Offsets the overlay horizontally by a percent of image width. Default 0.

<offset-left-percent>

Offsets the overlay horizontally by a percent of image width. Default 0.

<offset-up-percent>

Offsets the overlay vertically by a percent of image height. Default 0.

<offset-down-percent>

Offsets the overlay vertically by a percent of image height. Default 0.

<offset-x-percent>

Same as <offset-right-percent>.

<offset-y-percent>

Same as <offset-up-percent>.