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MillimeterSoftware Field Monitors, Part 2
May 27, 2008 12:00 PM, By Jan Ozer
Figure 3. Divergent Media ScopeBox all tricked out.
Click here for a larger image
Divergent Media ScopeBox
I’m a big fan of the Macintosh computers, but not Boot Camp, which is the only current way to run OnLocation on my MacBook Pro, so I was eager to search for native Mac OS alternatives for OnLocation (note that Adobe showed a preview version of OnLocation for the Macintosh at NAB 2008, but the company hasn't announced a ship date). Since Divergent Media was just releasing version 2.0 of ScopeBox while I was writing this month’s column, I decided to have a look.
ScopeBox shares most of the basic functionality of OnLocation in a much more intuitive and easy-to-use interface. Operationally, each camera gets its own control window, which is the Canon XH A1 window shown on the upper left in Figure 3. You access all controls available for each scope in the Sidebar on the right, which opens automatically when you click to select a window. Once you have the scopes and preview window open to a configuration that you like, you can save it as a custom layout—a great convenience. If you have multiple cameras connected to your computer, you can monitor them simultaneously—another powerful feature.
As you can see in the Preview Monitor, ScopeBox has a full contingent of positioning tools, including center and rule-of-thirds positioning. Zoom controls allow you to zoom to 200-percent views of all pixels to assist focusing, and you can add a custom image to simulate a lower-third title or similar onscreen element. I found the Zebra stripes pretty funky, because they’re only true zebras at 1:1 pixel display. With the entire HDV preview squeezed into the Preview Monitor, the stripes run together and look like a skin rash. I prefer the jarring impact of true zebras as show in Figure 2.
The other irritating characteristic of the program was that it didn’t recover automatically if your camera cycled off before recording; instead, you have to reconfigure your camera selection manually. No biggie, but OnLocation recovers automatically once the camera comes online, which is more convenient.
Once you’ve optimized your lighting and camera settings, you click the red button on the bottom of the camera control window to start recording, and you can sync recording to start when you press your camera’s record button. ScopeBox saves all recordings in a panel on the bottom of the screen.
Figure 4. Compare the live preview (on the left) with a previously captured file.
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After recording, you can load the captured clip back into the program to compare it to the live feed, which I show in Figure 4. You can even load and display data from any of the program’s scopes, which are color-coded to the source, like the green Preview window matching the green source clip.
Overall, ScopeBox worked well and proved very easy to use, proving the concept that you don’t have to mimic the controls of a hardware oscilloscope to be intuitive. On the other hand, note that ScopeBox is one of the more expensive programs in the category at $699, and that there are cheaper Mac alternatives available. To read a comparison of ScopeBox 1.0 and two other Mac programs, DVDxDV Veescope Live and Red Lightning HD Monitor, check out Ben Balser’s article.
Continue the discussion on “Crosstalk” the Millimeter Forum.