Step 2: Configuring Engines via Cinegy Capture Manager

Reading time ~4 minutes

Cinegy Capture Manager is an application for managing Cinegy Capture engine services. A Cinegy Capture engine service can be set up on a local computer or remote server. In this quick guide engine services and control panel will be set up on the same local computer.

Caution
 The main purpose of this quick guide is to perform Cinegy Capture express installation and setup for introductory use. In actual production, you should use professional equipment with specified drivers, such as SDI cards or IP, SRT, and NDI input sources. Therefore, step 2 of the stage "Creating Capture Service" should be modified individually to match your actual capture source type. Refer to the Cinegy Capture System Recommendations for detailed information on OS and hardware recommendations, supported file formats, SDI boards, and their compatible drivers.
Important
 Refer to the Cinegy Capture Manager Manual to get a complete description of the Cinegy Capture Manager configuration.

Capture Manager

To launch Cinegy Capture Manager, go to Start > Cinegy > Cinegy Capture Manager or use the corresponding icon on the desktop.

Initial Configuration

Following are the steps for the initial Cinegy Capture Manager configuration:

capture_manager_main

  1. Each time you start Cinegy Capture Manager, the "Connect to the server…​" dialog box appears, prompting you to choose whether to connect to a local host or select a remote server. For demo purposes, select the connection to the local host.

  2. When launched for the first time, there is no database containing Cinegy Capture engine configuration. Go to the "Database" tab to create a new database:

    Database_tab_2

    Create_Database

    Press the "Create new DB" button to create a new database.

    Having created the database, go to the "Main" tab.

  3. On the "Main" tab press the "Common settings" button; the following dialog will be opened:

    capture_common_settings

    "Engine Mode" is set to "Pro" by default – leave this setting unchanged.

    The IP address of the dedicated network adapter should be selected from the "Primary network interface" drop-down list, if available. Otherwise, the "Auto" option should be left unchanged.

    Note
    		 Changing the "Primary network interface" settings should be based on the recommendations of the system administrator.

    The "Logger settings" section contains parameters for creating log files; the default settings could be used.

    In the "Master account control" select the "Local system account" option.

Creating Capture Service

Cinegy Capture Manager allows the user to add individual services for specific tasks. Follow the steps to create a Cinegy Capture engine service:

capture_manager_cfg

  1. Press the "Add" button. A new service instance will be added to the engine services list and installed:

    added_engine_service_2

    Once installed, the "Capture Service" is added as a regular Windows service. It can be started directly from Cinegy Capture Manager by pressing the "Start" button.

    Note
    		 The service started for the first time is not configured.

  2. To set up the specified Cinegy Capture engine service, press the "Configure" button. In the "Capture Engine Configuration" dialog that appears, specify the main parameters of the recording job such as input TV format, capture source type, and audio settings. You can also add a channel description and configure a stream preview here:

    Engine_configuration_wizard_step2
    Tip
    		 If you have a recommended NVIDIA graphics card installed on your machine, you can greatly reduce CPU usage and significantly improve the overall performance of Cinegy Capture by using the processing power of your graphics card. To do this, select the appropriate option from the "Video Accelerator" drop-down list of the graphics cards installed on your machine.

    Having specified all the necessary parameters, press "Next". In this step, you can set up timecode settings (optional for demo purposes). Then press "Next" to configure the selected capture source settings. Different capture sources have individual sets of parameters specific to the selected type.

    For a simple demo, select the file-based capture source and specify its file path:

    Engine_diagnostic_input_parameters
    Note
    		 In this demo configuration, the "File based capture" capturing source type is used. This source type is used exclusively for initial configuration and functionality testing. Do not use this capturing source type in production.

    Press "Next" to proceed; the defined configuration summary will be displayed for you to review. Press the "Finish" button for the specified settings to be applied:

    Cinegy_Capture_Manager_interface
    Note
    		 You can add and manage multiple Cinegy Capture engine services simultaneously.