Q. I am in Timecode Master or slave mode and my movie starts when I play in ProTools but the sync is very bad and it jumps all the time.
A. You probably have the frame rate set differently in Pro Tools and in VirtualVTR. Check the setting in ProTools session setup window and also in the 'Reset Timecode Reference' in VirtualVTR. The same issue applies when you are in slave mode.
Q. I can get Playback sync working, but I cant get VVTR to locate when I click in Pro Tools
A. Check 3 things.
1- In Pro Tools -> Peripherals -> Machine control - enable 'Send MMC'
2- In Pro Tools -> Prefs -> Operations . turn on 'machine follows scrub'
3- In VVTR check your OMS inputs. On some USB interfaces you must choose (eg) Unitor 8 for MTC in, and (eg) Port 1 for MMC in, even though all the data comes through port 1. If you dont have a port defined, do so in OMS Setup.
Q. I am in Timecode Master mode and My movie starts when I play in ProTools but the sync is very bad and it jumps all the time.
A. You may have the 'Send MTC to Port' checked in Pro Tools and feeding VVTR in which case Pro Tools is sending out MTC to Virtual VTR at the same time as VTR is getting MTC from the Video Syncman. You should stop sending MTC from Pro Tools to VVTR when in Timecode Master mode.
Q. I get a jump in the picture every few seconds
A. You may have the Mac's RAM Cache set too high. The Default setting for machines with alot of RAM is not good for real time applications. You should set the Ram Cache to 1MB or less in the Memory Control Panel. You may also have a frame rate mismatch.
Q. I get a jump in the picture every few seconds, and the sound on the movie is the wrong pitch or is wobbling
A. Sounds like your system clock on the Pro Tools system isnt right. Make sure that the Sample rate of your session and your sync device (USB, SSD, VSD etc) match, the frame rate matches, and that whatever is providing master sync is present (video, house sync etc). If in doubt set the master clock to internal sync.
Q. I have a Midisport 2+2 USB Interface, and I get a big jump in the picture every minute or so.
A. We have tested the Midisport 2+2 USB with a G4, and we experience a Midi transmission failure every 30 seconds to 1 minute when receiving MTC. This seems to be a bug in the Midisport driver, or a fault with the hardware. The same problem occurs with any software receiving MTC from the Midi sport. Dont use the Midisport 2+2 with VirtualVTR. We have tested the Unitor 8 Mk II (USB) with VirtualVTR with good results, and we recommend this product.
Q. When I scrub In Pro Tools, VVTR doesnt follow very well, and when I release the mouse button, midi continues to flow out of the Pro Tools mac, and hence VVTR keep on trying to scrub.
A. We see this problem only with USB Midi interfaces on the Pro Tools machine. Some versions of Pro Tools dont handle USB midi very well, and it gets buffered up, flowing on even after you release the mouse. The solution is to have a Serial Midi interface on the Pro Tools machine.
Q. When I send MTC to VVTR, I see a white screen. I have checked the timecodes and everything matches up.
A. There are 2 possible solutions. 1- you have the 'Online' menu item turned OFF. In this case, VVTR will not chase MTC at all. Turn it back on and all should be well. Alternatively its possible that you have incorrect values in the 'Video Head Disengage Threshold and Max Shuttle Speed parameters. These should both be quite a bit more than 100%, typically several hundred percent, depending on your CPU. Max Shuttle speed is typically double or higher than the Disengage threshold.
Q. I am in Slave mode, and I get a resync repeatedly throughout synchronised playback.
A. We have experienced problems related to System Accelerator cards. In many cases the card can 'mess-with' the fundamental System clocks, which in some cases can form the basis of the QuickTime timing mechanism. For this reason, we do not recommend using CPU upgrade cards. Also, with a PCI Quicktime card based VVTR system, the CPU is not used a great deal, and most of the traffic is DMA via the PCI bus. If you are in this situation, it may be resolved by ensuring that the QuickTime movie uses a Sound-related clock for timing - make sure your movies contain a sound track, and that you have chosen the QuickTime card's Sound Output (and input) in the Sound Control panel. In this case, the clock will be derived from the PCI card's sound hardware which will use a different (and correct) clock. We have also seen a similar problem (resync) when using a PCI Serial port card for Midi connections. In most cases, we recommend a Stealth / gPort, or a USB based Midi connection
