Pinnacle Systems AirSpeed CountDown User’s Guide
AirSpeed™ CountDown
User’s Guide
™
make manage move | media
™
Avid
®
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AirSpeed CountDown User’s Guide • 0130-06046-01 Rev A • December 2004
3
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Contents
Using This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Avid Educational Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 1 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Operating System and Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Installing Optional Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Installing an Input/Output Card. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Installing a Programmable Keypad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Connecting the Application Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting Up Server Connections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Connecting to a Single Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Connecting to Multiple AirSpeed Servers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Installing CountDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Starting CountDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Getting Information about CountDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Chapter 2 Setting Up CountDown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Establishing Communication Between CountDown and AirSpeed . . . . . . . . 26
Before You Begin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Communication Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Server Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Configuration Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Configuring the Servers and Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Automatic Server Changeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
5
Manually Performing a Server Changeover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Performing Emergency Channel Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Viewing the Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Configuring User Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Configuring Playlist/Shotbox Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Configuring the Appearance of a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Configuring Server Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Configuring External Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Configuring External Control Preferences. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Customizing External Control Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Viewing Customizations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Printing Customizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Enabling and Disabling the External Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Configuring Logging and Security Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Understanding the Status Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Determining Network Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Determining Server Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Determining Serial Port Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Determining Emergency Channel Assignment Status. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Determining External Device Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 3 Managing Media Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Displaying the Media List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Network Status Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Media Availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Sorting the Media List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Resizing Media List Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Rearranging Media List Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Restoring Media List Column Layout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Displaying Media Event Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
6
Modifying Media Event IDs and Titles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Changing a Media Event ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Changing a Media Event Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Searching for Media Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Using the Find Media Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Searching Using the Find Media Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Refining a Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Starting a New Search. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Canceling a Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Updating the Media Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Deleting Media Events from AirSpeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Protecting Events from Deletion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Browsing Media Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Showing Storage Availability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 4 Managing Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Understanding Playlists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Understanding Columns and Icons for Playlist Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Event Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Event Playout Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Event Playout Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Event ID. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Event Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Event Duration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Event Start Time and Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Event Modification Date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
GPI Outputs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Building a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Creating a New Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
7
Adding Media Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Adding a Single Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Adding Multiple Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Assigning a Playout Channel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Automatically Reversing the Default Playout Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Including the Events from Another Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Using the Insert Playlist Command. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Using Drag and Drop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Manually Expanding a Referenced Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Using a Playlist Reference to Loop the Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Adding Comments and Break Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Adding Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Editing an Existing Comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Adding Break Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Editing an Existing Break Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Changing Comment Events to Break Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Rearranging Events in a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Relocating Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Duplicating Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Using Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Understanding the Deferred Ready Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Adding Placeholders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Converting an Existing Event to a Placeholder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Replicating Media Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Undoing Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Reverting to the Last Saved Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Saving a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Saving Part of a Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Opening an Existing Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
8
Modifying Events in the Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Changing the Channel for Event Playout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Locking the Channel Assignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Assigning Event Playout Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Setting an Event to be Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Setting an Event to be Follow-On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Setting an Event to Time-of-Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Adjusting the Play-Out Time of Time-of-Day Events . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Looping Media Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Adding Events to a Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Assigning GPI Output Triggers to Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Editing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Understanding the Clip Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Using the Clip Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Locking Items Against Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Changing the Title of Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Modifying Events While Playing a Playlist to Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Restoring Event Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Playing a List to Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Going On-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Playing a List in Single Channel Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Playing a List in All Channels Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Playing a List in Dual Channel Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Playing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Rearranging Media Events in the List While On-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Selecting the Event to Play Next . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Editing the Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Controlling the On-Air Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Pausing an Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Aborting an Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9
Grouping and Ungrouping Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Playing Out Multiple Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Going Off-Air. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Previewing a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Importing a Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Exporting a Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Printing a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Deleting a Playlist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Previewing a Transition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Breaking Out of Referenced Playlist Loops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Chapter 5 Working with the MOS Protocol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Using MOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Configuring CountDown to Use MOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Managing Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Playlist Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Item Auto-Cue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Enabling Channel Auto-Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
10
Displaying MOS Rundowns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Displaying MOS Item Details. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Updating Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Resyncing MOS Runorders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Manual Assignment of Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Channel Locking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Changing Item Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Ready for Air Indication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Air Status Cleardown. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Managing Placeholder Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Creating and Replacing Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Placeholder Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Placeholder Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Copying a Placeholder ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Viewing and Deleting Placeholders. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Manually Setting the Next ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Viewing the Event Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 6 Using Shotboxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Understanding Shotboxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Customizing Shotbox Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Building a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Creating a New Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Assigning Media to Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Using Placeholders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Assigning a Placeholder to a Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Converting an Existing Event to a Placeholder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Undoing Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Reverting to the Last Saved Shotbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Saving a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Opening an Existing Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Open Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
The Drag and Drop Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Optimizing the Positions of CountDown Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Modifying Events in the Shotbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Modifying Shotbox Events Using AirSpeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Modifying Shotbox Events Using the Clip Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Modifying Events While Playing a Shotbox to Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Restoring Event Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Playing a Shotbox to Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Going On-Air . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Cuing Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
11
Playing Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Enabling One Shot Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Controlling an On-Air Shotbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Pausing a Shotbox Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Aborting a Shotbox Event. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Deleting a Shotbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
12
Using This Guide
This guide provides comprehensive installation, configuration, and operation
instructions for the AirSpeed CountDown application. It is intended for all
broadcast personnel who need to use CountDown as part of a configuration
that includes one or more AirSpeed servers.
n
The documentation describes the features and hardware of all models.
Therefore, your system might not contain certain features and hardware that
are covered in the documentation.
Using This Guide
Symbols and Conventions
Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:
Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action
n
c
w
> This symbol indicates menu commands (and
t
Margin tips
Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to
Courier Bold font
A note provides important related information,
reminders, recommendations, and strong suggestions.
A caution means that a specific action you take could
cause harm to your computer or cause you to lose data.
A warning describes an action that could cause you
physical harm. Follow the guidelines in this document
or on the unit itself when handling electrical
equipment.
subcommands) in the order you select them. For
example, File > Import means to open the File menu
and then select the Import command.
This symbol indicates a single-step procedure.
Multiple arrows in a list indicate that you perform one
of the actions listed.
In the margin, you will find tips that help you perform
tasks more easily and efficiently.
indicate variables.
Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.
14
If You Need Help
If you are having trouble using CountDown:
1. Retry the action, carefully following the instructions given for that task in
this guide. It is especially important to check each step of your workflow.
2. Check for the latest information that might have become available after
the documentation was published in one of two locations:
- If release notes are available, they ship with your application.
- If ReadMe files are available, they are supplied in your Avid
If You Need Help
application folder. ReadMe files are also available from Help.
n
Release notes and ReadMe files are also available on the Avid Knowledge
Base.
3. Check the documentation that came with your Avid application or your
hardware for maintenance or hardware-related issues.
4. Visit the online Knowledge Base at www.avid.com/support. Online
services are available 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. Search this
online Knowledge Base to find answers, to view error messages, to access
troubleshooting tips, to download updates, and to read/join online
message-board discussions.
5. For Technical Support, please call 800-800-AVID (800-800-2843).
For Broadcast On-Air Sites and Call Letter Stations, call
800-NEWSDNG (800-639-7364).
15
Using This Guide
How to Order Documentation
To order additional copies of this documentation from within the
United States, call Avid Sales at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843). If you are
placing an order from outside the United States, contact your local
Avid representative.
Avid Educational Services
For information on courses/schedules, training centers, certifications,
courseware, and books, please visit www.avid.com/training or call Avid Sales
at 800-949-AVID (800-949-2843).
16
Chapter 1
Getting Started
CountDown is an application that gives you the ability to control playout from
AirSpeed servers. You can control up to eight VDCP channels on four
AirSpeed servers, and keep a fifth server for browsing or emergency
changeover. You can also use CountDown to view, manage, and edit playlists
on the server or group of servers.
This chapter provides information to help you get started using CountDown. It
includes the following sections:
• Operating System and Hardware Requirements
• Installing Optional Hardware
• Connecting the Application Key
• Setting Up Server Connections
• Installing CountDown
• Starting CountDown
• Getting Information about CountDown
Chapter 1 Getting Started
Operating System and Hardware Requirements
Operating system and hardware requirements are listed in the AirSpeed
CountDown Release Notes. For the latest information on requirements, visit
http://www.avid.com/products.
A serial ports expansion card adds RS-422 serial ports to a PC and is required
to connect the PC to one or more AirSpeed servers. This version of
CountDown supports the Digi multiport 422 card, manufactured by Digi
International, Inc. (www.digi.com). For specific model numbers, see the
CountDown release notes. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for
installing the card in the PC.
To configure the PC to use the expansion card, make sure the VDCP Flow
Control option is selected. See “Configuring Server Preferences” on page 40.
18
Installing Optional Hardware
Optional hardware includes a digital input/output card and a programmable
keypad.
Installing an Input/Output Card
If you want to use GPI controls with CountDown, you need to install a digital
input/output card. This version of CountDown supports cards manufactured by
ACCES I/O Products, Inc. (www.accesio.com). For specific model numbers,
see the CountDown release notes. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for
installing the card in the PC.
For instructions on configuring CountDown for GPI control, see “Configuring
External Control” on page 43.
Installing a Programmable Keypad
This version of CountDown supports the X-keys™ programmable keypad,
manufactured by P.I. Engineering, Inc. (www.xkeys.com). For specific model
numbers, see the CountDown release notes.
Installing Optional Hardware
To install the X-keys keypad, plug it into a USB port.
For instructions on configuring CountDown to use the keypad, see
“Configuring External Control” on page 43.
19
Chapter 1 Getting Started
Connecting the Application Key
The application key, commonly referred to as a dongle, allows CountDown to
run on your system. You need to connect the application key before you can
run the application. If your system has USB ports in the front and in the rear,
Avid recommends that you connect the application key to a USB port at the
rear of the system.
Setting Up Server Connections
20
This section describes basic configurations for using CountDown with one to
five AirSpeed servers.
Connecting to a Single Server
In this basic two-channel configuration, the CountDown PC controls two
channels on a single server. The PC has three connections to the server: two
remote control connections and a network connection. The remote control
connections require two COM ports on the CountDown PC.
PC COM ports use RS-232 standards, and the Remote serial ports on the
server use RS-422 standards. To enable commu8nication between the PC and
the server, the CountDown PC requires a serial ports expansion card and serial
cables (see “Operating System and Hardware Requirements” on page 18).
This configuration includes an optional GPI device and an optional X-keys
keypad. The GPI device connects to an ACCES I/O card. The X-keys keypad
connects to a USB port.
Setting Up Server Connections
GPI device
(optional)
CountDown PC
USBDigital I/O
Ethernet Connector
Serial Ports Expansion
Card (RS-422)
Ethernet Switch
X-keys
keypad
(optional)
AirSpeed Server
RS-422 ports
(labeled Remote)
21
Chapter 1 Getting Started
Connecting to Multiple AirSpeed Servers
In this configuration, the CountDown PC uses up to ten channels to
communicate with a maximum of five AirSpeed servers. The PC has two
remote control connections to each server and a network connection. Because
each remote control connection uses a COM port, this configuration requires a
serial ports expansion card and serial cables (see “Operating System and
Hardware Requirements” on page 18).
This configuration includes an optional GPI device and an optional X-keys
keypad. The GPI device connects to an ACCES I/O card. The X-keys keypad
connects to a USB port.
GPI device
(optional)
CountDown PC
USBDigital I/O
Ethernet Connector
Serial Ports Expansion
Card (RS-422)
Ethernet Switch
X-keys
keypad
(optional)
AirSpeed
Server 1
AirSpeed
Server 2
AirSpeed
Server 3
AirSpeed
Server 4
AirSpeed
Server 5
22
Installing CountDown
To install the AirSpeed CountDown software, locate and run the CountDown
installer application on the CountDown CD-ROM.
Starting CountDown
To start CountDown, do one of the following:
t Select Start > All Programs > Avid > AirSpeed > AirSpeed CountDown.
t Double-click the CountDown shortcut on the desktop.
After you have created a playlist or shotbox file, you can also start
CountDown by double-clicking the file in any directory window (such as from
the Windows Explorer) or on the desktop.
Getting Information about CountDown
Installing CountDown
To get information about your CountDown installation:
t Select Help > About AirSpeed CountDown
The screen shows you the license number and other information.
CountDown includes a Help system with all the information contained in this
user’s guide. The hypertext Help system includes a full-text search, as well as
a table of contents and index.
To access CountDown Help:
t Select Help > AirSpeed CountDown Help.
For more information about using Help, select the Using Help topic in the
Help Contents.
23
Chapter 1 Getting Started
24
Chapter 2
Setting Up CountDown
This chapter provides instructions for configuring CountDown software. It
contains the following sections:
• Establishing Communication Between CountDown and AirSpeed
• Configuring User Preferences
• Configuring External Control
• Configuring Logging and Security Features
• Understanding the Status Displays
Chapter 2 Setting Up CountDown
Establishing Communication Between CountDown and AirSpeed
This section describes how to set up CountDown to communicate to one or
more AirSpeed servers.
Before You Begin
You can configure CountDown for up to ten channels: two channels for each
of five servers. You can configure these channels to suit your requirements by
assigning the following functions:
• Channels A, B, C, and D can be used for playback or browsing.
• Channels E, F, G, and H can be used for playback, browsing, or mirroring.
• Channels I and J cannot be used for playback or mirroring but can be used
for browsing or emergency channel assignment.
For each unit in the studio, you need to establish both IP (network) and
RS-422 (serial) communication. CountDown uses the network for media
inventory management, browsing, and editing of events. It uses RS-422
communication for playout control.
Communication Information
Before you configure CountDown software, make sure you have the following
information:
• The IP address or hostname for each server to be controlled. You can get
this information from the AirSpeed by clicking Setup > Network.
• (Optional) A display name for each server, which will appear in the user
interface.
• The VDCP port numbers for each server.
VDCP (Video Disk Communication Protocol) is an industry standard for
controlling video file servers. Each Remote serial port on the server is
assigned a VDCP port number. Currently Play 1 is assigned VDCP Port 2
and Play 2 is assigned VDCP Port 3.
You can set the VDCP port to 0, which grays out the COM port. This
setting prevents you from using the channel for playout, but with the
network connection set, you can use the channel to browse or edit.
26
Server Functions
Establishing Communication Between CountDown and AirSpeed
• For each channel, the COM (serial) port number on the PC and the
corresponding VDCP port number on the server.
You specify this information in the Studio Configuration dialog box.
You can assign one of the following functions to an AirSpeed server:
• Not Used: CountDown is not connected (default setting).
• Playback: Provides one or two channels of normal transmission playback.
• Browser: Provides dedicated network control for browsing and editing
clips, using a video monitor connected to an AirSpeed server. This feature
does not require an RS-422 connection.
• Mirroring: Provides a means to switch playout from a primary server to a
standby server. CountDown. Mirroring is available only on the AirSpeed 3
and AirSpeed 4 tabs in the Studio Configuration dialog box. Mirroring is
limited to the following configuration:
- Channels A and B (AirSpeed 1) are mirrored by Channels E and F
(AirSpeed 3)
- Channels C and D (AirSpeed 2) are mirrored by Channels G and H
(AirSpeed 4)
In this case, AirSpeed 1 and AirSpeed 2 function as main or primary
servers, and AirSpeed 3 and AirSpeed 4 function as standby servers.
If you have two AirSpeed servers in a configuration, and you want to
mirror channels, you would set Channels A and B for playout, set
Channels C and D as unused, and set Channels E and F for mirroring.
For more information, see “Automatic Server Changeover” on page 30.
• Emergency Channel Assignment: If you have two or more AirSpeed
servers in a configuration, you can assign two channels for manual
changeover or “hot swapping.” This function can be assigned only to
Channels I and J. To assign this function, select the AirSpeed 5 tab in the
Studio Configuration dialog box, select Playback, and select the Enable
Automatic Channel Failover Protection option.
For more information, see “Performing Emergency Channel Assignment”
on page 31.
27
Chapter 2 Setting Up CountDown
Configuration Example
The following table shows a typical configuration:
Display
Hostname
studio001 AirSpeed 1 Playout A 2 COM 1
studio002 AirSpeed 2 Playout C 2 COM 3
studio003 AirSpeed 3 Mirroring E 2 COM 5
studio004 AirSpeed 4 Mirroring G 2 COM 7
studio005 AirSpeed 5 Browsing I 2 COM 9
Name Usage Channel VDCP Port COM Port
B3 COM 2
D3 COM 4
F3 COM 6
H3 COM 8
Configuring the Servers and Channels
You use the Studio Configuration dialog box to provide information and
assign functions to each server. Each server is assigned a tab. Tabs crosscommunicate to make sure there are no conflicts between COM ports, which
need to be uniquely assigned. However, you are allowed to specify the same
VDCP port numbers on different tabs, because currently each AirSpeed server
uses the same hard-coded VDCP connections.
See “Before You Begin” on page 26 for information you need for configuring
the servers and channels.
28
J3 COM 10
Establishing Communication Between CountDown and AirSpeed
To configure servers and channels:
1. Select Tools > Studio Configuration.
The Studio Configuration dialog box opens.
2. Click the AirSpeed 1 tab.
3. In the Usage box, select the function for this server.
4. Enter the host name or IP address for the server.
5. (Optional) Enter the display name for the server. If you leave this field
blank, CountDown displays the host name or IP address.
6. Enter the VDCP port and COM port.
7. Configure the remaining AirSpeed servers.
8. Click OK.
A dialog box warns you that the application will shut down.
9. Click Yes.
10. Restart the application.
29
Chapter 2 Setting Up CountDown
Automatic Server Changeover
If CountDown detects a problem with a channel on a primary AirSpeed server,
it automatically switches control of that channel to the mirroring channel on
the standby server (called a server changeover). It also displays a warning
message alerting you of the changeover and changes the indicator lights in the
status bar (see “Understanding the Status Displays” on page 51). The channels
listed in the playlist do not change.
n
CountDown will not reassign the original server as the primary server after
that server becomes fully functional again. You must make the reassignment
manually by selecting Studio > Changeover.
CountDown checks if the media is available on both servers. If the media is
available on the primary server but not on the standby server, CountDown
displays the Playout mode icon in the playlist window as half green and half
red.
Manually Performing a Server Changeover
CountDown allows manual switching of playout from a primary AirSpeed
server to the standby AirSpeed server and from the standby server to the
primary server.
To perform a server changeover:
1. Select Studio > Changeover.
When the channels on the primary server are in use, checkmarks appear in
front of the menu items.
2. Select the channel on the primary server that you want to switch. For
example, select Channel A Main to switch the playout of channel A to the
corresponding channel (Channel E) on the standby AirSpeed server.
30
No checkmark appears in front of the channel that has been switched. In
the status bar, the main server indicator changes to red and reads STBY.
The mirrored server changes to green, yellow, or red (depending on the
network and VDCP status) and reads MAIN.
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