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CountDown User Guide

1. 0 00 cece 5 29 GPL OUtpUtS es sh tte cesta scat aoon Gi BERON a TAD tant eats 5 29 Assigning the Channel for Event Playout 5 29 Assigning Event Playout Mode 0 eee eee 5 30 Setting an Event to be Manual 04 5 30 Setting an Event to be Follow On 06 5 31 Setting an Event to Time Of Day 0000 5 31 Setting an Event to CountDown 0065 5 34 Assigning GPI O Triggers to Events 00 00008 5 35 Editing Events 0 eee eens 5 37 Using the Browser Controls 0 0000 e eee 5 38 Using the Clip Editor 0 eee eee 5 38 Understanding the Clip Editor 008 5 41 Changing the Title of Events 00 0 0 0 eee 5 44 Modifying Events While Playing a Playlist to Air 5 46 Restoring Event Properties 6 0 cee eee eee eee 5 46 Playing a List to Aiton a a eee eens 5 47 Chapter 6 GONE OM AIT S elie Seah che eal the a lias sn oe eae 5 48 Playing a List in Single Channel Mode 5 48 Playing A List in All Channels Mode 5 49 Playing a List in Dual Channel Mode 5 49 Playing Events 0 ene 5 50 Rearranging Media Events in the List While On Air 5 52 Selecting the Event to Play Next 5 5 5 52 Editing the List cc 02ig 1 83 Seda wed ei et el 5 52 Controlling the On Air Event 0 0 0 c cece
2. 6 7 To save the shotbox to a different name do the following 1 Select Save Shotbox As from the File menu The Save Shotbox As dialog box appears In the File Name text box enter the name to use for the shotbox Click Save CountDown saves the shotbox with the name entered Opening an Existing Shotbox The two methods used to open an existing shotbox are the open com mand and the drag and drop method The Open Command 1 3 4 Click the Open button on the general toolbar or select Open from the File menu The Open dialog box appears Select Shotbox Files from the File Type drop down list A list of existing shotboxes appears Select the shotbox to open Click OK To open the Open dialog box with shotbox files already selected in the file type list do one of the following a Press and hold down the ALT key and click the Open button on the general toolbar OR b Type CTRL ALT O 6 8 The Drag and Drop Method 1 Locate the shotbox file to open For instance the file may be on the Desktop listed in Windows Explorer or listed in any directory window 2 Click the file and drag it from its location and drop it into the CountDown window Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows To optimize the positions of the Playlist Shotbox and Media List win dows do one of the following a From the Windows menu select Arrange Windows or click the Arrange Windows button o
3. To have the right most display show elapsed time for the current item check the Display Count Up time check box on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box Configuring Appearance of a Playlist A playlist s appearance is configured on the Playlist Appearance tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Figure 3 6 Playlist Appear ance Tab on page 3 19 General Preferences Figure 3 6 Playlist Appearance Tab Configuring Clip Status Indication Color CountDown indicates the status of the media events in on air playlists using three colors By default playing events are red readied events are green and events that cannot be played or readied are orange Users are allowed to change these preferences To change the status indication color do the following 1 In the Hilight Colors section click the status color box to be changed The Windows color pallet appears 2 Select the color by clicking the appropriate colored box 3 Click OK The color box changes to the color selected and CountDown uses that color for that status in the on air playlist Configuring The Playlists Appearance The playlists appearance may show icons indicating the type and sta tus of events or simple text based displays The text based display allows more events to be shown in the playlist window than when using the icons To change the playlist appearance do the following 1 In the Appearance sect
4. 005 3 7 Manually Performing a Server Changeover 3 9 Configuring Redundant Control Installations 3 9 Setting Up GPI Switching Between CountDown PCs 3 10 Customizing Online Offline Color Indicators 3 11 Updating Playlist Shotbox files Between CountDown PCs 3 12 Configuring User Preferences 0 0 cece cece 3 13 Configuring Playlist Shotbox Functionality 3 14 Enabling Playlist Shotbox Editing 3 15 Enabling Next Event Keys 000 c cece eee eee 3 15 Configuring Double Click Mode 0045 3 15 Setting Default Event Playout Mode 3 16 Enabling Visibility of On Air Clips 0 3 16 Enabling Deletion of Events After Playout 3 16 Enabling Automatic Readying of a Dragged Pasted Media EVOCN tele ods ean ea tel ea gat 4d aalb sles tae NA 3 17 Enabling Deferred Ready Function for Placeholders 3 17 Enabling Automatic Activation of Time Of Day Events 3 18 Determining The Second Playlist Time Display Mode 3 18 Configuring Appearance of a Playlist 3 19 Configuring Clip Status Indication Color 3 19 Configuring The Playlist s Appearance 3 20 Configuring The Media List Appearance 3 21 Enabling Password Protection for Preferences 3 21 Chapter 4 Disabling Password Protection for Preferences 3 23
5. B Wednesday foram gt 00 00 12 Duration Last Modified GPI Outputs 00 02 00 02 05 18 01 16 55 38 00 00 48 00 07 18 01 15 47 28 00 02 00 02 00 04 00 04 Wed 05 18 01 16 58 18 0 00 02 00 02 00 06 00 06 Wed 05 18 01 17 13 04 2 5 7 00 02 00 02 00 08 00 08 Wed 05 18 01 17 02 20 00 02 00 02 00 10 00 10 Wed 05 18 01 17 04 25 01 00 59 02 00 12 00 12 Wed 06 08 01 11 09 03 00 02 00 02 01 12 59 14 Wed 05 18 01 17 21 27 00 02 00 02 01 14 59 00 Thu 05 18 01 17 24 17 00 02 00 02 01 16 59 02 Thu 05 18 01 17 26 51 00 01 54 15 01 18 59 04 Thu 07 17 01 13 15 36 unity test 00 00 13 14 01 20 53 19 Thu 06 15 01 16 42 11 D Program Files Avi 00 02 00 02 01 21 07 03 Thu 12 31 69 17 00 00 g Entries 15 End Time 01 23 07 clip0 Figure 5 22 Typical Playlist On Air Rearranging Media Events in the List While On Air The running order of a playlist may be changed even while the list is in the On Air state Make these changes in one of two ways e By selecting a different event to play next e By editing the list 5 53 Selecting the Event to Play Next When a playlist is On Air double clicking an event may ready that event rather than dis playing the Clip Editor The precise function depends on the playlist setting See Configur ing Double Click Mode on page 16 See Playing Events on page 5 50 Editing the List Instant changes may be made by readying a different event and play ing it To rea
6. CountDown may be used as a media browser that enables viewing and browsing of the media on the AirSPACE Server without requiring RS 422 connections 4 28 To set CountDown to run in browse only mode do the following 1 From the File drop down menu Select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Select the Server tab General Preferences SE WETS TT BIG Se WANENE M M M E E E Ej M E a Figure 4 15 General Preferences Server Tab Selected 4 Check the Operate in Browse Only mode check box CountDown checks the check box labeled Automatically Show Media List 5 Click OK A dialog box appears stating that the change made requires restarting CountDown 6 Click Yes 4 29 CountDown closes When CountDown is re opened a smaller window displays the media list See Browsing Media Events on page 4 24 for more information 4 30 CHAPTER 5 Managing Play Lists In This Chapter This chapter provides instructions for building modifying and play ing playlists The following topics are discussed e Understanding a Playlist e Building a Playlist e Opening an Existing Playlist e Modifying Events in the Playlist e Playing a List to Air e Importing a Playlist e Exporting a Playlist e Other Playlist Functions e Operation With MOS Protocol 5 2 Understanding a Playlist A playlist allows rapid assembly modification and pl
7. Enabling Traffic Logging 0 6 eee eee 3 24 Disabling Logging 0 0 eee eee ees 3 26 Enabling Auto Recovery Protection 5 3 27 Configuring Media Related Functionality 3 28 Configuring VTR Preferences 0 6 0 0c cece eee 3 31 Configuring GPI Functions 0 cece eee 3 34 Configuring the MOS Interface 0 0 e eee eee 3 40 Configuring the Global MOS Settings 3 41 Configuring The Playlist Title Field 0 3 42 Understanding the Status Displays 0 0 0 e cece 3 44 Understanding Serial Port Status suasa suasusu 3 45 Network Statis meia eiia reee A EA ar E aia 3 46 AirSPACE Mirroring Status 6 0 6 6 cece eee eee 3 46 Managing Media Events Inv his Chapter sce 4s tse ities Be e EEE ts awd ah ae tha 4 1 Browsing the Media List 0 c eee eee 4 1 Showing the Media Events On the AirSPACE Server 4 2 Sorting the Media List 0 eee eee eee 4 3 Resizing Media List Columns 6 0 00 0c eee eee 4 3 Rearranging Media List Columns 0000 e eee 4 3 Restoring Media List Column Layout 06 4 4 Modifying Media Event IDs and Titles 005 4 4 Searching for Media Events 6 0 6 c cece eee 4 6 Using the Find Media Dialog Box 0 0 c cece eee 4 7 Searching ue hive owed e Di a a eNe Pherae 4 8 Restricting a Search 0 6 4 9
8. Find All from the Server drop down menu or click the Find All Media button on the Media List toolbar see Figure 4 1 Recording New Media Events CountDown can control all available record channels simultaneously Make the necessary connections on all devices involved in the record ing See Chapter 2 for details Before recording make sure recording is enabled in the General Pref erences dialog box See Enabling Media Editing on page 3 30 Performing Manual Recordings For manual recording set up an event to record and manually start the recording at the desired time To manually record media to the AirSPACE Server do the following 1 Set the channel to use for recording to Local on the AirSPACE user interface Refer to the Avid AirSPACE Installation and User s Guide for more information 2 From the Server drop down menu select Record Manual and Name The Name is the controller name for the AirSPACE channel to be used Next the CountDownManual Record dialog box appears See Figure 4 8 jp ffesTREC Title The New Tie 0000 Duration 00 00 05 00 T Close dialog when recording ends lz Cancel Create Figure 4 8 Manual Record Dialog Box 3 Enter the ID title and duration of the event being created The event may not be created if its ID already exists on the AirSPACE Server CountDown remembers the last record duration used 4 To perform a single recording and have the Manual Record dial
9. Starting a New Search 0 6 6 6 4 9 Canceling a Search 06 4 10 Recording New Media Events 0 000 c cece cece eens 4 10 Performing Manual Recordings 00 eee 4 10 Recording from a VTR 6 6 eee eee 4 12 Chapter 5 Browsing the VTR Media 0 cece ee eee 4 14 Correcting Frame Inaccuracy 0 cece eee eee 4 16 Performing Time Of Day Recordings 00005 4 17 Understanding the Timed Events List 4 19 Updating the Media Information 6000 c eee 4 22 Deleting Media Events from the AirSPACE Server 4 22 Browsing Media Events 0 c cece cece eee eee ee 4 23 Understanding the Browser Control Dialog Box 4 24 Operating in Browse Only Mode 000 cece eens 4 26 Managing Play Lists In This Chapter s cc2iod pathy atte titted Sita EE g 5 1 Understanding a Playlist naonana ananunua eee 5 2 Building a Playlist 0 5 3 Creating a New Playlist 0 5 3 Adding Media Events 1 0 0 6 c ccc eee ee 5 3 Adding a Single Event 0 c cece eee eee 5 4 Adding Multiple Events 0 cece eee eee 5 4 Assigning a Play Out Channel 0 000000 eee 5 5 Automatically Reversing the Default Playout Mode 5 5 Including the Events from Another Playlist 5 6 Adding Comments and Break Events 000005 5 9 Adding Comments 0 0 0
10. and updates them Click OK Modifying Events While Playing a Shotbox to Air CountDown allows modification of events in a shotbox even as that list is aired however CountDown restricts the functionality of the Clip Editor if a network browse channel is not assigned or if the event you are editing is playing CountDown allows only manual entries clear ing the IN and OUT points and changing the title the Transport Controls Mark IN Mark OUT and Cue buttons are disabled CountDown also allows modification of readied and playing events Modifying a readied event causes CountDown to re ready it Modify ing a playing event causes CountDown to update the duration of the event as it is playing When a shotbox is on air double clicking an event plays that event rather than displaying the Clip Editor To edit the IN and OUT points of a event while the shotbox is on air use the Clip Editor See Using the Clip Editor on page 5 39 for more information Restoring Event Properties After modifying an event using the Clip Editor the IN point and dura tion event properties may be restored to that of those on the AirSPACE Server To restore the properties of an event or a group of events do the fol lowing 1 Select the event or the group of events in the playlist 2 From the Shotbox menu select Reset Details CountDown restores the IN point and duration of the event or group of events to that of those on the
11. drop down menu or click the Show Events button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar shown in Figure 5 2 AE Tis Da Type De ae a 06 55 Fri PLAaYOUT Today IO MARGO095 Duration O10025 50651 Fri RECORD Chancel soos IO EFORT Durston 00 01 00 BASKETBALL Figure 4 13 Timed Events List Deleting a Time Of Day Recording from the Timed Events List To delete a Record entry or group of Record entries from the Timed Events list do the following 1 Select the entry or entries 2 From the Server drop down menu select Record 3 Select Delete Recordings To delete a playout entry from the Timed Events list change its Play out mode to something other than Time Of Day See Assigning Event Playout Mode on page 5 30 Updating the Media Information The AirSPACE Server continually informs CountDown of changes that occur to its media database Media information updates may also be done manually To manually update the media information select Refresh from server in the Server drop down menu Deleting Media Events from the AirSPACE Server Before deleting media make sure you have enabled media deletion in the General Preferences dialog box See Enabling Media Deletion on page 3 30 for more information To delete media from the AirSPACE Server do the following 1 From the Media list select the event or group of events to be deleted 2 Select Delete Media from the Server drop down menu or click the
12. the Media List toolbar see Figure 4 1 The Browser Control dialog box appears See Figure 4 14 4 25 Elzan PARENT foo on0306 Be fooonort4 g oe Figure 4 14 Browser Control Dialog Box 3 Use the Browser Control Dialog Box to cue jog fast forward rewind or play the event See Understanding the Browser Con trol Dialog Box on page 4 25 Understanding the Browser Control Dialog Box See Using the Clip Edi The Browser Control dialog box operates similar to the Clip Editor and ee onpage Panor can also be used to edit events more information See Assigning a Chan The Browser Control dialog box allows browsing of an event at any DA a him time even if no browse channel is assigned page 3 6 for more infor mation mBERE mwE E When no browse channel is available CountDown restricts the func tionality of the Browser Control dialog box It only allows manual entering or clearing of the IN and OUT points the Transport Controls Mark IN and Mark OUT buttons and the Cue buttons are disabled Using Cue Mark and Clear Controls Next to the In and Out text boxes there are six buttons The first button is the Mark IN button Use the button to mark the IN point of the ingest media The second button is the Mark OUT button Use this button to mark the OUT point of the ingest media When the browser is open IN and OUT points may be changed without affect ing the values associa
13. 2 OR d Select the event and type CTRL E The Clip Editor dialog box appears See Figure 5 17 on page 5 40 2 In the Title text box enter the new title for the event 3 Click OK CountDown renames the event in the Playlist Modifying Events While Playing a Playlist to Air CountDown allows modification of events in a playlist even as that list is aired however CountDown restricts the functionality of the Clip Editor if a network browse channel is not assigned or if the event you are editing is playing CountDown allows only manual entries clear ing the IN and OUT points and changing the title the Transport Controls Mark IN Mark OUT and Cue buttons are disabled CountDown also allows modification of readied and playing events When a readied event is modified it remains in a readied state Modi fying a playing event causes the duration of the event to update while the event is playing To edit the IN and OUT points of a event while the playlist is On Air use the Clip Editor See Using the Clip Editor on page 5 39 for more information When a playlist is On Air double clicking an event may ready that event rather than displaying the Clip Editor The precise function depends on the playlist setting See Configuring Double Click Mode on page 16 Restoring Event Properties After modifying an event using the Clip Editor the IN point and dura tion event properties may be restored to that of thos
14. 703 6 031 529 6 035 367 6 038 573 6 052 508 6 058 236 6 061 758 6 072 796 6 084 569 6 091 422 6 091 778 6 105 083 6 118 444 6 130 676 6 134 379 6 134 607 D352 278 D372 478 D373 778 D392 267 D392 268 D392 269 D395 291 D396 853 D398 912 Additional U S and foreign patents pending 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 2002 Avid Technology Inc All rights reserved Printed in USA The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics Inc for the use of their TIFF library Copyright 1988 1997 Sam Leffler Copyright 1991 1997 Silicon Graphics Inc Permission to use copy modify distribute and sell this software i e the TIFF library and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee provided that i the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation and ii the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED AS IS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EXPRESS IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABIL
15. AirSPACE Server 3 If CountDown cannot locate the event on the AirSPACE Server a dialog box appears stating that it cannot locate the event See Figure 6 4 on page 6 13 CountDown IN The playlist item test3 cannot be found on the server Do you want to convert it to a placeholder Figure 6 4 Convert to Placeholder Dialog Box Do one of the following a To convert the event to a placeholder click Yes CountDown converts the event to a placeholder OR b To cancel the command click No CountDown retains the modified properties of the event Playing a Shotbox to Air ABCD There are two steps to playing out the events in a shotbox The first step is putting the shotbox in the On Air state The second step is playing out events in that list These steps are done using the shotbox Control toolbar Figure 6 5 Shotbox Control Toolbar The Channel buttons shown at left on the shotbox Control toolbar allows selection of the single channel which will put the shotbox in an On Air state The Freeze button on the shotbox Control toolbar freezes the clip cur rently playing The Stop button on the shotbox Control toolbar will stop the playout of the Current item Going On Air As with a playlist selecting the channel to play out the shotbox simul taneously puts the shotbox in the On Air state If another shotbox or playlist is active on that channel it will be put Off Air Figure 6 6 shows an exam
16. Delete Media button on the Media List toolbar See Figure 4 1 A dialog box appears requiring confirmation of the deletion 3 Click Yes to confirm each individual deletion or click Yes To All to confirm the deletion of the entire selection CountDown deletes the selected media events from the AirSPACE Server There is no undo for deletions If the event is in use it will not be deleted and a dialog is displayed to alert the user Browsing Media Events CountDown can control the browsing of AirSPACE media events using the network connection It does this using a video monitor con nected to a record or playlist port of the AirSPACE Server Network browsing uses a different AirSPACE channel from those used for play out control Media Browsing is also possible even when no dedicated network channel is available CountDown will use the channel assigned to Port A provided that no playlist is on air in that channel It is possible to edit the media IN and OUT points by direct user entry as well To browse the media events on the AirSPACE Server do the following 1 If necessary show the media list by selecting List Media from the Server drop down menu 2 Open the Browser Control dialog box by doing one of the follow ing a Double click the event to browse OR b Select the event to browse and select Browse Item from the Server drop down menu OR c Select the event to browse and click the Browse Item button on
17. Find Media fo lfcortsins front Tile fstats with efsaccer Figure 4 7 Find Media Dialog Box The list may be searched by event ID title duration or modification date Events may be searched using a single criterion or a combination of up to three criteria For instance search for events whose IDs start with Event or search for events whose IDs start with Event whose title does not include Test and whose duration is less than 15 seconds To conduct a search do the following 1 Select ID Title Duration or Modification Date from the first list box in the Find Media dialog box 2 Select the search parameter from the second drop down list box such as contains does not contain is less than 4 9 3 For ID Title and Duration criteria type the character string that applies to the search parameter needed to find the event For the Modification Date criteria enter the date and time each in appropriate text box 4 To incorporate a second criterion in the search do the following a Select AND or OR CountDown activates the second search level b Repeat steps 1 3 for the second search level If AND is selected CountDown searches for events that sat isfy both criterion If OR is selected CountDown searches for events that satisfy either criterion 5 To incorporate a third criterion in the search do the following a Select AND or OR for the second search level CountDown activates the third s
18. Find the AirSPACE Server IP address by using the AirSPACE user interface To find the AirSPACE IP address do the following 1 From the AirSPACE user interface click the Setup menu button in the bottom left hand corner of the screen 3 6 2 Click the Network Configuration button The network information for the AirSPACE Server appears See AirSPACE User Interface on page 3 6 Vera aE bata Mebane CaaS garmin Bimi Daaga ta Figure 3 3 AirSPACE User Interface 3 The IP address is displayed Assigning a Channel for Browsing This feature does not CountDown can control browsing of AirSPACE media events using a RS 422 con the network connection It does this by using a video monitor con nected to a record playlist port of the AirSPACE Server To browse events assign an AirSPACE channel to be used for network browsing 3 7 To assign a channel for network browsing do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences Next select Server The Server Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 1 2 In the Server Details section select the radio button that corre sponds to the channel to be used for network browsing The browse channel must be set to Local on the AirSPACE Server Network Browse may not use the same ports selected in the Channel Configu ration area 3 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 2 on page 3 4 4 Click Yes to proceed 5 Restart Coun
19. Media dialog box See Using the Find Media Dialog Box on page 7 for more information OR b Type the first few letters of the title Click the Title sort button and type the first few letters of the title CountDown selects the first event whose title begins with those letters OR c Type the first few letters of the ID Click the ID sort button and type the first few letters of the ID 4 7 CountDown selects the first event whose ID begins with those letters CountDown also displays the keyword typed in the media list status bar located at the bottom of the media list See Figure 4 6 ound 21 items orage used 8 emaining 04 35 clip Found 21 it St d 8 Remaining 04 35 clips h Figure 4 6 Media List Status Bar The speed letters for the key word are typed affects the search for the keywords If consecutive letters with intervals of less than one second between keystrokes are typed CountDown interprets the input as a single key word If letters are typed with longer than one second intervals between keystrokes CountDown interprets the following letters as the beginning of a new keyword Using the Find Media Dialog Box The Find Media dialog box allows searching for media events in the list using several criteria To access the Find Media dialog box select Find in the Server drop down menu or click the Find Media button on the Media List toolbar See Figure 4 1 4 8 Searching
20. OUT points may also be set manu ally by clicking in the appropriate text box typing the desired time code value and press ing the Enter key Use the Browser Controls to modify the IN and OUT points of an event as they exist on the AirSPACE Server To edit an event using the Browser Controls do the following 1 Open the Browser Control dialog box 2 Use the Transport Controls to find the IN point 3 Click the Mark IN button The IN time appears in the In text box 4 Use the Transport Controls to find the OUT point 5 Click the Mark OUT button The OUT time appears in the Out text box After setting the IN and OUT points they may be cued using the Cue buttons 6 To clear the IN or OUT point of the event click the Clear button corresponding to the IN or OUT point 7 Click Done to close the Browser Control dialog box Using the Clip Editor The Clip Editor allows playing out the media from the same event multiple times each with a different set of IN and OUT points Clip Editor is used for modifying the IN and OUT points of an event It makes changes that take affect only when the event is actually play ing The changes do not affect the original media event on the Air SPACE Server To edit an event including its title using the Clip Editor do the fol lowing 1 Open the Clip Editor dialog box by doing one of the following a Double click the event OR b Select the event and from the Playlist
21. Play an event in the new list See Playing Events on page 5 50 The initial playlist goes off air and the new playlist goes on air The playout of the changeover appears seamless To have one playlist follow on automatically add a reference to the new playlist as the last entry in the current playlist See Including the Events from Another Playlist on page 5 6 Playing Out Multiple Playlists Going Off Air More than one playlist may be played out at one time as long as each playlist is designated to play on a unique channel To play out multiple playlists do the following 1 While one list is playing in Single Channel mode open another playlist See Opening an Existing Playlist on page 5 23 To play out multiple playlists do not set them to use Multiple Channel mode If they are set to use multiple channel a changeover will occur 2 Put the new list in the On Air state by setting the playout channel to a channel other than the one used by the playing list See Play ing Events on page 5 50 3 Play an event in the new list See Playing Events on page 5 50 Both playlists play simultaneously on their unique channels To put a list off air without doing a changeover hold down the Shift key while clicking the Off Air button on the Playlist Control toolbar See Figure 5 21 on page 5 48 Playlist Time Displays The Playlist window has a two time displays The one on the left with red digit
22. The Object Slug option is the default If the newsroom computer sys tem provides this information it is displayed otherwise only the title of the object as it appears in the CountDown media list is displayed The Item IDs and Story Slugs are often machine read values and are rarely displayed by the newsroom computer system itself The Deleted Object Notification setting postpones the transmission of item deleted messages During an over write CountDown sends the newsroom computer sys tem a Not Available status message During the postpone period if AirSPACE notifies CountDown of a new item with the same ID an updated status message is sent to the newsroom computer system indicating the item is available again If no notification of a replacement item has been received from Air SPACE by the end of the postpone period CountDown will send the item deleted message Items on the AirSPACE Server can be a result of network transfer rather than direct recording In this case these items must be over written rather than creating new events for them During the over write process AirSPACE sends CountDown a sequence of media status messages the first being an indication that the item has been deleted It would be inappropriate to pass this deleted message on to the news room computer system since the item will be re instated If the AirSPACE is running version 2 6 2 or later which features the Play While Transfer option it will
23. Tools Inc After downloading the driver install it by doing the following 1 Double click the port95nt icon 2 Follow step by step instructions the program presents The Select Components dialog box appears See Figure 1 3 Select the components vou mart bo install clear the components you do mob wart bo ratal 1413 m Descipion Files needed bo use OL PotD GL Space Aequned 1445F Specs Ayalaa 414300 F _ ten ier cren Figure 1 3 Select Components Screen 3 Uncheck Sample Files click Next and continue the installation 1 6 CHAPTER 2 Interfacing In This Chapter This chapter describes how to set up and configure CountDown PCs and AirSPACE Servers including using RS 422 expansion cards and connecting GPI triggers This chapter contains the following sections e Setting Up Remote Control Configurations e Understanding Serial Port Expansion Cards e Understanding GPI Input Connectivity e Understanding Extended GPI O Functionality Setting Up Remote Control Configurations These configurations range from single channel to multi channel including redundant servers and CountDown PCs 2 2 Setting Up a Single Channel Configuration The single channel configuration is the simplest CountDown imple mentation The control PC has two connections to the AirSPACE Server one remote control connection and one network connection To set up CountDown to control a single AirSPACE
24. channel make the connections shown in Figure 2 1 RS 422 Connection from PC AirSPACE Breakout Box Sec PIGLET IC ee ee COM Port CountDown PC RS 232 RS 422 Protocol Converter AirSPACE Ethernet Hub Figure 2 1 Single Channel CountDown Implementation In Figure 2 1 a standard PC COM port is used for the remote control Because PC COM ports use RS 232 standards and the AirSPACE Server uses RS 422 a protocol converter such as a Rosetta Stone adapter must be used between the PC COM port and the AirSPACE breakout box 2 3 Setting Up a Two Channel Solution In the two channel configuration the controlling PC has three connec tions to the AirSPACE Server two remote control connections and a network connection This configuration requires two COM ports on the CountDown PC To set up CountDown to control two AirSPACE channels make the connections shown in Figure 2 2 AirSPACE Boeakout Boxes COM Ports RS 232 RS 422 Protocol Converters AirSPACE Ethernet Hub Figure 2 2 Two Channel CountDown Configuration This set up requires one protocol converter for each connection between the PC COM ports and the AirSPACE breakout box Setting Up Two Channels With External Control CountDown may be set up to control a VTR to be controlled by a GPI connection or both 2 4 Understanding VTR Control CountDown can control an external VTR for ingest r
25. characters Events from another playlist may be added in the following ways e Using the Insert Playlist Command e Using Drag and Drop e Manually Expanding a Referenced Playlist e Using a Playlist Reference to Loop the Playlist See Opening an Exist ing Playlist on page 5 23 and Creating a New Playlist on page 5 3 See Manually Expand ing a Referenced Playl ist on page 5 8 for more information See Opening an Exist ing Playlist on page 5 23 and Creating a New Playlist on page 5 3 5 7 Using the Insert Playlist Command To use the Insert Playlist command do the following 1 Open or create a playlist 2 Select Insert Playlist from the File drop down menu The Select Playlist dialog box appears showing the available playl ists 3 Select the playlist containing the desired events 4 To add a reference to the playlist check the Insert as Reference check box 5 Click Open If the Insert as Reference check box is not selected CountDown adds each event from the other playlist and lists them separately If the Insert as Reference check box is selected CountDown adds the file path of the playlist as the title for the event The channel and ID reflect those of the first event in the referenced playlist The duration indicates the duration of the entire referenced playlist and the Playout Mode icon indicates that it is a referenced play list CountDown expands the re
26. corre oN ee sponding media event on the server changes Such updates will cause Media Events for Air Satie cit SPACE Media modifications made by the playlist Clip Editor such as an IN point to Changes on page 3 32 be lost To protect an individual playlist item from such updates check tor details the Lock check box on the CountDown Clip Editor See CountDown Clip Editor on page 5 40 Changing the Title of Events CountDown allows changing the title of an event in a playlist This is useful for distinguishing different playout events that are based on the same media event To change the title of an event using Change Title dialog box do one of the following a Select Change Item Title in the Playlist menu OR b Click on the Change Title button on the Playlist Shotbox tool bar see Figure 5 2 The Change Item Title dialog box as shown in Figure 5 19 appears Change Item Title x Cancel Figure 5 19 Change Item Title Dialog Box e In the text box enter the new title for the event e ClickOK CountDown renames the event in the playlist OR c To change the title of an event using the Clip Editor do the fol lowing 1 Open the Clip Editor dialog box by doing one of the following a Double click the event OR b Select the event from the Playlist menu and click Edit Clip OR c Select the event and click the Edit Clip button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar see Figure 5
27. ee eee ee 5 54 Pausing an Event 000s ccc a eee 5 54 Aborting an Event q 0 00 cee voit beens 5 54 Grouping and Ungrouping Events 5 55 Manually Starting an Event 0 00 eee rnan 5 55 Performing a List Changeover 000 snan 5 56 Playing Out Multiple Playlists 00 5 57 Going OFF Air ficient MAIR Be a as 5 58 Playlist Time Displays 0 cece cece eee eee 5 58 Importing a Playlist 0 eee eee 5 59 Exporting a Playlistys 0 0 02 s s0c sake vader seas ened eA 5 59 Other Playlist Functions 0 0 5 61 Querying Playlist Data Externally 0 000000 5 61 Breaking Out Of Referenced Playlist Loops 5 62 Operation With MOS Protocol 6 5 63 Using Shotboxes In This Chapter icc ceca kian eee k tess Meek ate te oe 6 1 Understanding Shotboxes 2 66 e eee 6 1 Building a Shotbox nan aaa a R eee eee 6 2 Creating a New Shotbox 0 6 6 2 Assigning Media to Buttons 0 eee eee eee eee 6 3 Using Placeholders 0 6 3 Assigning a Placeholder to a Button 0 6 3 Converting an Existing Event to a Placeholder 6 5 Undoing Changes cse kpe aia E a i iE eia 6 5 Reverting Changes to a Shotbox 6 6 6 cece eee eee 6 6 Saving a SHOtbOxX ssc esd raw tenta era eee erage ees 6 6 Opening an Existing Shotbox 0 0 eee ene 6 7 The Open Command 6 0
28. half green and half red Manually Performing a Server Changeover CountDown allows manual switching of playout from the main Air SPACE Server to the standby AirSPACE Server This is called a server changeover To perform a server changeover do the following 1 From the Server drop down menu select Changeover 2 Select Channel A Main to switch the playout of channel A to the standby AirSPACE Server Select Channel B Main to switch the playout of channel B to the standby AirSPACE Server Configuring Redundant Control Installations For instructions on making the physical connections for redun dant control see Set ting Up a Backup Controller on page 2 7 CountDown can be installed on a second PC connected to the same AirSPACE Server for redundant control If the online CountDown PC fails the offline CountDown PC goes online and takes over control of the AirSPACE Server Configuring redundant control requires setting up the GPI switching between the controlling PCs and updating Playlist Shotbox files between the PCs Setting Up GPI Switching Between CountDown PCs In a redundant control installation use the second GPI input on both CountDown PCs The GPI input maintains the online status of the PC controlling the AirSPACE Server To configure CountDown to operate in the dual control mode do the following to both PCs 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences d
29. is enabled See Enabling Next Event Keys on page 3 16 OR c Trigger a GPI Next Event CountDown plays out the event and displays it in the playing color which is red by default OR d Wait for CountDown to playout a Time Of Day event See Playlist Appear CountDown readies the next event and displays it in the readied color ance Tab on page 3 20 which is green by default See Setting an Event to If the readied event is set for Manual mode or if a break event precedes be a ii it then playout stops when the current event ends To resume playout age Jn pe do one of the following See Adding Com a Click the Next button ments and Break Events on page 5 9 OR b Press the Return key OR See Assigning Event Playout Mode on page 5 30 See Enabling Deletion of Events After Play out on page 3 17 5 51 c Trigger a GPI Next Event If the readied event is set for Follow On mode it will begin playing when the current event ends After an event has finished playing CountDown does one of the fol lowing a Displays it in gray OR b Deletes it from the list if the Delete Items After Playout check box is checked in the General Preferences dialog box CountDown can indicate that more than one event is playing This happens during multiple channel playout when an event begins playing in one chan nel before the current event in another channel has finished
30. last event in the block 2 Do one of the following a Choose Loop from the Playlist Menu and Set Item Type from the sub menu OR b Click the Looping Event button on the Playlist Shotbox tool bar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR 5 20 c Type CTRL 4 The Set Playlist Loop dialog box appears See Figure 5 8 Set Playlist Loop Figure 5 8 Set Playlist Loop Dialog Box 3 In the Set Loop Type section click the radio button for the option required a Check the Loop To Self radio button to create an event that loops only the selected item OR b Check the Loop To Item radio button to create an event that loops a contiguous block of events and use the spin box con trol to select the first item in the block When Loop To Item is selected CountDown alights all items currently selected in the looping block 4 In the Loop Condition section do one of the following a Check the Loop Until radio button to create an event that will continue looping until a specific time Use the time entry text box and Day drop down menu to set the specific time The time entered is not necessarily the time the item following the loop event will play to air It is used as a test condition If the time set is not been reached when the looping event starts to play the loop is repeated If the time has been passed playout continues with the following item OR b Check the Loop For radio button to create an eve
31. main server e Red tThe primary AirSPACE Server has failed and CountDown is using the standby AirSPACE Server e Gray Mirroring is not enabled for this channel CHAPTER 4 Managing Media Events In This Chapter This chapter describes how to manage media events on the AirSPACE Server Included are the following e Browsing the Media List e Modifying Media Event IDs and Titles e Searching for Media Events e Recording New Media Events e Updating the Media Information e Deleting Media Events from the AirSPACE Server e Browsing Media Events Browsing the Media List After CountDown establishes a network connection to the AirSsPACE Server and loads the media information the list of media events may be browsed 4 2 To browse the list of media events use the Media List toolbar shown in Figure 4 1 Find All Browse List Media Media Item oh th of Find Delete Media Media Figure 4 1 Media List Toolbar Showing the Media Events On the AirSPACE Server To show the media list the Show window when listing completed check box in the General Preferences dialog box must be checked See Configuring Default Media List Visibility on page 3 32 for more information To show the media list do one of the following a Select List Media in the Server drop down menu OR b Click the List Media button on the Media List toolbar See Figure 4 1 for more information OR c Type CTRL L The list of m
32. media event See Enabling Automatic Readying of a Dragged Pasted Media Event on page 17 for more information Enabling Automatic Activation of Time Of Day Events See Setting an Event to Time Of Day on page 5 31 By default when creating a time of day event for playout CountDown does not add the event to the Timed Events list until the playlist that contains it is aired See Understanding the Timed Events List on page 4 20 for more information To set CountDown to add playout time of day events to the Timed Events list as soon as they are configured check the Auto Activate Clock Events List check box on the Playlist tab in the General Prefer ences dialog box When this box is checked CountDown puts the list containing time of day events on air five seconds before the scheduled playout time of the first time of day event It also readies it and plays it at the scheduled time CountDown plays activated lists in only a single channel the channel the first time of day event is assigned to Determining The Second Playlist Time Display Mode The CountDown playlist window features two time displays See Playlist Time Displays on page 5 58 for more information The left most display always shows time remaining for the item cur rently playing on air The right most display shows either time remaining for the entire playlist this being the default or the time elapsed for the item cur rently playing on air
33. shotbox is configured to operate in one shot mode the events are not displayed in the readied state The colors used for high lighting are changed in the Playlist Appearance tab of the General Preferences dialog box see Configuring Clip Status Indication Color on page 3 20 Building a Shotbox To build a shotbox ensure that shotbox editing is enabled See Enabling Playlist Shotbox Editing on page 3 15 This is not required when creating a new shotbox Creating a New Shotbox To build a new shotbox first create a new empty shotbox 6 3 To create a new empty shotbox do one of the following a Press ALT and click the New icon on the General toolbar OR b Press CTRL ALT N CountDown opens a new shotbox called Untitled Shotbox n where n is the number of new shotboxes that have been created during this CountDown session Assigning Media to Buttons Each button in the shotbox represents a media event Media events must be assigned to buttons before playing events to air To assign a media event to a button select the desired event from the media list from another shotbox or from a playlist and do one of the following a Drag the selection to the desired button OR b Use the Copy and Paste commands Every button does not need to have an event assigned to it Buttons that do not have media events assigned to them are inactive Using Placeholders As with playlists placeholders enable creation of e
34. such as when a media event is added modi fied or deleted by direct recording network transfer or other user activity To enable audible alert whenever AirSPACE Server content changes check the Alert When Server Changes check box By default CountDown retains an event in a Playlist or Shotbox even if the media for the event no longer exists on the AirSPACE Server When the Playlist or Shotbox is on air and the media for a particular event can not be found CountDown highlights the event in the prob lem color to indicate it can not be played Enabling Automatic Updating of Media Events for AirSPACE Media Changes Enabling Case Sensitive Sort Ordering Configuring Default Media List Visibility Enabling Browse Only Mode See Server Tab on page 3 29 for more information To enable automatic place holder for missing events no longer on the AirSPACE Server check the Deleted Items Convert Playlist Entries to Placeholders check box By default when media on the AirSPACE Server changes a corre sponding media event in a Playlist or Shotbox does not reflect the change To enable automatic updating of media events for AirSPACE media changes check the Automatically Update Playlist Entries if Server Changes check box By default CountDown sorts the events in the media list regardless of case To set CountDown to sort the events by upper case first and lower case last enable case sensitive sort ordering by c
35. the event matching the Event ID and title and updates all of them 9 Click OK Understanding the Clip Editor PEE Use the controls in the Clip Editor dialog box to move through the event and find the section to play out This section describes the con trols and their functions When there is no channel VDCP or Network available for browsing Clip Editor functionality is restricted The Transport Controls Mark IN Mark OUT and the Cue buttons are disabled See Assigning a Channel for Brows ing on page 3 6 Understanding the Mark Cue and Clear Controls In the Clip Editor dialog box located to the right of the In and Out text boxes there are six buttons The Mark IN button Use the Mark IN button to mark the IN point of the clip The Mark OUT button Use the Mark OUT button to mark the OUT point of the clip The Cue IN button Use the Cue IN button to cue to the IN point of the clip EEE The Cue OUT button Use the Cue OUT button to cue to the last frame of the clip The Clear IN button Use the Clear IN button to clear the IN point The Clear OUT button Use the Clear OUT button to clear the OUT point Transport Controls The Clip Editor displays the following Transport Control buttons that allow moving through a media event Rewind Button For rewinding the media event Play Reverse Button For Playing the media event in reverse Stop Button For stopping the media event Play Forward Bu
36. to be Follow On e Setting an Event to Time Of Day e Setting an Event to CountDown The following sections contain setting instructions for each of these different modes Setting an Event to be Manual A Manual event requires user intervention to play the clip Count Down readies the clip and then waits for one of the following before playing the event a A click on the Next button OR b A Return Spacebar or ABCD key press provided it is enabled See Enabling Next Event Keys on page 3 16 OR c A GPI Next Event trigger To set the Playout mode of an event or group of events to Manual do the following 1 Select the events in the playlist and do one of the following a Select Set Item Type and next Manual from the Playlist menu OR b Click the Manual Event button on the Playlist Shotbox tool bar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR c Type CTRL 1 The Playout Mode icon changes to the hand icon Setting an Event to be Follow On A Follow On event plays automatically when the previous event ends To set the Playout mode of an event or group of events to Follow On do the following 1 Select the events in the Playlist and do one of the following a Select Set Item Type and next Follow On from the Playlist menu OR b Click the Follow On Event button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar see Figure 5 2 OR c Type CTRL 2 The Playout Mode icon changes to the arrow icon Setting an E
37. which will put the play list in an On Air state If the Playlist is in Multiple Channel mode and more than one event is playing for instance an event is started on Channel B before the event on Channel A has finished the Active Channel button becomes a skip button Click this button to skip the event in that channel The Play button on the Playlist Control toolbar plays the clip that is ready for air The Ready button on the Playlist Control toolbar makes the selected item ready to play The Freeze button on the Playlist Control toolbar freezes the clip cur rently playing The Stop button on the Playlist Control toolbar will stop the playout of the Current item To put the playlist in the On Air state a channel or combination of channels must be selected to playout the list on Playing a List in Single Channel Mode See Assigning the Channel for Event Play out on page 5 29 When a playlist is put on air in Single Channel mode the individual channel assignments are ignored and all items are played out in a sin gle channel To select the channel and put the playlist in the On Air state do one of the following a Click the Channel button in the Playlist Control toolbar corre sponding to the desired channel see Figure 5 21 on page 5 48 OR b From the Playlist menu choose Activate and the Letter of the desired channel A B C or D Playing A List in All Channels Mode To allow the list to playo
38. 5 Verify initial playout of channels A and B from the main Air SPACE Server by selecting Changeover from the Server drop down menu and ensuring that both Channel A Main and Channel B Main are checked To check either selection select it When either Channel A Main or Channel B Main is not checked Count Down is controlling that channel s mirroring channel on the standby Air SPACE Server If CountDown detects a problem with a channel on the main Air SPACE Server it automatically switches control of that channel to the mirroring channel on the standby server It also displays a warning message alerting of the changeover The AirSPACE changeover changes only the on air RS 422 controls It does not switch the network connection which could also fail depending on the extent of the main AirSPACE Server failure hr 3 9 CountDown will not reassign the original AirSPACE Server to the main position once that server becomes fully functional again It must be done manually using the procedure in step 5 on page 8 Ensure the standby server is a clone of the primary server Use Avid s ParallelSPACE application to ensure identical media events exist on both AirSPACE Servers and to ensure continuity of playout CountDown will check the media is available on both AirSPACE Serv ers If the media is available on the primary AirSPACE Server but not on the standby server CountDown displays the Playout mode icon in the playlist window as
39. 5 9 editing 5 10 communication establishing between AirSPACE and CountDown 3 2 compatibility of serial port expansion cards 2 7 configuring backup server installations 3 7 COM port Index 3 GPI 3 35 VTR 3 32 CountDown channels 3 2 defaults event Playout mode 3 16 for media list 3 30 functionality for playlists and shotboxes 3 14 GPI Input functions 3 34 switching between CountDown PCs 3 10 GPI Outputs functions 3 36 indication color clip status 3 19 high and low tally 3 36 on line off line 3 11 media related functionality 3 28 network 3 4 preferences server 3 2 user 3 13 VTR 3 31 redundant control installations 3 9 Time Remaining display 5 58 VTR COM port 3 32 connecting backup control PC 2 6 backup servers 2 5 GPI Input to CountDown PC 2 4 VTR to CountDown PC 2 4 control backup configuring installations for 3 9 controlling a VTR 2 4 controls VTR using 4 14 Convert to Placeholder command 5 18 6 5 converting an event to a placeholder in a playlist 5 18 in a shotbox 6 5 correcting VTR frame accuracy 3 33 Index 4 CountDown PC backup configuring installation for 3 9 updating playlist and shotbox files for 3 12 configuring GPI switching between 3 10 enabling GPI control of 3 35 updating files between primary and backup 3 12 creating new shotbox 6 2 playlists 5 3 adding media events 5 3 customizing color indicators high and low tally 3 36 on line off line 3 11 D defaults setting
40. 5 Spare 6 Transmit Common 7 Transmit Data 8 Receive Data 9 Frame Ground B amp B Expansion Card Pin Signal 5 Signal Ground 2 Receive Data 7 Transmit Data 5 Signal Ground 5 Signal Ground 8 Receive Data 3 Transmit Data 5 Signal Ground Pins 1 4 6 and 9 are not used on the B amp B connecting side of the cable Understanding GPI Input Connectivity GPI inputs are provided through the input handshake lines of a PC COM port There are several possible control methods depending on the operational requirements The following sections describe two possible control methods 2 10 Passive Implementation The passive implementation is used when the handshake line must swing between negative and positive voltage levels for reliable opera tion therefore a contact closure to ground is not required Figure 2 6 shows two examples of passive control using either changeover or single action switches The changeover switch imple mentation uses a momentary contact button This is a simple solution for presenter use such as weather forecasting The Tally GPI may also be configured as an on line control enable function 4 NEXT 3 9 Pin Male 7 p Connecter 4 TALLY 6 7 4 8 18K 3 Figure 2 6 Simple GPI Implementation Active Implementation For those applications where a contact closure to ground is required an active implementation must be used Figure 2 7 shows one method f
41. Avid CountDown for AirSPACE User Manual Avid tools for storytellers for Windows 2000 or NT based Operating Systems 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 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 Avid products or portions thereof are protected by one or more of the following United States patents 4 746 994 4 970 663 5 045 940 5 063 448 5 077 604 5 245 432 5 267 351 5 309 528 5 325 200 5 355 450 5 396 594 5 440 348 5 452 378 5 467 288 5 513 375 5 528 310 5 557 423 5 568 275 5 577 190 5 583 496 5 584 006 5 627 765 5 634 020 5 640 601 5 644 364 5 654 737 5 701 404 5 715 018 5 719 570 5 724 605 5 726 717 5 729 673 5 731 819 5 745 637 5 752 029 5 754 180 5 754 851 5 781 188 5 799 150 5 812 216 5 828 678 5 842 014 5 852 435 5 883 670 5 889 532 5 892 507 5 905 841 5 912 675 5 929 836 5 929 942 5 930 445 5 930 797 5 946 445 5 966 134 5 977 982 5 986 584 5 987 501 5 995 079 5 995 115 5 999 190 5 999 406 6 009 507 6 011 562 6 014 150 6 016 152 6 016 380 6 018 337 6 023 531 6 023
42. Computer System After configuring the system click OK and restart CountDown Understanding the Status Displays When CountDown runs it also monitors the state of the network and serial connections to the AirSPACE Server The status of the network and serial connections is displayed on the Status Bar at the bottom of the CountDown window See Figure 3 17 Server A MAIN ServerB MAIN EN GMM Pot PotC PotD PY Gr GPO Figure 3 17 Server Port and Network Status Indicators Understanding Serial Port Status CountDown uses four colors to indicate four types of status for serial ports The colors and their meanings are as follows e Green Good connection e Red CountDown has tried to establish a VDCP connection with the AirSPACE Server but failed Ensure that the Air SPACE Server is not in Local mode and that a cable is not dis connected Should a serial port fail to open an error dialog box appears See Figure 3 18 CountDown x i Failed to open COM1 NEHER PGRN Port E Figure 3 18 Serial Port Error Message Ifa Failed to open port message is displayed make certain another application is not already using the port e Yellow Port has opened correctly but CountDown has made no attempt to communicate with the AirSPACE Server 3 49 Yellow is seen when an offline CountDown PC is switched online Yellow remains only briefly e Gray tThe port is not in use by CountDown If communication o
43. E Server play control port has a connection to both PCs The GPI connection governs which PC has on line status and control over the AirSPACE Server To set up redundant controlling PCs make the connections shown in Figure 2 5 To set up the CountDown software for redundant control see Configuring Redundant Control Installations on page 3 9 for more information Canned E hangener M ain Sarny AS 422 Poris Serial Por Expander Ethernet Hub Figure 2 5 Redundant CountDown PCs 2 8 Understanding Serial Port Expansion Cards A number of proprietary expansion cards are available such as those manufactured by B amp B Electronics Two or four port expansion cards are available These cards are config ured directly as RS 422 They eliminate the need for protocol convert ers They function as conventional COM ports on the PC Understanding B amp B Expansion Card Compatibility The connector pinouts from a B amp B card are not pin for pin compatible with the AirSPACE Server To correct this incompatibility build a con vertor or install the cables between the AirSPACE Server and the CountDown PC using the information in Table 2 1 Table 2 1 lists the relationship between connector pinouts of the B amp B expansion card and those of the AirSPACE Server 2 9 Table 2 1 RS 422 Connector Compatibility AirSPACE Pin Signal 1 Frame Ground 2 Transmit Data 3 Receive Data 4 Receive Common
44. Event Input 3 35 On Air tally 3 36 GPI Outputs configuring functions 3 36 grouping and ungrouping events 5 55 H hardware requirements 1 1 high tally indicators customizing color for 3 36 icons playlist 5 25 Import Text File command 5 59 importing a playlist 5 59 In point of media events restoring in a playlist 5 46 6 13 in a shotbox 6 13 indication colors clip status 3 19 high and low tally 3 36 on line off line 3 11 Insert Break command 5 10 Insert Comment command 5 9 Insert Placeholder command 5 16 6 3 Insert Playlist command 5 6 inspecting modification date of playlist and shotbox files automatically 3 12 installing CountDown 1 2 Port I O driver 1 5 IP address AirSPACE determining 3 5 specifying 3 4 L license software entering 1 2 new license 1 3 list changeover performing 5 56 list media browsing 4 1 setting defaults for 3 30 loading CountDown 1 2 logging disabling 3 26 enabling 3 24 looping a playlist 5 8 low tally indicators customizing color for 3 36 manually expanding a referenced playlist 5 8 recording 4 10 starting an event 5 55 media events aborting while On Air ina playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 adding to a playlist 5 3 assigning playout channel for 5 29 assigning to buttons 6 3 browsing 4 23 duplicating in a playlist 5 15 editing in a playlist 5 37 while playing list to air 5 46 in a shotbox 6 9 while playing shotbox to air 6 12 Index 7 Follow On 5 31 to ac
45. ID or title associated with a media event may be changed These functions require version 2 6 of AirSPACE software or later Changing A Media Event Title To change the title of a single media event to the following 1 Select the item in the Media List 2 Select Rename Item from the Server drop down menu The Change Media Item Title dialog box shown in Figure 4 3 appears Change Media Item Title Item ID flood Title kent Flooding Cancel Figure 4 3 Change Media Title Dialog 4 5 3 Modify the title in the Title text box 4 Click OK to update the media event on the server Changing A Media Event ID To change the ID of a single media event do the following 1 Select the item in the media list 2 Select Change Media ID from the Server drop down menu The Change Media Item ID dialog box appears Change Media Item Title Figure 4 4 Change Media ID Dialog 3 Modify the title in the Item ID text box 4 Click OK to update the media event on the server 5 A warning dialog is shown 4 6 CountDown You are about to change the ID associated with a media item This action could prevent external controllers from accessing the item Are you sure that you wish to do this 6 Click Yes to proceed with renaming the media item Figure 4 5 Change Media ID Warning Dialog Searching for Media Events To search for events in the media list do one of the following a Use the Find
46. ITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL INCIDENTAL INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE DATA OR PROFITS WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group Portions of this software are based on work of the Independent JPEG Group The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates Inc Install It is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates Inc End User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of Install It including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation Ray Sauers Associates Inc shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller s failure to perform reseller s obligation or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller s products or the software or any other damages including but not limited to incidental direct indirect special or consequential Damages including lost profits or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent i
47. PACE Server database you cannot edit the ID column The event title column displays the title assigned to this event It is possible to modify the title See Changing the Title of Events on page 5 44 for more information The event duration column displays the duration assigned of this event Initially CountDown takes the duration from the AirSsPACE Server database The duration could change if you edit the event and CountDown uses the adjusted duration in that case See Editing Events on page 5 37 Event durations displayed in red indicate there is not enough time to complete playout before a subsequent time of day event is scheduled to playout Event Time and Day See Setting an Event to Time Of Day on page 5 31 for more information CountDown calculates the time each event starts based on the cumulative duration of the previous events Event times displayed in black indicate that times are absolute meaning the event is a Time Of Day event All other times are dis played in gray indicating that the times are derived from the pre vious event Event times displayed in red indicate that there is not enough time to begin playout This event will not play to air because a subse quent Time Of Day event will go on air before the clock has reached the play time of the event whose time is displayed in red CountDown updates event times in a playlist as it plays each event to air This enables you to dete
48. Park Service Harpers Ferry VA Eco Challenge British Columbia Courtesy of Eco Challenge Lifestyles Inc All Rights Reserved Eco Challenge Morocco Courtesy of Discovery Communications Inc It s Shuttletime Courtesy of BCP amp Canadian Airlines Manny amp Lo Courtesy of Manny amp Lo Films LLC Nestl Coffee Crisp Courtesy of MacLaren McCann Canada Renaissance Cruises Aegean Courtesy of Sondra Byington Reel Art Productions Irving TX Saturn Calvin Egg Courtesy of Cossette Communications Windhorse Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions Arizona Images KNX TV Production Courtesy of Granite Broadcasting Inc Editor Producer Bryan Foote Canyonlands Courtesy of the National Park Service Harpers Ferry VA WCAU Fire Story Courtesy of NBC 10 Philadelphia PA Paragliding Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment Inc Renaissance Cruises Aegean Courtesy of Sondra Byington Reel Art Productions Irving TX Avid CountDown for AirSPACE v 2 6 4 User Manual 0130 05308 01 Rev A June 17 2002 TLM Contents Using This Guide Chapter 1 Getting Started Operating System and Hardware Requirements 1 1 Installing CountDown 6 eens 1 2 Starting CountDOWNn 1 6 6 eee 1 2 Installing the Port I O Driver 0 eee 1 5 Chapter 2 Interfacing In This Chapte tien oo nPwose eda lid eo ha waked bade 2 1 Setting Up Remot
49. Understanding the Status Displays CountDown does not allow access to the Preferences dialog box while a playlist or shotbox is on air 3 2 Establishing Communication Between AirSPACE and CountDown This section is made up of the following e Configuring the Channels e Configuring the Network Configuring the Channels CountDown has four channels A B C and D Each channel can con trol one AirSPACE port independently Assigning Channels To assign channels to control the AirSPACE ports complete the fol lowing steps 1 Configure each AirSPACE channel for CountDown to control as record playlist with VDCP protocol 2 From the File menu select Preferences 3 Select Server The Server Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 1 Server Preferences Figure 3 1 Server Preferences Dialog Box 4 Click the Ports on Server radio button in the Show section of the Server Details section to show available ports on the AirsPACE Server cu 5 For each channel use the radio buttons to select the AirSPACE port to be controlled and use the COM port drop down list to assign the COM port to control the channel 3 4 Select the Off radio button for the channels not used After a channel is assigned toa VDCP port and to a COM port those ports may not be used for another channel When assinging a COM port that is already assigned to another channel an error message will appear stating that the COM
50. arallel port driver has been installed See Installing the Port I O Driver on page 1 5 Enabling Playlist Shotbox Editing By default CountDown prevents editing playlists and shotboxes To enable Playlist Shotbox editing check the Allow Playlist Shotbox Editing check box Enabling Next Event Keys By default the Next button is configured to select the next event to play when a playlist is on air Other keys may be enabled to take the next event when pressed Next event keys are enabled on the Playlist tab in the General Prefer ences dialog box To activate the Return key feature check the Return Key Enabled check box To activate the Spacebar feature check the Spacebar Enabled check box To activate channel specific next event keys check the ABCD Enabled check box Configuring Double Click Mode When a playlist is on air the default action resulting from a double click is to cue the item clicked If the same effect for instance to display the clip editor is desired in both On Air and Off Air lists it must be configured Double Click mode is configured on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box To configure double click mode check the Dou ble Click Always Opens Clip Editor check box on the Playlist tab Holding down the ALT key when double clicking in an on air playlist will reverse the selected action For instance if the default setting is used double clicking will cue the item ALT do
51. ate prior to any abnormal termination To enable Auto Recovery do the following 1 2 From the File menu select Preferences Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears Click the Logging and Security tab Check the Enable Auto Recov ery check box Enter the desired automatic save interval in seconds in the inter val spin box or use the UP and DOWN arrows to select the value desired Click OK in the General Preferences dialog box A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 Click Yes to proceed CountDown shuts down Restart CountDown Auto Recovery is generally used with the CountDown_Monitor application which automatically restarts CountDown in the event of a problem Configuring Media Related Functionality Media related functionality affects the display and handling of media events stored on an AirSPACE Server Configuration changes are done using the Server tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Figure 3 10 To access the General Preferences dialog box Select Preferences from the File menu The General Preferences Dialog box appears Click the Server tab Enabling Media Deletion Enabling Media Editing Configuring The Media Editor General Preferences M M a M Ej E m a M M Bj Figure 3 10 Server Tab By default CountDown does not allow deleting of media events from the AirSPACE Server To
52. ation to put the event If no location is selected events are pasted at the end of the playlist Select Paste from the Edit drop down menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar The events are pasted in the playlist 5 6 Assigning a Play Out Channel See Editing Events on page 5 37 for informa tion on playout chan nels To assign a play out channel to events when adding them to a playlist hold down the A B C or D key while dragging the selection to the playlist If no play out channel is specified CountDown assigns chan nel A by default Automatically Reversing the Default Playout Mode The default Playout mode is set that in the General Preferences dialog box See Setting Default Event Playout Mode on page 3 16 The default setting may be reversed when adding events to a playlist using drag and drop For instance if the default mode is set to Manual the Playout mode may be set to Follow On when adding an event To reverse the default Playout mode setting hold down the ALT key while dragging the selection to the playlist Including the Events from Another Playlist Events from another playlist may be included by listing each event from the other playlist in the new playlist or by adding a reference to the other playlist If a playlist is referenced to itself the playlist will loop CountDown will not allow dragging or copying an event to a playlist when the event s ID is longer than eight
53. aying out sequences of media events Figure 5 1 shows a typical playlist win dow B Today of x He ea ID Title Duration Time Day Last Modified GPI Outputs 00 01 03 23 00 00 00 00 Wed 06 27 01 12 34 16 698 00 00 03 16 00 01 03 23 Wed 06 27 01 12 54 20 later later_event 00 00 10 00 00 01 07 09 Wed 12 31 69 17 00 00 3 00 02 00 04 00 01 17 09 Wed 06 27 01 12 25 48 This is a break 199 C Program Files Avi 00 03 17 13 00 03 17 13 Wed 12 31 69 17 00 00 AI MARG0012 00 00 05 00 00 06 34 26 Wed 06 27 01 13 52 58 A MARG0015 00 00 05 00 00 06 39 26 Wed 06 27 01 13 53 13 A MARG0029 00 00 05 00 00 06 44 26 Wed 06 27 01 13 54 23 This is a comment A MARG0029 00 00 05 00 00 06 49 26 Wed 06 27 01 13 54 23 A MARG0031 00 00 05 00 00 06 54 26 Wed 06 27 01 13 54 33 AOUE 00 00 05 00 06 27 01 13 54 53 4 4 Entries 13 E nd Time 00 07 04 MARG0035 Figure 5 1 Typical Playlist Window By default CountDown prevents editing playlists and shotboxes To enable playlist and shotbox editing check the Allow Playlist and Shotbox Editing check box on the Playlist tab of the General Prefer 5 3 ences dialog box Refer to Configuring Playlist Shotbox Functional ity on page 3 14 for more information When the Allow Playlist and Shotbox Editing check box is checked use of the Playlist Shotbox toolbar shown in Figure 5 2 is allowed Manual Insert Group Event Chan
54. be possible to use a much shorter postpone time as items will be playable within a few seconds of the transfer commencing To set the deleted object notification value enter the number of sec onds desired for the message delay in the postpone spin box Configuring the Ports Used The defaults as defined in the MOS Protocol Specification are 10540 and 10541 Configuring the Newsroom Computer System When using MOS Protocol two TCPIP IP connection ports are required To select the MOS default port specification check the Use Defaults check box in the Ports section on the MOS tab of the General Prefer ences dialog box Newsroom computer systems can use non standard ports To use non standard ports make sure the Use Defaults box is not checked and enter the desired port numbers in the Lower and Upper text boxes in the Ports section on the MOS tab of the General Preferences dialog box For CountDown to originate messages it needs to know the IP address of the newsroom computer system and its main ID These are config ured in the Global Settings section on the MOS tab of the General Pref erences dialog box To configure the IP address of the newsroom computer system enter the host name or IP address into the Main IP text box To configure the ID of the newsroom computer system enter the desired ID in the Main ID text box Entries in the Buddy IP and Buddy ID text boxes are not required when using the iNEWS Newsroom
55. box changes to the color selected Click OK CountDown uses the colors selected to indicate online and offline status Updating Playlist Shotbox files Between CountDown PCs For the offline CountDown PC to take control of the AirSPACE Server it must have the same playlist or shotbox the online CountDown PC is using To update the backup PC copy the playlist or shotbox file from the online PC to the backup PC To ensure the file copied from the online PC to the offline PC is up to date CountDown uses the following methods e Automatically saves changes made to the online PC s playlist or shotbox file at regular intervals e Automatically inspects the modification date of the backup PC s playlist or shotbox file at regular intervals and automati cally reloads the file if it has been updated To configure CountDown to automatically save Playlist Shotbox files do the following 1 From the File menu on the online CountDown PC select Prefer ences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 5 on page 3 14 3 On the Playlist tab in the Automatic Checking section check the Save When Online check box and select desired interval using the Check every spin box 4 Click OK CountDown automatically saves open Playlist Shotbox files at the interval specified To configure CountDown to automatically inspect the modification date of Playlist Shotbox files complete the following step
56. c ccc eee nen 5 9 Adding Break Events n 0 0 0 c cece eee ees 5 10 Changing Comment Events to Break Events 5 12 Adding E E Events 0 0 cee cece eee 5 13 Rearranging Events in a Playlist 0 0000s 5 14 Relocating Events 0 0 cece eee eens 5 14 Duplicating Events osii e eee eee 5 15 Using Placeholders 00 c cc eens 5 16 Understanding the Deferred Ready Function 5 16 Adding Placeholders nanunua nanara 5 16 Replicating Media Events 0 0 0 cece eee eee eee 5 18 Looping Media Events 0 0 0 6 cece eee eee 5 19 Undoing Changes 0 6 5 21 Reverting Changes to a Playlist 00 e ee eee 5 22 Saving a Playlist nonan nanunua ee eee 5 22 Saving Part of a Playlist 0 cece 5 23 Opening an Existing Playlist nnana nunnu ee eee 5 23 Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows 5 24 Modifying Events in the Playlist 0 0 0 cece ee eee 5 25 Understanding Columns and Icons for Playlist Events 5 25 Event Number 0 00 0 cece ce cee cece eens 5 26 Event Playout Channel 6 c cece eee 5 27 Event Playout Mode 0 0 0 cece cece eee 5 27 Event ID eren ehini deh ce Ph ee a eA 5 28 Event Tithe raros wsealvidwa Phe adle eerie yegaln ident tate 5 28 Event Duration 00 00 ccc ce cee ee ences 5 28 Event Time and Day 6 6 e ccc eee 5 28 Event Modification Date
57. cal Publications department at TechPubs inewsroom com Please include the title of the document its part number revision and the specific section you are commenting on in all correspondence How to Order Documentation Using This Manual To order additional copies of this documentation from within the United States call Avid Telesales at 800 949 AVID 2843 If you are placing an order from outside the United States contact your local Avid representative CHAPTER 1 Getting Started Operating System and Hardware Requirements Before installing CountDown ensure the PC meets the following requirements Windows 2000 or Windows NT with Service Pack 4 or later 400 MHz CPU 64MB RAM Ethernet connection 100BaseT One serial port for each AirSPACE channel up to four Count Down will control One RS 232 to RS 422 converter for the VTR and for each Air SPACE channel One serial port for VTR control optional One port for GPI inputs optional One external GPI adaptor if using GPI inputs The adapter translates contact closures into levels suitable for the COM port handshake lines that sense GPI triggers See Under standing GPI Input Connectivity on page 2 9 for more informa tion 1 2 e One parallel port adaptor for extended GPI O Functionality optional e Windows based NT Port I O driver if using extended GPI O Functionality This driver is included as part of the Custom Install option It is als
58. died To duplicate an event in the playlist select the event and do one of the following a Hold down the CTRL key and drag the event to the location above where the event will appear OR b Use the Cut and Paste commands To duplicate an event in the playlist using the Cut and Paste Com mands do the following 1 Select Cut from the Edit menu or click the Cut button on the Gen eral toolbar 2 Click the location above where the event will appear 3 Select Paste from the Edit menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar CountDown places the event in the new location Controlling the On Air Event Pausing an Event Aborting an Event The red A B C or D channel button is the active channel button The playout of events while a playlist is on air may be affected by the Freeze and Skip buttons on the Playlist Control toolbar See figure 5 2 and figure 5 21 To pause an event on a still frame click the Freeze button While the event is paused the rundown clock temporarily stops To resume playout click the Freeze button a second time The event continues to play and the rundown clock resumes Holding down the CTRL key while clicking the pause button will also place the channel in E E mode E E mode is cleared when playout resumes To abort a playing event click the Skip button and the event immedi ately stops The Skip button controls only the last event played to air If the list is in Mu
59. dy and play a different event do one of the following a Double click the event OR b Select the event and click the Ready button CountDown readies the new event and plays it Editing the list while it is in the On Air state is similar to editing the list before going on air The difference is only one event may be selected and moved at a time It is still possible to drag a selection of items into the list from either the media list or another open playlist Tf either the playing or readied item is selected it will not be highlighted in the normal selected item color Instead it will retain its color playing or ready but will be highlighted in a hatched color pattern rather than a solid color To relocate an event select the event and do one of the following a Drag the event to the desired location OR b Use the Cut and Paste commands e Select Cut from the Edit menu or click the Cut button on the General toolbar e Click the location above where the event will appear e Select Paste from the Edit menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar CountDown places the event in the new location To ready an inserted event immediately after the playing event see Enabling Automatic Readying of a Dragged Pasted Media Event on page 3 17 Dragging a readied event away from its location in the list will cause it to lose its readied status The event must be readied again or another event must be rea
60. e Control Configurations 4 2 1 Setting Up a Single Channel Configuration 2 2 Setting Up a Two Channel Solution 000005 2 3 Setting Up Two Channels With External Control 2 3 Understanding VTR Control 0 e eee eee 2 4 Understanding GPI Control 0 e eee eee 2 4 Making the Connections 6 6 0 6 cece cece 2 4 Setting Up Backup Server Control 0 0 00 0 e eee 2 5 Setting Up a Backup Controller 00 cece 2 6 Understanding Serial Port Expansion Cards 05 2 7 Understanding B amp B Expansion Card Compatibility 2 8 Understanding GPI Input Connectivity 0 0000s 2 9 Passive Implementation 0 0 cece eee eee eee 2 9 Active Implementation 0 0 6 ccc eee 2 10 Understanding Extended GPI O Functionality 2 12 Chapter 3 Setting Up CountDown Tin This Chapter iseenese tos kenra theca eed ea em eg ace Se bec 3 1 Establishing Communication Between AirSPACE and CountDown 3 2 Configuring the Channels 0 00 cece eee eee eee 3 2 Assigning Channels 0 6 0 c ccc eee eee eens 3 2 Assigning Mirroring Channels 00000000005 3 4 Configuring the Network 0 cece eee 3 4 Specifying the AirSPACE IP Address 3 4 Assigning a Channel for Browsing 000005 3 6 Configuring Backup Server Installations
61. e Cut and Paste commands e Select Copy from the Edit drop down menu or click the Copy button on the General toolbar e Click the location to put the event If no location is selected events are pasted at the end of the playlist e Select Paste from the Edit drop down menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar The events are pasted in the playlist Using Placeholders Placeholders allow creation of events in a playlist for media events that are not yet present on the AirSPACE Server Understanding the Deferred Ready Function When a Placeholder follows a playing event in a playlist there is no corresponding media on the AirSPACE Server The Placeholder is not readied because it is not playable If while the event is playing the Placeholder s ID is created and its media is recorded before the event is within one second of finishing playout the Placeholder is readied allowing it to be played out next For CountDown to ready and play an event that was previously a Place holder the Auto Ready Dragged Items radio button must be selected on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Enabling Deferred Ready Function for Placeholders on page 3 18 for more information Adding Placeholders To add a placeholder do the following 1 Select the location in the playlist before the Placeholder is to be inserted 2 Select Insert Placeholder from the Playlist menu or click the Insert Placeh
62. e File menu select Export Playlist The Export Playlist dialog box appears 2 Select the location where the file will be saved and click Save Playlist New Playlist pst START ID TITLE DURATION 00 00 00 longelck 20 second clock 00 00 05 00 00 05 vtr_test Test of DigiBeta 00 00 06 00 00 11 fred0000 New Title 00 00 05 00 00 16 test9998 Imported Entry Test 00 00 05 00 00 21 clip0142 My new clip 00 00 10 00 00 31 fred3333 A Placeholder Update 00 00 05 00 00 36 vtr_tst3 Preroll Test 00 00 05 00 00 41 newplace This is the item 00 00 05 00 00 46 LONG_TWO_ EVENT WITH THE LONGEST NAME TEST 00 00 05 00 00 51 mike2345 VTR Test 00 00 02 Figure 5 24 Example of an Exported Playlist File Exported text files are not intended to be re imported into CountDown Other Playlist Functions Querying Playlist Data Externally CountDown includes a simple API that allows external applications to query certain playlist parameters when a list is On Air The data which may be queried is as follows e Title and ID of the event currently playing to air e Title and ID of the event currently readied for playout e Time remaining for the item currently playing e Time to the next Key Event Any item in the playlist may be configured as a Key Event A playlist can contain several key events In these cases the reported time to next is the time to the first key event Configuring an Item As a Key Event To configure an item as a Key Event do the follo
63. e clip must be as long as the longest CountDown interval Assigning GPI O Triggers to Events CountDown enables you to configure events to trigger any or all of the eight parallel out GPIs Regardless of how many are configured all assigned outputs are triggered simultaneously To facilitate playlist creation offline assign GPI O triggers even if no parallel ports are configured To assign triggers to an event do the following 1 Select the event in the playlist and do one of the following a Select GPI Setup in the Playlist menu OR b Click the GPI Setup button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 The Set GPI Output Event dialog box appears Set GPI Output Event TumOn H Tum Off v Toge Pulse Figure 5 16 Set GPI Output Dialog Box 2 Use the eight list boxes to select the operation for each of the eight outputs The four operations available in the list boxes are as fol lows e Turn On sets the output to its ON state regardless of its pre vious state e Turn Off sets the output to its OFF state regardless of its pre vious state e Toggle reverses the state of the output if it was ON before the event it goes OFF after the event and vice versa See Configuring e Pulse sets the output to its ON state regardless of its previ Extended GPI O Func ous state After the specified duration sets the output to its tions on page 3 38 OFF state An
64. e for information on setting the channel to Local mode 2 From the Server drop down menu select Record 3 Select Time of Day 4 The Add New Record Event dialog box appears See Figure 4 11 Add New Record Event SPORT FOOTBALL Record 1 i l 4 e ie 4 Bo e Q e i i Figure 4 11 Add New Record Event Dialog Box 5 Enter the ID Title and duration of the event for CountDown to create in the applicable text boxes The event may not be created if the ID already exists on the server 6 In the Channel list box select the channel to be used for the recording 7 In the Event Time text box enter the time of day to start recording 8 Use the appropriate radio button to select the Frequency for the recording e To perform the recording only one time select the Once radio button e To perform the recording at the same time every day check the Daily Radio button A recording may be set up to seven days in advance e To perform the recording at the same time on the same day each week use the Day list box to select the day of the week and check the Weekly radio button 9 Use the radio buttons in the Handle Duplicate section to indicate what action should be taken by CountDown if an item with the selected ID already exists on the server when the recording takes place the options are e Abort the recording is aborted e Delete the existing item is deleted and a new
65. e infor mation To access the General Preferences dialog box do the following 1 from the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences Dialog box appears Click the VTR tab General Preferences Extended GPI O MOS Logging and Security Playlist Playlist Appearance Server VTR GPI In COM Port Edit Offset fs frames Preroll f seconds Handle fo seconds Changes take effect on restart Figure 3 11 VTR Preferences Setting the COM To set the COM port to be used for controlling the VTR select the sie a VTR desired port from the COM Port drop down list ontro The COM port selections in the Server Preferences dialog box override the COM port selection on the VTR tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Establishing Communication Between AirSPACE and CountDown on page 3 2 For example after setting COM port 1 to control the VTR a user configures CountDown to use COM port 1 to control an AirSPACE channel the VTR control is disabled and the COM Port list box will reflect the change Setting the Edit Offset Setting the VTR Preroll Setting the VTR Handle The frame accuracy of the recording varies depending on the VTR Most likely the recorded IN point will be a few frames late To correct frame inaccuracy click the Edit Offset spin box until the desired value in frames appears The correct offset depends on which VTR is used Trial and er
66. e on the AirSPACE Server To restore the properties of an event or a group of events do the fol lowing 1 Select the event or group of events in the playlist 2 From the Playlist menu select Reset Details CountDown restores the IN point and duration of the event or group of events to that of those on the AirSPACE Server If CountDown cannot locate the event on the AirSPACE Server a dialog box appears stating that it cannot locate the event See Figure 5 20 on page 5 47 CountDown IN The playlist item test3 cannot be found on the server Do you want to convert it to a placeholder Figure 5 20 Convert to Placeholder Dialog Box 3 Do one of the following a To convert the event to a placeholder click Yes CountDown converts the event to a placeholder OR b To cancel the command click No CountDown retains the modified properties of the event Playing a List to Air There are two steps to playing out the events in a playlist The first step is putting the playlist in the On Air state The second step is playing out events in that list These steps are done using the Playlist Control toolbar shown in Figure 5 21 y BY Gi a mame OD Figure 5 21 Playlist Control Toolbar ABCD MULTIPLE The Active Channel button is the red A B C or D Channel button P Going On Air The Channel buttons shown at left on the Playlist Control toolbar allows selection of single or multiple channels
67. earch level b Repeat steps 1 3 for the third search level If AND is selected CountDown searches for events that sat isfy the third criteria and the combination of the first two crite rion If OR is selected CountDown searches for events satisfying either the third criterion or the combination of the first two criterion 6 To make the search case sensitive uncheck the Ignore Case check box To make the search case insensitive check the Ignore Case checkbox 7 Click OK CountDown updates the media list with the events that match the criteria specified If no events match the specified criteria Count Down lists no media in the media list When using the modification date criteria ensure that the time zone and Greenwich Mean Time is properly set on the CountDown Server Restricting a Search The search may be restricted by searching the results of an initial search See Find Media Dia To restrict a search access the Find Media dialog box and repeat the lag BOS om page SR steps performed in the initial search using different criterion Count Down will search only in the list generated by the initial search Starting a New Search See Searching on To start a new search check the New Search option in the Find Media eee dialog box The New Search option is the default option if a media list contains no items Canceling a Search To cancel the result of a search and restore the full media list select
68. ecording Use a standard COM port with an appropriate protocol converter or a ded icated RS 422 expansion port for controlling a VTR See Setting the COM Port for VTR Control on page 3 33 for informa tion Understanding GPI Control CountDown can be controlled by GPI triggers The GPI connection serves the following functions e Next event playout to air See Enabling Channel Response to GPI Next Event Input on page 3 37 e On Air tally functions See Enabling On Air Tally on page 3 37 e On Line status for redundant control See Configuring Redundant Control Installations on page 3 9 See Understanding GPI Input Connectivity on page 2 9 for more information Making the Connections When set up with two channels and external control the control PC has three connections to the AirSPACE Server two remote control con nections a network connection and one connection each to a VTR or GPI trigger This configuration requires a serial port expansion card to accommodate four serial connections See Understanding Serial Port Expansion Cards on page 2 7 for more information To set up a configuration with two channels and external control make the connections shown in Figure 2 3 2 5 RS 232 7RS 422 Converter GPI COM Inputs Port VTR Control CountDown PC Serial Port RS 422 oOo OoocposB0ag o gt oo0000s00G AirSPACE Ethernet Hub Figure 2 3 Two Channe
69. ect when placed before Manual media events To add a break event do the following 1 Select the Follow On event in the playlist before the break event will appear 2 Click the Insert Break button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar see Figure 5 2 or select Insert Break from the Playlist menu The Playlist Break dialog box appears See Figure 5 4 Playlist Break cmo Figure 5 4 Playlist Break Dialog Box 3 Type a label for the break in the text box and click OK CountDown adds the break to the playlist and indicates that it is a break with the stop icon Upon playout CountDown will wait to play out the event follow ing the break until it receives a command to play the event See Playing Events on page 5 50 for more information CountDown accepts break labels up to 107 characters in length Editing an Existing Break Event To edit the label for an existing break event do the following 1 Do one of the following a Double click the break event OR b Select the break event and click the Insert Break button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 for more information OR c Select the break event and select Insert Break from the File drop down menu The Insert Break dialog box appears with the existing label displayed in the text box 2 Edit the label in the text box 3 Click OK CountDown changes the break label Changing Comment Events to Break Events To cha
70. ecting the GPI Function The GPI inputs can be configured to act only on playlists active in des ignated channels In Figure 3 14 only playlists that are active in chan nels A and or B will respond Any combination of the four channels may be selected using the A B C and D check boxes To select the GPI function click in the Select Function drop down combo box The different functions become available Selections include the following Play Next Event This has the same effect as clicking the Next button in the playlist CountDown will start playing the event that is currently in a ready state Play Next Event If Idle This has a similar effect as clicking the Next button in the playlist CountDown will start playing the event that is currently in a ready state In this case no action occurs unless the current event has fin ished playing Pause Current Event This has the same effect as clicking the Pause button in the playlist If there is an event playing it will be paused If the event is already paused Playout will continue Skip Current Event This has the same effect as clicking the Skip button in the playlist CountDown will immediately abort Playout of the current event Recue Current Event This will cause the event that is currently playing to be readied as the next event Playout of the event is not affected and will con tinue normally Cue Next Event If an event is in a ready state this function will
71. edia events on the AirSPACE is shown The media events shown in red have IDs no longer than eight charac ters These events cannot be added to playlists or shotboxes because they cannot be played on the AirSPACE using VDCP protocol 4 3 Sorting the Media List CountDown enables sorting the media list by column data and in ascending or descending order The way a media list is sorted depends on having case sensitive sorting enabled in the Server tab of the General Preferences dialog box See Enabling Case Sensitive Sort Ordering on page 3 32 To select the criteria for sorting the media list click the sort buttons located at the top of the media list See Figure 4 2 CountDown high lights the sort field using background color To toggle the sort order ascending or descending click the sort button again ID Title Duration In Out Last Modified Figure 4 2 Sort Buttons Resizing Media List Columns To resize a media list column click the bar between two sort buttons and drag the pointer right to enlarge the column and left to shrink the column Rearranging Media List Columns To rearrange the six columns in the media list click on the sort button for that column and drag it to the desired location 4 4 Restoring Media List Column Layout To restore media list column layout to the default setting select Reset Columns from the Server drop down menu Modifying Media Event IDs and Titles A media event
72. eens 6 7 The Drag and Drop Method 0 60 cece eee eee 6 8 Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows 6 8 Modifying Events in the Shotbox 60 cece eee eee 6 9 Modifying Shotbox Events Using AirSPACE 6 9 Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Browser Controls 6 9 Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Clip Editor 6 10 Modifying Events While Playing a Shotbox to Air 6 12 Restoring Event Properties 0 0 cee cece 6 13 Playing a Shotbox to Air 6 eee eee 6 14 Going OMAI es cai int dene ie dha A Rae eed 6 15 Readying Events 0 0 6 nin a eee eens 6 15 Playing Events 122 chi hunni iah Eara meat vat det anes eed 6 16 Enabling One Shot Operation 0660 srann 6 16 Controlling an On Air Shotbox 0 66 6 16 Pausing an Event 0 0 0 6 cee cece eee 6 17 Aborting an Event 0 06 66 6 17 Index Using This Manual Who Should Use This Manual This manual is intended as an operational manual for users of CountDown About This Manual This manual provides comprehensive installation configuration and operation instructions for CountDown It is designed to keep pace with current advances in the Avid system s capabilities by consolidating in one comprehensive resource all the information you will need to take advantage of the many options available to you This manual will lead you through even the most complex procedures with task oriented instruct
73. enable media deletion check the Allow Media Deletion check box By default CountDown does not allow modification of media events on the AirSPACE Server To enable media editing check the Allow Media Editing check box Media on the server can be edited This means IN and or OUT points may be created restricting the playout of an event See Browsing Media Events on page 4 24 for more information Enabling Media Recording Enabling Audible Alert for Change in Server Content Enabling Automatic Placeholder Conversion for Missing Events Configuring the Interactive Locator The media editor includes a Quick Locate control allowing users to scrub through a media event quickly providing near instant access to any part of the event Rapid access can cause problems with AirSPACE Servers handling several simultaneous play and or record operations To avoid prob lems caused by rapid access the default setting for the Interactive Locator is disabled To enable Interactive Locating check the Interactive Locator Enabled check box The Interactive Locator setting also applies to the Interactive Locator in the Playlist Clip Editor See Editing Events on page 5 37 for more information By default CountDown does not allow recording new media events to an AirSPACE Server To enable media recording check the Allow Recording check box CountDown uses an audible alert whenever the content on an Air SPACE Server changes
74. er that event To add the event to the end of the list drag and drop it below the last event in the playlist CountDown scrolls the playlist to find new events placed beyond the boundaries of the playlist window OR Use the Copy and Paste commands Select Copy from the Edit drop down menu or click the Copy button on the General toolbar Click the location to put the event If no location is selected events are pasted at the end of the playlist Select Paste from the Edit drop down menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar The event is pasted in the playlist Adding Multiple Events 5 5 To add multiple events do the following 1 Select the desired events in the media list or in an open playlist by doing one of the following a b Hold down the CTRL key and click to select consecutive events OR Hold down the Shift key and click to select random events 2 Next do one of the following a Drag and drop the selected events to the playlist To add the event before another in the middle of the list drag and drop it over that event To add the event to the end of the list drag and drop it below the last event in the playlist CountDown scrolls the playlist to find new events placed beyond the boundaries of the playlist window OR Use the Copy and Paste commands Select Copy from the Edit drop down menu or click the Copy button on the General toolbar Click the loc
75. event Playout mode 3 16 media list 3 30 deferred ready function enabling 3 17 Delete Items After Playout check box 3 16 Delete Media command 4 22 Deleted Items Convert Playlist Entries to Placeholders check box 3 30 deleting media events from AirSPACE 4 22 old software license 1 3 deleting media allowing 3 29 descending order sorting media list by 4 3 determining AirSPACE IP address 3 5 disabling diagnostic logging 3 26 password protection for preferences 3 23 displays status understanding 3 44 time remaining 5 58 duplicate license error 1 3 duplicating media events in a playlist 5 15 duration of media events restoring in a playlist 5 46 6 13 in a shotbox 6 13 E Edit Clip command 5 38 6 10 edit offset setting for VIR 3 33 editing break events 5 11 comments 5 10 enabling for playlists and shotboxes 3 15 events in a playlist 5 37 while playing list to air 5 46 in a shotbox 6 9 while playing shotbox to air 6 12 playlists 5 14 enabling audible alert for change in server contents 3 29 automatic placeholder conversion 3 30 automatic readying of a dragged pasted events 3 17 automatic updating of events for server changes 3 30 browse only mode 3 31 case sensitive sort ordering 3 30 channel response to GPI Next Event Input 3 35 deferred ready function for placeholders 3 17 deletion of events after play out 3 16 diagnostic logging 3 24 extended ID support 3 31 GPI Input control of CountDown PC 3 35 Next E
76. ferenced list upon playout when the preceding event is readied To manually expand the list before the preceding event is readied The pathname length of the referenced playlist may not exceed 71 characters Ifan attempt to reference a pathname exceeding 71 characters is made Count Down prompts to move the playlist file further up the file hierarchy Using Drag and Drop 1 Open or create a playlist 2 Locate the Playlist file to use The file may be on the Desktop listed in Windows Explorer or listed in any directory window 5 8 3 Drag the file from its location and drop it into the playlist at the location before which you want to add it CountDown adds the file path of the playlist as the title for the event The channel and ID reflect those of the first event in the ref erenced playlist The duration indicates the duration of the entire referenced playlist and the Playout Mode icon indicates that it is a referenced playlist CountDown expands the referenced list on playout when the pre ceding event is readied See Manually Expanding a Referenced Playlist to manually expand the list before the preceding event is readied Manually Expanding a Referenced Playlist When a playlist is referenced to reference the events from that playlist it may be manually expanded To expand a referenced playlist do the following 1 Select the playlist reference in the playlist 2 Select Expand Reference List from the Playl
77. find the IN point See Using the Transport Controls on page 4 15 for more information 3 Click the Mark IN button The IN time appears in the In text box 4 Use the Transport Controls to find the OUT point 5 Click the Mark OUT button The OUT time appears in the Out text box You also can enter IN and OUT points manually by clicking in the appropriate text box typing the desired timecode value and pressing the Return key After setting the IN and OUT points they may be cued using the Cue buttons 6 To clear the IN or OUT point of an event click the Clear In or Clear Out button corresponding to the IN or OUT point 7 To close the Browser Control dialog box click Done Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Clip Editor The Clip Editor may be used to modify the IN and OUT points of an event These IN and OUT point modifications take affect only when the event is played out The original media event on the AirSsPACE Server is not affected This allows the flexibility to play out media from the same event multiple times each with a different set of INand OUT points To edit the IN or OUT points of an event using the Cilp Editor do the following 1 Access the Clip Editor dialog box by doing one of the following a Double click the event s button OR b Select the event s button and from the Shotbox menu select Edit Clip OR c Select the event s button and click the Edit Clip button on the Playlis
78. g Record 7 Click OK CountDown creates the event cues the VTR puts the AirSsPACE Server into standby pre rolls the VTR and records the media CountDown begins the recording at the specified time before the IN point and ends recording at the specified time after the OUT point Browsing the VTR Media The controls in the VTR Record dialog box may be used to control the VTR to search for media The following sections describe the functions of the VTR Record dialog box Using Cue and Mark Controls There are four buttons near the In and Out text boxes The first button is the Mark IN button Use the button to mark the IN point of the ingest media The second button is the Mark OUT button Use this button to mark the OUT point of the ingest media AE The third button is the IN Cue button Use the IN Cue button to cue the VTR to the IN point of the edit The fourth button is the OUT Cue button Use the OUT Cue button to cue the OUT point or last frame of the edit Using the Transport Controls The VTR Record dialog box has five Transport Control buttons used for controlling the VTR The buttons are shown in Figure 4 10 Rewind Button Play Reverse Button Stop Button Play Forward Button Fast Forward Button Timecode Display Jog J C Shuttle Transport Jog Shuttle Slider Control Figure 4 10 VTR Record Transport Control Buttons Below the Transport Control buttons is a slider The slider is used either as a jo
79. g control or a shuttle control Select the Jog or Shuttle radio button located to the left of the slider to assign the function to the slider To use the slider drag the slider back and forth with the cursor or use the left and right keyboard cursor keys to jog the VTR one frame at a time 4 16 The Timecode Display The timecode display is located next to the Transport Control buttons This display shows the timecode from the VTR Correcting Frame Inaccuracy The frame accuracy of the recording varies depending on the VTR The recorded IN point will be a few frames late To correct the frame inaccuracy do the following 1 From the File drop down menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Select the VTR tab General Preferences 4 Click the Edit Offset spin box until the desired value in frames appears The correct offset depends on the VTR being used Trial and error is the best method to determine what offset is required Start by entering the value that corresponds to the number of frames by which the recording was inaccurate Performing Time Of Day Recordings CountDown can automatically perform a recording at a specific time of day To set up a record for CountDown to perform later do the following 1 Ensure the channel to be used for recording is set to local on the AirSPACE user interface Refer to the Avid AirSPACE Installation and User s Guid
80. gged Pasted Media Event By default dragging or pasting a media event into the playlist even when placed directly after the event that is currently on air Count Down adds that event to the list it does not ready that event To enable automatic readying of a media event dragged or pasted into the playlist directly after the event currently on air check the Auto Ready dragged items check box on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box Checking the Auto Ready dragged items check box also enables the deferred ready function for placeholders See Enabling Deferred Ready Function for Placeholders on page 3 17 for more information Enabling Deferred Ready Function for Placeholders When a placeholder immediately follows a playing event in a playlist CountDown does not ready the placeholder This is because there is no corresponding media on the AirSPACE Server so it is not yet playable If when the preceding event is playing the placeholder s ID is created and media is recorded before the preceding event is within one second of finishing playout CountDown cancels the event s placeholder sta tus and readies it allowing it to be played out next This is the deferred ready function To enable the deferred ready function for placeholders check the Auto ready dragged items check box on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box Checking this box also enables automatic readying of a dragged or pasted
81. global MOS settings to allow CountDown to interface using the MOS protocol check the Enable MOS check box Enter the desired MOS ID of the CountDown AirSPACE combination in the MOS ID text box The MOS ID identifies this CountDown AirSPACE combination in the MOS messages The ID entered must match the ID configured in the news room computer system Object Updates Maintain Media List Always Show Playlists To ensure CountDown sends media status update messages to the newsroom computer system whenever a media item changes check the Object Updates check box To allow CountDown to reconcile differences between the newsroom computer system and AirSPACE media listings after a loss of commu nication or shutdown check the Maintain Media List check box By default CountDown displays MOS playlists that have been made ready to air To display all playlists regardless of ready to air status check the Always Show Playlists check box Configuring The Playlist Title Field To select information to show in the Title field of the playlist click the Title Mapping button The MOS Playlist Title Mapping dialog is appears See Figure 3 16 Playlist Title displays Object Slug C tem Slug C tem ID C Story Slug C Story ID Cancel Figure 3 16 Playlist Title Mapping Dialog Box 3 46 Deleted Object Notification These selections determine the information displayed in the playlist title field
82. h the same serial number the following Duplicate License Error dialog box appears Duplicate License Error copy of CountDown with the serial number CNT D 1234 56762 7 is already in use on the computer named Naughty CountDown will now quit Delete License Figure 1 1 Duplicate License Error Dialog Box When the Duplicate License Error dialog box appears do one of the following a To delete the license click Delete License 1 4 OR b To quit running CountDown click OK To enter a new license for the CountDown software obtain a new license and do the following 1 Click Delete License CountDown deletes the license information and shuts down 2 Start CountDown A dialog box appears asking for a license for the CountDown soft ware See Figure 1 2 Enter CountDown Serial Number Figure 1 2 Enter Serial Number Dialog Box 3 Enter the license information and click OK The Evaluation button provides a temporary demonstration of the product under certain conditions It is functional only when the AirSPACE Server has a current demo license but no CountDown license The application will not launch if these conditions are not met 1 5 Installing the Port I O Driver When using extended GPI O functionality install the Windows based NT Port I O driver This driver may be installed as part of the custom install procedure It is also available from SSTNET Scientific Software
83. hecking the Sort order is case sensitive check box After establishing a network connection CountDown can automati cally display the media list To configure CountDown to automatically display the media list check the Automatically Show Media List check box To enable the Browse Only mode do the following 1 Check the Operate in Browse Only mode check box CountDown checks the box labeled Automatically Show Media List 2 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 3 Click Yes to proceed Enabling Display of Server Warning Messages CountDown shuts down 4 Restart CountDown In this browse only mode the Playlist Shotbox functions are hidden and CountDown s overall window size is reduced If a problem occurs on the AirSPACE Server a warning is shown on the AirSPACE user interface It is also possible to have CountDown display the same warning messages To enable the display of server warning messages check the Display server warning messages check box Configuring VTR Preferences CountDown can control a VTR for recording media events onto the AirSPACE Server Configuring CountDown to control a VTR is done in the VTR tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Figure 3 11 Before setting up the CountDown software to control a VTR make the proper physical connections between the CountDown PC and the VTR See Understanding VTR Control on page 2 4 for mor
84. ialog box appears select the GPI In tab as shown in Figure 3 4 General Preferences Extended GPI O MOS Logging and Security Playlist Playlist Appearance Server YTR GPI In COM Port GPI 1 Next Event Active Channels Vv A VB gw gi GFI 2 Tally Online Disabled C On Air Tally Online cere OK Figure 3 4 General Preferences GPI In Tab 3 In the COM Port list box select the PC COM port connected to the GPI trigger 4 In the GPI 2 Tally Online section select the Online button 5 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 2 on page 3 4 6 Click Yes to proceed 7 Restart CountDown CountDown makes remote control connections to the AirSPACE Server when the GPI input enables it to do so Customizing Online Offline Color Indicators CountDown uses colors in the Playlist Shotbox windows to indicate the online offline status of each of the two CountDown PCs By default red indicates online and blue indicates offline To select different colors for indicating online and offline status do the following 1 2 From the File menu select Preferences Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 5 On the GPI In tab click the status color box of the color to be changed The Windows color pallet appears Select the desired color in the pallet and click OK The Windows color pallet disappears and the color
85. in a shotbox 6 17 C cancelling a search for media events 4 10 case sensitive sort ordering enabling 3 30 changeover list performing 5 56 server performing 3 9 changes reverting in a playlist 5 22 reverting in a shotbox 6 6 undoing in a playlist 5 21 in a shotbox 6 5 channel play out assigning automatically 5 5 playout assigning 5 29 response enabling to GPI Next Event Input 3 35 channels assigning for browsing 3 6 for controlling AirSPACE ports 3 2 for mirroring 3 4 CountDown configuring 3 2 Clip Editor understanding 5 41 using in a playlist 5 38 in a shotbox 6 10 clip status indication color configuring 3 19 color indicators clip status configuring 3 19 customizing high and low tally 3 36 on line off line 3 11 COM port GPI 3 35 setting to correspond to VDCP ports 3 2 VTR setting 3 32 command logging VDCP disabling 3 26 enabling 3 24 commands Browse Item 4 23 Convert to Placeholder 5 18 6 5 Delete Media 4 22 Edit Clip 5 38 6 10 Expand Referenced List 5 8 Export Playlist 5 59 Find All 4 10 Find Media 4 7 Import Text File 5 59 Insert Break 5 10 Insert Comment 5 9 Insert Placeholder 5 16 6 3 Insert Playlist 5 6 New Search 4 9 Record 4 10 4 12 4 17 Refresh from Server 4 22 Replicate Item 5 18 Reset Details 5 46 6 13 Revert Playlist 5 22 Revert Shotbox 6 6 Save Playlist Selection 5 23 Set Item Play Channel 5 29 Set Item Type 5 30 Undo 5 21 6 5 comments adding
86. ion click the desired Playlist Mode radio button either Standard or Text Only When Text Only is selected the text characteristics are displayed in the Font Style and Size status areas To change any aspect of the text click the Change button 2 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 3 Click Yes to proceed 4 Restart CountDown Configuring The Media List Appearance The media list appearance is configurable To change the Media List Display mode do the following 1 The text characteristics are displayed in the Font Style and Size status areas To change any aspect of the text click the Change but ton 2 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 3 Click Yes to proceed 4 Restart CountDown Enabling Password Protection for Preferences By default CountDown allows users to access the General and Server Preferences CountDown may be set to require users to enter a pass word to access the preferences To enable password protection for preferences do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Click the Logging and Security tab See Figure 3 7 on page 3 22 General Preferences Figure 3 7 Logging and Security Tab 4 Click the Set Password button in the Security section The Set Password dialog box appears Set Password Ed E
87. ions complete with illustrations for a more realistic presentation of the actual icons and images you will encounter The information provided here builds on procedures described in other Avid product based documentation and includes explanations of all tools and techniques as well as useful tips shortcuts and custom options The Contents lists all topics included in the book They are presented with the following overall structure e The Introduction helps you get oriented with the general workflow of this manual and provides valuable pointers to keep in the back of your mind as you proceed e The main body of the manual follows the natural flow of your work with clear and comprehensive step by step procedures e Finally a detailed Index helps you quickly locate specific topics Symbols and Conventions Unless noted otherwise the material in this document applies to the Windows NT or Windows 2000 operating systems Using This Manual Look here in the margin for tips A A xi The CountDown documentation uses the following special symbols and conventions 1 Numbered lists when the order of the items is important a Alphabetical lists when the order of secondary items is important e Bulleted lists when the order of the items is unimportant Indented dashed lists when the order of secondary items is unimportant Courier Bold font identifies text that you type In the margin you will find tip
88. ist menu CountDown replaces the reference with the list of its events Using a Playlist Reference to Loop the Playlist To set a playlist to loop do the following 1 Insert a reference to itself as the last item in the playlist Add a reference to itself by selecting Add Loop List Reference from the Playlist menu Using the Add Loop List Reference command does not store a file path refer ence instead it instructs CountDown to reload the current file This means that playlist looping will still function correctly if the file is subsequently moved to a different location It may be easier to use a Looping Event instead of a reference playlist to create the loop See Looping Media Events on page 5 19 for more information 5 9 2 Ensure all events in the playlist are in Follow On mode See Assigning Event Playout Mode on page 5 30 for more informa tion 3 Save the playlist because the reference refers to the saved version of the playlist When the playlist is played it will loop Adding Comments and Break Events Comments and Break events may be added to playlists Adding Comments To give events a more descriptive label than the title and ID will allow use the much longer text length allowed in comments comments may also be used to annotate the playlist and to flag commercial blocks CountDown ignores comment events on playout They are for user reference only To add a comment do the following 1 Se
89. l Solution with GPI and VTR Control Figure 2 3 shows an example of a PC set up to receive GPI commands and to control an ingest VTR and two AirSPACE channels using a two port expansion card Setting Up Backup Server Control For transmission critical installations CountDown can control a redundant pair of AirSPACE Servers one being the primary unit and the other being the standby unit to take over playout if the primary unit fails This configuration requires a four port expansion card to provide simultaneous two channel control of both the main and backup AirSPACE Servers See Understanding Serial Port Expansion Cards on page 2 7 for more information This configuration also allows set up GPI and VTR control To set up backup server control make the connections shown in Figure 2 4 To add VTR and or GPI control add the appropriate con nections as shown in Figure 2 3 Be OO000S00D om 000b0g000 DoSoO RDU ULOUUU 5000005000 GPI Inputs COM Port CountDown PC Control AirSPACE Serial Port Expander sl Telelelelels ela e oe OOOO am OOOC08000 Om O00000 Standby Ethernet Hub AirSPACE Figure 2 4 Backup Server Control 2 7 Setting Up a Backup Controller CountDown allows set up of dual redundant control PCs For this set up the primary PC is online and the backup PC is offline but ready to go online if the primary PC fails In this set up each AirSPAC
90. laceholder if the event already exists pressing the Tab key fills in the Title and Duration fields Converting an Existing Event to a Placeholder An existing event may be converted to a placeholder Use this feature when anticipating the media being removed from the AirsPACE Server To convert an existing event to a placeholder do the following 1 Select the button of the event to convert to a placeholder 2 From the Shotbox menu select Convert to Placeholder CountDown converts the event to a placeholder showing the details in red to indicate that it is a placeholder and not yet a playable media event Undoing Changes To undo the last change made to a shotbox select Undo from the Edit menu CountDown only has a single level of the undo function For a more wide ranging undo see Reverting Changes to a Shotbox on page 6 6 6 6 Reverting Changes to a Shotbox During editing of a shotbox all changes made since the file was last saved may be cancelled This is called reverting changes to a shotbox To revert changes to a shotbox select Revert Shotbox from the File menu Saving a Shotbox To save a shotbox do the following 1 Select Save or click the Save button on the General toolbar 2 If the shotbox has never been saved before the Save Shotbox As dialog box appears In the File Name text box enter the name to use for the shotbox 3 Click Save CountDown saves the shotbox with the name entered
91. lect the line in the playlist before the spot the comment will be placed See Figure 5 2 for more 2 Click the Insert Comment button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar sd alitiiaain or select Insert Comment from the Playlist menu The Playlist Comment dialog box appears See Figure 5 3 Playlist Comment Cancel OK Figure 5 3 Playlist Comment Dialog Box 3 Type comments in the text box 4 Click OK CountDown adds the comment to the playlist and indicates that it is a comment with the Notebook icon CountDown accepts comments up to 107 characters in length Editing an Existing Comment To edit an existing comment do the following 1 Do one of the following a Double click the comment OR b Select the comment and click the Insert Comment button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 OR c Select the comment and select Insert Comment from the File drop down menu The Playlist Comment dialog box appears with the existing comment displayed in the text box 2 Edit the comment in the text box 3 Click OK CountDown replaces the comment with the new comment Adding Break Events See Assigning Event Playout Mode on page 5 30 Use a break event to cause a Follow On event to act like a Manual event Playout will stop at that event until CountDown receives a com mand to play out the event See Playing Events on page 5 50 for more information Break events have no eff
92. lecting time of day 5 31 5 34 readying in a playlist 5 52 in a shotbox 6 15 rearranging 5 14 while On Air 5 52 recording 4 10 from a VTR 4 12 manually 4 10 time of day 4 17 relocating in a playlist 5 14 replicating in a playlist 5 18 restoring properties in a playlist 5 46 6 13 in a shotbox 6 13 searching for in media list 4 6 cancelling a search 4 10 restricting a search 4 9 starting anew search 4 9 Index 6 setting to play next 5 52 time of day adjusting playout time 5 33 Expand Referenced List command 5 8 expanding a referenced playlist manually 5 8 expansion cards serial port understanding 2 7 Export Playlist command 5 59 exporting a playlist 5 59 Extended ID Support check box 3 31 external control configuration setting up 2 3 F fields playlist 5 25 Find All command 4 10 Find Media dialog box using 4 7 finding AirSPACE IP address 3 5 events in the media list 4 6 Follow On As Default check box 3 16 Follow On events 5 31 to act as manual 5 10 frame accuracy correcting for VTR 3 33 Freeze button in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 functions configuring for GPI Input 3 34 functions configuring for GPI Outputs 3 36 G going Off Air 5 58 GPI Input configuring functions 3 34 GPI Input configuring switching between CountDown PCs 3 10 connecting to CountDown PC 2 4 connectivity 2 9 active implementation 2 10 passive implementation 2 9 control of PC 3 35 enabling channel response to Next
93. ltiple Channel mode and more than one event is play ing for instance an event is started on Channel B before the event on Channel A has finished the active channel button becomes a skip button Click this button to skip the event in that channel If the playlist is in Single Channel mode or if the next event is on the same channel as the aborted event CountDown displays the first frame of the new event If the playlist is in Multiple Channel mode and the next event is ona different channel CountDown typically blanks the current channel When an aired event ends and there is no Follow On event CountDown uses the AirSPACE End Of Clip mode setting See the AirSPACE Operations Manual for more information on setting the End Of Clip mode Grouping and Ungrouping Events CountDown allows grouping of events for multiple channel playout The events to be grouped must be consecutively located and assigned to separate channels Grouping To group a selection of events do the following 1 Ensure the events to be grouped are consecutively located and assigned to separate channels 2 From the Playlist menu select Group Items or click the Group but ton on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 Except for the first event in the group the Playout Mode icon for each event changes to a chain link indicating that they are grouped Count Down will play all grouped events simultaneously starting at the time the firs
94. me time Ifan attempt is made to set two Time Of Day events to start at the same time the following error message appears IN The playlist already contains a Time Of Day event with this time Please enter a different event time Figure 5 14 Time Of Day Event Conflict Error Message Adjusting the Play Out Time of Time of Day Events After creating a Time Of Day event its playout time may be adjusted CountDown can also adjust the playout time of subsequent Time Of Day events by the difference between the event s original playout time and the new one For instance if the original playout time for an event is 14 00 00 and you change it to 14 05 00 CountDown can adjust the playout time of all the subsequent Time Of Day events to begin five minutes later To adjust the playout time of a Time Of Day event do the following 1 Select the event in the playlist and do one of the following a Select Set Item Type and next Time Of Day from the Playlist menu OR b Click the Time Of Day button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR c Type CTRL 3 The Set Event Time dialog box appears See Figure 5 13 2 In the Event Time text box enter the new time in 24 hour nota tion for CountDown to play the event 3 For CountDown to adjust the playout times of any following Time Of Day events check the Retime All Following Events check box 4 Click OK Refer to Looping CountDown adjus
95. menu click Edit Clip OR c Select the event and click the Edit Clip button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR d Select the event and type CTRL E The Clip Editor dialog box appears 5 40 See Understanding the Clip Editor on page 5 41 for more information The IN and OUT points may also be set manu ally by clicking in the appropriate text box typing the desired time code value and press ing the Enter key I tro908 Brighton Pier 41 al gt A Pe Sut co ee o 0001 3022 micas sical aC E M Figure 5 17 CountDown Clip Editor 2 Use the Transport Controls to locate the IN point 3 Click the Mark IN button The IN time appears in the In text box 4 Use the Transport Controls to find the OUT point 5 Click the Mark OUT button The OUT time appears in the Out text box After setting the IN and OUT points they may be cued using the Cue buttons 6 To clear the IN or OUT point of the event click the Clear button corresponding to the IN or OUT point 7 To change the title of this instance of the event in the playlist enter a new title in the Title text box 8 To apply the changes made to all instances of the event throughout all open Playlists and Shotboxes check the Update all instances of this clip check box CountDown checks all open playlists and shotboxes including referenced playlists for instances of
96. mpted to play to air Each log entry indicates the following e The channel on which CountDown attempted to play the event e The time of day at which CountDown attempted to play the event e Whether the playout was successful VDCP command logging provides a record for each VDCP command that CountDown sends to an AirSPACE Server and the responses returned This log file can assist Avid support staff in diagnosing play out and communication problems between CountDown and an Air SPACE Server A Do not enable VDCP diagnostic logging unless a member of Avid s support staff has advised you to do so To enable logging do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Click the Logging and Security tab See Figure 3 7 4 Do one of the following in the Logging section a To enable traffic logging select the Traffic radio button OR b To enable VDCP command logging select the VDCP Com mands radio button 5 Do one of the following a In the Save log files in text box enter the location where the log files are to be saved OR b To browse for the file location click Browse When the Browse for Folder dialog box appears select the folder desired loca tion for the log files to be saved in and click OK The log file name is auto generated but the location where the log file is to be created is required The Browse for Folder dialog disappea
97. n any of the connections fails and is restored CountDown reopens the port and establishes communication Network Status The network status is checked at frequent and regular intervals If a problem is detected the network connection is closed and attempts to reopen it are made CountDown displays the status of the network on the status bar at the bottom of the CountDown window See Figure 3 17 CountDown uses three colors to indicate three types of status for the network connection The colors and their meanings are as follows e Green Good connection e Red Serious problem such as the network connection is broken the AirSPACE user interface is down or the AirSPACE Server is down e Yellow CountDown is trying to connect to the AirSPACE Server CountDown establishes network and serial port connections as it starts up and unless a problem with either the network or any serial ports occurs it remains connected until shut down AirSPACE Mirroring Status See Configuring If channel mirroring is selected CountDown displays the status of the eae sash go two AirSPACE Servers in the status bar at the bottom of the Count nr Down window See Figure 3 19 Server MAIN ServerB EER Figure 3 19 Server Changeover Status Display CountDown uses three colors to indicate three types of status for the two AirSPACE Servers The colors and their meanings are as follows e Green CountDown is using the primary AirSPACE as the
98. n the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 for more information If no more than three Playlist Shotbox windows are open the Arrange Windows command tiles them If more than three Playlist Shotbox windows open the Arrange Windows com mand staggers them OR b From the Windows menu select Tile Horizontally The Tile Horizontally command allows viewing of all open Playlist Shotbox windows when there are more than three open Modifying Events in the Shotbox Events in a shotbox may be modified in three different ways They are the following e Modifying Shotbox Events Using AirSsPACE e Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Browser Controls 6 9 e Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Clip Editor Editing an event using AirSPACE or Browser Controls changes the available duration of the media event itself Using the Clip Editor changes only the duration of the event that CountDown plays to air Modifying Shotbox Events Using AirSPACE Refer to the Avid AirSPACE Installation and User s Guide for information on modifying media events using AirSPACE editing Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Browser Controls Use the Browser Controls to modify IN or OUT points of an event as they exist on the AirSPACE Server To edit an event using the Browser Controls do the following 1 Open the Browser Control dialog box See Understanding the Browser Control Dialog Box on page 4 25 2 Use the Transport Controls to
99. nction key once causes CountDown to play the corresponding event Controlling an On Air Shotbox See Shotbox Control There are two buttons on the Shotbox Control toolbar that affect the Toolpar on pageta playing event They are the Freeze button and Channel Selection but tons that may become Skip buttons Pausing an Event Aborting an Event To pause an event on a still frame click the Freeze button While the event is paused the rundown clock temporarily stops To resume play out click the Freeze button again The event continues playing and the rundown clock resumes Holding down the CTRL key while clicking pause will also place the channel in E E mode The E E mode is cleared when playout is resumed To abort a playing event click the Skip button The event immediately stops and CountDown blanks the channel 6 18 Index A aborting an event in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 active implementation GPI 2 10 adding break events 5 10 comments 5 9 placeholders to a playlist 5 16 to a shotbox 6 3 AirSPACE backup configuring installation for 3 7 changeover performing 3 9 changes in enabling audible alert for 3 29 enabling automatic updating for events 3 30 IP address determining 3 5 specifying 3 4 media events deleting 4 22 preferences configuring 3 2 Alert When Server Changes check box 3 29 alert audible for changes in server content 3 29 Allow Media Deletion check box 3 29 Allow Playlist and Sh
100. nel A GPI Setup Comment Items About Looping Replicate Insert Arrange Event Channel C Item Placeholder Windows GHD SB eo Moo Boo oe fo TM Time Of Day Channel D Insert Change Show Event Break Title Events Follow On Channel B Clip Edit Insert Ungroup Event E E Event Items Figure 5 2 Playlist Shotbox Toolbar Building a Playlist It is important when building a playlist to first create a new empty list Creating a New Playlist To create a new playlist select New Playlist from the File drop down menu or click the New icon on the General toolbar CountDown opens a new playlist titled Untitled Playlist n The n represents the number of the new playlists that have been cre ated during a CountDown session 5 4 Adding Media Events Events are put in to a playlist one at a time or in groups of events Events may also be added from another playlist to the playlist being built When adding events one at a time or in groups the playout channel and mode are assigned When there is a large number of media events on the AirsPACE Server first perform a search to locate the events needed See Search ing for Media Events on page 4 6 Adding a Single Event To add a single media event to a playlist select the desired event in the media list or in an open playlist Next do one of the following a Drag and drop it to the playlist To add the event before another in the middle of the list drag and drop it ov
101. nfringement or lost data even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia Inc Videomedia Inc makes no warranties whatsoever either express or implied regarding this product including warranties with respect to its merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose This software contains V LAN ver 3 0 Command Protocols which communicate with V LAN ver 3 0 products developed by Videomedia Inc and V LAN ver 3 0 compatible products developed by third parties under license from Videomedia Inc Use of this software will allow frame accurate editing control of applicable videotape recorder decks videodisc recorders players and the like The following notice is required by Altura Software Inc for the use of its Mac2Win software and Sample Source Code 1993 1998 Altura Software Inc The following notice is required by Ultimatte Corporation Certain real time compositing capabilities are provided under a license of such technology from Ultimatte Corporation and are subject to copyright protection Attn Government User s Restricted Rights Legend U S GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS Use duplication or disclosure by the U S Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph c 1 of FAR clause 52 227 19 COMMERCIAL COMPUTER SOFTWARE RESTRICTED RIGHTS or in the case of the De
102. nge an existing comment event to a break event do the follow ing 1 Select the comment item in the playlist 2 Do one of the following a Select Insert Break from the Playlist Menu OR b Click the Insert Break button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 To change an existing break event to a comment event do the follow ing 1 Select the break item in the playlist 2 Do one of the following a Select Insert Comment from the Playlist menu OR b Click the Insert Comment button on the Playlist Shotbox tool bar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 Adding E E Events CountDown can also play E E events E E events do not play any media from the server instead the server channel is placed in E E mode for the duration of the event The output will display the live signal present on the record input corresponding to the channel s play output E E events are displayed as having an online status This is because Count Down uses the network connection not the RS 422 connection to put the server channel into E E mode When an E E event is followed by a normal Follow On item in the same chan nel it is possible the item is not played correctly This depends on the setting of the channels End Of Clip Mode See the Avid AirSPACE Installation and User s Guide for more information To add an E E event do the following 1 Do one of the following a Select Insert E E Event from the Playlist me
103. nt that will loop for a pre determined number of repetitions and use the spin box control to set the repetition count Setting the number of loops to zero 0 will create an endless loop A subse quent item must be readied manually in order to break out of the loop When a single item is looping the media event is in both the playing and ready states at the same time CountDown does not distinguish this special case and as the ready status is updated after the playing status a looping item will only be highlighted with the ready color 5 Click OK Items are only configured as looping events if CountDown is not configured to delete items after playout See Enabling Deletion of Events After Play out on page 3 17 for more information Constraints are applied when items are configured to loop It is not possible to cut or delete either the first or last item in the block Loops may not be nested or overlap Attempting to drag cut or copy an item within the block will drag cut or copy the block as a whole Undoing Changes To undo the last change made to a playlist select Undo from the Edit drop down menu CountDown has a single level of the undo function only For more than one level of undo See Reverting Changes to a Playlist on page 5 22 for more information Reverting Changes to a Playlist During the process of editing a playlist all changes may be cancelled since the playlist was last saved by starting o
104. nter Password Confirm Password Cancel Figure 3 8 Set Password Dialog Box 5 6 7 Choose a password and enter it in the Enter Password text box Reenter the password in the Confirm Password text box Click OK The Set Password dialog box disappears Click OK The General Preferences and the Server Preferences are now pass word protected When a user selects either General or Server from the Preferences item in the File menu the Enter Password dialog box appears and the user must enter the password to access the preference settings Disabling Password Protection for Preferences To disable password protection for preferences do the following 1 2 From the File menu select Preferences Select General The Enter Password dialog box appears Enter the password and click OK The General Preferences dialog box appears Click the Logging and Security tab See Figure 3 7 5 Click the Set Password button in the Security section The Set Password dialog box appears See Figure 3 8 6 Clear the Enter Password and Confirm Password fields 7 Click OK The Set Password dialog box disappears 8 Click OK The General Preferences and the Server Preferences are now acces sible without using a password Enabling Traffic Logging CountDown logs and saves to a text file two types of activities traffic and VDCP commands Traffic logging provides a record of all events that CountDown has atte
105. nu OR b Click the E E Event button in the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 for more information The Create E E Event dialog is displayed See Figure 5 5 Create E E Event New E E Event 00 00 10 00 Figure 5 5 Create E E Event Dialog 2 Enter a title for the new event and the duration it is to remain On Air 3 Next select the Playout mode Manual or Follow On as appropri ate 4 Click OK The event is added to the playlist Rearranging Events in a Playlist After a playlist is assembled the order of the items in the list may be changed Relocating Events To relocate events select the event or group of events and do one of the following a Drag the selection to the desired location OR b Use the Cut and Paste commands e Select Copy from the Edit drop down menu or click the Copy button on the General toolbar e Click the location to put the event If no location is selected events are pasted at the end of the playlist e Select Paste from the Edit drop down menu or click the Paste button on the General toolbar The events are pasted in the playlist When the playlist is on air only single events may be selected and moved Duplicating Events To duplicate events in the playlist select the event or group of events to duplicate and do one of the following a Hold down the CTRL key and drag the selection to the desired location OR b Use th
106. nu or click the Arrange Windows button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 for more information When no more than three Playlist or Shotbox windows are open the Arrange Windows command tiles them If more than three Playlist or Shotbox windows are open the Arrange Windows command staggers them OR b Select Tile Horizontally in the Windows menu The Tile Horizontally command allows viewing of all open Playl ist and Shotbox windows when more than three are open Modifying Events in the Playlist In addition to changing the order of events in the playlist other modi fications may be made For instance the way an event is played out may also be changed Prior to making playlist modifications it is important to understand the columns of information and meanings of icons shown on the play list Understanding Columns and Icons for Playlist Events Information about each event entry in a playlist is displayed by col ums The column headings are as follows e Event Number e Event Playout Channel e Event Playout Mode e Event Title e Event Duration e Event Time and Day e Event Modification Date e GPI Outputs Event Number The event number indicates the item s position in the playlist If the item is part of a looping block the event number column is shaded as shown in Figure 5 9 Event Number Event Playout Channel Event Playout Mode MCS golden MBAS Riots2 MG BG thursz
107. o available from SSTNET Scientific Software Tools Inc If this installation requires more serial ports than the PC provides install and use a dedicated expansion card for the PC Expansion cards are configurable for RS 422 operation and eliminate the need for RS 232 to RS 422 converters The connectors are not standard It may be necessary to make custom cables to connect the card to the AirSPACE Server When using a B amp B Electronics expansion card see Table 2 1 on page 2 8 for more information about creating cables Installing CountDown To install the CountDown software locate and run the CountDown installer application on the AirSPACE Software CDROM Starting CountDown To start CountDown do one of the following a Select CountDown from Programs in the Start menu OR b Double click the CountDown shortcut on the desktop OR c Double click a playlist or shotbox file in any directory win dow such as from the Windows Explorer or on the Desktop 1 3 CountDown does the following e Checks the PC running CountDown for a unique CountDown serial number e Checks for a compatible version of AirSPACE software e Checks for a valid CountDown license on the AirSPACE Server e Reports any problems with the version or with the network When running CountDown for the first time enter the license infor mation when the software prompts for it If CountDown finds another PC is already running using software wit
108. ode 2 From the Server drop down menu select Record VTR and Name The Name is the controller name for the AirSPACE channel to be used The VTR Record dialog box appears See Figure 4 9 iCountDown VTR Record Record 1 pomene ae pmen oe iv a gt ieee Figure 4 9 VTR Record Dialog Box 3 Enter the ID of the event you want to create in the ID text box 4 Enter the Title of the event you want to create in the Title text box The event may not be created if the ID already exists on the server 5 Mark the IN and OUT points for the media on the VTR by doing one of the following a Use the Mark IN and Mark OUT buttons OR b Enter the IN and OUT points in the In and Out text boxes To find the media for recording browse the media on the VTR See Browsing the VTR Media on page 4 14 for more information See Setting the VTR Handle on page 3 35 When entering In or Out points do not type colons CountDown converts the entry to a valid timecode For instance 12205 converts to a valid time code of 00 01 22 05 and 17820 converts to 00 02 18 20 Use the return key to complete an entry in the duration field It also validates the entry and converts it to a valid timecode Use the enter key the same as clicking the Create Record Stop Mark IN and Mark OUT buttons 6 Click cancel to cancel recording after the event has been readied but before clickin
109. og box disappear when recording of the event has finished select the check box called Close dialog when recording ends 5 Click Create The new event is created and the AirSPACE channel is placed in Record Standby The Create button changes to a Record button 6 Click Record to begin recording CountDown records for the duration specified To stop recording before the duration has elapsed click Stop When stopped in this way CountDown reflects the new duration in the media list 7 Click cancel to cancel recording after the event has been readied but before clicking Record 8 Repeat steps 1 through 6 to perform another manual recording while the current recording is taking place CountDown opens a separate Manual Record dialog box which is for the channel to perform the subsequent recording on The Return and Enter keys have different functions when used with the record dialog Use the Return key to complete an entry in the duration field It also validates the entry and converts it to a valid timecode Use the Numeric Enter key the same as clicking the Create Record Stop button Recording from a VTR CountDown provides control of the record process To record media onto the AirSPACE Server from a VTR do the follow ing 1 Ensure the channel used for recording is set to local on the Air SPACE user interface Refer to the Avid AirSPACE Installation and User s Guide for information on setting the channel to local m
110. older button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 The Insert Placeholder dialog box appears See Figure 5 6 Insert Placeholder x ID new_event Title This is a placeholder Duration HDT Playout Mode Manual Follow On Cancel Figure 5 6 Insert Placeholder Dialog Box 3 Enter the ID title and an estimated duration for the event CountDown will update the title and duration after the media and the ID appear on the AirSPACE Server The ID must correspond to the ID used when creating the media event on the AirSPACE Server 4 Select the Playout mode Manual or Follow On radio button See Editing Events on page 5 37 for more information 5 Click OK The placeholder is added to the playlist showing the details in purple indicating it is a placeholder and not a playable event When a match between a placeholder ID and the ID of an event on the AirSPACE Server is detected the playlist entry details are updated to match those of the event on the AirSPACE Server The placeholder status is cancelled and details of the event are dis played in black to indicate it is a playable media event If the event already exists when creating a placeholder for it the title and duration fields may be filled in by pressing the Tab key Converting an Existing Event to a Placeholder An existing event may be converted to a placeholder To convert an existing event or group of events to placeholders do
111. omatically 3 12 part of a playlist 5 23 selecting media event to play next 5 52 selection of a playlist saving 5 23 serial port expansion cards understanding 2 7 serial port status understanding 3 45 server backup configuring installation for 3 7 changeover performing 3 9 changes enabling automatic updating for events 3 30 enabling audible alert for change in content 3 29 IP address determining 3 5 specifying 3 4 media events deleting from 4 22 preferences configuring 3 2 Set Item Play Channel command 5 29 Set Item Type command 5 30 setting defaults for event Playout mode 3 16 for media list 3 30 functionality of playlists and shotboxes 3 14 indication colors clip status 3 19 high and low tally 3 36 on line off line 3 11 media related functionality 3 28 preferences server 3 2 user 3 13 VTR 3 31 COM port 3 32 edit offset 3 33 preroll 3 33 setting up remote control configurations 2 1 backup control PC 2 6 backup server control 2 5 external control 2 3 single channel 2 2 two channel 2 3 sharing playlist and shotbox files between PCs Index 11 3 12 shotboxes aborting an event while on air 6 17 assigning media to buttons 6 3 converting media events to placeholders 6 5 creating 6 2 editing 6 3 enabling 3 15 editing media events 6 9 while playing shotbox to air 6 12 functionality configuring 3 14 modifying events in 6 9 one shot operation 6 16 opening 6 7 pausing an event while On Air 6 17 placeholder
112. one created with the selected ID e Datestamp CountDown appends the current time and date to the selected ID Datestamp usually creates an item with an ID greater than eight characters which may not be played Use Changing A Media Event ID on page 4 5 to change the ID to one made up of eight characters or less An event with an identical ID may be created after the record event is set up but before the recording actually takes place 10 Click OK If the recording has no conflicts CountDown adds it to the Timed Events list See Understanding the Timed Events List on page 4 20 The recording is readied five seconds before the scheduled time and begins recording at the scheduled time Ifa duplicate ID exists and the Delete option was selected the duplicate item will be deleted five seconds before the scheduled time and the recording cued at one second before When CountDown begins recording the event a Record Progress dialog box appears showing the progress of the recording To stop the recording before the specified duration has elapsed click the Stop button Record ID SPORT Figure 4 12 Record Progress Dialog Box Understanding the Timed Events List A See Enabling Auto matic Activation of Time Of Day Events on page 3 18 The Timed Events list shows all events scheduled to record or play out at a specific time of day CountDown saves the information in this list even after CountDown is clo
113. or implementing contact closure to ground operation An industry standard RS 232 line driver IC performs the necessary level translation Because its power con sumption is small it is possible to directly power it from the COM port output handshake lines 9 Pin Connecter to PC COM Port Figure 2 7 Circuit For Active GPI Interface Understanding Extended GPI O Functionality CountDown supports extended GPI O functions using the parallel port on the CountDown PC Eight GPI O functions are supported and can be any combination of inputs and outputs An external adapter such as the PPIO adapter from B amp B Electronics is required to convert GPI outputs to contact closures and to respond to external triggers on the inputs Connect the PPIO adapter using a fully configured 25 pin cable as shown in Figure 2 8 Using all eight connections as inputs will depend on the capabilities of the parallel port CountDown PC Parallel 25 pin Cable Port PPIO adapter Figure 2 8 PPIO Adapter Connectivity 2 14 CHAPTER 3 Setting Up CountDown In This Chapter This chapter provides instructions for configuring the CountDown software This chapter contains the following sections e Establishing Communication Between AirSPACE and Count Down e Configuring Backup Server Installations e Configuring Redundant Control Installations e Configuring User Preferences e Configuring VTR Preferences e Configuring GPI Functions e
114. otbox 6 17 Function keys to ready and play events 6 15 General Preferences dialog box GPI In tab 3 10 3 34 GPI Out tab 3 36 Logging and Security tab 3 21 Playlist tab 3 12 3 14 Server tab 3 28 VTR tab 3 31 GPIs to switch between PCs 3 10 media list 4 1 Next button 5 50 Off Air button 5 58 placeholders in a playlist 5 16 in a shotbox 6 3 Playlist Shotbox toolbar 5 2 Ready button 5 52 serial port expansion cards 2 7 Server Preferences dialog box 3 2 Skip button in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 VTR Record dialog box 4 14 V VDCP command logging disabling 3 26 enabling 3 24 ports setting COM ports for 3 2 VTR browsing media 4 14 configuring preferences 3 31 connecting to CountDown PC 2 4 recording media from 4 12 setting COM port 3 32 edit offset 3 33 Index 13 preroll 3 33 Index 14
115. otbox Editing check box 3 15 Allow Recording check box 3 29 ascending order sorting media list by 4 3 assigning channel for browsing 3 6 channels for controlling AirSPACE ports 3 2 mirroring channels 3 4 play out channel automatically 5 5 playout channel 5 29 audible alert for change in server contents enabling 3 29 automatic placeholder conversion enabling 3 30 updating of events for server changes enabling 3 30 automatically assigning play out channel 5 5 inspecting modification date of playlist and shotbox files 3 12 reversing default Playout mode 5 5 saving changes to playlist and shotbox files 3 12 Automatically Show Media List check box 3 30 Automatically Update Playlist Entries if Server Index 2 Changes check box 3 30 Auto Ready dragged items check box 3 17 Autoscroll On Air List check box 3 16 autoscrolling On Air list 3 16 B backup PC configuring installation for 3 9 making connections to 2 6 updating playlist and shotbox files for 3 12 server installations configuring 3 7 making the connections 2 5 break events adding 5 10 editing 5 11 Browse Item command 4 23 browse only mode 3 31 Browser Control dialog box understanding 4 24 browser controls using 4 23 to modify events in a shotbox 5 38 6 9 browsing assigning a channel for 3 6 media events 4 23 media list 4 1 VTR media 4 14 buttons Freeze ina playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 Next 5 50 Off Air 5 58 Ready 5 52 Skip in a playlist 5 54
116. p Break time and displays it in the bottom corner of the Playlist window See Figure 5 27 on page 5 63 J j H Fi 12 25 00 Figure 5 27 Display of Loop Break Time Clearing A Loop Break Time To clear the Loop Break time for a playlist do the following 1 From the Playlist menu choose Set Loop Break Time The Set Loop Break Time dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure 5 26 2 Click Clear CountDown clears the Loop Break time The Loop Break Time does not determine the precise time at which looping ends Before CountDown expands the reference playlist it checks to see if the current time exceeds that set for the Loop Break If the time exceeds the Loop Break time CountDown skips the reference list and proceeds to ready any subsequent item If the Loop Break time has not been reached the reference list is expanded and looping continues Operation With MOS Protocol When CountDown is operating under the control of a newsroom com puter system using MOS Protocol restrictions are placed on the play list functionality These restrictions ensure that at all times the playlist correspond exactly to the newsroom computer system running order times The restrictions placed on the playlist functionality are as follows Editing is not allowed Items may not be inserted Items may not be deleted The item may not be edited in the Clip Editor The Playlist window may not be closed A MOS originated playlist may still be sa
117. partment of Defense or its subcontractor is subject to DFARS 227 7202 3 RIGHTS IN COMMERCIAL COMPUTER SOFTWARE OR COMMERCIAL COMPUTER SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION Trademarks AirPlay AudioVision Avid Avid Xpress CamCutter Digidesign FieldPak Film Composer HIIP Image Independence Marquee Media Composer Media Recorder NewsCutter OMF OMF Interchange Open Media Framework Pro Tools Softimage and tools for storytellers are registered trademarks and 888 I O AirSPACE AirSPACE HD AniMatte AudioSuite AutoSync AviDdrive AVIDdrive Towers AvidNet Avid Production Network AvidProNet AVIDstripe Avid Unity AVX DAE D Fi D FX D Verb ExpertRender FilmScribe HyperSPACE HyperSPACE HDCAM Intraframe iS9 iS18 iS23 iS36 Lo Fi Magic Mask Matador Maxim MCXpress MEDIArray MediaDock MediaDock Shuttle Media Fusion Media Illusion MediaLog Media Reader MediaShare Meridien NaturalMatch OMM Open Media Management QuietDrive Recti Fi rS9 rS18 Sci Fi Sound Designer Il SPACE SPACE Shift Symphony Vari Fi Video Slave Driver and VideoSPACE are trademarks of Avid Technology Inc Media Browse iNEWS ControlAir iNEWS ControlAir are trademarks or registered trademarks of iNews LLC All other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners Footage Bell South Anticipation Courtesy of Two Headed Monster Tucker Wayne Atlanta GMS Canyonlands and Flowers Courtesy of the National
118. playlist to air 5 47 a shotbox to air 6 14 multiple playlists 5 57 Playlist Shotbox toolbar 5 2 playlists aborting an event while on air 5 54 adding placeholders to 5 16 creating 5 3 adding media events 5 3 editing 5 14 enabling 3 15 editing media events 5 37 while playing list to air 5 46 exporting 5 59 functionality configuring 3 14 going Off Air 5 58 grouping and ungrouping events 5 55 icons and fields understanding 5 25 importing 5 59 Index 9 looping 5 8 manually starting an event while On Air 5 55 media events assigning playout channel 5 29 converting to placeholders 5 18 Playout mode selecting Follow On 5 31 play out mode selecting time of day 5 31 5 34 Playout mode assigning 5 30 Playout mode selecting manual 5 30 modifying events in 5 25 opening 5 23 pausing an event while On Air 5 54 playing to air 5 47 multiple lists 5 57 rearranging media events 5 14 while On Air 5 52 referenced expanding manually 5 8 replicating media events 5 18 reverting changes to 5 22 saving 5 22 part of 5 23 understanding 5 2 updating files to backup PC 3 12 Playout mode assigning 5 30 Follow On 5 31 manual 5 30 reversing automatically 5 5 setting default 3 16 play out channel automatically assigning 5 5 mode Index 10 time of day 5 31 5 34 playout channel assigning 5 29 time adjusting for time of day events 5 33 Port I O driver installing 1 5 preferences password protecting 3 21 server configuring 3 2
119. ple of a shotbox in the On Air state Figure 6 6 Shotbox On Air To select the channel and put the shotbox in the On Air state click the channel button in the shotbox control toolbar corresponding to the desired channel See Figure 6 5 on page 6 14 The toolbar changes to current On Air color indicating that the shot box is in the On Air state CountDown associates shotboxes to single channels only Multiple channel operation does not apply Readying Events When the shotbox is in the On Air state click the event s button or press the Function key that corresponds to the event s button to ready it CountDown highlights the button in the readied color which is green The shotbox window must be active for the Function keys to operate Playing Events After an event is in the readied state click the events button or press the appropriate Function key to play the event CountDown highlights the button in the Playing color which is red An event can be readied and immediately played by double clicking the but ton or by pressing the appropriate function key twice Shotboxes do not respond to the GPI Next Event command Enabling One Shot Operation CountDown can ready and play an event immediately requiring no intermediate user action This is known as One Shot operation To enable One Shot operation select One Shot Operation in the Shot box menu Clicking a button in the shotbox once or pressing a fu
120. pm Figure 5 9 Playlist Display Showing Loop Items If the playlist item has been locked against automatic updating a padlock icon is displayed in the event number column See Figure 5 10 See Locking Items Against Updates on page 5 44 for more 2 B 3 aspace99 information 3 G 3 go Iden 4A Riots2 B thurs7pm Figure 5 10 Playlist Display Showing Locked Item Event Playout Channel Event Playout Mode The event playout channel column displays the letter of the play out channel assigned to this event See Figure 5 9 The event Playout mode column displays various icons located next to the event playout channel letter to indicate the event Play out mode See Figure 5 11 for the various icons and their text descriptions y Follow On Event aly Manual Event t Loop Event D Time of Day Event j Reference List Event Follow On Sim Reference List Event Manual Fo Reference List Event Time of Day T CountDown Event ERE E E Event Follow On ETE E E Event Manual Gy Grouped Event Figure 5 11 Playlist Icons and Text Descriptions When the playlist is configured for text only display the icons are replaced by a simple text label indicating the icon type See Configuring Appearance of a Playlist on page 3 19 for more information 5 28 Event ID Event Title Event Duration The event ID column displays the ID assigned to this event Count Down takes the Event ID from the AirS
121. port is already in use 6 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 2 CountDown Figure 3 2 CountDown Dialog Box 7 Click Yes to proceed 8 Restart CountDown Assigning Mirroring Channels Channels C and D can operate as independent channels or as mirrors of channels A and B respectively Mirroring enables CountDown to control two AirSPACE Servers for the same channel for redundancy See Configuring Backup Server Installations on page 3 7 for infor mation on assigning channels C and D for mirroring 3 5 Configuring the Network CountDown maintains a network connection to the AirSPACE Server This connection provides the media listing recording and browsing functions Configuring the network consists of specifying the Air SPACE IP address and optionally assigning a channel to use for browsing Specifying the AirSPACE IP Address To set the AirSPACE IP address complete the following steps 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select Server The Server Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 1 3 Enter the IP address in the Address text box The address can be a host name or IP address If the IP address of the AirSPACE Server is unknown see Determining the AirSPACE Server IP Address 4 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 2 on page 3 4 5 Click Yes 6 Restart CountDown Determining the AirSPACE Server IP Address
122. re acted upon 250ms after the first GPI is received Setting the Port Use the radio buttons in the Port Address section to match the driver Address to the actual address of the parallel port Setting the Parallel Port Usage Setting the Input Modes If the correct address expressed in hexadecimal notation for the CountDown PC parallel port is one of the three listed select the corre sponding radio button The most common address for the parallel port is 378 If the correct address is not one of the three listed select the Custom radio button and enter the address of the CountDown PC parallel port in the text box If the address is unknown use the BIOS display on the CountDown PC to determine the it Each line may be configured as an input or an output To configure a line as an output click the Out radio button To configure a line as an input click the In radio button The Configure button becomes active which allows the function associated with that GPI input to be config ured When a GPI O line is configured as an input many functions are avail able for association with the selected input To configure the function for a particular GPI input press the Config ure button This GPI Mode dialog box is displayed See Figure 3 14 Beles Chencale FA F re ro nye Mace ant che 7 Pleas Mari Event Fiia Cuttin Eusi Ekip Cenon Evari Figure 3 14 GPI Mode Dialog Selecting the Channels Sel
123. ready the event that follows it Setting the Pulse Duration e Cue Previous Event This will cause CountDown to ready the item immediately prior to the event that is currently playing e Cue First Event This will cause CountDown to ready the first event in the playlist Cue Previous Event and Cue First Event will have no effect if the Delete Items After Playout option is selected as there will be no items prior to the current event See Enabling Deletion of Events After Playout on page 3 16 for more information One of the functions of the GPI Outputs is to pulse the output for a specified duration To set the pulse duration in milliseconds click the Pulse Duration spin box until the desired value appears When OK is clicked a CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 Click Yes to proceed Restart Count Down Configuring the MOS Interface CountDown can interface with newsroom computer systems by means of the MOS Media Object Server Protocol Use the MOS tab of General Preferences to configure the MOS inter face See Figure 3 15 To access the MOS tab do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Click the MOS tab General Preferences nE a roe 152 165 115 57 SERVER_MAIN 152 165 115 58 SERVER_BUDDY Figure 3 15 MOS Tab Configuring the Global MOS Settings To configure the
124. rmine the time at which an event is likely to go on air Calculated times for events following a Manual event are irrelevant until the Manual event is played to air Event Modification Date GPI Outputs See Configuring Extended GPI O Func tions on page 3 38 The Last Modified column shows when the event was last modi fied on the AirSPACE Server The GPI Outputs column shows what if any GPI output function the event will trigger A blank in the column indicates that no GPI output is associated with this event An event whose details appear entirely in purple is a placeholder and cannot be played See Using Placeholders on page 5 16 for more information Figure 5 12 shows a typical Playlist entry Boo OO 0400 29 00 00 0000 Wed ORTON EM Figure 5 12 Typical Playlist Entry Assigning the Channel for Event Playout To set the playout channel for events do the following 1 Select the event or group of events and do one of the following a Click the appropriate channel button on the toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR b From the Playlist menu select Set Item Play Channel and select the desired channel from the list that appears The channel assignment is only relevant when playing out a list in multi channel mode Assigning Event Playout Mode There are five different Playout modes that may be set in CountDown They are as follows e Setting an Event to be Manual e Setting an Event
125. ror is the best method for determining what offset is required Start by entering the value corresponding with the number of frames by which the recording was inaccurate To set the VTR preroll in seconds click the Preroll spin box until the desired value appears The minimum VTR preroll time CountDown allows is one second Handles are additional media recorded before and after the marked IN and OUT points of the recording Handles do not affect the IN and OUT points When CountDown plays the event it does not play the media before and after the IN and OUT points After recording an event using handles repositioning the IN or OUT point to include media within the handles is done using the Browser Control Window See Understanding the Browser Control Dialog Box on page 4 25 To set the size of the handles in seconds click the Handle spin box until the desired value appears Click OK and restart the PC for the changes to take effect Configuring GPI Functions CountDown performs certain functions triggered by GPI inputs and can trigger other devices to perform certain functions using GPI out puts Configuring GPI Inputs Configure GPI functions by using the GPI In tab and GPI O tab respectively in the General Preferences dialog box See Figure 3 12 on page 3 36 Several functions of CountDown are controlled using GPI inputs The first GPI input has the same effect as clicking the Next button Count Down can u
126. rs If an attempt to reference a pathname exceeding 71 characters is made Count Down prompts to move the Playlist file further up the file hierarchy Opening an Existing Playlist There are three different ways to open an existing playlist They are Using the Open command Using the recent files list Using drop and drag To open an existing playlist using the Open command do one of the following a Click the Open button on the General toolbar OR b Select Open from the File drop down menu The Open dialog box appears e Select Playlist Files from the file type list A list of existing playlists appears e Select the playlist to open e Click OK OR To open an existing playlist using the recent files list do the following 1 Click the file menu 2 Select the playlist from the list of recent files OR To open an existing playlist using drag and drop do the following 1 Locate the playlist file to open The file may be on the Desktop listed in Windows Explorer or listed in any directory window 2 Drag the file from its location and drop it into the CountDown window Do not drop the file into a Playlist window or the list will be inserted as a ref erence playlist rather than being opened as a playlist Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows To optimize the positions of the playlist shotbox and media list win dows do one of the following a Select Arrange Windows in the Windows me
127. rs and the pathname selected appears in the Save log files in text box 6 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 CountDown Q t least one of the changes you made will not take effect until CountDown is resarted Do you want to quit CountDown now Figure 3 9 Restart CountDown Dialog Box Click Yes 7 Disabling Logging CountDown shuts down Restart CountDown CountDown logs the information selected to the location speci fied For traffic logging the file name reflects the day and time the play list was aired For VDCP command logging the file name reflects the day and time the file was created For example a VDCP command log file titled Wed121725 was created on a Wednesday at 12 17 25 To disable logging do the following 1 2 From the File menu select Preferences Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears Click the Logging and Security tab See Figure 3 7 Inthe Logging section select the None radio button Click OK 6 A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 Click Yes to proceed CountDown shuts down 7 Restart CountDown Enabling Auto Recovery Protection Auto Recovery protection enables CountDown to recover following an abnormal termination With Auto Recovery activated essential Playout information is saved at regular intervals and can be used to recreate the on air st
128. rt list box will reflect the change Enabling Channel Response to GPI Next Event Input Enabling On Air Tally Customizing High and Low Tally Color Indicators Configuring Extended GPI O Functions To enable a channel to respond to the GPI next event input check the check box corresponding to the channel in the GPI 1 Next Event sec tion The GPI next event input triggers the selected channels simulta neously Playlists indicate when they are on air by means of the color of the control bar This color is normally the same as the Low Tally color Set ting up CountDown to use GPI 2 to receive the On Air Tally enables the color of the control bar to toggle between the Low and High Tally colors To enable the On Air tally function of GPI 2 click the On Air Tally radio button in the GPI 2 Tally Online section By default red indicates High Tally and blue indicates Low tally To select different colors to indicate high and low tally do the follow ing 1 From the GPI In tab in the General Preferences dialog box click the status color box for the color to change The Windows color pallet appears 2 Select the desired color in the pallet and click OK The Windows color pallet disappears and the box changes to the color selected 3 Click OK A CountDown dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 9 on page 3 26 4 Click Yes to proceed CountDown shuts down 5 Restart CountDown The Extended GPI O feat
129. s 1 From the File menu on the backup CountDown PC select Prefer ences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears See Figure 3 5 on page 3 14 3 On the Playlist tab in the Automatic Checking section check the Refresh When Offline check box and select the desired interval using the Check every spin box 4 Click OK CountDown automatically checks the modification date of open Playlist Shotbox files and reloads files that have been updated Configuring User Preferences User preferences include setting defaults and enabling functionality for playlists shotboxes and media events on the AirSPACE Server This section provides instructions for the following e Configuring Playlist Shotbox Functionality e Configuring Appearance of a Playlist e Enabling Password Protection for Preferences e Enabling Traffic Logging e Configuring Media Related Functionality e Configuring VTR Preferences e Configuring GPI Functions e Configuring the MOS Interface Configuring Playlist Shotbox Functionality Playlist Shotbox functionality is configured on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears As shown in Figure 3 5 General Preferences m m E e e ee E m m a a lt I Ej Figure 3 5 General Preferences Playlist Tab The Extended GPI O tab appears only if the p
130. s assigning to buttons 6 3 converting media events to 6 5 playing events 6 16 playing to air 6 14 readying events 6 15 reverting changes to 6 6 saving 6 6 updating files to backup PC 3 12 single channel configuration setting up 2 2 Skip button in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 software installing 1 2 Sort order is case sensitive check box 3 30 sort ordering case sensitive 3 30 sorting media list 4 3 ascending descending order 4 3 specifying AirSPACE IP address 3 4 starting a new search for media events 4 9 CountDown 1 2 status network understanding 3 46 serial port understanding 3 45 Index 12 T Time Remaining display configuring 5 58 time of day recording 4 17 time of day events 5 31 5 34 adjusting payout time 5 33 toolbar Playlist Shotbox 5 2 triggers GPI connecting to CountDown PC 2 4 two channel configuration setting up 2 3 U Undo command in a playlist 5 21 in a shotbox 6 5 ungrouping and grouping events 5 55 updating events for server changes automatically 3 30 media information 4 22 playlist and shotbox files between CountDown PCs 3 12 user preferences configuring 3 13 using a channel for browsing 3 6 break events 5 10 browser controls 4 23 to modify events in a shotbox 5 38 6 9 channels to mirror other channels 3 4 Clip Editor in a playlist 5 38 in a shotbox 6 10 comments 5 9 CountDown to control two servers 3 7 Find Media dialog box 4 7 Freeze button in a playlist 5 54 in a sh
131. s shows the time remaining for the playing event The display on the right with green digits displays either the time remaining for the entire playlist or the elapsed time also known as count up time for the playing event The display mode is set on the Playlist Preferences dialog box See Determining The Second Playlist Time Display Mode on page 3 19 Importing a Playlist Playlist entries may be created from a list of IDs stored in a text file This is known as importing a playlist To import a playlist do the following 1 Create a text file using a text editor such as WordPad or NotePad and list the required event Ds each on its own line in the order in which they will appear in the playlist 2 Save the text file 3 Select the point in the existing playlist where to insert the new items or create a new playlist See Creating a New Playlist on page 5 3 4 From the File menu select Import Text File The Import Playlist dialog box appears 5 Select the text file that was created and click Open A new entry is created for each ID in the text file Each new entry is designated as a placeholder so the event details may be updated auto matically from the AirSPACE Server Exporting a Playlist Playlist entries may be stored in the form of a text file for purposes such as archiving and printing This is known as exporting a Playlist To export a playlist do the following 5 60 1 From th
132. s that help you perform tasks more easily and efficiently A note provides important related information reminders recommendations and strong suggestions A caution means that a specific action you take could cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data A warning describes an action that could cause you physical harm Follow the guidelines in this manual or on the unit itself when handling electrical equipment If You Need Help If you are having trouble using CountDown you should 1 Retry the action carefully following the instructions given for that task in this manual 2 Check the documentation including any release notes that came with your hardware for maintenance or hardware related issues 3 Visit the online Knowledge Center at www avid com support Online services are available 24 hours per day 7 days per week Search this online Knowledge Center to find answers to view error messages to access troubleshooting tips to download updates and to read join online message board discussions 4 For Technical Support please call 800 800 AVID 800 800 2843 For Broadcast On Air Sites and Call Letter Stations call 800 NEWSDNG 800 639 7364 If You Have Documentation Comments Avid continuously seeks to improve its documentation We value your comments about this manual the Online Publications CD ROM and other Avid supplied documentation E mail your documentation comments to Avid Broadcast Techni
133. se the second GPI to provide either an On Air Tally or an Online Control Enable function To use the second GPI input for the Online Control Enable function see Setting Up GPI Switching Between CountDown PCs on page 3 10 Before configuring the functions to be controlled make the proper physical connections between the CountDown PC and the trigger See Understanding GPI Control on page 2 4 for more information To access the GPI In tab do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select General The General Preferences dialog box appears 3 Click the GPI In tab General Preferences Extended GPO MOS Logging and Security Playlist Playlist Appearance Server VTR GPI In COM Port GPI 1 Next Event Active Channels VA VB ES go GPI 2 Tally Online Low Tally m C Disabled OnAir Tally C Online Figure 3 12 GPI In Preferences Enabling GPI Use the list box labeled COM Port to select the PC COM port con Control of the nected to the trigger CountDown PC The COM port selections in the Server Preferences dialog box override the COM port selection on the GPI In tab in the General Preferences dialog box See Establishing Communication Between AirSPACE and Count Down on page 3 2 For example after setting COM port 1 to use for the GPI a user configures CountDown to use COM port 1 to control an Air SPACE channel the GPI control is disabled and the COM Po
134. sed The events are stored in a file called Record_Events evt in the same folder as the CountDown application Do not delete this file or attempt to edit it Record events appear in the list immediately after they are created If the Auto Activate Clock Event Lists box is checked in the General Preferences dialog box Playout events appear only when the playlists that contain them are on air After a Record event finishes recording CountDown does one of the following a If the event was scheduled to be recorded once CountDown deletes the entry from the list OR b If the event was scheduled to be recorded daily CountDown advances the date to the following day OR c If the event was scheduled to be recorded weekly CountDown advances the date to the following week When auto activation of clock events is enabled CountDown a Plays to air the list containing those events five seconds before the scheduled playout time of the first Time Of Day event b Readies the playout event c Plays it at the scheduled time d CountDown plays activated lists in a single channel the channel the first Time Of Day event is assigned to e After the events have played CountDown removes them from the list When auto activation of clock events is not enabled the events appear in the list when played to air and CountDown removes them after they have played out To open the Timed Events list select Show Events from the Window
135. t Event command GPI Input 3 34 Return key enabling for 3 15 Next Event Input enabling channel response to 3 35 O Off Air button 5 58 Off Air going 5 58 off line color indicators customizing 3 11 On Air aborting an event in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 manually starting an event 5 55 pausing an event in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 on air playing a playlist 5 47 playing a shotbox 6 14 On Air tally configuring GPI Input for 3 34 customizing color indicators for 3 36 enabling 3 36 one shot operation enabling 6 16 on line color indicators customizing 3 11 Online Control Enable configuring GPI Input for 3 34 opening a playlist 5 23 a shotbox 6 7 Operate in Browse Only mode check box 3 31 operating system requirements 1 1 ordering sort case sensitive 3 30 P Parallel Port driver installing 1 5 part of a playlist saving 5 23 passive implementation GPI 2 9 password protecting for preferences disabling 3 23 enabling 3 21 pausing an event in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 PC backup configuring GPI switching between primary and 3 10 configuring installations for 3 9 enabling GPI control of 3 35 updating files between primary and backup 3 12 placeholders adding to a playlist 5 16 assigning to buttons 6 3 converting an event to ina playlist 5 18 in a shotbox 6 5 deferred ready function enabling 3 17 enabling automatic conversion to 3 30 using in a playlist 5 16 in a shotbox 6 3 playing a
136. t Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR d Select the event s button and type CTRL E The Clip Editor dialog box appears as shown in Figure 6 3 tro908 Brighton Pier fe Jog Pe SHUtHe ma e Ej M Figure 6 3 CountDown Clip Editor 2 Use the Transport Controls in the Clip Editor to find the IN point For information on using the Transport Controls see Transport Controls on page 5 42 3 Click the Mark IN button The IN time appears in the In text box 4 Use the Transport Controls in the Clip Editor to find the OUT point 5 Click the Mark OUT button The OUT time appears in the Out text box IN and OUT points may be entered manually by clicking in the appropriate text box typing the desired timecode value and pressing the Return key After setting the IN and OUT points they may be cued using the Cue buttons To clear the IN or OUT point of an event click the Clear button corresponding to the IN or OUT point To change the title of this instance of the event in the shotbox in the Clip Editor enter a new title in the Title text box To apply changes made to all instances of the event throughout all open playlists and shotboxes check the Update all instances of this clip check box in the Clip Editor CountDown looks through all open playlists and shot boxes including referenced playlists for instances of the event matching this Event ID and Title
137. t as manual 5 10 manually starting while On Air 5 55 modifying in a playlist 5 25 in a shotbox 6 9 pausing while On Air in a playlist 5 54 pausing while On Ar in a shotbox 6 17 playing in a playlist 5 50 in a shotbox 6 16 Playout mode assigning 5 30 selecting Follow On 5 31 manual 5 30 play out mode selecting follow on to act as manual 5 10 time of day 5 31 5 34 readying in a playlist 5 52 in a shotbox 6 15 rearranging 5 14 while On Air 5 52 recording 4 10 from a VTR 4 12 manually 4 10 time of day 4 17 relocating in a playlist 5 14 replicating in a playlist 5 18 restoring properties in a playlist 5 46 6 13 in a shotbox 6 13 setting to play next 5 52 time of day 5 31 5 34 adjusting playout time 5 33 media information updating 4 22 Index 8 media list browsing 4 1 rearranging columns of 4 3 resizing columns of 4 3 restoring column layout 4 4 searching for events in 4 6 cancelling a search 4 10 restricting a search 4 9 starting anew search 4 9 setting defaults for 3 30 sorting 4 3 ascending descending order 4 3 media recording enabling 3 29 performing 4 10 media allowing deletion of 3 29 mirroring assigning channels for 3 4 modification date of playlist and shotbox files inspecting 3 12 modifying events in a playlist 5 25 events in a shotbox 6 9 N network configuring 3 4 status understanding 3 46 new playlist creating 5 3 adding media events 5 3 New Search command 4 9 Next button 5 50 Nex
138. t event in the group is set to start Ungrouping To ungroup a selection of events do the following 1 From the Playlist menu select the group and select Ungroup Items or click the Ungroup button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 The Playout Mode icon for each event changes back to what it was before being grouped Manually Starting an Event To manually start playing an event see Playing Events on page 5 50 Performing a List Changeover A list changeover is changing from one list playing out to playing out another To perform a list changeover do the following 1 While one list is playing open another list See Opening an Exist ing Playlist on page 5 23 2 Put the new list in the On Air state by clicking the MULTIPLE playout channel button or by selecting the channel use A B C or D or selecting the appropriate mode from the Playlist Menu Active command A warning dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure 5 23 x A Playlist tesk pat i currentty on ar in al chamnets Are you sure that yau wizh to continue w Coun foe I Figure 5 23 Activate Playlist Warning Dialog 3 Do one of the following a Click Yes to continue activating the new playlist OR b Click No to leave the current list on air If Yes is selected the playing event in the initial playlist continues to playout and CountDown readies the appropriate event in the new playlist 4
139. tDown CountDown now uses the new AirSPACE channel selected for net work browsing If a network channel selected for browsing is subsequently chosen for playout control CountDown disables the network browsing capability When Count Down starts up it checks the configuration of the AirSPACE Server and reports any inconsistencies in channel assignments Configuring Backup Server Installations CountDown can be set up to control two AirSPACE Servers simulta neously so that the standby AirSPACE Server can continue playout if the main AirSPACE Server fails 3 8 For instructions on making the physical connections for backup server installations see Setting Up Backup Server Control on page 2 5 For backup server installations use channels C and D to mirror chan nels A and B respectively To set channels C and D as mirroring channels do the following 1 From the File menu select Preferences 2 Select Server The Server Preferences dialog box appears as shown in Figure 3 1 3 In the Channel Functions section select the Mirror A or Mirror B or both radio buttons as appropriate CountDown automatically assigns the same VDCP port for that channel The AirSPACE Server channels assigned to CountDown channels A or B or both are the main server channels and the server chan nels assigned to CountDown channels C or D or both are the standby server channels 4 Select a unique COM port for the mirroring channel
140. ted with the stored media The third button is the Cue IN button Use the Cue IN button to cue the VTR to the IN point of the edit The fourth button is the Cue OUT button Use the Cue OUT button to cue the OUT point or last frame of the edit The fifth button is the Clear IN button Use the Clear IN button to clear the IN point of the event The sixth button is the Clear OUT button Use the Clear OUT button to clear the OUT point of the event The Clear IN and Clear OUT buttons only affect the points currently set in the editor they do not clear any points already associated with the clip When the desired IN points and OUT points have been selected click OK to update the AirSPACE media with the new values There will be a short delay while these values are updated A If the event being browsed already has IN and or OUT values set any new values will be added to the existing values For instance the clip already has an IN point set at 5 seconds and the browser is used to set a new IN point of 5 seconds When OK is clicked to update the event it will now have an IN point value of 10 seconds Clearing Existing IN and OUT Points When it is necessary to remove any IN and or OUT points associated with the clip click the Clear IN OUT button This will close the browser and remove any IN and or OUT points currently associated with the clip There will be a short delay while these values are updated Operating in Browse Only Mode
141. the following 1 Select the event or group of events to be converted to placehold ers 2 From the Playlist menu select Convert to Placeholder CountDown converts the event or group of events to placeholders showing the details in purple to indicate that they are placehold ers and not yet playable media events When items referenced in a playlist are deleted from the server it is possible to convert them to placeholders automatically See Enabling Automatic Place holder Conversion for Missing Events on page 3 31 for more information Replicating Media Events CountDown can be set to repeat an event by replicating that event in the playlist To replicate an event do the following 1 In the playlist select the event to be replicated 2 Choose Replicate Item from the Playlist Menu or click the Repli cate button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 for more information The Replicate Item dialog box appears See Figure 5 7 Replicate Item Fr Repeat Count E H Cancel Figure 5 7 Replicate Item dialog box 3 Use the spin box to select the number of repetitions desired 4 Click OK CountDown adds the specified number of duplicate entries to the playlist Looping Media Events CountDown may be set to loop either a single media event or a block of events To create a looping event do the following 1 In the playlist select the event that will to control the loop this will be the
142. ts the playout time of the selected event and any ek Tes on subsequent Time Of Day events by the difference between original age J or more M information on setting time and the new time an event to looping Setting an Event to CountDown A CountDown event is treated as a Follow On event however when the item is readied for playout its duration is automatically calculated by offsetting its IN point so that it will end at a specified time The CountDown item type is intended to be used with a clip featuring a Time To Next Event display The clip must be as long as the longest CountDown interval and must feature a clock counting down The clock must reach zero on the last frame of the clip To set the Playout mode of an event to CountDown do the following 1 Select the event in the playlist and do one of the following a Select Set Item Type then CountDown from the Playlist menu OR b Type CTRL 5 The Set Event Time dialog box appears Set Event End Time Evert Time SER HH MNS Day Tussdey M Dinity Event cot Figure 5 15 Set Event End Time dialog box 2 In the Event Time text box enter the time of day in 24 hour nota tion the event will end 3 For CountDown to end the event at the same time every day check the Daily Event check box 4 Click OK Setting an item type to CountDown will not produce the desired result if the clip involved is not long enough when the event is readied Th
143. tton For playing the media event forward Fast Forward Button To fast forward through the media event The Transport Control buttons are shown in Figure 5 18 The way the Interactive Locator slider functions will depend on the set tings in the Server tab of General Preferences dialog box See Config uring The Media Edi tor on page 3 30 Rewind Button Play Forward Button Play Reverse Button Fast Forward Stop Button Timecode Display 00 00 00 00 Jog C Shuttle 00 01 38 22 Jog or Shuttle Slider Interactive Locator Slider Figure 5 18 Transport Controls Located below the Transport Control buttons are two sliders Use the top slider either as a Jog or Shuttle control Select the desired radio button labeled Jog or Shuttle located to the right of the slider to assign that function to the slider The bottom slider is the Interactive Locator slider This slider allows access to any part of the original media event even parts beyond the IN and OUT points that are set This slider is may be operated manu ally but it also updates its position when you use any transport control to move within the clip To use either slider drag it back and forth The Timecode display is located next to the Transport Control buttons This display shows the time relative to the beginning of the clip Locking Items Against Updates See Enabling Auto CountDown may be configured to update playlist items if the
144. uble clicking will display the clip editor Setting Default Event Playout Mode Dragging a media event into a playlist CountDown assigns a Playout mode to that event The user may select which Playout mode that CountDown assigns to media events See Assigning Event Playout Mode on page 5 30 for more information To set CountDown to automatically assign the Follow on Playout mode check the Follow on As Default check box To set CountDown to automatically assign the Manual Playout Mode uncheck the Follow on As Default check box Enabling Visibility of On Air Clips When a playlist contains more media events than the playlist window can display use the scroll bar to view the later media events By default this is allowed even if one of those events is playing The user may enable visibility of an on air clip by checking the Auto scroll On Air List check box on the Playlist tab in the General Prefer ences dialog box Enabling Deletion of Events After Playout By default CountDown retains an event in a playlist after it has been played to air To set CountDown to delete events after playing them to air check the Delete Items After Playout check box on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box If the Delete Items After Playout check box on the Playlist tab in the General Preferences dialog box is selected it is not possible to include looping events in a playlist Enabling Automatic Readying of a Dra
145. ure of CountDown is an option that requires installation of a parallel port driver See Installing the Port I O Driver on page 1 5 for more information CountDown uses its PC s parallel port to provide eight additional GPI inputs or outputs CountDown allows each of the eight GPIs to be configured as inputs or out puts The parallel port of the CountDown PC may not allow the first four GPIs to be used as inputs For further information on this topic refer to the manufacturer s documentation accompanying the adapter The utilities installed as part of the Port95 driver for installation can be used to test the parallel port Use the Extended GPI O tab in the General Preferences dialog box to configure the Extended GPI O functions See Figure 3 13 General Preferences Playlist Playlist Appearance Server VTR GPI In Extended GPI O MOS Logging and Security r Port Address 378 C 3BC C 278 C Custom mlO Modes 0 Out Cin Canfigure 4 Out In Configure E gai aaa Canfigure 5 C Out amp In Configure 2 Out In Canfigure 6 Out In Canfigure 3 Out Cin Canfigure 7 Out In Canfigure Playlist Colours Pulse Duration am HinhxHor i GPI Trigger cont oe Figure 3 13 GPI O Tab The GPI Trigger allows configuration of the response delay of the GPI trig gering For instance if two GPIs come in 200ms apart and the GPI Trigger setting is 250 MS both GPIs a
146. user configuring 3 13 VTR configuring 3 31 preroll setting for VIR 3 33 R Ready button 5 52 readying an event in a playlist 5 52 enabling automatic 3 17 in a shotbox 6 15 rearranging media events 5 14 while On Air 5 52 media list columns 4 3 Record command 4 10 4 12 4 17 recording media events 4 10 enabling 3 29 from a VTR 4 12 manual record 4 10 time of day record 4 17 redundant PC configuring installations for 3 9 updating playlist and shotbox files for 3 12 server configuring installation for 3 7 referenced playlist expanding manually 5 8 Refresh from Server command 4 22 relocating media events in a playlist 5 14 remote control configurations setting up 2 1 backup PC 2 6 server control 2 5 external control 2 3 single channel configuration 2 2 two channel configuration 2 3 Replicate Item command 5 18 replicating media events 5 18 Reset Details command 5 46 6 13 resizing media list columns 4 3 restoring event properties in a playlist 5 46 6 13 in a shotbox 6 13 restoring media list column layout 4 4 restricting a search for media events 4 9 Return Key Enabled check box 3 15 return key enabling for Next Event command 3 15 reversing Playout mode automatically 5 5 Revert Playlist command 5 22 Revert Shotbox command 6 6 reverting changes to a playlist 5 22 changes to a shotbox 6 6 S Save Playlist Selection command 5 23 saving a playlist 5 22 a shotbox 6 6 changes to playlist and shotbox files aut
147. ut on multiple channels do one of the follow ing a Click the MULTIPLE button in the Playlist Control toolbar OR b From the Playlist menu choose Activate and select All Chan nels Playing a List in Dual Channel Mode Dual Channel mode allows a single playlist to control two channels simultaneously The playlist would for instance control channels A and B or channels C and D To enable the list to playout on dual channels do one of the following a From the Playlist menu choose Activate and Channels A amp B OR b From the Playlist menu choose Activate and Channels C amp D Playlists may be activated in different combinations For instance two play lists could be active one controlling A amp B the other C amp D Four separate lists could be active each controlling a different channel or one list may con trol A amp B while another controls only C After a list is activated the toolbar changes to the current On Air color indicating that the list is in the On Air state CountDown readies the first event in the list If an event or group of events were selected when the channel button was clicked Count Down readies the first event in the selection Playing Events To begin playing out events do one of the following a Click the Next button in the Playlist Control toolbar See Figure 5 21 on page 5 48 OR b Press the Return key Spacebar or one of the A B C D keys providing that it
148. ved using the Save Playlist As com mand from the File menu The saved copy may then be edited See Configuring the MOS Interface on page 3 43 for more informa tion on configuring CountDown with MOS Protocol CHAPTER 6 Using Shotboxes In This Chapter This chapter provides instructions for building modifying and play ing shotboxes The following topics are discussed e Understanding Shotboxes e Building a Shotbox e Opening an Existing Shotbox e Playing a Shotbox to Air Understanding Shotboxes Shotboxes represent a different approach to playout control Instead of the sequential operation of the playlist shotboxes allow random access and playout of media events Unlike the playlist the highlight colors used for the playing and readied states cannot be changed green being used for the readied state and red for playing See Figure 6 1 on page 6 2 6 2 See Enabling One Shot Operation on page 6 16 a Shotbox sbx Aie x ABCD clip0142 fred0000 re new clip erate clockid vtr_test ieee Pea of DigiBeta Figure 6 1 Typical Shotbox Window The shotbox buttons indicate the same information as the entries on a playlist The playing event is highlighted in red and the readied event is highlighted in green Buttons currently configured as placeholders show their details in red and events that cannot be played or readied are highlighted in orange See Using Placeholders on page 6 3 When the
149. vent command 3 35 On Air tally 3 36 switching between PCs 3 10 media deletion 3 29 media recording 3 29 on air tally 3 36 one shot operation 6 16 password protection for preferences 3 21 playlist and shotbox editing 3 15 return key for Next Event command 3 15 visibility of On Air clip 3 16 entering AirSPACE IP address 3 4 software license information 1 2 establishing communication between AirSPACE and CountDown 3 2 functionality of playlists and shotboxes 3 14 preferences server 3 2 user 3 13 events aborting while On Air ina playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 adding to a playlist 5 3 assigning playout channel for 5 29 assigning to buttons 6 3 automatic placeholder conversion for 3 30 browsing 4 23 configuring functionality for 3 28 duplicating in a playlist 5 15 editing ina playlist 5 37 while playing list to air 5 46 in a shotbox 6 9 while playing shotbox to air 6 12 enabling automatic deletion after play out 3 16 enabling automatic readying of 3 17 enabling automatic updating for server changes 3 30 Index 5 Follow On setting to act as manual 5 10 manually starting while On Air 5 55 modifying in a playlist 5 25 in a shotbox 6 9 On Air enabling visibility in list 3 16 pausing while On Air in a playlist 5 54 in a shotbox 6 17 Payout mode selecting Follow On 5 31 playing in a playlist 5 50 in a shotbox 6 16 Playout mode assigning 5 30 selecting manual 5 30 setting default 3 16 play out mode se
150. vent to Time Of Day A Time Of Day event plays automatically at a specified time of day To set the Playout mode of an event to Time Of Day do the following 1 Select the event in the playlist and do one of the following a Select Set Item Type and next Time of Day from the Playlist menu OR b Click the Time of Day button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar See Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 OR c Type CTRL 3 The Set Event Time dialog box appears Event Time MILIE HH MM SS Day Wednesday M I Daily Event Reime AlliRollawing Events Cancel Figure 5 13 Set Event Time dialog box 2 In the Event Time text box enter the time of day in 24 hour nota tion for CountDown to play the event 3 To play the event only once use the Day list box to select the day of the week to play the event To play the event at the same time every day check the Daily Event check box 4 When adjusting the playout time of an event that is already a Time Of Day event and to adjust the playout times of any follow See Understanding the Timed Events List on page 4 20 ing Time Of Day events check the Retime All Following Events check box See Adjusting the Play Out Time of Time of Day Events for more information 5 Click OK The event is added to the Timed Events list and will play it out on the day and time specified A playlist may not contain two Time Of Day events set to start at the sa
151. vents in a shotbox for media events that are not yet present on the AirSPACE Server Assigning a Placeholder to a Button To assign a placeholder to a button do the following 6 4 1 Select the button in the shotbox to assign the placeholder to 2 From the Shotbox menu select Insert Placeholder or click the Insert Placeholder button on the Playlist Shotbox toolbar see Figure 5 2 on page 5 3 The Insert Placeholder dialog box appears as shown in Figure 6 2 Insert Placeholder x ID Newevent Title This is a placeholder Duration MAALI Playout Mode Manual Follow On Cancel OK ok Figure 6 2 Insert Placeholder Dialog Box 3 Enter the ID Title and Duration of the event CountDown will update the Title and Duration after the media and the ID arrive on the AirSPACE Server The ID must correspond to the ID used when creating the media event on the AirSPACE Server 4 Click OK CountDown assigns the placeholder to the selected button showing the details in red to indicate that it is a placeholder and not yet a play able media event 6 5 When CountDown detects a match between a placeholder ID and the ID of an event on the AirSPACE Server it updates the shotbox button details to match those of the event on the AirSPACE Server It also can cels the button s placeholder status and displays the details of the event in black indicating that it is a playable media event When creating a p
152. ver from the last saved version To revert the changes select Revert Playlist from the File drop down menu Saving a Playlist To save a playlist ensure it has focus and select Save from the File drop down menu or click the Save button on the General toolbar If the playlist has never been saved before the Save Playlist As dialog box appears In this case do the following 1 Select Save Playlist As from the File drop down menu The Save Playlist As dialog box appears 2 In the File Name text box enter the name for the playlist 3 Click Save CountDown saves the Playlist with the name entered Saving Part of a Playlist To save part of a playlist do the following 1 2 In the playlist select the event or group of events to save Select Save Playlist Selection from the File drop down menu The Save Playlist As dialog box appears In the File Name text box enter the name to use for the playlist To remove the selected events from the existing playlist and replace them with a reference to the new playlist being created check the box labeled Replace saved items with reference list Click Save CountDown saves the selected events in the new playlist If Replace saved items with reference list was selected CountDown removes the events from the existing playlist and replaces them with a reference to the playlist file just created The pathname length of the referenced playlist cannot exceed 71 characte
153. wing 1 Select the item to be configured 2 From the Playlist menu choose Key Event Item CountDown flags the item as a Key Event CountDown indicates that an item is a Key Event by displaying the Start Time of the item reversed against a shaded background See Figure 5 25 Brie CO SO Thi ia EEH Thi 2 woi Figure 5 25 Indication of Key Event Item Cancelling a Key Event To cancel an item s Key Event status do the following 1 Select the Key Event item 2 From the Playlist menu choose Key Event Item CountDown cancels the Key Event status Playlist data may be queried using the CountDown API interface or using MOS protocol Breaking Out Of Referenced Playlist Loops A referenced playlist may be used to loop a playlist continuously See Using a Playlist Reference to Loop the Playlist on page 5 8 Count Down allows the user to configure a time the reference list will no longer be expanded and the looping operation will cease This is called setting a playlist loop break time Setting The Playlist Loop Break Time To set the Loop Break time for a playlist do the following 1 From the Playlist menu select Set Loop Break Time The Set Loop Break Time dialog box is displayed as shown in Figure 5 26 os x Lepeni fe2tt0 HH LMS Tinie Chi Cencol OF Figure 5 26 Set Loop Break Time Dialog Box 2 Enter the time at which looping is to end 3 Click OK CountDown stores the Loo
154. y GPI O ports that have been configured as input are grayed See Setting the Port Address on page 3 40 3 In the Event Timing list box select the reference point for the trig ger to start and enter the offset from that reference point in the Event Timing list box The reference point options include the fol lowing e After Clip Start e Before Clip End e Before Clip Start Use Before Clip Start only when there is a preceding event in the playlist For example if After Clip Start is selected enter 00 00 00 in the text box Count Down will trigger the GPI outputs the instant it plays the event to air If Before Clip End is selected enter 00 00 10 CountDown will trigger the GPI outputs ten seconds before the end of the event 4 Click OK Editing Events Events are modified using one of the following 5 38 Refer to the Avid Air SPACE Installation and User s Guide for infor mation on modifying media events using the AirSPACE editing capa bilities a Using the editing capabilities of the AirSPACE Server OR b Using the Browser Controls OR c Using the Clip Editor Editing an event using the AirSPACE editing capabilities or the Browser Controls changes the available duration of the media event itself Using the Clip Editor changes only the duration of the event that CountDown plays to air Using the Browser Controls See Understanding the Browser Control Dialog Box on page 4 25 The IN and

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