USER GUIDE
BrightAuthor 4.1.1
BrightSign, LLC. 16780 Lark Ave., Suite B Los Gatos, CA 95032 | 408-852-9263 | www.brightsign.biz
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 – Getting Started ................................................................................................. 1
What is BrightAuthor? ............................................................................................................................ 1
What Kind of Presentations Can I Create?............................................................................................. 1
What Type of Screen Layouts Can I Use? ............................................................................................. 2
Step 1: Get the Hardware You Need ...................................................................................................... 2
Step 2: Install BrightAuthor ..................................................................................................................... 4
Step 3: Launch BrightAuthor .................................................................................................................. 5
Step 4: Set up your BrightSign player .................................................................................................... 5
Step 5: Add your Content ....................................................................................................................... 5
Step 6: Create your Presentations ......................................................................................................... 7
Step 7: Publish your Presentations ........................................................................................................ 7
Chapter 2 – Setting up BrightSign Players ........................................................................ 8
Adding a Player to the BrightSign Network ............................................................................................ 9
Adding a Player to your Local Network ................................................................................................ 15
Adding a Player to your Simple File Network ....................................................................................... 20
Setting up a Player for Standalone Use ............................................................................................... 26
Chapter 3 – Creating Presentations ................................................................................. 31
Creating a Full-Screen Presentation .................................................................................................... 31
Creating a Multi-Zone Presentation ...................................................................................................... 33
Customizing Zone Layouts ................................................................................................................... 38
Creating Dynamic Playlists and Live Data Feeds ................................................................................. 40
RSS Feeds and Text Feeds ................................................................................................................. 43
Twitter ................................................................................................................................................... 43
Media RSS Feeds ................................................................................................................................ 44
HTML5 .................................................................................................................................................. 44
Live Video ............................................................................................................................................. 46
SignChannel ......................................................................................................................................... 46
Local Playlists ....................................................................................................................................... 46
Video and Mjpeg Streams .................................................................................................................... 47
Audio Stream ........................................................................................................................................ 47
RF In (ATSC) ........................................................................................................................................ 48
Tuner Scan ........................................................................................................................................... 49
Chapter 4 – Making a Presentation Interactive ............................................................... 51
Customizing the Interactive Playlist ...................................................................................................... 54
Editing Interactive Events ..................................................................................................................... 55
Editing Media Properties ...................................................................................................................... 56
Copying, Exporting, and Importing States ............................................................................................ 57
Video Lists, Image Lists, and Audio Lists ............................................................................................. 57
Video Play Files, Image Play Files, and Audio Play Files .................................................................... 61
Live Text ............................................................................................................................................... 64
Interactive Menus ................................................................................................................................. 70
Event Handlers ..................................................................................................................................... 75
Super States ......................................................................................................................................... 76
Commands ........................................................................................................................................... 78
Conditional Targets .............................................................................................................................. 83
Dynamic User Variables ....................................................................................................................... 84
Chapter 5 – Interactive Events .......................................................................................... 87
Timeout ................................................................................................................................................ 87
Media End ............................................................................................................................................ 87
GPIO Event .......................................................................................................................................... 87
BP900/200 ............................................................................................................................................ 88
Synchronize .......................................................................................................................................... 88
UDP Input ............................................................................................................................................. 88
Serial Input ........................................................................................................................................... 89
Rectangular Touch ............................................................................................................................... 89
Keyboard Input ..................................................................................................................................... 90
USB Input ............................................................................................................................................. 90
Remote Input ........................................................................................................................................ 90
Zone Message ...................................................................................................................................... 91
Link Zones ............................................................................................................................................ 91
GPS ...................................................................................................................................................... 91
Video Time Code .................................................................................................................................. 92
Audio Time Code .................................................................................................................................. 92
Time/Clock ........................................................................................................................................... 92
Plugin Message .................................................................................................................................... 93
User Defined Events ............................................................................................................................ 94
Chapter 6 – Creating A BrightWall™ ................................................................................ 96
BrightWall Video Requirements ........................................................................................................... 96
Creating a BrightWall Presentation ...................................................................................................... 96
Adding Video to a BrightWall Presentation........................................................................................... 99
Configuring a BrightWall Presentation ............................................................................................... 101
Completing a BrightWall Presentation ................................................................................................ 102
Creating a BrightWall on the BrightSign Network ............................................................................... 103
Chapter 7 – BP900 and BP200 Button Panels ............................................................... 106
Using BP900 and BP200 Events ........................................................................................................ 106
Chapter 8 – Publishing Presentations ........................................................................... 109
Publishing with Local Storage ............................................................................................................ 109
Publishing with BrightSign Network .................................................................................................... 115
Publishing with Simple File Networking .............................................................................................. 119
Publishing with Local Networking ....................................................................................................... 124
Publishing a BrightWall™ Presentation .............................................................................................. 128
Chapter 9 – Customizing Presentations ........................................................................ 130
Setting Zone Properties ...................................................................................................................... 130
Editing Video Only and Video or Images Zones ................................................................................. 130
Editing Ticker Zones ........................................................................................................................... 132
Editing Audio Only and Enhanced Audio Zones................................................................................. 133
Editing Images Zones ......................................................................................................................... 134
Editing Clock Zones ........................................................................................................................... 134
Editing Background Image Zones ...................................................................................................... 135
Importing and Exporting ..................................................................................................................... 135
RF Channel Scanning ........................................................................................................................ 136
Presentation Tree View ...................................................................................................................... 137
Chapter 10 – Presentation Properties ............................................................................ 138
Main .................................................................................................................................................... 138
I/O ....................................................................................................................................................... 139
Interactive ........................................................................................................................................... 139
Buttons ............................................................................................................................................... 140
Audio .................................................................................................................................................. 141
Media List ........................................................................................................................................... 141
Autorun ............................................................................................................................................... 141
Image Cache ...................................................................................................................................... 142
Variables ............................................................................................................................................ 142
Data Feeds ......................................................................................................................................... 146
HTML Sites ......................................................................................................................................... 148
Switch Presentations .......................................................................................................................... 150
Files .................................................................................................................................................... 151
UDP .................................................................................................................................................... 151
Chapter 11 – Editing Preferences ................................................................................... 152
Video .................................................................................................................................................. 152
Images ................................................................................................................................................ 152
Interactive ........................................................................................................................................... 152
Clock .................................................................................................................................................. 152
Live Text ............................................................................................................................................. 153
Networking ......................................................................................................................................... 154
UI ........................................................................................................................................................ 154
Backups .............................................................................................................................................. 155
Storage ............................................................................................................................................... 155
Chapter 12 – Managing Your Network ........................................................................... 157
Status ................................................................................................................................................. 157
Presentations ..................................................................................................................................... 161
Library ................................................................................................................................................ 163
Dynamic Playlist ................................................................................................................................. 163
Live Data Feed ................................................................................................................................... 163
HTML Site .......................................................................................................................................... 164
Local Network ..................................................................................................................................... 164
User Permissions ............................................................................................................................... 166
Using Advanced Tools ....................................................................................................................... 166
Using the Diagnostic and Local Web Server ...................................................................................... 168
Chapter 13 – Frequently Asked Questions .................................................................... 169
Appendix A – Remote Control Protocols ....................................................................... 171
Appendix B – Change Log .............................................................................................. 173
Version 3.5 ......................................................................................................................................... 173
Version 3.7 ......................................................................................................................................... 173
Version 3.8 ......................................................................................................................................... 176
Version 4.0 ......................................................................................................................................... 179
Version 4.1 ......................................................................................................................................... 180
1
CHAPTER 1 – GETTING STARTED
What is BrightAuthor?
BrightAuthor is a software application that helps you create and publish digital-signage presentations for BrightSign
players. You can play BrightAuthor presentations on all BrightSign models. Your presentations can include various types
of content:
• Images
• Videos
• Live video: Supported on the XD1230, XD1132, and 4K1142
• Audio
• HTML5 pages
• Streaming audio/video over IP
• Text
• Date and time
• RSS, MRSS, and Twitter feeds
• BrightSign Network features: Dynamic Playlists, Live Text feeds (RSS), Live Media feeds (MRSS)
• SignChannel: Supported on all XD and 4K models, as well as the HD222, HD1022, HD220, HD1020, and LS422
Note: A subscription is required to use SignChannel. Go to http://www.signchannel.com/ for details.
What Kind of Presentations Can I Create?
You can create three types of presentation in BrightAuthor:
• Non-Interactive: A playlist of media (images, video, audio) that plays in a continuous loop. You can play non-
interactive presentations on all BrightSign models.
• Interactive: A presentation that transitions between media based on input from a user via a button board,
touchscreen, remote control, or similar input device. All models support at least one type of interactive event. The
types of interactive event supported by a player depend on the connectors and inputs that player has (for example,
Chapter 1 – Getting Started
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