By resting my wrist on the dimple, I was able to hit the Take button easily with my thumb, and the Kill button with my pinky. I’m a righty, but I could see a lefty using this controller just as easily. The 40-key keyboard is standard plastic fare, but it had a decent angle to it as well as a slightly rounded dimple below the main center section for resting your wrist. PlaybackPro Plus can be used with their SimpleSync application for multiple machine synchronization (sync rolls). 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. If your switching system accepts high resolution computer inputs like VGA, DVI, DisplayPort or HDMI, the Mac can be plugged directly into the system. Almost any file type can be played back by adding easy-to-find QuickTime components. All of these controls were well laid out in the interface and easily accessible. 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. It automatically adjusts to the output resolution and aspect ratio. 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. 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. (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. PlaybackPro Plus sets the standard for full high-definition and standard definition playback. The PlaybackPro Plus software couldn’t have been easier to install, and the install for the controller was a breeze as well. 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. 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. Granted, there are plenty of controllers that can accomplish playback, especially in the VJ’s world. And they’re buttons that give you that tactile feedback that is missing from so many video playback apps. 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. I used the PlaybackPro Plus keyboard for the purposes of review and also used the PlaybackPro Plus software. The controller is one of two they produce in order to control the PlaybackPro (and PlaybackPro Plus) software. Those days ended for me when I came across the PlaybackPro Plus USB Controller and software from DT Videolabs. 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. There’s a certain thrill that comes when you press the button and get a satisfying click/whirr and everyone watches. There is one thing that keeps video technicians up late at night more than any other - lack of playback confidence.
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