Loudness Logger 1/12. Software Tools. Features of release and higher

Transcription

1 The Loudness Logging Toolset offers the customers of Junger Audio leveling processors an easy way to monitor the development of the loudness over time. This can be done in real time or by analyzing previously stored loudness log files. This tool set may be purchased from Junger Audio on a license basis per PC. The software is a MS Windows application that must be installed by an administrative person. The software is protected by an USB dongle. The administrator must simply double click on the installer file, e.g. "Instal_Loudness_Logger.exe": As next step the Junger Audio End User License Agreement appears :: After reading the EULA you may accept it or not. Selection is made by the above radio buttons. If you don't accept it you may go "< Back" and close the update program. If you accept it you can click on "Next >". 1/12

2 Now you may select an installation folder for the application. You can "Browse " for a directory of your choice : And create a new folder or select an existing one and click on "OK". Click on "Next >" and on the next window "Install". The installer will copy all relevant files to your PC and will register the software with the operating system Finally you may launch the application or simply "Finish" the installation You can launch the tool by selecting : Start > All Programs > Juenger Audio >. Important note: The is a protected software. Before launching it you must plug in the USB dongle which you received from Juenger Audio after purchasing the software. 2/12

3 After launching the tool you will get an initial display : Here you must establish the communication with the loudness processor(s) you want to log loudness data from. You must tell it the IP address of the device or the c8k frame where that level processors resides. If you start from scratch you must input an IP address and press <Connect>. If you have been previously connected with a device you may select it from the pull down list. The cross symbol allows you to delete entries from that pull down list. The application will connect you and will show all supported LevelMagic processors and their channel configuration (surround or stereo) in the left "Device/Proc. Name" column : 3/12

4 Within that column you have a folder symbol per LevelMagic processer. It provides a check box to activate that processor for logging and it shows the device name of the processor which you may set via Web GUI.!Important note. Per C8k frame you may log two processors at the same time. The next column shows the module type and CAN-ID in square brackets. The button will restart the communication with all modules / devices from scratch. Beneath the Module name / ID you gat a preview of the life plot. The button next to it may start a Bar Graph window for that processing channel, while the over next one will launch the Life Plot window : The last two columns refer to the file logger control and its status. The Settings menu allows you to set up basic things for the : 4/12

5 here you define the default folder where the Logging Tool will store respective files Communication port range : In order to receive data for the logging tools from a c8k Frame Controller one must define an UDP port. This number may be restricted by the system administration of your network. In this case you must set the Communication port range accordingly. Important Note! If your PC is part of a MS-Windows domain the domain server may overwrite your network settings. Make sure that any Proxy setting is disabled. MS-Windows XP German: MS-Windows XP English: Systemsteuerung > Internetoptionen > Control Panel > Internet Options > Verbindungen > LAN-Einstellungen Internet Properties > Communications > LAN settings 5/12

6 Always on top: Saved windows layout: the application you start will be always on top of other application windows on the PC screen except for the Tool Launcher <RESET> you can reset the tool layout that is saved on the PC Limitation of storage space: Limitation of file length: Auto restart at: Template file name: in order to prevent storage device overflow you may limit the space for Log Files. The value defines the remaining space of a storage device that will be left untouched. you may either log the loudness for an unlimited period of time (physically limited by the storage space) or limited by a certain duration. If you press the respective disk symbol in the File Logger column, the log process will start and a new file will automatically be generated if that duration has expired. If you select 24 hours for the file length you may also define a point in time where the log process will automatically restart for the next 24 hours by generating a new file. here you may combine information you like to have as parts of the log file names. 6/12

7 Clicking on Bar Graph will launch a traditional bar graph meter display : Above you see two possible layouts. The layout of the display depends on the channel configuration. The Input / Output bar graphs show the sample peak values of input and output of the selected channel. For loudness control you must link the processing channels (see link mode in the C8086 manual for details). Therefore the tool shows only one bar graph for the gain reduction and one for limiter activity of linked channels. The display of gain reduction for the LFE channel depends on the LFE link mode. Furthermore you will get the calculated loudness values in Short Term Loudness (3 sec.) for in- and output as well as the integrated Loudness (10 sec.) value for the output which is real time calculated by the device. 7/12

8 Clicking on the icon in the next column will launch the Live Plot tool : This tool is meant for live analysis of the short term input / output loudness of the pre selected channel. All relevant information is given at the top of the display. On the right you get a four column bar graph that shows the peak values an the short term loudness. These values are plotted along the time line. On the left hand side you get the statistically distribution of loudness input vs. output. This unique kind of display is an easy way to see how the loudness processor performs. The tool keeps all data gathered from the selected processing channel in the PC RAM. This allows you to change the time scale by selecting it in the pull down menu Time Range or by the pull down in the bottom left part: at any time you like. The tool will keep as much data as for full 2 hours in the RAM, for both the input and the output. After that it starts cycling the data in FIFO (first in first out) style. Display Options menu: * Scale 40 or Scale 70 [LUFS] resolution, may also be set by graphical symbol in the bottom left of the window: 8/12

9 Other settings are : * pause / resume of the life plot, maybe also be set by graphical symbol in the top of the window: * enable / disable display of the four bar graphs and plots, may also be set by graphical symbols in the top of the window: * Show Target reference line * Show Peak reference line * Show Zero Zone reference lines if available by the operating mode of the loudness processor * Define Loudness Distribution scale either absolute [LU] or relative to the loudness target of the processor Reset Plot will do what it says you may reset the measurement and start it again. This will be prompted: The File menu offers standard features like saving the content of the RAM memory to a file in any storage device attached to the PC. It also allows you to print the content of the actual display window to printers attached to the PC as well as performing a print preview. Copy to clip board copies the content of the window to the PCs clip board so you may use it for other applications. The Color Settings menu rounds up the features of the Live Plot tool. You may play around with these settings to find values which match your taste. Junger Audio offers a default look and feel. You may recall it by clicking on Default at any time. Finally you have the display of program and processing module / channel related information: The tool is prepared for reading Dolby E program description text information. This feature is not active jet. 9/12

10 Beside logging of loudness values over time the major application of the tool is loudness measurement of programs or parts of it. Following the EBU R128 standard the may measure and display the integrated loudness as well as the loudness range. Either in pause or in run mode you will get a white vertical line if you place the mouse pointer into the active display area. You may do a right click at any time and you will get a pop up that allows you to add a text to the marker. If you later on click into the marker field you may delete it again. But you may also do a left click, hold and drag the mouse over an area of the life plot and release it. This will mark the time period of interest for an integrated loudness measurement of the program : If you now do a right click into the white area you may "Add to Integration" the integrated loudness measurement. The results show up in the top field : You can see the values of input and output of the loudness control processor as well as the time period of integration. After selecting "Add to Integration" the white area will disappear and a small horizontal line with two handles still marks the time period. If you place the mouse over one of the handles the pointer shape changes and you may extend or reduce the measurement period afterwards. 10/12

11 You may also start, pause or reset integrated loudness measurement of the processor output directly by the launching tool: The fith column of the launching tool shows floppy disc icons If you click on such icon the process of logging loudness measurement date for later evaluation starts right away and the star time will be displayed left to it while the 6 th column shoes the active status of the logging process. The data format of the log file is *csv" (comma separated values). The Log Analyzer will use these data to display them later on but you may also import these data to a spread sheet program for your own application. You may launch the Log Analyzer by pressing the Compare Log Files menu button. This will open a window where you can select files for analyzing : You can either compare two different files or you just select a file at the top and you will be able to compare input and output loudness of the same program for example. If you click on the select symbol a file dialog opens and you can select the desired file for analyzing. When you press <OK> the following display shows up: 11/12

12 The above display shows the input and output of the same processed program. Here you have similar options like already discussed for the life plot. You may select areas of interest and add them to the integrated loudness calculation. The results are shown in the respective display fields in the upper part of the individual display. Again a horizontal line with handles shows the previously selected area for measurement. But here you may also zoom into an area. To help you with navigating each display shows the overview of the whole file length and a "magnifying glass" : Beside the option to tune the display colours to your taste a little window shows the colour legend for the curves. Finally you may link the scroll bars of both displays - see Display Options. If you have marked an area you may also export this for other applications or for later evaluation - see File dialog. From here you may also print the result on the screen or open other files for analysis. 12/12