Getting Started > The Player > Setting Player Display Options >
Comparing Tracks and Layers

Use the View Mode options to display images from two video tracks simultaneously. The tracks can be stereo or mono. You can choose to view the two tracks in a split screen. Alternatively, the two tracks can be viewed as a transparency blend or with a clamped or non-clamped difference. The two tracks viewed are the Primary and Secondary tracks.

If you are working with a clip containing a stereo track, you can select how you want to preview stereo results.

To compare Primary and Secondary tracks in the Player:

1. Bring a clip into the Desktop Player or the Library Player and click the Clip & Setup tab.
2. In the View Mode controls, assign one track as the Primary track and one as the Secondary track in the respective fields. If a track has more than one layer, you can also enter the layer that you want displayed.

   (a) Primary Video Track field(b) Secondary Video Track field (c) Preview Setup box

   In this example, layer 2 of video track 1 is assigned as the Primary track and layer 1 of video track 2 is assigned as the Secondary track.

3. Select how you want to view the two tracks using the Preview Setup box.

   If you selected: | Do this:
   --- | ---
   Horizontal or Vertical Split | Set the position of the split.
   Angle Split | Set the position and angle of the split.
   Blend | Set the percentage of the Secondary track to display. For example, if you specify 60%, the image is composed of a blend of 40% of the Primary track and 60% of the Secondary track. Set a value in the Blend field or press Shift+T and drag left or right.
   Difference | Set the difference between the two tracks. You can set the minimum and maximum threshold values to be clamped or non clamped. To adjust the maximum clamp value, enter a value in the applicable field or press Shift+U and drag left or right. To adjust the minimum clamp value, enter a value in the applicable field or press Shift+Y and drag left or right.

   NoteIn Realtime view, the Secondary video track appears black if it has an unrendered effect, or if both the Primary and Secondary video tracks contain unrendered dissolves.

Example: To preview stereo results in Stereo Anaglyph mode:

1. Bring a clip containing a stereo track into the Desktop Player or the Library Player and click the Clip & Setup tab.
2. In the View Mode controls, assign one layer (right eye or left eye) as the Primary track and the other layer as the Secondary track in the respective fields.

   In the following example, the left eye layer is assigned as the Primary track and the right eye layer is assigned as the Secondary track.

   Stereo is automatically selected in the Preview Setup box.

   NoteThe options in the Stereo Preview box depend on your hardware configuration. As well, the option displayed is the same as the one selected in the broadcast preferences. If you change the option in one location, it is changed automatically in the other location.

   (a) Primary and Secondary Video Track fields (b) Preview Setup box (c) Stereo Preview box (d) Stereo Anaglyph box

3. Select an option from the Stereo Anaglyph box.

   Select: | To view:
   --- | ---
   Diff | The difference between the two images, with the minimum and maximum threshold values non clamped.
   Diff Clamped | The difference between the two images, with the minimum and maximum threshold values clamped. To adjust the maximum clamp value, enter a value in the Max field, or press Shift+U and drag left or right. To adjust the minimum clamp value, enter a value in the Min field, or press Shift+Y and drag left or right.
   Blend | A combined image of the two tracks. To adjust the Blend factor, enter a value in the Blend field, or press Shift+T and drag left or right.
   Mono | The image with just the anaglyph effect. The RGB values are removed from the display.
   Dubois | The image with reduced ghosting between the left and right eyes.