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Vicon Connectivity nodes

Vicon Connectivity nodes

You use the Vicon Connectivity node on the System tab of the Resources pane to configure Vicon connectivity units (eg Vicon Lock units or MX Giganets), which are smart boxes that can be combined to create a distributed architecture.

Note
Except where noted, references to Vicon Lock, Lock units, and Lock apply to all current models of the Vicon Lock unit (at the time of publication, this includes Vicon Lock+, Vicon Lock Studio and Vicon Lock Lab).

Vicon Connectivity node context menu

You can select the following commands from the context menu displayed when you right-click on the Vicon Connectivity node:

Command Description
Reorder Display the Reorder Devices dialog box in which you can change the order in which Vicon connectivity units are displayed in the System Resources tree.
Reboot All Vicon Connectivity Units Stop and restart all of the Vicon connectivity units in the Vicon system.

Vicon Lock node and MX Giganet node

The Vicon Lock and MX Giganet nodes are displayed under the Vicon Connectivity node on the System tab of the Resources pane when Vicon Nexus is connected to a Vicon system with at least one Lock unit or MX Giganet unit and is in Live mode.

These connectivity unit nodes enable you to manage the identification and configuration settings for each Vicon Lock unit and MX Giganet unit included in your Vicon system architecture.

For each connectivity unit the node name includes:

  • The device position number
  • Any display name specified in the Identification property
  • The device type listed in parentheses
    For example #1 Name (Lock+).
    If either or both analog option cards are installed in the MX Giganet and in all cases for Vicon Lock+ and Lock Lab, the sample rates are displayed in brackets, for example, #1 Name [1000Hz/1000Hz] (MX Giganet), and an Analog Card (Slot 1) sub node is displayed as appropriate. If no analog source is selected, [No Source] is displayed after the device name.

Vicon Lock and MX Giganet node context menu

You can select the following commands from the context menu displayed when you right-click on a node for a specific Lock unit or MX Giganet:

Command Description
Reboot Stop and restart the selected device.
Reset Timecode Reset the Timecode to 00:00:00:00.

Vicon Lock and MX Giganet node properties

You can configure settings in the following sections of the Properties pane for the Vicon Connectivity node and nodes for any current Vicon connectivity units.

If you are using an analog card (this applies to all Lock+ and Lock Lab units, and MX Giganet units that are fitted with analog cards), see also:

Identification section

Property Description
Name A user-defined display name for the entire set of Vicon connectivity units or for each individual connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Type The device type
Default: Identified on connection.
Device ID The unique identification number Vicon assigns to each connectivity unit during manufacture. The Vicon Connectivity node takes no value.
Default: Identified on connection

Status section

Property Description
Connected Whether or not the connectivity unit is currently connected to the Vicon system.
Default: Identified on connection
Enabled Whether or not the connectivity unit is currently enabled for use.
Default: Selected
Sync Locked Whether or not the connectivity unit is receiving and locked to the master synchronization signal for the Vicon system.
Default: Identified on connection
Sync Master Whether or not the connectivity unit is designated as the synchronization master for the Vicon system. For more information,
see Change the synchronization master in the Vicon Nexus User Guide.
Default: Identified on connection

Genlock section

Property Description
Enabled Whether or not Genlock functionality supported by the connectivity unit is currently enabled. If so, the scan rate of the incoming video signal from a PAL or NTSC video source is synchronized with Vicon cameras.
Default: Identified on connection
Source The genlock device source.
Default: Internal
Standard
The video standard of the external video source with whose incoming video signal scan rate the connectivity device is to synchronize the Vicon cameras. If one is not identified, None is displayed.
Default: Identified on connection
Status The status of the Genlock functionality: None, In Use, Ready To Use, Requires Other Frame Rate, Requires Device To Be Master, or Requires Genlock.
Default: Identified on connection

Timecode section

Property Description
Enabled Whether or not Timecode functionality supported by an connectivity unit nis currently enabled. If so, the connectivity unit can be configured to trigger from or be time-stamped from a connected VITC (video) or LTC (audio) Timecode source.
Default: Identified on connection
Source The source designated as the master Timecode signal generator: VITC (external video device), LTC (external audio device), or Internal (Vicon connectivity unit).
Default: Internal
Dropped Frames Whether or not the connectivity unit is to adjust its internal counter to drop frames for the NTSC video standard. This option is available only if Internal is specified in Source. If selected, the separator character in the Timecode display in the Capture tools pane changes between a colon ( : ) for non-drop frames and semicolon ( ; ) for drop frames.
Default: Cleared
Standard The video standard of the Timecode source from which the connectivity unit will trigger data capture or be time-stamped. If one is not identified, None is displayed.
Default: Identified on connection
Status The status of the Timecode functionality: None, In Use, Ready To Use, Requires Other Frame Rate, Requires Device To Be Master, or Requires Genlock.
Default: Identified on connection

Sync Out section

The characteristics of a synchronization pulse that the connectivity unit is to generate to synchronize third-party hardware with the Vicon system (for technical details, see the Vicon Vantage Reference Guide or Go Further with Vicon MX T-Series). The general purpose output driver (*.gpo file) you specify here determines the output frequency of the synchronization pulse. You can select a driver for each of the sync outputs.

For each sync output, use the Browse for a folder button to navigate to the folder containing the .gpo files (by default, C:\Program Files(x86)\Vicon\Nexus2.# \GPO) and then used the drop-down list button to select the desired file (None, Duration, DV_Double, DV_Half, DV_Normal, or DV_Quarter):

Property Description
Socket 1 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Powered Sync Output 1 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 2 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Powered Sync Output 2 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 3 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Powered Sync Output 3 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 4 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Powered Sync Output 4 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 5 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Sync Output 5 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 6 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Sync Output 6 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 7 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Sync Output 7 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank
Socket 8 The .gpo configuration file to use to specify the synchronization signal for Sync Output 8 in the rear panel of the connectivity unit.
Default: Blank

Hardware section

Property Description
MAC Address The Media Access Control (MAC) address assigned to the connectivity unit during manufacture. This is a hexadecimal value in the format ##.##.##.##.##.##. The top-level entry for all connectivity units takes no value.
Default: Identified on connection
IP Address The Internet Protocol (IP) address assigned to the connectivity unit on the Vicon system Ethernet network. The top-level entry for all connectivity units takes no value.
Default: Identified on connection

Firmware section

Property Description
Firmware Version The version number of the firmware currently installed on the connectivity unit.
Default: Identified on connection
Firmware Complete Whether or not the currently installed firmware is complete. If not, you can reprogram the firmware. See Update firmware in the Vicon Nexus User Guide.

Default: Identified on connection

Commands section

Property Description
Reboot Stop and restart the connectivity unit.

Analog card properties

Configuration section

You can configure the following settings in the Properties pane for an analog card connected to a connectivity unit:

Property Description
Sampling Frequency (HZ) The sample rate for the analog card. The default analog sampling frequency is 1000 Hz and the corresponding default Vicon system frame rate is 100 Hz. The analog frequency must be an integer multiple of the frame rate and both must divide evenly into 135 MHz (the master clock frequency). If you change the frame rate, the analog frequency may change automatically to meet these criteria. Similarly, if you enter an invalid analog sampling rate, its value is automatically adjusted to meet the criteria.
Default: Identified on connection
Channel Count The number of channels provided by the analog card
Default: 64

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