HOW TO: Use clips "Auto Start Date/Time" in playlists (vs Schedule)

Auto Start Date/Time or Schedule?

The Auto Start Date/time feature allows you to set on each clip of a playlist a date and time at which you want them to play. This is use for example with the traffic feature, where a single 24 hours playlist is used every day, and within that playlist clips are started automatically at specific times.

We do not recommend using a mix of the scheduler and clips with auto-start date/time, unless you are using long playlists. When mixing short playlists, schedules and clip with auto-start date/time, it may end up being confusing as clips with auto-start date/time will only start if the playlist is opened...

Adding a "Auto Start Date/Time" on a clip

Using  the contextual menu in the playlist

Right-click on a clip and select "Set Auto Start Date/Time...":

This will open a popover, where you can enable the checkbox and set the date and time.

Or the inspector

You can also use the inspector to set it. Select one or more clips in the playlist, open the Inspector > General" tab and set their start times:

About the "Repeats Daily"

If you enable the "Repeats Daily" option, the clip will start playing at that time, every day after the date set, for as long as the playlist remains opened.

How to identify which clip has a "Auto-start Date/time"?

You can identify clips that have a Auto Start Date/time by the fact that they have their start time in bold and a little clock icon next to it:

How does it work?

For all opened playlists, OnTheAir Video monitors the clips that have a start date/time. And when the start date time of one of the event is reached, it will start playing. Note that if you play a playlist in chain, and a clip has a start date time,

• if the start date/time is in the past, playback will continue
• if the start date/time is in the future, playback will stop at the end of the previous clip and wait until the specified date/time (note that another timed event may start the playback before).

About traffic playlists

When using a playlist created by a traffic, and if you have the traffic option, clocked start items can also be globally disabled/enabled in the playlist header, top right before the chain, loop buttons. This is useful if you have clocked starts set for certain items but need to temporarily disable them for breaking news or sports without deleting your entered time. 

Limitations

Start dates not sorted.

Clips within a playlist are NOT sorted by their start times, they are only arranged in the order the user has manually set it, so make sure that this is correct and in a chronological order.

If clips are not sorted chronologically, a warning will show up at the bottom of the playlist saying "Timed Items Start Date Mismatch":

You can then click on the arrow to view the clip and edit it, or click on the cross to hide the warning.

Only works for clips after the currently playing clip

To avoid any chronological issue, the auto-start date/time only works for clips that are after the currently playing clip. If the playlist is playing, it won't start the clips with auto-start date/times if they are before that clip, or if it is set on the currently playing clip.