HOW TO: Use the Dynamic Graphics Option (DGO) of OnTheAir Video

With OnTheAir Video 4, if you purchase the DGO option, you can overlay dynamic graphics on top of the video. This is built-in, no need to do a complex setup, and it's also using less resources.

There is also 2 other war to overlay graphics in OnTheAir Video:

• Overlay static logo. Here is an article that explains it. 
• Use OnTheAir CG 3. We have a section dedicated in our support desk. 

In this article, we will only focus on how to use the Dynamic Overlay option: 

Create a dynamic graphic

The first thing you'll need to do is to create graphics. This is done using the OnTheAir CG Designer application, which is FREE to create graphics, you only pay if you want to output to SDI or NDI from the application. You can download it here.

You can check the video tutorials on YouTube to know how to use OnTheAir CG Designer, but as a quick start, you can use the sample CG projects that are installed when you install OnTheAir CG.

Import the .cg3 projects in OnTheAir Video

Once you have created the .cg3 project, import it in OnTheAir Video. For this, just go to the "OnTheAir Video Settings > Graphics" pane, and either drag and drop a .cg3 project in the list, or click on the + icon to select it in the window. You should then see a list of projects:

(If you don't see that list, it probably means that the "SMART Resize and Graphics" option is disabled or that you did not purchase the DGO option)

Note that you can define a default "State" for each of these project. If you enable the option for a project, and if you don't do anything, this project will play every time you play a clip. Of course you can override this for each clip. But the idea is that you set that option to on for projects that run most of the time, and leave it to off for projects that are stopped most of the time.

Change the project from the clip inspector

Now that you have defined the CG projects that you want to use and their default status, if you select a clip in a playlist and show the inspector, go to the Graphics tab, you should see something like this:

You see the list of CG projects (in our example we added 3 projects). And you can modify:

• their status to either:
  • Default: is the status (Run or Stop) that you have defined in the preferences. So even if you change it afterwards, it will stick to what is set in the preferences.
  • Run: this will force the CG project to run oor the duration on this clip, whatever preference is set
  • Stop: this will force the CG project to stop for the duration of this clip, whatever preference is set
• modify the items attributes that you have "published". In OnTheAir CG Designer, on most items you have a "Publish" option. This allows you to set wether an item will be editable by OnTheAir Video (or another application) or not. When an item is published, you can then modify it. Items that can be modified are for example text items (so you can modify the text of a lower third or a coming next for example), or images.

Control the project from the Actions

When you change the status of the items attributes in the clip inspector, this value is applied for the whole duration of the clip. This is very nice and easy to use for projects that run for the whole duration of a clip.

But if you want to start the project at a specific timecode in your clip, and have the same project play multiple times during a clip, but with different text or images overlay, you will need to use Actions.

Using "Direct" actions (OnTheAir Video 4.2 or later)

With OnTheAir Video 4.2 or later, we have introduced new ways to trigger actions, make sure to read this article. When using "direct actions", you can use the "Graphics" type of actions, which allow you to start/Stop a project:

Once you have selected the action type, click on "Parameters..." to select the project you want to start or stop:

You can also modify the content of text fields for example, or control items within projects. To do that you can also use "AppleScript" Actions (see below). 

Make sure to read this article to know how to use Actions.

Using "AppleScript" Actions

AppleScript actions can be used with all versions of OnTheAir Video. These were the only actions possible before OnTheAir Video 4.2.

Attached to this article you will find a CG project and a sample Action. The CG project, you can place it wherever you want, just import it in the preferences as explained above. As for the Action, it should be placed in the following folder (if using OnTheAir Video): 

/Library/Application Support/Softron/OnTheAir Video/OnTheAir Video/Actions

When the action is imported in the correct folder, go in the clip inspector > Timeline and scrub in the timeline to select when you want to CG project to start playing and click on the + icon to add a new action at that position. 

Again, make sure to read this article to know how to use Actions.