FlowCaster creates a virtual I/O board for your creative Adobe/Avid/Resolve software, desktop, SDI I/O board, or NDI source that sends a high quality video signal through the network for display on a local monitor.  This article covers controlling and configuring FlowCaster through command line, its settings, and via remote control.

The DTMediaRead SDK includes a utility called dtmrpipe. This utility allows the user to 'pipe' out uncompressed YUV2 or BGRA video data to another application. It can also be used to pipe an uncompressed stereo audio stream in 16 or 32 bit little endian. This is useful for feeding other applications, such as ffmpeg, with the output of file formats, types or codecs it doesn't support.

FlowCaster Quick Start for RTMP. This article explains how to set up and test the FlowCaster output with streaming services like flowcaster.live, youtube.com and twitch.tv.

Compare two files with visual viewing and comparison modes in videoQC.  Seamless split, dissolve, 3D modes and more. 

FlowCaster Quick Start for SRT (Secure Reliable Transport).  This article explains how to set up and test the FlowCaster output with freely available player tools.

videoQC software supports playing back a variety of network audio/video IP protocols including:  UDP, RTP, RTSP, SRT, and NDI. Optionally, videoQC can also output SMPTE 2110/2022.  This document describes how to access network streams with videoQC.

videoQC software supports playing back a wide variety of file formats, including MXF/MP4/MOV/AVI, image sequences like DNG/EXR/TIFF/TGA, camera raw files like Cine/KRW/MLV/DNG, and even more esoteric files like AAF, IMF, DCP, AS-02, OP Atom, Raw, and JPEG-XS.  Because videoQC includes a FlowCaster component, these files can also be streamed out to your browser via BLS (Browser Live Stream), or to a WebRTC/SRT/UDP/RTP/ST-2110/CDI/NDI viewer such as VLC or NDI Studio Monitor.  videoQC also includes a REST api that allows remote control of the stream from the browser for loading, playing, pausing, seeking, and setting up your QC session.

JPEG XS (ISO/IEC 21122) is a wavelet-based image compression standard that provides high compression ratios, low latency, and high image quality. It supports multiple image resolutions and color depths in a single stream, making it well-suited for adaptive streaming. JPEG XS has been adopted as the compression in broadcast and post for both TR-07/08, SMPTE 2110-22 and IPMX.

Drastic software and hardware products support a wide variety of camera raw devices, from standard files like DNG/cDNG, through esoteric files like fhgDI, to more recent formats like MLV. This article lists the supported raw file formats, and which Drastic software they work best in.

SMPTE2NET/SDI2NET is part of Net-X-Code Server software. These tools convert from SDI, SMPTE2110 or NDI to NDI, UDP, RTP, or SRT.  They include command line parameters that can do basic configuration for automated or remote operation.

ProRes itself is very well defined, and should be completely gamma/color shift free in the YCbCr domain at 10 bits per component.  The transform to YCbCr from RGB can be specified within the compressed frame, and this same specification can be used to properly convert YCbCr to RGB.  With both 4:2:2 and 4:4:4 variants and the metadata/compatibility of the MOV container, ProRes should be an ideal format for post production.  This article explores why it often isn't.

4KScope, HDRScope, and NetXScope have the ability to use multiple inputs as individual inputs for some video capture boards (like AJA, Bluefish444, and some Blackmagic boards).  When setting it up this way, you will lose the ability to do multi cable input for dual link, QHD/4K and other modes.  Each input will be limited to one BNC.  This setup can be easily reverted when not needed.

Some Drastic software now supports the Blackmagic series of DeckLink and Intensity cards. Blackmagic has a wide range of current and legacy cards. This article lists the in house and third party tested Blackmagic cards and provides some useful operational tips.

ddrSetup is part of ccConvert and Net-X-Code Server software. ddrSetup is a command line tool that can do basic configurations for various Drastic software as well as command line licensing for headless servers via terminal/telnet/ssh/etc.

We are always happy to receive product ideas, new file/codec/feature requests, and bug/issue reports.  To make these reports as effective as possible, please read the following article on what we need to know to in order for us to respond to the request or issue in a timely manner.

Many of the tools in ccConvert, videoQC and Net-X-Code can be run as command line tools, as well as via REST API.  With command line tools, there are ways to set up automated processes, from interpreted languages (such as PHP and PERL), from full programming environments, and from batch files and watch folder utilities. This article describes setting up one such watch folder utility as a template for setting up your own workflows.

videoQC Inspect and videoQC Workstation include the ability to re-wrap, convert and export all, or parts, of files they have loaded.  This article explains how to set up profiles, set start and end points, and export to new files.

Drastic supports a wide variety of audio and video hardware for products such as NetXScope/HDRScope/4KScope/sdiScope, videoQC, FlowCaster, and Net-X-Code Server. We have tested extensively on AJA hardware, and also support Bluefish444 and Blackmagic adapters for audio/video I/O, and AMD or NVIDIA for video processing. For a more detailed list of hardware and versions, please continue reading.

Many modern productions require sending out multiple versions of shows to multiple groups.  A single in-process show will require versions to be sent for captioning, audio composition/mixing, ratings, producer proof, edit check, and QA.  To facilitate this, without using creative workstations, Net-X-Code allows you to set up to 10 targets and produce 10 watermarked/time coded/named versions of a show at one time.

There are a huge variety of MXF types and directory styles.  This article goes through some of the most common types, and describes how they are used in Net-X-Code (Multi Software Server System), videoQC (HD-SDI/VGA media player, with analysis, reports, scopes and more), and MediaReactor Workstation (Adobe/Apple/Avid/SCRATCH plugins) software.

When using Drastic software on Windows, for some operations the network settings must be altered to allow for the performance necessary for the workflow. This includes Net-X-Code for UDP/RTP/RTSP streams, SMPTE 2022-6, and SMPTE 2110 streams, and any other workflow that requires high throughput from the Windows network stack.

Drastic's software products install and will run without a license, but will severely limit its features. We are happy to provide you with a fully functional temporary license if you would like to test our software. Here are details on how to obtain a license.

NetXScope, Net-X-Code, videoQC, and FlowCaster software support Rivermax for software based SMPTE 2110 input and/or output with NVIDIA Rivermax®, ConnectX-6/7, and BlueField network adapters. This article outlines the appropriate driver, firmware and software setup. It also includes links to articles on optimizing your system to best make use of Rivermax as a SMPTE-2110 I/O system.

4KScope, HDRScope, and NetXScope support 8, 10, and 12 bit color in both YCbCr 4:2:2 and RGB 4:4:4 modes. Correct measurement of signals requires the correct setup of the bit depth, color format, primaries and transfer mode of the signal you are measuring. This article covers the most common configurations.

Various Drastic products support closed caption decode and display.  Video I/O products such as Net-X-Code Server can capture and output closed caption information.  MediaReactor can convert closed caption formats along with the video and audio files. videoQC (Pro level and above) can decode and display both 608 and 708 captions for preview and confidence monitoring.  For some captions, default language/fonts can be set up, which are described here. DrasticScope licensed at the 4KScope level and above can display closed captions along with the picture.

Version 7 or greater Net-X-Code Server supports writing a proxy file at the same time as it writes the main file when transcoding files, capturing from IP compressed sources (NDI, RTP, UDP, RTSP, TR-01, TR-03), capturing from uncompressed IP streams (SMPTE 2022, 2110), from SDI (12G/6G/3G/1.5G), or from HDMI.  The proxy creation is available on a per channel basis, and is automatic once set up. The Net-X-Player HTML5 player can be used to play back the proxy file while it is still recording, allowing for time code accurate clipping of the proxy or main file.

Drastic products like videoQC and Net-X-Code Server support a wide variety of time code sources. The default selectable configurations will usually be the correct ones for most standard workflows.  For other workflows, the time code sources can be more finely controlled. 

Net-X-Code can be run on local servers, local VMs or cloud based VMs.  The VMs can be using Red Hat/CentOS, Windows, Windows Server, or even Docker.  File access methods include local file systems, network shares (smb, nfs, etc.), or cloud storage (aws s3, google cloud, https, ftp),  Any mix is allowed for both conversion, capture and scanning/proxy generation.

(Legacy information)

Most Drastic DDR and video I/O products (like MediaNXS, DTReplay, SyncControl Pro) support a variety of GPI (General Purpose Interface) interfaces. Because of the variety of hardware and usage types, the GPI setup requires a special configuration. This document describes the setup and use of GPI devices with DrasticDDR, MediaNXS and other Drastic software.

Avid MediaCentral provides a convenient method to share media and projects among a group of Media Composer stations or other Avid products.  Drastic's Net-X-Code Server supports direct communication with Avid MediaCentral servers, include checkin, direct write and edit while capture (EWC) when using the Net-X-Convert module (file to file) or Net-X-SDI (SDI/IP to file).

MediaReactor software integrates tightly with installed operating systems and applications.  This section has tips and tricks on getting the most out of MediaReactor Lite and/or MediaReactor Workstation.

HDRScope supports 8, 10, and 12 bit SDI inputs.  This article maintains a list of compatible hardware for 10 and 12 bit 4:4:4 RGB signals.  Please note, if the board is not on this list, it is likely limited to 8 or 10 bit YCbCr inputs. 10 and 12 bit 4:4:4 require direct SDK access to the board, and are therefore only available on AJA, Bluefish444, Blackmagic, and specific Matrox (OEM) boards.

AJA video boards generally include a Mixer Keyer element.  Drastic software does not directly control the Mixer Keyer, but are designed to allow the user to use the Mixer Keyer alongside the main software.

MediaReactor Workstation and MediaReactor Lite add support for a wide variety of file formats to Avid Media Composer, including HEVC, AS-02, IMF, DNG, VRAW, CDX, YUV, and many more.  These files can include a mix of audio rates (normally 44.1, 48 or 96 kHz), and Media Composer requires some setup to allow them to be used in a standard project.  

Connecting single and dual link inputs incorrectly can cause odd looking signals.  Here are each of the incorrect paths shown as they would be with a standard SMPTE bars input.

Drastic software outputs a lot of information when running.  Working with our APIs and command line tools, having the debug logging can help sort out interface and programming issues.  Storing these logs locally, off via a syslog server, can also help sort out issues by comparing the unexpected behavior to the corresponding time in the logs.

The Drastic DT3D stereo file is an XML based re-director file that can merge two separate 'eye' files into a stereo pair, as well as adding audio and optional closed captioning. The stereo file reader will open two video files of the same file type, and internal compression type, and an optional set of audio files, and combine them for 3D use in videoQC, DrasticDDR, Net-X-Code Server, MediaReactor and other Drastic products.

Autodesk's creative software, Flame/Flare/Smoke/Lustre, support MediaReactor's file import so that the wide array of Drastic supported files can be read and used directly in Autodesk projects.  Autodesk supports two modes of import:  16 bit half float and 16 bit integer.  Each has its advantages and disadvantages, which will be discussed here.

Drastic Technologies' VTR and DDR products include the necessary conversion hardware for RS-232 (your computer's serial port) to RS-422 (broadcast VTRs and controllers).  If you are evaluating Drastic DDR software such as videoQC, you will need to set up this conversion to test the serial control capabilities of the system. 

Net-X-Code is normally run on a server, where the parts of Net-X-Code run automatically as services. For some applications, only part of Net-X-Code needs to be run, or it only needs to be run some of the time. This article explains how to set up Net-X-Code server on Windows so that its parts can be run manually.

When working with RS-422 protocols (Sony 422, Odetics, Pioneer, VDCP, etc) it is often useful to directly monitor the incoming, return or both serial streams.  This is a cable that can be built to use two RS-422 ports to monitor one or both streams. 

Net-X-Code Server supports loop recording of multiple bitrate HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) streams from IP or SDI sources.  Setting this up requires configuration of the capture component and HLS adaptive bitrate settings.  This article covers the SDI and IP capture.  For the ABR setup, see https://www.drastic.tv/support-59/supporttipstechnical/303-multirate-hls-dash-setup

Drastic software can read many file formats which it does not natively understand.  Formats that have a fixed video frame size and are logically organized can be described using the industry standard HDR text file format (NOTE:  Not the still image HDR).  This page describes the file format. 

Drastic conversion and capture software support single rate and multirate file recording and conversion.  Up to 10 different bitrate/fps/size variants are supported per multirate output.  The actual files may be TS, MP4 or DASH/Fragmented MP4 with associated MDP and HLS files for live replay of recording files, and automatic adaptation to varying connection conditions. The outputs are not set up by default, but can be added manually.

(Note: this article provides details on legacy products, which are not offered for sale and may no longer exist) All Drastic server digital disk recorder (DDR) products have a built in web server for local use. If you have a VVW Series, Titan Series, ClipRecorder, or IngestGate server, or the Network Control option for QuickClip version 3.x, then you can also use this web server from any network attached machine.

The Network Device Interface (NDI) is a powerful network video transport that allows simple, high quality video and audio signals to be transported across standard TCP/IP networks.  Drastic supports NDI in most of its products, including Net-X-Code Server, FlowCaster, videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, and NetXScope.  This article contains information on setting up to view NDI streams in Drastic software.

The Network Device Interface (NDI) is a powerful network video transport that allows simple, high quality video and audio signals to be transported across standard TCP/IP networks.  Drastic supports NDI in most of its products, including Net-X-Code Server, FlowCaster, videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, and NetXScope.  This article contains information on sending the output of editors to Drastic software.

This article contains video tutorials on various Drastic Products including videoQC, DrasticScope, and Net-X-Code Server.  To see all our tutorials, please visit our YouTube page.