Formac Studio TVR User manual
Watch, record and edit
TV on your Macintosh
User’s Guide
Includes Installation, Setup
and Troubleshooting
2
License Agreement
© 2003 Formac Electronics, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means,
electronic, mechanical, by photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior written permission of Formac Electronics.
Information furnished by Formac Electronics is believed to be
accurate and reliable; however, no responsibility is assumed by Formac
Electronics for its use, or for any infringements of patents or other
rights of third parties which may result from its use. No license is
granted by implication or otherwise under any patent rights of Formac
Electronics.
Use, duplication, or disclosure by the United States Government is
subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the
Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 48 C.F.R.,
252.277-7013, or in subparagraph (c)(2) of the Commercial Computer
Software Registered Rights clause at 48 C.F.R., 52-227-19.
Trademarks
Formac and Formac Studio are registered trademarks of Formac
Elektronik GmbH and its subsidiaries in the United States and in other
countries where Formac products are sold or distributed.
All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders. Mention of third-party products is for informational
purposes only. Formac Electronics assumes no responsibility with
regard to the performance of those products.
All specifications are subject to change without prior notice. Actual
contents may differ slightly from those pictured or represented.
Made in Germany by Formac Elektronik, GmbH.
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Contents
1. Quick Start
4
1.1. Congratulations
4
1.2. What you need to get started
4
1.3. Setting up Studio TVR
4
1.4. Quick Reference 7
2. Everything TV
8
2.1. Watching Television
8
2.2. Pausing live Television
8
2.3. Scheduling & Recording Television
9
2.4. Using the Online Program Guide
10
2.5. The Movie Library
11
3. The creative side of TV
11
3.1. Cropping commercials
12
3.2. Exporting and converting movies
12
3.3. Editing TV: Integration with Apple’s iMovie 3
14
4. Using Studio TVR as a media converter
15
4.1. Recording video to and from external devices
15
4.2. Digital audio recording
16
5. Tips to make Life easier
17
5.1. Preferences
17
5.2. Troubleshooting
19
6. Learning more, Service, and Support
21
7. Warranty
21
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1. Quick Start
1.1. Congratulations
Congratulations on purchasing your Studio TVR, the
world’s only FireWire TV recording solution based on the high-
quality Digital Video (DV) format. With Studio TVR you can:
> Watch up to 125 TV channels in a scalable window or full-
screen
> Pause live TV
> Schedule recordings via the free online program guide
> Export your recordings to a regular TV or VCR
> Work creatively with Television
and much more …
1.2. What you need to get started
The Studio TVR requires a Macintosh with:
> G3 processor or higher (800 Mhz or more recommended)
> Built-in FireWire interface
> Mac OS 10.2 or later
> QuickTime 6 or higher
Your Studio TVR includes the following components:
> Studio TVR hardware
> User’s Guide
> FireWire cable
> Software CD
Note: There is no power supply included with the Studio TVR as
it runs bus-powered with most Macintosh. For details please
check the “Troubleshooting” section.
1.3. Setting up Studio TVR
To set up your Studio TVR please follow these easy steps:
Step one: Installing the software
1) Insert the software CD into the CD drive of your computer and
double-click on the CD icon that appears on your Macintosh
desktop.
2) Double-Click on the “Installer” icon and follow the on-screen
instructions.
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Note: The software installation may require you to enter a name
and password. This password is your standard Administrator
password, which you created when installing OSX. If you forgot
your password please check with Apple on how to retrieve it.
3) Once you have completed the installation you will find the
“Formac Studio TVR” folder in the OSX Application folder. It
contains the following items:
> Studio TVR application
> Studio Audiomaster application
> Studio TVR scripts
4) After the installation please restart your computer.
Step two: Connecting the Studio TVR
Connect your studio properly:
1) Make sure your Studio TVR is turned OFF. The power switch
on the back panel of the unit must be on the “0” position.
2) Connect the FireWire cable to the FireWire port of your Studio
TVR and to your Macintosh. FireWire is bi-directional so it does
not matter which port you use.
3) Connect your cable/antenna (Coax) to the TV port on the
backside of your Studio TVR. Make sure the cable/antenna
provides a clear and strong signal (if in doubt test with a regular
TV first).
4) Turn ON your Studio TVR. The green power LED and one of the
mode LEDs (“a” or “d”) light up.
TV-Input FireWire
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Step three: Setting up the TV functionality
1) Launch the “Studio TVR” software in your applications folder.
2) The first time you start your Studio TVR software the
“Assistant” walks you through the channel set-up.
Note: If the “Assistant” does not start automatically, you can
launch it from the “Preferences” menu (“Channel Setup”).
3) Choose the “Create New Channel List” option and click
“Next”. The next window shows a list of video standards:
Please click on the small triangle next to your video standard
and then on your country. All United States and Canadian users
choose NTSC.
4) Create your channel list.
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Click on the "Scan" button and the software will automatically
scan and save all available antenna and cable channels.
Channels that are received properly will be check-marked. These
channels are later accessible through your channel list.
You can
4Fine-tune each channel by clicking on the “Adjust” button.
4Name each channel by double-clicking in the name field.
4Assign a logo to each channel (JPEG or TIFF). Simply select
the channel and drag-and-drop the picture file into the field in the
lower left corner of the window (marked with two arrows).
4Assign “hot keys” for up to 10 channels for fast access via
the keyboard.
Note: Please make sure that you ONLY connect the FireWire
cable and the coaxial cable of the antenna/cable when you scan
the channel list for the first time. Once the channel list is saved
you may connect other devices via the RCA or S-Video port.
5) Ready. Steady. Go!
Simply close the channel list and the TV window will appear.
You are all set.
1.4. Quick reference
The TV window and its functionality:
R = Record / II = Pause Live TV / = Favorite Channel List
= Watch TV / = Movie Library / = Scheduler /
= Online Program Guide
Click to hide menu
bar
Volume control
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2. Everything TV
2.1. Watching Television
1) Switching TV channels
There are different ways to switch between TVs channel:
4Use the left and right arrows in the menu bar (or on your
keyboard)
4Click on the channel display to access a pull-down menu
4Click on the favorite channel list
4Use the hot keys defined in the channel set-up list
2) Changing the size of the TV window
To select a standard size for your TV window please click on the
“Studio TVR Display” menu. The following sizes are available:
4Quarter Size
4Half Size
4Full Size
4DV Size
4TV Modus (full-screen)
You can also scale the window to any size and ratio by grabbing
the lower right corner and dragging it diagonally.
Tip: Click on the green “+” icon to optimize the size of the TV
window for your display.
Note: The TV modus uses a standard resolution of 640 by 480.
To tell your computer to switch to this resolution automatically
please go to the “Display options” in the “Preferences” menu
and check-mark the “Switch to best screen size” option.
2.2. Pausing live Television
Pausing live TV allows you to interrupt a live broadcast at any
point of time and resume watching whenever you are ready. To
pause the TV show you are currently watching
1) Click on the “pause” (II) button in the menu bar of your TV
window. The TimeShift buffer opens and the “pause” button
turns into a “play” button.
2) When you are ready to resume watching simply click on the
“play” button (4).
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The slider on the TimeShift Buffer shows where you are in the
movie since you hit the “pause” button. Moving the slider to the
right allows you to forward the movie until you have reached the
actual live stream. If you want to exit the pause mode
completely click on the TV icon.
Note: Pausing live TV requires your Macintosh to record the
video temporarily. As the Studio TVR records in high quality DV
(3.5 MB/sec) please make sure you have sufficient disk space
available. Please set the TimeShift Buffer accordingly and read
Chapter 5.1. “Preferences” (Record Options) for more detail.
2.3. Scheduling & Recording Television
Studio TVR allows you to record instantly or at a scheduled time
in the future.
Instant recording
1) Click on the “record” (R) button in the menu bar of your TV
window. A recording window opens with the time of your
recording and the available disk space. The recording button
starts pulsing.
2) To stop the recording click on the “record” (R) button again.
Enter the name of the recording and click on “Save”. The movie
is automatically added to the movie library.
Tip: You can also record single pictures/frames. Simply click on
the picture in the video and drag-and-drop it on your desktop.
Scheduling
You can schedule recordings manually or via the online program
guide. Click on the “Scheduler” icon ( ) in the menu bar of
your TV window, and a calendar will open.
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1) To schedule manually click on the day and time of your
recording. The scheduling timer opens. Determine the starting
& ending time, channel, and name of the recording. The “Add”
button activates your schedule.
2) To use the online program guide (powered by TitanTV) click on
the “Online Program Guide” button ( ) in the menu bar of the
TV window, and the software starts your browser to access
Formac’s installation website. As a new user you first have to
register your account with TitanTV, providing them with
information such as location of your computer and type of TV
service (cable, antenna, or satellite). Once registered TitanTV
will provide you with your individual program guide for your
region.
Note: Your Macintosh can be in SLEEP mode, but your Studio
TVR must be turned on at the time of the scheduled recording.
The TVR software will launch automatically.
2.4. Using the Online Program Guide
The online program guide helps you to find and schedule shows
fast and efficiently. To schedule a recording
1) Search the show you want to record
2) Click on the red “PVR” button ( ) assigned to the show
The schedule is automatically downloaded into your calendar and
your Studio TVR will record the show at the specified time & day.
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