01: Getting Started

About This Guide

This guide is presented as a written tutorial. To help you to get more out of this guide, please review the following info.

The majority of the information contained within this tutorial relates to Chyron Weather, but it also introduces MeteoEarth. Chyron Weather, as you will learn, is a part of WeatherSuite for which additional study will be required.

Chapter elements

• Overview — Each chapter begins with an overview containing a brief description of the content.
• Prerequisites  — This optional section lists lessons you need to read before reading the current lesson.
• Definitions — Key terms are defined throughout.
• Tips — Helpful information including advice on getting the best out of the software as well as hints about solving common problems.
• Images and figures — Images and tables are captioned with the lesson number, figure number, and brief description of the content.
• Tables and properties — Explanations and properties are presented in tables for quick reference.
• Keyboard shortcuts — Key commands and keystrokes appear when relevant.
• Lesson activities — Each lesson ends with an activities section.
  • Quizzes — A short multiple-choice quiz helps you review what you have learned.
  • Tasks — Quick workflows are suggested and recommended for practice. 

Just like Microsoft Office or Adobe Creative Suite, WeatherSuite provides an integrated set of applications dedicated to a task or a specific user group.

The applications composing WeatherSuite are:

Chyron Weather and MeteoEarth are presentation tools, whilst Daviz and Terra3D are creation tools. There are additional support tools for to facilitate rendering and data flows (RenderManager and WeatherSuite DataService) which are geared towards tech user only.

MeteoEarth, whilst spoken of separately due to its unique presentation philosophy, it is an integral part of Chyron Weather.

Playlists

Every Chyron Weather presentation comprises a Playlist containing one or more Segments.

A presentation proceeds by playing the Segments. Typically, this proceeds in a linear fashion, but non–linear playout is possible using a feature known as Jump Marks.

Segments are adaptable by the presenter. For example, the time and date of the data to be shown is definable. Areas of interest are also definable, and content can be quickly replaced.

The user interface

Image description: The Graphical User Interface

Lesson 1.2 illustrates Chyron Weather’s graphical user interface (GUI). The following sections describe the terminology which is used for each element.

The application menu

The Application button provides access to the Application menu. Here you can open Playlists, save Playlists as well as access various other functions and settings.

Image description: The Application button

Image description: The Application menu

The Settings Menu

The Application menu provides access to the Settings menu.

The Settings menu enables customization of Chyron Weather, for example defaults, output settings and export file formats. The settings dialogue can be controlled by a bespoke access policy and not every user has access to all settings.

Image description Chyron Weather Settings menu

Accessibility

The Accessibility feature which enables operators to configure the Color Theme, Edit Mode Accessibility and Edit Mode Voice properties. It has been introduced to enable Chyron Weather to be used by people who need or want support using the application such as people who are visually impaired or experience motor or dexterity difficulties.

This can be found in the Settings menu under Accessibility

Image description: 1.6 Accessibility menu

Image description: High Contrast Theme

Table description Reference Time properties

The Toolbar and Storyboard

Running along the top of the GUI is the Toolbar.

The toolbar provides means of opening, saving and refreshing Playlists as well as inspecting and defining their properties.

The Storyboard enables the presenter to compose a show by arranging content visually in a sequential manner.

Segments may be duplicated, moved and removed within the Storyboard. It gives a quick overview of the show and consists of the preview thumbnails, Space-Time panel and Interaction panel for all Segments.

See lesson 03 for more info.

 Image description: The Toolbar and storyboard

Content Layer Stack

Just below the storyboard the content layer stack can be found.

Image description: Content layer stack

It holds the layers (see lesson 04) for the real-time content in a stacked fashion with the background layer at the bottom. Layers can be ordered, and content can be arranged in the content layer stack.

The Resource Panel

The Resource panels provides access to resources such as content, maps, videos, video signals, MeteoEarth Snapshots, Web pages, Tools and the messages generated by Chyron Weather. Playlists are constructed out of these resources and they form the library of building blocks for all shows created.

Image description: The Resource panel

Segments

Segments contain the content used in the presentation. You can think of a Segment as akin to a slide in a PowerPoint presentation or a clip in a video sequence.

Different types of Segments can be used and combined to setup a weather show.

These provide different properties to adjust. These can be separated into the following areas.

Image description: 1.12 Content Segment illustrating data animation

Preview thumbnail

The thumbnail preview window provides a preview of the output in the middle of the Segment. When a playlist has not been prepared/loaded (when it was just opened) a stored thumbnail is used (data not updated).

Image description: Preview thumbnail

Image description: Space-Time panel

Interaction panel

The Interaction controls enable a presenter to select an input and define its behavior. For example, a trigger may be defined to skip to the next segment. This is especially useful for live interaction using a touchscreen.

See lesson 06 for more info.

Image description: Interaction panel

Editing, Recording, and Playout

Chyron Weather features three playout modes: Editing, Recording and Presentation.

Each mode has its own button:

‎Edit mode

Image description: Mode buttons

‎Edit mode provides access to Chyron Weather’s integrated editor, called the Operator Interface.

Click the Start Editing button to access it or double click on a segment preview thumbnail.

Image description: Start editing button

The editor enables Presenters to make editorial or last-minute changes before broadcasting or recording a show.

Image description: Edit mode

Objects may be edited, and the map may be moved. You find the object library which contains a variety of predefined objects to add to the Segments. 

See lesson 08 for more info about the object library.

Image description: Object library

At the bottom a time slider gives quick access to parts of the playlist and enables preview. The current position is indicated as well as segment breaks and pauses. At the bottom right there is a button to go back to the authoring mode.

Image description: Time slider

Start presentation and video recording mode

‎A show may be recorded by clicking the Start Presentation and Video Recording button (“Record button”):

Image description: Start Presentation and Video Recording button

Recording mode enables the presenter to record a show and save the recording as a video while presenting.

With the use of a microphone, it is possible to record a voice over during the recording.

Note this feature requires the Production License. For more information see Lesson 12.

Presentation mode

‎A Playlist is presented by clicking the Start Presentation button:

Image description: The Start Presentation button

When clicked, Chyron Weather will enter Presentation mode. If a segment other than the first is select the you will be prompted with a choice to start from the beginning or the selected segment.

Image description: Choose starting point

When going to presentation, edit or record mode for the first time all assets and data are loaded into system and GPU memory to enable real-time playout. The loading time depends on the amount of data and texture information used in the playlist.

Table description: Chyron Weather Keyboard Shortcuts

Press this key	To do this
Ctrl + M	Start presentation
Spacebar	Trigger action
Right arrow	Skip forward
Left arrow	Skip backward
Esc (press twice)	Reset presentation to beginning or restart recording
Esc (press three times)	Exit presentation or recording
F11	Exit presentation or recording
Ctrl + R	Start presentation and video recording
Ctrl + G	Start editing
Ctrl + B	Benchmark display on/off
Alt + L	Choose local time
Ctrl + F9	Dump GPU memory
Alt + B	Focus bottom menu
Alt + E	Focus playlist duration
Alt + S	Focus segments
Ctrl + H	Heads up display
Ctrl + Alt + Subtract	Layer contract left
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Subtract	Layer contract right
Ctrl + Alt + Add	Layer expand left
Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Add	Layer expand right
Shift + Arrow Down	Layer move down
Shift + Arrow Left	Layer move left
Shift + Arrow Right	Layer move right
Shift + Arrow Up	Layer move up
Ctrl + C	Open Config_ME
Alt + M	Open main WP menu
Alt + P	Open properties
Ctrl + Shift + R	Refresh_ME
F5	Refresh playlist
Ctrl + S	Save_ME
Ctrl + Shift + S	Save Snapshot_ME
Ctrl + K	Show Command Line_ME
Ctrl + Shift + B	Show Statistics_ME
Ctrl + Alt + R	Start live recording