Menus

The DVMP Pro menu structure and the operation of the tools are described below.

File Menu

Open

Allows you to select the file to be played by DVMP Pro. This must be a supported DV AVI file type or Raw DV file. As well as standard DV AVI files, Canopus DV AVI, DVCPRO25 and DVCAM files are supported.

The file begins playing as soon as it is successfully opened. The filename appears on the window banner, together with the reel name in brackets (if present).

Close

Closes the file which is currently open in DVMP Pro.

Save Image

This allows you to save a .bmp image file of the video frame that is currently being displayed in the main DVMP Pro player window.

A file save dialog pops up which allows you to choose the file name and location of the .bmp file. Click OK to save the image.

Batch Processing

This pops up the Batch Processing window which can be used to process multiple files. For further details see the Batch Processing section.

Properties

Displays a file properties box which shows a variety of information about the file that is currently open in DVMP Pro.

Recent Files

Provides a quick way of opening one of the last 4 files to have been successfully opened in DVMP Pro.

Exit

Exits DVMP Pro. Note that you are prevented from exiting if the Batch Processing window is open.

Play Menu

This menu allows you to navigate through the file which is open in DVMP Pro. You can start playback or pause it, frame step backward or forwards, and jump in either direction by 1 second or 1 minute increments. You can also jump to the previous or next scene.

These are also duplicated by keyboard hot-keys which are visible in the Play menu.

Tools Menu

Allows you to perform a variety of operations on the input file - the "input file" is the file which is currently open in DVMP Pro. The operations all produce new output files, so the input file is left unchanged - unless you are using a tool in the "Direct File Processing" menu. 

Note that at present the Tools operations can only be performed on standard "dvsd" DV AVI files. So Canopus, DVCPRO25, DVCAM and Raw DV files are not supported here, although DVMP Pro can play them. Raw DV files can however be converted to AVI type 1 or type 2 files. Unsupported operations are greyed-out in the Tools menu.

Convert

Converts the file currently open in DVMP Pro to an alternative file type. Choose the output file type from the menu. A file selection dialog box will appear where you can choose the file name and location for the output file. The default file name is the same as the input file except that "-conv" is appended to the part before the ".avi" extension (e.g. myfile-conv.avi). 

You can convert to Type 1 or Type 2 AVI file format, or Raw DV format.

Burn-In Metadata

This allows you to burn-in selected items of DV metadata into the visible area of each video frame with frame accuracy.

The metadata items are:

  • Timecode
  • User Bits
  • Date and Time of Recording
  • Shutter speed
  • Aperture (f-stop)
  • Image stabiliser on/off
  • Gain in dB
  • Exposure Mode
  • White Balance Mode
  • White Balance Setting
  • Audio details

When you select Tools>Burn-In Metadata, a Confirm Settings dialog box appears where you can check and if necessary change any of the burn-in options. These are the same settings that appear in the Burn-In tab of the Tools>Options menu. See the Options section for more details.

When you are satisfied that the settings are correct, click OK, and you are prompted for an Output File name. The default file name is the same as the input file except that "-burn" is appended to the part before the ".avi" extension (e.g. myfile-burn.avi).

DVMP Pro will then make an exact copy of the existing AVI file to the output file name, except that each frame of the output file will have the metadata values written across it.

Below is a section of a screen grab of a burned AVI file, showing the metadata text burned into a video frame. The brightness and transparency of the text and outline are adjustable.

Modify Metadata

Sometimes you may need to "fix" an AVI file by changing some of the DV metadata that is stored within.

You can change:

  • Timecode
  • Date and Time of recording
  • User bits
  • Drop-frame timecode to Non-drop or vice versa
  • Widecreen flag

This will operate on the whole AVI file.

A Confirm Settings dialog box appears which allows you to check and if necessary change any of the Metadata modification settings. These are the same settings that appear in the Modify tab of the Tools>Options menu. Tick the items that you wish to change, and change the settings as required. See the Options section for details of the settings.

When you are satisfied with the settings, click OK. You are then prompted for the file name and location for the output file. The default file name is the same as the input file except that "-mod" is appended to the part before the ".avi" extension (e.g. myfile-mod.avi). 

The output file will contain the modifications. The input file will be unchanged.

Split File

This is a powerful file splitter which can split existing DV AVI files into smaller pieces using a variety of triggers.

It produces a log file with details of where splits occurred, and also a corresponding Premiere batch capture list (CSV) file.

The splitter is particularly useful in the offline editing in standard definition of high definition footage. Just feed your downconverted standard definition DV AVI file through DVMP Pro's splitter and it is split into multiple AVI files ready for offline NLE editing. The batch capture list file produced by the splitter can then be fed into Premiere's batch capture facility to allow a high definition capture to be performed automatically. For more details of using DVMP Pro with high definition video see HDV and HDCAM Topics.

A Confirm Settings dialog box appears which allows you to check and if necessary change any of the Splitter settings. Tick the items that you wish to change, and change their settings as required. These are the same settings that appear in the Splitting tab of the Tools>Options menu. See the Options section for details of the settings.

When your are satisfied that the settings are correct, click OK and you are prompted for the location and the stem name for the output split files. Each output file name will begin with the stem name, followed by the variable suffix that was chosen in the settings. You must also enter a Reel Name.

The splitting operation will then commence. The progress window will display the name of each split file as it is created. Note that if a file already exists with the same name it will not be overwritten - the new file will have a numeric (n) suffix added to make it unique.

The splitter log file and Premiere batch capture list file are created in the same folder as the split files. They have the same stem name and the suffix .txt and .csv respectively.

The batch capture list file is a comma-separated (CSV) file to Premiere Pro's specification with the following fields on each line:

  • Reel name
  • In point timecode
  • Out point timecode
  • Clip name - the pathname of the split file
  • Log note - the date and time of recording (if present) in the format "yy-mm-dd hh.mm.ss"
  • Description - user bits (if present)
  • Scene - blank
  • Shot/Take - blank

Note that DVMP Pro fills in the "Log note" and "Description" field with the recording date/time and user bits respectively, if they are present in the first frame of the  corresponding split file.

Part of an example batch list file is shown below. Note the reel name suffix "A" which appears when the timecode jumps backward (see Options for further details).

REEL 001,00:26:21:14,00:26:42:10,D:\Example 00.26.21.14.avi,07-04-07 14.38.35,14:38:0A:24,,
REEL 001,00:27:32:13,00:26:44:14,D:\Example 00.27.32.13.avi,07-04-07 14.39.46,14:38:0A:24,,
REEL 001A,00:00:00:07,00:00:08:02,D:\Example 00.00.00.07.avi,07-04-21 14.08.11,,,
REEL 001A,00:00:50:14,00:01:04:21,D:\Example 00.00.50.14.avi,07-04-21 14.09.01,,,

The splitter log file is similar to the batch list file except that it has an additional first field which holds the absolute frame number within the input AVI file. It also shows any split files which were not created (i.e. "DISCARDED") because their duration was less than the user-specified Pre-roll delay (see Options).

 

Extract Audio

This allows you to extract the audio from an DV AVI file to a WAV file.

You are prompted for the name and location of the output WAV file.

Export Metadata

Metadata is stored in every frame of DV data. This export facility outputs the metadata items for each frame to a text file as a list of Comma-Separated Values (CSV), one line per frame. This file can then be imported to Excel or most other spreadsheet or database programs.

You are prompted for the name and location for the output file. By default, the file name of the output file is the same as the AVI file but has .csv appended.

To reduce the size of the export file, a line is only added to the file when any item of metadata changes its value. In the case of the Timecode and Recording Date and Time items which change constantly, a "change" actually means a "discontinuity" in the timecode, date, or time of day. If an item of metadata goes from being present in one frame to being missing in the next frame (or vice versa) this is also considered to be a "change".

If any item of metadata is missing in a frame, it is written as an empty text string - i.e. you will just see two consecutive commas.

The metadata/datacode items appear on each line in the following order:

  • File Progress Timecode - effectively the location within the file
  • Timecode
  • User Bits
  • Recording Date
  • Recording Time
  • Shutter Speed
  • Iris (f-stop)
  • Image Stabiliser on or off
  • Gain in dB
  • Auto-Exposure mode
  • White Balance Mode
  • White Balance
  • Audio Sampling Frequency
  • Audio Locked/Unlocked

Part of an example export file is shown below.

00:00:00:00,00:17:01:09,01:11:0A:01,08/11/03,16:43:48,50,1.5,OFF,0,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:07:21,00:17:09:05,01:11:0A:01,08/11/03,16:43:56,50,2.0,OFF,0,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:54:08,00:17:55:17,01:11:0A:01,08/11/03,16:44:42,50,1.5,OFF,6,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:55:14,00:17:56:23,01:11:0A:01,08/11/03,16:44:43,50,1.5,OFF,10,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:56:03,00:17:57:10,01:11:0A:01,16/09/03,13:45:29,,,,,,,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:56:04,00:17:57:11,01:11:0A:01,16/09/03,13:45:29,50,1.5,OFF,17,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:00:58:13,00:17:59:20,01:11:0A:01,,,,,,,,,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:02:05,00:18:03:12,01:11:0A:01,17/08/03,00:00:00,50,1.5,OFF,17,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:04:24,00:18:06:06,01:11:0A:01,17/08/03,00:00:02,50,1.5,OFF,16,AUTO,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:07:03,00:18:08:10,01:11:0A:01,17/08/03,00:00:04,50,1.5,OFF,16,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:12:07,00:18:13:14,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:10,50,1.5,OFF,6,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:12:16,00:18:13:23,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:10,50,1.5,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:12:24,00:18:14:06,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:10,50,2.0,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:13:15,00:18:14:22,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:11,50,2.4,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:13:23,00:18:15:05,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:11,50,2.8,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:14:06,00:18:15:13,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:12,50,3.4,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:14:16,00:18:15:23,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:12,50,4.0,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:15:05,00:18:16:12,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:13,50,4.8,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:15:10,00:18:16:17,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:13,50,5.7,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:15:16,00:18:16:23,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:13,50,6.7,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:15:23,00:18:17:05,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:13,50,8.0,OFF,0,MANL,AUTO,,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:16:12,00:18:17:19,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:14,50,9.5,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:16:17,00:18:17:24,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:14,50,11,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:16:23,00:18:18:05,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:14,50,13,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:17:02,00:18:18:09,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:14,50,16,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:17:14,00:18:18:21,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:15,50,19,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED
00:01:17:18,00:18:19:00,01:11:0A:02,17/08/03,00:00:15,50,23,OFF,0,MANL,PRESET,INCAND,48,UNLOCKED

Note that this tool is only available in the full version of DVMP Pro. It is not available in the demo version.

Direct File Processing

All of the processing tools under the Tools menu make no changes to the input file. They always create a new output file which contains the required changes. This can however be a problem if you are very short of disk space.

Therefore if you wish to use the Burn in or Modify Metadata operations, you can choose these options under the Tools>Direct File Processing menu. In this case a separate output file will NOT be created - the changes will be made directly to the input file itself.

This can be hazardous. For example if there is a mains power glitch then the file may be left corrupted - you must decide if you are willing to accept the risk. Also the changes can not be undone. You are therefore presented with a Warning message box asking you to confirm that you accept these risks and wish to continue. If you click the Yes button, then the operation will proceed.

However you can click the Abort button on the progress box to abort an operation before it completes. In that case the frames processed so far will have been changed while the rest of the file will be unchanged.

You will be presented with the Confirm Settings dialog, but you will not of course be prompted with a file selection box as there is no output file to be created.

Direct File Processing operations need write-access to the input file, therefore you will notice that DVMP Pro closes the file and the video window goes black while the operation is performed. When the operation completes DVMP Pro re-opens the file at the same playback position.

Options

This allows you to set a variety of options for the Tools and the Player. See the Options page.

Help Menu

About

Displays version information of DVMP Pro, and the details of the person to whom it is licensed.

Online Help

Displays these help pages on your web browser.

Register Online

This takes you to a web page from where you can purchase 1 or more licenses for DVMP Pro.