ABSTRACT
The reality of using multiple media servers on a production is very commonplace today. In the early days of media servers, an old school method of “syncing” multiple servers without using a network was to program a few “reference” cues on our lighting console; these cues contained a DMX value for a specific frame of the clip. While the manual method for staying in sync might get us through a show in an emergency, it is by no means the right way to keep multiple servers in sync while playing sections of a piece of content. Another option for syncing frames between servers is to use MIDI timecode. Genlock refers to using a reference signal from one source to synchronize other video devices together. Genlock is commonly used in broadcast applications to ensure refresh rates between devices will be in sync at a specific time.
