GPI and Tally Interface - Camera RCP Touchdowns

We're successful using the GPI and Tally Interface with a 40x40 Smart Video Hub driven from Sony RCP-1500's for RCP touchdown to the vision controllers monitor.

It all works but the problem we have it that it won't always return to the last router selection that the vision controller wants. (Usually Programmer/Mixer Out). This is a must for all the shows we normally do & we are currently having to cross hire a Imagine Communications ( Leitch / Harris ) or Snell (Pro-Bel) router to do the job.

The fault usually occurs when 2 touch-downs are made on the rcp in quick succession triggering 2 GPI's. The router then returns not to the source selection but touchdown 1.

Has anyone else come across this / found a fix to force the router to return to your chosen destination?

Can you let me know if i'm just wasting my time, is it time to buy a professional router?

If I understand, you are using the tally from the RCP to generate a signal for your hub.
I guess a computer such as a laptop or arduino that selects the vision source and generates
the packets to turn on tally and change input on the hub would be better. At least until you
invest in an ATEM. A laptop would still be useful.

Yeah.. i've suffered this. Is not really a router fault, but the logic of the GPI box.
When you touch down on the RCP the GPI box polls the router for the current source on the chosen destination and stores it, it then switches the destination to the RCP camera source for the duration of the GPI. When you release the GPI it switches the destination back to the originally stored source value..
That's all well and good until you tigger a second GPI during the first... at that point the second GPI polls the router and get the first GPI's source value and not the desired original source.

Currently with the Blackmagic GPI Box there's no solution to this - eventually I used a third party box which worked perfectly http://bmrouter.co.uk/ but the link appears to be dead now.

That sounds like a solution, shame the link is dead! Do you have any other contact details for the maker of this product?

Check out Tally-Lights.com

Buy one of our controllers for the Blackmagic system.

If doesn't work, I will refund your money + shipping cost to you, and pay for return shipping to me.

Actually, looks like Skaarhoj now do a box for this - it's a bit more basic than the bmrouter but hits yr spec I think.

http://skaarhoj.com/case-stories/customer-projects/ scroll down to "GPIO Box - Videohub Control"

Hi There,

BMrouter.co.uk was me. I am just about to start making the joystick override boxes again. Will posts details here soon.

The current version keeps track of which source to return to, even if using two hands to rack cameras. It also allows for upto 4 operators/destinations.

If you have an older version and would like firmware upgrades to support multiple ops, please let me know.

New contact details...

videowalrus dot com (why can't i post URLs to this forum???)

Hi There,

videowalrus dot com (why can't i post URLs to this forum???)

Because it is locked out beneath a certain amount of posts.. (To deal with spam robots that make an account and post 5+ spam posts..)

I believe that Skarhoj make a box that could solve this issue for you...!

I have just installed a BM 72x72 Router with a BM ATEM2 Desk in our OB Truck. The truck has a facility for 6 Sony HD2500 CCU's with Sony 1500 RCP's. Using the BM GPI / Tally box I can successfully control the switching to 'racks' monitor of each CCU via the RCP push down but the problem is still that the original switched path programmed in the router 'TX to Monitor' does not restore after the first few RCP pushdowns. Is anyone else still having this problem? Any assistance would be gratefully received!!

If you have an older version and would like firmware upgrades to support multiple ops, please let me know.

We stopped using your boxes because, on a power cycle, the box seems to query the router in such a way as to kill the signal on every output of the router for a split second. I'm not sure if this is due to your code or the BMD code in the router. Is this fixable in a firmware update?

When you release the GPI it switches the destination back to the originally stored source value..
That's all well and good until you tigger a second GPI during the first... at that point the second GPI polls the router and get the first GPI's source value and not the desired original source.

This is not always the case. It depends on which order your release the two triggered GPIs. This leads me to believe that the code should be fixable by BMD.

Example 1
Select source 10 externally (we use TX on 10). Trigger GPI 1 and Hold, trigger GPI 2 and release, release GPI 1. The router returns to 10. This operation is as you would expect.

Example 2
Select source 10 externally. Trigger GPI 1 and Hold, trigger GPI 2 and hold, release GPI 1, release GPI 2. The router returns to 1. This is where there is a problem. But further, if you then trigger GPI 1 again and release, the router does then return to 10

At least with the above two examples, the problem is in returning to the TX output, the correct sources are routered when GPIs are triggered. The issue is worse when a third GPI is triggered within the sequence (of which there are too many combinations to post here as examples.) But suffice to say that there are combinations that leave you with one GPI triggered but the router routing a different source. You are then wildly trying to adjust the black levels or something on an RCP and wondering why you see no change on the monitor.