Thanks Guys I really appriecate all the help. Macros seem like the type of tool that can really help a TD and it just takes some playing around. I love coming hear to just soak up all the great info on these forms. learning to be a TD (especially a Truck TD) can at times become a bit overwhelming when you take into account all of the switchers you must know, all the "extra equipment" i.e. spotboxes, lance controllers, ddrs, etc... and then being able to build effects from scratch and on the fly, it is places like editsuite.com that make this seem less intimidating... Thanks again

[quote="kschneider"]I know of a station in San Francisco that put a macro on every button of the PGM Bus. This macro turns off all keyers on M/E 4 so when they hot-punch to a source it will take out any keys that may be on-air so they always hot-punch clean. Cheers, -= Ken =-[/quote] Why not just turn on an Auto-drop key mode? Save a whole lot of programming :-) RE

[quote="Dan Berger"]Hmmm... so KTVU has Ignite, KGO has Ignite, KRON has Overdrive, KNTV has a Sony, so you are telling me that the Kahuna that KPIX just installed doesn't have Key Drop?[/quote] Not at this point in time. Hence, the single macro assigned to multiple buttons in the [b][i]current[/i][/b] software. :) Cheers, -= Ken =-

[quote="kschneider"]I know of a station in San Francisco that put a macro on every button of the PGM Bus. This macro turns off all keyers on M/E 4 so when they hot-punch to a source it will take out any keys that may be on-air so they always hot-punch clean. Cheers, -= Ken =-[/quote] Hmmm... so KTVU has Ignite, KGO has Ignite, KRON has Overdrive, KNTV has a Sony, so you are telling me that the Kahuna that KPIX just installed doesn't have Key Drop? --- Dan

[quote="Curt"]We have a macro for one show that is attached ( pre or post, doesn't matter in this case.) to the SS buttons on the preset row..These all call up a macro that selects "Background and Key 1" in the trans module..Since deko is always on key 1...and we 99% of the time go clean to SS's....this saves a step...can also be used for anything you need to go clean to...ie...WX maps...etc.. I will say.. some TD's like this...some don't. If you have show by show macro attachment files..then some can use this...some don't have to. Curt[/quote] I attach that function to the TRIGGER button on the Trans Panel, as it is inoperative anyway.

[quote="kschneider"]I know of a station in San Francisco that put a macro on every button of the PGM Bus. This macro turns off all keyers on M/E 4 so when they hot-punch to a source it will take out any keys that may be on-air so they always hot-punch clean. Cheers, -= Ken =-[/quote] No need to burn a bunch of macros for that. Both GVG and Sony have "Key Auto Drop" that does the exact thing you mentioned. It is selectable for which keyers and which M/Es you want the feature enabled on.

I know of a station in San Francisco that put a macro on every button of the PGM Bus. This macro turns off all keyers on M/E 4 so when they hot-punch to a source it will take out any keys that may be on-air so they always hot-punch clean. Cheers, -= Ken =-

Bob also reminded me of one we are using... We have a macro for one show that is attached ( pre or post, doesn't matter in this case.) to the SS buttons on the preset row..These all call up a macro that selects "Background and Key 1" in the trans module..Since deko is always on key 1...and we 99% of the time go clean to SS's....this saves a step...can also be used for anything you need to go clean to...ie...WX maps...etc.. I will say.. some TD's like this...some don't. If you have show by show macro attachment files..then some can use this...some don't have to. Curt

Another advantage of Macros is the ability of attaching them to crosspoint buttons or other panel buttons. For example, a macro that cues up a VTR or DDR can be attached to that source's button on the PST row, meaning that just presetting the DDR will cur it up...another macro that plays the DDR can be attached to the DDR's source button on the PGM row, so that the action of taking the DDR automatically rolls it. I use macro replace-attachments to let me switch multiple monitor feeds with one button...typically the key 1 or key 2 row, where you rarely if ever change keyer sources. I also attach a macro to the end of certain timelines that call up other effects...this lets me chain multiple effects without using the old loopback functions.

Michael... Curt's note is an excellent explanation, and shows some good examples of different ways TDs need to operate. On a fundamental level, you are correct about E-Mems and Snapshots remembering states of the switcher ... an E-Mem is always going to remember if your keyers were on or off, your crosspoints, wipes, pattern limits, and so on. Macros don't care about state (you can make them remember crosspoints), and can simplify your life quite a bit by making routine tasks one button-push. At my last station, we had a Kalypso without a shotbox. So, we programmed a bunch of macros on the keyer rows to call-up and execute DDR animations and transitions, essentially turning the keyer busses into a shotbox of sorts. We also programmed pre-attach macros to some buttons on the panel ... making a User 1 transition a white flash of 7 frames, and having the Wipe C2 generator be a "sports wipe" of 25 frames and things like that. When you hit "Mix", that pre-attached macro would default your auto trans rate back to 10 frames. We also replaced the "Triger" button and made it a "run" button. And yes, on the Kalypso you can make macros part of an E-Mem or Keyframe effect, or make an E-Mem or Keyframe part of your macro. Like Curt, I'm on a Sony now, too. We use a bunch of DDR-like animations and transitions, but the newsroom wants total control over them being loaded into the MOS. That said, I use macros here to trigger the animations, and do the transitions on the panel. Since Macros don't remember state, I've set-up each of our DDR transitions to act on the switcher panel like you were setting up to "take" your next transition ... so if you have BKGD+KEY 1+KEY 2 selected, with KEY 2 already on the air, it will run the DDR clip, and simply act like you hit the "cut" button under that animated clip (toggling BKGD, adding KEY 1 to on-air, and removing KEY 2 from on-air). Since the newsroom wanted total control, the concession had to be made to make all of the animated transition the same length. Sony macros and menu macros are very powerful, and they have a nice off-line editor, too. I also have really basic sets of macros to roll our playback devices, toggle our aspect ratio converters, and do simple things like auto trans 2 ME's at the same time (sometimes we feed monitors, and have to wipe in 2 or 3 monitors at the same time). I also have one that triggers a clip animation from the Frame-Mem, runs it, does the transition, fires the digicart, and calls-up a generic live bug on that FM channel when the clip is done. Fun and powerful stuff. Good luck, have fun, and soon you'll be triggering the coffee-maker with a GPI in a macro, I'm sure! ;-) Matt

Michael, Hello, Yes, you are correct that you can do some of the same things w/ macros and effects...( with some limitations of course) I will say, I am not the foremost macro expert...but I will try to help. They are new to me also. We had the same sort of questions about a 6mnths ago. We switched from 4k's to Sony 8000's. Here is how we are operating. Maybe this will give you some insight into your situation. Not only were we going from a GVG product to a Sony...but we were also going up one generation of switchers...SO with effects, macros...etc...we had to decide how we wanted to do what. Most all of our effects use a DDR in some way. Since we had to use an effect register ( PBUS recall) anyway...we decided to build our DDR effects on the sony as effects, and leave the macros for other tasks. It was more for balancing out our resources. Since we had to burn an effect anyway for PBUS...if we built all our transitions lets say w/ macros...we would also be using that many macros. In our case we have over 50 effects.. ......add a special hurricane look...or election look ( can you guess where I work?? :-) ..... and you are pushing 60- 70... and that is 60 -70 effects...and 60-70 macros to keep track of , manage...etc.. Not ideal.. To get around the state issue you mentioned..we use GPI loopbacks b/c the Sony can't ( yet) insert macros on a timeline. I assume you are on a Kalypso since you made mention of macros in timelines in your post. On a Kalypso, I have used macros in timelines to take the place of GPI's...so I wouldn't have to care about state. I have also put a macro that did a dissolve in M/E 1 ....where M/E 1 was feeding a projection screen. This way I wouldn't have to reach across the panel...Lazy...maybe...but when cutting around on the PGM/PST bus...it allowed me to keep my hands where they needed to be. So in our above scenario...we have 99 macros to play w/, instead of 30-40. We uses them to put functions on the panel that make more sense to our workflow. Some TD's like to use macros that replace the function of key bus row buttons to recall effects, or be another RUN button. My advice...take a look at what you need to build...and see what will work best in your situation. My advice would be to balance your resources since you never know when you will need what...either now or in the future when that "new look" comes down...and you have to add it to existing effects. As you get more used to having them, you will no doubt think of way to use them. hope this helps.. Curt