The width and depth of both the Studio and mini’s enclosures measure the same 7.7-inches squared (197mm), while the Studio’s 3.7-inch (95mm) height towers over the mini’s diminutive 1.4-inch (36mm) elevation and would therefore fit comfortably within 3U of rack space. If you haven’t noticed something about the dimensions, I think it’s safe to say Jobs would probably have approved. With this extra height, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that the Mac Studio weighs a little more than the Mac mini’s undemanding 2.6 pounds (1.2kg). There is one thing that keeps video technicians up late at night more than any other - lack of playback confidence.Depending on how the device is configured, the Mac Studio weighs either 5.9 or 7.9 pounds (2.7 or 3.6kg). There’s a certain thrill that comes when you press the button and get a satisfying click/whirr and everyone watches. More and more these days, at least in live production, video is being cued from the lighting desk, and a server somewhere just “plays” the video, or some poor sap has to use a mouse/HID to click a big “button” in some piece of software in the hopes that the hard drive (if you’re still using one) will spin up. Those days ended for me when I came across the PlaybackPro Plus USB Controller and software from DT Videolabs. The controller is one of two they produce in order to control the PlaybackPro (and PlaybackPro Plus) software. I used the PlaybackPro Plus keyboard for the purposes of review and also used the PlaybackPro Plus software. The 40 key PlaybackPro Plus USB controller provides quick and accurate access to all PlaybackPro Plus show controls and certain navigation controls and clip settings at the touch of a button. And they’re buttons that give you that tactile feedback that is missing from so many video playback apps. Granted, there are plenty of controllers that can accomplish playback, especially in the VJ’s world. But those are built for that world, and the corporate/live event industry doesn’t really need to be able to warp/scratch/stutter a CEO’s dedication speech. I found that it surpasses the capabilities of DDRs, DVD players and videotape machines, and is tailored to the unique demands of the professional presentation industry. The PlaybackPro Plus software couldn’t have been easier to install, and the install for the controller was a breeze as well. PlaybackPro Plus sets the standard for full high-definition and standard definition playback. (It’s Mac-centric, so all of you Windows users will have to sit by and wait.) I used a MacPro 2.8 with 14 GB RAM and a RAID 0 internal SATA for the testing. DT Videolabs recommends all clips be in Apple’s ProRes 422 format and stored on a RAID 0 drive internally or externally for the most reliable playback. PlaybackPro Plus Software/Controller is a multi-channel player that does cuts and dissolves between clips, has variable fade and kill settings, and allows individual control of each clip’s gain, saturation, gamma, volume and black levels. It automatically adjusts to the output resolution and aspect ratio. Content in any ratio (4:3, 16:9, etc.) has infinite adjustability through sizing, stretching and cropping, yet it’s completely non-destructive to original files. All of these controls were well laid out in the interface and easily accessible. If your switching system accepts high resolution computer inputs like VGA, DVI, DisplayPort or HDMI, the Mac can be plugged directly into the system.Īlmost any file type can be played back by adding easy-to-find QuickTime components. If you require SDI or gen-locked component signals, a digital DVI to SDI/Component/Composite SD/HD frame-buffer like the original Matrox MXO (not MXO2) works very well.Ĭlean clip aborting by fading out audio and video, full start and end point controls, easy fade-in and fade-out settings, time-elapsed and time-remaining counters, as well as convenient Goto 10, Goto 20 and Goto 30 buttons for rehearsal cue-to-cues are just a few of its many features. PlaybackPro Plus can be used with their SimpleSync application for multiple machine synchronization (sync rolls).
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