Click Effects®

This setup information applies to the Click Effects® CrossFire.

Cable Connections

The device connects to the switcher over an RS-232 serial connection to a DB9 port on the switcher and a DB9 port on the device.

Table 1. Switcher to CrossFire Cable Connections
Acuity™ (Remote Port) CrossFire (Serial Port)
2 (Tx) 2 (Rx)
3 (Rx) 3 (Tx)
5 (GND) 5 (GND)

Switcher Setup

The switcher must be set up to communicate with the video server using either serial or ethernet protocols, as well as associate the video inputs that are coming into the switcher from the video server with the channel on the device that they are coming from.

Note: If you are using multiple video channels, each channel should be assigned to a separate port, or a port expander should be used.

To Set Up Communications

  1. Press HOME > Setup > Installation > Com Setup
  2. Press Type and use the Com Port knob to select the remote port that you want to set up for the device.
  3. Use the Device knob to select VTR (CLIP).
  4. Press Select Device and use the Device knob to select VDCP.
  5. Use the Device Preroll knob to select 10.
  6. Press Com Type and use the Type knob to select RS-232.
  7. Press Com Settings and use the Baud and Parity knobs to select 38400 (Baud) and NONE (Parity).
  8. Press Extra Options and use the Option and Value knobs to set the device parameters.
    Option Value
    TargetMachine ClickEffects
    Note: The remaining extra options are set automatically when the target machine in selected.
  9. Press More > VDCP.
  10. Use the Main/Associate knob to select where the device gets the clip list.
    Note: This feature requires multiple devices with the same clips loaded on them. Only the clip list from the main is loaded. Associate devices are assumed to have the same clips and the clip list from the main device is used. This saves loading the same clip list from a different server when switching between the devices.
    • Main — the device with the main clip list.
    • Associate — the main device clip list is used instead.
  11. Use the Main Port knob to select the device and clip list to use instead of loading the list from the current device. Only those devices that have been set to Main are listed.
  12. Press HOME > Confirm.

To Set Up a Video Input

  1. Press HOME > Setup > Installation > Source Configuration > Input Type.
  2. Use the Input knob to select the input source that you want to configure.
  3. In the Input Type area, select VTR.
  4. Press More > VTR/VDCP/AMP Xpts and use the Controller knob to select the device that the video signal is coming from.
  5. Press Video Server Setup and use the Channel and SubAddress knobs to select the video output channel you are controlling on the device (channel) and the UnitNumber set on the device (sub-address).
  6. Press HOME > Confirm.

Device Setup

The device must be set up to communicate with the switcher using the same serial or ethernet communications as you set the switcher up to use.

Note: This information in this procedure is provided as a guide and is based on the current version of hardware and software that was available at the time of testing. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, refer to the documentation that came with your device.

To Set Up Serial Communication

  1. Select Remote on the main menu and click on the remote port that is connected to the switcher. The Com Port Settings window is displayed.
  2. On the Settings tab, select Misc.
  3. In the Protocol field, select VDCP_Louth.
  4. In the PortEnabled field, select True.
  5. Select the VDCP (Louth) tab.
  6. Click VDCP Settings.
  7. In the UnitNumber field, select 1. This corresponds to the sub-address on the switcher.

Troubleshooting

If the device is communicating properly, but you cannot gain control from the switcher, try cycling through different values for the SubAddress, and then the Channel. The most common settings are channel set to the video channel number and sub-address set to 0 or and channel set to the video channel number and sub-address set to the serial communications port on the video server.