:_!

---_:"&
Switching,orInstantaneousEditing
When watching a television director during a live multicamera such as a newscast
orabasketballgame,you might be tofindthattheprimaryactivityofthe
di rector is not telling the camerapersons what to do bUI rather selecting the most ef-
fective shot s from the vari ety of video sources displayed on a (OW of preview monitors.
In fact, the director is engaged in a sort of editing, except that it 's the selection o( shot s
during ratherthanaftertheproduction.( utt ingfromonevideosourcetoanothe.Of
calling for other transiti ons, such as dissol ves, wipes, and fades, while a show is in prog-
ressis knownasswitching orinstantaneous editing.
242
Unlike postproduction editing, in which you have the time to deliberate exactly which
shots and transitions to use, switching demands snap decisions. Although the aeslhetic
principles of switching are identical to those used in postproduction, the technology in-
volved is quite different. Instead of various linear and nonlinear editing systems, the ma-
jor editing tool is the video swit<:her or a computer that performs the switcher functions.
Section 11 .1, How Switchers WOIk, acquaints you with the basic functions, layout, and
operation of a production switcher in a television conuol room. Section 11 .2. What
SWitchers Do, looks at some speCific switching systems and features.
auto transition An e!ect/on;, device that like a
fader bal.
bus A row of buttons on the swit(ner.
delegation controls ( ontrols on the switcher thaI assign
specific functions to a bus.
downstream keyer (OSt<) A <Of\tfollhat allows a title to be
keyed (cut in) OVt'1 the picture (Iineout SJ9na!) ttleavt's
the swilChef.
effects buses Program and preview buses on the switcher,
assigned to perfOfm effe<: ts transi tions.
fader bar Alever on the that activat es preset transi
lions, 5u,h as dissolves, fades. and wipes, ill different
speeds. It is also used to creale superimpositions.
key bus A row of buttons on the switcher, used to select the
video source to be insened int o a background image.
keylevel control Swit cher conllol (hdt the key 1ignal
so that the tille to be keye<l appears sharp and clear, Also
cailed clipcontroJo1 dipper,
layering Combining twO or more key for a more
comple,.. effect.
M/E bus Short for mix/effecc1bu5. A row of OO\1ons on the
switcher that can serve a mi,.. or .'In effe<:ts funClion.
mile: bus of bUllons OIl the switcher that permit the
of video sources, as in a dissolve Of super.
preview/preset bus Rows Of buttons on the switcher used to
select the upcoming video (preset function) and route it to
the preview monito. (preview funclion) independent ollhe
line-out video. Also cillied
program bus The bus on a switcht'r whose inpUIS are directly
swil(hed to tlu- line OUt. Also allows cuts-only switching.
Also called direct or program/background.
switching A chang", from one video SQur(e to "oother during
.'I show Or show segment with the ilid of a switcher. AlSO
called imtant(lneous e<1o'Iing,

______41111 __
11.1
How Switchers Work
"'-'henyoulookalalargeproductionswit cherwit hall the
different -colored rowsofbullons andvariouslevers, you
mayfed.15 intimidated as when looking intothecockpit
of anairli nl'r.Butonceyouunderstandthebasi"principles
and fu nctions o(a swi tcher, you can leO'lrn 10 operrlt e it
faster than running a new computer program. Even the
most d.,borate digital video-switching sys tem performs
thesameb.1sic fu nctionsasasimpleprodu(;lion
except, hal\;!rgeswifchershavemorevideo inputsandcan
perform morevisualtricks.
ThissectionexploreswhataproductionswitcherdOt'S
and hOI" itbasicall yworks.
.... BASIC SWITCHER FUNCTIONS
vidffisou,ct'.I,performing/rClmlllombetweenthem.
andcreating spedolt Hee/!
.... SIMPLE SWITCHER LAYOUT
PrO(jrambus,mixOOStl.previewbus.effectJi:1IJses,andmult i-
runC/ion5wi/che"andoddiriono/SWitcher comlois
... BASIC SWtTOnROPERATI ON
(utorlake.dissolvesuper, (ode,andadditional
specia/'effec/scontrols
BASIC SWITCHER FUNalONS
Thebasicfunctionsofaproductionswitcherare (I) tose
lectanappropriatevideo$Oun:efromseveralinput s, (2)to
performbasictransi tionsbetween two videosources,and
244
...
(3) to createOr access special effecls. Some switcherscan
automaticallyswitch theprogramaudiowith thevideo.
As introduced in chapte r I, each video input on a
swi tcherhasacorrespondingbutton.Ifyouhavt'onl y(\.0,'0
camerasandall youwanttodoiscutfrom onetotheother,
twobuttons(oneforcamera Iandtheotherforcamera 2)
are sufficient By pressing the camera \ hult on, you put
camera I"onthe-air;' thalis,routeit svideototheline-oul ,
which ca rries it to the t ransmitteror the video recorder.
Pressingthecamera2buttonwill putca mera2on(heair.
Whatifyouwa ntedtoexpa nd yourswi tc.hing10 incl udea
videorecorder,acharaclergeneralOr(CG.),andaTemOle
feed? Yo u would need three additionalbu\tons-one fOf
thevideorecorder, oneforthee.G., andonefortheremote
feed.When youwant Ihescreen inbJ.Kkbefores,.. it ching
to oneofthe videosourcesand then go to black again at
th... end ofthe show, you need anaddit ional Bl.K (black)
bunon. The row of buttons, called a bus, has increased
to six inputs. Product ion $wilc.hers have not only nt an},
morebuttonsbulseveralbusesas1'1('11. Let's findoulwhy.
El!ID' SWITCHING-+ Switching selectIconnect
SIMPLE SWITCHER LAYOUT
It maybe easier to understand the part sofa swilcherby
constructingone thatfulfill sIhebasicsl.. itcherfu nct ions:
cuts, dissolves, supers, and fades.
1
This switcher should
also leIyou see theselected video inputs oreffects before
you punchth...rn upon the<\ if. "\!hilebuildingaswitchef,
you will reali ze Ihaleven a simpleswitchercan get quite
compli catedandthaiwe needtocombineseveralfunctions
to keepit manageabl ....
PROGRAM BUS
IfallYOll wantedto dois CUI (sl\'itchinstantaneousl y) ITom
onevideosource toanotherwi thoutpreviewingthem,)'OU
coulddoit withasinglerowofbutlons,eachonerepresent-
ingadifferentvideo input. SEE 11 . 1 Thisrowofbuttons,
Ivh ichsendsever}1.hi ngyoupunchupdirectlytotheline-
out(a ndfrom there tothetransmitterorvideorecorde r),
iscalledtheprogrD/libl/j.AJsocall ed progmml/mckground,
'heprogrambusfepresent S, ineffC\;t ,aselectors....,iI,hfor
the line out.It is adirect inpm/outputlinkandtherefore
is called thedirect bw. Notethatthereisanadditional
bunonat the beginningOllhe program bus,labeled BLK
t. SreSmarlW. mi dR" dio cd. (Jk!Un:
Mifflin, 1983), PI'. 226-35. txplJ,nsthl!:loUrkmg<o( an
IUdiownw1cby Iimusinghis(Ql1stnlCUO[1 mdiphor
,.:ithhis permission.
I
Section II.' How SwitchefS Work
linemonitor
(cameo I)
""'....
l ine out



Mix busA

Mix 1M B

ck'"
11 .1 PROGRAM BUS
Whate'tE'rsource punched
upontheprogrambusgoes
directly to theline-out.
11.2 PROGRAM BUS WITH
MIX BUSES AND FADER BAR
Themix buses Aand8
enablethemi)ling oftwo
video sources.
Programbus


orBLACK. Insteadof callingupaspe<iticpicrure,theBLK
buttonputsthescreen to black.
MIX BUSES
IfyouwanttheswitchE' r to dodissolves (duringwhichone
image graduall y repl aces theOther through a lemporary
doubleexposure),supers (adoubleexposureoftwoimages,
with the top onc letting the bOllom one sholl' through) ,
and{lIdes(thegradualappearann'ofanimagefromblack
ordi sappearancetoblack) in addition10 simplecuts, you
need two morebuses- the mix busa--and a lever,calJed
thefader bar, l halcontrolsthespeedoft hemix (di ssolves
and andIhe natureofIhesup!?r. SEE11.2
Whenmovingthe(aderbar10thefullextentoftravel ,
thepiclureofonebus is faded inwhite the pictureofthe
otherbusis fadedOUI. Theactualdi ssolvehappenswhen
theVIdeoimagesoft hetwobuSt'slernporuil ymix. 'Nhen
you stop the fader bar somewhat in the middle, you ar-
rest the dissolve and create a sffperimposilioll ofthe two
videosources.
Howdoestheprogrambusget "mix'to theline-
out? YOII must add sliU another button 10 the program
bust hat can Irall5fer to Ihe line-ollt the vi deo generated
byIht'mixbuses.ThisMIXbutlOnisallhefar righlofthe
programbus.
PREVIEW BUS
The preview bus is identical to the program bus in t he
number,t ype,andarrangementofbuttons.Thefunctions
ofIhe bullons are alsosimilar,except Ihat the
of the previewbusdoes nOl go on the ;lirorto a record-
ingdevice butsimpl y10 a (P/V) monitor. Jf, foc
exa mple, you press the camera 1 (C-I) button on the
preview bus, camera l 's pi cture appears 011 thc preview
moni lorwilhout affectingIheoutpulofIheprogrambus.
such as theCG. texLlfyou don' t like camera 1'5picture
and'''ant 10 switchto camera2, you simply pr('sstheC-2
bull ononthepreviewbus. TheprogrambusWIU stilldis-
play thee. G. leXI ontheline monitorand will notswi tch
10 camera 2. Thepreviewbusisalsocalled thepre5et bus
ifit also functions as amonitorthatshowsvariouspreSCI
eff('cts. (The bus is explored further later
in this section.)
Li ke the two-screen computer di splay ona post pro-
duction editing unit. the previe'vand line monitors art'
usuall y5ide-by-side10showwhelherIwOsllcceedingshots
wi ll cut together well. that is, preserve vector continuit y
dnd menial mappositions(secchapter13).
As yo u ca n see, ou r simple switcher has grown to
twenty-sixbuttons,arranged infOLIT buses,andhasafa der
baradded. sn:11. 3
245

246 Chapler /1 SWITCHING. OR INSTANTANEOUS EDITING
11.3 BASIC
PRooumON SWITCHER
WITH PREVIEW BUS
........
This basic product ionswitcher


hasa programbus, twO mix
buses, ilnd a preview bus.
MixoojA
Note thatthepreview bus

is identical to the program
buseJ(cepllhatitsout put;s j;N'
Ml dllll B
routed 10 the preview moni-

tOf ratherthantotheline-out.



EFFECTS 8U5E5
Ifyou now wantedyourswit chertoperformsomespecial
efff"(IS, such asa varietyof wipes (on... image framed in a
geometricalshapegraduall yreplacingtheother),(itlekep'
(leHeringinserted intoab:Kkgrollnd picture), and Olher
illlagl' ma nipulations (shape andlor color tra nsforma-
tions),thebasicdesign wouldhaveto includeatleas{two
or more effecu buse:> and one additional fader har. You
would probabl yt henwant11.1 expandtheothervideoinputs
toaccommodateseveralmoreca meras,!:Wo orthreeVTRs..
an electronic still Sl ore (ESS) system, agraphicsgenerator.
andremotcfeeds.In not imeyourswitcherwo uldhaveSD
manyiJutt onsandleversthatoperatingthemwouldrequite
roUerskatestogetto allofthem inahuery.
MULTIFUNCTION SWITCHERS
To keep swi tchers ma nageable, manufacturers 1lave de-
signedbusest haiperformmultipl efunctions. Ratherthan
haveseparateprogram, mix,effects,andpreviewbuses,you
C(ln assi gn aminimumofbu$es va riousmix/elfew ( MI)
functions. Whenyou assign \\-<0 M/ buses (A and B) to
the mix mode, you can d issolve from A to Borevendod
super(bystoppingthedi ssolvemidway).fi yassigningthem
to the effects mode, you ca n achieve special effec ts,such
asavariety ofwipesfrom Ato B. Youcanevenassign the
programandprevi ew'buses various M/ Efunctionswhi!..:
still preservingtheiroriginal functi ons.ThebUllons '''ith
whichyoudd<.>g3tewhatabusis(0doar(',logicaUyenough,
calleddelegatioll COflfrols. Thefoll owingdi sc ussionidenti -
fies Ihe vari ous buSot'$ and how they lnl eract ona simple
multifunctionswil(:her. SEE 11 .4
Major bus.s Asyoucansec, theswitcherin figure 11 .4
h<ls onl ythreeouses:a preview/ prese{ bus (lowerrow of
buttons) ,aprogrambus( middl erow) ,andakey bus( up-
per row). It also has a number ofhlll"t OIi gnlupSth:ttlet
yo u createcertaineITeclS.
Let'sbri ell >' reviewthefunctionsoftheva riousbuM'S.
Theprogrambusalwaysdirectsit soutputtotheline- out.
If, forexampl e, you press theC-l ImHon 011 theprogram
bus,camera ! is ont heai r. 1fyou (hen pressIhe VfRbul-
ton,youcut (rorncamera 1tothe VTR video. If youdon' ,
need toprl' viewtheupcomingpic{Urtsandyou rswitching
is'cuts -onl y,"youcandoit allontheprogrambus.\-\'hen
assigned a mix or an effects function, it become$ M/E
bus A. SU 1' .$
Thepreview/ preset bus, alsocall e<! Pre5t'I/bdckgroll nd,
leiSyou prl' viewthe source thaIyou sele<: tedas your
next shot. Wheneveryou press(hecorrespondi ngbult on
on Ihe presetbus,theselectedshot will automaticaUyap
onthepreview/ presetmonito r.AssoonatSyou
a ceTtain transition (Wt, dissolve, or wipe), preview
picturewillrq)lacetheon-the-airpi ctureasshOI'monthe
linemonitor.As youca nsei.', thispreviO;!w/ prescl bus now
functionsas M/E busH.YouGill nowunderstandI"hythis
iscall edaprevicI,'/ prcS('tbus:it isaprevi ewbus it
letsyoupreviewIheujXoming source;it isapresetbusbe-
causeit letsyoup(esettheupcomingeffect. Despit eit sdual
fl!Oction, thi sbus is generally known as theprevie\" bus.
--
Complicatingthe terminologyaliulemore, bothtlie
programandlheprevi('w/prl.'Sclbusesaresometimescalled
' b:tckground"busesbecausetheyem serveasbackground
for vari ous effects. Let's assume that you have camera J
punched up on the program bus (Mil: bus A), showing
aCU (d ose- up)ofthe latestcomputermodel. When YOll
insert the name ofthccomputer overthis shot,t he pro-
grambussupplies the background image(t heCUofthe
computer)(orthistit \e key.
-
AUIO IramilianraIl'
Oipptf
.Downstream

(onoob
DSK fade-to-
blackbulton
- Foldl'f bar
Searon 11.1 How Swirchers Work
Wipe (0101" background
Joyslict
keycontroll

Soft wipe
Slack bunonl
Key btll
Prl>9rambus
(MlEbllSAJ

..........
bus(MlEbu:sBJ
Take buttoo Au tonansitioobutton
" .4 MUlTifUNatON SWITCHER
This mu!ti ful"l("tionswit cher(GrassVaile), 100) hasonl)' three buses:a preview/preset bus, a programbus,andit key bus.
Youcande!egilletheprogram"ndpreview/ preset busesMlEfunc tions.
".5SWITCHING
ON THEPROGRAM BUS
When swi tChing on the
program bus, thetr ansitions
' TtI*unt."
...,",,"" I!I winbeeuu-only.Wilhum-
era 1onthe"ir, you cancut
toe"mer"2bypressing the
(.:2 button.
;,
"-
.
-Take/WOo .. '.,
""'.,"" B I!I

Thethird(top)rowofbutIOnsisthekey bus. Itletsyou Delegation controls Thesecont rols leI yo u choo${' a

select Ihe videosources, suchas lett eringsupplied by the transit ion Ofaneffect.On thismult ifunctions\" itcher,lhey
e.G.,to bt'insertcd int o thl! backgroundimage, supplied ilfe located to the immcdiJ leleft ofthefaderba r. n:r 11.6
bytheprogrambus. Archhecture-+progr"m Bypressi ngthebackground buttontBKGD),you put
busIpreviewbusImb busesIfaderbilrautomat ictr"nsilionIIryIt the program and preview/ preset (A dnd B) buses in mi x
247
248 Chapter I I
11 .6 DELEGATION CONTROLS
Thedelegation( oOlrols thefunction ofthebusesand
the,spe<: ifi ctransitionmode.
mode.'Whateveryoupunchupontheprogrambus(A)will
go ontheai rand,therefore,showuvonthelinemonifQr.
Whateverrou pressonthe preview/ presetbus(8)wi llshow
upon the preview monitor, ready\ 0 replace-through a
Cllt- thepicture from busAcurrentlyon theair.
By additionally pressing Ihe red Mi X hutlon in the
delegation mouolssectionof rhe switcher, youhavee.;(-
pandedthetransit ionsfromcUl s-onlyto includedissolves
aswell. Youcan nowell! fromonevideosourcetoanolher
ordissolvE' betNeen tbem. IAfhen you press the red Wi PE
but toilinsteadoftheMIXbunon, the transitionwill bea
wipeinsteadofadissolve (setchapler 14).
ByprcssingtheKEYbutton, youactiva tethetop(key)
bus.Onthisbusyoucanselectaproperkeysource,suchas
t he C. C.,that is tobeiJlseried inlO thebac.kgroundpicture
currentl yaclh'aledontheprogrambus(A)and,therefore,
on theai r.GoingbaCK toOUf computerexample, thc C]
butto n on the program bus(A) would provide the back-
ground imilgeofthecomput er,andtheCGbutton011 the
keybush'ould providethenameoflhecompUler.
Theadvantageofamult it1mct ionswi tcheristhatyou
can acoieve aUof these effects with onl y three buses . If
youhadcontinuedthearcililectJI rC----1heeleclnmicdesign
Jogic-oftheswit cherwe werebuilding, )'ou would have
ne<..xiedat leastfi vebuses,two andseveraladdi-
SWI TCHING, OR INSTANTANEOUS EDITING
ti onal butlonstoachi e\'eIhesameh 'y effect.Ei!lD-SWfTCH.
ING-+ Switchingfunct fons-+ transil lon5 ! createeffeclS
13efore movi ng on t o some other major swi tche r
conlrols,let 'sputsomeofthetheoryimopracticeanddo
somesi mpl eswitching.
BASIC SWITCHER OPERATION
Although }'ou are nOI\' working \\' iih a specific analog
switcher (GrassValley lOOf whose controls arcarranged
ina particularway,most multifunc tionswitchersopt"rat c
on a si mi lar switcher archit ecture. Once you know how
tooperateaspE'Ci ficproductionswi tcher, yOll can readily
transfer thoseskills 10 another one.
Lookagai nattheswitcherinfigure)1.1. Howwould
you achieve 3. cut. a dissoh'e, a super, a fade from black,
andafadetoblack?
C-UT OR TAKE
As you recall, theprogram bus (A) lets cut [rom one
source to another by simpl ypressing the corresponding
bUllon.IfyouwantcameraJoll iheair,presstoeC- I but-
ton;tocu t10ca mera2, p resstheC-2bullon.Theproblem
wilo such direct switching is thai the next shot will nOI
appear on the preview moni tor. Altho ugh each vi deo
inpUl sho,.....s up on a designal ed monitor in the control
room, you will have a diffi cult time seeing whether the
newSOOI (camera2)will cut togetherwell (providevi sual
continuit y) with the one already on the air (camera I).
Withapreview/ presetmonitorpositi oned next totheline
moniwI, ),ou ca n judge whether camera 2's image will
pro\'idethenece5Sar),conti nui ty whencutwilh theimage
oncamera l. Toeffectsuch apreview,you have to punch
lipcamera2on thepreset/previel"bus.
Butwail!Youfirst needtolellt heprogramandpreviet \'
buses that theyaresupposed to int eract as a pair ofM/ E
buSt's. Pressing the BKGD del egation control button will
accomplishthisassignmenl.M/EbusA(also theprogram
bus)isnow(eedingcamera t 'spictureto thelinemonitor
(andtothe lineout ),and M/EbusB(alsothepreset bus)
is (cedingcamera2'spicturetothepreviewmonitor,ready
10 replaceC<11llera 1 's pi cture. SEE 11.7
(
2. ThtGVH)(hwilCher'U classiethail'Ol!_t ill ri ndinrn;InyImalkrpro
androu" uionaJ tekyj$ionstudios. VI'hereasmore-modern
sw'tehashaY!,' gr ..atereffe.:t5 capabflitir. allow thr
11I)'I'ri .tgofa,an..tyof throughmultiplek;: rs,ahigh' <";1pacity
..!T1$ m ..mory, and1"''0or moredownslreul1 , h.nneb10 ptO\'ide
separate"idoo feeds. Iheystilloperateonthe prinCIpalMfEarchiu(
tlJrf o(thc GV100.
I
,
Section 11,1 How Swi / chers Work 249
Mb:bmA
Mbbus8

""1,.1,,,,,, ,,, 6
-
: .1. ,,_,

"'emmonitor
((ornua])
" .7 DUAL FUNalDN DF PROGRAM ANO PRESET BUSES
When delegated a background and mix (unction, the program bus becomes MIE bus Aand the bus becomes
M/E blJs B. Here camera t punched up on bus A and is on the ai r. Camera 2 is preset to replace came,a 1 as soon as you press
the cur bvuoo,
Milbvs A ,
. '
8
fi;i1
cb
,
Prtfltw/prtJf! b UI l.::.J
Prev\tw monitOl" monilOf
Mb:hus8
(ComffO I) (canm-a ]) "
11 .8 IMAGHHANGE AFTER CUT
When the CUI is completed, the program bus shows camera 2 on the air, and the p,eview/ preset bus switches automatically
10 camera 1.
To perform (he actua l cut from camera 1 10 camera 2, bus (which now show!\ camera 1) and program bus (which
you must press the CUT button ri ght below the MIXbut- has camera 2 on Ihe air) ? Yes. This toggle featu re of the
ton (see figure 11. 6), The pict ure on the line monilor will CUTbuttoll is helpful whell!?ver )'ou have to swi tch quickly
instantl ), from ca mera 1 to camera 2, and the pic- and repea tedly between the same two video sources. For
lUre on the preview monitor will switch from caillera 2 to example, in switching an intervi ew, lhesi ng!e CUTbull on
camera 1. The li ght of the C_I bullon on t he program bus leIS you react qui ckly to what is being said and (X' rform
(indicat ing that ils vi deo source is on the air) will dim, and with great accuracy repeated ( uiS between t he dose- ups
the C-2 button will light (indicating that camera 2 is now of the host and the guesl.
on the air). The opposite wi ll happen on the preset bus: Ihe
C-2bunon will dim (indi cating that it s source no longer DISSDLVI
previewed), and the C- J bUllon will light (illdic,ning thaI To achieve a dissolve, you must now press the MJXbu!(on
its source is now fed 10 the preview moni tor). By pressing in addi ti on to the 8KGDbulton to ddegate the mix func-
the CUTbuttoll, you have, in effl."ct, transferred the output tion to both huses.tr for solne reason the BKGDbunon has
oflhe preview bus to the program bus <l nd transferred Ihe been lllrned off, you need to also press button again.
former output of the program bus back to the preview bus. When bo th the BKGD and the MIX buttons are li ghteti,
This maneuver is also called Jlip -Jlop switching. S(lll.11 the swit cher is in Ih" correel mode.
What if you were to the CUT button again? To di ssolve from ca mera J 10 camera 2, you need to
'Nould you get the same fli p-flop effecr between the preview first punch up camera I on the program bus (A) to pllt
250 Chapte r I I SWITCHING, OR INSTANTANEOUS EDITI NG

MixtMA
EJ eli
. -
"


',n""lp"sfI bill l::J
Preview moniUlf l inemonilDr
Mi.IMB
1'"-"1@l B I'miI 1""'1 1'""1 l?l . (comeroll (comtra IJ

PrQgTllfIl bur
..,",. 1'0'1[W'II""'lliMll
EJ

Prwt:6! p,tSt, bus
Previffl monitor UnemonitOf
Mdw B
S O
(CO/M'O }) (juptfimposiriM)
c
M'- bus A
I!il i!'l Eii t'll"l El Tl . - .,
Preview monitor line monitor
MlxbusB
Ir,wlIti'l;;;jf"'s
(camero I) (camera 1)
11 .9 DISSOLVE
Once i1ssignKllhe mix funct ion through the delegation control, you can dissolve from camer a I 10 Cclmefa 2. ASSl,lming that
camera 1 is on the air on bus A, you need to preset carner" 1 on bus B. By moving the fader bar to the full extent of Havel lin this
ca se, up), you activate the diswlve from camera 1 to camera 2. Once the di ssolvt! is completed, camera 2 will rep! iKe ,,, mera 1 on
the program bllS, Not e that you can move the fadE'(" bar ei ther up ()("down for the
camera 1 on the air. Now punch up Cl mera 2 on the pre-
vil.'w bus {BJ. As soon as you press t he C-2 butto n on rhe
pinel bus. it wililighl up and routo:camera 2'5 video 10 ,he
preview monitor. But instead o( pressing the CUTbution
as you '"ould during a take. you move the fader b,u all
the way up (away from you) or dO\"n (toward you) to the
full extent of trilvel. The speed of the di ssol ve depends on
how fast you movc the (ader bar. When you have reached
the limi t oftrayel \\' ilh the fade r ba r, the dissolve com-
plele and camera 2's picture ,,,ill have replaced camera I's
picture. su ,,.,
You can wat ch the dissolve on the line monilor, which
displays camera I's picture at the Slart of the dissolve and
camera 2'spicture at the end of it. Although you had both
bus{'s act temporarily as M/ E A and B, Ihe)' CjuickJy
revert 10 Iht'ir program and previc'" (uncI ions. Because
Ihe program bus has command owr what pict ure is on the
air, the preset bus transfers camera 1\ video input 10 the
program bus altd call1era , 's picture to its own bus JUSt in
case you want to dissolve back to ca mera' at the end of
Ihe dissol ve.
You can also use the tJ/4IQ IrtJlI$i/ioll device 10 eX(,("Ule
the dissolve. Instead or movi ng the fdder bar up or down.
you c<l n press the AUTO TRANS butto n Ihe TAKE
butlon--see flguTt"' 11.4).....,hich Ihen takes over the ("der
bar function. The rate of l)le dissolve is determined by the
number o( (rames you punch up ill til e au[o transi tion
seclio11. Because our system operates with 30
[rames per second, a (r;:lm\" rate of 60 would give you a
2second &'i.mlve. Sound complicated? Yes, but once you've
Secrio n 1 / . 1 How SWi tcher s Work
hJ
M4xbusA
8

bur

tcu, j
(blod)
11.10 fADE
Whenfadingto black from(aroNa'2.youneedtopunchup theBLI< bunooonbus8(preview/ pre!>el)aodthendissolve iOlo it by
mo.... ingthefaderbartothefulle)(tentoftra....el(in this case, down).
done it a rew limes, punc.hing all these buHons becomes
as much a routine as using a compulerkeyboard with"
word- processingprogram.
SUPER
Ifyou were !O stop tbe dissolve halfwaybetween thepro-
gram (A) and preset (B) buses. you would have a super-
imposition,orsuper (seefigure11.9b). Both buseswi ll be
activa ted,each deli ve ringa picturewith exactl yone- half
video (signal st rengt h). If you wa nt to favor the picture
frombusA(makethe"old"vi deosourc.t' strollger),simply
MOp thetravelofthefa derba rbeforeit reachesmi dpoint.
To (avo' thesource from bus B(the"new" image),move
thefaG.: rbarpast lhemidpoi nt.
FADE
A fade- in isadissolve fromblack toa pic ture; 10" fadeto
black" or "go to bla ck
N
is a dissolve from the on-Ihe-air
picturetoblack. Usingourswitcher, hOlvwould you fade
in camera 2from black?Here is the swi tchingsequence
fordoingso:
I. Press the BLK bulton onthe program bus. Because
the program busdeli vers its picture Lo Ihe line -out,
therine monitorshowsblackvideo.
2. bOlh the BKGD and the MIXbutt ons. As YOll
rt'<:all , these delega tion controls assign the program
andpresetbuses'mi x/effl!{: lsfunctions.
3. PressIbeC-lbuttonOn the preset bus.
4. Movethefa derbartotheoppositepositioll.Thespeed
ofthe fade-in is determined by how fast you move
thefa derbar. Thecamera 2picture"devr lops"onthe
line ou\ monitor.
To{ade toblackfromcamera2(whichhasbeentrans-
ferred to the prugrambusandisthereforeonthc' ;li r)you
the BLKblirtononthepresetbusandmovethefader
bar tothcoppositelimitoftravel. SEE 11.10 Becauseyoulit -
eral1 ydissolve!Toman imagetoblack,youcanalsousethe
aut otransili oncontrolforthefadeto black.El!lOSWITCH-
(utImix/dissolveI IfadeItrytt
ADDITION.AL .SPECIAL-EFFE.CTS CONTROLS
Because you have become so proficient in performing
si mple operations.youcanworkwith3ft'"\\<more
control stocreateavarietyofspecialeffects.Theseindude:
( 1) wi pecontrolsandwipepatterns,(2)keyandclipw n-
trois, (3) thedownstreamkeyer,and(4)colorbackground
controls.Arthispoinldon',worr yaboutu3C1l yhowthese
conrrols are operat ed. Although all professional produc-
tion swil chers have Ihese addi tional controls, ther often
requiredifferentmeansofoperation, To becomeeffi cient
inusingapar t icularswit cher,youneed tostudyitsopera-
tionsmanual<lnd, aboveall, practice,as you woul d when
learningto pl ay a musicalinslrument.
Reali ze thattheSeconlrolsdo nOI bythemselvescreat e
the effecI ; Tdther, it is the spuial-e!feCfs genera/or (SEC)
that performs thi s task (see chapter 14). AJI production
s''''ilChers have a buiJI-in SEC. III fact, you will find that
tbe man ufacturers ofmost digit al producti on switcher!>
pride themselves not so much on operati onal c<lse but
on the many visual tricks their SEGs can perform. The
buzzwordislaycrillg. which meanscombiningseveralkey
effC'cls inlOamorecomplexone. Whendoingcompli cated
postproduct ion editing. you wil1 find Ihal the standard
switcherSEGwil1 nOIgive youenough variety.Inthi scase
you needto usea postproduct ionswildu: roracomutt' r
wi lh special-effects software.
251
252 Chapter' J
posifioOfl' Wiptpanms
11.11 WIPE MOOE SELECTORS
Thewipemode!.electorsofferacookeof(]eOme ll killwipe
patterns.The configurationscan beplaced in a screen
positionusing thejoysti ck.
Wipe controls and wipepatterns When pressing
the WIPE button in thedelegationcontrolsSfdion in ad
dit ion to the BKGD button, all transi tioll s w i l) be wipes.
During II wipe The source video is graduall y replaced by
the second image thai is framed in a shalX
( 5chapter 14). You canM:lecl thespttificpaUe.rn in the
group ofbunons called wipt mode or ptJrtcrn $c/urorl.
Common wipe paHernsareexpandingdiamonds, boxes.
orcircles. SEE 11. 11 On largeswilchersthese<:an(rolscan
be extended to nearl y 100di ffe rent patternsby inputti ng
acodeinlQtheswitcher. Youcanalsoconlrol l hedirl"(lion
ofthewipe(whetherahorizontalwi pe.forexample,starts
fromKreen-Ieft orscreen-rightduringthet ransition).The
joysti ck positioner lets you move paUernson the screen.
Ot hercontrols give thewi pesasoft orha rdedgeand gil'e
lettersdifferentbordersandshadows.
Keyanddipcontrols Keyillg letsyo u insert letteri ng
orot herpictureelementsintotheexisti ng,orbackground,
$Cene.Themostcommon u S(oCkeys. istoputletteringOl'er
peopleor.scenes,ortheCamili arboxoverthenewK<1sh.' r's
shoulder.Thekeybus letsrOll selce! t he Ilartkuiar video
$(l uree to insert int o the background scene, such as t he
ti tles fromthe e.G. The leey-Ie vel cOl/trol, alsocalled the
d ip ( omrolor dippa. adj uststhekeysignalsothatthe let-
tersappE'3csharpand dearduring th(' key. On the Grass
Valley 100 switcher, you would use the Collowingstepsto
achieveakey:
J. On tht' presetbus,select the background into which
youwant to akey.
2. On the key bus,select the videosource to be keyed
(normall ythee.G. l.
SWITCHING, OR INSTANTANEOUS EDITING
3. In the delegat ion controls section (effectsJ transition
group).pressthe KE), and MIX butt on).
4. In thekeycontrols,presstIl eKEY BUS butt on,which
will make t he key source appear on the preview
monit or.
5. AdjuslthecliplXrandIhegaincont rol(I urnclockwise
orcounterclockwi se) untillhekeylookssharp.IC t he
keydoes notappear as indicated inStep4, adj ust the
cli pcont roluntilit does.
6. Press the CUT buHon to acti vate the key. The back-
groundimageand keyshouldbothappea ron the
line monitor.
Note that various switcher models requi re different
.sequence.:> 10achieveakey eff 1. Whate\'erthesteps,you
needtoselectthebackgroundimage(t hemainimageinto
whichyo uwa nt to inseTlthetitl e)andthekey (the
tit le) and t hen work with the dipcont rolso that the key
has sharpand d earedges. ( For more informationabout
howa key works,as well asan additi onalformo(keying
ulled therllromn key. sec chapter 14. )
Downstreamkeyer The"downstream" in dOI"'l$trenm
keyer ( DSK ) referstothemanipulati onoCthesignalat lhe
Hne-out(do....'I1stream),ratherthanattheM/E(upstream)
Stage.\,,' ithadownst reamkeyer,youcaninsert (key)atitle
or orhergraphic O\'er the signalas it lea\'cs the switcher.
ThislaSi -minut e maneuver, which istotall yindependent
of<l nyo(thecontrolsonthebuses,isdonetokeepas mall )'
M/ E possibl eavail ableCor theotherswitchingand
effec.tsfuncti ons. Mosts...,jrcherswithaDSK haveamlfS/er
fadu, whi ch comimofan faderbar or. more
common, a fade-to-bl ack AUTO TRA.NS bunon, with
which youC<l 1l fade- lo-blackthebase picturetogetherwith
thedownstrea mkeyeffec t(seefigure 11.4).
You may askwhyIhis contl"Ol is ne<;es
S3 ry when,asjustdemomtrated,youcanCade toblackby
simplydissolvingtoblackontheprogrambus.Thereason
forthe{'xtrafadecontrolisthattherffl'( tproduced bytht'
DSKis totall y independent of (he rest of the (upst ream)
swi tchercontrols. The BLK button on the program bus
wi ll eliminatethe backgroundbutnotthekeyitself.Only
the BLKbutt on io tht' downstream keyer section (ro dIe
rightoC the(aderbat)will fa de theentirescreen toblack.
B!I!)SWlTCHING-:t Effe<:ts-+ i(eys I keytypesIdownstreamkeyer
Ispecialeffe<:u
At, anexa mple,let'ssetupasimpleDSKeffectatIhe
end of a product demonstrat ion of thc latl'St computer
Section 71. I
modelandthen fade toblack. The6nalscene sho wsa CU
o fthecomputer3$thebackgcoond,' 'li th the nameo f the
computerinsenedbytheDSK. Recallthatone wayto fade
to black is to press the BLK bullon on the preset bus and
then dissolve into it by moving the fader bar or pressi ng
the AUTO TRANS button. But when you lookat theline
monitor, the hackgr ound image (CU ofthe computer)
has been repl acedby bl ack as it should, b ut t he name of
the computer remains o n-screen . You now know why.
The downstream keyer is unaffect ed bywhat you do in
theupStreampartoftheswitcher-such asgo ingtobla( k
o n the M/E bus. Totally independent ofth e res t orthe
swit ( hercontrols,theDSKobeysonlythosecontrols in il s
own (downst ream) territ or y, hence the need lor its own
blackcontrols.
Color background controls Mo s t swi l(hers have
conrrols with wh ich you can provi de color hackgrounds
tokersandevengive thelett ering oftitl esandother writ -
Ten informationvarious( ol orsor colored Olltlines.Color
generat orsb uilt intotheswi tcher consis tofdials that you
<:anuseto adjustIl ue ( thecolorit self) ,str wrariol! (thecolor
strength ), and brighwes5 o r Illmillallcc ( th e relali ve dark-
andli ghtnessof thecolo r) (seefigure 11.4).Onlarge
production swirc.hers. rhesecolorcontrolsart' on
each M/E bus.
How Swi r cher s WOlk
J_ . _
Instantaneousediting theswitchingfromonevideo
toanother,orthecombini ng oftwoormoresources
whilethe show.Of showsegment,isinprogress.
AU switchers,simpleorcomplex,performthesamebasiC
functions: anappropriatevideosourcefrom
inputS,performingbasictransitionsbetweentwo
videosources, andcreatif'19oraccessing specialeffects.
Theswitcherhasasep<! rdte bunon(oreachvideoInput.
Thereis abuttonfor eachC(lmera,VTR, e.G.,andother
videoSOUlees, such(I S aremoteinput.Thebuttonsare
arrangedinrows.cailedbuses.
ThebaskmuilifunctionswitcherN S apresetbusfor
selectingandpreviewingthe upcomingsootaprogram
busthatsendsitsvideoinputtotheline-OUt ;akeybus
for selectingthevideotob<' insenedover abiKkground
picture;a(aderbartoactivate mb:effects;andvar ious
speCial -effect scontrols.
Theprogrambusis <I direo::t input/out put(VO)linkandis
thereforealsocal/edthedirect Wh<lt everis punched
upontheprogrambus direo::tty tothehne-out.IIcan
alw asami)(/effe<: h (MIE)bus.
Thepreview/presetbusisusedto theupcoming
video (preielfunction)androuteIt tothepreviewmonitor
(previ ewfunction).Italso asan MlE bus.
TheM/ Ebuscanservea (dissolve,super,orfade)oran
effectsfunction.
Thekey busis used10 sel ectthevideos.ource 10 be
insert ed(keyed)intoabackgr oundimage.
DelegationcontrolSareusedtoassign the busesspeClfk
functiOtls.
TheaClual transitionisactivatedbymoving the(lderbar
(romonelimitoftraveltotheother. or byanAUTO TRANS
buttonth.lttakesonthefuncti onsofthefader bolr.
MostswitchersofferCldditionaleffects,suchasavarietyof
Wipepatterns,borders,and backgroundcolors.imdthe
possibilityofeffect slayering.
253