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Viz Multiplay User Guide

Version 2.5 | Published February 18, 2019 ©

Working with Viz Pilot and MOS content

This section covers integrating Viz Multiplay with Viz Pilot and MOS playlists. In addition, it deals with setting up a Pilot Data Server directly in Viz Multiplay.

The following topics are presented here:

Definitions and how-to add playlists:

  • Internal playlists (show playlists): These are owned by the show. They are exported together with the show, and they are deleted when removed from the show. Viz Multiplay automatically creates three internal playlists when creating a new show: Shortcuts (for often used presets), GFX (for source graphics) and videowall (for source presets that can be dragged into the show or into shortcuts).

  • External playlists: These are playlists created by an external system such as Viz Pilot or a MOS playlist from a newsroom system. These playlists are not owned by the show, but they are only referred to from the show. They will look like internal playlists, but they will not be deleted when they are removed from the show.

  • To add a playlist, click the Add (+) button to the right of the tabs in the Show pane. You can now choose between adding an internal or external playlist.

Viz Pilot playlists

You probably have created one or more Viz Pilot playlists if you have already set up your Media Sequencer in a Viz Pilot workflow.

These playlists can be added as external playlists to your show:

  1. Click the Add (+) button to the right of the tabs in the Show pane.

  2. Click Add external playlist.

  3. Browse to the playlist you want to add and click Ok.

    Tip:

    Organize elements in shows and playlists in groups to ensure that they appear in Viz Multiplay.

You cannot edit the elements in this type of playlist if the Media Sequencer is set up with an Oracle connection to the Viz Pilot database. Then you must use Viz Pilot to edit the elements.

You can, however, edit the elements in a Viz Pilot playlist by right clicking an element and selecting Edit if the Media Sequencer is set up to connect to a Pilot Data Server (which can be backed either by an Oracle database or a Viz Graphic Hub). The elements are then put back to the database through an HTTP connection to the Pilot Data Server. The Media Sequencer will detect this change and update the element in the Media Sequencer automatically.

MOS workflow

The Media Sequencer contains one or more MOS playlists if set up in a Newsroom workflow connected to a Viz Gateway. The Media Sequencer is responsible for communicating with the Newsroom system through the MOS protocol and keeping the MOS playlists up to date. The changes are reflected immediately in Viz Multiplay.

These playlists can be added as external playlists to your show:

  1. Click the Add (+) button to the right of the tabs in the Show pane.

  2. Select Add external playlist.

  3. Browse to the MOS playlist you want to add and click Ok.
    Initially, the MOS playlist will be empty. To request it from the VIz Gateway, right click the MOS status label and select Request.

images/download/attachments/50594813/workflows_requestmos.png

The Media Sequencer will now take ownership of the MOS playlist and update it live whenever the rundown changes.

The MOS playlists are organized in stories (groups), so the elements will be visible in Viz Multiplay. Each story will become one group in Viz Multiplay. Clicking the group will expose the elements in the group, organized per channel. Elements in a MOS playlist are owned by the newsroom system, so they cannot be edited. However, it is possible to drag them from one channel to another channel.

Assign Channel

In Avid iNEWS, you can specify the playout channel by right clicking the item in the story and selecting Assign Channel.

images/download/attachments/50594813/workflows_assignchan.png

When the Media Sequencer receives the MOS playlist, it sets the channel on the elements so Viz Multiplay can organize them under the right channel in the GUI. This channel must exist in the active profile. Elements without a channel will appear under the channel set as the Program channel.

Write channel to newsroom system

If you drag a MOS element in Viz Multiplay to another channel, it is possible to write the new channel back to the newsroom system. This feature must be enabled with Viz Trio:

images/download/attachments/50594813/workflows_trioenablewrite.png

You can release the MOS playlist from the Media Sequencer by right-clicking the MOS status bar and selecting Release. The Media Sequencer will stop updating the playlist for all clients connected to this Media Sequencer, so exercise caution when releasing a MOS playlist.

Pilot Data Server

Viz Multiplay can connect to a Pilot Data Server if one is installed on your system. In which case, it can use the graphics directly without using an external Viz Pilot playlist.

To set up this workflow, both Viz Multiplay and the Media Sequencer must be configured to use the same Pilot Data Server.

In Viz Multiplay

  1. Go to Settings > Servers.

  2. Enter the URL or hostname to the Pilot Data Server in the Pilot Data Server input field.

    Tip:

    If you only enter the host name, press TAB and Viz Multiplay will auto complete the full URL.

    images/download/attachments/50594813/workflows_fullurl.png

  3. The Templates tab will appear in the Sources pane if Viz Multiplay connects to the Pilot Data Server:

    images/download/attachments/50594813/image2019-2-4_14-16-47.png

    Tip:

    The Templates tab not appearing after configuring the Pilot Data Server URL in Viz Multiplay probably means that the URL is unreachable. Type the URL in a browser to see if you can connect to a Pilot Data Server.

The Templates tab contains the Viz Pilot concepts and templates. Drag a template over to the playlist area. Now Viz Multiplay will create a new Viz Pilot database element and insert a reference to it into the Media Sequencer. The Media Sequencer is responsible for connecting to the Viz Pilot database and insert it into the Media Sequencer so it can be played out. The Media Sequencer will also keep the element up to date whenever someone changes the database element.

To setup the Viz Pilot connection in the Media Sequencer:

  1. Go to http://mse\_host:8580/app/pilotdbconfig/pilotdbconfig.html in a browser.

  2. Then add the host and port to the Pilot Data Server in the config GUI.

    Note:

    You may have to restart the Media Sequencer.

    When you edit the Viz Pilot elements in Viz Multiplay (right click and select Edit), the changes are sent directly to the Viz Pilot database through HTTP. The Media Sequencer will detect this change and update the element in the Media Sequencer automatically.