Instruction manual

What can be confusing is that QuickTime applications can start and stop and

change modes—even while they are running! And the behavior of different

QuickTime applications can vary: some applications take control of the board as

soon as they are launched and don't give it up until they quit, while other

applications take control of the board only when they are the “front-most” running

application and then relinquish control when they’re not. Final Cut Pro is one of the

latter type QuickTime applications. This difference in behavior can surprise you

when you click in and out of multiple QuickTime application windows.

To illustrate such possible confusion, consider this multiple application scenario:

1. Open Final Cut Pro, select KONA 3 as the A/V device. FCP takes control of

the board and tells it what Primary format to use. If one of the FCP windows

covers up the KONA Control Panel application (which typically happens),

you won't be able to see the “Kona card is in use by Final Cut Pro” message

displayed in the Control Panel, or be able to tell which format FCP has

selected. (This is why we recommend you arrange your display so you can see

the Control Panel at all times.)

2. Next, you want to see what the KONA card is doing, so you ﬁnd the KONA

Control Panel application by clicking around on the desktop, eventually

clicking on the Control Panel to make it visible. As soon as FCP realizes it is

now running in the background, it gives up control of the KONA 3 board.

The KONA Control Panel application takes away the “...Final Cut Pro”

message.

3. With the Control Panel the topmost application—and in control of the

board—you now switch to a different Primary format.

4. However, when you click back on Final Cut Pro and bring it back to continue

your project, it becomes the master again and resets the board's Primary

format to the one determined by Final Cut’s A/V Settings dialog. To further

the surprise, if FCP's windows are covering the KONA Control Panel

window, the change will be hidden and you won’t know why the board isn't

doing what you told it earlier via the Control Panel.

The moral of the story: keep the Control Panel visible so you can learn what various

QuickTime applications are doing when they control KONA 3—and then you can

step in and change the application’s settings and Control Panel settings as desired to

get the conﬁguration you expect.

Mac Desktop Video—2nd Priority

If you choose “Macintosh Desktop” as your KONA Default Video Output (in the

Control Tab), then the Mac Finder uses the KONA 3 board as a second (or third, or

fourth...) graphics “desktop” output—as long as there isn't a QuickTime application

running. When the Finder is in control, the Primary Format is dictated by the

System Preferences “Displays” panel or by you selecting “Show Displays in the

menu bar”, from the Displays menu near the right-hand side of the main menu

bar).