Ports

Ports are the connectors on gear that allow you to connect cables (connections) to other gear.

Each port has a set of properties that define the type of connection that can be made to it, as most properties are used for real-time validation.

This ensures you can not plug a cable in backwards, or connect incompatible ports together (for example an RJ45 can’t be connected to an XLR port).

Ports in GearConnect come in two forms. The first is the port data that lives on the library items. These are the default values that will be used when you add a piece of gear to a project. The second is the port data that lives on the gear items in a project. These are the values that are used after the gear has been added to a project. You can think of this relationship like a template and an instance of that template.

To explain further, let’s take a look at the properties that make up each type of port.

Library Port Options

Library ports are the default values that are set on the library item and will be used when the gear is added to a project.

• Category: The category of the port (Network, Audio, Lighting, etc.). Supports Multi-Mode.
• Connector: The type of the port (RJ45, XLR5, BNC, etc.). Supports Multi-Mode.
• Fiber Type: The type of fiber if the Connector is set to Fiber (OpticalCon Duo Single Mode, HMA-J 2-Channel Multi Mode, etc.). Supports Multi-Mode.
• Direction: The physical direction of the port (Input, Output, Bidirectional). This is the physical direction of the pins on the port, if that port can be reversed on a piece of gear. For example, XLRs can be both male and female on the same piece of gear, where most other ports are only ever one physical type (RJ45, BNC, etc.). Most gear will be Bidirectional.
• Signal: The signal type that is sent or received on the port (SDI, sACN, MIDI, etc.). Supports Multi-Mode.
• Signal Flow: The direction the signal is traveling (Input, Output, Bidirectional). This is not the physical direction of the pins on the port, just the flow of data. For example, an SDI BNC port will physically both be the same port direction on the two connecting devices, but the signal flow usually only goes one way. Supports Multi-Mode.
• Speed: On applicable port configurations, you may have a speed setting (For network ports, you may have 1Gbps, 10Gbps, etc.). Supports Multi-Mode.
• Quantity: The number of ports of this type on the gear.
• Sort: Custom sort order for the starting port. By default, it will be 1 for the first port, but you can override this to have the ports start from a different number. For example, switches that have shared ports, so two ports may share port number 24.

Note

Multi-Mode means that the port can have multiple values for this property. There will be a value that the port will default to, but you can change it to any of the other values. This is useful for gear that may have the option to send different signals from the same port.

Note

Multi-Mode only applies when Full Edit Mode is disabled. When Full Edit Mode is enabled, you can set any value for any property on the port (Pro feature).

Gear Port Options

Gear ports are the values that are set on the gear item in a project and are used after the gear has been added to a project. You can see these options are almost identical to the library port options for this reason.

• Connected Gear: The gear item that is connected to this port via a connection.
• Label: The name of the port.
• Category: The category of the port (Network, Audio, Lighting, etc.). These are used mostly for labeling purposes and don’t affect connection validation.
• Connector: The physical connector on the device (RJ45, XLR5, BNC, etc.). These determine the colour that appears in the drawing for the port. This is used for validation.
• Fiber Type: When the Connector is set to fiber, then this is used to determine the type of fiber connection (OpticalCon Duo Single Mode, HMA-J 2-Channel Multi Mode, etc.). This is used for validation when the Connector is set to fiber.
• Direction: This refers to the physical direction of the port, determining how the cable is plugged in, based on pin orientation. For most ports, the direction is bidirectional since most ports, like RJ45 or BNC, have the same male or female port on the device. However, for ports like XLR, which can have different male and female pin directions for inputs and outputs, we use Direction to specify. (Input, Output, Bidirectional). This is used for validation.
• Signal Type: This is the type of signal that will be sent or received from this port (SDI, sACN, MIDI, etc.). This is used for validation.
• Signal Flow: This is the direction of the signal flow. (Input, Output, Bidirectional). This is the not the physical direction of the pins on the port, just the flow of data. For example, an SDI BNC port will physically both be the same port direction on the two connecting devices, but the signal flow usually only goes one way. This is used for validation.
• Speed: For some ports, a speed is also provided. For network ports, this may be 1Gbps, 10Gbps, etc. For SDI ports, this may be HD-SDI, 3G-SDI, etc. This is not used for validation.
• Sort Order: The sort within the port’s grouping. For example, all DMX Outs might be numbered from 1-8 while DMX Ins could be numbered from 1-4. Renumbering DMX In 1 to DMX In 5 would change DMX Ins to be 2-5, while maintaining 1-8 for DMX Outs.