HOW TO: Control a video router with MovieRecorder ?

(This feature is only available in MovieRecorder, not in MovieRecorder Express).

With MovieRecorder 4.4, we have added the ability to control video routers directly in MovieRecorder Previously it required to install an application called OnTheAir Switch, but not anymore.

The compatible routers are:

• Blackmagic Videohub
• Ross

For other routers, you can still use OnTheAir Switch, check compatibility here.

How to set it up?

There is no preference to add in MovieRecorder, but just add an Action (AppleScript) to the "Actions" folder of OnTheAir Video 4.

The Actions folder is located in:

/Library/Application Support/Softron/MovieRecorder/AppleScripts/

Attached to this article are 2 sample actions that you can use.

How to use the script alone or test it?

The examples below are to be used as "Actions" in MovieRecorder or OnTheAir Video. But If you want to use the AppleScript from another application, or test them alone, you will need to remove the first (on Action(parameter)) and last (end Action) lines.

Blackmagic Videohub

There are 2 different syntaxes possible. You can use one or the other.

Using "switch Videohub" method

The simplest method is to do a "switch videohub". You can use either the IP address, the name or the unique id of the Videohub.

Using its IP address it will be:

on Action(parameter)
  tell application "MovieRecorder"
    switch videohub ip_address "192.168.0.70" output_index 1 input_index 1 directly 1
  end tell
end Action

Note that the "directly 1" instruction at the end of the line allows you to set wether the communication to the Videohub will require Bonjour or not. When setting it to 0, we will scan through the available Videohubs that we find in Bonjour, and find the one with the matching IP address. While when setting it to 1, we don't use Bonjour, and just connect to that IP address.

With the name:

on Action(parameter)
  tell application "MovieRecorder"
    switch videohub name "Studio Videohub 12" output_index 1 input_index 1
  end tell
end Action

And with the unique ID:

on Action(parameter)
  tell application "OnTheAir Video"
    switch videohub unique_id "8371c4cc399b" output_index 1 input_index 1
  end tell
end Action

Using the set selected input method 

The other way is as follows. If you only have one Videohub, you could use:

on Action(parameter)
  tell application "MovieRecorder"
    tell (first videohub device)
      set selected input of output 3 to 4
    end tell
  end tell
end Action

There is nothing to do in OnTheAir Video as it will automatically scan the network to discover a Videohub through Bonjour. So in the example above, we will search for the first available Videohub and use it.

You could change the script to only use a Videohub with a specific IP address. In this case, you would need to know its IP address:

on Action(parameter)
  tell application "MovieRecorder"
    tell (first videohub device whose ip_address is "192.168.0.70")
      set selected input of output 3 to 4
    end tell
  end tell
end Action

Or using its name:

on Action(parameter)
   tell application "MovieRecorder"
     tell (first videohub device whose name is "Studio Videohub")
       set selected input of output 3 to 4
     end tell
   end tell
end Action

 

Ross

With Ross, you just need to indicate the IP address of the Ross video router. And then specify which "command" (which GPI) you want it to execute. Check your Ross manual to know how to modify those GPI.

on Action(parameter)
    tell application "OnTheAir Video"
        switch rosstalk ip_address "127.0.0.1" command "GPI 04"
    end tell
end Action