VTR Control Setup

In Drastic DDRs and Net-X-Code Server software, VTRs appear as EXT (external) channels. External channels can be set up in either LocalConfig or DDRConfig.  This page describes the settings in detail to allow customization or advanced setup.

Within Drastic DDR software, external device channels (VTRs) are numbered from 64 (the first 64 being reserved for internal hardware channels), but on the graphical user interface they may be numbered immediately after the internal channels or from 0. The default setup is designed to allow easy record and playback under serial control for batch capture and output. These settings are not ideal for all applications, so some customization variables are available in the registry.

The registry area (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Drastic Technologies) or DDRConfig/config.xml for version 4 and greater, for external devices is under:

     \VVW\External0

Where 0 represents the external device, numbered from 0..64 (inclusive). These keys should be created and manipulated with LocalConfig.exe for their basic setup. The registry should only be edited to modify settings from default after they are set in LocalConfig. Within these registry keys, the following settings may be adjusted:

     UseVTREditPreset = 1 or 0
By default, when recording to the VTR, the software will enable all the channels it can find for an insert edit. If you require audio only, video only or special combinations for laybacks, setting this to 1 will maintain any preset that is currently on the VTR. This preset can be set from the software when controlling the VTR with the Edit Preset (V A1 A2 etc.) buttons, or it may be set up on the VTR itself. If there is no edit preset on the VTR when the transfer is initiated, or if the transfer is in assemble mode, then all channels will be recorded.

     ComPort = 1..n
The COM port number to control the VTR through.

     DisableAutoEdit = 1 or 0
Normally 0, which allows the software to use the auto edit command. If set to 1, the the software will manually record using edit on and edit off.

     DisableLouth = 0 or 1
     DisableOdetics = 0 or 1
     DisableProLink = 0 or 1
     DisableVTRSerial = 0 or 1
These settings allow specific protocols to be disabled. When connecting to devices with multiple protocols, this can avoid confusion over which protocol to use.

     EditOn = 0..15
     EditOff = 0..15
The number of frames a VTR requires to process an Edit On or Edit Off command.

     ForceTCType = 0..7
If the VTR does not report its time code type properly, the software will attempt to determine the correct time code type. On rare occasions this will not work, so a specific time code type may be set here. Any types returned from the VTR will be ignored.

     IgnoreVTRSeek = 0 or 1
By default (0), the software will use the VTR's built in seek, if it has one. If it does not, or if this is set to 1, then it will manually seek the VTR using variable speed play.

     MaxLineErrors = 1..30
The maximum number of line errors allowed before the serial communications with the VTR will reset and try to re-acquire the VTR.

     PortPlay=1
The Louth/HP/VDCP protocol port to use for playing back media. Normally this is 1, but may be changed to access any available channel on the DDR device.

     PortRecord=0x81 (hex)
The Louth/HP/VDCP protocol port to use for recording media. The record port always starts at hex 0x81.