Automation Systems

An Automation System is usually located in the master control room, controlling all devices in the room in real-time (for example video servers, keyers, Character Generators).

A Viz Multichannel integration to an automation system typically performs:

• Triggering: Automation system triggers Viz Multichannel (via Media Sequencer) for starting of either primary or secondary events. Triggering protocols supported by Vizrt are TCP/IP, Intelligent Interface, VDCP, GPI, and REST. It is important to understand that though Multichannel is managing the playlist and events, the actual triggering of actions will be done by the Media Sequencer.

• Schedules and last minute updates: If an automation system provides an API or an option to automatically generate an update file, Viz Multichannel can update its playlist using these. This is usually done with the Schedule Collector and the PlayListImporter tools. The Schedule Collector’s biggest advantage is that it stores previous data in an internal cache and therefore makes updates more efficient by saving idle updates and passing only changed events.

Automation system Integration types

Exactly how the external automation systems delivers the schedule and triggering varies greatly, but the flexible and open architecture of Multichannel ensures that most commonly used automation systems are directly supported.

There are two main types of integration to automation systems:

• File based systems

• Direct integrations systems (API-based)
  File based automation systems will typically deliver the schedule in a pre-defined format, possibly of type Text, XML, Excel, CSV, database or proprietary binary. In this case, the typical workflow will be to have a file or directory produced by the automation system watched (or have time-based tasks running) and use PlaylistImporter and Schedule Collector to fetch schedules and updates to the Multichannel playlist.

Direct Integration systems are automation and schedule systems that have an API (Application Programming Interface) that Multichannel can interface and read information from, sometimes bi-directional. The main advantage with direct integration systems is that the file-based workflow can be avoided. Normally this leads to significant performance gains. It is also a more secure, clean and resilient setup than most file-based workflow systems and is the recommended integration type.

For an overview of the integration types and how to configure some of the more commonly used automation systems read the following sections:

• Direct Integration Architecture Overview

• Integration Module for Marina from Pebble Beach

• Integration Module for Neptune from Pebble Beach

• Integration module for Harris ADC

• ADC-100 by Harris Broadcast

• D-Series by Harris Broadcast

• Neptune by Pebble Beach Systems

  Note: If you do not find your automation system listed we may still support it. Please contact your local Vizrt representative for more information.