The SGI Sirius has a Videomedia V-LAN transmitter built into it. The transmitter communicates with a separate V-LAN receiver to complete the video controller system. V-LAN is used to control a variety of video recording devices.
Tip: You must provide the V-LAN receiver that is compatible with the type of VTR you are using. Contact your Video Media dealer for more information.
In order to use the streaming video capability of Sirius, you must use the V-LAN to control your video recording devices. For example, if you want to use an Abekas disk recorder with streaming video, the Abekas must be controlled by V-LAN.
You need to manually initialize the V-LAN hardware before using it with your application software. To initialize, enter the SGI command:
/usr/dmedia/bin/SIRIUS/sir_vlan -i
A configuration entry is required for each V-LAN receiver on your V-LAN network that you want to control. The syntax is:
device video controller name
server_name server
server_id socket
server_host host
buffer buffer
display display
defn
node node
format format
enddefn
enddevice
device video controller name
The name is the name you want to assign to this device. If your V-LAN receiver is connected to your Sony Betacam, you may want to call it BVW75SP.
server_name server
The server is the name of the executable that controls the various V-LANs. The servers reside in the product_bin. The server should be vtcsiriusvlan for Sirius V-LAN. (If you relocate the server executable, or if the server is running on a different host than your application, you must specify the server as a full UNIX pathname.)
server_id socket
The socket is the socket number through which your application communicates with the Sirius V-LAN server process. This number must be unique to your UNIX system for each defined device and (Alias|Wavefront and non-Alias|Wavefront) server process. If you are defining configuration entries for multiple V-LAN receivers, they must have unique socket numbers.
server_host host
The host is the name of the workstation in which the Sirius video option is installed. This is typically the workstation on which you are running your application, but can be any of the workstations on your Ethernet network. If you are using one workstation for your application, while the Sirius is installed on another, you must install your application on both machines. The host can be localhost if the Sirius is installed in your workstation.
buffer buffer
The buffer is optionally used to specify the name of a frame buffer device that is related to the V-LAN device being configured. If defined, this corresponding frame buffer is opened whenever the Sirius V-LAN device is opened. This is typically used to refer to the Sirius frame buffer when defining a Sirius V-LAN device.
display display
The display entry is optionally used to specify how you want the tape location to be displayed. The default, timecode, displays tape locations using time code. To display tape locations as frame numbers, specify frame.
node node
The node is the unique V-LAN identification number which your V-LAN receiver recognizes. If this line is omitted, a node number of 1 is used. Values of 1 through 32 are accepted.
format format
The format indicates whether your V-LAN recognizes NTSC or PAL video. If this line is omitted, NTSC is used by default.