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nablet HDCAM-SR AMA Plug-in

nablet Support Team
  • Updated

Features

With the plug-in, you can link, play and edit Sony SR (MPEG-4 SStP) MXF files via AMA in Avid editing products. It supports Lite and SQ bit rates for 4:2:2 files, SQ bit rates for 4:4:4 files, as well as HQ 444 RGB 10-bit.  Furthermore, this plug-in supports the export of HDCAM-SR compliant MXF files in the named bit rates. The plug-in is the successor of the former Sony SRPA-10 plug-in.

Note that the nablet plug-in and the Sony plug-in cannot coexist on the same system. The installation of the nablet plug-in guarantees a seamless transition in your Sony SR SStP editing workflow after the Sony plug-in had been uninstalled.

Note that clips in an editing project which have previously been linked by the legacy Sony plug-in will show same plug-in name in the bins clip info although the nablet plug-in now handles them. This is because the initial information is stored persistently in the AAF file during linking.

Requirements

Supported Avid Products

  • Avid Media Composer v8.3 to latest releases

Supported Operating Systems

Windows

  • Windows 11
  • Windows 10 64-bit
  • Windows 8.1 64-bit
  • Windows 8 64-bit

Mac

  • macOS 12 (Monterey) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2)
  • macOS 11 (Big Sur) (Intel only)
  • macOS 10.15 (Catalina)
  • macOS 10.14 (Mojave)
  • macOS 10.13 (High Sierra)
  • macOS 10.12 (Sierra)

System Requirements

  • Media storage must be able to sustain a data rate of 600 MB/s per stream for HQ files, 500 MB/s per stream for SQ files, and 250 MB/s per stream for Lite files.
  • MAC OS minimum system requirements: Dual 6 core Intel Xeon at a speed of 2.66GHz or higher with at least 8 GB’s of memory installed.
  • MAC OS minimum system requirements: Dual 6 core Intel Xeon at a speed of 2.66GHz or higher with at least 8 GB’s of memory installed.
  • It is recommended the Video Quality Playback Option be set to Best Performance.

Change Log

  • v4.6.1
    • Approved for Windows 11 and macOS 12 (Monterey) (Intel, Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2).
  • v4.6.0
    • Mac version refactored and approved for macOS 11.0 (Big Sur, Intel CPU only).
  • v4.5.6
    • Fix: Plugin failed to load under Media Composer version 2018.11 or earlier on Mac systems.
  • v4.5.5
    • Improved export performance on Windows OS when the target is on a network location.
    • Mac version approved for macOS 10.15 (Catalina).
  • v4.5.4
    • Use the latest Sony components.
    • Mac version passed Apple Notarization.
  • v4.5.3
    • Write AudioRefLevel into AAF when present in source MXF.
  • v4.5.2
    • Verified for macOS 10.13 (High Sierra)
  • v4.5.1
    • Fix high memory usage during transcoding and video mixdown
  • v4.5.0
    • Installs on Media Composer | First
    • Does no longer generate Framing Boxes in AAF on linking because current Media Composer versions fail to interpret them correctly which can lead to unexpected Frame Flex behavior.

Installation Procedure

You cannot install the AMA Plug-ins while the Avid Background Services are running. Make sure you stop the services before installing the AMA Plug-Ins. The stop/start background services icon is on the Media Composer menu bar (Macintosh) or taskbar (Windows). Once you installed the new AMA plugin, restart the services. See “Starting and Stopping Avid Background Services” in the Media Composer Help.

Install Instructions

Windows

  1. Uninstall any previous version of the nablet HDCAM-SR Plug-in or the Sony SRPA-10 plug-in (See Uninstalling concurrent legacy Sony plug-ins chapter later if unsure).
  2. Download an archive with an installer of the plug-in. Extract it to some folder.
  3. In the extracted folder, run the EXE file to start the installation.
  4. Follow the instructions provided by the installer.

Mac

  1. Download the installer image (DMG  file).
  2. Double-click the DMG file to mount the image. A folder with the plug-in package opens.
  3. Launch the PKG file to run the installation.
  4. Follow the instructions provided by the Installer application. Read and accept the End User License.
  5. During the installation, any previous versions of the nablet HDCAM-SR Plug-in will be updated. If the Sony SRPA-10 plug-in exists, the installer will try to remove it. Confirm that it is no longer present by following the instructions given in the Uninstalling concurrent legacy Sony plugins chapter later.

Uninstall Instructions

Windows

  1. Open Windows Control Panel and launch Programs and Features.
  2. Select nablet HDCAM-SR AMA Plug-In and then select Uninstall.
  3. Next, select Yes to confirm the removal.

Mac

  1. Locate the directory “Library/Application Support/Avid/AVX2_Plug-ins/AMA/nablet”.
  2. Delete the .avx file.
  3. Empty the Trash to completely erase the file from the system.

Note: After uninstalling/removing the nablet HDCAM-SR plug-in from the system, Avid Media Composer will no longer be able to access the HDCAM-SR media imported via the (AMA) Link function.

Verifying the nablet Plug-in Version

After installation the “nablet HDCAM SR Plug-in” is available to Avid Editing products. To verify the version follow the steps below:

  1. In Avid open the Console window by selecting Tools->Console
  2. In the Console, type 
    Ama_ListPlugins
    and press Enter.
  3. Confirm the version number listed for the nablet HDCAM SR Plug-in matches the one you've installed.

Uninstalling a concurrent legacy Sony plug-in

Reminder: The nablet plug-ins and the legacy Sony plug-ins cannot coexist on the same system. Having them both installed will result in unpredictable behaviors of the editing application.

  1. Check the installed plugins with the Ama_ListPlugins command (see above).
  2. If MVP_MSP_SonySRDeck_64-bit is listed, close the Avid application and uninstall the Sony plug-in.

Make sure you stop the Avid Background Services before uninstalling the Sony Plug-Ins. The stop/start background services icon is on the Media Composer menu bar (Macintosh) or taskbar (Windows). Once you uninstalled the plug-in, restart the services.

  • On Windows enter the Control Panel and launch “Programs and Features”.
    Uninstall “Sony SRPA-10”. If you cannot uninstall from “Programs and Features” locate C:\Program Files\Avid\AVX2_Plug-ins\AMA\ and manually delete the folder named SRDeck.
  • On Mac OS X locate the directory Library/Application Support/Avid/AVX2_Plug-ins/AMA and remove the Sony PLAV-RW plug-in by deleting MVP_MSP_SonySRDeck.avx. Empty the Trash to completely erase the file from the system.

Operation Procedure

Using the AMA Feature

In order to use the plug-in, the AMA Volume Management XDCAM Legacy setting must be disabled. Use the following steps to verify the legacy option is disabled.

Enabling AMA

  1. Select the Settings tab in the Project Window
  2. Select Link to open the settings window
  3. Within the Link Settings window select the Volume Mounting tab
  4. Disable the Enable legacy XDCAM Import (disables linked XDCAM) option if it is not already disabled
  5. A restart of the application may be necessary for changes made to AMA Volume Management to take effect.

Linking to SR SStP files on Media Composer 8.6 and later

  1. Select the desired destination bin in the project.
  2. From the menu barб select File->Input->Source Browser.
  3. In the Source Browser navigate to the HDCAM SR file(s) to be linked.
  4. Right-click the file and select Link with->Sony HDCAM SR.
  5. Hit the Link button on the bottom right.

Linking to SR SStP files on Media Composer 8.5 and earlier

  1. Select the desired destination bin in the project.
  2. From the menu bar, select File->AMA Link… (Link to Media… if using Avid MC 8.4/8.5).
  3. From the Files of Type drop-down menu select Sony HDCAM SR (*.mxf).
  4. Select the HDCAM SR file(s) to be linked.
  5. Select Open.

Linking to SR SStP Volume on Media Composer 8.6 and later

  1. Select the desired destination bin in the project.
  2. From the menu bar, select File->Input->Source Browser.
  3. Inside the Source Browser navigate to the desired volume.
  4. When linking to a physical SR Memory drive, select the root of a volume (e.g. G:\). When linking to a virtual volume select the “parent” directory that contains the SR Memory folder structure
  5. Hit the Link button on the bottom right.

Linking  to SR SStP Volume on Media Composer 8.5 and earlier

  1. Select the desired destination bin in the project.
  2. From the menu bar, select File->AMA Link… (Link to Media… if using Avid MC 8.4).
  3. From the Files of Type drop-down menu select Sony HDCAM SR(Folder).
  4. When linking to a physical SR Memory drive, select the root of a volume (e.g. G:\). When linking to a virtual volume select the “parent” directory that contains the SR Memory folder structure
  5. Select Open.

Stereoscopic 3D SR SStP Files

Avid handles 3D MPEG-4 SStP (MXF) files in the same manner as other stereoscopic media. For detail on stereoscopic editing refer to the documentation for your specific Avid product. Use the basic steps below for linking 3D SR SStP files and stereoscopic clip creation within Avid.

  • Link the desired SR SStP files or volume following the steps described above.
  • Select two corresponding stereoscopic files.
  • Right-click the files and select Create Stereoscopic Clips.
  • Choose the desired settings and select Ok.
  • You should now see a new stereoscopic clip in the bin.

Relink of SR SStP Lite files to SQ files

The relink operation will replace the Lite files on a timeline with their corresponding SQ files. For the relink to be successful the SQ files must be online and in an open bin. It is important to note the clips in the bin will not be modified by the relink, only the timeline clips in the sequence will be modified. To prevent any changes to the original timeline enable the “Create new sequence” option in the Relink tool. Use the instructions below as a guide for relinking SR SStP files in a timeline.

  1. Open all bins that contain SQ files to be relinked.
  2. In each bin, highlight the SQ files to be relinked.
  3. Now, highlight the sequence.
  4. Right-click the sequence to reveal the context menu and then select
  5. Enable the following options: Selected items in ALL open bins, Relink by Timecode: Start, Source Name: Tape Name or Source File ID, match case when comparing tape and source file names, Create new sequence (this prevents modification of the original timeline).
  6. Select OK to start the relink.

Note that to relink SQ sources to Lite, simply select the desired Lite files in the bin and perform the relink as described.

AMA File Export of SR SStP MXF Files

The AMA File Export feature allows the export of SR (MPEG-4 SStP) compatible MXF files from Avid applications. SR SStP exports can be performed with all Avid media including linked AMA files. Exports can be in one of the following four quality formats: 422 YUV-Lite, 422 YUV-SQ, 444 RGB-SQ, and 444 RGB-HQ. Please note that AMA File Export does not support 3D stereoscopic files.

The following steps will provide basic instructions for the use of AMA File Export:

  1. Right-click the desired sequence or media file for export to reveal the context menu.
  2. On Media Composer 8.6, select Output->AMA File Export, else select AMA File Export to open the export dialog. AMA File export is not available on Media Composer | First
  3. Select HDCAM SR to choose the File Type drop-down menu.
  4. Choose the desired bit rate and color space from the Quality drop-down menu.
  5. Select Set to choose the destination directory of the file to be exported.
  6. The file name can be modified by editing the File Name field.
  7. Select Save to start the export.

Known Issues and Limitations

  • The user must uninstall any versions of the legacy Sony SRPA-10 plug-in from Programs and Features on Windows before installing this plug-in.
  • Real-time playback can be sustained with two video streams and four audio streams. Playback that exceeds this can cause the Avid application to have a Spring Buffer error. If errors are experienced verify the Video Quality Playback Option is set to Best Performance. A rendering of the material might need to be performed.
  • After transcoding a clip or after performing a video mixdown, some versions of Media

The composer will not set a desired lower Video Quality when playing back the source file.

Toggle the Video Quality setting once when you encounter a performance loss during playback.

  • SR SStP HQ 444 RGB 12-bit MXF files will be utilized as 10-bit files.
  • AMA File Export of 3D stereoscopic files is not supported.
  • AMA File Export option of clips in a bin that does not match the project format and frame rate are not supported for export. Sequences are supported in this operation.
  • AMA File Export option will not warn if the storage location is at or near capacity.
  • Consolidates do not work with SR SStP files unless a transcode is performed first.
  • In order for mounted network drives to be considered media drives, the user needs to enter 
    alldrives 1
    in the Console. When this value is set, the SR SStP files will link and highlight yellow.
    The command 
    alldrives 0
    will stop network drives from being considered media drives. Please keep in mind that the sustained data rate requirements are from the System Requirements section.
  • Playback at speeds slower than +/-1x may cause Avid to display an exception error.
  • Files containing Dolby E or Dolby Digital(AC-3) produce white noise during playback and should be muted.
  • The Sony SRV-10 Viewer is not able to launch while the Avid NLE products are open. Please close Avid before launching the SRV-10 Viewer.
  • It is recommended that the SR source tapes contain only one frame rate, frame mode, and timecode format to avoid any timecode or recapture issues.
  • SR SStP MXF files generated using HDCAM tapes at frame rates 59.94i/29.97PsF can have a slow response time, (several minutes) during certain operations in Avid products. This can also be the case for SR SStP files generated in different frame rates than their native tape frame rate for formats 59.94i/29.97Pfs.
  • AMA File Exporting 50p or 59.94p in projects above 720p resolution is not supported.

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