Grass Valley Aurora Playout User Manual v.6.5

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Aurora Playout

PLAYBACK CONTROL SYSTEM

User Guide

SOFTWARE VERSION 6.5

071-8516-04 NOVEMBER 2008

Portions of software © 2000 – 2008, Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. This document may not be copied in whole or in part, or otherwise reproduced except as specifically permitted under U.S. copyright law, without the prior written consent of Grass Valley, Inc., P.O. Box 59900, Nevada City, California 95959-7900. This product may be covered by one or more U.S. and foreign patents.

Disclaimer Product options and specifications subject to change without notice. The information in this

manual is furnished for informational use only, is subject to change without notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Grass Valley, Inc. Grass Valley, Inc. assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that may appear in this publication.

U.S. Government Restricted Rights Legend

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Use, duplication, or disclosure by the United States Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c)(1)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.277-7013 or in subparagraph c(1) and (2) of the Commercial Computer Software Restricted Rights clause at FAR 52.227-19, as applicable. Manufacturer is Grass Valley, Inc., P.O. Box 59900, Nevada City, California 95959-7900 U.S.A.

Grass Valley, K2, Aurora, Summit, Dyno, Infinity, Turbo, M-Series, Profile, Profile XP, NetCentral, NewsBrowse, NewsEdit, NewsQ, NewsShare, NewsQ Pro, and Media Manager are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Grass Valley, Inc. in the United States and/ or other countries. Grass Valley, Inc. products are covered by U.S. and foreign patents, issued and pending. Additional information regarding Grass Valley, Inc. trademarks and other proprietary rights may be found at www.thomsongrassvalley.com.

Other trademarks and logos used in this document are either registered trademarks or trademarks of the manufacturers or vendors of the associated products, such as Microsoft® Windows® operating system, Windows Media® player, Internet Explorer® internet browser, and SQL Server™. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., used under license therefrom.

Software Licenses If this product requires a software license in the manual, then the license, as well as any

Revision Status

Rev Date Description

September 21, 2006 Release 071-8516-00 for Software Version 6.0

January 18, 2007 Release 071-8516-01 for Software Version 6.0b

May 23, 2007 Release 071-8516-02 for Software Version 6.1

September 19, 2007 Release 071-8516-03 for Software Version 6.3

November 19, 2008 Release 071-8516-04 for Software Version 6.5

2 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Grass Valley Product Support...................................................................9

Chapter 1: Introducing Aurora Playout.................................11

Contents

Web Technical Support.............................................................................................9

Telephone Support....................................................................................................9

International Support Centers........................................................................9

Authorized Local Support Representative......................................................9

About Aurora Playout..............................................................................................12

Terms You Should Know.........................................................................................12

Overview of Aurora Playout.....................................................................................13

Using Aurora Playout..............................................................................................14

Linking to a Newsroom Computer System (NCS) .......................................15

Creating playlists manually ..........................................................................16

Overview of the Assignment List Plug-in................................................................17

Overview of the Assignment List Manager.............................................................17

Overview of the Housekeeper.................................................................................18

Overview of the Simple Database (SDB) Server ...................................................19

Overview of the Thumbnail Server .........................................................................20

Overview of the XMOS Server ...............................................................................21

Chapter 2: Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout............23

Setting Up Your NCS for Aurora Playout.................................................................24

Setting up ENPS ....................................................................................................24

Sending scripts with ENPS..........................................................................25

Setting ENPS MOS ready to air ..................................................................26

Setting up iNEWS ..................................................................................................26

Configuring status translations for iNEWS...................................................26

Setting up Octopus ................................................................................................27

Registering the MOSWrapper file for Octopus.............................................27

Creating an ActiveX Device for Octopus......................................................28

Configuring the MOS Device for Octopus....................................................28

Chapter 3: Installing Aurora Playout.....................................31

Installing Aurora Playout.........................................................................................32

Cabling the Aurora Playout computer ....................................................................32

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 3

Contents

Installing Aurora Playout Software..........................................................................33

Installing the Assignment List Plug-in..........................................................35

Connecting the RDU 1510 Under Monitor Display .................................................39

Connecting the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller .......................................................40

Chapter 4: Configuring Aurora Playout................................41

Configuring Aurora Playout.....................................................................................42

Configuring the Aurora Playout application.............................................................42

Setting General options................................................................................43

Setting Playback options..............................................................................44

Setting channel configuration.......................................................................45

Configuring GPI Input and Output................................................................47

Defining Function Keys................................................................................49

Defining status colors...................................................................................54

Configuring the Remote Display Unit (RDU)................................................55

Setting Cue and Chain options....................................................................57

Configuring Archive Play..............................................................................59

Configuring the Simple Database (SDB) Server.....................................................60

Setting General Options of SDB Server.......................................................60

Setting Media options of SDB Server...........................................................62

Reinitializing media monitor of SDB Server.................................................64

Repopulating rundown items from SDB Server...........................................64

Restoring backup database of SDB Server.................................................65

Configuring the Thumbnail Server..........................................................................65

Creating a Thumbnail folder.........................................................................65

Setting up the Thumbnail Server..................................................................65

Configuring the XMOS Server................................................................................66

Refreshing rundowns in XMOS Server........................................................67

Configuring Housekeeper ......................................................................................68

Setting General options of Housekeeper.....................................................68

Setting Media options of Housekeeper........................................................69

Configuring the standalone Assignment List Manager...........................................70

Chapter 5: Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout.........73

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout..............................................................74

About the Assignment List Plug-in..........................................................................74

Using the Assignment List Plug-in .........................................................................75

Creating placeholders in Assignment List Plug-in........................................75

Sorting placeholders by category.................................................................78

Viewing placeholder categories...................................................................79

4 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Contents

Searching placeholders................................................................................79

Adding breaks in your rundown ...................................................................79

Viewing the video thumbnail of a placeholder..............................................80

Viewing asset via MediaFrame clip player....................................................81

Using Assignment List Plug-in with ENPS .............................................................82

Creating placeholders automatically in ENPS..............................................83

Inserting clips manually into ENPS..............................................................84

Assigning playout channels to clips in ENPS...............................................85

Using Assignment List Plug-in with iNEWS............................................................85

Creating placeholders in iNEWS..................................................................86

Assigning playout channels to clips in iNEWS.............................................87

Using Assignment List Plug-in with Octopus .........................................................87

Creating placeholders automatically in Octopus..........................................87

Linking clips manually in Octopus................................................................88

Inserting clips manually in Octopus..............................................................88

Assigning playout channels to clips in Octopus...........................................89

Chapter 6: Editing and Aurora Playout.................................91

Editing and Aurora Playout......................................................................................92

Using the Assignment List Manager.......................................................................92

Receiving Editing Assignments...............................................................................94

Linking sequences to Aurora Playout placeholders................................................94

Sending completed clips.........................................................................................98

Additional features of Assignment List Manager...................................................100

Creating placeholders in Assignment List Manager...................................100

Deleting placeholders in Assignment List Manager ..................................102

Changing clip category in Assignment List Manager.................................103

Viewing by category in the Assignment List Manager................................103

Viewing asset via MediaFrame clip player..................................................103

Identifying missing clips.............................................................................104

Chapter 7: Playing clips to air..............................................105

Playing Clips to Air................................................................................................106

About Playout Toolbar...........................................................................................106

About the Playlist..................................................................................................108

Understanding Playlist colors.....................................................................109

About Playout channels........................................................................................109

About Rundowns...................................................................................................111

About the Clip Browser.........................................................................................112

About the Playlist overview...................................................................................113

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 5

Contents

Creating a Playlist.................................................................................................114

Opening an NCS Rundown .......................................................................114

Appending rundowns to a playlist...............................................................115

Removing rundowns from a Playlist...........................................................116

Previewing other rundowns........................................................................116

Creating a new playlist manually................................................................117

Saving local playlists..................................................................................118

Opening saved Playlists.............................................................................119

Appending a Playlist...................................................................................119

Exporting a Playlist.....................................................................................119

Chaining Clips in a Playlist.........................................................................120

Using MediaFrame Plug-in....................................................................................120

Viewing assets via MediaFrame clip player................................................121

Viewing metadata on clip properties .........................................................121

Cueing Clips..........................................................................................................124

Using the Jog feature.................................................................................125

Playing clips..........................................................................................................125

Archiving Clips......................................................................................................126

Recording a black clip for Archive Play......................................................127

Customizing playlist for broadcast........................................................................127

Rearranging the Playlist layout...................................................................128

Viewing clip properties ..............................................................................128

Assigning clips to channels........................................................................128

Rearranging clips in a Playlist....................................................................128

Adding new clips to a playlist.....................................................................129

Using the context-sensitive playlist menu...................................................130

Chapter 8: Managing Clips with Housekeeper...................131

About the Housekeeper .......................................................................................132

About Housekeeping tab.......................................................................................132

About Clip Import tab............................................................................................133

About Archive tab..................................................................................................134

About Housekeeper toolbar .................................................................................135

Deleting clips from the clip database....................................................................136

Deleting clips immediately..........................................................................136

Moving files to the recycle bin....................................................................136

Emptying the recycle bin............................................................................137

Unprotecting a clip.....................................................................................137

Refreshing the clip list................................................................................137

Deleting clips from a media server only.....................................................137

6 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Contents

Importing clips from a media ser ver......................................................................138

Changing clip properties ......................................................................................139

Creating placeholders in Housekeeper.................................................................140

Using MediaFrame in Housekeeper......................................................................142

Viewing asset via MediaFrame clip player..................................................143

Viewing and editing metadata on clip properties .......................................143

Searching assets using MediaFrame.........................................................146

Searching assets with advanced settings..................................................149

Archiving clips in Housekeeper.............................................................................152

Resynchronizing clips...........................................................................................153

Appendix A: Aurora Playout Appendix...............................155

Sample of MOS Gateway configuration file...........................................................156

Appendix B: Software Licenses..........................................161

cmemdc................................................................................................................162

cping.....................................................................................................................162

CSizingToolBar.....................................................................................................163

CTextProgressCtrl.................................................................................................164

MIT........................................................................................................................164

mozilla...................................................................................................................165

Paintlib..................................................................................................................172

resizeable lib.........................................................................................................173

tconvert.................................................................................................................175

zlib.........................................................................................................................175

Glossary.................................................................................................177

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 7

Contents

8 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Grass Valley Product Support

T o get technical assistance, check on the status of a question, or to report a new issuse, contact Grass Valley Product Support via e-mail, the Web, or by phone or fax.

Web Technical Support

To access support information on the Web, visit the product support Web page on the Grass Valley Web site. You can download software or ﬁnd solutions to problems by searching our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) database.

World Wide Web: http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/support/ Technical Support E-mail Address: gvgtechsupport@thomson.net

Telephone Support

Use the following information to contact Product Support by phone.

International Support Centers

Our international support centers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Authorized Local Support Representative

A local support representative may be available in your country. To locate a support center during normal local business hours, refer to the following list. This list is regularly updated on the website for Thomson Grass Valley Product Support

(http://www.thomsongrassvalley.com/support/contact/phone/). After–hours local phone support is also available for warranty and contract customers.

Macau

In countryToll freeSupport Center

+33 1 48 25 20 20+800 80 80 20 20France +1 530 478 4148+1 800 547 8949United States

TelephoneCountyRegion

+861 066 0159 450ChinaAsia +852 2531 3058Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea,

+81 3 5484 6868Japan +603 7805 3884Southeast Asia - Malaysia +65 6379 1313Southeast Asia - Singapore

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 9

Grass Valley Product Support

TelephoneCountyRegion

South America North America

Indian Subcontinent

North America, Mexico, Caribbean

France

Eastern Europe Belarus, Russia, T adzhikistan,

Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Finland, Denmark, Iceland) Southern Europe – Italy

+91 11 515 282 502; +91 11 515 282 504

+61 1300 721 495Australia, New ZealandPaciﬁc +55 11 5509 3440AllCentral America,

+1 800 547 8949; +1 530 478 4148

+44 118 923 0499UK, Ireland, IsraelEurope +31 (0) 35 62 38 421Benelux – Netherlands +32 (0) 2 334 90 30Benelux – Belgium +800 80 80 20 20;

+33 1 48 25 20 20 +49 6150 104 444Germany, Austria,

+7 095 258 09 20; +33 (0) 2 334 90 30

+45 40 47 22 37Nordics (Norway, Sweden,

+39 02 24 13 16 01; +39 06 87 20 35 42

Near East and Africa

+34 91 512 03 50Southern Europe – Spain +971 4 299 64 40Middle EastMiddle East, Near East, Africa +800 80 80 20 20;

+33 1 48 25 20 20

10 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Chapter 1

Introducing Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• About Aurora Playout

• Terms You Should Know

• Overview of Aurora Playout

• Using Aurora Playout

• Overview of the Assignment List Plug-in

• Overview of the Assignment List Manager

• Overview of the Housekeeper

• Overview of the Simple Database (SDB) Server

• Overview of the Thumbnail Server

• Overview of the XMOS Server

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 11

Introducing Aurora Playout

About Aurora Playout

Aurora Playout is a playback control system that controls media servers for live playback. It includes tools to integrate the program production workﬂow between a media server, Aurora Edit, MediaFrame and optionally a newsroom computer system.

Aurora Playout is compatible with these systems:

System

Proﬁle Video ServerMedia Server K2 M-Series iVDR Aurora EditEditing Application MediaFrame plug-in from Aurora BrowseAsset Management Tool Associated Press Electronic News Production System (ENPS)Newsroom Computer Avid Technology iNEWS Octopus Newsroom

By using Aurora Playout with a media server for server playout in live programs you can effectively replace four to six tape machines, depending on your media server. Aurora Playout displays each channel simultaneously and you can control playout with a keyboard and mouse, or with GPI buttons.

Aurora Playout consists of seven software components:

• Main Aurora Playout application

• Assignment List Plug-in

• Assignment List Manager

• Housekeeper utility

• SDB Server

• XMOS Server

• Thumbnail Server

Terms You Should Know

To use Aurora Playout effectively and efﬁciently, you should become familiar with terms that are frequently used with Aurora products.

DefinitionTerm

Clip

A piece of media you can edit, containing video, audio, or both. Once a sequence is sent from a Aurora Edit workstation to a media serv er it becomes a clip again. All clips and subclips merge into one clip.

Logical Asset

12 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Combination of the MediaFrame database information, metadata, physical asset or assets on the server, and proxy assets.

Introducing Aurora Playout

DefinitionTerm

MediaFrame

Metadata

Placeholder

Script

Sequence

Story

A metadata storage and asset management architecture deployed in the Aurora suite. This architecture shares media asset management (MAM) components with other applications and systems such as media servers, Aurora Ingest, Aurora Playout, and Aurora Edit workstations.

Data about data; it can include keywords, timecode information, and other terms that help you ﬁnd a particular asset.

The raw program material, such as video or audio.Physical Asset An item (in the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in or the Assignment

List Manager) reserved for a clip that doesn’t yet exist or is not complete. Clips are linked to a placeholder in Housekeeper, NCS rundowns or via Aurora Ingest.

A low-resolution clip that represents high-resolution material.Proxy The textual information for a news story in the newsroom computer system

(NCS) rundown. Scripts can also reference electronic media, such as clips from a media server.

Edited media, consisting of pointers to different clips and subclips edited using the Aurora Edit editing system.

The story — a collection of clips, sequences, and scripts — is the complete news segment that plays to air.

Overview of Aurora Playout

Aurora Playout is a playout control system that links a nonlinear editing system with an electronic news production system, asset management tool and a media server for a complete digital solution.

Playback operators use the main Aurora Playout application to create new playlists, and to control playlists before and during broadcasts. Aurora Playout application consists of several components such as Clip Browser, Playlist Overview, Rundown List, Channel windows and Playlist to coordinate playback.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 13

Introducing Aurora Playout

With the integration of MediaFrame asset management tool and Aurora Playout, playback operators can search, add and edit metadata of assets created for broadcasts. In addition, the MediaFrame clip player allows playback operators to preview clips without taking up a channel of the playout server.

MediaFrame plug-ins can easily be used with Aurora Playout by specifying the MediaFrame server within the general setting of SDB Server. With that one-time setting, MediaFrame plug-ins can be accessed within Aurora Playout Playlist, Housekeeper, Assignment List Plug-in and Assignment List Manager.

T o vie w proxy assets via the MediaFrame clip player , playback operators should ha ve access to the Proxy Network Attached Storage (NAS) and have roles and licenses conﬁgured. See the MediaFrame documentation for more details on client's prerequisites and conﬁguration instructions.

Using Aurora Playout

Aurora Playout includes tools to integrate the program production workﬂow between a media server, Aurora Edit, MediaFrame and optionally a ne wsroom computer system.

With Aurora Playout, you can control live playback for your broadcast. You can use Aurora Playout in two ways:

14 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

• Create playlists by linking to a newsroom computer system (NCS)

• Create playlists manually in Aurora Playout

Linking to a Newsroom Computer System (NCS)

The most efﬁcient way to use Aurora Playout is with a MOS-compatible newsroom computer system.

The producer uses the newsroom computer system to create rundowns for ne ws shows, and links clips created in Aurora Edit to rundo wn scripts. After the clips are complete, control room personnel use Aurora Playout to play out the clips to air.

Introducing Aurora Playout

A typical newsroom workﬂow using a newsroom computer system (NCS) is:

1. The news producer creates a rundown using NCS.

2. The news producer uses the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in to:

• Create placeholders for scripts that require clips

• Assign placeholders to editors

• Link placeholders to scripts in the rundown

3. The news producer assigns playback channels within the NCS rundown.

4. The news editor creates sequences for assignments using Aurora Edit.

5. The news editor uses the Aurora Playout Assignment List Manager to:

• Receive assignments from the producer

• Create additional clip placeholders

• Reassign placeholders to other editors

6. Control room personnel use the main Aurora Playout application to:

• Open the producer’s rundown playlist

• Assign clips to speciﬁc channels for playback

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 15

Introducing Aurora Playout

• Rearrange, insert, or delete clips prior to broadcast if necessary

• Play back clips during the news broadcast

Creating playlists manually

When a MOS-compatible NCS is not available, you can manually create rundowns and playlists.

After creating playlists, using placeholders to link to clips created in Aurora Edit, you can cue and play the clips for broadcast.

A typical newsroom workﬂow using Aurora Playout to create playlists is:

1. The news producer creates a rundown.

2. The news editor creates sequences for assignments using Aurora Edit.

3. The news producer uses the Aurora Playout Assignment List Manager to:

• Create placeholders for clips

• Assign placeholders to editors

4. The news editor uses the Aurora Playout Assignment List Manager to:

• Create placeholders for clips

• Reassign placeholders to other editors

5. Control room personnel use the main Aurora Playout application to:

• Create a new playlist and rundown using the scripts from the producer and the clip database

• Assign clips to speciﬁc channels for playback

• Rearrange, insert, or delete clips prior to broadcast if necessary

• Play back clips during the news broadcast

16 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Overview of the Assignment List Plug-in

Producers use the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in to create placeholders for clips and to coordinate electronic news stories with rundown scripts.

The Assignment List Plug-in inte grates with the ENPS, iNEWS, and Octopus newsroom computer systems.

Introducing Aurora Playout

Overview of the Assignment List Manager

The Assignment List Manager comes in two forms: standalone and embedded into the Aurora Edit application.

Producers (or other station personnel) use the standalone Assignment List Manager to determine how many clips are missing for a given news show. Editors use the embedded Assignment List Manager to receive assignments from the producer. Both forms of the Assignment List Manager are used to create additional placeholders for clips and to reassign placeholders to other categories.

The standalone Assignment List Manager runs on any computer on the network—an icon in the task bar ﬂashes red when items in the selected category or rundown are missing.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 17

Introducing Aurora Playout

The embedded Assignment List Manager runs on the Aurora Edit workstation and integrates with Aurora Edit — the Aurora Edit toolbar displays part of the Assignment List so editors can see at a glance how many stories need video.

Opening the Assignment List Manager provides more detail on speciﬁc stories.

Overview of the Housekeeper

Playback operators use Housekeeper to remove ﬁles from the clip database, import ﬁles from media servers, and to archive clips.

18 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Introducing Aurora Playout

Housekeeper typically runs on the computer with the Main Aurora Playout application, though it can be installed on multiple computers if necessary.

Due to differences in media server channeless connection limit, not all computers within your broadcast operation can run Housekeeper application at the same time. If your media server is K2 version 3.2, you can run up to sev en Housekeeper applications simultaneously . While for M-Series, Proﬁle and K2 v ersion 3.1 and lo wer; only three Housekeeper applications can be run at the same time.

Overview of the Simple Database (SDB) Server

The SDB Server runs in the background to keep clip status current.

When the status of a clip changes, the SDB Server updates available status and clip duration in the Aurora Playout database, which in turn updates the Aurora Playout application. In addition, when a clip sent from Aurora Edit is associated with a Aurora Playout placeholder, the SDB Server updates the number of missing items in the Assignment List Manager and Assignment List Plug-in.

The SDB Server runs on the same computer as the XMOS Server, and optionally on a second system as a hot standby backup database.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 19

Introducing Aurora Playout

Overview of the Thumbnail Server

The Thumbnail Server displays connection status to the Proﬁle media server(s) and creates thumbnails for MPEG clips. The K2 system or the M-Series iVDR does not use the Thumbnail Server.

The Thumbnail Server typically runs on the Aurora Playout machine for ﬂexibility, but it can run on the same computer as the other Aurora Playout Server components.

20 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Overview of the XMOS Server

The XMOS Server displays the communication between the Newsroom Computer System and Aurora Playout.

It runs on the same computer as the primary SDB Server.

Introducing Aurora Playout

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 21

Chapter 2

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• Setting Up Your NCS for Aurora Playout

• Setting up ENPS

• Setting up iNEWS

• Setting up Octopus

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 23

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Setting Up Your NCS for Aurora Playout

With Aurora Playout, you can use your Newsroom Computer System (NCS) to create rundowns and link clips to rundown scripts. The MOS-compatible NCS needs to be conﬁgured for use with Aurora Playout.

• ENPS

• iNEWS

• Octopus

Setting up ENPS

To set up ENPS for use with Aurora Playout, you need to modify your ENPS conﬁguration.

1. On the ENPS servers, ﬁnd the nom.ini ﬁle and add the following section:

[MOS] Inport=10540 Outport=10541 LogIn=1 LogOut=1 Version=2.6 NumberROConstruction=0

2. Close the News Object Manager (NOM); it should restart automatically.

3. On an ENPS client, log in as the administrator and start up ENPS.

4. From the NEWS folder (e.g. KXYZ NEWS), select System Maintenance | Groups

| New and create a new group with these parameters:

KXYZGVGID GV ClipsDescription Select the name of your ENPS server from the dropdown listServer

5. Click Save and close ENPS on the workstation.

6. At both ENPS Servers, choose Resync (if using an ENPS Buddy Server).

7. Close the News Object Manager and it should restart automatically . After the NOM has started, restart the ENPS client.

8. From the NEWS folder (e.g. KXYZ NEWS), select System Maintenance | MOS

Configuration | New and create a new MOS entry with these parameters:

24 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Default Settings

MOS Version

The MOS ID; this value is case sensitive and must match the MOS ID conﬁgured in the XMOS Server Options.The recommended format is <family>.<machine>.<location>.<enterprise>.mos. Standard practice is to use station call letters for location and station group abbreviation for enterprise.

GV Assignment ListDescription The IP address or host name of the machine hosting the SDB Server

and the XMOS Server. GVG.XMOSCtrl.1ActiveX Leave blank. These settings are conﬁgured when you install the

Assignment List Plug-in. The group ID you conﬁgured in step 4.Program

2.6 OffLocal DragDrop OnAuto Create OnStory Send

9. From the NEWS folder (e.g. KXYZ NEWS), select System Maintenance | Global

Configuration Options, add a new property named AddMOSObjDuration and set its

value to 1.

10. On the ENPS server, close the NOM one last time and let it restart automatically.

11. Restart the ENPS client application.

12. Install the Assignment List Plug-in on all ENPS clients where this functionality is needed.

Sending scripts with ENPS

The ENPS MOS Story Send feature allows Aurora Edit systems to view scripts.

1. For an existing rundown or template in ENPS, go to Properties.

2. Temporarily toggle the MOS Control Active ﬁeld to OFF.

3. Click in the MOS Story Send ﬁeld and turn on the checkbox for the MOS ID used for Aurora Playout.

4. Toggle the MOS Control Active to ON to make the rundown available to Aurora Playout.

5. Conﬁgure the XMOS Server to write scripts.

Aurora Edit systems will then be able to use the "Link to Story" and "Story View" features.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 25

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Setting ENPS MOS ready to air

If you want producers to have the ability to indicate to the Aurora Playout operation when a rundown is ready, use the ENPS MOS Ready to Air feature.

To set the feature:

• Set the ENPS rundown property “Ready to air” to ON. A corresponding READY ﬂag is set to ON in the Aurora Playout rundown window

Status column.

Setting up iNEWS

To set up iNEWS for use with Aurora Playout, you need to add a new MOS device to the iNEWS conﬁguration ﬁle:

1. On the MOS gateway machine, open the ﬁle C:\Program Files\Avid\MOSGateway\mosconﬁg.xml.

2. Modify the following lines of the ﬁle, adding values for your location:

Value

ncs id

mos

amcp

Description

Your Newsroom Computer System name; this value is case sensitive and must match the NCS ID conﬁguration in the XMOS Server options.

The hostname of the iNEWS server.host Your MOS ID; this value is case sensitiv e and must match the MOS ID

conﬁguration in the XMOS Server options. The tag displayed in iNEWS scripts for placeholders embedded in

scripts. This value should match the device name that appears in the iNEWS SYSTEM.MAP ﬁle.

The hostname of the machine running the XMOS Server.network

NOTE: With iNEWS, <handlesRoItemLevelCommands> default setting could cause stories to drop to the bottom of the playlist when they are newly inserted, or when their channel assignment is changed. Therefore, <handlesRoItemLevelCommands> value should be set to NO in the mosconﬁg.xml ﬁle.

Configuring status translations for iNEWS

To ensure correct status reporting between Aurora Playout and iNEWS server, you need to edit the status translation table in the iNEWS conﬁguration ﬁle.

26 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

• The status translation table within the mosconﬁg.xml ﬁle should appear as below:

<statusTranslations> <statusUnavailable>NOT READY</statusUnavailable> <statusCueing>CUEING</statusCueing> <statusAvailable>READY</statusAvailable> <statusCued>STAND BY</statusCued> <statusPlaying>PLAY</statusPlaying> <statusPaused>STOPPED</statusPaused> <statusStopped>END</statusStopped> </statusTranslations>

• On the iNEWS server, your MCS dictionary (located at /site/dict/mcs) would typically contain these lines:

A_EVERR /5ERROR A_CAFRZ /END A_CATREL /2STANDBY A_CATHRD /THREAD A_CACUING /2CUEING A_CACUED /2CUED A_CANOTAPE /4NOT READY A_CABIN /READY A_CAPLAY /3PLAY A_CAPAUSE /3STOPPED A_CAREW /REWIND A_CAEJECT /EJECT A_CAINCMPLT /TRANSFER

NOTE: Since the statuses that appear in this dictionary can be customized, the values shown in the right column of your MCS dictionary may vary slightly from the ones shown here.

To ensure correct conﬁguration with iNEWS, a sample of the mosconﬁg.xml ﬁle is provided in the appendix section.

Setting up Octopus

In order to use Octopus with Aurora Playout, you need to conﬁgure it ﬁrst.

To conﬁgure Octopus for Aurora Playout, you need to register a ﬁle on the Octopus server, create an ActiveX device, and modify the MOS Devices conﬁguration.

Registering the MOSWrapper file for Octopus

You need to register the MOSWrapper ﬁle before conﬁguring Octopus for Aurora Playout.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 27

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

1. Find the ﬁle MOSWrapper.ocx on the Octopus server machine.

2. Put the ﬁle on the Octopus server in the following location:

• On a Windows 2000 machine, put the ﬁle in C:/WINNT

• On a Windows XP machine, put the ﬁle in C:/WINDOWS

3. Double-click on the ﬁle to register it.

4. If necessary, specify the program to register it as REGSVR32.exe.

Creating an ActiveX Device for Octopus

You need to create an ActiveX device before using Octopus with Aurora Playout.

1. In the Octopus application, go to Admin | MOS | Devices.

2. Highlight the MOS ID for Aurora Playout.

3. Click the ActiveX button in the toolbar.

4. Click New and conﬁgure the device as follows:

SettingOption

User preference (e.g., ALP)Name User preference (e.g., Assignment List)Long Name

Size

Enter GUID of Acti veX control

800 width x 600 height browserType

1.0 iNewsVersion GUIDInsert ActiveX using 4A7EA76A-62A5-11D4-BAE8-0050048C80CA

5. Click OK.

Configuring the MOS Device for Octopus

You need to conﬁgure the MOS Device before using Octopus with Aurora Playout.

1. In the Octopus application, go to Admin | MOS | Devices and double-click on the device you want to use with Aurora Playout.

2. Conﬁgure the Basic tab as follows:

These values must match those set for the XMOS Server.mosID

ncsID

28 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

UncheckedDisabled

MOS protocol version

Rundown server port

2.6 Name of machine hosting the SDB ServerMedia server host SDB Server port (normally won’t change from default setting)Media server port Name of machine hosting the XMOS ServerRundown server host XMOS Server port (normally won’t change from default

setting)

3. Conﬁgure the Advanced tab as follows:

Send all objects Send empty elements Send empty stories Editable times Supports more than one show

Content synchronisation allowed

SettingOption

roReplaceReplace rundowns after connection

Send rundown metadata Send story texts

Prompt story element labels Keep sending roStoryReplace Log heartbeats Send roElementAction Uses UTC time Receive feedback for all shows Allow mosListAll Use name instead of JobID Delete lowres ﬁles

4. Conﬁgure the Object creation tab as follows:

Default MOS object creation device

User PreferenceSend story text elements

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 29

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Allow automatic MOS object creation

5. Conﬁgure the Statuses tab as follows:

00:00:00:00Default MOS object duration %n (where n = the name of the slug)MOS object naming pattern

Controls story status

(needed to provide status information on Aurora Playout)

a) Create these status categories (these are the suggested names and order):

6. Conﬁgure the Extra tab as follows:

Send channel info: Other settings based on user preference

7. On the Times tab, use the default settings.

8. Click OK.

30 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Chapter 3

Installing Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• Installing Aurora Playout

• Cabling the Aurora Playout computer

• Installing Aurora Playout Software

• Connecting the RDU 1510 Under Monitor Display

• Connecting the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 31

Installing Aurora Playout

The Aurora Playout system which runs on a standard PC, offers coordinated news playback from the K2 media server/media client, Proﬁle XP Media Platform, and the M-Series intelligent video digital recorder (iVDR).

Software for Aurora Playout needs to be installed on the central computer, as well as other components on various computers in your network.

Cabling the Aurora Playout computer

Aurora Playout is typically installed on a computer with RS-422 boards and GPI boards. Proper cabling is needed for ﬂawless use of the application.

The following illustration provides an example of a typical computer. Your particular computer might be different.

32 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Installing Aurora Playout

Connect the GPI inputs and outputs using the separate cables and connection blocks as instructed in the Sealevel manuals included with your system.

Installing Aurora Playout Software

You can install Aurora Playout software using the Aurora Playout installation CD.

Because you must conﬁgure some components with the locations of other components, you should plan your overall installation before you begin.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 33

Installing Aurora Playout

The various Aurora Playout components reside on multiple computers. Using the installation CD, you can choose which component to install on a particular computer.

Machine where you install it...Component

Aurora Playout application

Thumbnail Server

Aurora Playout Server Components:XMOS ServerSDB Server

Housekeeper

(standalone version)

Aurora Playout computer.

NOTE: It is recommended that Aurora Playout is run at a display resolution of 1280 x 1024.

Separate PC for the Server Components.

NOTE: If you are using an M-Series iVDR or K2 as your media server, you don’t need to install the Thumbnail Server.

Recommend installing on a separate computer even though they are allowed to be on Aurora Playout computer.

NOTE: When the XMOS Server application is running on a Windows XP system, it is recommended that the “Windows Firewall” feature be turned off, as it can adversely affect the speed of MOS communication with the newsroom computer system.

Aurora Playout computer or another PC on the same network

Non-NCS computers, usually used by Newsroom ProducersAssignment List Manager

All NCS client computers.Assignment List Plug-in

Hot Standby Database Server

Optional; install on a PC on the same network as the Aurora Playout computer.

1. Insert the Aurora Playout CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Navigate to the CD and double-click SetupAuroraPlayout.exe.

3. Click Next until you reach the Select Components screen.

34 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Installing Aurora Playout

4. At the Select Components screen, check the boxes for the component(s) you want to install.

5. Click Next to start the installation.

6. Click Finish at the Installation Complete screen.

7. Conﬁgure each component:

Installing the Assignment List Plug-in

The Assignment List Plug-in should be installed on each NCS computer that needs to access it.

You can install this plug-in on each computer using the installation CD, or you can create a network installation from which you can install the plug-in on multiple computers using the same conﬁguration ﬁle.

Installing ALP using the installer

If you are installing the Assignment List Plug-in on a small number of computers, the easiest way to install it is to use the installation CD.

1. Insert the Aurora Playout CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Navigate to the CD and double-click SetupAuroraPlayout.exe.

3. Click Next until you reach the Select Components screen.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 35

Installing Aurora Playout

4. At the Select Components screen, check the Assignment List Plugin checkbox and click Next.

The Assignment List Plugin Conﬁguration Selection screen appears:

5. Select Configure Assignment List Plugin using installer and click Next.

36 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Installing Aurora Playout

The Assignment List Plugin Conﬁguration Dialog screen appears:

6. Enter the following information for your system and click Next:

Name

Database Server

Backup Database Server

MOS ID

Thumbnail Path

Description

Enter the name of the server hosting the Aurora Playout database (the primary SDB Server).

If you are using a backup server, check the box and enter the name of the server hosting the Hot Standby Database Server.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the XMOS Server .XMOS Server Enter your MOS ID; in ENPS, the MOS ID appears under

ENPS | System Maintenance | MOS Conﬁguration in the ID column.

Enter the full path to the shared thumbnail directory on the computer where thumbnails are stored, in the format \\server\foldername; e.g., if you have a shared folder named “thumbnails” on your playout system named “Playout1”, the path would be \\Playout1\thumbnails.This path needs to match the path set in Aurora Edit—Tools | Options | Aurora Playout | Thumbnail Path.

Please choose Newsroom computer system:

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 37

Select the type of Newsroom Computer System you are using—ENPS/Octopus or iNEWS.

Installing Aurora Playout

7. Click Next.

8. Click Finish to complete the installation.

You can view or change conﬁguration settings by clicking the Options button within the Assignment List Plug-in.

Installing ALP using a Configuration File

If you want to install the Assignment List Plug-in on multiple computers with the same conﬁguration, you can create a network installer.

1. Copy the Aurora Playout software installation ﬁle, SetupAuroraPlayout.exe, from the CD onto your network.

2. Using a text editor such as Notepad, create a ﬁle called setup.ini similar to this example:

[AssignmentListPlugin] DatabaseServer=SERVER1 BackupDatabaseServer=SERVER2 MosID=thom.wxyz.mos ThumbnailPath=\\PLAYOUT1\thumbnails VideoStandard=1 XMOSServer=SERVER1 RundownView=1 UnicodeDragDrop=1

DatabaseServer

BackupDatabaseServer

MOSID Thumbnail Path

VideoStandard

XMOS Server Rundown View

UnicodeDragDrop

DescriptionName

The name of the server hosting the Aurora Playout database (primary SDB Server).

The name of the server hosting the hot standby Aurora Playout database (backup SDB Server).

Your MOS ID. The full path to the shared thumbnail directory on the computer

where thumbnails are stored, in the format \\server\foldername; e.g., if you have a shared folder named “thumbnails” on your playout system named “Playout1”, the path would be \\Playout1\thumbnails.This path needs to match the path set in Aurora Edit—Tools | Options | Aurora Playout | Thumbnails Path.

Your video standard: 0 for PAL, 1 for NTSC - Drop Frame, or 2 for NTSC - Non-drop Frame.

The name of the computer hosting the XMOS Server. Determines whether to show the list of rundowns in the left pane

of the Assignment List Plug-in: 0 for off, 1 for on. Your Newsroom Computer System: 0 for iNEWS or 1 for

ENPS/Octopus.

38 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

3. Save the ﬁle in the directory with the SetupAuroraPlayout.exe ﬁle.

4. Navigate to the network directory where you sav ed the installer and conﬁguration

ﬁle and double-click SetupAuroraPlayout.exe. b) Click Next until you reach the Select Components screen. c) At the Select Components screen, check the Assignment List Plugin checkbox

and click Next. d) Select Configure Assignment List Plugin using setup.ini and click Next. e) Click Next. f) Click Finish to complete the installation.

The installer uses the setup.ini ﬁle to conﬁgure the Assignment List Plug-in.

Installing ALP using a Batch File

You can also create a batch ﬁle to automatically install the Assignment List Plug-in using the setup.ini ﬁle.

1. Create a text ﬁle named setupALP.bat.

2. In the ﬁle, put this text: setupauroraplayout.exe /ALP

3. Save the ﬁle into the same directory as the Aurora Playout installer and your setup.ini ﬁle.

4. From each computer on which you are installing the plug-in; double-click

setupALP.bat.

Installing Aurora Playout

The batch ﬁle runs and installs the plug-in.

Connecting the RDU 1510 Under Monitor Display

A Remote Display Unit (RDU) can be controlled via Aurora Playout.

Use a cable that has a DB9 serial connector on one end and an RJ11 connection on the other. The DB9 end connects to the COM1 serial port on the back of the Aurora Playout, and the RJ11 end connects to the port labeled "Control" on the back of the RDU-1510. This is an RS-422/RS-232 serial communication port.

The RJ11 connector’s pinout is described in the table below. Pin 1 is at the bottom of the connector. Aurora Playout can be connected to either pins 3 and 4 for RS-422 or pin 4 for RS-232. When using RS-232, pin 3 must be connected to ground. The remote display unit does not transmit data to this serial port connector.

FunctionPin

No connection1 Ground2 RS-422 non-inverted data or grounded for RS-2323 RS-422 inverted data or RS-232 data4

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 39

Installing Aurora Playout

Connecting the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller

Once you have installed Aurora Playout and the other components, you can install the optional X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller.

Aurora Playout has been designed to work with the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller (model XPS-08-USB) including devices with old and new MWII panels.

1. Plug the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller into a USB connector on the Aurora Playout machine.

2. On the Aurora Playout machine, insert the X-keys Macro Works installation CD and follow instructions. Do not check the box to put shortcuts on the desktop.

FunctionPin

No connection5 No connection6

If AutoRun is not enabled on your CD-ROM drive, ﬁnd the ﬁle "ainstall.exe" on the installation CD and run it.

3. Reboot the computer when prompted.

4. When the installation has completed, the X-keys Macro Maker and Macro Manager windows automatically pop up. Close these windows. Aurora Playout comes with a pre-conﬁgured X-keys layout.

5. Start Aurora Playout.

6. In the Aurora Playout Tools menu, select Options.

7. Select the Function Keys tab.

8. Verify the “Enable X-keys” box is checked and click OK.

Now you can use the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller. A default layout has been provided with pre-conﬁgured X-keys. You can customize

the X-keys to suit your needs.

40 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Chapter 4

Configuring Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

• Conﬁguring the Aurora Playout application

• Conﬁguring the Simple Database (SDB) Server

• Conﬁguring the Thumbnail Server

• Conﬁguring the XMOS Server

• Conﬁguring Housekeeper

• Conﬁguring the standalone Assignment List Manager

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 41

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Configuring Aurora Playout

Aurora Playout has many options that let you deﬁne how your system is set up.

While your system was pre-conﬁgured at the factory, you might want to adjust some options based on how you use Aurora Playout

Configuring the Aurora Playout application

Each setting of the Aurora Playout application is discussed in case you need to reconﬁgure your system.

1. Choose Tools | Options.

The Options window appears.

2. Go through each tab in the Options window and conﬁgure Aurora Playout using the descriptions for each tab.

42 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

3. Click Apply to apply your settings to each tab.

4. Click OK when you are done setting options.

Setting General options

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Database Server

Backup Database Server

XMOS Server

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 43

Enter the name of the computer hosting the primary SDB Server.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the hot-standby SDB Server.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the XMOS Server. By default, the Update MOS Status checkbox is selected. When you have two or more Playout systems running, uncheck the box on the backup system to avoid MOS status conﬂicts when the same rundown is loaded by more than one Playout system.

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Thumbnail Path

Yes; NoDisconnect

Warning

Setting Playback options

Select Yes to be alerted before Aurora Playout disconnects the synchronization with the NCS.

DescriptionOptionSetting

SoftChannel

Assignment

44 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

When a rundown is loaded, does not assign channels to stories; clips will be cued to the ﬁrst available channel.

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionSetting

Stop Cue Delay

Post Roll Stop

Out Cue Preview

Minimum On-Air

Hard

EnabledSpace Bar Play Disabled Count DownCounter Mode Count Up

MM:SS

When a rundown is loaded, assigns channels to all stories without a current channel assignment and maintains that assignment regardless of the available channels.

Enables or disables use of the space bar to play the next cued clip.

Sets the clip duration counter to count time down from the clip duration to zero, or from zero up to the clip duration.

Determines how the counter is displayed.HH:MM:SS:FFCounter Display

Determines the amount of time to freeze a clip on its last frame before cueing the next clip on that channel.

When a channel is playing and Play Next is pressed, determines the amount of time that the clip continues to post roll before cueing the next clip to that channel.

Previews the last fe w seconds of the clip and immediately recues. (The number of seconds that previews is determined by your studio’s needs.)

Determines the minimum time that the On-Air GPI trigger must be on before releasing it will send the clip into post-roll and cue the next clip.

End Blip 1 and 2

End Blip Stay On

Prevent Pause within X Seconds of Play

Setting channel configuration

Determines the amount of time prior to the end of a clip to display an audio/visual warning.

Determines whether the End Blip visual signal remains on once triggered or just ﬂashes momentarily.

Determines whether stop commands (through GPI input or mouse click) can occur within a determined period of time after the playing of a clip begins.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 45

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Channel/Backup Playback Channel

On; OffInclude in

Rotation

On; OffUse Backup

Control TypeMain Playback

Port Media Server

Server Channel Name

RS 422; Ethernet

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Select the channel to conﬁgure.1-6Select Channel Enter a label name for the channel.Channel NameChannel Check Include in Rotation to include this

channel when automatically assigning channels.

Check Use Backup if you are using a second media server for mirrored playback.

Select the type of channel connection.

Select the primary port for this channel.Playback Control

Enter the name of the K2, M-Series or Proﬁle system.

Enter the name of the channel you are using for this playback channel. Use the naming

46 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Click the Summary button for a complete list of channel information after all channels had been conﬁgured.

Configuring GPI Input and Output

General Purpose Interface (GPI) input and output allow you to connect a switcher or other control device to the Aurora Playout system and use it to control the Aurora Playout software.

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

convention VTR1, VTR2, etc., for the channel name.

Aurora Playout supports both PCI and ethernet based GPI depending on your choice of GPI device. You can select either PCI or Ethernet from the Device Type dropdown list. You can also set either 16 or 32 GPI inputs depending on the hardware conﬁguration.

For ethernet based GPI connection, you then need to enter the IP address and slave ID of your GPI device.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 47

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

• Check the Enable General Purpose Input box to start conﬁguring your GPI Input. To assign the function of a GPI input, select the GPI number, the channel it

affects, and the function you want the GPI to perform.

Enable GPI Input

GP Input Channel

GPI Function for Channel A-F labels: First; Second;

Third

OptionsSetting

On (checked); Off (unchecked)

1 through 16 or 32 <none>; Channel

1-6; Not Channel Speciﬁc

Select a function for each GPI input. Each input usually has only one function, though it can perform up to three functions.

On-Air

Description

Check Enable General Purpose Input to control the Aurora Playout software via GPI input.

Select the GPI input you are conﬁguring. Select the channel that this GPI trigger will

affect.

The GPI has no assigned function.<none> Plays or stops the current clip.Play/Stop Plays the current clip.Play Stops playing the current clip.Stop Recues the current clip.Recue Cues the previous clip in the playlist.Cue Previous Cues the next clip in the playlist.Cue Next Only used with the First GPI function. Sends

the speciﬁed channel an On-Air signal. When Aurora Playout detects a signal, the channel window becomes red to indicate the channel is playing to air. When the On-Air GPI trigger is held longer than the Minimum On-Air duration speciﬁed under Options and then released, the channel goes into post-roll and then cues the next clip.

The GPI has no assigned function.<none>GPI Function for Not Channel Speciﬁc:

Cue All

Cues a clip into each available channel, starting

with the selected clip.

Plays the next clip in the playlist.Play Next

Stops all playing channels in the playlist.Stop All

Selects the previous item in the playlist.Cursor Up

Selects the next item in the playlist.Cursor Down

• Check the Enable General Purpose Output box to start conﬁguring your GPI Output.

48 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

T o assign the function of a GPI output, select the channel it affects, the command in Aurora Playout that triggers GPI output and the GPI output number.

Enable GPI Output

Channel

OptionsSetting

On (checked); Off (unchecked)

<none>; Channel 1

- 6 CuedCommand

Playing

Loop Play

Jog Forward Jog Backward

End Blip 1 (Hold till End of Clip)

Description

Check Enable General Purpose Output to allow Aurora Playout to trigger GPI outputs.

Select the channel that will trigger the GPI output.

The output is set when the channel is cued; reset when the channel is playing or if the clip is ejected.

The output is set when the channel is playing; reset when the channel is stopped or the clip is ejected.

The output is set when the channel is in loop play mode; reset if not in loop play mode.

The output is set when the Jog Forward or Jog Backward buttons are pressed; reset when the Play, Stop, or Eject buttons are pressed, or when the channel is re-cued.

The output is set when the playing channel reaches End Blip 1; reset when the channel is stopped or the clip is ejected.

GP Output

After conﬁguring your GPI inputs and outputs, you can see the overview of your current GPI setting by clicking the button.

Defining Function Keys

End Blip 2 (Hold till End of Clip)

<none>; 1-16 or 1-32 (depending on your conﬁguration)

The output is set when the playing channel reaches End Blip 2; reset when the channel is stopped or the clip is ejected.

Select the GPI output you want to activate.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 49

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

The computer function keys (F1 - F12) provide shortcuts to some Aurora Playout commands, and are pre-conﬁgured by default to control the following functions for

channels 1 through 3. You can click the button to view the summary of those pre-conﬁgured function key assignments.

Function KeyAurora Playout

function

Channel 3Channel 2Channel 1

F9F5F1Play/Stop Cued Clip F10F6F2Recue Current Clip F11F7F3Cue Previous Clip F12F8F4Cue Next Clip

T o reassign a function, select the Function K e y number , the channel it af fects, and the command you want the function key to perform.

DescriptionOptionSetting

F1 through F12Function Key

Select the function key you want to set.

50 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionSetting

Configuring the X-Keys Controller

You can use Aurora Playout with the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller.

Many of the X-keys have been pre-conﬁgured on the Green layer; only the Toggle key has been pre-conﬁgured on the Red layer. You can change the default layout or add new commands on the unused keys.

<none>Channel Channel 1-6 <none>Command Play/Stop Recue Cue Previous Cue Next On (checked)Enable X-keys Off (unchecked)

Select the channel on which the function key will operate.

Select the command the function key will perform on the speciﬁed channel.

Check Enable X-keys to allow Aurora Playout to use an X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller . Click Conﬁgure to deﬁne the function of each X-key.

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 51

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

NOTE: Before you can use the X-k eys J og/Shuttle controller, you need to install the X-keys Macro Works software. However, do not use the X-keys Macro Maker application to modify the keys.

1. Check Enable X-keys on the Function Keys tab and click Configure.

2. Click on the key that you want to conﬁgure or modify. A drop-down list displays the available commands.

3. Select a command to apply to this key.

4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 to conﬁgure additional keys.

5. Once you have ﬁnished conﬁguring keys, click OK.

In addition to keys, the controller comes with jog/shuttle knob . The jog control, the center disk of the knob, allows you to make precise frame by frame selections for editing. The outer rim can be used in Shuttle or Varispeed mode. The SH/VS key toggles between the two modes.

Shuttle and Varispeed modes both allow you to play clips at various preset fast forward, rewind, and slow-motion speeds. In Shuttle mode, when you release the knob the clip stops. In Varispeed mode, when you release the knob the clip keeps playing until you press the Stop key.

52 Aurora Playout User Guide 19 November 2008

Using the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller

The X-keys controller allows you to simplify your workﬂow. For example, you can use the default layout to easily navigate between different channels or between the Playlist and Clip Browser windows.

Any commands you send using the X-keys controller apply to the currently active channel or window, which is considered to have focus. When a channel has focus, you can perform tasks such as navigating through a clip or trimming a clip. When a window has focus, you can scroll through the clips or the playlist. Always bear in mind that you need to give focus to a channel or window before you can apply the X-keys controller commands to it.

The following table describes the pre-conﬁgured keys on the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller.

DescriptionSetting

Enables or disables the X-keys Jog/Shuttle controller.Enable X-keys Indicates whether you are conﬁguring the Red or Green layer.Layer

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Reset All Keys

Toggle

Focus PL

Focus CB

Scr Up , Scr Down

Focus 1-6

Focus Next

Resets all the keys on the particular layer that you are conﬁguring. Reset All Keys does not affect keys that shift between the layers, i.e. the Toggle, Red, and Green keys.

While you are using the X-keys controller, Toggle switches between the Red and Green layers.

Gives focus to the main Aurora Playout Playlist window , that is, mak es the Playlist window active. X-keys commands such as scrolling will apply to the window that has focus.

Gives focus to the Clip Browser window, if open. X-keys commands such as scrolling will apply to the window that has focus.

When the focus is on the Clip Browser window, you can press the Scroll Up or the Scroll Down button to select a clip in the Clip Browser. When the focus is on the main Playlist window, you can press the Scroll Up or the Scroll Down button to select a clip in the Rundown.

Gives focus to the speciﬁed channel. X-keys commands such as those related to playing, shuttling, or trimming a clip in a channel will apply to the channel that currently has focus.

Gives focus to the next channel. All X-keys commands will apply to the channel that currently has focus.

Jogs the clip backward 10 frames.10 Back Jogs the clip forward 10 frames.10 Fwd Jogs the clip backward 1 frame.1 Back Jogs the clip forward 1 frame.1 Fwd

Rew

19 November 2008 Aurora Playout User Guide 53

When the focus is on a channel, you can press the Rew button to rewind the clip in that channel.

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionSetting

Tab Key

Enter Key

Mark In

Mark Out

Out Cue

VAR -1; VAR 1; VAR -3;

VAR -7; VAR 7 access the negative (backw ard) speeds, move the wheel to the right to access

When the focus is on a channel, you can press the FF button to fast forward through the clip in that channel.

In message dialog boxes, functions in the same manner as the Tab key on a computer keyboard.

In message dialog boxes, functions in the same manner as the Enter key on the computer keyboard.

Toggles between Shuttle and Varispeed modes.SH/VS Marks a new In point for a clip. After trimming, the clip must be recued to

apply the new Mark In. Marks a new Out point for a clip. After trimming, the clip must be recued

to apply the new Mark Out. Clears the trim marks of a clip.Clear When a channel has focus, you can use the Out Cue key to activate Out

Cue Preview for that channel. This allows you to preview the end of a clip by playing the last few seconds, followed by a recue to the beginning. The duration of the preview can be conﬁgured by going to the Tools menu and selecting Options, then changing the Out Cue Preview ﬁeld on the Playback tab.

These seven speeds correspond to whatev er v alues are typed into the ﬁelds in the Variable Speed Presets section of the X-keys Conﬁguration dialog box. When you press a VAR key, the clip plays at the preset speed for thatVAR 3; VAR key until you press the Stop key. You can move the wheel to the left to-5; VAR 5;

the positive (forward) speeds.

Variable speed presets

Defining status colors

Aurora Playout uses color to show clip status.

Recues the clip.Recue Plays or stops the clip.Play/Stop Preset speeds that you can access by using the shuttle/varispeed wheel of

the controller or by using the VAR keys. You can modify these to your own settings.

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

To change a color, open the drop-down menu for the color you want to change and select a new color.

Status DescriptionSetting

The color to indicate that a clip is cued.Cued The color to indicate that a clip is playing.Roll The color to indicate that a clip is stopped during play.Stopped The color to indicate that a clip is in post roll.Post Roll The color to indicate the ﬁrst audio/visual warning.End Blip 1 The color to indicate the second audio/visual warning.End Blip 2 Resets those colors to the default system colors.Default

Configuring the Remote Display Unit (RDU)

A Remote Display Unit (RDU) lets you see the clips playing on each channel and the status of each clip.

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

The RDU usually resides in the control room so that operators can monitor playback status during a broadcast. There are two different RDUs you can use with Aurora Playout: RDU 1510 or TSI 1000.

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Type of Display Unit

TSI-1000 1; 2; 3Select Unit

Control

Font

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- Com Port; - Machine Name

Text FontColor and

Normal; Spaced;

Select your type of Remote Display Unit.RDU-1510;

For the TSI, select the unit that you want to use. You can connect the Aurora Playout system to up to three TSI Remote Display Units. The default values of these units are 1,2, and 3. You can conﬁgure these to more appropriate names for your needs.

For the RDU 1510, select the Com Port on the Aurora Playout that the RDU is connected to (usually COM1). For the TSI 1000, enter the IP address or the host name of the TSI 1000 machine.

Select the text format to display on the RDU.

Thin; Small

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Resource

Normal Color

On-Air Color

External Color

On-Air and External Color

Display ID (1-6) / Resource ID

Tally Input (1-2) / Input ID

Red; Green; Amber

Select the color to display on the RDU during normal operation.

Select the color to display on the RDU to indicate a GPI On-Air trigger.

Select the color to display on an external tally device to indicate an input trigger.

Select the color to display on the RDU to indicate that both the GPI On-Air and Tally Input are triggered.

Enter the Display ID number for each channel on the RDU. The Display ID determines the position of the clip information on the RDU.

The Tally Input determines the state of the channel, and the color display associated with the current channel state on the RDU. Typically, these settings should be left at their default values. For more information about tally states, please see the user manual for your RDU.

Display Size

Duration

Setting Cue and Chain options

Check the Size checkbox to display the clip name with the full number of characters allowed. If Full is checked, 19 characters can be displayed. If Full is not checked, 13 characters can be displayed. (TSI-1000 only)

Check the Duration box to display the minute and seconds. (TSI-1000 only)

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Auto Recue

Prevent Auto Recue above last played item

Auto Cue on Loading Rundown

Prevent Cue All from ejecting playing clips

Auto Chain

DescriptionSetting

Check Auto Recue to automatically recue clips in the playlist when a clip is moved to a new position within the Aurora Playout playlist or the NCS rundown, or when clips change to Ready status.

Check Prevent Auto Recue above last played item to automatically recue clips that are below the last played item in the playlist only. New clips that show up above the last played item can still be cued manually by the operator.

Check Auto Cue on Loading Rundown to automatically cue clips into all available channels when you open a rundown.

Check Prevent Cue All from ejecting playing clips to prevent a playing clip from being ejected when the Cue All command is issued.

Check Auto Chain to have Aurora Playout automatically chain two or more consecutive clips in a playlist that are assigned to the same channel.

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Configuring Archive Play

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Channel 1-6Channel

Archive Black

VTR Port

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Select the channel to use for Archi ve Play . When in Archive Play mode, clips can be cued only to this channel.

Specify the Archive Black duration. Archive Black is the black video that separates each archived clip from the next. The default time is 5 seconds.If it does not already exist on your media server, you must record a black clip and place it in the default media bin. The clip should be about 10 seconds long and must be named “BLACK”.

Select the COM port you are using to connect the VTR.

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Disable GPI Input during Archive Play

On (checked); Off (unchecked)

Determines whether to allow GPI Input while archiving clips.

Configuring the Simple Database (SDB) Server

The SDB Server provides you with status on all Aurora Playout playlists associated with NCS rundowns and media servers.

When using a Hot Standby SDB Server, you should be logged in as Administrator while making any changes to the Options settings.

1. Double-click SDB Server button . on the desktop; or click the Start menu and choose Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | SDB Server.

2. Choose Tools | Options. The Options window appears.

3. Go through each tab on the Options window and conﬁgure SDB Server using descriptions in the following sections.

4. Click OK.

Setting General Options of SDB Server

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionSetting

Database Identiﬁer

Mirror Server

MediaFrame Server

Enter an ID for the database, up to 4 characters, such as your station call letters. All clip IDs will be gin with this identiﬁer . This is an optional ﬁeld.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the backup database server. For the primary SDB Server, this is the system hosting the hot standby database server; for the hot standby database server, this is the system hosting the primary SDB Server.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the XMOS Server.XMOS Server Enter the name of the computer hosting the MediaFrame Server . After this

setting is conﬁgured, MediaFrame components can be accessed in Aurora Playout application, Housekeeper, Assignment List Manager and Assignment List Plug-in.

NOTE: If you have MediaF rame client applications on a dif ferent Windo ws domain from the MediaFrame server , you need to deﬁne

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionSetting

a trust relationship (one way or two way). For example, you could have your MediaF rame system on W indows domain A with a trust in the B domain. Applications running on Windows domain B can then connect to the MediaFrame server on Windows domain A.

Video Standard

Path

Interval Thumbnail

Server

Being Edited

Setting Media options of SDB Server

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Playout Servers

Ingest Servers

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Lets you deﬁne the media servers you are using for playout. To add a playout server, click Add, enter the Name and Drive where the media is stored on the playout server, and click OK. If you are using mirrored playback, add both servers here.

Use the Auto Transfer feature to automatically transfer media from a source (ingest) server to a destination (playout) server. The Auto Transfer takes place only when media that is sent to or recorded on the ingest server is associated with a Playout placeholder that is part of a MOS-Active rundown. To add an ingest server, check Auto Transfer , click Add, enter the name, and click OK. To change the ingest server to a different server, select the server and click Rename. A media server can only be either a source or destination server for Auto Transfer , so the same media server should

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

never be added to both the Playout and Ingest sections. If you are not using Auto Transfer, lea ve this section blank.

Media Bin

Monitor all rundownsRundown Status

Monitor open rundowns only

16:9; 4:3Thumbnails

Aurora Playout creates a default Media Bin where playout media is sent; also used for monitoring ready status and clip duration.

Select Monitor all rundowns to update statuses for stories in all active rundowns in your newsroom computer system, regardless of whether they are currently open in Aurora Playout; this is the default.

Select Monitor open rundowns only to update statuses for only the rundowns that are open in Aurora Playout; when set, only updates the status column in your newsroom computer system for open rundowns.

Select the video aspect ratio for thumbnails displayed in Aurora Playout components.

Reinitializing media monitor of SDB Server

T o refresh rundowns, reinitialize media serv er connections and update database records, you can select the option to Reinitialize Media Monitor.

This is an option for you to manually execute the refresh function, even though SDB Server would be automatically updated each time there is a new change to your rundown.

1. Click SDB Server on the taskbar of your desktop to display the window.

2. Select Tools | Reinitialize Media Monitor or press F5 for the shortcut button.

Repopulating rundown items from SDB Server

The option to repopulate rundown items is useful if you were to accidentally delete placeholders in Housekeeper for an active rundown. You can repopulate those placeholders by selecting this option within SDB Server.

Howev er, this option only repopulate empty placeholders and you still need to associate clips to those placeholders before the rundown is ready for playback.

In the case of a complete loss or corruption of the SDB database, repopulate could be used to rebuild the database by importing placeholders from all MOS active rundo wns.

1. Click SDB Server on the taskbar of your desktop to display the window.

2. Select Tools | Repopulate Rundown Items.

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You could see the change from “Unknown Placeholder” to the previous name of the placeholder in the rundown list.

3. Open the Housekeeper application and associate the clip to the repopulated placeholder.

Restoring backup database of SDB Server

You also have the option to restore your backup database in case the current database is corrupted or your system crashed.

For extra precaution, it is also advisable to have a backup database server on another machine on your network.

1. Click SDB Server on the taskbar of your desktop to display the window.

2. Select Tools | Restore Backup Database.

Configuring the Thumbnail Server

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

The Thumbnail Server displays connection status to the Proﬁle media server(s) and creates thumbnails for MPEG clips.

If you are using an M-Series iVDR, K2 client, or Proﬁle with DV media for playout, you don’t need to use the Thumbnail Server.

To conﬁgure the Thumbnail Server, you need to create a thumbnail folder and set up the Proﬁle media server that stores media that will be used for thumbnails.

Creating a Thumbnail folder

Regardless of which media server you’ re using, you need to create a directory in which to store video thumbnails.

1. Navigate to C:\Aurora Playout.

2. Create a folder and name it Thumbnails.

3. Right-click on the folder, select Sharing, and click Share this folder.

4. Click OK.

Setting up the Thumbnail Server

1. Double-click Thumbnail Server button . on the desktop or click the Start menu and choose Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | Thumbnail Server.

2. Choose Tools | Options.

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

3. Enter the name of the Proﬁle media server (playout server) where the media resides that will be used for thumbnails.

If using multiple servers, separate each name with a comma.

4. Click OK.

Configuring the XMOS Server

The XMOS Server provides communication between the Newsroom Computer System and Aurora Playout.

1. From the Start menu, choose Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | XMOS Server.

2. Choose Tools | Options.

The Options window appears.

3. Enter the following system information:

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Setting

MOS ID

NCS ID

NCS MOS Server

MOS Version

Database Server

Description

Enter your MOS ID:In ENPS, see ENPS | System Maintenance | MOS Conﬁguration in the ID column.In iNEWS, this value matches the <mos> value within the conﬁguration ﬁle on the iNEWS MOS Gateway at C:/Program Files/Avid/MOS Gateway/mosconﬁg.xml. See your iNEWS administrator for assistance.In Octopus, see Admin | MOS | Devices.

Enter the name of the server hosting your newsroom computer system:For ENPS, the name of the ENPS Server . If you have an ENPS Buddy server, you need to enter both the main and b uddy server names in both the NCS ID and NCS MOS Server ﬁelds, in the format "MAIN,BUDDY".For iNEWS, the name of the iNEWS Server.For Octopus, see Admin | MOS | Devices.

Enter the name of the server hosting the NCS MOS Server component:For ENPS, the same value you entered for the NCS ID.For iNEWS, the name of the iNEWS MOS Gateway machine.For Octopus, the name of the Octopus Server machine.

Select the version of MOS you are using from the pull-down menu;

2.6 for ENPS and Octopus, 2.7 for iNEWS. If your version is unknown, leave set at the default value, 2.6.

Enter the name of the server hosting the Aurora Playout database (primary SDB server).

Backup Database Server

Enter the name of the server hosting the backup Aurora Playout database (hot standby SDB server).If you are not using a hot standby SDB server, leave this ﬁeld blank.

Enter the full path (or browse) to the directory where scripts are stored.Script Path

4. Click OK.

Refreshing rundowns in XMOS Server

T o reﬂect new changes on your rundo wn, you can select the option to refresh rundowns within XMOS Server.

This is an option for users to manually execute the refresh function, even though XMOS Server would be automatically updated each time there is a new change to your rundown.

1. Double-click XMOS Server on the desktop or click the Start menu and choose

Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | XMOS Server.

2. Click Tools | Refresh Rundowns.

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Configuring Housekeeper

Housekeeper has several options that can be tailored to the requirements and equipment in your newsroom.

1. Double-click Housekeeper button on the desktop; or click the Start menu and choose Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | Housekeeper.

2. Choose Tools | Options.

3. Go through each tab on the Options window and conﬁgure Housekeeper using general and media options setup.

4. Click OK.

Setting General options of Housekeeper

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Database Server

Backup Database Server

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Enter the name of the computer hosting the Aurora Playout database (primary SDB server).

Enter the name of the computer hosting the backup Aurora Playout database (hot standby SDB server).

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

DescriptionOptionsSetting

Editorial Duration Prompt

Thumbnail Server

Check this box to prompt the user for an Editorial Duration when associating clips with placeholders through the Clip Import tab.

Enter the name of the system running the Thumbnail Server application (if used).

Enter the full path to the thumbnail directory.Thumbnail Path

Setting Media options of Housekeeper

In order for Housekeeper to connect to media servers where clips are stored, you must ﬁrst add the server names to the Media tab.

1. Click Add.

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Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

The Add Server window appears:

2. Enter the name of the server and select its type from the pull-down menu.

3. Enter the drive where media is located on the server. The default drive for a Proﬁle Serv er is EXT: and for an M-Series or K2 Server

is V:.

4. Select the type of server—Playout, Import, and/or Archive:

• Playout Server—A server where you will be sending clips to be played to air.

• Import Server—Any server where you want to import clips from; this server is

listed on the Clip Import tab.

• Archive Server— Any server where you want to archi ve ﬁles; this serv er is listed

on the Archive tab. You can only have one Archive Server.

5. Click OK.

Configuring the standalone Assignment List Manager

The Assignment List Manager lets producers create placeholders for clips, assign or reassign placeholders to editors, and monitor clip status.

1. Click the Start menu and select Programs | Grass Valley | Aurora | Assignment List

Manager.

The Assignment List Manager appears.

2. Click Options button .

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The Options window appears.

3. Enter the following system information:

Conﬁguring Aurora Playout

Database Server

Backup Database Server

Thumbnail Path

Display

XMOS Server

4. Click OK.

OptionsSetting

Placeholder List; Rundown View

Description

Enter the name of the server where the Aurora Playout database resides (primary SDB server).

Enter the name of the server for the backup Aurora Playout database (hot standby SDB server).

Select Placeholder List to display placeholders in the Assignment List Manager and select Rundo wn View to display the list of rundowns.

Enter the name of the computer hosting the XMOS Server.

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Chapter 5

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

• About the Assignment List Plug-in

• Using the Assignment List Plug-in

• Using Assignment List Plug-in with ENPS

• Using Assignment List Plug-in with iNEWS

• Using Assignment List Plug-in with Octopus

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

Producers can use Aurora Playout with a MOS-compatible ne wsroom computer system (NCS) to create rundowns, create placeholders for editor assignments, and link clips to the rundown.

Producers can also use the NCS to assign clips to speciﬁc playback channels, eliminating the need for a playback operator to assign channels for the rundown.

In sites without an NCS, an editor can follow the producer’s script and create placeholders using another component of Aurora Playout, such as the Assignment List Manager, and have a playback operator manually create playlists.

About the Assignment List Plug-in

The Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in integrates with your NCS and allows you to create placeholders for clips, assign those placeholders to newsroom editors, and link the resulting clips back to your NCS rundown.

The Assignment List Plug-in displays the following information for each clip:

DescriptionColumn

Duration

Status

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The clip status: displays OK if a clip has been completed, sent to the media server, and is ready for playback. Status is blank if a clip is incomplete and not ready for playback.

The name of the clip.Clip Name The duration of the clip when the placeholder was created. Once media is sent

to the placeholder, this ﬁeld updates to the actual duration of the media. A duration displayed in italics in the Assignment List Plug-in indicates that the Editorial Duration property has been set to be different than the actual duration of the clip.

MOS status: matches the NCS status. Includes READY/NOT READY, PLAYED, etc.

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

DescriptionColumn

Using the Assignment List Plug-in

With the Assignment List Plug-in, you can create placeholders, assign and sort them by category , monitor rundown or clip status, and vie w or change placeholder properties.

As you use your NCS to create rundowns for news programs and add scripts for each story , you can check the Assignment List Plug-in at a glance to ensure that the related news clip is ready for your story.

With the MediaFrame integration, you can add general metadata, k eywords and custom metadata on a placeholder. Once the metadata is added, it will be searchable and editable throughout all MediaFrame clients.

Creating placeholders in Assignment List Plug-in

You need to create a placeholder for each news clip you are linking to a rundown.

Placeholders generate assignments for editors, who can then create news clips for the story and send them to a media server for playback. Placeholders also let you see if clips are complete and ready for air or not.

If you are using a newsroom computer system, use the Assignment List Plug-in to create placeholders. If not, use the Assignment List Manager or Housek eeper instead. All three components have the same purpose — to create placeholders and assign them to editors.

1. In the Assignment List Plug-In window, click the New button .

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

The New Clip Entry window appears with Settings tab and Metadata tab (if MediaFrame is conﬁgured):

2. In the Settings tab, enter a clip name. The name identiﬁes the placeholder in the Assignment List Plug-in (in the NCS),

the Assignment List Manager (in the Aurora Edit system or standalone), and in the Aurora Playout playlist.

3. Optionally, you can provide additional information about the placeholder:

• Story Type — Select a Story Type from the drop-down menu. Story types are

set in the SDB Server Options. Default story types are SOT (Sound On Tape) or VO (Voice Over). You can also leave this ﬁeld blank.

• Category — Select a category from the drop-down menu. The category

determines how stories are grouped and sorted.

• Editorial Duration — Enter a duration for the placeholder or select one from the

drop-down list. The Editorial Duration is an optional value you can set for an estimated on-air duration of the clip that is changed to a more precise value later.

NOTE: Editorial Duration has the priority over media duration. Once an Editorial Duration is set; it will not be adjusted to clip duration, even after media is associated with the placeholder. The editor needs to set the ﬁnal Editorial Duration before the clip is sent for playback.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

• Description — Enter a description for the placeholder. The description helps news editors identify the clip they need to create.

• Protected — Check this box to prevent the clip from being erased or deleted from the database.

• Being Edited — Check this box to indicate when the sequence for a placeholder

is currently being edited.

NOTE: This ﬁeld allo ws users to easily determine that a clip is already being worked on. When checked, these areas designate that the clip is Being Edited: the clip in the Aurora Playout playlist and in the Assignment List Manager changes color, and the text for the clip in the standalone Assignment List Manager changes color.

4. If you already conﬁgured MediaFrame for use with Aurora Playout, you can enter metadata for the placeholder in the Metadata tab.

• Name — The name of the clip will be the same as the one that you entered in

the Settings tab.

• Source — Enter the source of the clip.

• Expires — Select the expiry date for the placeholder . If no expiry date is needed,

you can leave it as the default setting: Not Deﬁned.

• Description — The description will be the same as the one that you entered in

the Settings tab.

• Search T erms — Enter the search term for the clip so that it will be easy to ﬁnd

when you search for it using MediaFrame Search component later.

You can also enter metadata within Keywords tab, which referenced a speciﬁc timecode location in the media ﬁle. This is done by selecting mark-in/out points on the clip and inserting a keyword for that segment.

Within the Custom tab, you can enter additional asset metadata such as editor, videographer, location and any other ﬁelds that had been listed. If you have the Administrator privileges, you can add, edit, or delete custom metadata ﬁelds.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

5. Click OK. The new placeholder appears on the Assignment List Plug-in.

NOTE: The Clip ID and the Date are set automatically when you create a new placeholder.

Sorting placeholders by category

If you want to sort your placeholders, you can assign placeholders into categories. Categories allow you to ﬁlter items you view in the Assignment List.

You can ﬁlter items by selecting a rundown in the left pane of the Assignment List and further ﬁlter using the Category box at the top of the Assignment List. Only items in the selected category appear in the list. You can add placeholders to a category at any time.

1. Right-click on the clip and select View Properties. The Clip Properties window appears.

2. Select a news editor, workstation name, or any other category from the Category list.

3. Click OK.

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The placeholder automatically appears on the edit workstation if the particular category is selected.

NOTE: You can change a category for multiple placeholders at once by clicking Shift + selecting a group of clips, then right-clicking and selecting View Properties.

Viewing placeholder categories

In the Assignment List Plug-in, you can view placeholders and clips based on the Category.

1. Select a category from the Category list.

2. The list displays only the placeholders and clips in that category.

3. Select All to view all assignment placeholders again.

Searching placeholders

You can search for placeholders in the Assignment List Plug-In. This is particularly useful when you have a long list of placeholders.

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

• Click on one of the placeholders in the list and scroll down to search for other placeholders.

• Use the up and down arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the list. Right and left arrow keys could also be used to see all column details.

• To search for a speciﬁc placeholder, type the ﬁrst character and the activ e bar will automatically go to a placeholder that starts with that character.

If you type a second character within 1 second of the ﬁrst character, the active bar will go to a placeholder that starts with those 2 characters. If you enter the same character repeatedly , the active bar will navigate through all placeholders that start with that character.

Adding breaks in your rundown

With Aurora Playout, you can add breaks to your rundown.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

The Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in has a placeholder called BREAK that can be used to link to a line in your rundown.

1. In the newsroom computer system (NCS) application, insert a new line which will be used as the break.

2. Open this story of the rundown.

3. From the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in, drag the BREAK placeholder into the story.

4. Save the story.

The break appears in the Aurora Playout playlist as a blue break line.

NOTE: With the current version of iNEWS and Octopus newsroom computer systems, setting BREAK as the story property or story type in the rundown of both systems will not show the break in A urora Playout. To avoid this problem, iNEWS and Octopus users should not mark the story as a break item. Please refer to your NCS documentation on ways to create customized rundown templates that could readily include BREAK placeholder from the Assignment List Plug-in.

Viewing the video thumbnail of a placeholder

The Assignment List Plug-in, in addition to showing a clip’s properties, displays the ﬁrst frame of the clip as a thumbnail.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

You can only see thumbnails for completed clips, which are identiﬁed with an OK in the Status column; the thumbnail is blank for incomplete clips.

• Double-click a placeholder. The Clip Properties window appears, displaying the video thumbnail if the clip is

complete.

Viewing asset via MediaFrame clip player

If the MediaFrame is conﬁgured to create proxy video of edited stories in your system, there will be a corresponding proxy asset created for every story in your placeholders. In the Assignment List Plug-in, you can view the proxy of a clip if you already have MediaFrame and proxy NAS conﬁgured within the same domain in your system.

1. Select a clip with a "Ready" status from the Assignment List.

2. Right-click on the clip and a context menu will appear.

3. Select View Asset to view the proxy via the MediaFrame clip player.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

The Asset Preview window appears.

4. Click the Play button to start playing the clip. Click other control buttons to get to a speciﬁc frame on the clip.

You can also trim the clip by selecting the mark in button and mark out button on the clip player.

Using Assignment List Plug-in with ENPS

The Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in lets you create a placeholder for a clip and insert it into the accompanying story slug in the NCS rundown.

With ENPS, you can create placeholders and insert them manually into your rundo wn; or use the auto-create feature, to create and insert the placeholder automatically.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

Creating placeholders automatically in ENPS

With ENPS, you can automatically create a placeholder linked to a story slug.

To link placeholders automatically, you need to enable the Auto Create feature in the ENPS MOS Conﬁguration and add the Auto Create column to your ENPS rundown template.

1. Create a new rundown. Create a rundown as you normally would. See the ENPS documentation for

details.

2. Create a new story slug in ENPS.

3. Create a new placeholder using one of these methods:

• Click the Object AutoCreate ﬁeld, select the MOS ID from the drop-down list,

and press Enter.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

• To assign a category when you create the placeholder, click the Object

Placeholder Create ﬁeld, select the MOS ID from the drop-down list, enter a

Group name and a Story Type, if desired, and press Enter.

A new placeholder is created in the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in and is automatically linked and embedded into the script for this story.

You can then use the Assignment List Plug-in to edit properties and enter metadata for the new placeholder.

Inserting clips manually into ENPS

As an alternative to using the ENPS Auto Create feature, you can manually create placeholders and add them to your story scripts.

1. Create a new rundown. Create a rundown as you normally would. See the ENPS documentation for

details.

2. Create a new story in ENPS and open it.

3. Create a new placeholder using the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in, Assignment List Manager, or Housekeeper.

4. Drag the new placeholder from the Assignment List Plug-in to the ENPS Editing Window.

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5. Save the script. The clip is added to the ENPS rundown.

You can use this method to add an existing placeholder to your script.

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

Assigning playout channels to clips in ENPS

Using ENPS, you can assign playout channels to stories in a rundown. When a playback operator opens the rundown, stories are already assigned to playout channels.

1. Click the MOS Channel column for the story you want to assign.

2. Enter the channel name in the MOS Channels box and click OK. You must enter the channel label exactly as it was set up in Aurora Playout.

The story is assigned to that channel and appears on the “ Assign” column of the Aurora Playout application.

Using Assignment List Plug-in with iNEWS

The Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in lets you create placeholders for clips and insert them into the accompanying story slug in the iNEWS rundown.

With the plug-in available within iNEWS, you can insert placeholders into your story via drag and drop easily, and assign playout channels to clips as well.

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Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

Creating placeholders in iNEWS

1. Create a new rundown. Create a rundown as you normally would. See the iNEWS documentation for

details.

2. Create a new story in iNEWS.

3. Create a new placeholder in the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in, Assignment List Manager, or Housekeeper.

4. Verify that the new story slug is highlighted in the Queue Panel and then drag the new placeholder from the Assignment List Plug-in to the Story Form window.

5. Click on a different line in the Queue Panel to save your changes.

The placeholder links with the story and the clip name displays in the Clip Slug column in the iNEWS Queue Panel.

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Assigning playout channels to clips in iNEWS

With iNEWS, you can assign playout channels to stories in a rundown. When a playback operator opens the rundown, stories are already assigned to playout channels.

1. Select the slug you want to assign and right-click the Ch box.

2. Choose Assign Channel.

3. Enter the channel name and click OK. You must enter the channel label exactly as it was set up in Aurora Playout.

4. Save the slug.

The story is assigned to that channel and appears in the Aurora Playout application in the “Assign” column.

Using Assignment List Plug-in with Octopus

The Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in lets you create placeholders for clips and insert them to the accompanying story slug in the Octopus rundown.

With Octopus, you can create the placeholders and insert them manually into your rundown or use the auto-create feature to create and insert the placeholder automatically.

Creating placeholders automatically in Octopus

With Octopus, you can create placeholders automatically using the Auto-create feature.

1. Create a new story in Octopus.

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2. Open the story.

3. If an element doesn’t exist, right-click and select New | type of element and click

OK.

4. Click the button next to the JOBID ﬁeld and select Auto-create - MOS ID. The MOS ID and Name of the placeholder ﬁll in automatically.

5. Click OK to save.

Linking clips manually in Octopus

If your system doesn’t have the auto-create feature enabled, you can create placeholders and insert them to your rundown manually:

1. Create a new story in Octopus.

2. Open the story.

3. If an element doesn’t exist, right-click and select New | type of element and click

OK.

4. Click the button next to the JOBID ﬁeld and select Create.

5. In the Create MOS object on remote device window, enter the desired placeholder name in the Name ﬁeld and click OK.

6. Click Save to save the placeholder.

Inserting clips manually in Octopus

With Octopus, you can insert clips using the Assignment List Plug-in.

1. Split the Octopus window so you can see the Rundown V ie w and the Aurora Playout Assignment List Plug-in.

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2. Insert a new element if one doesn’t exist.

3. In the Assignment List Plug-in, create a new placeholder or use an existing one.

4. Drag the placeholder from the Assignment List Plug-in to the button next to the Name ﬁeld on the Octopus element.

5. Click OK.

Assigning playout channels to clips in Octopus

For Octopus newsroom computer system (NCS), playout channel assignment to stories in a rundown is not supported.

When a playback operator opens the rundown, he or she needs to manually assign channels in Aurora Playout.

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Chapter 6

Editing and Aurora Playout

This section contains the following topics:

• Editing and Aurora Playout

• Using the Assignment List Manager

• Receiving Editing Assignments

• Linking sequences to Aurora Playout placeholders

• Sending completed clips

• Additional features of Assignment List Manager

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Editing and Aurora Playout

News editors use the Assignment List Manager component of Aurora Playout to receive assignments from the producer and return completed assignments.

The Assignment List Manager runs on the computer with the Aurora Edit editing system. Editors create clips and sequences in Aurora Edit as usual and send them to a media server. A playlist is received from the NCS or a playback operator uses the clips in Aurora Playout to create a playlist, and then controls the playback of clips to air.

With MediaFrame integration, you can add general metadata, keywords and custom metadata on a placeholder. Once the metadata is added, it will be searchable and editable throughout all MediaFrame clients.

Using the Assignment List Manager

The Assignment List Manager is for editors to recei ve assignments from the producer , to create additional placeholders for clips, and to reassign placeholders to other editors.

The embedded Assignment List Manager runs on the Aurora Edit workstation and integrates with Aurora Edit; the Aurora Edit toolbar displays part of the Assignment List Manager so you can see the number of assignments you’ve received.

The standalone Assignment List Manager runs on any computer in the network.

• In the standalone Assignment List Manager, maximize the window:

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• In Aurora Edit, double-click the Missing box to open the Assignment List Manager window:

The list of assignments shows each clip/placeholder and its properties:

Column

Duration

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Description

The clip status: displays OK if a clip has been completed, sent to the media server, and is ready for playback. Status is blank if a clip is incomplete and not ready for playback.

The name of the clip/placeholder.Clip Name The duration of the clip when the placeholder was created. This

estimated value will be changed later when media is associated with the placeholder. A duration displayed in italics in the Assignment List indicates that the Editorial Duration property has been set to be different than the actual duration of the clip.

Editing and Aurora Playout

Column

Status

Receiving Editing Assignments

Assignments automatically appear in your Assignment List Manager when they are sent from the producer or assigned from another editor.

Producers create those assignments as clip placeholders for use in an upcoming news broadcast. You create clips in Aurora Edit and link them to the placeholders in the Assignment List Manager.

Linking sequences to Aurora Playout placeholders

Aurora Edit can link to scripts on iNEWS, Octopus, and AP/ENPS Ne wsroom computer systems, which you can use as an aid for creating your sequence.

You can link to a news or sports story when you create a new sequence, as described below, by opening Sequence Properties and clicking the Link to Story icon.

1. In Aurora Edit,click the New Sequence button in the Bin toolbar.

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You can also use an existing sequence—open the sequence in Aurora Edit, and click the Story View button in the main toolbar.

2. Click Link to Story button .

NOTE: The Assignment List Manager window appears, displaying available stories:

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Editing and Aurora Playout

Once an Aurora Playout story is linked, the row color for the selected story changes to reﬂect that the story is being edited. The various ro w colors represent: green = play, blue = stand by, yellow = stopped, red = not ready.

3. In the Rundown Vie w in the left portion of the Assignment List Manager window, expand the desired rundown by clicking the + icon.

4. In the Rundown View, click on the name of the story you want to work on. The list of available placeholders displays in the right portion of the Assignment

List Manager window.

5. If more than one placeholder displays, scroll down the list to search for the placeholder.

6. If you know the name of the placeholder to which you want to link, you can type the ﬁrst character and the active bar will automatically go to the placeholder that starts with that character. Type few characters from the placeholder name to get to the speciﬁc placeholder and click OK.

The Sequence Properties window appears with the name and ID ﬁlled in.

7. Click OK. The Timeline opens.

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NOTE: When the timeline position cursor moves (e.g., when playing the sequence), the blue highlight in the Story View window moves in concert to match the current timeline position.

8. Click the Story View button in the Main Toolbar.

See the following instructions for using the Story View toolbar functions.

Item

Read Rate

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Function

Displays the current Read Rate in characters per second.Click the arrow to select a speciﬁc script reader’s (newscaster’s) reading speed.Click Reset to return to the default reading rate.Click Off to turn off the Read Rate function.NOTE: When the timeline position cursor moves (e.g., when playing the sequence). the blue highlight in the Story View window moves in concert to match the current timeline position.

Editing and Aurora Playout

Item

Refresh Mode

Refresh Script

Media Object Server (MOS) Object Display Toggle

Function

Selects one of two script refresh modes:Automatic: Any script change on the NCS side automatically updates the script in the Story View window. This is the default setting.Manual: Script changes on the NCS side are not reﬂected in the Story View window. You must click Refresh Script to update the window with the most recent script changes. The Refresh Script icon ﬂashes yellow for 30 seconds, and then remains yellow to indicate that an updated script is available. Click Refresh Script to load the latest script and revert the icon to green.

Refreshes the Story View with any script changes made on the NCS side.If the script is updated on the NCS while in Manual mode, the Refresh Script icon ﬂashes yellow for 30 seconds and then remains yellow to indicate that an updated script is available. Click Refresh Script to load the updated script and revert the Refresh Script icon to green.

T oggles the MOS Object Display function on and of f.When on, an icon marks where placeholders have been put in the script. When off, the placeholder icons disappear from the screen.

Production Command Toggle

Link Sequence to Story

Sending completed clips

Once you create a clip or sequence on Aurora Edit for a speciﬁc placeholder , you need to send it to a media server so it can be played to air by Aurora Playout.

Your Aurora Edit workstation should be conﬁgured with the media server and its default directory as the default Send Destination. See your Aurora Edit documentation for more information.

If you didn’t previously link your sequence to a Aurora Playout placeholder, you can do it before sending the clip.

Toggles the production command (e.g., wipe, package, out cue, anchor, etc.) display column on and off.

Links a sequence to a particular story.

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1. Select the completed sequence in the Aurora Edit Bin. If you have the completed sequence open in Aurora Edit, it is already selected;

click Save before sending to make sure you send the latest version.

2. Press F2 on the keyboard or click the Send to File button in the toolbar. The Send To Selected Destinations window appears, displaying the list of open

Aurora Playout placeholders. If you linked the sequence to a Aurora Playout placeholder, that placeholder is highlighted.

3. If not already selected, click the checkbox for your media server’s location.

NOTE: Toggling the Missing Clips Only button to off displays previously sent placeholders with media. You can also link a sequence to one of these placeholders, which overwrites the media with the new content.

4. If you haven’t linked the sequence to a placeholder, select one to assign to your completed sequence.

5. Enter an Editorial Duration for the sequence, if desired.

When sending a linked story to a Aurora Playout destination, you have the opportunity to change the Editorial Duration. To enter a duration, type it into the green timecode Editorial Duration ﬁeld at the bottom of the window, not by changing the Editorial Duration property of the placeholder.

NOTE: Editorial Duration only affects the Duration Column in the ENPS newsroom computer system.

The duration is sent back to the Newsroom Computer System as the actual on-air duration of the sequence for more accurate rundown timing.

6. Click Send.

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The clip is sent to the media server. Once the clip is sent, the placeholder no longer appears in your Assignment List Manager and the number of missing items at the top of the screen decreases by one.

Additional features of Assignment List Manager

In addition to creating clips for assigned placeholders and sending them to the server for playback, there are other features of the Assignment List Manager that you can use.

Creating placeholders in Assignment List Manager

In addition to the assignments you receive from your producer , you can create additional placeholders for clips you want to include in a broadcast.

1. Click the New Clip button.

The New Clip Entry window appears with Settings tab and Metadata tab (if MediaFrame is conﬁgured):

2. Enter a clip name. The placeholder name identiﬁes the placeholder in your Assignment List

Manager, the Assignment List Plug-in on the ENPS system, and the Aurora Playout playlist.

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Grass Valley Aurora Playout User Manual v.6.5

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Grass Valley Product Support

Web Technical Support

Telephone Support

International Support Centers

Authorized Local Support Representative

Introducing Aurora Playout

About Aurora Playout

Terms You Should Know

Overview of Aurora Playout

Using Aurora Playout

Linking to a Newsroom Computer System (NCS)

Creating playlists manually

Overview of the Assignment List Plug-in

Overview of the Assignment List Manager

Overview of the Housekeeper

Overview of the Simple Database (SDB) Server

Overview of the Thumbnail Server

Overview of the XMOS Server

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Setting up your NCS for Aurora Playout

Setting up ENPS

Sending scripts with ENPS

Setting ENPS MOS ready to air

Setting up iNEWS

Configuring status translations for iNEWS

Setting up Octopus

Registering the MOSWrapper file for Octopus

Creating an ActiveX Device for Octopus

Configuring the MOS Device for Octopus

Installing Aurora Playout

Installing Aurora Playout

Cabling the Aurora Playout computer

Installing Aurora Playout Software

Installing the Assignment List Plug-in

Installing ALP using the installer

Installing ALP using a Configuration File

Installing ALP using a Batch File

Connecting the RDU 1510 Under Monitor Display

Connecting the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller

Configuring Aurora Playout

Configuring Aurora Playout

Configuring the Aurora Playout application

Setting General options

Setting Playback options

Setting channel configuration

Configuring GPI Input and Output

Defining Function Keys

Configuring the X-Keys Controller

Using the X-keys Jog/Shuttle Controller

Defining status colors

Configuring the Remote Display Unit (RDU)

Setting Cue and Chain options

Configuring Archive Play

Configuring the Simple Database (SDB) Server

Setting General Options of SDB Server

Setting Media options of SDB Server

Reinitializing media monitor of SDB Server

Repopulating rundown items from SDB Server

Restoring backup database of SDB Server

Configuring the Thumbnail Server

Creating a Thumbnail folder

Setting up the Thumbnail Server

Configuring the XMOS Server

Refreshing rundowns in XMOS Server

Configuring Housekeeper

Setting General options of Housekeeper

Setting Media options of Housekeeper

Configuring the standalone Assignment List Manager

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

Using NCS rundowns and Aurora Playout

About the Assignment List Plug-in

Using the Assignment List Plug-in

Creating placeholders in Assignment List Plug-in

Sorting placeholders by category

Viewing placeholder categories