Merging Technologies

Hi,
I, and many others use pyramix (still on 5 sp2) for video location multitrack recording. Losing a recording means the video is useless and also means losing any chance to ever work in the future again
now, the 'keep recording untill press stop' feature is good, but I would want to take it even further and have an option to get an 'are you sure?' box when pressing stop, so no accidental stopping of recording is possible..

agreed 10000%! this is my biggest quip with Pyramix. i also know other potential Pyramix users who were instantly turned off by this. anything that could be done to prevent A) unintentional stoppage of recording and B) permanent erasure of something recorded would be helpful. in the meantime i'll continue to keep a safe distance from the keyboard when in session!

You can also, under 'active machine' in keyboard shortcuts, take away all keyboard shortcuts for stop, such as the spacebar..
But still, I want 'are you sure?'!

right...
the workaround you mentioned is fine if you're the only one using the system. anyone else using it is going to have a tough time!
one scenario from the "B" in my last post is if you accidentally hit escape while naming your take, that take is gone. i'd be happy with an extra confirmation dialog. the ability to undo would also help here.

Seconded! Clicking in the wrong place (while moving a marker, for example) can stop a machine recording just when you _really_ don't want it to.
Such a dialog box would be simple to program in, surely?

AVI

Why do we need a confirmation for Stop? I have assigned Stop and all the other "dangereous" transport related commands to a CRTL-ALT-SHIFT Keyboard 0-9 combinations for those situations. You need two hands to invoke the commands now. You can prepare a Stop by pressing CRTL-ALT-SHIFT with your left hand and press 0 with your right when you are really really sure. You quickly adapt to that. Works well. There are also Macro Tools like "Wait for External Machine Stop" you could try if you are chasing something, but I haven't tried that.

You really press the Mouse while in Record? IMHO the Mouse is the most dangereous weapon. Clicking it in the wrong place Like a Track Group Header not only stops PMX, but sticks the Mouse to the Timeline when Prompt for Record Name is on. I scroll with the Keyboard and drop Markers with the Keyboard too...

When recording a concert with 10 hd cameras, losing my multitracks means a very expensive production becomes totally useless..
So anything that reduces that risk is more than welcome..
(Obviously I'm also running a backup system, but that's besides the point)

Check out the this command, buried in the following menu tree:

Machines/Internal Machine/Play Special/"Toggle Play/Stop Record Safe"

I have it wired to the space bar. Once 'record' is invoked, pressing the space bar does nothing, but then works 'normally' in play mode.

This command came into existence after one too many near-death experiences, like some of you have mentioned.

Graemme

Hi Graemme,
Thanks for that tip - hadn't noticed it and sounds great.
However, there's still the issue of an inadvertent mouse click. . . (or picking up the mouse for the wrong system and using it, or hitting a mouse button with a notepad when the pointer is in an inconvenient place, or. . .).
For these scenarios, as well as keyboard-related ones, a simple option not to stop recording unless confirmed (and an undo for "Delete Take (Esc)" commands!) would be great. (could not the latter simply be factored in to the "undo" menu?)


AVI

thanks Graemme for the juicy tip! we're that much closer to foolproof. see you at AES in a couple of weeks?
cheers,
-c

Hi Charlie,

See you there!

Graemme

Just a bump,

To stress the importance of this to me and many other remote engineers who use pyramix for location recording.

YES pleaaaase !!!

EVERY engineer that uses PMX i've talked with does wholeheartedly agree with that!

From the release notes of the next version of Pyramix (release candidate 6.1.3):

New Safe record mode
• Available from the Internal Machine menu by enabling “Safety Record”. You will
then see an “S” overlaid on the record button.
• When in “Safety Record” mode the only way to stop the recording is to go back to
the internal machine menu and de-activate "Safety Record".
• Safety Record restricts all actions that stop the record function, including cursor
movements with the mouse and commands from any remote control device
(Ramses/Isis)

that's good news!

Thanks Greamme!