Legislative Control System Operators Guide V4042-4980/3
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide 2
About this manual Recycling electrical and electronic equipment This manual is intended as a guide for television camera operators with some knowledge of robotic equipment and systems used in broadcasting. This symbol on the product or on its packaging indicates that this product must not be treated as household waste (applicable in the European Union and European countries with separate collection systems).
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide End-User License Agreement IMPORTANT PLEASE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LICENSE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS PROGRAM INSTALL: Camera Dynamics Ltd End-User License Agreement (‘EULA’) is a legal agreement between you (either an individual or a single entity) and Camera Dynamics Ltd for the Camera Dynamics Ltd software product(s) identified above which may include associated software components, media, printed materials, and ‘online’ or electron
Safety Guidelines This product is designed and manufactured to meet strict quality and safety standards. However, it is important that you are aware of the following installation and operation precautions. Many of these instructions are commonsense precautions, but for your own safety and to ensure that you do not damage the equipment, we recommend that you read them. Obey warnings and instructions Cleaning You should read all of the safety instructions before operating the equipment.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Contents About this manual............................................1 End-User License Agreement...........................2 Safety Guidelines......................................................3 Obey warnings and instructions.......................3 Usage Statement.............................................3 Water, moisture and dust.................................3 Climate.............................................................3 Servicing....................
Overview The Legislative Control System (LCS) is designed to control cameras and other video equipment that are typically used in a parliament situation for the recording and televising of parliamentary sessions; either of the main parliament auditorium or committee rooms or both. The LCS does not handle video camera or audio signals directly, it controls the devices that do.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Key Features and Benefits ■■ Multi-user, multi-facility control of cameras, CCU controls and robotic devices ■■ Modular, adaptable design for continuous upgrading of existing systems from small joystick panels through to 22” touchscreen ■■ Flexible and intuitive user interface ■■ Simple and flexible touchscreen operation with custom configuration ■■ Manual or automated shot selection ■■ External trigger control ■■ Flexible system control interfaces ■■ Shot grading for in
Installation and Connection Key components of an LCS system LCS structure A studio can be controlled by multiple control stations, but each control station can only control one studio/venue at any one time. Control Stations A single control station may actually have two user interfaces, two joysticks, and two operators. In this arrangement, the two parts of the control station mirror one another exactly – a camera selected on one joystick control will be selected on the other.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide The LCS controls Every operator has their own way of working so we’ve made it easy to personalise your screen layout. To use screen space efficiently, you can activate only the controls that you need. Multiple copies of any control can be placed on the touchscreen(s) – they will work in sync. Controls may be resized independently, laid out as you prefer and locked in position, ready for use every time you log in.
Installation and Connection Toolkit The Toolkit control is accessed from the top menu or by pressing Ctrl-T on your keyboard. It is used to select and make available the other controls by pressing the relevant control button. The show layout controls checkbox (when checked) allows you to close, resize and reposition the controls as required. This is a global action that works on all displayed controls.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Chroma Seat Plan The Chroma Seat Plan control allows you to select a target by clicking on its graphical representation (as an alternative to keying in the target number using the Keypad control). Seat plans can be produced using any graphics bit-map program, but they must be saved as 24-bit .BMP files so that the seat number can be encoded in the colour of the seat. (See ‘Appendix: Encoding seat number by colour’.
Installation and Connection Target Store The Target Store control is where you set up your matrix of favoured shots for each target in your venue. It displays a grid of your systems cameras and shot types: Close, Medium, Wide and Other. Every possible shot for your target should be assigned a score value of 0 to 50 depending on its quality. These scores determine which shot will be used by the LCS during broadcast. The default shot value is 25.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide CCU The CCU panel enables you to adjust camera settings and fine-tune your picture quality. Use it to adjust Gain, Pedestal, Iris and Shutter settings to suit the shooting conditions. If supported, Auto White, CAM/BAR and Iris mode can be enabled by selecting the appropriate button. The controls (and the scales) made available in the CCU panel depend on the make and model of camera installed in your system.
Installation and Connection Logging in as a user Double click the LCS icon on your desktop or choose LCS from the program menu. The LCS login splash screen appears. The login control is in the lower left corner and the software version number is shown on the lower right corner. The Licence Management and About buttons are described overleaf; you do not need to use these features during a routine login. The user ID field is populated when the system has fully started.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Create a user name and password License Management User accounts must be created before running the LSC software to allow users to login. The License Management button displays the License Management control which allows different licences to be applied. To create a user account, proceed as follows: 1. Select the USER MANAGER short-cut icon on the touch screen desktop.
Installation and Connection Top level screen menus User Management The top level menu choices (shown in the menu bar at the top of the screen) are System, View, Tools and Help. The User Management control (available from Tools, in the Top level screen menu) allows operator privileges to be set. Under System... ■■ Logout – to end an LCS session or change user ■■ Exit – to leave the LCS application Under View...
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Adjusting your camera settings The CCU panel interfaces with every camera on your system, collecting its technical data so that you can adjust settings such as colour gain, shutter mode, iris and white levels. Use the CCU to calibrate your system each day before you start shooting, or if lighting conditions change significantly. Select a camera using the Cameras control. Its number shows in the top left corner of the CCU control.
Installation and Connection Loading your venue’s target plans Now that your cameras are calibrated and ready for use you need to load your venue’s seating plan into LCS so that all the correct target information is available. Currently, there are two ways of doing this: either by loading a static graphical representation as a Chroma-encoded bitmap image file, or by using an Active Seat Plan. This section tells you how to configure LCS so that it has the right information loaded.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Select a Chroma Seat Plan Select an Active Seat Plan Your LCS will have an active seat plan of your venue(s) already installed. Press Schematic A to load it and use your mouse and wheel to scale and position it within the ‘active’ area of the control panel. When you are happy with its size and position press Lock to secure it, keeping your configuration ready for next time you log in. If more than one plan is stored, it will be available by pressing Schematic B, etc.
Installation and Connection Creating a database of shots Before you can use the LCS for day-to-day broadcasting, you’ll need to set up a matrix of the best available shots of each seat or ‘target’. First, establish your ‘venue’ (the legislature, chamber or studio that you are recording) so you have the right set of cameras and seating plan available. This section tells you how to make a record of the best shots so you can access them quickly during programme making.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide The Target Store control is used to save information on a collection of camera shots for each of the targets. This information is presented in the form of a matrix with reference to camera number and shot type. All the installed cameras are identified by number across the top of the matrix area. The ‘active’ shot button is surrounded by a yellow frame and displays a default shot quality score of 25.
Installation and Connection When you are satisfied that the camera shot is set up correctly and that the quality score for that shot is appropriate, you can save the shot information permanently to the LCS database by pressing the Save button. Once saved, the yellow frame disappears from the shot button. Pressing Cancel discards any changes and returns the shot button to its previous state.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Broadcasting your programme Now that you have a complete shot matrix for your venue you can start broadcasting. This section tells you how to manage your target shots, cue takes, apply tally and manually lock and unlock cameras. Typical user set up Seat Plan, Keypad, Target Store, Target Summary and Camera are the most common controls to have available on your touchscreen.
Installation and Connection Select your target from the seat plan or enter it via the keypad control or MJP, followed by the target type (target microphone, delegate). The LCS immediately searches its database of stored shots and presents that information to the control bus on the Target Summary control. It also displays the matrix relating to your target in the Target Store control (if you have chosen to have it active on your screen).
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Mini Joystick Panel The Mini Joystick Panel (MJP) is a physical controller capable of controlling pan-and-tilt camera heads and lens zoom. The MJP accepts external switcher inputs in order to provide an ‘On-Air’ indicator for each camera head. A three-axis proportional joystick controls pan, tilt and zoom. ‘Proportional’ means that the speed of movement is increased as the joystick is deflected.
Mini Joystick Panel Camera selection This (red section) of the keypad controls camera selection. Select an available camera by pressing the appropriate camera number key, from 1 to 12.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Shot selection This (blue) section) of the keypad controls the shot selection. Functions in the red shaded area are not used in the current release version of this software. Select a shot by pressing the appropriate Select number keys, then define the target by pressing a target type selection button: from the microphone number, delegate number or shot (‘seat’) number.
Mini Joystick Panel Stop/Cue/Take buttons The TAKE button on the MJP mimics the TAKE button on the touch screen. Pressing TAKE readies the target to be taken On Air (i.e. the camera cannot be reassigned). The STOP and CUE buttons are not used with this version of the LCS software. ‘On Air’ indicator This indicator lights when the selected camera is tallied red, indicating that it is ‘Live’ or ‘On Air’.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Iris control knob Focus control knob Use the Iris control to set exposure levels. To fine-tune the Iris, rotate the IRIS control knob. There are several factors that influence on focus, ranging from available light levels to the focal length of the lens and the zoom settings applied. Put very simply, subjects filmed under good lighting conditions appear sharper with less noise; those filmed under poor light appear ‘softer’ with a noisier image.
Mini Joystick Panel Joystick control The Camera and Lens functions are controlled by the 3-way Joystick. The speed of movement of the axis increases as the Joystick travels from its central position. The profile for each of the Joystick axes is designed to allow fine control for small displacements and rapid movements for larger displacements. Zoom Zoom relates to the angle of view available to the camera and depends on the focal length range of the lens fitted.
Vinten Radamec LCS Operator’s Guide Appendix: Encoding seat numbers by colour Each seat number is represented by a particular colour (made up from a mix of the RGB (red, green and blue colour values). For example: from the table, seat number 1337 is coded as Red=177, Green=165, Blue=138. The seat number and corresponding colour values are shown in the table, which can be extended if necessary. Ensure that the seat plan image is saved as a 24 bits-perpixel RGB Windows bitmap file (extension *.bmp).
Mini Joystick Panel Legislative Control System 31
Sales Offices CHINA JAPAN The Vitec Group plc China Vinten Japan KK Rm 706, Tower B P.A. Bldg. 5F Derun Building 3-12-6 Aobadai YongAn Dongli A No. 8 Meguro-ku Tokyo 153-0042 Jianwai Ave, Chaoyang District Japan Beijing, China 100022 Tel. +81 3 5456 4155 Tel. +86 10 8528 8748 Fax. +81 3 5456 4156 Fax.
