(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.

Net-X-Copy is part of the Net-X-Convert/Net-X-Proxy workstation and Net-X-Code Server software. It supports, among other things, extracting an XMP XML of the metadata in a media file or series of media files. It extracts both the basic information for each channel and any camera/workflow specific metadata. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is also available in Net-X-Code Server.

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).

Drastic software supports a range of standard 3D LUT formats.  These include the following:  3DL, MGA, M3D, TXT, CUBE, DAVLUT and LOOK. Please see the article for more information.

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.

MRAnalyze is a command line tool that compares an original media file with a compressed version of that file to determine the quality of the compression and note any major compression errors.  It supports the traditional PSNR as well as the more accurate SSIM and MS-SSIM.  It is part of the videoQC and Net-X-Code Server toolsets.  This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.

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.

Drastic software supports a range of standard 1D LUT formats for software conversion, and hardware input and output with AJA video 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.

Net-X-Copy is included in Net-X-Code Server and videoQC software. It can convert audio/video files from one type to another, and perform partial file restores from indexed and non indexed files on disk, tape or cloud. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is also available.

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.  

The Drastic LOG format uses the same basic layout as a LOG/~ALG/~ALE. The main differences are the 'Type:' header and the file name in the comment. The comment is broken up into two sections: The initial comment after the ';' and a file name after a second ';'. This page describes the exact file format used for the Drastic log format.

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.

Net-X-Copy is part of the Net-X-Code Server and Net-X-Convert/Proxy workstation software. It is designed to convert audio/video/media files to proxy or broadcast/post files, mix audio, extract metadata, and create one or more jpeg preview images.  It can also embed captions into output files like MXF and MOV, and replace the audio or video tracks of a source file during conversion. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.

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 Edit Decision List (EDL) format uses the same basic layout as a CMX, GVG or Sony 91xx series EDL. The main differences are the 'Type:' header, and the file name in the comment. The comment is broken up into two sections: The initial comment after the ';' and a file name after a second ';'. This page describes the exact format used.

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.

ccExtract is included in Net-X-Code Server software. ccExtract is designed to extract caption tracks from MXF, MOV, h.264, MPEG-2, TS, etc. to SCC/MCC, and to convert between standard caption formats like VTT, XML, EBU, SMPTE DCP, YouTube, Apple, Avid, and others. This article contains the command line API for this tool. A RESTful API is also available.

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.

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.

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. 

Most operating systems are not set up out of the box to handle heavy multicast loads. With some, multicast reception is actually disabled.  This article contains setup notes for the OS when using Net-X-Code Server, videoQC, or 2110Scope with network video sources.

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.

Note: this area contains legacy information and is presented for reference only)

Apple's High Sierra operating system has changed the validation system, especially for applications downloaded from the internet. This has caused some systems to go into a 'validation loop' that stops our videoQC and 4KScope software from running, as the Apple validation never completes.  We are working on fixing this, but in the meantime, there is a way to stop the validation so our software can run.

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. 

ccEmbed is part of ccConvert and Net-X-Code Server software. It is designed to take MCC or SCC closed caption files and embed them into output MXF, MOV, etc.  It supports re-wrapping the source audio/video, as well as converting while embedding.  This article contains the Linux/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is also available.

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 supports a number of IP video standards in videoQC, Net-X-Code Server, FlowCaster and other products.  To access these streams, a URL style string is used to describe them.  For some sources, like RTSP, this string is fairly standard.  For others, like NDI, a URL style has been developed to allow those streams to be specified.  URLs including udp://, rtp://, srt://, rist://, rtsp://, rtmp://, webrtc://, whip://, bls://, ndi://, cdi://, s2022:// and s2110:// are supported.  This document describes the URLs' format in more detail.  We have also added some application specific notes for connecting our software to other applications.

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 software can support up to 16 channels of audio.  These can be 16 mono channels,  8 stereo pairs or all channels in one, depending on the setup and file type. This article covers the kinds of audio that the software can produce, and the audio setups it is able to read automatically to combine multiple channels of audio with video. 

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.

4KScope (and HDRScope/2110Scope) can be set up to share an AJA board with products like Adobe Premiere, Avid Media Composer, Assimilate SCRATCH, Autodesk Flame, Filmworkz Nucoda, Grass Valley Edius, and others.  This mode is available on Windows, macOS and Linux. This article explains how it works and how it can be set up.

(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.

Drastic server software supports different front panel options:  The original 422 Jog/shuttle, the 4 line LCD with command keys and the newest touch screen VGAs.  This page describes the configuration for these front panels.

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 (I/O plus ingest/transcode/transwrap), FlowCaster (I/O), videoQC (monitoring), 4KScope/HDRScope/2110Scope (monitoring and analysis), and Test Pattern Generator (output).  This article contains information on viewing NDI streams in Drastic software.

Drastic software supports the OpenMXF specification extension to the SMPTE MXF specification (SMPTE 377M). The advantage of OpenMXF is that while the file is still recording (open) you can read it in many popular servers and editing applications.

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, Test Pattern Generator, and DrasticScope (4KScope level and up).  This article contains information on sending the output of editors to Drastic software using NDI.

All Drastic software uses a similar keyboard layout for control.  There are some variations for program-specific functions, but the general transport control is shared.  Currently supported software includes:

Net-X-Code Server, videoQC, sdiScope, 4KScope, HDRScope, 2110Scope

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.

videoQC can be called by external applications with command line parameters, keyboard/mouse, cut/paste and via a full REST/HTML command set. If there is already an instance of the application running, the parameters will be transferred to the running instance, and the called one will exit.  This is especially useful where the workflow requires the system to display particular aspects of a clip in an automated fashion.

eMAM provides a number of integrations with Drastic products including Net-X-Code Server, Net-X-Convert, and Net-X-Proxy.  For most cases, the main configuration is done within eMAM itself. In the case of live capture, configuring the Drastic server to send messages to eMAM allows eMAM to detect new records, and allows the user to access them while they are still recording. This article has the details for that setup.

Drastic's videoQC, MediaReactor Lite, and Net-X-Code Server software supports authenticating directly with Amazon via AWSAccessKeyId/SecretKey through an https transport. This is most useful for Net-X-Code's partial file restore system, but can also be used from videoQC and MediaReactor.  Accessing these resources requires a second level of setup, beyond the basic software setup, and this article provides an overview on that process. Also see: Sharing Amazon EFS Volumes, and Setting Up Google Cloud OAuth Access.

Drastic software supports a wide range of still image formats including TIFF, TGA, DPX, CINEON, PSD, SGI, VPB, ARI, RAW and others.  They are processed as a series of images to create a video stream.  How they are processed can be controlled by a number of configuration settings.

Normally, Adobe and Avid editing applications require a physical file to be located on a standard file system, shared or local.  MediaReactor Lite (and MediaReactor Workstation) allow all these products to edit files directly from S3/HTTP/HTTPS/TAMS file stores with no third party server, download, or proxy creation step required.  The magic is performed by tiny local text files with the extension .stream.  These are encrypted or unencrypted descriptions of the file's actual location, saved on a local or accessible network storage for Adobe to use.

Net-X-Copy is part of the Net-X-Convert/Net-X-Proxy workstation and Net-X-Code server software. It supports, among other things, extracting clips from a native card format from cameras like P2, C300/700, RED, XDCam, AVCHD, AS-02, AS-11, GV Infinity and others. It extracts a list of clips, and then a list of elements within those clips and any camera/workflow specific metadata. This article contains the Linux/macOS/Windows command line API for this tool.  A RESTful API is available in Net-X-Code Server.

All of Drastic's version 6 or greater software supports authenticating via OAuth 2.0 across an https transport. This is most useful for Net-X-Code's partial file restore system, but can also be used from videoQC or MediaReactor. Accessing these resources requires a second level of setup beyond the basic software setup, and this article provides an overview on that process. Also see: Sharing Amazon EFS Volumes, and Setting Up Amazon S3 AWS Access.

Drastic software supports a wide range of metadata elements.  These elements are stored within the actual media files when available, and also stored in a sidebar XMP file, using both the standard, and a custom DTD, with the Adobe specification.  Please see each file format's specification for its metadata.  The XMP file metadata format is outlined here.

All of Drastic's version 6 or greater software supports authenticating via OAuth 2.0 across an https transport. This is most useful for Net-X-Code's partial file restore system, but can also be used from videoQC or MediaReactor. Accessing these resources requires a second level of setup beyond the basic software setup, and this article provides an overview on that process. Also see: Sharing Amazon EFS Volumes, and Setting Up Amazon S3 AWS Access.