About the "Traffic" option of OnTheAir Video 4

Adding the OnTheAir Video 4 traffic option brought a lot of new features to OnTheAir Video. Some of them are only available if you have the option, others are available even without the option. 

Here are the features that are only available if you have the traffic option:

• Open playlists from your traffic system. One playlist per day is created, and is automatically opened thanks to the "folder-based schedule" feature. Currently we support:
  • xpls (our own playlist format)
  • WOS (Playlists generated by Wide Orbit)
  • BXF (Playlists generated by traffic systems such as ProTrack by Myers)
  • SCD
• Virtual sources: Customize your live sources with some preset attributes (actions, GPI trigger, etc...)
• Join in Progress: Calculate the correct position to rejoin the playlist or sync to schedule
• Replace by ID: Replace every instance of a clip ID in a playlist
• Process purge lists: Import .DAT files or simple text files to batch delete from disk
• Validation Reports: check content matches the scheduled play out

The traffic option, also includes the features of the "Remote Control" option with the following features:

• Remote Control: control or monitor OnTheAir Video remotely, directly from another OnTheAir Video, including multi-channel "gang playback control"
• Media Browser: add support for a local or remote media browser
• Segmented files: add support for BXF files to automatically create "segments" in the Media Browser

The following features are available even without the traffic option, but are important for the integration with traffic solutions:

• Secondary Events: Trigger logos, graphics, snipes, and support for much more. This is done using the "Actions" of OnTheAir Video.
• Auto Start Date/Time: Add a timed start of a clip in a playlist directly. Set its auto-start date/time. If the playlist is opened, and that the clip is after the currently playing clip (to make sure it is chronological), it will start playing at the specified date/time.

Below, you will find more explanations on these features.

Requirements

The demo version of OnTheAir Video does not give access to the "traffic" specific features, you will need to have a license of OnTheAir Video 4 or later with the traffic option. If you want to test what the traffic feature will do for you, please get in touch with us.

Open Wide Orbit playlists

What is it for?

 With the traffic option, you can open playlists generated by the Wide Orbit traffic system. Note that it is not mandatory, and you can use the traffic option using "regular" xpls OnTheAir Video playlists.

How to set it up?

The extension of the Wide Orbit playlists should be .WOS. There is nothing specific to do, the playlist will open as any regular playlist. 

How does it work?

First make sure that you have set a "Media Browser" in the preferences. Indeed, Wide Orbit playlists do not include any file path, so we won't know where to locate the file if the Media Browser is not set. Check below for more info on Media Browser. D

Double-click on the .WOS file to open it or select the menu "File > Open" and select it.

Once opened by OnTheAir Video, a .xpls playlist is automatically created at the same location as the .WOS playlist, using the same name. All modifications done to the playlist are then saved to the .xpls playlist, not the .WOS playlist. If you want to reopen the .WOS playlist later on, you will have to either delete the .xpls playlist, or rename one of the 2 files, or move them to a different folder.

Open BXF playlists

What is it for?

 Though BXF is a file standard, it is also the common name for the Myers' ProTrack file export. While a WOS export is based on columns and rows, a BXF is similar to an XML document. 

How to set it up?

For ProTrack, the BXF can be actively updated by ProTrack traffic operators even when the document is open and playing in OnTheAir Video. For those plants, changes do not happen at the playback level, but only from the traffic control solution. In this scenario, the BXF is never saved as an XPLS file as to avoid lost changes. The playlist will still respond and work with the other features listed below. 

If your plant does not require the continuous editing from the traffic operators, you may set the BXF  to automatically convert to an XPLS when it arrives. Follow up BXF files for the same day will be ignored. 

How does it work?

BXF playlists are also opened via the Folder Based Schedule, and have all the same functionality as WOS playlists and the features below. 

Media Browser

What is it for?

As playlists coming from Wide Orbit do not have any information on the path to access the media, it is needed that the user selects a folder where the media will be. It is also useful because there can be a link between the media browser and the playlists.

How to set it up?

You can either use a "Local" or a "Remote" media browser. Sometimes you want to limit the number of things that the computer playing out is doing. This is why instead of having it catalog the media, you can offload the media cataloguing to a separate, remote, computer. Note that this makes the setup a little more complex, so if you want to keep things simple, just use a local media browser.

Setup a local Media Browser

Choose the folder where all your videos will be, go to "Preferences > General > Media" and select a folder here:

If you are using a local media browser, make sure to leave the "Catalog Media Folder" enabled. You should disable the Media Folder catalog only if you are using a remote media folder.

Note that all files should be within the same folder, it is best not to use subfolders.

Setup a remote Media Browser

Before being able to setup a remote Media Browser, you will first need to setup one of your other computers as a "Local Media Browser" so it will catalog the media. Note that this can be done using a demo version of OnTheAir Video.

Then you will need to connect to that OnTheAir Video. For this, go to the menu "OnTheAir Video > Remote Control...". This will open a window, where you will be able to connect to a remote OnTheAir Video (see below for more info on how to connect to a remote OnTheAir Video).

Once it is setup, and you are connected to the OnTheAir Video doing the media folder cataloging, make sure to disable the "Catalog Media Folder" option on the play out computer, so you are sure OnTheAir Video will not catalog any folder, and then select the remote media browser you want to use in the "Media Browser" drop down menu:

How does it work?

Once you have set the local or remote media browser that you want to use, you can go to the menu "Window > Media Browser" to show the Media Browser window:

You can view the different columns:

• Clip ID is by default the "File Name". As these are usually codes, it is not easily readable.
• Description is something humanly readable and can be edited
• In/Out Points and Duration

Changing in/out points or attributes

You can change in/out points directly in the Media Browser. For that, enable the checkbox next to the in or out point and manually enter a value there. But note that there are no validations for example with the duration of the clip. So the better option is probably to do it in the inspector.

To change the clips attributes in the inspector, select the clip in the Media Browser, then open the inspector from the menu "Window > Clip Inspector". Anything you set there will be saved in the Media Browser, so when you drag and drop from the Media Browser to the playlist, everything you have set will be there. 

About the link between the Media Browser and clips in the playlist

In some cases, there can be a link between the Media Browser and the playlist, so if you modify the clips attributes (in/out, name, actions...) in the media browser, they will be updated in the playlist as the 2 will be linked. This is very useful to be able to modify a clip that is present in multiple playlists, or has multiple occurrences in the same playlist.

The link happens in 2 cases:

• if you drag and drop a clip from the media browser to one or more playlists
• if you open a .WOS playlist from the traffic

Important: the link is only in one direction: from the Media Browser to the playlists. So what happens if you modify the clips (that have a link to the Media Browser) in the playlists. If you modify a clip in the playlist, it means there will be a difference between the attributes in the playlist and the ones in the Media Browser. That is not a problem, but as soon as you'll edit one attribute in the Media Browser, all the attributes in the playlist will be reloaded with the ones from the Media Browser. So for example let's say you modified the in/out points in the playlist, but then change the logo attribute in the Media Browser, your playlist clip will loose the in/out points that you have set. This is why we rather advise to only modify clips in the Media Browser, and if needed to create a duplicate in the Media Browser if you need multiple occurrences of the same media.

How to identify if a clip in a playlist has a link to the Media Browser?

In the playlist:

You will see that the first line of the cell will have a part in Bold and another part not in bold:

• The bold part is the "Clip ID" from the media browser
• The plain part is the "Description" from the media browser

Note that if Clip ID and Descriptions are identical, we will only show one occurrence in bold.

In the inspector:

At the top of the window, you will see an area with the Clip ID:

You can use the cross to remove the link to the media browser (the clip in the playlist will thus be independent), and the magnifying glass to reveal the clip in the Media Browser.

How can the link be lost?

The Clip ID is what we use to make the link between the clips in the playlists and the clips in the Media Browser. So if you modify the Clip ID in the Media Browser, you will lose the connection.

Auto-Remount

If the Media Folder is located on a network drive, OnTheAir Video will automatically mount the Volume when it starts. Also if the Volume disconnects after, OnTheAir Video will try to remount it every 10 seconds. Note that you must save the login and password to the network storage in the keychain for this to be possible.

Support for BXF segmentation

What is it for?

BXF (Broadcast eXchange Format) allows the interchange of data and metadata among professional system. When used with media files in the media browser, it allows you to automatically create file segments.

How to set it up?

After setting your media browser location in Settings...>General>Media, select the options for default FPS for BXF segments including the frame rate, drop frame status, and whether to override TC info. 

How to does it work?

The file with the .BXF extension (and of course with the appropriate XML information in it)  must have the same name as the video file, and it must be placed either:

• in the same folder as the video file (in your media folder)
• or in the folder set in the preference (feature not available yet)

As soon as the BXF file is placed in the correct location, the according segments will be created in the Media Browser. For example in the following screenshot, you can see the TMDS0714.mxf and .bxf files, and in the Media Browser the different segments created:

About modifications:

• if you delete the .bxf file from its location, then
  • in the Media Browser, the corresponding segments will be deleted
  • in the Playlist, they won't be deleted 
• if you modify the .bxf file, the segments will be updated with the new values in both the Media Browser and the Playlist thanks to the link from the Media Browser to the Playlist (see above).
• if you modify the segments in the Media Browser, this will modify the clips in the playlists (again thanks to the link) but it will NOT modify the .bxf file, and if you delete or modify the .bxf file later on, all your modifications in the Media Browser will be lost.

Virtual Sources

What is it for?

The Virtual Sources allow you to automatically set actions and attributes on a Live clip created when importing a WOS playlist. This is especially useful when you need to route video sources to a video input. Virtual sources can also be dragged directly to playlists. 

How to set it up?

To set the "Virtual Live Sources", go to the menu "Window > Virtual Sources" to view the Virtual Sources window.

Click on the + icon to create a Virtual Source.

• Source ID: the name of the source as it will be referenced by the WOS file -- should also be the name of the plist file. Note that it is "reversed". So first the type of item (LIVE) and then the source (ST1). See below. This should also be the name of the plist file. (must be provided)
• Description: the display name of the source as it will be seen by the user in a playlist. 
• Is Live Source: enabled for all live inputs. Disabling this option can be used to create video server profiles for media items. For instance, the above WOS document uses REC-VS for all video items. Like live sources, the REC-VS virtual source can have special attributes assigned and applied to every video item coded as REC-VS in the traffic document. Some legacy playback solutions had two different video playback servers defined by their use case or operation. If the traffic document has separate video server profiles like "REC-VS2", a new virtual source profile can be made here with those values and be automatically applied to clips in the single OnTheAir Video playlist. 
• Live Input: the name of the Live input that OnTheAir Video should use. This must match one of the Live  sources that you have created in OnTheAir Video preferences. If not provided the Virtual Source will just trigger an AppleScript, no Live input will be started.
• 
• Duration: this is the default duration for a Virtual source when added to a playlist. 
• Clip End Behaviour: Choose the default behavior when the Live element reaches its duration. If Live control rooms should have control of their duration, it is recommended to set the behavior to "Hold". 
• GPI Input: Set the GPICommander input number that will be monitored during the Live item's play out. When the GPI is detected, it will end the live event and trigger the "skip to next" action.  Good to know: The GPI input setting is different than the Settings...>Triggers>GPI Commander input pin assignment. The virtual sources method will only listen to the GPI input when the live source is active. This is helpful for production control rooms who might inadvertently trigger the GPI in show run throughs while not on air. The trigger will be ignored until they are active on air. The "Settings..." method is always active. 
• Switch Action: If your live source needs a video route to be executed before going to air, use the switch action. The switch action fires 8 seconds before the Live source starts, but also intelligently monitors what precedes the live event. If a separate live event is playing and using the same physical live input, it will execute the route at the start of the live event. 
• Before, At Start and At End: the "Actions" that you want to be triggered either before the clip starts or when the clip starts or ends. Click the drop down to choose from the list of OnTheAir Video Actions and then click the ellipsis (...) button to set a parameter. Helpful actions users have made are triggering a GPI latch to turn on tally lights, or triggering Slack/Teams messages when control rooms have gone live. 
• Set Thumbnail: Assign an image to be used for the live source in the playlist for easy recognition.
• Set Placeholder Image: Available only when "Live Source" is disabled, the placeholder image acts as a filler output. For instance, if certain live sources are to be routed downstream of OnTheAir Video, the placeholder image would be the video output of OnTheAir Video until the playlist advanced. 

 

Secondary Events

What is it for?

This allows you to start secondary events

How to set it up?

In OnTheAir Video, secondary events are done using Actions. Actions are AppleScripts that are triggered at a specific moment and these AppleScripts can do many things, including controlling options within OnTheAir Video (such as controlling a VideoHub router, the Dynamic Graphics Overlays,...). You will thus have to prepare Actions that bear the same name as the MaterialID or ISCICode values in your WOS playlist. See below.

How to does it work?

When OnTheAir Video opens a WideOrbit playlist, it will check for the secondary events (indicated with a "S" as in the following line:

Then we will:

• First check if the MaterialID (position 28 - F4917 in the example above) matches the name of an Action.
  • If it does, then we will use this as an action at the offset indicated in then SecondaryEventOffset (position 10 - 00:00:15 in the example above)
  • If it does not, then we will check if the ISCICode (position 116 - SNP in the example above) matches the name of an Action.
    • If it does, we will use this as an action, and use the MaterialID as the Parameter value.
    • If it does not, we will log that we could not associate an Action with the Secondary event and the event will not be.

For example, with the line above, here is how the Actions will look for the clip:

So 15 seconds after the start of the clip (at in point), we will trigger an action called "SNP", with the parameter "F4904". This could do many things in theory but for example the parameter can set the name of a file that the DGO would play. Attached to this article are some examples of AppleScripts and CG projects that could be used with Secondary events.

But there are much more things that you can do with the Actions. Contact us if you need more info and help with this.

Folder-based Schedule

What is it for?

When using 24 hours playlists (such as the ones coming from Wide Orbit traffic), you need OnTheAir Video to automatically open and play the new playlist every day when it is time. Unlike with the regular schedule, there is no schedule to edit, just place the playlist with a specific name in the designed folder, and it will be automatic.

How to set it up?

If your license has the traffic option, and you select the menu “Schedule > Open”, you are allowed to select a folder instead of a file. That's it... Then place the playlists in that folder with the appropriate naming convention.

How to does it work?

In folder that you have selected, you place playlists that are named something like “NAME_2020-08-26.WOS” or simply “2020-08-26.xpls”. The date format is "yyyy-MM-dd". They should automatically show up in the Schedule window:

Note at the top of the window, the little "Folder" icon that tells you that you are using a Folder Based Schedule.

WARNING: Only one playlist per day is supported. If 2 playlists have a name that schedules them for the same date, we will use the first one. But we can not guarantee which one it will be.

About the start times of the playlists

We will use the theoretical start time of the first clip in the playlist and use that as the start time for the playlist. If the first clip doesn't have a theoretical start time the playlist start time will be set at midnight.

• For WideOrbit playlists, we will simply consider the first time of the first event. Even if it is not a Hard start/Clock event. Note that even if the first event has a hard start/clock event, we will use the tolerance explained below for the first clip of the playlist. But for following hard start/clock event within the playlists, there will be no tolerance. They will interrupt whatever is playing even if there are just a few seconds left, or will wait the exact time even if there's just a small gap.
• For .xpls playlists, you will need to set a theoreticalStartDateTime in the playlist settings

 

About the tolerance for the playlist start time

There can be a tolerance with the start time of playlist from a folder based schedule. Indeed, we have a hidden preference (folderBasedSchedulerTolerance) that can be set to add a tolerance to the start time. If it is set, then:

• if the playlist is shorter and:

  • ends X (the value set in the preference) minutes before, or less, then the next playlist will start when the playlist ends, there will be no black on air, no interruption.

  • ends more than X minutes before the next scheduled time, the next playlist will wait until its time. And thus there will be a moment without anything playing.

• if the playlist is longer and,

  • ends X minutes later, or less, we will continue to play until it is done playing all its clips and start playing the next playlist. There will be no interruption of clips, and they will chain one after the other.

  • ends more than X minutes after the next scheduled time, we will interrupt the playback of that playlist and start the next one right on time.

To change the preference, add the following text to the OnTheAir Video preference file (located in ~/Library/Preferences/com.softronmedia.OnTheAirVideo.plist) to set it to one minute for example (the duration is in seconds):

<key>folderBasedSchedulerTolerance</key>
<real>60</real>

Let us know if this is a value that you think is important to change often and we'll make it available to modify in the user interface.

Join in Progress

What is it for?

This is used in case for example there was an emergency, you had to start another playlist, or live, and then once that urgency is finished, you want to go back to the schedule as it was originally planned. 

How to set it up?

There is nothing specific to setup. You just need to have the traffic option in your license, and a playlist that has theoretical start times. Playlists that come from a traffic (currently only Wide Orbit "logs" are supported), hold these "theoretical start times".

How to does it work?

To do a "join in progress", select a playlist with these theoretical start times and go to the menu "Edit > Join In Progress".

OnTheAir Video will start the selected playlist where it was planned to be at the current time.

Replace by ID

What is it for?

Sometimes when you want to replace a clip by another one, it is quicker to just enter its ID, rather than searching for it in the playlist. 

How to set it up?

You just need to have the traffic option in your license, and have correctly set the media folder. Indeed, without media folder we wouldn't know where to look for the new clip.

How to does it work?

There are two ways to use this: select one or multiple clips and type a replacement ID to replace the selected. Or select one clip, and enable "replace every occurrence" to replace that clip everywhere it appears in the playlist. For this, just right-click on one or more clips, and select "Replace by ID...",

In the following window, enter the new ID and click OK.

Note the "replace every occurrence" is enabled and changes the text to say "Replace 2 clips...".

 

Process Purge Lists

What is it for?

Purge lists are sent by traffic systems to remove media that should no longer be aired like dated commercials or outdated promotional clips. 

How to set it up?

It can only process the purge list for files residing in the same location as the Media Browser. With the traffic license, you will find the option under File>Process Purge List...

How to does it work?

When the user clicks "File>Process Purge List...", they will need rot select the purge list. The purge list can be formatted a few different ways:

• A ".dat" file. This is essentially a text file with a row for each house ID to be deleted. 
• A plain text ".txt" file made using Mac OS's TextEdit 

A plain text file is very easy to make using TextEdit, and can be easily changed to plain text using "Format>Make Plain Text...". It is a simple method for non Master control operators to mark content for deletion. This works well for promotions departments who can select all the files in Finder, then copy and paste into the plain text file. The purge list can process lists with just the Clip ID, or files with clip ID and file extension. 

Once a file has been selected, the purge list will process the currently playing playlist and the next 24 hours to look for conflicts. In the below image, all the files have a green status and are not found in the next day's playlist. Users can then check or uncheck the delete option before committing to the deletion. Once ready, click the "Delete Files" button.

Validation Reports

What is it for?

Validation reports check the traffic document against the OnTheAir Video playlist for discrepancies such as duration mismatches, missing files, and underruns between clocked events.  

How to set it up?

Once the playlist if open, the user needs to click "File>Validation Report...". 

How to does it work?

OnTheAir Video will quickly compare the traffic document and the playlist and list discrepancies chronologically.

The types of discrepancy are "Critical", "Warning", and "Information". You may click the levels in the toolbar section to hide or show each discrepancies by type. The "Filter..." button lists category types provided by the traffic system. Selecting category types will also hide or show discrepancies in the list, but only applies to Warning and Information. Users may also search the document, click the "Show" arrow to navigate automatically to the playlist item in question, refresh the validation, and print the document. 

Master control operators have expressed that the print is a helpful way to prove the work performed. When a new schedule is posted, operators open the validation report and click print. In MacOS, a print dialog also contains an "Export as PDF" option. Operators export the PDF once when it arrives, and again after they have made sure the playlist is free of errors before the next employee's shift begins.