LiveCore is the entire range of switchers offered by Analog Way that utilize the Web RCS for control. These units include the Nextage, Smart Matrix Ultra (discontinued), and Ascender. The LiveCore family also includes the control devices Vertige, Shotbox, and Controlbox.

All of the switchers in the LiveCore family are high-end, seamless, screen management devices that can be used in many environments. 

NeXtage

As the smaller venue workhorse this 2 RU box offers 8 inputs and 2 outputs.

SmartMatrix Ultra

The SmartMatrix Ultra has 12 inputs and 4 outputs. Unlike the Ascender 16, this unit does not support overlap across the outputs. This unit has been discontinued and is no longer being trained on or sold.

Ascender

By far the most popular of the LiveCore switchers the Ascender is a 4 RU box with 12 inputs and 4 outputs that can do it all. 

Vertige

The Vertige is a powerful controller capable of controlling multiple LiveCore units, routers, and third party devices. The vertige connects via ethernet and has redundant ethernet ports and power supplies.

ControlBox

A hybrid controller, the ControlBox is meant to give more functionality than a ShotBox while remaining easy to learn and use.

Shotbox

The Shotbox is a great controller to give our GUI physical buttons to recall and take presets. It connects via USB through a control laptop and does need a software package installed.

The WebRCS is comprised of three tabs; setup, edit, and live. Due to historical significance the Edit and Live tabs are essentially exactly the same with the caveat being you may only see one screen at a time while in edit, yet have all screens showing while in live. Setup is divided into many tabs that should be gone through in order from left to right, top to bottom while setting up the machine. 

Under the setup tab you will see sub-tabs, one of these is the pre-config tab which has its own sub-tabs. If you always work top to bottom-left to right all options will be explored.

A note on inputs: An input may have many plugs in use but only 1 can be active at a time. The plugs can be toggled while a source is live but will achieve a "cut" like effect (cutting to black for  frame before toggling).  

Cropping or setting the aspect ratio of an input can only be changed manually and is not affected by a preset. The same changes can be made utilizing layers which are part of the preset.

What is WebRCS?

WebRCS is a Flash based program hosted inside of a LiveCore unit. This allows any computer with a browser to connect and control LiveCore machines without the need of other software. WebRCS never has to be updated as it is updated with the firmware of the machine it is hosted on. 

Connecting to WebRCS

The prefered method for connecting to your LiveCore machine is via ethernet with static IP. This could be either a direct connection or through a router, no cross-over cable is necessary as the unit will auto detect. Static IP is preferred because the router assigned dhcp addresses could renew and be assigned in a different order resulting in a loss of connection. Static IP configurations also ensure that you know the organization and route of your system. 

Up to 5 instances of Web RCS can be running simultaneously from up to 5 control computers. You can also have multiple tabs in a browser connecting to multiple LiveCore units or the same unit.

If using DHCP, connect to a router and the IP on the front display will change to what is assigned to it. Plug your laptop into the router as well and you should be able to connect.

It is important to know how to change the IP from the front panel. Below is a video with a quick demonstration.

Static IP

The main GUI is divided into many different sections that can all be resized to better fit the screen or  style of use. The management icons on the bottom are especially important as they make short work of many tedious tasks such as aligning layers, setting ratios, or hiding unused layers. 

Several sections share pixel space, such as inputs\logos, screen\monitoring, and memories\properties. How these are set remain with their respective tabs, so you can have the layer properties tab visible in Edit and have memories visible in Live.

Use the visual setting option in the GUI shortcuts to save how you prefer your screen to look.

A note on the GUI. While it has a very slow refresh rate it does provide a live preview of your inputs and PVW/PGM windows. The thing to remember is that no effects, cropping, transitions, timings, or transparency are shown in the GUI. You MUST reference the multiviewer to see these.

Layers

LiveCore layers consist of two scalers (one for pvw and one for pgm) locked together to create truly seamless layers that can be adjusted manually and have sources dropped into them. As a layer is adjusted you can see the corresponding change in the properties pane. For example moving a layer around with the mouse changes the pixel values under position\size. Multiple layers can be selected while holding shift and clicking a layer. 

Cropping Layers

Layers can be cropped like the inputs but there is an advantage in that the layer changes can be saved into different memories and used in presets. The layer cropping works more like a Zoom then a crop. Zoom into a smaller window and move it around until only the portion of the source you want is showing. If manually cropping a layer, start with the size H and V to zoom in then use position to adjust. 

Cropping Layers 

The aspect icons work just like they do at the input and can be a quick way to crop. You cannot see the cropping in the thumbnails and must use the multiviewer to see the changes. 

Sources are defaulted to "center" in a layer, So as you resize and reshape a layer the source will maintain aspect ratio and may never crop. You need to decide whether to FILL or CROP when the time comes.

Effects

Most of the effects are self explanatory. Smooth Move turns off the subtle acceleration and deceleration pips have when moving. Force cross-transition forces the layer to apply transitions without moving(rarely used). Force transition on the other hand is vastly important as it forces the layer to utilize the chosen transition.

Transitions

The default transition is always a fade. There are opening and closing transitions that can be set to a cut, slide, wipe, circle, or stretch. However, the transition is over-ridden by the dynamic move of the system unless force transition is on. 

If a layer is entering(opening) to the PGM bus or leaving(closing) it the layer will utilize the chosen transition; such as a fade, slide, or wipe. If the layer is already in the PGM bus and is in a different position in PVW then when Take is pressed instead of using the transition the layer will dynamically move from the PGM position the the PVW position. Force Transition effect ENSURES that the Transition is always used regardless of layer bus position.

Dynamic Moves\Flying Curve

If force transition is off (default) and the layer is not leaving PGM then the system will perform a move from the PGM location to the PVW location. Under the Flying curve property a layer can be told to move straight, in an arch, or (as long as the source is the same) to follow a curve that you can control. To see the curve click the "show flying curve" tool panel icon. 

The speed of the move is dictated by the transition time. To slow down a move increase the transition time under the TAKE button.

Good layer management can mean the difference between a good show and a bad one. The icons below are fundamental to operating WebRCS efficiently and properly.

Memories

Memories are what saves all the screen and layer properties into the unit and each memory represents a single screen worth of information.

Memories can be saved from any screen (pvw or pgm) and recalled to any other screen (pvw or pgm). Saving and recalling to different aspect ratio or sized screen can cause some issues, but there is an auto scale button in the memories pane that cleans much of this up.

Master Memories

Master Memories serve as a macro system where each Master Memory will recall a defined set of memories to corresponding screens. 

Master Memories store only memory destinations and don't have any of the actual screen or layer properties.

There are two ways to store and manage Master Memories, from already created Memories or from the pgm/pvw screen.

From Saved Preset Memories

Saving memories in this format relies on you having already created the memories before hand. This is a very building blocks style of working. Load the memory to the proper screen and confirm. 

The main benefit of this style is that the Master Memories can use the same memories multiple times. Thus when a correction to a screen needs to be made, fixing the "building block" fixes all the Master Memories that use that memory.

From Program or Preview

This is a more straightforward style where you can build the look across your PVW or PGM screens then save each screen created this way into a memory slot while creating the Master Memory. Be sure not to over-write any memories already used when doing it this way.

This format can be fast up front but can bog down on a big show when changes are necessary. Also if you create a memory for each screen for every Master Memory then the total number of memories could be exceeded. 

Hovering over and Shift clicking a memory will show you the memories overview, a visual representation of what layers and layouts the memory has. From here the memory can also be labeled and deleted. This is true for all memories. 

There are 144 available Memories and 144 available Master Memories.

Muliviewer

The multiviewer shares the same pixel space as the screens gui. The Multiviewer is fully customizable using 8 or 12 widgets and having its own 8 memories which help mimic having more then one multiviewer. 

Any widescreens will use a widget for each output and any dual head, dual link, or 4k inputs will use 2 widgets.

Use a template that is close to the needed look and adjust from there. This will help save a good amount of time. Also the ability to save the preview or program as a full screen multiview memory helps while building delicate transitions.

The shortcut for the multiview memories are SHFIT+(number). Toggle between inputs, outputs, fullscreen, mosaic, producer monitor, and the other multiviewers that you can save.

Confidence Screens

Confidence screens use the same pixel space as the multiviewer and are more like Aux'es then confidence monitors. A confidence screen is limited to a set amount of layouts and only has 4 layers available despite the machine you are on. 

The margin lets you change the space between the windows while the background color defines the color that fills that space. 

One of the main uses for a confidence screen is being able to send the PVW or PGM screen to an output. A full 3 screen blend can be sent out of 1 output using this feature. 

There are 16 confidence memories available, these work just like screen memories and can be recalled using a master memory. 

Native Backgrounds

The Native Layer is an un-scaled layer that can display any source or frame as long as it is the same resolution as the output. The reason for this is that a source that is being used in a Native Layer by-passes the normal processing channels and gets applied directly to the Native Layer. Since there is no processing, there is no chance for the source to get scaled to fit the output canvas. 

The diagram to the left shows how an input is essentially duplicated and sent through different channels. On Live Core units an input can be used in a Native Layer while simultaneously being scaled in a normal layer. This allows a source to be the background for one output yet still be a pip in another.

Here is an example of three different input resolutions and how they will appear if used as a Native background. It will still work, but any source that is smaller will not fill and any source that is larger will get chopped off. 

When doing widescreen backgrounds a source needs to be set for each output as there is no scaling to stitch or scale. 

The LiveCore processes the entire canvas and doubles the data in the overlap region for you. This is not true for the Native layer however, so it gets overlapped but no data doubling is applied. 

The sources or frames that are being used must have either the data doubling already applied or a gap in the middle the same size as the overlap. The green areas in the image to the right needs to be the same information in your wide screen native background inputs.

For this online module you will be following along and performing the actions via the simulator. The simulator has all of the functions of a LiveCore machine with the only real drawback being that you can't see the processed outputs. 

Download and install VirtualBox first.

Downloads – Oracle VM VirtualBox

You might want to compare the SHA256 checksums or the MD5 checksums to verify the integrity of downloaded packages. The SHA25...

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

Download the Simulator and install. Also download the quick start guide and follow the setup procedures.

AW Simulator

AW Simulator

http://www.analogway.com/en/products/software-and-tools/aw-simulator/#dl

Here is the simulator once running properly. Type the IP into your web browser.

Set a name for the session and choose the device to work with. For this online module use an Ascender 48.

Click on "Create new session"

Click on "Start" to activate the machine, and once it is available click on the Launch Web RCS.

If you get an error it may be resolved with the troubleshooting steps in the quick start manual. If the above error appears then follow the steps below.

Usually starting the simulator automatically starts the virtualbox. But on two of the windows 10 machines at our shop this is not the case. So what I have to do is click on "File", "Preferences", "Network" and change the "Attached to" drop down from Host-only to internal. Try to start the software and when it fails change the drop down back to host-only adapter and it should start up after that.

There are also some troubleshooting steps in the quick start guide. If the program will not work please give us a call as this is required for the module.

Guided Learning

For this section we will be going through a sample show and covering the specifics of what needs to be configured to accomplish this. Using the simulator, do your best to follow along and create the show.

Let's walk through a 4 (destination)screen show. There will be two 2k-16:9 destinations, and 2 16:9 DSMs. For inputs we have a graphics pc, video playback, a camera, as well as lower third pc.

We are going to start in the preconfig and work our way through each tab to ensure we miss nothing as we go.

There is no reason for us to change the internal rate of our unit. If we needed to lock to an input or external reference we would do it here.

We do not have a linked unit. If we had, all the lines would need to show green and both units would need the same firmware.

No output layer settings need to be changed for a basic show.

The default state after factory reset is 4 single screens. Go ahead and label them SL, SR, DSM 1, DSM 2.

If the screens are not set up properly you can use the template button in the top right of the screen which will give you a list of output configurations to quickly choose from.

There are no changes to how the inputs work or whether they are needed in the native layer.

This section is only for enabling frame slots in native backgrounds. Lets enable Frame slot 4.

Set Frame 4 as the source for Native Background Set 1 on screen 1 and screen 2. We can now use Frame 4 in the Native Layer on screens 1 and 2.

The only changes to make here would be a solid pip color if necessary. It can also be nice to set the preview aspect to "Display nothing during effect". This will minimize the amount of commotion on your preview monitor during transitions by only showing the program windows during transition.

Having gone through preconfig the next tab is outputs. They default to 1080p but keep in mind that there is a 1920x1080 option which is not SMPTE and will not work across HDSDI.

Next we need to disable HDCP on the outputs as a precaution. The shortcut will be to use the global quicksetup located at the bottom left of the GUI. It is a gear wheel with arrow icon. From here select "none" for input,ouput, and monitoring hdcp.

To setup the inputs, the "AutoSetAll" button will check and configure every plug on the unit. You will need to make sure the right plug is active. Also hovering over the input preview will pop up the shortcut icons for plug, freeze, setup, and multiview fullscreen.

Click input 1 on the left and we now have more tabs to go through. Going through these will ensure our inputs are adjusted properly. Input 1 will be the camera feed on SDI. Make sure the active plug is SDI and label it Camera. HDCP should already be off for the inputs as we used the global shortcut earlier.

Basic input settings are adjusted here. We do not need to adjust for this exercise. 

If the input does not look correct or needs cropping that will be done here. "Aspect out" defines how the source will act when used in a layer. These settings can also be done per layer when working with memories. Only make the change here if it is permanent.

1:1= Maintain original source sizing.

Centered= Maintain ratio while sizing to fit H or V with no cropping.

Fill= Stretch to fill the layer.

Crop= Maintain ratio by cropping to fill the layer. 

If input 1 were a 4:3 image on a 16:9 signal we could apply the predefined crop of 'pillarbox' and the unit will automatically crop that ratio of signal that would be black bars on either side. If this source changes to 16:9 later on we would have to manually remove this crop at that time.

Manual cropping is also available to define an area of the input to use. The finder can be used to help crop fine detail but make sure it is off when finished as the finder shows in the program bus.

For input 2 lets use the graphics pc on HDMI. If you have any problems with resolutions such as getting 1080p from a mac, set the EDID of the input then power cycle the computer.

Next lets bring the lower third machine into input 3 on HDMI. We will need to set this input up as a keyed source. The three types of keying are luma key, chroma key, and crematte. Luma will make transparent a luma channel in the source. Chroma key will reference a luma and hue value to make a color transparent. Crematte uses a luma, hue, and saturation value to define a specific color that allows more fine adjustment of the image.

Choose color killer. Green screen green is the default color. From here we can adjust the tolerances to define a wider range of green to key out. We can also enable the assistant and use the box to add a different color to be keyed.

Next lets make sure our playback input is set up properly on input 6. 

The library tab stores up to 100 images. Hover over slot 1 and four icons popup; upload, snapshot, download, and erase.

Click upload on one of the slots to get the library popup. Once you choose a file there are four types it can be saved as. It will automatically scale the image to fit within the type you are saving. For example saving a 1920x1080 png will get scaled down to 1460x821 to fit the 1.2mpx logo limitation. 

Above is a breakdown of the scaling and limitation of each option. Try uploading several different images of varying sizes to see how they perform.

The next LOGO tab will be where you set which library images are active in your 4 frames and 4 logo slots (Think of them as inputs 13-20). Set which images you would like to use here. Notice that Logos fit into Frame slots but not vice-versa.

This monitoring page is similar to the output page. The most useful item at this point is the test pattern and Preview overlay. Setting the preview overlay to "unused" removes unused layers and clutter form the multiviewer.

We are not utilizing a blended screen so there will be no options under the blend tab.

Under services go ahead and enable Emergency Preset A and set it to MM144. This will act as a bailout preset and goes directly to program. Usually full screen logo or background works best.

The great thing about learning LiveCore is that everything is out in the open. If you follow the tabs from left to right and look at each option, there is nothing you can miss. There is also no saving to worry about as everything in these machines is real-time. You could pull the power out from the back and when you boot it back up it will be in the same state. 

The first look you are going to create will be show logo on all screens. This is a great bail-out look that can be used at any point and during technical difficulties. Lets take a look at what we did here.

Drag the logo Frame into Layer A and click the full screen icon towards the bottom. Since the frame is the same aspect ration as the screen 16:9, then it will fit perfectly. Notice we have also turned on the un-used icon in the toolbar as well as turned off program to make the work-space easier to manage. Using the simulator or the real GUI it may not appear that an image is filling the layer, keep in mind that effects, cropping, and some other changes will not show in the thumbnail preview. You will need to look at the multi-view monitor for the actual reference. 

Do the same for the other 3 screens. Next we will save this look as a preset.

The screen that is highlighted green (preview) or red (program) is the active screen and will be what is saved when we activate save mode. Go ahead and save on of the screens to memory 1.

we will use this memory to build a master memory (preset) soon.

The safest way to do memories with LiveCore is the building block method. Start by saving each individual screen look, then load them into Master Memories. Since all of our screens are 16:9 with logo (the exact same) we can use 1 memory for all of them. It does not really matter what screen you save from, you can load a memory to as many screens as you want.  The auto scale radial should always be on, this will scale a memory to fit any screen regardless of aspect ratio.

Toggle over to Master Memories and click save mode then memory 1. This will bring out the above prompt. Since we are doing building block style choose the radial "From Saved Preset Memories". You can see each screen available so we need to load the memories we wish to use. Set memory 1 into all 4 screens. You can use the drop downs or toggle back over to memories and drag the one you want into the dialog box. Click save at the bottom to confirm. 

Remember that Master Memories do not store any information, they can only apply single memories to screens. Test this memory by clearing out the previews and either clicking or dragging the master  memory onto any screen. The memories should be applied to all screens.

TIP: Check the auto scale icon at the top of the memory panel and when you load a memory onto a different sized screen the memory will get scaled to fit the screen.

Now save the exact same master memory into slot 144 for our Emergency preset. Once you do that the Emergency A[MM144] button should now be available above the take button.

Now that we have the main logo and bail-out in place, lets build some simple templated memories that can be used to build up to more complicated master memories. Lets create all of the main screen looks. 16:9 screens tend to be full image with no pips or effects, so all we need is each input sized properly and saved.

As you can see I went ahead and saved my inputs into memories, full screen, centered on screen 1 and labeled them (shift click a memory to label). There is also an icon that lets you toggle a labeled button view of memories. 

Now let's build the lower third look\memory. Load the cam 1 memory and drop the lower  third input into layer B. I sized layer B down a little for your viewing pleasure. Save it to memory 5 and label. 

Now we have all the "looks" our show is going to have. We can start building the presets.

We have already created the logo preset. Now lets create a few more show presets. Toggle back to Master Memories(MM) and save mode on #2. Lets load screen 1 and 2 with GFX, and screen 3 and 4 with camera 1. Save. This is our main presentation look.

Save MM 3 and load Playback into all screens. This will be the playback look.

Save MM 4 and load the Cam with Lower third into all screens. This is the Presenter Intro Look.

We have already created enough looks to do a basic show and you should be getting the hang of creating memories(building blocks) and master memories(presets). Any combination of memories can quickly be built into a MM to create a new preset.

Guided Learning

For this section we will be going through a sample show and covering the specifics of what needs to be configured to accomplish this.

Let's walk through a 3 screen show with; wide screen blend with an outboard and an Aux for recording. For inputs we have a graphics pc, video [email protected], a camera, a lower third pc, and a background machine coming in on two inputs.

We are going to start in the preconfig and work our way through each tab to ensure we miss nothing as we go.

There is no reason for us to change the internal rate of our unit. If we needed to lock to an input or external reference we would do it here.

We do not have a linked unit. If we had, all the lines would need to show green and both units would need the same firmware.

We have no rotation or need for double resources. We could disable an output and use its layers to increase the capacity of another output by dragging the resource boxes around. 

Change the size of screen 1 to a 2x1 and label Widescreen. Physically drag output 2 up to fill the gap in screen 1. 

Label screen 2 as outboards.

Label screen 3 as Records and check the radial marked "Set as Confidence". This will enable it as an aux t9hat we can map pvw\pgm out of.

There is also a template button in the top right of the screen that will give you a list of output configurations to quickly choose from.

We need to configure our 4K input. Set-up input 2 HDMI as 4K, when this plug is selected it will disable input 1 to use the needed resources.

For the background machine coming in on two inputs lets use 10 and 11 DVI. Check the native radial to enable these inputs for routing to the background.

Check the radial for Frame 3 and 4. This will enable those two frames to be used in the Native layer.

Each screen can have 8 backgrounds saved. For the Wide screen lets setup the inputs we designated, 10 and 11. You'll notice that the only options are a solid color or the sources you have checked the Native radial for in previous pages.

For our outboard screen lets build two backgrounds using frame 3 and frame 4.

Set 2 will utilize frame 4. By now you should have noticed that we are not saving anything. The LiveCore is real time thus all changes are instantaneous with no saving required.

Nothing to change in the miscellaneous tab.

Having gone through preconfig the next tab is outputs. They default to 1080p but keep in mind that they have a 1920x1080 setting which is not SMPTE and will not work across HDSDI.

Next we need to disable HDCP on the outputs as a precaution. The shortcut will be to use the global quicksetup located at the bottom left of the GUI. It is a gear wheel with arrow icon. From here select "none" for input,ouput, and monitoring hdcp.

To setup the inputs, the "AutoSetAll" button will check and configure every plug on the unit. You will need to make sure the right plug is active. Also hovering over the input preview will pop up the shortcut icons for plug, freeze, setup, and multiview fullscreen.

Click input 1 on the left and we now have more tabs to go through. Going through these will ensure our inputs are adjusted properly. Input 1 will be the camera feed on SDI. Make sure the active plug is SDI and label it Camera. HDCP should already be off for the inputs as we used the global shortcut earlier.

Basic input settings are adjusted here. We do not need to adjust for this exercise. 

If the input does not look correct or needs cropping that will be done here. Aspect out defines how the source will act when used in a layer. These settings can also be done per layer  when working with memories. Only make the change here if it is permanent.

1:1= Maintain original source sizing.

Centered= Maintain ratio while sizing to fit H or V with no cropping.

Fill= Stretch to fill the layer.

Crop= Maintain ratio by cropping to fill the layer. 

If input 1 were a 4:3 image on a 16:9 signal we could apply the predefined crop of 'pillarbox' and the unit will automatically crop that ratio of signal that would be black bars on either side. If this source changes to 16:9 later on we would have to manually remove this crop at that time.

Manual cropping is also available to define an area of the input to use. The finder can be used to help crop fine detail but make sure it is off when finished as the finder shows in the program bus.

For input 2 lets use the graphics pc on HDMI. If you have any problems with resolutions such as getting 1080p from a mac, set the EDID of the input then power cycle the computer.

Next lets bring the lower third machine into input 3 on HDMI. We will need to set this input up as a keyed source. The three types of keying are luma key, chroma key, and chrematte. Luma will make transparent a luma channel in the source. Chroma key will reference a luma and hue value to make a color transparent. Chrematte uses a luma, hue, and saturation value to define a specific color that allows more fine adjustment of the image.

Choose chroma killer. Green screen green is the default color. From here we can adjust the tolerances to define a wider range of green to key out. We can also enable the assistant and use the box to add a different color to be keyed.

Next lets put the 4k video feed into input 6. The signal may appear invalid. You need to go back into preconfig\input and set input 6 as a 4k input which will disable 5 as long as you are using HDMI. Set input 2 back to normal while you are there.

And finally for our background inputs on 10 and 11, make sure the DVI plug is active and that its reading the input source clean.

The library tab stores up to 100 images. Hover over slot 1 and four icons popup; upload, snapshot, download, and erase.

Click upload on one of the slots to get the library popup. Once you choose a file there are four types it can be saved as. It will automatically scale the image to fit within the type you are saving. For example saving a 1920x1080 png will get scaled down to 1460x821 to fit the 1.2mpx logo limitation. 

Above is a breakdown of the scaling and limitation of each option. Upload a 4k frame, a 1080 frame, and any another image to be a logo. Take note of the scaling.

The next LOGO tab will be where you set which library images are active in your 4 frame and 4 logo slots. Activate your 4k image in Frame 2 and label it. The wide image in Frame 3, your 1080 image in Frame 4, and then your logo image in logo 1. 

For the blended screen we need to set the overlap. For this two projector blend @1080 the overlap would be 600px.  The test patterns on this page will stretch across both outputs and are customizable based on which ones are chosen. For example the amount of grid lines can be changed.

The feathering radial needs to be checked for each side of the screen. This can be done by clicking on the middle section or each side in top screen diagram. The Adjustments help fine tune the blend curve and possibly help offset issues from short throw lenses or different screen material gain structures.

Under services go ahead and enable Emergency Preset A and set it to MM144. This will act as a bailout preset and goes directly to program. Usually full screen logo or background works best.

The great thing about learning LiveCore is that everything is out in the open. If you follow the tabs from left to right and look at each option, there is nothing you can miss. There is also no saving to worry about as everything in these machines is real-time. You could pull the power out from the back and when you boot it back up it will be in the same state. 

The first look you are going to create will be show logo on all screens. This is a great bail-out look that can be used at any point and during technical difficulties. You do not see the confidence monitor because it is in a different tab at the top labeled confidence. Lets break down what we have done here before we save this as a memory.

Drag the wide-screen frame into Layer A and click the full screen icon towards the bottom. Since the frame is the same aspect ration as the screen 3:1, then it will fit perfectly. Notice we have also turned on the un-used icon in the toolbar as well as turned off program to make the work-space easier to manage. Using the simulator or the real GUI it may not appear that an image is filling the layer, keep in mind that effects, cropping, and some other changes will not show in the thumbnail preview. You will need to look at the multi-view monitor for the actual reference. 

Next drag the logo into layer B and click on the Pos. button in your tools. Choose the center option to center the logo on the screen. From here size the logo to an appropriate size then re-center. 

Do the same for the outboard screen but in place of the widescreen frame use the 16:9 version.

For the confidence monitor we will be outputing the main screen for recording. Choose the single layer template and set screen 1 program as the source. The background and margin only matter if there are more then 1 layers being used. Now we shouldn't have to come back to change this for the rest of the show.

The best way to do memories with LiveCore is the building block method. Start by saving each individual screen, then load them into Master Memories. Save the Widescreen in Memory 1. I like to save wide screen and 16:9 screens in different locations\rows to stay organized.

I resized the memory pane to show 8 memories wide. Save the 16:9 screen to memory 17 and don't forget to label! 

Now let's create our main logo look and Emergency preset A.

Toggle over to Master Memories and click save mode then memory 1. This will bring out the above prompt. Since we are doing building block style choose the radial "From Saved Preset Memories" and also uncheck the radial for S3, the confidence will not be changing. You can see each screen available so we need to load the memory we wish to use. Set memory 1 into screen 1, and memory 17 into screen 2. You can use the drop downs or also toggle back over to memories and drag the one you want into the dialog box. Click save at the bottom to confirm. 

Remember that Master Memories do not store any information, they can only apply single memories to screens. Test this memory by clearing out the previews and either clicking or dragging the memory onto any screen. The memories should be applied to the screens.

TIP: Check the auto scale icon at the top of the memory panel and when you load a memory onto a different sized screen the memory will get scaled to fit the screen.

Now save the exact same memory into slot 144 for our Emergency preset. Once you do that the Emergency A[MM144] button should now be available above the take button.

Now that we have the main logo and bail-out in place, lets build some simple templated memories that can be used to build up to more complicated memories. Lets create all of the outboard screen looks. 16:9 screens tend to be full image with no pips or effects, so all we need is each input sized properly and saved. We will not save the widescreen background inputs for this as they are only being utilized on screen 1.

As you can see I went ahead and saved my inputs all into layer A, full screen, centered on screen 2 and labeled them. I also saved a frame that we might be using as well. From here we can use these memories for all of our Master Memories.

Next let's do some widescreen memories.

Set layer A as the background frame. Almost all wide screen shows will be built with some sort of background, all-though it's becoming more common to have full wide-screen content. Size layer B to fill about 90% from top to bottom and align it to center. Now load the cam into layer B and save as memory 2. Next drop GFX into B and save as memory 3. Anytime we create a new "center pip" memory we can start with one of these and build\edit form there. 

To save the 4k source we need to load it into layer C as it needs the resources of layer D to work. Lets copy the position\size property from layer B and then paste it onto layer C.

Now back to the Master Memory pane and use slot 3, 4, and 5 as the next looks. Save 3 as the widescreen cam Pip with gfx in the outbards, then save 4 as gfx pip with cam in the outboards. Finally save 5 as video wide and video in outboards for our video roll look.

We have already created enough looks to do a basic show and you should be getting the hang of creating building block memories and master memories. From here I am going to focus on other details, so lets create some more complicated looks.

Start with a 2 pip look using GFX and Cam1. By highlighting the grid icon in the tool panel it will be much easier to size and align the pips. The alignment lines should also show as blue lines that let you know when pips are aligned with justifiction to the top, bottom, or center of the pip. Save as a memory.

Lets have the same look whith the pips flying in from the top of the screen. Shift+click layers B and C and set the Transition you want, a slide from top to bottom. We have to turn on the Force Transition to make sure the system uses the slide and not a dynamic move. Once again, motion is only seen on a true preview monitor so the gui will not show the slide. Let's save this as a memory for now, and once we know what outer screen will go with it we can build a master memory to recall them both. 

The look with the lower third will be the cam pip look with the lower third keyed on top of the cam. Load memory 2 into screen 1, with this loaded we can add the lower third to layer c and copy\paste the position from B to C. Remember keying is done at the input only and we already set input 3 as keyed during the set-up, also they keying does not show up in the GUI. Save as memory 10. 

Let's pretend the keyed graphics were created a little to large, we can fix this by scaling down the layer slightly until the desired size is reached. Let's make layer C a little smaller. 

Notice the icons that appear in the top bar of the PVW pane? Whenever a change is made while a memory is loaded the options to reload that memory or over-write the memory appear. The icon on the left will update the memory with the changes. The one on the right will undo the changes. This can be a great shortcut to making fast changes. Go ahead and confirm the changes we made. 

The last exercise we are going to walk through is Native backgrounds. We have already built some looks using the widescreen frame as a background but this is a scaled image and is also using up a layer. If we were using an Ascender 16 we would only have 2 layers to work with so there would not be enough resources to continue as we have been. 

Navigate back to pre-config and select the Native-Background tab. For the widescreen you will see 2 outputs we need to assign. If this were a 3 or 4 projector blend we would have to assign sources for those as well. We will be using a still store image but inputs work much the same way. 

If your inputs are dual or the frame is saved as a dual frame then the ascender will handle the overlapping. Load the same frame into both slots as above.

Remember dual frames require two frame slots for use. Loading it into frame 4 will disable frame 3.

Click on layer N on either the EDIT or LIVE page to pull up the Native Background (NB) options. Here you can select which of the 8 "sets" you have available to you for that screen built in the pre-config. You can set a background color, cut/fade, and timing in this window also. 

Each screen has its own set of 8 BGs that can be used. The Native Layer will save and transition just like the other layers, you just have to load the sources a little differently.

On the edit page reset the PVW and then use the N layer to load your NB set. You know a Native Background is on when you see the diagonal lines running through the screen. Put a logo in layer A and save as a memory. Try combining the NB exercise with some of the other looks we have built. You now have the building blocks to start building some very cool shows and effects.