HOW TO: Create OnTheAir Video playlists from third party solutions?

There are a number of different ways to create playlists for our playout applications. These playlists can be opened or imported by either OnTheAir Video, OnTheAir Video Express, OnTheAir Manager or OnTheAir Live

You have mainly 2 choices:

• .txt files: this is the easiest solution, but you will only be able to add clips. You won't be able to set a logo, add in/out points, etc... for that you'll have to create XML playlists
• XML: this is more complex, as you need to know how to generate XML files. But this is the most flexible solution as you can really set everything that you would set in the OnTheAir Video playlists: set the playlist in loop, add logo overlay, add audio gain, etc...

Using .txt or .csv files

One of the easiest way to create playlists for OnTheAir Video is to create a .txt or .csv files.

!! Use the "open" menu in OnTheAir Video the first time !!

Even if you choose the simple .txt file, the first time you open a .txt or .csv file with OnTheAir Video, you must do it with the "File > Open Playlist..." menu in OnTheAir Video. Indeed, you will first have to

select what kind of data OnTheAir Video should expect from the menu. Depending on the type of file you use, you will have to select different options. 

Once you have imported a .txt or .csv playlist once, you will be able to simply drag and drop the document on the OnTheAir Video application for it to import it, no need to go through the open menu anymore. Even the scheduler can open these playlists...

About saving the playlist

Note that OnTheAir Video or OnTheAir Video Express can't save these .txt or .csv playlist in that format (they would loose a lot of settings). So when you save the playlist, it will be converted to a .xpls XML document.

Simple .txt file using the full path

The simplest text file would only include the path to each file separated by a carriage return and would look like this:

/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip1.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip2.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip3.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip4.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip5.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip6.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip7.mov
/Volumes/Video/Clips/Clip8.mov

You can also download the sample file "SamplePlaylist_Text_Path.txt" attached to this article. When opening the playlist, you should set it up like this:

The important part is to make sure to select "Absolute Path" in the "Use As" column. Make sure that the text encoding is correct, and that you did not skip any lines (unless you have a title line of course).

Simple .txt file using just the file name

This second example is quite easy as well, and only includes the name of the files, nothing else. You can also download the sample file "SamplePlaylist_Text_FileName.txt" attached to this article.

Before importing a playlist, you will have to define in the preferences of OnTheAir Video where the medias will be located:

Once this is set, open the file from the menu "Open Playlist...." and select "Filename"=

Using .csv or tab-separated files

Finally you could use a comma-separated (or a tab-separated) file. Each of the "values" or "columns" are then separated by a comma or a tab. You can also download the sample file "SamplePlaylist_Text_CSV.csv" attached to this article.

When using such a file, you can define:

• Absolute Path: the complete path to the file
• Folder Path: just the folder where the file will be (requires the File Name to be defined)
• File Name: just the file name of the file (requires the Folder Path to be set either in another column in the document, or in the preferences)
• Display Name: the name that will be shown in the user interface

When opening the file, from the "Open Playlist..." menu in OnTheAir Video, it would look like this:

Make sure to select the Text Encoding, Column Separator and if there are title lines at the beginning that should be skipped.

Using XML (.xpls documents)

Advantages of XML playlists compared to ASCII

When you save a playlist in OnTheAir Video, they are saved in the XML format. Creating a playlist directly in XML (the playlists native format) is a bit more complicated than creating an ASCII playlist, but has some important advantages:

• You can add as much information in the XML as if you were doing the playlist in OnTheAir Video: for example, you can add logo or graphic overlays (if you have the necessary option,) Actions, In/Out points, etc..
• The .vpls playlists are natively supported by OnTheAir Video and won't need to be saved once imported (as with an ASCII playlist)

And you can add a lot more information. You can add document settings to indicate whether the playlist is in loop, in chain, or if the Thumbnails are displayed, etc...). Again the best is to create playlists in OnTheAir Video, save them to disk, then to open them with a text editor and inspect the contents of the saved file to what information you need to add to your XML.

How to create an .xpls playlist document

Proabablythe easiest way is to create a .xpls playlist with OnTheAir Video or OnTheAir Video Express and to check how they are created. But below are a few "tricks" to help you create a playlist.

Download the XSD file

The playlists are in XML, and an xsd file is available online to validate the playlists that you create. You can download it here.

Use an application to validate your xml

If you start your xml and include the link to the XSD file, you can validate your XML with applications such as XML nanny. For that, your document should add this at the beginning:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlistDocument version="4.2" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://softron.tv/resources/XSDs/OnTheAirVideoSchema40.xsd" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

Then open your XML in XML nanny and let it tell you if it's correctly formatted or not.

Are all keys required ?

Aboslutely not! When you create a playlist with OnTheAir Video and OnTheAir Video Express, a lot of information are included (even for example the thumbnail), but they are not all required. In fact only the path to each clip is required. Below, you will find a file to download called "SamplePlaylist_Minimal", this is the smallest playlist you can create, and if you open it with a text editor, it will look like this:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<playlistDocument version="4.2" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://softron.tv/resources/XSDs/OnTheAirVideoSchema40.xsd" xmlns:xsi="https://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/01-BBB-AppleProRes.mov</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/02-BBB-HD1080p.mov</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/03-BBB-XDCAMEX1080i60.mov</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/04-BBB-XDCAMHD4221080i60.mov</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/05-BBB-XDCAMHD.mxf</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/06-BBB-MPEG-2-15Mbps.m2t</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
<playlistItem>
<mediaFilePath xml:space="preserve">/Volumes/SharedVolume/Softron Movies/SPE_DEMO/07-MPEG-2-15MbpsHDV1080i60.mov</mediaFilePath>
</playlistItem>
</playlistDocument>

Playlist compatibility across our playout products  

Differences between OnTheAir Video and OnTheAir Video Express

OnTheAir Video and OnTheAir Video Express use the same kind of XML documents. The two applications can thus open all playlists documents, but some values might not be used by OnTheAir Video Express or by OnTheAir Video if the smart resize and graphics option is disabled.

For example, Actions are only used in OnTheAir Video, they will not work with OnTheAir Video Express. Or another example is that if you add a logo to your playlist, but open it with OnTheAir Video that has the smart playout and graphics option disabled, the logo will not be overlaid.

Differences with OnTheAir Live and OnTheAir Manager 

Both OnTheAir Live and OnTheAir Manager can open .txt playlists, but for xml playlists:

• OnTheAir Live can only open .vpls playlists (see below), it can not open nor import .xpls playlists currently.
• OnTheAir Manager can import both .vpls and .xpls playlists

Handling Invalid clips

When you create a playlist in OnTheAir Video by drag and drop, OnTheAir Video will refuse to import invalid clips. When you import a text or CSV playlist created externally, this validation can not occur. Invalid clips will then show as "Offline" (with a red cross). Make sure that all your clips are in a format that can be read by OnTheAir Video.

Differences with .vpls playlists

If you already created playlists for OnTheAir Video 2, or OnTheAir Video Express 1, you should know that the format and extension are different:

• OnTheAir Video 2 / OnTheAir Video Express 1 worked with .vpls documents that were formatted in the plist format. 
• OnTheAir Video 3 / OnTheAir Video Express 3 work with .xpls documents that were formatted in the XML format.

The good news is that OnTheAir Video 3 and OnTheAir Video Express 3 can still open the playlists created by/for OnTheAir Video 2 / OnTheAir Video Express 1. However, if the playlists are modified you will not be able to save them in the old format, and a new version with the .xpls extension will be created. So it is recommended that you move to the new document format.