| Q: |
Can I use eSata storage for HD? |
| A: |
AJA has yet to find and certify an eSata 8 drive JBOD solution for 10-bit uncompressed HD that is reliable over time with the KONA cards. We continue to look for a capable solution. |
| Q: |
My audio is intermittent or drops out completely with edit to tape. What can I do? |
| A: |
Go to FCP Audio Video Settings -> Device Control Presets (tab). Click on <edit> (edit the current Io/Kona device control preset). Ensure the number of audio channels listed in "Audio Mapping" matches the number of audio channels of the sequence. |
| Q: |
Is KONA 2 compatible with Io? |
| A: |
KONA 2 works great with Io. You can have both drivers installed on the same Mac. Inside Final Cut Pro, the Easy Setups for Io and KONA 2 are labeled so you can tell which is appropriate for use. |
| Q: |
Is KONA 2 PCI-X slot usage in a PowerMac different from Kona HD? |
| A: |
Yes, on Kona HD we recommended having the RAID controller card on the same PCI bus. For KONA 2, you can install it into either the 133 MHz slot or one of the 100 MHz slots in the PowerMac—but not on the same bus as the RAID controller card (SCSI or Fibre Channel). DO NOT put the RAID controller and the KONA 2 both into 100 MHz slots—they should be on separate PCI-X busses to ensure optimum performance. If you have a fast 133 MHz RAID controller, put it in the PCI-X 133 slot since it requires more performance from the Mac. |
| Q: |
How do I configure Final Cut's Motion JPEG-A Codec? |
| A: |
Read the KONA and Io Motion JPEG-A FAQ PDF. |
| Q: |
I get audio out of KONA with FCP canvas playback, but not with FCP viewer playback. Why? |
| A: |
Go to the FCP sequence, control-click below the a1/a2 source markers, and select -> RESET PANEL. |
| Q: |
How can I test RAID performance? |
| A: |
Here's how to test your RAID with a real clip:
1) Set up your project with a KONA 2 easy setup (type <control><q> for easy setup menu; make sure the "show all checkbox" is checked).
2) Create a new sequence (<apple> <n>). A new sequence will appear in the FCP browser.
3) In the FCP browser, double-click on the sequence; the new sequence will appear in the FCP timeline window.
4) Click on the Effects (tab) in the FCP browser.
5) Go to the Video Generators folder, and drag the appropriate Bars and Tone effect onto the new sequence.
6) Go to the Video Filters -> Video folder and drag the Timecode Generator Effect onto the video track of the new sequence (burned in timecode).
7) From the FCP menu bar, go to FILE -> EXPORT -> QUICKTIME MOVIE.
8) Give it a name and make sure the rendered clip is stored on the RAID.
9) From the FCP menu bar, go to FILE -> IMPORT, and select the clip that you exported in step 8.
10) Create a new sequence and drag the bars and tone clip onto the new sequence.
11) Hold Down the <shift><option><command> keys; From the FCP menu bar, go to TOOLS -> INTERNAL TOOLS, and select the Playback Meter. The playback meter monitors the RAID performance during playback. One for Audio, one for Video and two for Processing. The Playback meter should remain GREEN (center to right) for all the components it monitors during playback. If any of the performance bars goes to the left, the color will change to yellow or red which signifies that the RAID storage is not keeping up with playback.
12) Play the clip and monitor RAID performance with the Playback Meter. |
| Q: |
My monitor only supports standard definition, and yet my KONA 2 Mac Desktop is set to high definition. How can I change the KONA 2 desktop resolution to standard definition when I can't see the display menu on my KONA 2 monitor? |
| A: |
1) Go to KONA 2 Control Panel -> Control and set KONA 2 output to Macintosh Desktop.
2) Go to KONA 2 Control Panel -> Format and set Secondary to 525i29.97 (NTSC) or 625i25 (PAL)
3) Go to KONA 2 Control Panel -> Digital or Analog output and set to secondary (invokes the Kona 2 Downconverter).
4) Go to OSX System Preferences Displays -> Arrangement and arrange the KONA 2 display to how it is physically arranged to the Mac Display(s).
5) Go to OSX System Preferences Displays -> Display and check the "Show Displays in Menu Bar" checkbox.
6) Move the cursor over to the KONA 2 desktop display menu and select either 720 x 486 (NTSC) or 720 x 576.
7) Set "Number of Recent Modes" to 5 or 10.
8) You can now change the KONA 2 desktop resolution to high or standard definition by clicking on the display icon from the main Mac display menu bar.
|
| Q: |
Does KONA 2 support 16-bit renders from Adobe After Effects? |
| A: |
Yes, KONA 2 codecs have full support for After Effects 16-bit/component ('b64a') mode. However, because of how After Effects works, it can be slightly complicated. When you export a QuickTime movie from After Effects, you have to choose a codec to use (Render Queue:Output Module:Compression Settings). To use the clip with any of the usual uncompressed 4:2:2 hardware cards out there (including KONA 2) you would typically choose either Final Cut Pro's "Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2" (2vuy) or "Uncompressed 10-bit 4:2:2" (v210) codecs, or the board manufacturer's proprietary uncompressed codec (e.g. "AJA Kona 2Vuy Codec"). Of all these choices, the only codec that does NOT currently support 16-bit RGB is Final Cut Pro's "Uncompressed 8-bit 4:2:2" codec. The FCP 10-bit codec DOES support 16-bit RGB, as do the KONA 2 codecs.
Note: After Effects does NOT automatically determine codec settings! You may have to edit your "Adobe After Effects x.x Prefs" file (where "x.x" is your current AE version, e.g. 6.5), located in your user/Library/Preferences folder. Use TextEdit to open the file (you might want to keep a copy of the original Prefs file just-in-case you make a mistake in editing), then search or scroll down to the section of the file labeled ["QuickTime 64-bit Output Codecs"]. To enable a given codec type (for example 10-bit uncompressed), look for a line of text like:"v210" = "1". For the AJA KONA 2Vuy codec there should be a line that looks like:"2Vuy" = "1". If the codec type is missing, just add the line to the list. If the codec type is listed, but is set to "0", change it to a "1" to select it. Save the "Adobe After Effects x.x Prefs" file, and then re-launch After Effects to use the new preferences.
You may also want to add the same lines to the After Effects Pref file in the ["QuickTime 64-bit Input Codecs"] section immediately preceding the Output Codecs. This will also allow you to import 16-bit RGB files from compliant codecs.
To allow trillions of colors with the KONA RGB codec, add the following lines to BOTH the "QuickTime 64-bit Input Codecs" and "QuickTime 64-bit Output Codecs" section of the After Effects Preference file:
"R10k" = "1"
"R10g" = "1"
For the Windows version of After Effects, the same lines need to be added to the "Adobe After Effects 6.5 Prefs.txt" file, located in your Documents and Settings/<username>/Application Data/Adobe/After Effects/Prefs directory. |
| Q: |
Sleep settings and Energy Saver (System Preferences)—how should it be set? |
| A: |
We recommend you set the Energy Saver "Sleep" setting to "Never" for optimum operation. |
| Q: |
If I ever have to, can I "un-install" my KONA 2 drivers? |
| A: |
Yes, the KONA 2 Installer automatically places an application called "Kona2 Uninstaller" in the "/Applications/Kona Utilities" folder on your PowerMac. Running the Kona2 Uninstaller will result in removal of all the KONA 2 driver software. |
| Q: |
Will KONA 2 work in an X-Serve with Fibre Host Adapter? |
| A: |
Yes. Please note that there are two versions of fibre interface cards:
One with a heatsink (PCI-133 version); and one without a heatsink (PCI-X compliant version).
Here is how to install KONA 2 in an X-Serve:
1) The heatsink version should go in slot-4, KONA 2 in slot 2 or 3.
2) The non-heatsink version should go in slot 2 or 3 and the KONA 2 in slot-4.
Note: Do not install any other PCI cards into free PCI-X slot (2 or 3); it may slow down the PCI-X bus which could cause the fibre or KONA 2 to malfunction. |
| Q: |
Does the KONA 2 perform VariCam duplicate frame removal? |
| A: |
The KONA 2 board and drivers will handle VariCam duplicate frame removal during capture via the KONA 2 board's uncompressed HD-SDI input for any "shooting" frame rate (it skips over any extra frames). However, Final Cut Pro can only capture video at the standard video frame rates as determined in the Capture Preset Editor dialog: 60, 59.94, 30. 29.97, 25, 24, 23.98, and 15 fps. So, for example, if you want to shoot and edit your movie at 12 fps, VariCam could capture it, and KONA 2 could digitize it, but you wouldn't have a way to get FCP to make 12 fps clips or sequences.
When your "shooting" frame rate is the same as your "playback" frame rate, you can use the KONA 2 Easy Setup that matches. For example, if you are shooting at 23.98 fps and your intent is to capture/edit/playback the clip at 23.98 fps, then you can use the "AJA Kona2: 720p 23.98 Varicam" or "AJA Kona2: 720p 23.98 DVCProHD Varicam" Easy Setups and the card will automatically skip the duplicate VariCam frames and ONLY capture the 23.98 active frames/sec. Use the "... Varicam" setup if you want to capture Uncompressed 8-bit clips, and use the "... DVCProHD Varicam" setup if you want to capture DVCProHD compressed clips.
If you are deliberately over/under cranking the shooting rate in order to get a slow/fast motion effect (for example: shooting a clip at 48 fps with the intent to play it back at 1/2 speed in a 24 fps sequence), then you should use the "AJA Kona2: 720p 59.94 DVCProHD" Easy Setup to capture ALL of the frames (active + duplicates) - then process the resulting clip using the software Frame Rate Converter with a target frame rate of 23.98. The KONA 2 board extracts the VariCam flags from the RP-188 stream during capture and inserts them into the captured DVCProHD stream where the FRC can find them. Note that this ONLY works if you are capturing using DVCProHD compression. The KONA 2 board doesn't do the slow/fast motion processing - this can only be done by the Frame Rate Converter using the VariCam flag bits inside the DVCProHD-compressed clips. |
| Q: |
How can I capture DVCProHD clips from a VTR and use the software Frame Rate Converter? |
| A: |
The software Frame Rate Converter works on DVCProHD clips that have the embedded VariCam flags (these are the flags that identify the "shooting" rate of the clip, and which frames are duplicates). You can capture DVCProHD clips from a VTR in two ways: via FireWire (which transfers the clips in their compressed DVCProHD format - and retains the embedded VariCam flags); or by connecting the HD-SDI output of the VTR to the KONA 2 input and capturing it as you would any other video clip. During playback, the Panasonic VTRs take the VariCam flags out of the compressed video and add them to the HD-SDI video stream as "RP188 Ancillary Data". The KONA 2 hardware/software picks off the Ancillary Data while it is capturing and adds the VariCam flags back into the compressed DVCProHD clip where the FRC can find it.
There are two caveats to observe: for the KONA 2 solution you must be capturing using the DVCProHD codec (the FRC only works with DVCProHD compressed clips); and you must use the "AJA Kona2: 720p 59.94 DVCPro HD" capture preset (or the "AJA Kona2- 720p 59.94 DVCPro HD" Easy Setup). This setup tells the KONA 2 card to capture all frames (active + duplicates) so the FRC can use them. Although it sounds counterintuitive, the KONA 2 setups with "VariCam" in the name tell the board to automatically skip over any duplicate VariCam frames and only capture the active frames - which is only what you want to use if your shooting frame rate and editing/playback frame rate match (in which case you don't need the FRC!). |
