06: Graphics and Clips Playout

Overview

The Playout area of the Switcher module allows you to:

• Load graphics, images or clips to one of the graphics or clips channels.
• Preview graphics and clips.
• Preview graphics and their animations.
• Play Graphics and clips to Graphics outputs
• Key Graphics and Clips to the Switcher Preview or the Program.

Playout

Open Switcher view

Click the Switcher button, near the top right of the interface. The view appears with Playlists on the left, the Preview and Program monitors on the top, the video sources at the bottom and graphics and clips preview and output channel monitors in the center.

Each Clip player channel is represented by a single window. A single clip can be loaded and played on each clip channel.

Each Graphics (GFX) channel contains a Preview/cued section, and an Output section. The graphics preview is just for readying the Graphics to the sent to Graphics Output. The graphics Output is what is sent to the Switcher Preview or Program. 

A graphic or clip that is playing on a graphic output channel does not automatically appear on the program output. There are two requirements to send graphics and clips to switcher output.

1. They need to be playing on a graphic/clip channel output
2. The Graphic/Clip output needs to be sent to the Program Output via the switcher operations

Select a playlist

In the Playlist pane on the left side of the interface, click the tab to select the playlist that you want to use. If you do not see the tab for the Playlist that you want, do one of these:

• Click and drag the scroll bar below the Playlist tabs.
• Return to the Browser view and select the Playlist tab, above the browsers.
• Select the Playlist that you want to use.

The selected Playlist tab is indicated with a light blue underline.

Remove a playlist

1. Click to select a playlist.
2. Click the X next to it's name to remove it.

Graphics and Clips

To play a graphic or a clip in the LIVE output, you must specify its playout channel, add it to the channel and then send it to the Preview or Program output.

Load asset from playlist to specified channel

1. Click the channel Indicator at the right of the asset’s thumbnail in the Playlist and, if necessary, click it again until this indicator displays the desired channel name.
2. Click the thumbnail of the item in the Playlist to load it to the Preview for selected channel.

Load and play by number recall

1. Use the numeric keypad to enter the assets number, as listed in the Playlist.
2. Available channel destinations appear. Select if you want to send it to a different channel than assigned in the playlist.
3. Click Load to load the asset.
4. Click the play button to play it on the assigned channel output.

In fast moving productions, such as a high velocity sporting event, you may want to recall and play graphics quickly. You can use the number keypad, within the interface, to recall graphics by their number in the playlist. 

Tip: For sporting events with player jersey numbers, you may want to order Home and Away team playlists so that each graphic with a player name, stats or headshot has a number that matches the player’s jersey number.

Load and play by using the Playlist thumbnail

Once the output channel is specified and any replaceable fields are fulfilled, double tap or double-click the asset in the playlist to send it directly to graphic/clip output.

The assets cycle through 3 states, tap the thumbnail to cycle the states:

• Load asset is loads to the channel (Blue)
• Play asset plays on the channel output (Orange or Red)
• Clear asset clears from the channel (no border)

Once the output channel is specified and any replaceable fields are fulfilled, click the asset in the playlist to send it directly to the preview monitor of the specified channel. The borders are color coded in order to locate active items in the playlist quickly.

• A blue border indicates that the asset is visible here for internal preview only. It is not actually loaded to the switcher Preview.
• A red border indicates that the asset is visible on the Program output
• A Orange border indicates that the asset is on the graphic/clip output but not keyed on program

Image description: Loaded asset 

Image description: Playing asset, keyed to output

Image description: Playing asset not keyed to output

Graphic Channel Controls

• Click the GFX Output monitor twice to key the graphic output to Switcher preview and then again to the program output

• Load a graphic in the cued area via the thumbnail or number pad methods described above
• To play a graphic to the GFX channel output with its animations, click the Play button.

• Graphic is played to output

• To return a graphic from the GFX Output channel to the internal Preview, click the Back arrow.

Unload a graphic from a channel

Do one of these:

• If only one graphic is loaded to the channel, click the Clear button.
• If more than one graphic is loaded to the channel, select the thumbnail of the graphic you want to remove and then click the X button.
• If you want to remove all graphics from the channel, click the X All button

Clip Channel Controls

A single clip can be loaded and played on a clip channel similar to graphics. 

• Click the thumbnail while the asset is loaded and it will play or click the Play button on the clip channel. Once the clip is playing, this button becomes a Pause button.
  
  
• Click the Loop button to set the clip to continuously loop.
• Click the Rewind button to return the clip to its first frame.

Tip: The first frame of the clip is blank to avoid freeze frames. If a clip is keyed to output and not playing it will play automatically

Modify graphic with replaceable fields

Most graphics are designed with replaceable fields, so that you can use them as templates. You may use the same graphic several times in a single broadcast, but with different text entered into one or more replaceable fields each time. See the instructions here.