Sources

ScopeBox can receive input signals in a variety of ways, including via other apps (ScopeLink), hardware capture devices, files, and network connections.

Adding a Source

The Source menu allows you to add new sources. In addition, new sources can be added via the sources tab in the sidebar. Click the "Add new source" button.

By default, you will be presented with the options "Add Live Source," "Add Movie Source," "Add ScopeLink Source," and "Add Test Patterns."

The "Movie Source" menu allows you to open video files within ScopeBox. ScopeBox currently supports MOV, MP4, MTS, M2T, MXF, and BRAW sources. ScopeLink is covered in a separate chapter.

Unavailable Sources

If a source is unavailable, it will be grayed-out in the menu. A source may be unavailable for many reasons:

It is already open in ScopeBox or another application.
Your system is missing the necessary codecs or drivers.

If you are having problems with a device please refer to the troubleshooting section near the end of this manual.

Removing a Source

To remove a source, click the "x" next to the source within the sidebar.

Alternatively, navigate to `View` > `Manage Custom Layouts`. A folder with saved layouts, saved sources, and alerts will be opened. Delete the matching file (saved sources end with .sbs extension), and restart the app.

Source Settings

Once you've added a source, a small preview and the source settings will appear. This provides a quick way to confirm you are receiving the proper video and audio signals. When opening a movie, you'll also get playback controls on this screen.

The settings available will depend on the type of source you're working with.

Video

You may change the name of the source using the Device field - just click and begin typing. This can be useful when using more than one of the same device.

The "Input" dropdown allows you to select which input you would like assigned to this source. This dropdown will only show up for devices or capture cards with multiple inputs. However, many such devices choose to present themselves as discrete devices rather than a single source with different inputs. In those cases, the dropdown will be disabled, and you'll select the input as part of the device selection process.

Audio

The audio section allows you to select an audio source for recording and adjust the level at which the audio is played through your computer speakers.

The preview audio adjustment is for monitoring only - any changes you need to make to adjust the levels you see within your VU meters should be done in your camera's audio controls.

Timecode

If your device supports timecode, via embedded (RP188) or serial, you may enable the timecode section to configure those settings.

Because serial deck control does not provide information about the timecode format of the device, you'll also need to choose the appropriate timecode format to tag incoming timecode.

Preview Adjustments

It's often helpful to preview a signal with adjustments applied, to get a sense of how an image will look after color correction is applied or other changes are made. For example, when shooting in the log space, you may wish to preview the image in the linear space. The Preview Adjustments section of the source settings allow you to apply these adjustments via LUTs (look up tables)

ScopeBox supports two LUT formats, cube (1d and 3d) and 3dl. To apply a LUT, check the Preview Adjustments box and then click Set Path. This will allow you to load a LUT in one of the supported formats. You may easily toggle the LUT on and off by checking the Preview Adjustments box.

LUTs impact all of the palettes, including the preview and any scopes. LUTs do not impact recorded files. LUTs are automatically reloaded if they contents of the LUT file changes on disk.

We support a variety of LUT formats in ScopeBox, but many production pipelines use custom LUTs. If you've got a LUT that isn't working with ScopeBox, send us a copy at [email protected], along with a brief description of what the LUT is intended to do.

The preview adjustments section also allows you to adjust the matrix, transfer and primaries used for displaying and processing your source. You can also use this section to rotate and flip your image.

Saving and Recalling Sources

Once you've adjusted all of your source settings, you can save a preset. Highlight the source in the source settings tab, and then select "Save" from the Source menu. This will save all of the settings for the source.

To recall a source, select it from the "Recall Saved Source" menu.

Sources will be saved with the device name set in the sidebar (see above).

You can set a default source, which will automatically be loaded (if available) when ScopeBox is launched, in the preferences.

Supported Sources

ScopeBox works with many types of hardware capture devices, including devices from Blackmagic Design, AJA, and most USB-compatible video capture hardware and cameras. As a quick test, if your devices shows up in QuickTime Player when you select New Movie Recording, it's likely to work in ScopeBox as well.

ScopeBox can receive input signals in a variety of ways, including via other apps or hardware capture devices, files, and network connections.

Hardware Capture Devices

ScopeBox works with many types of hardware capture devices, including devices from Blackmagic Design, AJA, and most USB-compatible video capture hardware, including cameras. As a quick test, if your devices show up in QuickTime Player when you select New Movie Recording, it's likely to work in ScopeBox as well.

If you're using a Blackmagic or AJA device, be sure you've installed the latest version of those drivers. For Blackmagic users, a quick test is to launch the Media Express application and switch to the Logging tab. If you're not seeing your signal there, you likely have hardware or driver issues.

Magewell devices should also work with ScopeBox, as they're standard UVC video inputs. The only caveat is that Magewell does some video processing inside the capture box itself, which could, in theory, result in some modest color differences vs the true signal with some inputs. If you need to guarantee that ScopeBox is seeing the "bits on the wire," we'd recommend the Blackmagic 4k Thunderbolt devices.

Network (NDI) Monitoring

ScopeBox supports monitoring signals over the NDI protocol via your local network connection. You can also use NDI on a single computer to monitor NDI-compatible applications, like Avid Media Composer.

Files

ScopeBox can open a wide array of QuickTime, MXF, M2T and MTS files for monitoring. Loading files in ScopeBox also enables support for our scrubbable timeline interface.

Keep in mind that decoding files can demand substantial compute resources. While modern Macs have hardware video decoders, older Macs can struggle when playing highly compressed files.

Adding a Source

The Source menu allows you to add new sources. In addition, you can add new sources by clicking the Add New Source button in the Sources tab, which will present you with these options:

Add Live Source
Add Movie Source
Add ScopeLink Source
Add Test Patterns

The Movie Source menu allows you to open video files within ScopeBox. ScopeBox currently supports MOV, MP4, MTS, M2T, MXF, and BRAW sources.

Unavailable Sources

If a source is unavailable, it will be disabled in the menu.

Here are some possibilities why a source may be unavailable:

It's already open in ScopeBox or another application.
The necessary codecs or drivers aren't installed on your computer.

If you're having problems with a device, see the Questions section or reach out for assistance.

Source Settings

Once you've added a source, a small preview and the source settings will appear. This preview provides a quick way to confirm you're receiving the proper video and audio signals. Playback controls will also appear on this screen when opening a movie file.

The available settings will depend on the source type.

Video

You can change the source name in the Device field, which is useful when using more than one device of the same model.

The Input dropdown lets you select which input is assigned to this source. Only devices or capture cards with multiple inputs are listed here. However, it's not uncommon for devices with multiple inputs to present themselves as discrete devices rather than a single source with different inputs. The Input menu is disabled with those devices, and you'll select the input as part of the device selection process.

Audio

In the Audio section, you can select an audio source for recording then adjust the level at which the audio plays back through your computer's speakers.

Use your camera's audio controls to adjust the levels you see in your VU meters.

Timecode

The Timecode section can help you configure devices that support embedded (RP188) or serial timecode.

Serial deck control doesn't provide information about the timecode format of the device. Hence, you'll also need to choose the appropriate timecode format to tag incoming timecode.

Preview Adjustments

It's often helpful to preview a signal with adjustments applied to get a sense of how an image will look after color correction is applied or other changes are made. For example, when shooting in the log space, you may wish to preview the image in the linear space. The Preview Adjustments section of the source settings allow you to apply these adjustments via LUTs (look up tables)

LUTs impact all of the palettes, including the preview and any scopes. LUTs are automatically reloaded if the contents of the LUT file changes on disk.

Saving and Recalling Sources

To recall a source, select it from the "Recall Saved Source" menu.

Sources will be saved with the device name set in the sidebar (see above).

You can set a default source, which will automatically be loaded (if available) when ScopeBox is launched, in the preferences.

Removing a Source

Click the X next to the source in the sidebar to remove it.

Last updated 3 months ago