Hi Everyone,

I hope that you are all well!!!!  I had a smashing IBC and everyone was amazing.  Despite my utter exhaustion most of the time :)

So we have a new extension release, some new tools, new workflows, new format support as well as new hardware support!

I must apologise because my system I usually work on is currently in transport limbo back from IBC so I thought for this weeks blog I would treat you to one of the new features of Smoke 2011 ext 1.  The Euphonix hardware surface support.

Firstly, the support for the panels is Mac based only.  Please dont ask me about Linux support simply because I do not know and I am not involved in Product management.  Secondly, the panel support we have for Smoke on Mac is for the MC Color and MC Transport panels.

The way in which it is connected to smoke is through ethernet cables.  Using a switch, the panels are connect via the network to the workstation and the Eucon app and drivers do the rest.  When you launch Smoke, the panels tell you that you are running Smoke and gives you the appropriate display on the panels.

What I found really cool is if I had Final Cut Pro open the same time as smoke and simply Apple-TAB between the apps, the panel simply switched.  Really NICE!

Now since I cant Vlog anything yet as per my reasoning above, I decided to give you the next best thing!  The hot-key guide on the panel.... Thanks to my friend Erwan at Autodesk.  Big shout out to you!

Let's start off with the MC Transport panel.

This panel can be used for various transport and editing function in the Smoke timeline.  However there are two modes in which the panel can work.

NORMAL MODE

SHIFT MODE

To enable the SHIFT MODE on the transport panel, push the button to the bottom left of the shuttle wheel and the new commands will than become active.

Now Let's Have a look at the MC Color Panel

This panel has been mapped to have so many different versatile functions.  When you first look at the panel, you can easily be forgiven for thinking this is just for grading but there is so much more!!!!

DEFAULT NAVIGATION MODE

The default navigation mode is really so cool!!!!!  It gives you all the basic functionality to drive the timeline, views, editing and much more.

To ensure you are in this mode, the NAV button (bottom left of the panel) must be enabled.

The first thing to know about this mode is that the panel can divided up to 3 sections.  The right section is navigation and editing.  The middle section is cursor control and viewers.  The left section is zoom, panning and standard player modes.

The top half of the panel allows you to enter into softFX when you click on the knobs.

And yes, you can store up to 4 copy and paste grades.

EDITING MODE

The editing mode brings out more editing functionality as well as turning SOFTFX on and off on selected clips.

To enable this mode, NAV and the shift button must be enabled (the buttons to the bottom left of the panel)

The Left section of the panel controls the jogging of a source clip and basic player standard views.

The middle section of the panel is once again the cursor

The right side of the panel controls editing function as well as jogging the record clip (timeline)

The knobs at the top of the panel turn the softFX on and off.

SOFT AXIS MODE

The softFX Axis mode will give you control over basic functions of the Timeline axis effect when you are in the Axis editor. It's mapping is self explanatory.

COLOUR CORRECTOR MODE

This mapping is for when you have applied a regular colour corrector to a clip in the timeline.  The controls will function when you are looking at a selected clip in the timeline with colour correction or when you are in the colour correction editor.  So in other words, you do not always have to dive into the heart of the colour corrector in order to start grading shots in the timeline.  This is a very use tip to know.

You will see at the top right of the panel something called BANK 1.  This is the colour corrector button.  BANK 2 will switch to the colour warper.

COLOUR WARPER MODE

This mapping is for when you have applied the colour warper to a clip in the timeline. The controls will function when you are looking at a selected clip in the timeline with colour correction or when you are in the colour warper editor. So in other words, you do not always have to dive into the heart of the colour warper in order to start grading shots in the timeline. This is also very use tip to know. If you want to access your secondaries than you will need to enter into the colour warper editor which can be done using the panel.

You will see at the top right of the panel something called BANK 2. This is the colour warper button. BANK 1 will switch to the colour corrector.

COLOUR WARPER SHIFT MODE

To enable the extra controls of the colour warper, press the SHIFT button at the bottom left of the panel.

These controls are dedicated to the secondaries within the colour warper

TRIPTYCH VIEWER MODE

I thought adding this mode to the panel was a really nice touch.  When you enter the triptych viewer in Smoke and you have the NAV and SHIFT button enabled (at the bottom left of the panel), you can use the three jog wheels to control the three positioners in the timeline.  I saw people looking at this at IBC for side by side grading and balancing.  I definitely see the uses.

AUDIO EQ MODE

And last but not least, the panel has also been mapped to work with certain audio functions.  The EQ mapping works a treat when you apply EQ to an audio clip and you can also hear the adjustments during realtime playback.  This is also animatable if you use this in conjunction with autokey on.  Finally I tried this with the gain audio softFX and one of the knobs allowed me to adjust the gain values of the clips as well.

 The PAGE Buttons on the MC Color panel also scrolls through various functions mapped to the knobs of the panel.  This means that when you are in something like colour correction, there are more mapped functions than meets the eye.

One thing I found very useful to know when using the panels was to be aware what mode the Smoke Player was using. 

There are three modes in the player

1. View Source
2. PreviewFX
3. Realtime

View source is not relevant here as it always just shows sources with no effects.

PreviewFX is probably the function I use the most because it caches the current frame and you see results

Realtime does not cache and attempts to keep everything live on the CPUs and GPUs.

So if the Smoke player is set the PREVIEWFX, than the panel operation might feel sluggish because every time you adjust something Smoke will cache the effect in the timeline.

So the better option is to switch the player to REALTIME and the panel works really well and the reaction time is very fluid.  

You will have to make the intelligent decision when to switch between player modes.

I wanted to thank Erwan again for his hard work on this as well as R&D ....  I hope this has been insightful for you and if you are intending on using the panel surfaces, this will certainly give you a point in the right direction!

Hope to see you again real soon and take care where ever you are.

Signing off

Grant