Congratulations on purchasing an AHA®-8945 HotConnect™ Ultra card with HotConnect™ Ultra software including DVSoft™ and DVPlay™! This file contains important information on your purchase. Please read all of it.
What's new since 2.0
• support for the blue and white Apple Macintosh G3
• support for Adobe™ Premiere™ 5.1b (with Apple® QuickTime™ 4.0) as well as Premiere 5.1a (with Apple QuickTime 3.0)
• an "Apple QT4 DV" installation which allows the use of the 8945 card with Adobe Premiere 5.1b and Apple QuickTime 4.0 (without using DVSoft or DVPlay).
System Requirements
You need a Mac OS compatible computer with at least one free PCI slot to install the HotConnect Ultra card. At least 16 MB of memory is required for 1394 support alone; if you plan to use HotConnect Ultra software for digital video, you will need at least 48 MB. If you are using Adobe Premiere 5.1 and Mac OS 8.5.1, you will need at least 96 MB of RAM.
HotConnect Ultra requires the following software to be installed on your system:
Mac OS 8.5.1 or later
QuickTime 3.0.2 or later
If you plan to use Adobe Premiere, use the following releases:
Adobe Premiere 5.1a or 5.1b for DVSoft installation
Adobe Premiere 5.1b for Apple QT4 DV installation
If you plan to use HotConnect Ultra software, you will need a DV video camera or video deck with a 1394 connector. Both NTSC and PAL devices are supported.
The following systems have been certified to work with this release of the HotConnect Ultra software.
Apple Power Macintosh Blue and White G3 450
Apple Power Macintosh Blue and White G3 400
Apple Power Macintosh Blue and White G3 350
Apple Power Macintosh G3/333 (minitower)
Apple Power Macintosh G3/300 (desktop and minitower)
Apple Power Macintosh G3/266 (desktop and minitower)
Apple Power Macintosh 9600/300
Apple Power Macintosh 9600/233
Apple Power Macintosh 8600/200
***Important notes***
***If using version 3.1 of the 8945 firmware: The boot jumper (J10) needs to be removed from the HotConnect Ultra card for all Mac OS computers.
On a blue and white G3, you CAN'T boot from a drive attached to the 8945 with the 3.1 firmware.
***If using version 4.1 of the 8945 firmware: The boot jumper (J10) needs to be removed from the HotConnect Ultra card for Mac OS A/V computers (i.e. 8600/200). The boot jumper should remain on for all other Mac OS computers.
On a blue and white G3, you can boot from a drive attached to the 8945 with the 4.1 firmware.
Other notes
In order to take advantage of the large resolution presets within Adobe Premiere 5.x, you may need to increase the amount of VRAM on your system, and your monitor must support the resolution you wish to use.
If you are using Mac OS 8.5, be sure to reduce the size of the disk cache to be below 6MB.
Use of the "Finder Sounds" in Mac OS 8.5 and later can cause a loss of DV audio output.
Installation
Make sure Virtual Memory is turned off.
There are two versions of the installation available in this release of HotConnect Ultra.
1) The Adaptec DVSoft and DVPlay Install
- works with Adobe Premiere 5.1a using Apple QuickTime 3.0 and Adobe Premiere 5.1b using Apple QuickTime 4.0
- installs SCSI, DV support, and Adobe Premiere settings and plug-ins
2) The Apple QT4 DV Install
- works with Adobe Premiere 5.1b using Apple QuickTime 4.0
- installs only SCSI and DV support (Adaptec's DVSoft and DVPlay software is not necessary with Adobe Premiere 5.1b and Apple QuickTime 4.0)
The Adaptec DVSoft and DVPlay Install
To install the DVSoft and DVPlay software, double-click the HotConnect™ Ultra Installer, then click on Install.
You should restart your computer after the installation.
The following is a list of components that get installed with the Adaptec DVSoft and DVPlay install:
In the Adaptec HotConnect™ 1394 folder
created by the installer on your hard drive:
After Effects Templates folder
DVSoft™ AE Presets folder
HotClick
Premiere 5 Plug-ins
In the Adaptec HotConnect™ SCSI folder
created by the installer on your hard drive:
Readme
DiscBasics
8945 v4.1b2 Flash Utility
PowerDomain Control v5.0
In the Premiere 5 Settings folder:
DVPlay™ - NTSC LowRes Preview
DVPlay™ - PAL LowRes Preview
DVPlay™ DV - 1024x576P/32K
DVPlay™ DV - 640x480N/32K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x480N/32K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x480N/44.1K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x480N/48K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x576P/32K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x576P/44.1K
DVPlay™ DV - 720x576P/48K
DVPlay™ DV - 768x576P/32K
DVPlay™ DV - 854x480N/32K
In the Premiere 5 Plug-ins folder:
DVPlay™ DV Device
DVPlay™ Print To Video
DVSoft™ Accel
In the Control Panels folder:
Sound 8.0.5
In the Extensions folder:
Adaptec 40 Enabler
Adaptec 45 Enabler
Adaptec DV Codec Lib
AdaptecAltDVDriver
AdaptecDVDriver
AdaptecDVTransportExpert
AdaptecDVTransportFamily
FireWire Support
°Adaptec DVSoft™
The Apple QT4 DV Installation
Make sure you have QuickTime 4.0 installed on your computer before the installation.
To install the "Apple QT4 DV" install (QuickTime 4.0), double-click the HotConnect™ Ultra Installer, choose "Custom Install" from the pop-up menu, select "HotConnect support for QuickTime 4 DV", then click on Install.
After the installation, you will need to go to the Extensions Manager in the Control Panels folder and make sure that QuickTime FireWire DV Enabler and QuickTime FireWire DV Support are enabled.
You should restart the computer after the installation.
The following is a list of components that get installed with the Apple QT4 DV install.
In the Adaptec HotConnect™ SCSI folder
created by the installer on your hard drive:
Readme
DiscBasics
8945 v4.1b2 Flash Utility
PowerDomain Control v5.0
In the Extensions folder:
Adaptec 40 Enabler
Adaptec 45 Enabler
FireWire Support
Please see your computer's manual for information on installing a PCI card. Be sure that you are grounded during the installation process.
What is 1394?
It's a name. This is a connection technology which is quite different from other techniques, such as RS-422, SCSI and ADB, used in the past.
It's a bus. Unlike a serial connection, multiple devices - up to 63 of them - can be connected to a 1394 bus. Each device can talk to the others without requiring any intervention from the intervening devices. Devices on the IEEE 1394 serial bus are also called "nodes." The bandwidth of the bus, which ranges from 100-400 Mbps (million bits per second), is shared between all nodes. The AHA-8945 supports up to 200 Mbps operation.
It's a topology. The nodes on a 1394 bus can be arranged in any "acyclic" manner. What does that mean? That there can't be any loops. A simple rule of thumb is this. Start with your computer. Now connect devices (such as other computers or cameras) to the bus one at a time, always plugging them in to only one of the already-connected devices. You'll always have an acyclic network if you do this. If you accidentally form a loop, you may not be able to see any devices on the bus until you unplug one of the cables in the loop. You won't do any physical damage to the devices, though.
It's a protocol-but not the only one. 1394 defines a basic way for devices to communicate. Like SCSI, though, each type of device has its own set of commands. You'll need a driver for each type of device which you connect. HotConnect Ultra software includes a driver for DV (digital-video) devices such as camcorders and VCRs with 1394 connectors.
What is DV?
DV is the name for a particular digital video format, as well as for the protocol used for transmitting it over the 1394 bus. This format was optimized to provide very good compression of video while retaining high picture quality. It also provides for error correction due to tape dropouts.
Unlike some compression techniques, DV will only compress a frame at its full resolution. For NTSC, the resolution used is 720x480. For PAL, the resolution used is 720x576.
DVCAM is a similar digital video format which is stored differently on tape. However, it uses a compatible 1394 protocol, and HotConnect Ultra software will operate correctly with either DV or DVCAM devices. All format changes required are handled transparently by HotConnect Ultra software (but read the next section for notes on the different audio formats).
Using HotConnect Ultra software with QuickTime
The QuickTime support within HotConnect Ultra software consists primarily of four components. There is a 'vdig' (video digitizer), a codec, a sound input driver, and a sound output component.
These components can be used with any QuickTime-compatible program. However, sufficient memory must be reserved for the components to load. A rule of thumb is that 6 MB should be allocated to the application beyond its normal needs, and 4 MB of system memory must be available after the application has been loaded.
The DV codec will always compress video at 720x480. Video can be decompressed to any size, and will be scaled. However, only 90x60, 360x240, 720x480, and 720x576 (PAL) resolutions are supported directly by the codec (and hence appear with the best quality). Other resolutions are supported by using QuickTime's scaling, which may result in grainy or blocky images.
The 720x480 resolution of DV is based on rectangular pixels. Most Macintosh video and graphics is displayed using square pixels (at 640x480 resolution). Because of this, DV previews may appear slightly distorted. (See Square Pixel Enhancement section to find out about the new DV resolutions modes in HotConnect Ultra.) You should prescale any graphics which you create using standard Macintosh tools. For instance, a circle created in PhotoShop at 720x480 resolution will appear as an oval when output via DV; instead, you should create a circle at 640x480, then rescale it to 720x480. This will result in an oval on the Macintosh screen but as a circle when output to tape. (Some QuickTime-based software will automatically rescale graphics for you.)
To digitize video or sound, a DV device must be connected to the 1394 bus and must be playing. Both video and sound can be recorded at the same time. As with any video hardware, you should make sure that the disk drive to which you are capturing video is defragmented and fast enough to handle video. A highly fragmented disk may result in dropped frames.
If you plan to capture sound, you must use the "Sound" control panel to set the system's input device. Open the control panel, and use the popup menu to select Sound In. Select DVSoft as the source, and the appropriate input rate. (The audio rate you should use depends on your equipment and source material, as DV supports several audio rates. Selecting a mismatched rate will result in poorer-quality sound.)
To output video, a QuickTime movie with a video track compressed using the DVSoft DV Codec must be played. The window being used for playback must not be obscured by other windows (including floating windows or palettes). The movie will be sent to the DV device and also to the computer screen in a 160X120 preview window. (If the hard drive or computer being used is too slow, playback will be very jerky. Defragmenting the disk used for movies may help.)
To output sound, DVSoft must be selected as the output device under the Sound Out menu option in the Sound control panel. (Note that the newer Monitors and Sound control panel does not have this functionality.) In addition, a video output must accompany the sound output since the DV format requires that sound be embedded within a video stream. (Playing a QuickTime movie which has both video and audio tracks is the easiest way to ensure that sound is transmitted correctly.)
The DV format supports several different audio rates: 32 KHz, 44.1 KHz, and 48 KHz. Different DV devices support different rates. While DVSoft will automatically convert audio rates during recording and playback, you will have better results if you always record and play back audio at a rate supported by your hardware. If you need to convert sample rates because two pieces of hardware support different rates, consider using special rate-conversion software before playback.
Using HotConnect Ultra software with Adobe™ Premiere™
To use Premiere with HotConnect Ultra software, you will need a minimum of 96 MB of RAM. It is important that the partition size of Premiere be set low enough so that there is at least 4 MB of memory free for HotConnect Ultra software after Premiere is launched. With no applications running, choose "About This Computer" from the Apple menu. The Premiere memory size should be no larger than the "Largest Unused Block" less 4 MB. On a 96 MB machine with few extensions, this should be about 34 MB.
NTSC
When you launch Premiere, choose one of the HotConnect Ultra DV Presets. This will create a project set up for DV video. To enable the DVSoft sound, see the section "Using HotConnect Ultra software with QuickTime".
As noted, DV by default uses rectangular pixels. If you are working with the DV preset, all imported graphics and video will be automatically converted to 720x480. By default, Premiere uses QuickDraw's fast rescaling algorithm. While this will work for previews, you should apply the built-in Resize filter to any graphics or video which was not recorded at 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) before generating your final movie. This filter will apply a more visually pleasing (but much slower) rescaling algorithm. See Square Pixel Enhancement section for details on working with the new DV square resolution modes.
If you want to capture a movie in Premiere at the largest capture size, there are a couple items you need to set up. First, open the Movie Capture window and select Recording Settings under the Movie Capture menu. Then go to the Recording Preferences and select the Record At button that allows you to specify 720x480 (NTSC) or 720x576 (PAL) as the recording size. Second, go to the Monitors & Sound control panel and select a monitor resolution that is at least a big as the recording size (e.g., 832 x 624).
For the video input, select the Video Input under the Movie Capture menu and for the Compression settings select DVSoft™ NTSC for NTSC or DVSoft™ PAL for PAL. Also, set the Frames Per Second to 29.97 (NTSC) or 25 (PAL). For the Source settings, make sure the Digitizer shows DVSoft™ Video as the selection and set the Format to NTSC or PAL depending on what you are using.
You can now use the Device Control Panel to control the camcorder and record video.
Once you select RECORD to begin capturing DV data, a white box with a small live video preview will appear. You will continue to capture video until you click the mouse button once. Then your captured video will be displayed. Please note that in order to playback the recorded clip, you should first close the Movie Capture window.
Also, make sure that once you start Premiere that you check your preferences in the application (i.e. device for device control, capture size, scratch disks, etc.).
PAL
Most of the information under the NTSC section will apply to PAL also, but there are a few specific items that you should consider. In your Movie Capture Recording Settings, you'll need to 1) choose 720x576 as your capture size, 2) select 25 fps as your capture frame rate. In Video Settings, you'll need to choose 25 fps in the Compression settings. For playback and editing, there are now presets for PAL and NTSC at the various audio sampling rates DV supports. Choose one of the PAL presets before starting a PAL project.
Aspect Ratios
Four pseudo-square-pixel preset files are included for Adobe Premiere® 5.0 and automatically installed in the Plug-Ins folder:
DVSoft™ DV - 640x480 NTSC, 32K
DVSoft™ DV - 854x480 NTSC, 32K
DVSoft™ DV - 768x576 PAL, 32K
DVSoft™ DV - 1024x576 PAL, 32K
The preset files are intended for two basic operating modes for "capture", "playback" and "movie rendering (compilation)", namely:
Square-pixel, 4:3 image aspect ratio in NTSC (640x480) or PAL (768x576)
Square-pixel, 16:9 image aspect ratio in NTSC (854x480) or PAL (1024x576)
Benefits: You can create Premiere productions at these resolutions, free from aspect ratio artifacts (i.e. circles will be retained as circles in the NTSC or PAL video output). If you export a PICT from one of these pseudo square-pixel captured clips, for example to PhotoShop, the resultant PICT does not introduce aspect ratio anomalies (circles will continue to look like circles, not ovals). If you import a square pixel (say 640x480) PICT or Title into a movie production using the pseudo square pixel 640x480 preset, then no aspect ratio anomalies occur (circles will continue to be circles - matched on both the desktop and any attached NTSC or PAL monitor on your DV/1394 camcorder or VCR).
16:9
Movies created in Premiere 5.0 with the NTSC (854x480) or PAL (1024x576) presets are designed for 16:9 viewing. A final movie may be transferred via 1394 to a DV/1394 device that can decode and output analog video in a 16:9 format (such as the Sony DSR-30) for viewing. The original data in the clip is scaled appropriately to completely fill the screen of the 16:9 video monitor. No user intervention is required. A flag within the DV movie stream is set to indicate that the data is 16:9 format and the Sony DSR-30 automatically recognizes the flag, illuminates the Wide indicator lamp and processes the signal to yield a quality 16x9 analog output. NOTE: If a user connects a conventional 4:3 analog video monitor to the DSR-30 device, then they will be required to enable the WIDE-ID setting in the DSR-30 built-in menu. When enabled, the movie will be processed in letterbox mode (black borders along top and bottom of screen) on the 4:3 analog monitor. If this setting is disabled, then the movie will be processed and displayed in anamorphic mode (tall and skinny) on the 4:3 analog video monitor.
Discussion
DV devices still capture at 720x480 (for NTSC) resolutions. The addition of these new presets take advantage of the wizardry of QuickTime to outwit Premiere to believe that it is operating on square pixel data streams. The underlying data in the captured or rendered movie clips is still 720x480. However, the clip would be tagged internally, for example, as '640x480' in the QuickTime image descriptor.
Playback
During playback of such pseudo 640x480 clips, QuickTime will cause a 640x480 Clip window to be created on the desktop. The actual 720x480 source data will be decompressed in software offscreen, then scaled to 640x480 using smart interpolation techniques This scaled offscreen data will be blitted to the Clip Window for desktop display. Simultaneously, the DV 720x480 compressed buffer will be sent via 1394 to the attached DV device (e.g. camcorder or VCR), decompressed and displayed on the video output port - at full 720x480 resolution.
Capture
If a user selects the 640x480 preset capture resolution, we still capture data at 720x480 and create a QuickTime movie clip. However, the clip is tagged internally as '640x480' in the QuickTime image descriptor. Note: Remember to always set your Mac desktop display to a resolution that is GREATER than the capture resolution selected in the chosen preset file. For example, if you intend to "capture" at the 854x480 mode for some 16:9 production, make sure your desktop is set to 1024x768 or greater.
Rendering
During movie rendering at these new square pixel resolutions, e.g. say to perform an A-B transition at 640x480, Premiere calls the codec to decompress and deliver 2 frames of the compressed A and B video frames (original data at 720x480) . Software decompression occurs for each of the frames and 704 of the 720 pixels are retained and scaled to 640 using smart scaling techniques (and to remove any errant black edges that may have been captured). The host CPU performs the transition effect on the A and B frames and delivers a 640x480 resultant frame back to the software codec. The 640 data is stretched to 720 using smart interpolation techniques, compressed in software, and sent to a QuickTime movie data structure. This QuickTime movie is internally "marked" as 640x480 as described above.
Limitations
There are some key limitations when using these pseudo square-pixel presets:
• To a purist, you will be losing some horizontal resolution in 640x480 mode and not really gaining additional resolution in the 16:9 modes, but it should not be visually noticeable.
• If you capture or render a square pixel pseudo clip (say 640x480) and try to play it back on a Mac without a 1394 PCI card and its DVSoft software installed (thus requiring use of the Apple DV software codec bundled with QuickTime 3 Pro), then it will not play back on such systems.
Known Issues and Limitations
The HotConnect Ultra card has been certified only for use with HotConnect Ultra software and Apple QuickTime. 1394 device drivers from other companies may not operate properly with it. Please contact Adaptec for current compatibility information.
HotConnect Ultra software requires a fast system (CPU, memory, and disk) to stream DV data. Some systems may not be fast enough, or may occasionally slow down for brief instants. If this happens, transmission over the 1394 bus may be momentarily interrupted. A dialog window will indicate the problem, and you may need to quit and relaunch the current application to re-establish the link. In MoviePlayer, closing the current movie and re-opening it may be an alternative. In Adobe Premiere, opening a movie capture window and then closing it may be an alternative.
Only one DV device may be connected at a time. If multiple devices are connected, HotConnect Ultra software will communicate with only one, and you may have problems with device control.
If the hard drive or computer being used is too slow, video may be displayed on the computer screen in addition to the DV device. If this occurs, playback will be very jerky. Defragmenting the disk used for movies may help.
It is not recommended to capture video to a hard drive that is attached to either the internal or internal/external SCSI bus.
When recording video using Adobe Premiere, the video displayed in Premiere's Movie Capture window on the computer monitor may trail the video displayed on the camera view screen by about one second. The display on the computer monitor properly reflects what has actually been captured.
If there is no tape in the DV device, the Movie Capture window device controls in Adobe Premiere will not work correctly.
If your camera is set to camera mode and you use the device controls in Premiere to record, the camera may "fall asleep". This will happen regardless of whether a tape is in the camera or not.
Make sure that tapes recorded with a DVCAM device are not played back using a DV device.The track pitch, or width of data written, is narrower on DVCAM, and many DV devices will not be able to read the DV data reliably.
Set your monitor to thousands or millions of colors, but not 256 colors. The Movie Capture window in Premiere will not work with the latter.
You should "pre-stripe" the tape by recording black over it before doing batch captures or assemble editing. This ensures that there is a consitant time code across the tape.
Make sure to use the DVPlay™ Print To Video rather than Premiere's built-in Print to Video function.
There is an incompatibility between HotConnect Ultra and some Canon Optura and XL-1 cameras. These cameras may not be recognized. In many cases, unplugging the camera and plugging it back in will resolve the problem. For the most up-to-date information on this problem, please contact technical support.
You may experience choppy playback on lower end systems such as the 9600 and 8600 when using the Adaptec DVSoft and DVPlay install.
There is an audio sync issue with the Adaptec DVSoft and DVPlay install and QuickTime 4. The workaround is to use the Apple QT4 DV installation instead.
Trademarks
AHA is a registered trademark, and HotConnect, HotClick, DVSoft, and DVPlay are trademarks of Adaptec, Inc. FireWire is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. QuickTime is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.
