Tascam Viewnet MX Graphic Interface Network MX-2424 Owners Manual

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Network View Filters
Since ViewNet MX works via a Fast Ethernet connection to all machines on the network, it can view all
machines connected. In a facility with machines assigned to multiple studios, it may be useful to have a
particular ViewNet MX application show only a subset of all available machines in the Network Screen
and in the System Status Panel. There are two filters for selecting which machines will appear in the list.
These Network View Filters are placed directly underneath the menu bar in the Network Screen. The list
of machines shown will be filtered through both of these before appearing in the Network Screen and the
System Status Panel.
Sync Group Filter
This is a function relevant only to MMR series machines and should always be left at the “All” setting
when using MX-2424’s. Viewnet will not communicate properly with the MX2424 should this setting be
changed.
Machine Set Filter
The list of machines can also be filtered to show only those units belonging to a specified Machine Set. A
Machine Set is any set of machines selected by the user from among all machines available on the
network and then saved as a named Machine Set. Once created, these will appear in a pop up list of
available Machine Sets as shown here.
Machine Set
View FilterSync Group
View Filter 
						

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Defining Machine Sets
To define a Machine Set, first select the machines to be included in the set by clicking anywhere on the
Machine Status Information row for each machine using Shift + click to select a range (group) of
machines, or Control + click to select separate (non-adjacent) machines.
Once the machines are selected, open the window labeled “Define set…” from the File menu, then type a
name for the set and click OK.
The Machine Set will be created and will now appear in the list of available Machine Sets. When this
item is selected as a Network View filter, only machines belonging to the defined Machine Set will be
listed in the Network View Screen and in the System Status Panel.
Machine Sets are saved as part of the ViewNet MX Preferences file. For more information on ViewNet
MX Preferences, see the section in this chapter entitled ViewNet MX Preference Files.
To delete Machine Sets open the Preferences windows under the File Menu, select a Machine Set by
clicking on it and press Delete.  There is no Undo for this. 
						

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Stage Machines Pre-Filter In Preferences
As a safety measure for facilities which have more than one room using MX-2424’s on the ViewNet MX
network, a pre-filter for machine sets is provided in the Preferences window. The drop down list labeled
Stage Machines shows a list of all machine sets that are part of the current preferences settings.
The choice labeled All in the machine sets filter in the Network Screen will use the machine set chosen
here to be all machines that can be viewed on the network from this particular computer running the
ViewNet MX application. Other computers on the network would have their own separate list of machine
sets.
The Stage Machines filter in Preferences will prevent an operator from accidentally choosing all
machines from the Network Screen and affecting a machine in another room. By setting this preference
here, the machines which can be chosen from the Network Screen will be limited to only those machines
which are part of the chosen stage machine set.
System Status Panel
To the right of the Network screen is the System Status Panel which shows a brief description of each
machine, the Online status of the machine and which machines (if any) have a direct network connection
established. This panel is always present and active for both the Network Screen and the Project View
(shown here). 
						

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Description
The machine description to the right of the Conn and online buttons in the System Status Panel can be
entered by the user in the Machine Information window, which is available in the Machine menu of
ViewNet.
Type the description which will appear in the System Status Panel in the space labeled Description
(short). After the description is entered, close the Information window and the description will appear on
the right side of the System Status Panel for the selected machine. Machine Information is saved as a part
of the ViewNet Preferences file, and will not affect the descriptions shown at other ViewNet MX
workstations.
Online
Click in this box to toggle the Online status of the machine between Online and Offline. The color of the
box indicates the current status of the machine.
• 
Black indicates the machine is offline.
• 
Orange indicates the machine is online.
• 
Green indicates the machine is online and locked to the sync source.
• 
Red indicates the machine is locked and in record.
The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + J can be used to toggle the Online status of all selected machines
simultaneously. If less than half of the selected machines are Online, using this shortcut will put all of
them Online. If half or more of the selected machines are Online, using the shortcut takes all of them
offline. 
						

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Connection Box
The left column of the System Status Panel is labeled Conn (abbreviation for Connection) and shows a
box for each machine listed. This box operates as both a status indicator and also as a command button.
Click in this box to establish an active connection directly to an MX-2424 and open the Project View
Screen (EDL view) for that machine. When an active connection is established with a particular MX-
2424, this box will be colored blue. When an active connection is not currently established with this MM
series machine, the Connection box will remain light gray.
When multiple machines are displayed in the System Status Panel, the Conn box color is also used to
indicate which machine currently has or most recently had an active connection to ViewNet Audio. Dark
gray indicates the machine was the most recent to have an active connection, but does not have one now.
Remember that clicking on any Conn box will always automatically open the Project View Screen for
that MX-2424.
• 
Blue indicates active connection established with this machine
• 
Light Gray indicates no active connection established with this machine
• 
Dark Gray indicates this machine had the most recently established active connection, but has no
current active connection
The keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Any Numerical Key (1-9) can be used to toggle the Connection status of
any machine opening that machine’s Project View Screen.
Active Connections
Opening certain information or settings windows will also cause ViewNet to establish an active
connection even when the Project View Screen is not open. These active connections are always
indicated by the blue color of the Conn box for the machine which has the connection. Opening the
following windows will always open an active connection to an MX-2424:
• 
Machine Settings
• 
Load Project/track
• 
Utilities
Active Connections In Multi-Machine Operation
When ViewNet is working with more than one machine, actions are transmitted to all machines that are
part of the network group. To do this, ViewNet establishes an active connection with each machine in
turn, executes the command, closes the connection, then moves on to the next machine until the
commands are executed across all machines. While this is occurring, the system status panel will indicate
each active connection as it occurs by switching the Conn box from gray to blue then back again. This
provides useful feedback to the user which shows each active connection as it occurs and is then
terminated. 
						

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Active Connections In Multiple Specific Machine Macros
Multiple specific machine macros can be created by including the action of switching to a different
machine while building the macro. These macros will establish a momentary active connection to each
machine included in the macro when it is run. For example, a macro which disarms all tracks for
recording on two different machines will disarm the first machine, then establish an active connection to
the second machine, disarm those tracks, then close the active connection to that machine. While this is
occurring, the system status panel will indicate each active connection as it occurs by switching the Conn
box from gray to blue then back again. This behavior helps to illustrate that a multiple machine macro
executes sequentially across machines, not simultaneously, thus cueing the operator to give the macro
time to run across all machines.
The Preferences Window
The Preferences window contains user-selectable settings that govern the behavior of certain aspects of
ViewNet MX. The Preferences window can be opened from the File menu.
This is a screenshot of the Preferences window for ViewNet MX. The Preferences window are described
in detail in the following sections. 
						

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Net Delay Compensation
Factors such as the number of machines using the network and the total volume of network traffic can
influence the responsiveness of an MX-2424 to the ViewNet MX application. This in turn can influence
the relationship between what is seen on the screen in ViewNet MX and the sound produced by the MX-
2424. The Net Delay Compensation item allows the user to adjust this relationship so that, for example,
an audio clip shown in the Project View Screen will be seen to pass by the playhead in perfect
synchronization with the sound. The default setting will probably work well for most systems, but the
user can experiment with this control to find the optimum setting.
Machine Offline Warning
It is often important to know when a machine goes offline, and ViewNet can be set to bring up a warning
message if this happens.
The Machine Offline Warning item in the Preferences window allows the user to set criteria for when the
warning will be shown.
Alw ays
This setting will always bring up a machine offline warning if any machine on the entire network goes
offline.
Stage
This setting will only bring up a machine offline warning if a machine belonging to the currently active
Stage machines pre-filter in the Preferences window goes offline. Machines not part of the currently
selected Stage machine pre-filter will not bring up the machine offline warning.
Never
This setting will ignore the offline status of all machines on the network and never bring up a machine
offline warning. 
						

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Nudge Amount
This is the amount of time by which selected edit regions or clips in the Project View Screen will be
moved when the Nudge left or Nudge right commands from the Edit menu are used.
Coarse Nudge Amount
This is the amount of time by which selected edit regions or clips in the Project View Screen will be
moved when the Coarse nudge left or Coarse nudge right commands from the Edit menu are used.
Machine Sets List
This list shows all currently available machine sets. Click on the name of a machine set to select it for
deleting.
Creating Machine Sets
For information on creating machine sets, see the section in this chapter labeled Defining Machine Sets.
Deleting Machine Sets
To delete a machine set from the current preferences file, first select the machine set by clicking on the
name of the set to be deleted, then press the Delete key.
Multi-Machine Behavior
To enable Multi-Machine Mode, select Start multi-machine from the Machine menu, select the machine
or machine set to be included and press Start.
The Preferences window has two items relating to the Multi-machine mode of operation. When the
Multi-machine mode is on, operations and commands issued for one machine are automatically
propagated to all other machines which are part of the Multi-machine group. Multi-machine mode
operation is discussed in more detail at the end of Chapter 7, Machine Settings.
Creating New Projects
When operating in Multi-Machine Mode and a new project is created on any machine on the network,
that new project will be created on all connected machines.  Before creating a new project in this manner,
it is extremely important to verify that a project with the desired name of the new project does not exist
on any machine on the network. 
						

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Propagate Edit Tracks
This setting governs the conditions under which edit actions and the selection or de-selection of track edit
buttons is propagated to other machines in the Multi-machine group when Multi-machine mode is on.
• 
Never – don’t send edit to other machines
• 
On Modify – only send edit when a change is made
• 
On Edit Operation – only send edit when an edit occurs
Propagate In/Out
This setting governs the conditions under which the action of setting In and Out marks is propagated to
other machines in the Multi-machine group in Multi-machine mode.
• 
Never – don’t send In/Out selection to other machines
• 
On Modify – only send In/Out when a change is made
• 
On Edit Operation – only send In/Out when an edit occurs
Machine Sets Server IP
This function is used by TASCAM MM-Series machines and should not be changed when operating
ViewNet MX. 
						

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ViewNet Default Preferences File
The ViewNet MX application always maintains a default Preferences file. Whenever ViewNet MX is
started, the settings stored in this default preferences file are used. This default Preferences file stores all
information which is entered in the Preferences window. Any changes made to items in the Preferences
window are written immediately to this default Preferences file on disk as soon as the change is made.
Saving and Opening Named Preferences Files
It is possible to create, save, and open named preference files. These files can be stored anywhere and
may be copied to floppy disk or the network so that preference files can be duplicated on different
ViewNet MX systems.
Opening Preferences Files
Click the Open button in the Preferences window to browse for a preferences file.
Select the desired preferences file and click Open. The preferences file will open and these values will
now be stored in memory. These preferences will be written to disk as the current values for the
preferences and automatically recalled the next time ViewNet is started.