V-1200HD: How to Setup Audio Follows Video
The V-1200HD is capable of Audio Follows Video, which allows you to link audio sources to video sources, so when you a particular input is on PGM, the assigned audio will output until the PGM source is changed.
For example, you have laptops with media sources carrying embedded audio over HDMI, and you only want that audio to output when those sources are active. Doing this spares you from having to output analog audio from the laptops into your audio mixer, and helps automate your production.
In this example, we have two sources with embedded audio, connected to HDMI inputs 1 and 4, which by default are mapped to video channels 9 and 12, respectively.
By enabling Audio Follows Video and mapping the embedded audio from these sources to the Audio Mixer, we can map the Main audio bus to multiple video outputs as embedded audio.
This guide will walk you through a setup where channels 9 and 12 only play their embedded audio when selected on the PGM bus.
Important Note: This guide covers setup of Audio Follows Video for 2 HDMI sources. If you have an external analog mixer with microphones output to the V-1200HD, you will want to patch the incoming audio either directly to outputs, or through Audio Mixer channels 1 and 2. This guide does not factor this in the steps, but once you follow them and better understand audio patching and the Follow function, you can reconfigure your system according to your needs.
How to Setup the Audio Patchbay
In the Root Menu, press the <AUDIO> button.
In the Audio Structure Menu, press the <PATCHBAY> button.
In the Audio Patchbay Menu, along the left, you will see boxes for both Input and Output assignments.
Press the <INPUT> button and select <HDMI XLR>.
Close the Patchbay Input pop-up, press the <OUTPUT> button to open the Patchbay Output pop-up, and select <MIXER>.
Note how all the patches are set to MUTE by default.
The Patchbay is divided into 4 quadrants that magnify when you press them. Press the top left quadrant to edit it.
In the Audio Patchbay Edit window, press on any grid point to patch inputs to outputs.
The grid point will turn from dark blue to light blue.
HDMI sources send audio embedded only on channels 1 and 2 into the Patchbay.
SDI sources and outputs each support 16 channels of audio.
The Mixer can then received up to 16 mono channels of audio you can mix, individually, or in Linked stereo pairs.
This means that each HDMI source needs 2 Mixer channels.
Because we are only using HDMI inputs 1 and 4 in this example, it should look like this:
Close the Audio Patchbay Edit window.
Next, reverse the Patchbay Inputs and Outputs to assign the Mixer inputs to SDI and HDMI outputs.
Set the Patchbay Input to <MIXER> and the Patchbay Output to <SDI 1>.
Press the top left quadrant again, and patch the Mixer's Main audio bus MAIN L and MAIN R to SDI 1-1 and SDI 1-2.
It should look like this:
Close the Audio Patchbay Edit window.
Next, change only the Patchbay Output to <HDMI/XLR>, and setup the patch points like this:
Note how you can assign MAIN L and MAIN R to multiple outputs, as this screen corresponds to the 2 HDMI outputs, and each SDI output gets it's own Audio Patchbay Edit window, because they support 16 channels of audio instead of 2.
Also note that only SDI inputs 7-10 and SDI outputs 1-4 can carry embedded audio, along with all HDMI inputs and outputs.
You can also map the Main audio bus to the XLR outputs if you need to extract the embedded audio and output to an analog audio mixer or PA system. The XLR connectors support both analog and digital audio.
How to Setup the Audio Mixer
Go back to the Audio Structure Menu, and press <MIXER>.
If you have difficulty reaching the [x] button in the top right corner of the Audio Patchbay menu, you can press the [EXIT] button on the V-1200HDR panel to go up one menu level, so long as that screen was the last one you touched.
In the Audio Mixer Menu, you will need to do the following:
- LINK channel 1 with 2, and 3 with 4
- Enable FOLLOW for the linked channels
- Assign each Follow setting to your video sources
- Set the audio levels to 0.0dB for the linked channels and the Main audio bus
In this example, we are working with two stereo channels.
Press the 2 <LINK> buttons between channels 1/2 and 3/4.
Next, press channel 1's <FOLLOW> button, and notice how 2's turns on at the same time. Repeat this for channel 3.
Then, press channel 1's red <VOLUME> knob, and use the hardware panel's [VALUE] knob to increase the audio level to 0.0dB.
Next, press the blue <1> button above the channel strip.
In the Audio Mixer Channel Menu, press the <FOLLOW> button.
In the Source Menu, change the source to <HDMI 1>, and close the menu.
Repeat this process for channel 3.
You only need to do this for channels 1 and 3, because they are linked to 2 and 4 in pairs.
Finally, press the red <VOLUME> knob under <MAIN>, and use the hardware panel's [VALUE] knob to increase the audio level to 0.0dB.
Your Audio Mixer should look like this:
With everything set, test each source as your PGM selection, and see if the audio meters under Main are moving in the Audio Mixer menu, and you hear audio through your monitoring system.
If the audio sync is off, please see the following article:
How to Setup an External Audio Mixer
If you are using an analog audio mixer, as mentioned in the beginning of this guide, here are some examples of settings that map the analog XLR inputs to Mixer channels.
Here, XLR 1 and XLR 2 are mapped to Mixer channels 1/2, and the four HDMI inputs are mapped to Mixer channels 3 through 10, which Follow HDMI 1-4, respectively.
These channels are then mapped to SDI outputs 1-4, as well as HDMI outputs 1-2, and Multi-View 1 and 2.
More Information
For more information about Audio Follows Video, refer to the V-1200HDR/V-1200HD Remote Control Guide.
Note: This is a separate document from the V-1200HD and V-1200HDR Owner's Manual.