Interplay Central. Version 1.2 ReadMe

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Version 1.2 ReadMe

Date Revised Changes Made

23 April 2012 Added changes made for version 1.2 7 December 2011 Added changes made for version 1.1 26 September 2011 Initial Version

Important Information

Avid recommends that you read all the information in this ReadMe file thoroughly before installing or using any new software release.

Note: Search the Avid Knowledge Base (http://www.avid.com/onlinesupport) for the most up-to-date ReadMe file, which contains the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published.

This document describes compatibility issues with previous releases, hardware and software requirements, software installation instructions, and summary information on system and memory requirements, when applicable. This document also lists any hardware and/or software limitations.

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Compatibility Notes and Issues

The section contains compatibility information related to Interplay Central v1.2.

Interplay Common Playback Service

Interplay Central v1.2 requires the Interplay Common Playback service version 1.2, which accompanies the install set.

Operating Systems for Servers

The following table provides minimum supported versions:

Server Version

Interplay Central middleware

server Windows 2008 R2

Interplay Common playback

server Red Hat Linux RHEL 6.0 (64-bit)

Systems and Storage

The following table provides minimum supported versions:

Product Version

Avid Interplay Production 2.3 or later

Note:For more information, see “Installing Interplay Transcode v2.6 and Interplay STP Encode v2.6 for Interplay Central” later in this ReadMe.

Avid iNEWS 3.4.2 or later

Avid ISIS 7000

a) 2.5 client (new Linux client), 2.3 SysDir b) 2.5 client, 2.4 SysDir

c) 4.0 client, 4.0 SysDir

Avid ISIS 5000 4.0 client, 4.0 SysDir

Note: Mirrored workspaces are supported, but not RAID6 workspaces.

Load Balancers

The Interplay Central middleware server is supported with the following:

Hardware Version

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Browsers

Interplay Central is supported with the following browsers:

Browser Operating System

Google Chrome Microsoft Windows, Windows 7 and newer recommended

IE 8 or IE9 with Chrome Frame

plug-in Microsoft Windows, Windows 7 and newer recommended

Safari 5.0 or newer MAC OS X 10.6.4 (Snow Leopard) and newer

Safari 5.1 MAC OS X 10.6.8 and newer

Tablets

The Interplay Central table application is supported with the following:

Device Version

iPad® _iOS5

Smart Phones

The Interplay Central mobile application is supported with the following:

Phone Version

BlackBerry 5.0 or later

Localization

Localization of the Interplay Central software to languages other than English includes the following: • French • German • Japanese • Simplified Chinese • Spanish (Latin) • Korean

Other languages are planned for future point-releases.

Proxy Media Formats

For the latest information regarding what proxy media formats (or resolutions) are supported by ICPS v1.2, see the Interplay Common Playback Services v1.2 ReadMe.

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Installation and Upgrade Notes or Issues

Installing Interplay Transcode v2.6 and Interplay STP Encode v2.6 for Interplay

Central

To process send-to-playback requests, Interplay Central v1.2 requires Interplay Transcode v2.6 and Interplay STP Encode v2.6. Earlier versions are not supported.

The required versions are currently available on the internal site ftp://interplay.avid.com. To install required versions of Transcode and STP Encode:

1. Download the following files:

/Installers/InterplayTranscode/AvidInterplayTranscode_260.zip / Installers/InterplaySTPEncode/AvidInterplaySTPEncode_260.zip 2. Unzip each archive file and open the top-level folder.

3. Double click setup.exe.

4. Follow the prompts in the installation program.

These installers include a new option in which you select whether you want to mount workspaces as drive letters or UNC paths. Select UNC paths if the number of workspaces required for the client exceeds the available drive letters. Be sure to change the server’s ISIS client preferences to match the setting you choose.

Note: These are 64-bit applications and require the 64-bit version of Avid Service Framework.

For more information, see the Avid Interplay Software Installation and Configuration Guide and the Avid

Interplay Media Services Setup and User’s Guide.

Upgrading from v1.0 or v1.1 to v1.2

When upgrading from an earlier version of Interplay Central to version 1.2, be sure to uninstall the 32-bit Avid Service Framework (ASF) client software and install the 64-bit ASF client software (version 1.5.0 or later).

To upgrade ASF:

1. Uninstall Avid Service Framework Workstation. 2. Run ServiceFrameworkSetup_x64.exe.

3. Select Avid Framework Client. 4. Reboot.

Upgrading from v1.0 to v1.1

When upgrading from version 1.0 to version 1.1, the Real Server Check Parameters for the middleware servers’ load balancer must be updated with a new URL.

/api/heartbeat/with-failover?com.avid.central.rest.accept-all

For more information on changing the URL parameter, see step 9 in the procedure for configuring the virtual service provided in the Interplay Central Installation and Configuration Guide. The procedure is in a section entitled “Setting up the Load Balancer” in the Getting Started chapter.

If you installed version 1.0 of the Interplay Central Distribution service or the Interplay Central User Management service, you need to uninstall that version first. You can do this by using the Control Panel to uninstall the prior version before you install the new version. If you do not uninstall the previous version, you will receive an error message during installation, and you cannot complete the installation. The user

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and groups database of the Interplay Central User Management service will be kept when doing an uninstall.

Interplay Central Playback Service (ICPS)

Note: Beginning with v1.2, the Interplay Central Playback service, mentioned in this section of the ReadMe, was renamed to Interplay Common Playback Service (ICPS), and information for it is now documented separately in the Interplay Common Playback Service Installation and Configuration Guide and the Interplay Common Playback Service ReadMe.

Interplay Central v1.1 requires version 1.0.1 of the Interplay Central Playback service.

If you are installing ICPS 1.0.1 on a new playback server for the first time, follow the procedure in the installation guide, only using the ICPS 1.0.1 installation media, which accompanies the Interplay Central v1.1 install set.

If you are installing ICPS 1.0.1 on a server where ICPS 1.0 is currently installed, you must do a full ICPS install from the USB key using the ICPS 1.0.1 installation media. Because this will wipe the server's disk, re-install the operating system, and then re-install ICPS 1.0.1 software components, it is a good idea to take note of the server's IP address—assuming you're using a static IP address—and Interplay/ISIS

configuration settings, because you will have to re-configure the server. Consult the Interplay Central v1.0

Installation & Configuration Guide for instructions.

In both cases, if you are setting up an ICPS cluster (2 or more servers), do not follow the procedures for setting up a load balanced cluster in the Interplay Central v1.0 Installation & Configuration Guide — instead follow the instructions in the documentation for the Interplay Common Playback Service to configure a highly-available cluster.

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New Features in Release v1.2

This section provides an overview of new basic user features and enhancements made to Interplay Central v1.2. These were fully documented in greater detail in the newly revised guides that are part of the Interplay Central Doc. Set. However, the following table provides a quick reference guide to where information pertaining to them may be found.

Feature/Enhancement Description Refer to…

Interplay Central tablet

application (for the iPad®₎ The Interplay Central tablet application is a _{native user interface designed to run on your}

iPad® touch screen tablet device and enable direct, secure access to your station’s iNEWS newsroom computer system. New features in the tablet application include the following: • Access and review iNEWS stories • Preview video sequences associated with

iNEWS stories

• Load a show’s rundown of stories in presenter mode for “printed script-like viewing, with automatic updates and offline protection.

The Interplay Central User’s

Guide and the Interplay Central Installation and Configuration Guide

Segmented edit locking Interplay Central now recognizes and honors the various types of locks available in iNEWS on stories and story forms, which include: edit locks, segmented edit locks, easy locks, and key locks.

The “Locking and Unlocking a Story” section in the Interplay

Central User’s Guide

Dissolves Users can add video dissolves as transition effects in the script sequence.

The “Inserting Dissolves” section in the Interplay Central User’s

Guide

Media Logger The new Logging layout and Markers pane provide features for logging media by using markers (formerly known as locators). Features include:

• Viewing, creating, and deleting markers • Exporting markers

• Creating subclips

• Keyboard shortcuts for logging and for controlling media playback while logging

• Markers pane available in the Logging layout and the Video layout.

The “Logging and Creating Subclips” in the Interplay Central

User’s Guide

Script templates Administrators can create script templates that users can then insert into stories.

The “Inserting Script Templates” in the Interplay Central User’s

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Feature/Enhancement Description Refer to… Saving frames as images From the Media pane, users can select a

frame of video and save it as a static image in PNG or JPG format.

The “Saving a Frame as an Image” section in the Interplay Central

User’s Guide

Opening enclosing folders Users can use the “Open Enclosing Folder” command to open an Assets pane for a folder that contains an asset loaded in the Media pane, for an asset selected in an Assets pane, or for an asset selected in a Search pane.

The “Opening an Enclosing Folder” section in the Interplay

Central User’s Guide

New User Management Features

New administrative features for Interplay Central User Management include the following:

• Management of roles, which are associated with layouts and assigned to a user by an Interplay Central administrator. Roles are listed in a new pane in the Users layout.

• The Layout Selection menu now includes the name of the role for the signed-in user, along with the layouts that role can access. If a user has more than one role assigned, both roles are listed. • Licenses are assigned by roles, rather than by users.

• The Layout drop-down menu includes the name of the role or roles for the signed-in user, along with the layouts that role can access.

• Addition of a toolbar to the User Tree and Roles pane and other UI improvements

For more information, see the sections entitled “Creating, Deleting, and Assigning Roles” and “Interplay Central User Management” in the Interplay Central Administration Guide.

Hardware and Software Changes

The following changes or enhancements were made to existing features in Interplay Central. .

Version 1.2

Searching

• The search feature now lets users limit search results to matches from specified locations in a system. This change was documented in the revised help system and can also be located in the Interplay

Central User’s Guide.

User Interface

• In previous versions of Interplay Central, changes made to iNEWS queues, facets, rundowns, and scripts did not automatically update. This has been fixed. (ICAJ-9 and ICAJ-43)

• The tab of any Queue/Story pane or Project/Story pane has been modified to display the complete queue path as a tooltip when a user mouses over the tab.

Vizrt

• Interplay Central now supports Vizrt VCPTemplateFiller Control version 5.5 or later. Earlier versions of the plug-in are still not supported.

Interplay Central on Safari (Mac OS only)

• In previous versions of Interplay Central on Safari, marking story text as bold with Command-B or as italic with Command-I did not trigger an edit lock, requiring the user to make a text edit to trigger the

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edit lock. However, with the release of version 5.1.1 of Safari, this issue has been fixed so the workaround is no longer necessary in Interplay Central.

Version 1.1

User Management Utilities Tool

• The file name for the User Management Utilities tool was changed from IPUMUtils.cmd to IPUMUtils.exe. The command syntax remains the same.

High Availability Fail-over

• In Interplay Central v1.0, if the User Management service was running with the high availability feature and if both Interplay Central middleware servers went down at the same time, such as a power outage, manual steps were required to re-setup the User Management cluster upon recovery of both machines. That is no longer the case. The User Management service now re-establishes the high availability mode automatically.

For more information on creating a cluster for the User Management service, please refer to the

Interplay Central Installation and Configuration Guide.

Documentation Errata

This section provides information, if any, on known issues or changes with this release that relate to documentation produced for this product.

All guides in the Interplay Central documentation set were updated for v1.2 with the latest software features and enhancements, so no further information is available for this section of the ReadMe at this time.

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Known Limitations

This section provides information on known limitations that were not addressed in this release. Any available workaround procedures are also documented, when possible.

Note: For limitations related to version compatibility of this release with previous versions/other products, see also the section of this document entitled, Compatibility Notes and Issues.

Multiple Tabs in Interplay Central Session

• If a user opens multiple browser tabs within the same Interplay Central session, the updates to earlier tabs stop. This means that auto-refresh queues in the tab(s) opened earlier will no longer refresh. And the Process pane, if opened in an earlier tab, will no longer receive updates about processes that are in progress.

Workaround: Do not open multiple browser tabs in the same Interplay Central session. (ICSDK-997)

User Management and High Availability

• The following situation might occur if the Interplay Central User Management service is running on a high-availability cluster, with two nodes present:

1. A user signs in to node 1.

2. An Interplay Central Administrator deletes the user’s account while the administrator is signed in to node 2.

3. The user on node 1 refreshes the screen. An HTTP Internal Server Error is displayed.

Workaround: The user needs to log in with a different account. (IPEN-2498, IPEN-2884)

User Access to Administration Layouts

• In the Users layout, it is possible for an administrator to assign a role with administration layouts (System Settings > Users) to a user or group that does not have an Administrator role. The user is then able to select an administration layout but cannot work correctly with the layout because of missing privileges.

Workaround: Make sure to associate administration layouts only with the Administrator role. (ICSDK-799)

Interplay Central Help

• If the Interplay Central certificate is not marked as trusted, MP4 demo movies in the Interplay Help do not start play immediately.

Workaround: The workaround is dependent on the type of browser you use.

 In the Safari browser, a movie does not start play until you locate the warning dialog box and click Continue.

 In Internet Explorer with Chrome Frame, a message says that “This webpage is not

available.” Refresh the page, click Continue on the Certificate Error page, and click Yes in the Certificate alert dialog box.

Media Pane

• AVC-Intra 1080i 60 media plays back at less than 30 fps in the Interplay Central Media pane. The exact frame rate depends on the processor speed of the Interplay Common Playback Server. The audio

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remains in sync with video. This limitation affects only playback in the Media pane. Send to Playback is not affected. (MPLAY-1623)

Playback

• During playback of a clip while it is being captured (edit while capture or EWC), playback might slow down intermittently, video or audio might be out of sync, or playback might stop.

Workaround: Using shorter duration clips for EWC might reduce these issues. (MPLAY-1639) • Interplay Central does not support consistent playback of 1:1 media, 1:1 10b, DnxHD 185-220X or

DnxHD 175-185-220. (GRMT-5562)

For more information on supported media resolutions, see the Interplay Common Playback Service

Installation and Configuration Guide.

• When running many applications in the background, especially with CPU- or disk-intensive

operations, video playback may be impaired, e.g. stuttering, audio spikes or video and audio running out of sync. In this case, run as few applications as possible and keep the browser in the foreground.

Sequences

• Script sequences created in Interplay Central do not support ancillary data (D1 tracks). Any D1 tracks present on a master clip do not transfer to the Interplay Central sequence timeline. As a result, if you send a script sequence to a playback device (send-to-playback), no ancillary data is transferred. A sequence created by an Avid editor, such as Media Composer, that contains a D1 track retains the ancillary data if you send it to a playback device. (UDevC00167906)

• If you build a script sequence and delete one or more of the master clips from the Interplay database before you save the sequence, you can still save it, but filler is substituted for the missing clips. A message warns you that some clips are missing.

Workaround: To resolve the problem, check the master clips in again or delete the missing clips from the sequence. (GRMT-5858)

• The Match Frame does not work for all sequences loaded from the Assets pane. It only works in Output mode; therefore, it only works for script sequences. (GRMT-6218)

• If you create a story in Interplay Central, save the story, open the story sequence in Media Composer or NewsCutter, and then check it in to Interplay Production, the sequence is no longer editable in Interplay Central. The next time you open this story in Interplay Central, the sequence editor displays it as a red clip in the Sequence Timeline, and all editing functionality is disabled.

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However, the user can still play the video without effects in the Media Viewer. (GRMT-6205)

Renaming Servers Impact on SSL Certification

• Do not rename the Interplay Central middleware server(s) after software is installed. The default 'non-trusted' self-signed certificate key store gets generated automatically on the first startup of the server and contains the hostname of the server at that time; therefore, if the hostname is later changed, the corresponding information must be updated in the SSL certificate.

Workaround: If the server’s hostname must be renamed, you must also adjust the hostname in the SSL certificate by stopping the Avid Interplay Central Server service, deleting the key store file at: C:\ProgramData\Avid\AvidInterplayCentralService\ssl\jetty.keystore, and then restarting the service. This forces Interplay Central to create a new self-signed certificate. (GRMT-7596)

Note: This adjustment is also necessary if the Interplay Central middleware server is uninstalled and reinstalled.

Issues with Interplay Central on Safari (Mac OS only)

• In Safari, you cannot drag and drop more than one production cue if you aren't also dragging text. When you select multiple production cues, dragging and dropping to a new location within the story will only move the last selected cue, not all chosen cues. (GRMT-6866)

• In Safari on OSX Lion, autocorrect of text immediately following a production cue can delete the production cue. This is can be avoided in one of two ways.

Workarounds: Place a space after the production cue or disable “Correct Spelling Automatically” in Safari’s “Spelling and Grammar” configuration. (GRMT-7443)

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Send to Playback

• Under some circumstances an administrator cannot create Send To Playback (STP) profiles in the System Settings layout. This typically happens when an administrator signs in to Interplay Central for the first time after a new installation, before any settings have been applied to the Users database. The administrator signs in, sets Interplay Production and iNEWS credentials, opens the System Settings layout, and specifies the Interplay Production database. If the administrator continues to the STP Details pane, no information is displayed and the administrator cannot create an STP profile.

Workaround: Sign out and sign in again to Interplay Central. Interplay Central can then get the Send To Playback information from the Interplay Production engine, and you can create an STP profile. (GRMT-5184)

• If you send a sequence to playback from Interplay Central, a copy of the sequence with the extension .transfer is saved in a subfolder in the Sent to Playback folder in the Interplay Production database. This version of the sequence does not display a headframe. (GRMT-5307)

Story Creation

• If you create a story in Interplay Central, save it, and then load it in Avid Instinct, you cannot play the story. Story segments are not shown. (GRMT-6187)

• If you are working on an edit-locked story and Interplay Central crashes for some reason, if you reopen Interplay Central soon after the crash and try to edit the story, you might get the error message “Unable to obtain edit lock. Story is currently locked by another user.”

Workaround: Sign out and sign back in. When you sign out, all stories locked by your original session are unlocked. Signing back in creates another session and allows you to edit the story. However, changes you made before the crash will be lost. (GRMT-5527)

iNEWS Workstations

• Workstations with legacy iNEWS client software earlier than version 3.3 should not be used to edit stories containing Interplay Central sequences or segment breaks.

Audio

• If you try to add an audio-only clip to the NAT track or the SOT track, you get an error message that the sequence cannot be saved to Interplay. The story is saved correctly.

Note: You can add an audio-only clip to the Voice-over track. (GRMT-6147)

Drag and Drop Functionality

• If a user with a Browse license tries to drag a clip from the Media pane to the sequence timeline, no tracks are highlighted and the user cannot drop the clip in the timeline. There is no message to indicate that a user with a Browse license is not allowed to do this. (GRMT-5187)

• You cannot use a drag-and-drop operation to load multiple assets in the Media viewer. If you select multiple assets in an Assets pane and drag them to the Media viewer, only the first asset in the list is loaded.

• In a Chrome browser window, a drag-and-drop operation to a segment in the Script editor might not work correctly. For example, if you drag text or a production cue and drop it in a location in the existing text, the dragged item might be inserted in a different location. This problem does not occur in a Safari browser window.

Workaround: Use a cut-and-paste operation to move the item to the correct location. This problem should be fixed in a future version of Chrome. (GRMT-6532)

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Mobile Application

• When a mobile application user receives an HTTPS connection accept window and the system font on the Blackberry is set to a size larger than 10, then it becomes impossible for the user to press or select the Continue button. This is a limitation of the device itself because Blackberry doesn't allow users to perform scrolling or selection to the up direction if font size is greater than 10 and text must be scrolled.

Workaround: Ensure the system font is set on the mobile device to a size smaller than 10. (INMOB-1069 /subtask-INMOB-1091)

• This applies to the software localized to the Chinese language only. If you add a production cue, and start in Machine Command format by typing a line of text without an asterisk, then switch to Normal format and continue typing, the additional text is not immediately put on a new line as expected. This will be fixed in a future point release.

• When typing a story, using Arabic characters, the first character on a line that contains a long string of characters can appear cut off or pushed beyond the visible boundaries of the screen.

This behavior is a shortcoming of the BlackBerry OS and can also occur in other standard phone applications, such as Memo Pad. (INMOB-1094/ INMOB-1111)

• When a user re-enters a rundown, after having scrolled to a story and exited the rundown, instead of immediately reopening that story in the queue, the display will appear to scroll through the rundown, eventually stopping at the correct, current story selection. (INMOB-1017/ INMOB-1112)

• Avid does not recommend the multi-tap reduced keyboard on the BlackBerry Torch 9800 for use in story creation because it exhibits odd behavior when navigating between Presenter and Normal text formats.

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Technical Support Information

Most products feature a number of coverage options. Avid Assurance service offerings are designed to facilitate your use of Avid solutions. Service options include extended telephone coverage, automatic software maintenance, extended hardware warranty, and preferred pricing on replacement parts. Offerings and options may vary by product and are not available for all products.

For more information regarding Avid’s service offerings, visit www.avid.com/support or call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).

Program availability and details might vary depending on geographic location and are subject to change without notice. Contact your local Avid office or your local Avid Reseller for complete program information and pricing. However, if you need help locating an Avid office or Avid Reseller near you, please visit www.avid.com or call in North America 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). International users call 978-275-2480.

Accessing Online Support

Avid Online Support is available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search the Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read/join online message-board discussions.

To access Avid Online Support:



Go to www.avid.com/onlineSupport.

Note: Supplemental documentation for this release, if available, is provided on the Knowledge Base. For the latest up-to-date information, browse the Knowledge Base at Avid Online Support.

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Copyright and Disclaimer

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.

The software described in this document is furnished under a license agreement. You can obtain a copy of that license by visiting Avid's Web site at www.avid.com. The terms of that license are also available in the product in the same directory as the software. The software may not be reverse assembled and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement. It is against the law to copy the software on any medium except as specifically allowed in the license agreement.

No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, for any purpose without the express written permission of Avid Technology, Inc.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

Adrenaline, AirSpeed, ALEX, Alienbrain, Archive, Archive II, Assistant Avid, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid VideoRAID, CaptureManager, CountDown, Deko, DekoCast, FastBreak, Flexevent, FXDeko, iNEWS, iNEWS Assign, iNEWS ControlAir, Instinct, IntelliRender, Intelli-Sat, Intelli-sat Broadcasting Recording Manager, Interplay, ISIS, IsoSync, LaunchPad, LeaderPlus, ListSync, MachineControl, make manage move | media, Media Composer, NewsCutter, NewsView, OMF, OMF Interchange, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management, SIDON, SimulPlay, SimulRecord, SPACE, SPACEShift, Sundance Digital, Sundance, Symphony, Thunder, Titansync, Titan, UnityRAID, Video the Web Way, VideoRAID, VideoSPACE, VideoSpin, and Xdeck are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.

Interplay Central v1.2 ReadMe • 9329-65182-00 Rev C • 26 April 2012