The Playlist Importer includes all import logic of Viz Multichannel. The Playlist Importer can be run automatically by the Media Sequencer, or by the Schedule Collector.

The Schedule Collector will use the Playlist Importer to convert a schedule from e.g. an automation system to a native Media Sequencer playlist format using the mapping settings configured by the Viz Multichannel client.

When manually importing files from e.g. an scheduling system (i.e. when not using the Schedule Collector), you have the same process except that the Viz Multichannel client is the one initiating the import and conversion of the playlist using the Playlist Importer.

It is also possible to run PlaylistImporter “by hand”, but this is normally not recommended or necessary. The normal workflow is that Media Sequencer (MSE), Schedule Collector (SCC) or Multichannel runs PlaylistImporter automatically when needed.

Installation and Configuration
VMC-Startup Parameters
Automatic Import of Files

Installation and Configuration

Viz Multichannel’s Playlist Importer is a separate installer and can therefore be installed or upgraded without upgrading the core of the full Multichannel installation. PlaylistImporter needs to be installed (or be available as a installed program on a shared disk) on any server where either MSE (Media Sequencer) or SCC (Schedule Collector) runs automated imports of a playlist. For detailed information on how to install Viz Multichannel, see the Setup and Configuration chapter.

Note: The PlaylistImporter (PLI) installer is typically named VizMultichannelPlayListImporter_VERSION.msi where _VERSION _indicates the version/release and build numbers of the software. There will also be a corresponding <identical_filename>.MD5 file that can be used to check that the downloaded installer has a correct md5-checksum. It is recommended to always check that the downloaded installers have the correct checksum. Normally installers will be downloaded with ftp from download.vizrt.com using your customer support login credentials.

For the Playlist Importer to be launched by the Media Sequencer, the* Enable Automatic Import* option must be selected in the Automatic Import Settings section.

IMPORTANT! The location of the PlaylistImporter.exe program must be specified in Settings > Channel > Global Settings > Import/Export Settings > Automatic Import > Playlist Importer Folder Path

For this option to work, the PlaylistImporter.exe file must be installed on the Media Sequencer machine. Usually Viz Multichannel is not installed on the Media Sequencer machine, so you must install the PlaylistImporter there. The normal installation directories for PlaylistImporter is:

Windows 32-bit system: C:\Program Files\vizrt\Viz Multichannel

Windows 64-bit system: C:\Program Files (x86)\vizrt\Viz Multichannel

PlaylistImporter Log File

The PlaylistImporter (PLI) application writes a log file when executing. The log file is normally written to the directory: %ProgramData%\Vizrt\Multichannel\PlaylistImporter

Note:%ProgramData% is an environment variable, the fully expanded path will often be C:\ProgramData\Vizrt\Multichannel\PlaylistImporter

The log file is a normal textfile that can be inspected with any text editor. Each time PLI is run, a new log file is created with a timestamp. The verbosity level of the log file is set by the “-loglevel <LEVEL HERE AS NUMBER>” startup parameter. The loglevel should be set in the Multichannel configuration settings found in Settings > Channels > Global Settings.

For changes in the log-level to take effect, a playlist must be stopped and re-activated.

Caution: Care should be taken to “prune” (delete) old log files when they are no longer needed or they will eventually fill up the server hard-drive.

VMC-Startup Parameters

The following paramteres may be used during startup of the Playlist Importer.

Parameter	Description	Example
`-channel`	Defines which channels to process within the Media Sequencer for the Playlist Importer.Each channel name is bracketed by an ‘`@`’ sign.	`-channel @`<channelName1>`@`<channelName2>`@`
`-loglevel`	Specifies the loglevel of the Playlist Importer, values range from 0 to 100. Default is 25, 50 is Increased, 75 is Extended, 100 is Debug.	`-loglevel 100`
`-msehost`	Hostname or IP address for Media Sequencer. When hostname is “none” Playlist Importer will read each channel’s Media Sequencer from `channels.ini`.When no parameter is provided, Playlist Importer will attempt to connect to localhost.	`-msehost none-msehost 10.11.10.11-msehost localhost`
`--refresh`	PLI will only refresh current running playlist. It will not import/update the playlist	`--refresh`
-viz2	Allows you to use Viz Engine 2.x. Viz 3.x is default. Viz3 is highly recommended

Automatic Import of Files

Automatically imported files, using the Playlist Importer, are given a timestamp and one of the following suffixes:

.done Is appended if the file was successfully imported.
.fail Is appended if the file was not successfully imported.

Troubleshooting

Automatic import of Microsoft Excel schedule files fail
This error is a known issue with certain Windows installations, and in particular when the Media Sequencer is running in service mode.
To resolve this issue, you simply create the following directory on your Windows 64-bit or 32-bit system:
- C:\Windows\SysWOW64\config\systemprofile\Desktop
- C:\Windows\System32\config\systemprofile\Desktop
- Also, set full control permissions for the new directory