Pinnacle Systems iNews Command - 3.1 User’s Guide

Avid® iNEWS® Command

User’s Guide

Legal Notices

Product specifications are subject to change without notice and do not represent a commitment on the part of Avid Technology, Inc.

This product is subject to the terms and conditions of a software license agreement provided with the software. The product may only be used in accordance with the license agreement.

This product may be protected by one or more U.S. and non-U.S patents. Details are available at www.avid.com/patents.

This document is protected under copyright law. An authorized licensee of Avid iNEWS Command may reproduce this publication for the licensee’s own use in learning how to use the software. This document may not be reproduced or distributed, in whole or in part, for commercial purposes, such as selling copies of this document or providing support or educational services to others. This document is supplied as a guide for Avid iNEWS Command. Reasonable care has been taken in preparing the information it contains. However, this document may contain omissions, technical inaccuracies, or typographical errors. Avid Technology, Inc. does not accept responsibility of any kind for customers’ losses due to the use of this document. Product specifications are subject to change without notice.

The following disclaimer is required by Apple Computer, Inc.:

APPLE COMPUTER, INC. MAKES NO WARRANTIES WHATSOEVER, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS PRODUCT, INCLUDING WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ITS MERCHANTABILITY OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY SOME STATES. THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. THIS WARRANTY PROVIDES YOU WITH SPECIFIC LEGAL RIGHTS. THERE MAY BE OTHER RIGHTS THAT YOU MAY HAVE WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.

The following disclaimer is required by Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics, Inc. for the use of their TIFF library:

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software [i.e., the TIFF library] and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that (i) the above copyright notices and this permission notice appear in all copies of the software and related documentation, and (ii) the names of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics may not be used in any advertising or publicity relating to the software without the specific, prior written permission of Sam Leffler and Silicon Graphics.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL SAM LEFFLER OR SILICON GRAPHICS BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGE, AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

The following disclaimer is required by the Independent JPEG Group:

This software is based in part on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.

This Software may contain components licensed under the following conditions:

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms are permitted provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are duplicated in all such forms and that any documentation, advertising materials, and other materials related to such distribution and use acknowledge that the software was developed by the University of California, Berkeley. The name of the University may not be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission. THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software for any purpose is hereby granted without fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of Daniel Dardailler not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. Daniel Dardailler makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose without fee is hereby granted, provided that this entire notice is included in all copies of any software which is or includes a copy or modification of this software and in all copies of the supporting documentation for such software.

THIS SOFTWARE IS BEING PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. IN PARTICULAR, NEITHER THE AUTHOR NOR AT&T MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE MERCHANTABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE OR ITS FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

This product includes software developed by the University of California, Berkeley and its contributors.

The following disclaimer is required by Nexidia Inc.:

© 2010 Nexidia Inc. All rights reserved, worldwide. Nexidia and the Nexidia logo are trademarks of Nexidia Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All Nexidia materials regardless of form, including without limitation, software applications, documentation and any other information relating to Nexidia Inc., and its products and services are the exclusive property of Nexidia Inc. or its licensors. The Nexidia products and services described in these materials may be covered by Nexidia's United States patents: 7,231,351; 7,263,484; 7,313,521; 7,324,939; 7,406,415, 7,475,065; 7,487,086 and/or other patents pending and may be manufactured under license from the Georgia Tech Research Corporation USA.

The following disclaimer is required by Paradigm Matrix:

Portions of this software licensed from Paradigm Matrix.

The following disclaimer is required by Ray Sauers Associates, Inc.:

“Install-It” is licensed from Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. End-User is prohibited from taking any action to derive a source code equivalent of “Install-It,” including by reverse assembly or reverse compilation, Ray Sauers Associates, Inc. shall in no event be liable for any damages resulting from reseller’s failure to perform reseller’s obligation; or any damages arising from use or operation of reseller’s products or the software; or any other damages, including but not limited to, incidental, direct, indirect, special or consequential Damages including lost profits, or damages resulting from loss of use or inability to use reseller’s products or the software for any reason including copyright or patent infringement, or lost data, even if Ray Sauers Associates has been advised, knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

The following disclaimer is required by Videomedia, Inc.:

“Videomedia, Inc. makes no warranties whatsoever, either express or implied, regarding this product, including warranties with respect to its merchantability or its fitness for any particular purpose.”

“This software contains V-LAN ver. 3.0 Command Protocols which communicate with V-LAN ver. 3.0 products developed by Videomedia, Inc. and V-LAN ver. 3.0 compatible products developed by third parties under license from Videomedia, Inc. Use of this software will allow “frame accurate” editing control of applicable videotape recorder decks, videodisc recorders/players and the like.”

The following disclaimer is required by Altura Software, Inc. for the use of its Mac2Win software and Sample Source Code:

The following disclaimer is required by Ultimatte Corporation:

Certain real-time compositing capabilities are provided under a license of such technology from Ultimatte Corporation and are subject to copyright protection.

The following disclaimer is required by 3Prong.com Inc.:

Certain waveform and vector monitoring capabilities are provided under a license from 3Prong.com Inc.

The following disclaimer is required by Interplay Entertainment Corp.:

The “Interplay” name is used with the permission of Interplay Entertainment Corp., which bears no responsibility for Avid products.

This product includes portions of the Alloy Look & Feel software from Incors GmbH.

This product includes software developed by the Apache Software Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).

This product may include the JCifs library, for which the following notice applies:

Avid Interplay contains components licensed from LavanTech. These components may only be used as part of and in connection with Avid Interplay.

Attn. Government User(s). Restricted Rights Legend

U.S. GOVERNMENT RESTRICTED RIGHTS. This Software and its documentation are “commercial computer software” or “commercial computer software documentation.” In the event that such Software or documentation is acquired by or on behalf of a unit or agency of the U.S. Government, all rights with respect to this Software and documentation are subject to the terms of the License Agreement, pursuant to FAR §12.212(a) and/or DFARS §227.7202-1(a), as applicable.

Trademarks

003, 192 Digital I/O, 192 I/O, 96 I/O, 96i I/O, Adrenaline, AirSpeed, ALEX, Alienbrain, AME, AniMatte, Archive, Archive II, Assistant Station, AudioPages, AudioStation, AutoLoop, AutoSync, Avid, Avid Active, Avid Advanced Response, Avid DNA, Avid DNxcel, Avid DNxHD, Avid DS Assist Station, Avid Ignite, Avid Liquid, Avid Media Engine, Avid Media Processor, Avid MEDIArray, Avid Mojo, Avid Remote Response, Avid Unity, Avid Unity ISIS, Avid VideoRAID, AvidRAID, AvidShare, AVIDstripe, AVX, Beat Detective, Beauty Without The Bandwidth, Beyond Reality, BF Essentials, Bomb Factory, Bruno, C|24, CaptureManager, ChromaCurve, ChromaWheel, Cineractive Engine, Cineractive Player, Cineractive Viewer, Color Conductor, Command|24, Command|8, Control|24, Cosmonaut Voice, CountDown, d2, d3, DAE, D-Command, D-Control, Deko, DekoCast, D-Fi, D-fx, Digi 002, Digi 003, DigiBase, Digidesign, Digidesign Audio Engine, Digidesign Development Partners, Digidesign Intelligent Noise Reduction, Digidesign TDM Bus, DigiLink, DigiMeter, DigiPanner, DigiProNet, DigiRack, DigiSerial, DigiSnake, DigiSystem, Digital Choreography, Digital Nonlinear Accelerator, DigiTest, DigiTranslator, DigiWear, DINR, DNxchange, Do More, DPP-1, D-Show, DSP Manager, DS-StorageCalc, DV Toolkit, DVD Complete, D-Verb, Eleven, EM, Euphonix, EUCON, EveryPhase, Expander, ExpertRender, Fader Pack, Fairchild, FastBreak, Fast Track, Film Cutter, FilmScribe, Flexevent, FluidMotion, Frame Chase, FXDeko, HD Core, HD Process, HDpack, Home-to-Hollywood, HYBRID, HyperSPACE, HyperSPACE HDCAM, iKnowledge, Image Independence, Impact, Improv, iNEWS, iNEWS Assign, iNEWS ControlAir, InGame, Instantwrite, Instinct, Intelligent Content Management, Intelligent Digital Actor Technology, IntelliRender, Intelli-Sat, Intelli-sat Broadcasting Recording Manager, InterFX, Interplay, inTONE, Intraframe, iS Expander, iS9, iS18, iS23, iS36, ISIS, IsoSync, LaunchPad, LeaderPlus, LFX, Lightning, Link & Sync, ListSync, LKT-200, Lo-Fi, MachineControl, Magic Mask, Make Anything Hollywood, make manage move | media, Marquee, MassivePack, Massive Pack Pro, Maxim, Mbox, Media Composer, MediaFlow, MediaLog, MediaMix, Media Reader, Media Recorder, MEDIArray, MediaServer, MediaShare, MetaFuze, MetaSync, MIDI I/O, Mix Rack, Moviestar, MultiShell, NaturalMatch, NewsCutter, NewsView, NewsVision, Nitris, NL3D, NLP, NSDOS, NSWIN, OMF, OMF Interchange, OMM, OnDVD, Open Media Framework, Open Media Management, Painterly Effects, Palladium, Personal Q, PET, Podcast Factory, PowerSwap, PRE, ProControl, ProEncode, Profiler, Pro Tools, Pro Tools|HD, Pro Tools LE, Pro Tools M-Powered, Pro Transfer, QuickPunch, QuietDrive, Realtime Motion Synthesis, Recti-Fi, Reel Tape Delay, Reel Tape Flanger, Reel Tape Saturation, Reprise, Res Rocket Surfer, Reso, RetroLoop, Reverb One, ReVibe, Revolution, rS9, rS18, RTAS, Salesview, Sci-Fi, Scorch, ScriptSync, SecureProductionEnvironment, Serv|GT, Serv|LT, Shape-to-Shape, ShuttleCase, Sibelius, SimulPlay, SimulRecord, Slightly Rude Compressor, Smack!, Soft SampleCell, Soft-Clip Limiter, SoundReplacer, SPACE, SPACEShift, SpectraGraph, SpectraMatte, SteadyGlide, Streamfactory, Streamgenie, StreamRAID, SubCap, Sundance, Sundance Digital, SurroundScope, Symphony, SYNC HD, SYNC I/O, Synchronic, SynchroScope, Syntax, TDM FlexCable, TechFlix, Tel-Ray, Thunder, TimeLiner, Titansync, Titan, TL Aggro, TL AutoPan, TL Drum Rehab, TL Everyphase, TL Fauxlder, TL In Tune, TL MasterMeter, TL Metro, TL Space, TL Utilities, tools for storytellers, Transit, TransJammer, Trillium Lane Labs, TruTouch, UnityRAID, Vari-Fi, Video the Web Way, VideoRAID, VideoSPACE, VTEM, Work-N-Play, Xdeck, X-Form, Xmon and XPAND! are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Avid Technology, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

Footage

Arri — Courtesy of Arri/Fauer — John Fauer, Inc. Bell South “Anticipation” — Courtesy of Two Headed Monster — Tucker/Wayne Atlanta/GMS. Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior. Eco Challenge British Columbia — Courtesy of Eco Challenge Lifestyles, Inc., All Rights Reserved. Eco Challenge Morocco — Courtesy of Discovery Communications, Inc. It’s Shuttletime — Courtesy of BCP & Canadian Airlines. Nestlé Coffee Crisp — Courtesy of MacLaren McCann Canada. Saturn “Calvin Egg” — Courtesy of Cossette Communications. “Tigers: Tracking a Legend” — Courtesy of www.wildlifeworlds.com, Carol Amore, Executive Producer. "The Big Swell" — Courtesy of Swell Pictures, Inc. Windhorse — Courtesy of Paul Wagner Productions.

Arizona Images — KNTV Production — Courtesy of Granite Broadcasting, Inc., Editor/Producer Bryan Foote. Canyonlands — Courtesy of the National Park Service/Department of the Interior. Ice Island — Courtesy of Kurtis Productions, Ltd. Tornados + Belle Isle footage — Courtesy of KWTV News 9. WCAU Fire Story — Courtesy of NBC-10, Philadelphia, PA. Women in Sports – Paragliding — Courtesy of Legendary Entertainment, Inc.

News material provided by WFTV Television Inc.

GOT FOOTAGE?

Editors — Filmmakers — Special Effects Artists — Game Developers — Animators — Educators — Broadcasters — Content creators of every genre — Just finished an incredible project and want to share it with the world?

Send us your reels and we may use your footage in our show reel or demo!*

For a copy of our release and Avid’s mailing address, go to www.avid.com/footage.

*Note: Avid cannot guarantee the use of materials submitted.

Avid iNEWS Command v3.1 User’s Guide • 9329-65264-00 • Created 3/5/13 • This document is distributed by Avid in online (electronic) form only, and is not available for purchase in printed form.

Using This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Symbols and Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

If You Need Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

How to Order Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Avid Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Chapter 1 Introduction to iNEWS Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Architecture and Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Starting Command at a Workstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

The User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Status Bar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Support Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Chapter 2 Panels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Working with Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Playlist Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Customizing the Inventory Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Searching for Items in Inventory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Deleting Items in Inventory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Protecting Items in Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Editing Items in Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Clock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Playout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Media Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Displaying Thumbnails in Media Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Editing Fulfillment Data and Time Codes in the Media Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 3 Playlist Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Types of Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Overview of Playlist Viewer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Hiding a Playlist’s Playout or Channel Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Channel Groups Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Customizing the Channel Toolbar for Tally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Viewing Playlist Items by Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Graphic Trigger Count . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Customizing the Playlist Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Customizing the Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Customizing Playlist Clocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Customizing Columns in Playlist Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Time of Day Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Resizing the Playlist Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Locking and Unlocking Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Working with Channel Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Locking Channel Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Assigning Channels in Playlist Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Setting the Graphics Style for a Channel Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Setting Workstation Alias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Working with Standalone Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Inventory Versioning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Working with Embedded Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Editing Embedded Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Using Time of Day Playlists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Chapter 4 Shotbox Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Configuring the Channel Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Customizing the Shotbox Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Customizing the Shotbox Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Customizing the Clocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Resizing the Shotbox Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Displaying Thumbnails in a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Creating a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Deleting a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Working with Channel Groups in a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Locking a Channel Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Replacing a Channel Group in a Shotbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Assigning Channels in a Shotbox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Pinning Channels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Setting the Graphics Style for a Channel Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Chapter 5 iNEWS Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Inserting Machine Control Events into Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Auto-assigning Media IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Using the Deko Select Plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Inserting Deko Select Events into iNEWS Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Editing Deko Select Events into iNEWS Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Creating Multi-Triggered Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Loading Rundowns to Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Loading and Unloading Playlists from iNEWS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Duration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Monitor LOAD. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Monitor Off and Unload . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Event List Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Composite Queue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Item Status After Load to Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Changing Channels. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Chapter 6 Working with Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Inserting New Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Deleting Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

Updating Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Editing an Item’s Media ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Rearranging Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Floating & Unfloating Stories. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Chapter 7 Command Tablet Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Connection Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

The iPad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Setting up Your First Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Viewing Command Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Starting the Command Tablet Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

The Sidebar and View Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Locking or Unlocking Shotbox Channel Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Working with Shotboxes in Tablet Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Working with Graphic Items . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Chapter 8 Playout Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

UI Controlled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Playout Media from Command Workstation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Resolving a Mismatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Disabling the Keyboard at the Command Workstation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Looping and Follow-on Playout. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

USB Keypad Controlled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Channel-Specific Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

GPI Controlled. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Toggling Between GPI and UI Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Appendix A Control Room Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Failover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Appendix B Icon and Button Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Playlist and Shotbox Viewer Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Playlist Viewer Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Shotbox Viewer Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Channel Group Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Alerts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Playlist Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Appendix C Action Quick Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Using This Guide

Congratulations on your purchase of your Avid iNEWS Command system.

Avid iNEWS Command offers a considerable amount of functionality for the state-of-the-art newsroom, including newsroom system integration and playout control. With Command, newsroom personnel can easily create and manage playlists.

This publication provides information on how to use the Command system.

The documentation describes the standard features of a basic system configuration.

Therefore, your system might contain certain features and hardware that are not covered in the documentation.

Symbols and Conventions

Avid documentation uses the following symbols and conventions:

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

> This symbol indicates menu commands (and subcommands) in the

(Windows), (Windows only), (Macintosh), or (Macintosh only)

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.

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.

This text indicates that the information applies only to the specified operating system, either Windows or Macintosh OS X.

Symbol or Convention Meaning or Action

Bold font Bold font is primarily used in task instructions to identify user interface

items and keyboard sequences.

Italic font Italic font is used to emphasize certain words and to indicate variables.

Courier Bold font

Ctrl+key or mouse action Press and hold the first key while you press the last key or perform the

If You Need Help

If you are having trouble using your Avid product:

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 the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published:

- If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as printed release notes,

they ship with your application and are also available online.

If the latest information for your Avid product is provided as a ReadMe file, it is supplied on your Avid installation CD or DVD as a PDF document (README_product.pdf) and is also available online.

You should always check online for the most up-to-date release notes or ReadMe because the online version is updated whenever new information becomes available. To view these online versions, visit the Knowledge Base at

www.avid.com/readme.

Courier Bold font identifies text that you type.

mouse action. For example, Command+Option+C or Ctrl+drag.

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 http://support.avid.com. 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 or join online message-board discussions.

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 Training Services

Avid makes lifelong learning, career advancement, and personal development easy and convenient. Avid understands that the knowledge you need to differentiate yourself is always changing, and Avid continually updates course content and offers new training delivery methods that accommodate your pressured and competitive work environment.

To learn about Avid's new online learning environment, Avid Learning Excellerator™ (ALEX), visit http://learn.avid.com.

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).

Avid Training Services

1 Introduction to iNEWS Command

Avid iNEWS Command is a device automation system that integrates with any iNEWS or MOS-enabled newsroom computer system (NRCS) and provides broadcasters precise control over a range of playout devices, including video servers, still stores, and character generators in a broadcast news environment. Backup services and mirrored playout make this system reliable while the user interface allows you to control multiple production devices. Avid iNEWS Command works with Avid Service Framework applications and services to ensure you always have the best system performance.

This chapter contains the following main sections:

• Overview

- Architecture and Workflow

- Features

• Starting Command at a Workstation

• The User Interface

• Support Dialog Box

Overview

The basic iNEWS Command system is comprised of iNEWS Command Servers, workstations that run the client software, and devices, such as Avid AirSpeed video servers, Thunder production servers and Deko graphics system. The system is designed to be an extension of your current Avid system. It allows you to receive playlists from Avid iNEWS (or a MOS-based newsroom computer system) while controlling your video and graphics devices, or even create standalone playlists using drag-and-drop functionality from an inventory of media items.

The iNEWS Command system supports industry standard protocols that make it compatible with many other products.

For newscast control your iNEWS Command system provides automated playlists, tracks script changes, and automates control of production and playback devices including video servers, and character generators. It integrates with the iNEWS rundown—or any other MOS-enabled newsroom computer system—allowing a producer to change a show while it is on air, and reflecting those changes in their iNEWS Command system. MOS commands are provided so that journalists can use MOS plug-ins within the newsroom computer system script.

Production playout devices, including Avid Deko and Avid Thunder on-air graphics solutions and AirSpeed video servers, are triggered based on the events in the rundown.

Overview

News graphic and text templates for news elements can include logos and station IDs, lower-third captions or superimposed graphics, and full-screen backgrounds with text. Journalists, using iNEWS newsroom computer system, fill in the templates and insert them into their stories in a variety of ways. For instance, machine control commands can be entered using Deko Select or Thunder Select plug-ins. They can be entered manually or by using a macro. They might also include clips and stills in their script by entering the ID of the graphic in the story as a production cue. At air time an iNEWS Command operator triggers the graphics playlist, which is synchronized with the iNEWS rundown.

Architecture and Workflow

Avid iNEWS Command is scalable and can adapt to work in traditional newsroom-based playlist creation to production-centric workflows where running orders are created inside the iNEWS Command playback application. All of the components can run on a single computer, or they can be spread out across multiple computers with redundant services configured to take control if the primary services should become unavailable.

An example of a basic Command system architecture is shown in the following illustration:

Overview

In the most common news workflow, playlists are created using the iNEWS newsroom computer system and the video and graphic assets are referenced in stories using their IDs or by dragging and dropping them from an Active-X plugin, such as Deko Select.

Playlists can be saved to use later, standalone playlists can be created, and multiple playlists can be embedded in a single running order. You can set a playlist to playback at a specified time, or you can set groups of assets within a playlist to play in follow-on mode.

A basic workflow is shown in the following illustration.

Features

Overview

The Avid iNEWS Command system provides the features described in the following table:

Feature Description

Playlist Functionality You can load a playlist from the newsroom computer system or create the

playlist manually within Avid iNEWS Command. You can also embed within other playlists. This provides the flexibility to control event playout locally, at the desktop, or from a rundown. It also allows seamless transitions between shows or segments produced by separate editorial teams.

Manual and Automated Triggering

Redundant Failover Mirrored playback allows a single Play command to initiate playback on two

Advanced Playback Features These features include: autocue, play while record, and play while transfer.

Frame Accuracy Avid iNEWS Command provides frame accurate video playout for

Items can be played back manually by the operator, via keyboard, X-keys, or GPI. Items can also be played automatically, using the follow-on or looping playout setting. And a playlist can be set to start at a specified time of day. This provides total integration with the facility, its systems, processes, and staff.

channels simultaneously for seamless failover. All Command services are redundant.

follow-on items assigned to the same channel.

Starting Command at a Workstation

Feature (Continued) Description (Continued)

Flexible Device Configuration Actual device channels can be configured into multiple virtual possibilities

through channel groups.

Flexible Integration You can configure the Avid iNEWS Command system to control any

combination of supported video or graphics devices that are operating in an Avid iNEWS, ENPS, or other MOS environment.

User Interface The intuitive user interface provides visual tools, including clocks that show

time elapsed and time remaining, channel assignments for easy identification of transmission paths, and color-coded status indicators that illustrate the inventory of assets based on availability and playability on all devices. This improves operation, reduces training time, and ensures complete synchronization of devices with the playlist

Status Updates The Command user interface reflects playability status of inventory assets;

display of playout and channel group lock status; and status-based colors and fonts for stories and items at a glance. These status updates speed up decision-making saving time, while maintaining accuracy.

Starting Command at a Workstation

Avid iNEWS Command client software requires no password to log in and is easy to start.

To start iNEWS Command at a workstation:

1. Do one of the following:

t Double click the iNEWS Command icon on the desktop.

t Click the Start button and select Programs > Avid > Avid iNEWS Command.

The iNEWS Command window opens.

The User Interface

The Avid iNEWS Command window is the graphical user interface that contains panels, a menu bar, a status bar, and a workspace area.

The User Interface

Panels

Not pictured is the Shotbox Viewer, which opens in the same area as the Playlist Viewer. For more information, see “Shotbox Viewer” on page 95. Also not shown are thumbnails in the playlist. For more information, see “Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist” on page 73.

Panels are components that appear in the application and provide information in various ways.The iNEWS Command window contains panels that you can dock, undock, move, resize, or even hide from view. Each panel is easily identified by the name appearing in its title bar.

For more information about the panels, including the Inventory Explorer, used in iNEWS Command, see “Panels” on page 29. The workspace area contains either the Shotbox Viewer panel, Playlist Viewer, or both simultaneously. For more on them, see “Playlist Viewer” on

page 53 and “Shotbox Viewer” on page 95.

The User Interface

Menu Bar

The menu bar for iNEWS Command contains the following:

•File

•Edit

•View

•Playlist

• Shotbox

•Media

•Tools

•Help

Each menu, its options and descriptions are described in the following tables:

Menu Submenu Menu Option Shortcut Keys Description

File New Playlist Ctrl+Shift+N Opens the Create New Playlist dialog box.

Shotbox Ctrl+Alt+N Opens the Create New Shotbox dialog box.

File Import Playlist Imports a playlist to Command.

Shotbox Imports a shotbox to Command.

Export Playlist Exports a playlist from Command.

Shotbox Exports a shotbox from Command.

Command can export a playlist in .csv format so that users can keep track of their playlists in an Excel

spreadsheet; however, .csv files cannot be imported back into Command. Exported data includes the ID, Title, Duration, and Channel, and puts in a separate line for Breaks.

Exit Closes the Command program.

Edit Cut Ctrl+X Cut selection.

Copy Ctrl+C Copy selection.

Paste Ctrl+V Paste selection.

Delete Delete selection.

View Playlist Explorer Ctrl+Shift+E Displays or closes the Playlist Explorer.

Inventory Ctrl+Shift+I Displays or closes the Inventory.

The User Interface

Menu Submenu Menu Option Shortcut Keys Description (Continued)

Shotbox Displays or closes the Shotbox Viewer.

Clock Displays or closes the Clock.

Playout Displays or closes the Playout panel.

Media Viewer Ctrl+Shift+M Displays or closes the Media Viewer.

Alerts Ctrl+Shift+A Displays or closes the Alerts.

Playlist View Next Ctrl+Tab Displays next playlist

Previous Ctrl+Shift+Tab Displays previous playlist

Set Focus Ctrl+F Sets the keyboard focus to the active view.

Close Ctrl+W Closes the current playlist.

Close All Ctrl+Shift+W Closes all playlists.

Maximize Maximizes the Playlist Viewer.

Playlist Select Next item Ctrl+Down Select next item in current playlist.

Previous Item Ctrl+Up Select previous item in current playlist.

Next Row Alt+Down Select next item in current playlist.

Previous Row Alt+Up Select previous item in current playlist.

Item In

Ctrl+Page Down Select next item after story.

Following Story

Playlist Edit Properties Opens Playlist Properties dialog box.

Edit Selection Ctrl+E Edit current selection in playlist.

Edit Channel Ctrl+* (asterisk) Sets focus to current playlist item’s

Channel column so the user can manually assign a channel.

Edit Trigger Ctrl+/ (slash) Sets focus to current playlist item’s Trigger

column so the user can select manual or follow-on playout.

Edit Media ID Sets focus to the current playlist item’s ID

column so the user can alter the ID.

Cut Cut selection.

Copy Copy selection.

The User Interface

Menu Submenu Menu Option Shortcut Keys Description (Continued)

Paste Paste selection.

Delete Delete selection.

Playlist Show Inventory Ctrl+I Opens the Inventory panel.

Playlist Insert New Story Ctrl+N Insert new story.

New Break Insert new break.

New Item Insert new item.

Playlist Channels Assign Ctrl+R Assign channel.

Lock All Ctrl+L Lock all channels.

Unlock All Alt+L Unlock all channels.

Add Existing... Add an existing channel group.

Add New... Add a new channel group.

Playlist Playout Cue . (period) Cue Selection. Additional submenu options

include: Selection Cue All Channels (Shift+hyphen), Last Played (Ctrl+hyphen), and Home, Select and Cue All (Alt+Home). The last submenu option moves the cursor to the first available item in the playlist and cues all channels.

The Alt+Home keystroke combination works only when the Home key on the keyboard is used, not the

Home (7) key on the numerical keypad.

Play Enter Play media.

Pause + (plus) Pause media that is playing. Submenu

options include: Selection and Last Played.

Stop 0 (zero) Stops media from playing. Submenu

options include: Selection and Last Played.

Shotbox View Next Ctrl+Alt+Tab Displays next shotbox

Previous Displays previous shotbox

Set Focus Ctrl+Alt+F Sets the keyboard focus to the active view.

Maximize Maximizes the Shotbox Viewer panel.

Close Ctrl+Alt+W Closes the current shotbox.

The User Interface

Menu Submenu Menu Option Shortcut Keys Description (Continued)

Close All Closes all shotboxes.

Shotbox Edit Selection Ctrl+Alt+E Edit current selection in shotbox.

Edit Channel Ctrl+Alt+*

(asterisk on numeric keypad)

Sets focus to current shotbox item’s Channel list so the user can manually assign a channel. This “pins” the channel to that item.

Unpin Channel Alt+Shift+*

(asterisk on

Removes pinned channel assignment from all selected items in shotbox.

numeric keypad)

Cut Cut selection.

Copy Copy selection.

Paste Paste selection.

Delete Delete selection.

Shotbox Show Inventory Ctrl+Alt+I Opens the Inventory panel.

Shotbox Insert Item Alt+Shift+Insert Inserts a new item in a shotbox.

Shotbox Playout Cue Cue media. Submenu options include:

Selection, Last played, or Items 01-12.

Play Play media. Submenu options include:

Selection or Items 01-12.

Pause Pause media that is playing. Submenu

options include: Selection and Last Played.

Stop Stops media from playing. Submenu

options include: Selection and Last Played.

Media Play Ctrl+Space Play media.

Go To Mark In Alt+Q Go to the marked In point.

Go To Mark Out Alt+W Go to marked Out point.

Set Mark In Alt+I Mark the In point.

Set Mark Out Alt+O Mark the Out point.

Forward One Frame Alt+. Move forward one frame.

The User Interface

Menu Submenu Menu Option Shortcut Keys Description (Continued)

Forward One Second

Forward ten Seconds

Backward One Frame

Backward One Second

Backward Ten Seconds

Restart Alt+6 Restart media.

Eject Alt+J Eject media.

Tools Options Opens the Options dialog box.

System Settings Opens the System Settings dialog box.

Enable GPI playout Ctrl+G If selected, it enables the use of a GPI

Help Command Help Displays help information for users.

Ctrl+. Move forward one second.

Ctrl+Alt+. Move forward ten seconds.

Alt+, Move backward one frame.

Ctrl+, Move backward one second.

Ctrl+Alt+, Move backward ten seconds.

These options apply to the workstation only and are not system-wide settings.

keypad for playout control.

Support Opens the Support dialog box.

About Display information about iNEWS

Status Bar

The status bar provides status information regarding channels and channel groups. It also shows an indication of GPI playout control and the name of the system’s alias.

For more information on the possible icons that appear on the status bar, see “Channel Group

Icons” on page 182.

Whether the status bar appears in the user interface is customizable.

Command.

The User Interface

To show or hide the display of the status bar and channels:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Status Bar.

3. Do any of the following:

t Select Show status bar to display the status bar in the Command window.

t Deselect Show status bar to hide the status bar in the Command window.

t Select Show channels to display status of channels on the status bar.

t Deselect Show channels to hide status of channels on the status bar.

4. Click OK.

Support Dialog Box

The Support dialog box is provided for Command users to log information about any issues encountered that might require contacting Avid.

To log support information:

1. Select Help > Support.

2. Enter a description of the issue in the Support dialog box.

The following example shows a sentence regarding a GPI device:

Support Dialog Box

3. Click Save.

4. Select the name and location where you want the zipped file to be saved.

5. Click OK.

The system saves your comments inside a zipped file that also contains other vital information, such as system settings and software versions, which enable support personnel to troubleshoot the issue. This file can then be e-mailed to support personnel at Avid.

2 Panels

The iNEWS Command interface is made up of panels, which provide information in various ways.

This chapter contains the following main sections:

• Working with Panels

• Playlist Explorer

• Inventory

• Clock

• Playout

• Media Viewer

• Alerts

Working with Panels

The iNEWS Command window contains numerous panels that a user can dock, undock, move, resize, or even hide from view in the main window.

You can also dock the Clock, Playout and Shotbox panels above the Playlist. When there is more than one panel docked at the top, you can switch between panels using the tabs. The following illustration shows the Shotbox and Clock panels overlapping:

Working with Panels

Panels can be arranged so that they are tiled within available screen space, or layered so that only one is visible and the rest are accessible via tabs. An example of tiled panels is shown in “The

User Interface” on page 21. The following graphic shows layered panels—as indicated by the

tabs at the bottom—with the Alerts panel on top. The layering option is helpful in conserving screen space. Panels can be layered on either the left or right side of the main window.

Working with Panels

Each panel is easily identified by its title bar that bears its name. The available panels are:

• Playlist Explorer (shown below)

• Inventory

• Clock

• Shotbox Viewer (See “Shotbox Viewer” on page 95.)

• Media Viewer

• Alerts

Panels are docked by default.

To undock a panel, do one of the following:

t Click the Restore button located on the panel’s title bar, next to the X button.

t Double-click the panel’s title bar.

t Click on the panel’s title bar and drag it from its docked location.

To redock a panel, do one of the following:

t Click the Restore button located on the panel’s title bar, next to the X button. It will redock

in its previously docked location.

t Double-click the panel’s title bar. It will redock in its previously docked location.

t Click on the panel’s title bar and drag it to an alternative docking location—until the title bar

touches the border of the area to which you want it docked.

Playlist Explorer

To layer panels:

1. Click the panel’s title bar and drag it to the top left (or right) corner of the window.

2. Repeat the process with each panel. Command will automatically layer the panels and provide tabs at the bottom of the screen. A user can then click any tab to bring that panel to the top.

If layered panels include the Alerts panel, the Command system is designed to automatically

bring the Alerts panel to the top whenever an alert message is received. If this removes focus from the Playlist or Shotbox Viewers in which you are working, you can restore focus quickly by using the following keystroke combinations. Ctrl+F sets focus back to the Playlist Viewer. Ctrl+Alt+F sets focus back to the Shotbox Viewer.

To hide a panel:

t Click the X button on the title bar of the panel you want to hide.

To view a hidden panel:

t Select View and then the name of the panel from the submenu.

To resize a panel:

1. Position your mouse pointer on the edge of a panel. The pointer will change to a resize indicator.

2. Click and drag to the new size.

Playlist Explorer

The Playlist Explorer shows a list of:

• Newsroom playlists that have been loaded to iNEWS Command from an iNEWS newsroom computer system

• MOS-based newsroom playlists that are MOS active and have been marked ready-to-air from a MOS-enabled newsroom computer system, such as ENPS

• Standalone playlists, including those set to air at a specified time of day

• Disconnected newsroom playlists

• Shotboxes

The Playlist Explorer can be configured to show MOS-based newsroom playlists that are MOS

active but have not been marked ready-to-air. By default, this feature is not enabled. The procedure for turning it on is provided later in this section.

Playlist Explorer

Depending on what newsroom system Command integrates with at your site, various icons will appear to the left of playlist names. For instance, when iNEWS Command has received all items and/or stories in the rundown from an iNEWS newsroom computer system, the “purple I” icon will appear.

When Command is integrated with a MOS-based newsroom computer system, such as ENPS, the MOS icon appears—either gray for a MOS Active playlist (when option is enabled) or black for one that is both MOS Active and ready-to-air.

When a lightbulb appears, the playlist is on air. Double-clicking one of the playlists (or shotboxes) will open it with its stories, media, channels, and so forth in preparation of locking channel groups and taking a show to air.

The icons used in relation to newsroom playlists also appear in the Playlist Viewer’s Playlist toolbar. For more information about these icons and others in Command, see “Icon and Button

Quick Reference” on page 177.

The Playlist Explorer can be configured to open a playlist automatically when it’s loaded directly from iNEWS or when it’s marked ready-to-air from a MOS-enabled newsroom computer system.

Playlist Explorer

To configure Playlist Explorer to automatically open loaded or ready-to-air playlists:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Playlist Explorer.

3. Select Auto-open playlist.

4. Click OK.

To enable the display of MOS active playlists that are not ready-to-air:

1. Select Tools > Options.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Playlist Explorer.

3. Select Show all playlists (even if not ready-to-air).

4. Click OK.

Tabs

Playlist Explorer

You can disconnect a MOS active playlist, which would turn it into a standalone playlist controlled by Command, by right-clicking on that MOS-based newsroom playlist and selecting Disconnect. The option appears disabled when right-clicking on other non-newsroom playlists.

You can also delete a standalone playlist or shotbox from the Playlist Explorer via a context menu option by right-clicking on the shotbox or standalone playlist in the Playlist Explorer panel.

Whether the same playlist can be opened onto multiple tabs in the Playlist Viewer is a configurable setting.

Changing this setting does not affect existing tabs already opened in the current session.

To turn on or off the multi-tab option for playlists:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Playlist Explorer.

3. Do one of the following:

t Select One tab per playlist if you want any playlist opened from the Playlist Explorer to

appear on only one tab. If its already open, its tab will appear on top of other tabs. Avid recommends using this setting.

t Deselect One tab per playlist if you want a playlist to appear on a new tab each time it’s

opened from the Playlist Explorer.

4. Click OK.

For more information on the Auto-open playlist option, see “Playlist Explorer” on page 33.

Playlist Explorer

Inventory

The Inventory panel shows an alphabetical list of channel groups, a search bar, and the inventory (media) for a selected channel group in a table or spreadsheet-style format. Below the inventory, you can see the total number of inventory items displayed and any chosen media item’s availability, clip ID, name (slug), duration, the time when it was last modified, and whether media is protected from deletion.

Inventory

You can also double click on a media item to open it from the Inventory panel.

Opening items from the Inventory panel is dependent on having a playlist open that contains a

browse channel on the same device. If the user opens the playlist first, Command will automatically select the first channel group in the Inventory panel.

For more information about channel groups, see “Working with Channel Groups” on page 79.

When controlling a third-party video device via the Avid Video device service (using VDCP), the

device’s inventory will appear in the Inventory panel only if the device service is configured to use one port for inventory purposes. If the device service is configured with playback channels only, the inventory will not appear; however, the playlist in Command will still reflect inventory status, and an unavailable item promptly changes to available once it is transferred to the device.

The Inventory panel provides graphical indicators to show status of availability and delete protection:

Inventory Status Icons

Available on all

Unavailable on some

Item is protected against deletion across all devices in the channel group.

Item is partially protected. Problem with one or more devices in channel group.

Inventory

Detailed Status Icons

Available on specific device

Unavailable on specifc device

When no shield icon is present, that indicates the item is not protected, and therefore can be

deleted from the inventory.

When an item appears unavailable on some, you can view the specific devices by clicking the plus (+) to the left of Availability in the Details section of the Inventory panel. When an item appears partially protected, you can view the specific devices by clicking the plus (+) to the left of Devices in the Details section of the Inventory panel.

Command users can drag media directly from the Inventory panel to the Playlist Viewer and drop it into an open, locked standalone playlist with the same channel group assigned to it. If a different channel group applies, the system will ask the user whether to add the channel group to the playlist.

To view inventory from a different channel group:

t Select a different channel group from the list.

If you want to view items from more than one channel group, hold the Ctrl key down as you select

multiple channel groups in the Inventory panel. The list is provided in alphabetical order.

The user can select any column header to sort the table by that column. The user can also rearrange the order of columns.

To sort inventory:

t Select the column by which you want to sort, such as Slug, which is the name or title of the

item.

To rearrange column order:

t Click on a column header and drag it to a new position.

Customizing the Inventory Panel

The Inventory panel is divided into multiple areas that display information, such as channel group list, a search bar, inventory, and media details. A user can customize some features of the panel by modifying the font or adjusting the size of each area within the confines of the panel. For instance, a user can move one of two resize bars to adjust the areas of the Inventory panel to view more inventory or longer channel group lists.

Inventory

To resize areas of the Inventory panel:

t Click either of the two resize bars, which are located in the pane between the channel group

list area and the search bar or between the inventory and details areas at the bottom of the pane. Then drag the bar up or down to make your adjustment.

To modify the font in the Inventory panel:

1. Click Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box appears.

Inventory

2. Modify the font by clicking the Change button. A sample of your settings is provided as a preview.

3. Click Apply to save your changes.

Searching for Items in Inventory

Avid iNEWS Command lets users search for specific items in the inventory via the Inventory panel. The search is not case sensitive.

To search for an item:

1. Use the drop-down arrow next to the Search field in the Inventory panel to select the filter by which you want to search. Your options are: ID, Slug, or All (meaning both the item’s slug and ID).

2. Type the ID or slug in the Search field.

As you type, the list of items shown in the Inventory panel is filtered to show only those items with the criteria you specified. Also, when switching channel groups in the Inventory panel, any entered search term will be reapplied to the newly chosen channel group.

Deleting Items in Inventory

Avid iNEWS Command enables users to delete items in the inventory via the Inventory panel. However, if an item is cued, playing, paused, or done, you cannot delete it from the Inventory panel; if an attempt is made to do so, an alert will appear to provide an explanation.

To delete an item:

1. Select the item and then right-click on it.

2. Select Delete from the menu.

Hold the Ctrl or Shift key down as you click to select multiple items for deletion. If the menu

option is unavailable, see your system administrator who might have disabled this feature. When multiple items are selected for deletion, the Delete Confirmation dialog box appears with a confirmation question stating the number of items selected for deletion. For instance, the question might appear as: “Delete the 10 selected inventory items?”

Inventory

Protecting Items in Inventory

Avid iNEWS Command enables users to selectively protect items in the inventory from deletion via the Inventory panel.

To protect an item:

1. Select the item (or items) and right-click.

2. Select Protect from the menu.

Hold the Ctrl or Shift key down as you click to select multiple items for delete-protection. If the

menu option is unavailable, see your system administrator who might have disabled this feature.

A silver shield appears in the Inventory panel next to protected items. Protection applies to that item across all devices in the channel group (selected at the top of the Inventory panel). If there is a problem with protecting the item on any of the devices, the shield icon appears yellow and with an exclamation point.

You can view additional details for the specific devices by clicking the plus (+) to the left of Devices in the Details section of the Inventory panel.

To remove delete protection from an item:

1. Select the item (or items) and right-click.

2. Select Remove Protection from the menu.

Editing Items in Inventory

Users can change an item’s slug or video ID from the Inventory panel. However, if an item is cued, playing, paused, or done, you cannot rename it from the Inventory panel; if an attempt is made to do so, an alert will appear to provide an explanation.

Renaming of the video ID is a feature that a system administrator can turn off.

To change an item’s slug:

1. Right click on the item in the Inventory panel.

2. Select Change Slug.

To change an item’s video ID:

1. Right click on the item in the Inventory panel.

2. Select Change ID.

Clock

The Clock panel can be used to display the current time based on the Command Workstation’s time or times normally associated with the clocks featured in the Playlist Viewer, such as times related to clips or a show.

In the previous example, the clock is configured to display the time remaining in a clip, such a minute and eight seconds.

Because the Clock panel can be undocked, it may be moved to a second monitor in the control room, if the Command Workstation is a computer with dual-monitor capabilities.

Clock

The font, background, and foreground colors of the Clock panel are configurable, and the time can be set to display values in a 12- or 24-hour format.

To configure the clock:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Clock.

3. In the Time of Day Clock section, set the clock’s text color and background color.

4. Select the Display Time of Day check box if you want to display current time based on the workstation’s time.

5. Set the clock to either a 12- or 24-hour format.

Playout

6. Click the Change button to set the clock’s font. A sample of your settings is provided as a preview.

7. In the Channel Duration Clocks section, select the Display Channel Durations check box if you want to display duration clocks. Command offers a Clock panel that automatically displays up to two duration clocks—also known as count up/down clocks—for all video channels in the active (open) playlist, and users can customize the size and color of the clocks for that panel in this section of the Options dialog box.

8. If you want the clocks to flash during the last 10 seconds of an item’s duration, select the check box called Flash red last ten seconds. This is a global setting. If selected, when a playing item reaches 10 seconds remaining, the countdown clock will change the text color to red and then alternate every second between that color and the standard pre-defined color.

9. Click the Change button to set the font for the duration clocks. A sample of your settings is provided as a preview.

10. Select the text color and background used for channel names.

11. In each of the Left Clock and Right Clock sections, select the behavior of the clocks:

t Hide—Choose this option if you do not want to display the clock.

t Time elapsed in clip—Choose this option if you want to display how much time has

elapsed since the current clip began playing.

12. Select the text color and background for each of the duration clocks.

13. When done, click Apply, then OK.

Playout

The Playout panel displays transport controls, thumbnails, duration information and IDs or slugs for media items.

The panel has two main uses:

• Lets users access channel specific transport commands from within the Command user

• Lets users monitor the currently playing item from a workstation that does not have the

t Time remaining in clip—Choose this option if you want to display how much time

remains of the clip that is playing.

interface. This is most useful for sites with touch screen monitors.

channel group locked.

The Playout panel can display either video or graphics. The following illustration shows a Playout panel with a sample video item.

The following illustration shows a Playout panel with a sample graphic.

Playout

To view the Playout panel:

t Select View > Playout.

For information on configuring this panel for use with touch screen devices, see “Setting up the

Playout Panel for Touch Screens” in the Avid iNEWS Command Installation and Configuration

Guide.

Media Viewer

Go To In

Go To Out

Set Mark In

Set Mark Out

Set Mark In

Set Mark Out

Position Indicator

Timecode

Duration

Play/Stop

Eject

The Media Viewer provides Browse controls within the Command user interface that you can use to play, stop, and set mark in and out points of video on devices, such as an Avid AirSpeed video server. The panel does allow for the display of static images, called thumbnails, which represent media items, but an external video monitor must be used to watch the video.

A browse channel must be configured in the channel group to browse video. Command supports

shared browse channels, too, so that users can open items in Media Viewer from multiple workstations. For shared browsing, a second browse-only channel group must be created. Editing the mark in and out points of video items and timecode graphics can be done from the Media Viewer with or without a browse channel.

The Browse controls are:

Media Viewer

The Play button changes to a Stop button when media is playing. The keyboard’s spacebar can be used to play or pause the play of video in the Media Viewer. The clock on the bottom left of the Media Viewer displays the timecode of current position indicated on the position bar. The clock on the right provides the duration.

The duration between mark in and out points is shown on the item in the playlist. Setting a mark

in or out point for an item in Media Viewer is a “soft” mark, which means that the mark in or out point only applies to that specific item in the playlist, but the original item in the inventory is unchanged.

Displaying Thumbnails in Media Viewer

Thumbnails in Command are small graphical representations of the media, which could be a character generated graphic or a frame of video. In regard to video, although sometimes referred to as headframes, thumbnails are created from within the first five frames of video and therefore might or might not be the first or “head” frame.

When thumbnails are displayed, a static image representing the media appears in the Media Viewer above the Browse controls.

Media Viewer

To display thumbnails in the Media Viewer:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, select Media Viewer.

3. Select Show thumbnails.

4. Click OK to save the settings.

Editing Fulfillment Data and Time Codes in the Media Viewer

The Media Viewer can also be used to edit fulfillment data in graphics, create standalone playlists with time code playout, and override time code values from newsroom playlists.

By setting the start and duration times of a video item, you instruct Command to send Play and Eject commands when the story’s video reaches the appropriate points. For graphic items, this lets you overlap graphics by using start and duration times. For instance, you can set the start time of a second graphic to happen before the end time of the first graphic, so that an Eject command is not sent for the first before the second one plays, allowing for an update motion when transitioning from one graphic to another.

Command display a Curled Arrow icon in the playlist to indicate when graphics overlap.

This feature works only with devices that support it. For a list of compatible devices, see the

latest Avid iNEWS Command ReadMe.

To edit fulfillment data or alter time code values:

1. Open the item in the Media Viewer.

If the graphic has fulfillment fields, those will be displayed. If the item is a blank template, you can use the Plus (+) button to add fields.

2. Edit the fulfillment data in the fields provided.

3. (Optional) Modify the time code values for Start and Duration.

Media Viewer

All changes to the item are applied immediately and appear in the Media Viewer, so no saving in necessary.

Changes made that override fulfillment data from newsroom playlists are not sent back to the newsroom computer system, and would be lost if the story is floated/unfloated from within the rundown.

Alerts

The Alerts window provides a list of recent alerts. The alerts contain these properties:

• Title (mandatory)

• Text (optional-not shown in the list)

• Alert type

The types of alerts include:

Icon Alert Type

Critical

Warn in g

Information

Succeeded

The succeeded alert with its check mark icon will only appear as a followup to previously

reported warnings and critical alerts.

Each alert will appear along with a timestamp for when the alert was issued.

If the alert’s title extends beyond the size of the panel, resize the panel or mouse over the alert to view the entire title in a tooltip. A user can also select any alert and view additional details as well as clear alerts from the list.

To view details:

t Select an alert and view the details below the list area.

t Double-click on an alert to view details specific to that alert in a diagnostics dialog box.

To clear alerts:

t Right-click and select Clear Alerts.

Alerts

3 Playlist Viewer

The iNEWS Command interface provides an area known as the Playlist Viewer, with which users can view and manage playlists for on-air playout.

This chapter contains the following main sections:

• Types of Playlists

• Overview of Playlist Viewer

- Toolbars

- Viewing Playlist Items by Component

• Customizing the Playlist Viewer

- Customizing the Cursor

- Customizing Playlist Clocks

- Customizing Columns in Playlist Viewer

- Resizing the Playlist Viewer

- Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist

• Locking and Unlocking Playlists

• Working with Channel Groups

• Working with Standalone Playlists

• Working with Embedded Playlists

• Using Time of Day Playlists

Types of Playlists

There are different types of playlists. For example, a playlist created at a Command Workstation is considered a standalone playlist. It can be locked and managed from any Command Workstation on the Command system.

A playlist created through a newsroom computer system and uploaded to the Command system is called a newsroom playlist. When the newsroom rundown is uploaded to Command, the resulting playlist can be viewed at the Command Workstation, but the newsroom system retains the lock on the playlist.

Types of Playlists

Although the newsroom system retains the playlist lock, a user at a Command Workstation can

still control playout functionality by obtaining the locks on channel groups associated with the newsroom playlist. Channel group locks for playout are not the same as playlist locks, which prevent altering the structure of the playlist itself.

A user at a Command Workstation can obtain the playlist lock from a newsroom system, in which case the newsroom playlist becomes a standalone playlist. For more information, see

“Locking and Unlocking Playlists” on page 77.

When a playlist is inserted into another one, the one inserted is called an embedded playlist. The one containing the embedded playlist is known as the container playlist. A standalone playlist can contain a newsroom playlist or another standalone playlist as its embedded playlist. A newsroom playlist can contain a standalone playlist or another newsroom playlist.

Newsroom playlists that contain the word “shotbox” in the name can be loaded to Command as

shotboxes.

Finally, a playlist set to air at specific times is called a time of day playlist. For more on this type of playlist, see “Using Time of Day Playlists” on page 93.

Overview of Playlist Viewer

Among the many capabilities featured in the Playlist Viewer, a user can:

• View existing playlists—standalone, time of day, or newsroom playlists

• Choose to display playlist items based on component type, such as video or graphics.

• Create standalone playlists

• Lock channel groups

Overview of Playlist Viewer

• Control a playlist for broadcast

• Embed a playlist into standalone playlists

When you double-click on a playlist in the Playlist Explorer, iNEWS Command will open it on a tab in the Playlist Viewer to display all the stories with attached media, including character generator graphics (CGs), if any.

You can have different playlists open simultaneously. All are accessible through tabs located at the top of the Playlist Viewer.

The Playlist Viewer opens in the same area of the workspace as the Shotbox Viewer panel. If the

Shotbox Viewer panel is also open, the two can split the space, one atop the other. The Playlist Viewer cannot be split to view multiple playlists simultaneously; only one tab can be viewed at a time.

The appearance and some behavior of the playlist is customizable. For example, depending on your system’s configuration, thumbnails or a film strip icon might appear for certain media items. In the following example, the display of thumbnails are enabled. Other examples in this chapter show playlists with that feature disabled. For more information on custom options, see

“Customizing the Playlist Viewer” on page 62. For more information on thumbnails, see “Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist” on page 73.

If a video item is unavailable, Command will display the video ID but not the item’s title (also

called the slug).

Toolbars

For more information, see “Toolbars” on page 56, and “Customizing the Playlist Viewer” on

page 62.

Toolbars

Below each tab in the Playlist Viewer are various toolbars, which might appear. The top one is the Playout toolbar containing two clocks and several buttons for playout control. With the Playout toolbar, a user at the Command Workstation can play, pause, or stop events.

Toolbars

Control buttons allow users to control playout of events on locked devices associated with the loaded playlist. For more information about the clocks on the Playout toolbar, see “Customizing

Playlist Clocks” on page 69.

Below the Playout toolbar is the Playlist toolbar, which enables users to lock and unlock channel groups to playlists. It also contains check boxes for each channel group that a user can select to determine by component the display of items in a playlist. If no channel groups are associated with the playlist, no Channel Group buttons or check boxes will appear. For more information, see “Channel Groups Buttons” on page 59.

On the far right of the Playlist toolbar is another button used to lock playlists or disconnect playlists from newsroom rundowns.

The icons on the buttons that appear on the Playlist toolbar will vary depending on variety of factors: whether the channel group or groups are locked, whether the playlist is a time of day playlist, standalone playlist, newsroom playlist, and whether it’s locked.

Beneath the Playlist toolbar is the Channel toolbar, which might appear when a channel group is locked. It shows status icons on a per channel basis. To see the various types of icons you might see on the toolbar, see “Channel Group Icons” on page 182. This toolbar can be turned off so that it does not appear. Regardless, the status icons are also available on the Status bar at the bottom right corner of the Command window.

Like the Playlist toolbar, the icons that appear on the Channel toolbar will vary depending on the status of the individual channels in the channel group. When the tally signal is active, the color of a channel on the Channel toolbar might also change color.

For a breakdown of the types of icons you might see on these toolbars, see “Icon and Button

Quick Reference” on page 177.

Hiding a Playlist’s Playout or Channel Toolbar

A user can choose whether to display the Playout and Channel toolbars.

To hide the Playout or Channel toolbar:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box will appear.

Toolbars

2. In Category, expand the Playlist and Shotbox Viewers.

3. Expand Playlist Viewer and select Toolbars.

4. Do one of the following or both:

t Deselect Show playout toolbar.

t Deselect Show channel toolbar.

5. Click OK.

Channel Groups Buttons

Channel Group buttons represent a channel group that is associated with the loaded playlist and are used to individually lock channel groups for playout control and unlock them afterward.

When playlists are loaded to Command from a newsroom computer system, the Channel Group button for the appropriate channel group associated with that playlist will automatically appear in the Playlist toolbar. If multiple channel groups are configured for the playlist, then more than one button will appear. For standalone playlists created at the Command workstation, a channel group must be added to the playlist, which can be done when the playlist is created or added later at any time.

If a user drags an item from the Inventory panel into a standalone playlist, Command will prompt the user to automatically add the channel group associated with that item. For more information, see “Working with Channel Groups” on page 79.

Customizing the Channel Toolbar for Tally

Avid iNEWS Command can provide a visual indication of when a channel’s tally signal is active. This indicator appears as a color change on the Channel toolbar.

Toolbars

The following illustration shows two channels, A and B, and the tally is active for channel B. The colors for the background and text are customizable.

To set the colors for tally:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

Toolbars

2. In Category, expand Channel and select Appearance.

3. Set the colors for both the background and the text.

4. Click OK to save the settings.

The settings for Tally High apply to the Channel toolbar in both the Playlist Viewer and the

Shotbox Viewer panel.

Viewing Playlist Items by Component

In some cases, a user might want to view playlist items associated with a particular component and not any others, such as only character generator (CG) graphics or only video.

Command provides users with a way to do this via check boxes on the Playlist toolbar.

To display items based on component type:

t Select the check box next to the channel group associated with that type of component.

In the following illustration, the channel group associated with a video server is selected, as indicated by the black X, so only video items would be displayed in the playlist, not CG items. If both were selected, then video and CG items would appear in the playlist.

The display of items is independent of whether the channel group or groups are locked.

Graphic Trigger Count

When integrated with a graphic component, such as certain character generator devices, Command playlists can display the total number of triggers for graphic items with a trigger count greater than one.

Devices using Chyron Intelligent Interface protocols will show the trigger count in the Trigger

column of a playlist. Third-party GDS plug-in implementation, such as Vizrt, may show the trigger count in the Trigger column.

The graphic trigger count must be entered in the Graphic Inventory Editor (for CII inplementation), or reported to Command by the Graphic device service’s plug-in.

For instance, when a graphic item is cued, Command displays values in the format 0/x, where x is the numerical value for the item’s total trigger count. In the sample illustration, the display is 0/2, because the graphic item in this example has a trigger count of two (2).

Next, when the item is played, it goes to a paused state after completing the first trigger, and the first numerical value changes accordingly. In this example, the graphic trigger count changes to 1/2.

Then, after the item is played again and executes its last trigger, it goes to a Done state, and the graphic trigger displayed in Command changes to 2/2.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

When first installed, Avid iNEWS Command uses default colors and fonts to display information about playlist events; however users can customize how that data is displayed on the Playlist Viewer tabs. For example, a user might want an unplayable event to appear in red so that it easily stands out on the screen.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

Changes made to the Appearance settings apply to the Playlist and Shotbox Viewers; only a few

settings are not applicable to shotboxes, such as Story, Embedded Playlist, and Break entries.

Additionally, the behavior of the cursor within the playlist can be set to perform in certain ways. For example, a user might want the cursor to move when pressing the Page Up key. By default the cursor does not move.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

To customize the appearance and behavior of the Playlist Viewer:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers and select Appearance.

3. You can alter the font, as well as the color of text and backgrounds. As you click on each entry in the Playlist section, your settings for that entry will appear in the Sample section at the bottom of the dialog box. Using the Ctrl or Shift keys, you can select and modify multiple entries simultaneously.

4. (Optional) Click Apply to save the settings without closing the dialog box, so further modification can continue.

The Restore Defaults button is used to restore settings to the system’s original default settings.

5. Select Playlist Viewer.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

6. Select the check box in the Playlist creation section if you want to enable item-only playlists. This option is selected by default. You can insert breaks in item-only playlists. If you intend to embed newsroom playlists or other standalone playlists, you must deselect this option to keep stories in the playlist.

7. Select Show thumbnails if you want to view thumbnails of media in the playlist.

For more information on thumbnails, see “Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist” on page 73.

8. Select whether you want a default icon displayed in the playlist for items that do not have thumbnails.

Default Icons

Default icon for graphics

Default icon for videos

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

If this feature is turned on and Command is controlling video and graphic devices that do not support thumbnails, then default icons for each are used as shown in the following illustration.

9. In the Filters section, select the check box if you want story rows with no visible items to be hidden in the playlist.

10. In the Unplayable description section, select a radio button corresponding to the manner in which you want Command to display unplayable status information. Options include:

t Showing the description before the title.

t Showing the description after the title.

t Hiding the description and not displaying it at all.

11. (Optional) Click Apply to save the settings without closing the dialog box, so further modification can continue.

12. Select Behavior.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

13. Select whether to allow use of arrow keys to move the cursor up or down a playlist to the nearest media or next adjacent row.

14. Select whether to enable the Page Up, Page Down, Home, and End keys to move the cursor up or down a playlist, scrolling as needed. By default, this feature is off, so pressing any of these four keys would scroll the view without moving the cursor within the playlist.

15. The autocursor feature applies to cursor behavior in a playlist when using channel specific playout—in regard to GPI or X-keys with actions assigned to indices. Set Autocursor to one of the following options:

Option Description

None

To next playable after last-played item

To last-played item

16. Select how many rows should remain displayed above the cursor. This will lock the cursor in place—once it reaches the row specified—so that the playlist scrolls up or down instead of the cursor moving up or down.

17. Select whether the autoscroll lock applies to the row containing the last-played item, instead of cursor position.

18. Select whether double-clicking on an item should cue that item or open it into the Media Viewer.

19. Click OK to save the settings.

Customizing the Cursor

In a playlist, the cursor can appear as a rectangle around a row or as a solid bar in all or specified fields. Additionally, a drop indicator is provided when dragging copied rows to different locations within a playlist. It appears as a solid line between rows.

Select this option if not using channel specific playout. When set to None, the cursor will follow standard movement patterns.

Select this option if you want the cursor to move to the next available item after the one that’s just been played via channel specific GPI or X-keys commands.

Select this option if you want the cursor to move to the item just played via channel specific GPI or X-keys commands.

A user can customize the colors for both the cursor and the drop indicator.

The behavior of the cursor when a user presses the keys Page Up, Page Down, Home, or End can

also be customized. By default the cursor does not move when any of the four keys are pressed. For more on setting cursor behavior in a playlist, see “Customizing the Playlist Viewer” on

page 62.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

To change the cursor’s appearance:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers and select Cursor.

3. Set the color of the cursor.

Setting Description

Active

Inactive

The color of the cursor when the focus is on the Playlist Viewer. By default this color is black.

The color of the cursor when the focus is on a different panel in the iNEWS Command window or on another software application. By default this color is gray.

4. Set the color of the drop indicator.

Setting Description

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

Drop Indicator

The color of the line used to indicate where copied rows will be dropped into the playlist when dragged to a new location. By default this color is blue.

5. (Optional) Click Apply to save changes without closing the Options dialog box.

6. Expand Playlist Viewer and select Columns.

7. Set the Background options per column accordingly.

Options Description

Cursor

Status

The cursor’s color will also apply to the field’s background. This makes the cursor in that column appear to be a solid bar.

The cursor’s color only applies as an outline on the field. This allows the background in that column to reflect status colors, such as playability or transport status.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

In the following example, the cursor’s active color is set to black, the Thumbnail and Trigger columns are set to Cursor, while the rest is set to Status. The cursor—located on the video item between story lines 04 and 05—appears as shown:

In the previous example, the display of thumbnails was turned off, so the cursor color is clearly

visible. A filmstrip icon appears for all video items instead of thumbnail graphics. When thumbnails are displayed, the graphic fills each cell in the column; therefore, the cursor color in that column appears more as an outline. For an example of a playlist showing thumbnails, see

“Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist” on page 73.

8. Click OK to save settings and close the Options dialog box.

Customizing Playlist Clocks

The clocks on either side of the toolbar can be hidden or customized to provide certain timing functions, which include:

• Time elapsed in clip

• Time remaining in clip

• Time remaining in show

If an item is added to a playlist, the Time Remaining in Show will update immediately.

Each clock’s background color, as well as the font and color of text, can be altered from the defaults, which are: black, 24 pt., bold MS Shell Dlg font on a yellow background. While the font setting is shared by both clocks, the colors can be set independently of one another.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

To change clock functions:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box appears.

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers.

3. Expand Playlist Viewer and select Clocks.

4. Set each clock’s behavior, text color, and background color.

5. To change the font used for both clocks, click the Change button.

6. If you want the clocks to flash during the last 10 seconds of an item’s duration, select the check box in the Both clocks section. If selected, when a playing item reaches 10 seconds remaining, the countdown clock will change the text color to red and then alternate every second between that color and the standard pre-defined color.

7. When finished modifying the look and behavior of the clocks, click OK.

Customizing Columns in Playlist Viewer

A Command user can rearrange, rename, and hide any column or columns in a playlist.

To rearrange columns:

t Click on the column header and drag it right or left to a new location.

To show, hide, or rename a column:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers.

3. Expand Playlist Viewer and select Columns.

4. Under Show, select or deselect the check box for each column you want to display or hide.

5. Under Header, double-click the text field corresponding to the column you want to rename and type in the new name.

6. Click OK.

The Story Field option enables the user to display—in the playlist—certain metadata obtained

from the newsroom computer system related to a story. Options include: Page number, Story slug, and Story ID. This data will appear only on a story line in the playlist in the specified column.

The Background column setting pertains to the appearance of the column fields when the cursor is on them in the Playlist Viewer. For more information, see “Customizing the

Cursor” on page 66.

Time of Day Column

There are two ways you can use the Time of Day column:

• Lock the channel group and play an item in a playlist that contains follow-on items. If displayed in a playlist, the Time of Day column will show the time all subsequent follow-on items will trigger for playout. Manually playing another item will cause the Time of Day column to update. Closing and reopening the playlist will clear the values in the Time of Day column.

For the Time of Day column to display follow-on values, you must enable Assign follow-on to all

items in a playlist’s properties. If you want follow-on to continue through breaks as well, ensure that Assign follow-on to all breaks is also selected. This turns follow-on on or off for all current breaks in the selected playlist.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

• Right-click on an opened playlist and edit its properties by setting the playlist to automatically begin playing at a specified time. That time will appear in the Time of Day column. If a user changes the specified time in the playlist’s properties, the Time of Day column will update.

Manually playing an item will overwrite the values set in the playlist’s properties.

Resizing the Playlist Viewer

By default, the Playlist Viewer splits the main portion of the Command window with the Shotbox Viewer panel if both are opened. A user can adjust the division of the space for the Shotbox Viewer panel and the Playlist Viewer by clicking on the divider bar between them and dragging it up or down.

If the size is adjusted too small, some features will be hidden. More space is required if

thumbnails are shown in playlists.

The Playlist Viewer can also be maximized to fill the entire window.

To maximize the Playlist Viewer:

t Type Alt+Z.

t Select Playlist > View > Toggle Maximize.

Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist

For video clips, the marked in time does not affect the creation of thumbnails, which are created

from within the first five frames of recorded video.

In a playlist, when thumbnails are available and displayed, they appear in the far left column. The following example shows a playlist with thumbnails of video:

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

The thumbnails in the example are for SD media, but Command can display thumbnails for HD media, too, in which case the HD media appears with a white matte across the top and bottom of the thumbnail.

Resizing the Thumbnail column will also resize the thumbnail; the system retains aspect ratio.

When display of thumbnails are not enabled, or if Command cannot find or make a thumbnail for a media item, an icon similar to a film reel is used to indicate a video item, as shown in the following illustration.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

In the following example, the playlist shows items with thumbnails for a different component, an Avid Deko graphics device instead of a video server:

If Command is controlling video and graphic devices that do not support thumbnails, then default icons for each are used instead, as shown in the following illustration, which is a sample playlist displaying both default video and graphic icons in their default 16 x 16 pixel size.

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

If Command is controlling a device that supports thumbnails, the default size for icons in the

playlist gets bigger (up to 48 pixels) if the thumbnail column is widened. The following illustration shows the larger size thumbnail and default video icon for a playable and unplayable item:

To turn on the display of thumbnails:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers.

3. Select Playlist Viewer.

4. Select Show thumbnails if you want to view thumbnails of media in the playlist.

5. Click OK to save settings.

Locking and Unlocking Playlists

When a playlist is loaded from a newsroom computer system, iNEWS Command sends that system updates any time changes occur to the playlist at the Command workstation and receives updates from the newsroom computer system when changes are made to the rundown. The playlist is controlled and therefore considered “locked” by the newsroom system. However, should that connection be broken, the playlist is considered to be “disconnected”.

When a disconnect occurs, playout can continue from the Command workstation; however, any changes to the playlist in Command will not be sent to the rundown in the newsroom computer system. Also, the playlist will not display any modifications that might be made to the rundown. At that point, it is equivalent to a standalone playlist.

Locking and Unlocking Playlists

If a disconnect occurs, reloading the playlist from the newsroom computer system will restore the connection and provide the most up-to-date playlist in the Playlist Explorer or, if configured to do so, on a new tab in the Playlist Viewer. The channel groups (devices) locked to the original, disconnected playlist must be manually unlocked, and then relocked from the reloaded playlist on the new tab.

Locking and Unlocking Playlists

On the far right side of the Playlist toolbar is the Playlist Lock button. Its appearance varies depending on the status of the playlist:

This icon indicates that the playlist is controlled (locked) by an iNEWS newsroom rundown. Clicking it will prompt the user with an Override Lock dialog box. The user must type in the system administrator password to override the lock and disconnect the playlist from the newsroom rundown.

Whenever the lock held by an iNEWS newsroom rundown is overridden, the icon will change to one with a blinking red X to indicate the playlist is disconnected from the newsroom rundown.

This icon indicates that the playlist is MOS active and marked ready-to-air by a MOS-based newsroom rundown. Clicking it will prompt the user with an Override Lock dialog box.

If overridden, the playlist is disconnected; when this occurs, the icon will change to one with a blinking red X to indicate the playlist is now disconnected from the MOS-based newsroom rundown.

This icon indicates that the playlist is locked by the user at the Command Workstation. When locked, the user can insert, move, or delete items in the playlist. Clicking it will unlock the playlist at the workstation. When it is unlocked, the icon will change to indicate the playlist is unlocked.

This icon indicates that the playlist is unlocked. Clicking it will lock the playlist at the Command Workstation.

This icon indicates that the playlist is locked by a user at a different Command Workstation. When locked by another user, only that user can insert, move, or delete items in the playlist. Clicking the icon will override the other user’s lock. The user must type in the system administrator password to override the lock.

This icon indicates an unusual lock condition, such as when a newsroom system still has the lock on a newsroom playlist, but connection to the newsroom computer system is down.

Whenever a playlist is locked by another user, and you attempt to edit the playlist such as dragging and dropping an item into the playlist, Command will display a dialog box explaining that you must first lock the playlist yourself before being allowed to make such edits.

Selecting Yes in the dialog box will lock the playlist by you and permit edits.

Working with Channel Groups

A channel group is a group of one or more device channels that might or might not be across multiple devices.

Avid recommends that each channel group pertains to the same “type” of device. For example, a

channel group called AS is a grouping of channels from two or more AirSpeed video servers, while a different channel group named CG is a grouping of channels on a Deko character generator.

In this example, a station has two AirSpeed video servers, each with two channels that are numbered 2 and 3. The first AirSpeed is called AS1 and the second one AS2. With channel groups on Command, the station’s system administrator can set up numerous different channel groups and call them anything, such as the following:

Working with Channel Groups

Channel Group

AS-Morning A

AS-Noon A

AS-5PM A

AS-10PM A

Channel Names Actual Device Channels Purpose

AS1 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 3

AS2 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 3

AS2 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 3

AS2 - channel 2

AS2 - channel 3

AS1 - channel 2

AS2 - channel 2

AS1 - channel 3

AS2 - channel 3

Playout

Browse

Playout

Hotswap

Playout

Mirrored

Playout

Mirrored

As shown in the table, some channels are used for actual broadcast while others are reserved for off-air browsing, hotswapping, and mirrored playout purposes.

Working with Channel Groups

If the channel group contains playback and browse channels, double-clicking on an item in the

Media Viewer will lock that channel group.

Hotswapping is an automatic channel failover protection feature available at sites with more than one video server. A hotswap channel takes the place of a standard playout channel in the group should that channel fail. For playout purposes, Command displays in the Status area the channel that replaces the failed one. It also displays an icon on the Channel toolbar to indicate when a hotswap occurs. For more information, see “Channel Group Icons” on page 182.

Although the hotswap channel in Command retains the original name of the failed channel, it is

still a different physical channel. So, to achieve playout, the person at the switcher must be aware of its physical channel location when taking the hotswap channel to air.

In the Playlist Viewer, users can add new or existing channel groups to standalone playlists, as well as lock or unlock channel groups. For more information on assigning channels, see

“Changing Channels” on page 133.

To add an existing channel group to a standalone playlist:

1. With the playlist open, right-click on the Channel toolbar (anywhere in the gray area).

2. Select Channel toolbar > Channels > Add Existing....

3. Choose one or more of the channel groups from the list.

To select multiple channel groups, hold the Ctrl key down and click the groups.

Working with Channel Groups

4. Click OK.

A button or buttons for selected channel groups appears on the Playlist toolbar.

There is also another way to add an existing channel group to a standalone playlist. When dragging and dropping media from the Inventory into a standalone playlist, if the media belongs to a channel group not already added to the playlist, an Add Channel Group dialog will appear (shown below) asking the user to confirm the addition of the channel group to the playlist. Clicking OK adds the channel group.

To add a new channel group:

1. With the playlist open, right-click on the Channel toolbar (anywhere in the gray area).

2. Select Channel toolbar > Channels > Add New....

The Add New Channel Group dialog box opens.

Working with Channel Groups

3. When prompted for the administrator password, type it in and click OK.

The Add New Channel Group to Playlist dialog box opens.

4. Enter the name of the new channel group and any notes you want.

5. Click Add to add a channel to the group.

6. In the Channel Details section, select the Channel Type, Primary, Mirror, and Preview options for that channel.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 as needed. You can use the Up and Down buttons to rearrange the order of channels in the group.

8. Click OK.

To remove a channel group from a playlist:

1. Remove any media in that group from the playlist.

2. Right-click the button for that channel group on the Playlist toolbar.

3. Select Remove from the menu.

For more information, see “Assigning Channels in Playlist Viewer” on page 84.

Locking Channel Groups

Channel group locks are not the same as playlist locks. A channel group lock pertains to control of playout on channels in a group. A playlist lock pertains to ability to modify the structure of the playlist itself. Users can lock one or more channel groups for a playlist from a Command Work sta ti on.

To lock a channel group:

t Click the Channel Group button associated with that channel group in the Playlist toolbar.

The icon on the button will change to indicate the channel group’s locked status.

To unlock a channel group:

t Click the Channel Group button associated with that channel group in the Playlist toolbar.

The icon on the button will change to indicate the channel group’s unlocked status.

Channel groups are numbered by the system from left to right as they appear on the Playlist

toolbar, beginning with 1. This enables alternative keystroke combinations for locking and unlocking individual channel groups. For example, to lock an individual channel group use: Ctrl+1 for the first channel group, Ctrl+2 for the second, and so forth. To unlock, use the Alt key instead of Ctrl.

Working with Channel Groups

To simultaneously lock all of a playlist’s channel groups:

t Either press Ctrl+L or select Playlist > Channels > Lock All.

To simultaneously unlock all of a playlist’s channel groups:

t Either press Alt+L or select Playlist > Channels > Unlock All.

When a channel group is locked, the status of those locks appears on the status bar at the bottom right corner of the window, if configured to be displayed in the user interface. For more information, see “Status Bar” on page 26.

In the following illustration, a closeup of the locked status for both channels A and B of a channel group named AB is shown:

The per-channel status can also appear on the Channel toolbar, if configured to be displayed in the user interface. For more information, see “Hiding a Playlist’s Playout or Channel

Toolbar” on page 58.

Assigning Channels in Playlist Viewer

After a channel group is added to a playlist, channels can be assigned to or edited for specific items in the playlist.

For some sites, channels are automatically assigned when the playlist’s channel group is locked. Whether this occurs depends on system settings in Avid iNEWS Command. Contact your system administrator for more information.

There are other methods for assigning channels at a workstation as well.

To assign channels in Command:

t Do one of the following:

- Click the field in the Channel column of the playlist opened in the Playlist Viewer and

type the first character of the channel name, such as A, B, or C.

- Type Ctrl+*, type the first character of the channel name, and press Enter.

- Right-click and select Channel > Assign.

-Type Ctrl+R.

Either of the last two steps will result in the assignment of alternating channels throughout the

playlist. For example, if there are two channels, A and B, then Command will automatically assign A to the first item, B to the second, A to the third, and so forth. Auto-assignment only applies to channels that are locked.

Working with Channel Groups

To assign a channel to multiple items:

1. Click the first item to select it.

Working with Channel Groups

2. Do one of the following:

t Hold the Shift key down to select all items between your first selection and your last.

t Hold the Control key down to select multiple non-sequential items.

In the following example, items for pages 06, 08, and 10 are selected, while 07, 09, and 11 are not:

3. Do one of the following:

t Press Ctrl+* (asterisk) to set the focus on the Channel field, then type the first letter of

the channel you want. (This will change all selected items.)

t With the Shift or Ctrl key still held down, as chosen in the previous step, double-click in

the last item’s cell located in the Channel column. This will give you a drop-down arrow. Then, click the arrow and select the channel from the list, as shown in the previous graphic.

Working with Channel Groups

4. Click anywhere else in the playlist. It’s at this point that the channel is reassigned to the selected items.

In the following example, the user clicked on row 11 as indicated by the black outline, and the channel assigned to items 06, 08, and 10 is now A:

Setting the Graphics Style for a Channel Group

Graphics styles are system settings you can assign to a channel group in a playlist or shotbox. If the one you are looking for is not listed, contact your system administrator to have it added. A graphics style can be set per channel group, allowing for multiple styles in a single standalone playlist or shotbox.

To set the graphics style for a playlist:

1. Right-click on the channel group in the Playlist toolbar.

2. Select Edit Properties for this Playlist... (This option will not appear if you right-click on a channel group associated with a video device.)

The Playlist Channel Group Properties dialog box opens.

3. Enter the graphics style.

4. Click OK.

Setting Workstation Alias

Command has a workstation alias that, once set, is displayed on the Playlist toolbar next to the Channel Lock icons whenever a channel group is locked. This lets users see which workstation has the lock on the channel group.

For instance, the image on the left shows the ABCD channel group locked by the local workstation called TD. The image on the right shows the view from another workstation while the same ABCD channel group is still locked by the workstation called TD.

To set the workstation alias:

1. Select Tools > Options > Startup.

2. Enter the alias for the workstation.

Working with Standalone Playlists

3. Click OK.

Command Workstation options are user specific; they are saved in each user’s Windows profile.

If users log in to a workstation using their own user names, they will not see the workstation alias until they have set it for their own profile.

Working with Standalone Playlists

A standalone playlist is one that is not directly associated with (or disconnected from) a newsroom rundown. Users can create or delete standalone playlists at the Command Workstation. They can also edit them, add breaks, and even add placeholders into standalone playlists.

Placeholders can be used to associate media with a story before the media is actually available. Since each placeholder must have a unique ID to avoid playback of the wrong media, the format of the placeholder should be predefined in System Settings. See the Avid iNEWS Command

Administration Guide for more information.

Disconnected newsroom playlists contain stories with items. By default, newly created

standalone playlists do not contain stories and are considered item-only standalone playlists. This section pertains to the latter type of playlist. For more information, see “Inserting New

Stories” on page 136 and “Customizing the Playlist Viewer” on page 62.

Working with Standalone Playlists

To create a standalone playlist:

1. Select File > New > Playlist (or use the shortcut keystroke combination, Ctrl+Shift+N).

2. When the Create New Playlist dialog box opens, enter a name for the new playlist.

3. Click OK.

4. Assign a channel group or groups to the new standalone playlist by clicking the Add/Lock Channel Group button. You can add either a new channel group or an existing one. For more information see “Working with Channel Groups” on page 79.

5. Drag and drop items (existing machine control events) from the Inventory Explorer into your playlist.

6. Repeat step 5 as needed.

After a standalone playlist is created, the items in that list can be modified as needed, such as rearranging the order or deleting items.

To edit a standalone playlist:

1. Open the playlist.

2. Do any of the following:

t Add new items to the playlist by selecting Playlist > Insert > New Item or by dragging

them from the Inventory Explorer. You can also drag items from a shotbox into a playlist.

If the channel group associated with the item is not already assigned to the playlist, then a dialog

box will appear to confirm the assignment of the channel group to the playlist. Once confirmed, the channels are assigned to the playlist and the item added.

t Delete items by selecting the item and pressing the Delete key.

t Rearrange the order by dragging and dropping items into new locations within the

playlist.

To add breaks between items:

1. Type Ctrl+B.

2. Select Playlist > Insert > New Break.

To add a placeholder in a standalone playlist:

1. Do one of the following:

t Type Alt+Insert.

t Right click and select Insert > New Item.

2. When the Insert Placeholder dialog box appears, click OK.

To delete a standalone playlist:

1. Select the playlist in the Playlist Explorer.

2. Press the Delete key.

Working with Standalone Playlists

To delete a playlist, it must not be on air.

Inventory Versioning

The ID field in a standalone playlist enables users to view (via a drop-down list) the inventory available in two ways. By default, all available inventory for the channel group appears in the drop-down list when a user clicks in the ID field. However, with Command’s Playlist Viewer options, a user can configure the system to display only those versions of items matching a defined prefix and separator.

For instance, an inventory has numerous items with various IDs, but one item has a video ID called “clip”. In the inventory, there are three versions of the item, clip, which are clip-01, clip-02, clip-03. By default the separator is a hyphen, and the numerical values are the versions. So if a user clicks on the ID field for that item in a standalone playlist, the drop-down list will only display the three existing versions of the item. If a user clicks on another item that does not have anything in the ID to match the configured prefix and separator, then the entire inventory will appear in the drop-down list.

To set options for versioning:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator. The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers.

3. Expand Playlist Viewer and select Inventory Versioning.

Working with Standalone Playlists

4. Do one of the following:

t Select Show all inventory for channel group.

t Select Show inventory with matching prefix and separator. Then define the separator

and/or prefix. By default the separator is defined as a hyphen (-).

5. Click OK.

Working with Embedded Playlists

Avid iNEWS Command supports embedding playlists, which enables users to insert one playlist into another one. In the following example, a newsroom producer is setting up a newscast in which there will be a segment on sports. The ability to embed playlists enables a user to work on one rundown without requiring access to another—the person setting up the sports segment no longer needs full producer-level access to the newscast rundown. Instead, two rundowns can be created: one for the overall newscast and another for the sports segment. The newsroom producer can embed the sports rundown inside the news rundown, as shown below:

Working with Embedded Playlists

Another example of this workflow is a newscast that contains segments produced at different locations. The primary rundown could contain one or more embedded rundowns from remote sites.

A user can embed playlists from the Command Workstation or from the iNEWS Workstation.

When using Command Workstation, the playlist can be embedded only into a standalone playlist.

When using the iNEWS Workstation, the playlist can be embedded only into a newsroom rundown, which appears as a newsroom playlist in Command once the monitor server is loaded. For more information on monitor server, see “Loading Rundowns to Command” on page 127.

Working with Embedded Playlists

To embed a playlist using Command:

1. Open (or create) the container playlist in the Playlist Viewer.

2. Select a playlist you want to embed from the Playlist Explorer.

3. Drag it to the location in container (standalone) playlist. It must be dropped before a story, not an item; otherwise, the system will display a warning to that effect.

This icon appears in the container playlist as the system is embedding the playlist.

If a problem occurs, This icon might appear to indicate that the system was unable to embed the playlist, resulting in an error. Mousing over the row referencing the embedded playlist will provide a tooltip with more deatils about the error. An example of an error is:

playlist was deleted.

This embedded

When the playlist is successfully embedded, no icon appears, but the color of the top row is different, as is a matching bar that continues down the left side to indicate all items included as part of the embedded playlist.

In the previous example, the embedded playlist is called Special and contains four items—the first of which is called China Trade and is playing, and the last of which is called Closing Bell. The cursor is on the last item in the embedded playlist, as indicated by the row’s black rectangular outline. The I-WORLDCUP story is not part of the embedded playlist, as indicated by the absence of the bar on the left edge.

To embed a playlist using the Avid iNEWS newsroom computer system:

1. Open the rundown in which you want to embed another rundown.

2. Insert a new story where you want the other rundown embedded.

3. In the Title field (usually named Slug), type rundown that you want to embed. For example: The

EMBED:

token is configurable, so check with your system administrator.

EMBED:

followed by the pathname of the

EMBED: SHOWS.6PM.RUNDOWN

Using Time of Day Playlists

Do not add machine control events to the story.

Editing Embedded Playlists

Embedded playlists are not copies of the original playlist. So, changes made to the actual playlist will appear when viewing the embedded playlist. Like stories in an iNEWS rundown, embedded playlists can be moved or floated.

Whether editing can be done is determined by the type of playlist regardless of whether that playlist is a container for an embedded playlist or the embedded one itself. Users can edit a standalone playlist (or a disconnected newsroom playlist) from the Command Workstation. Newroom playlists locked by the newsroom computer system must be edited from a workstation running the newsroom computer system software.

If the embedded playlist is a standalone playlist, to edit it, you must open the actual playlist in the Playlist Viewer at a Command Workstation.

Do not try to edit it from its embedded location.

Using Time of Day Playlists

In Avid iNEWS Command, playlists can be set to air at specific times. These playlists are called time of day playlists.

The playlist’s channel group must be unlocked so the time of day process can lock it for playout. Otherwise, it will not occur as scheduled. For example, if the time-of-day playlist shares the same channel group or if it's a different channel group but it shares an individual channel with a group that's locked, the time-of-day playlist won't play.

To set a playlist to air at a certain time of day:

1. Open (or create) a playlist in the Playlist Viewer.

2. Select Playlist > Edit > Properties.

The Playlist Properties dialog box opens.

3. In the Time of day section, select the check box and set the time you want Command to automatically begin playing the playlist.

Allow at least thirty second lead time when setting up time of day playlists.

4. Click OK.

Using Time of Day Playlists

A new button will appear on the Playlist toolbar along with the time the playlist is set to begin.

You can click on the Time of Day button to open the Playlist Properties dialog at any time, such

as if you want to change the time setting or remove the scheduled time altogether.

4 Shotbox Viewer

The iNEWS Command interface provides a panel known as the Shotbox Viewer, with which users can view and manage on-air playout of media for a single channel group in any random order. For example, a newscast has segments with stories arranged to air in a specific order. For this a playlist is used, but what if a portion of the show will consist of live interviews? Because the live broadcast is not scripted, a more flexible arrangement for media playout is necessary. This is where the Shotbox Viewer panel comes in.

Command supports the use of touch screen monitors, and Avid recommends a touch screen

monitor for all sites that heavily use shotboxes.

This chapter contains the following main sections:

• Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

- Toolbars

- Configuring the Channel Toolbar

- Customizing the Shotbox Viewer

- Customizing the Shotbox Behavior

- Customizing the Clocks

- Resizing the Shotbox Viewer

• Creating a Shotbox

• Loading a Shotbox from iNEWS or NRCS

• Deleting a Shotbox

• Working with Channel Groups in a Shotbox

- Locking a Channel Group

- Assigning Channels in a Shotbox

- Setting the Graphics Style for a Channel Group

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

Among the many capabilities featured in the Shotbox Viewer panel, a user can:

• View a set of media items

• Lock a channel group

• Control playout of items in any order for broadcast

• Pin a media item for playout on a specific channel.

The window can have different shotboxes open simultaneously. All are accessible through tabs located at the top of the Shotbox Viewer panel. The following illustration shows three shotboxes open in the panel, with the on-air one called 6PM News on top. In the example, thumbnails are not displayed. For more information on how to view shotboxes with thumbnails, see “Displaying

Thumbnails in a Shotbox” on page 106.

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

In the preceding illustration, the channel group is AB. One item is playing on channel B, two items are cued, and another called Hurricane flyover is stopped. Four items are pinned to specific channels.

Similar to the Playlist Viewer, the Shotbox Viewer cannot be split to view multiple shotboxes

simultaneously; only one tab can be viewed at a time. However, items can be copied or cut and pasted from one shotbox to another so long as the shotboxes use the same channel group.

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

The appearance and some behavior of the shotbox is customizable. For more information, see

“Customizing the Shotbox Viewer” on page 100.

The cursor appears as an altered border around an item in the Shotbox Viewer. For example, in the previous graphic, the cursor is on the F5: Block 1 item, as indicated by a bolder black border. The color specified for the cursor is used for both shotboxes and playlists. For more information on how to set or modify the cursor’s color, see “Customizing the Cursor” on page 66.

To open a shotbox:

t Double-click on a shotbox in the Playlist Explorer. Command will open it in the Shotbox

Viewer to display the shotbox of media for a specified channel group.

By default, the Shotbox Viewer panel opens above the Playlist Viewer area. The Shotbox Viewer

can be moved, resized, and docked like other panels, enabling the user to customize the window to suit his or her needs.

Shotboxes are identified in the Playlist Explorer by their icons. Newsroom playlists that have the word “shotbox” in the name can be loaded to Command as shotboxes and therefore will appear with different icons than those created in Command as standalone shotboxes. For more information on these icons, see “Playlist Explorer” on page 184.

Toolbars

Below each tab is the Shotbox toolbar containing two clocks and several buttons for playout control, as well as buttons for locking the channel group or shotbox. With the toolbar, a user at the Command workstation can cue, play, pause, or stop items via the Control buttons.

Control buttons allow users to control playout of events on locked devices in the channel group associated with the loaded shotbox. For more information about the clocks on the Shotbox toolbar, see “Customizing the Clocks” on page 103. A user cannot choose whether to display the Shotbox toolbar.

The Channel Group button represents the channel group that is associated with the loaded shotbox and is used to lock the channel group for playout control and unlock it afterward. Unlike playlists, multiple channel groups cannot be configured for shotboxes, so only one Channel Group button will appear in the Shotbox toolbar.

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

On the far right side of the Shotbox toolbar is the Lock button. This lock is obtained automatically whenever a shotbox is created or opened. Similar to the Playlist Lock button, the Lock button’s appearance varies depending on the status of the shotbox’s lock:

Icon Description

This icon indicates that the shotbox is locked by the user at the Command Workstation. When locked, the user can insert, move, or delete items in the shotbox. Clicking it will unlock the shotbox at the workstation. When it is unlocked, the icon will change to indicate the shotbox is unlocked.

This icon indicates that the shotbox is unlocked. Clicking it will lock the shotbox at the Command Workstation.

This icon indicates that the shotbox is locked by a user at a different Command Workstation. When locked by another user, only that user can insert, move, or delete items in the shotbox. Clicking the icon will override the other user’s lock. The user must type in the system administrator password to override the lock.

This icon indicates an unusual lock condition.

Configuring the Channel Toolbar

Below the Shotbox toolbar is the Channel toolbar, which displays an icon representing the status of each channel in the channel group. For more information, see “Channel Group Icons” on

page 182.

The number of channels that appear on the Channel toolbar will vary depending on the number

of channels configured for the channel group associated with the shotbox.

The border around the channel on the Channel toolbar indicates the next channel on which an unpinned item will be cued. Clicking another channel on the toolbar can switch the border to a different channel. When tally is active, the colors of the border and the toolbar inside the border can change. What colors appear are determined by an option in Command, which the user can set. For more information, see “Customizing the Channel Toolbar for Tally” on page 59.

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

Since the same per-channel status information that appears on the Channel bar is also available on the status bar at the bottom right of the main window, a user can choose whether to display the Channel toolbar.

To show or hide the Channel toolbar:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

2. In Category, expand the Playlist and Shotbox Viewers, then Shotbox Viewer, and select Toolbars.

3. Do one of the following:

t Select the Show channel toolbar option to display the toolbar.

t Deselect the Show channel toolbar option to hide the toolbar.

4. Click OK.

Customizing the Shotbox Viewer

When first installed, Avid iNEWS Command uses default colors and fonts to display information about events; however users can customize how that data is displayed on the Shotbox Viewer tabs. For example, a user might want an unplayable event to appear in red so that it easily stands out on the screen.

Users can also customize the layout of shotboxes by adjusting other display options, such as whether to show the video ID or the video item’s slug (title).

Changes made to the Appearance settings apply to the Playlist and Shotbox Viewers; only a few

settings are not applicable to shotboxes, such as Story, Embedded Playlist, and Break entries.

To customize the appearance of the Shotbox Viewer:

1. Select Tools > Options. If prompted for a password, you must provide it or contact your system administrator.

The Options dialog box opens.

Customizing the Shotbox Viewer

2. In Category, expand Playlist and Shotbox Viewers and select Appearance.

100

Pinnacle Systems iNews Command - 3.1 User’s Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Contents

Using This Guide

Symbols and Conventions

If You Need Help

How to Order Documentation

Avid Training Services

1 Introduction to iNEWS Command

Overview

Architecture and Workflow

Features

Starting Command at a Workstation

The User Interface

Panels

Menu Bar

Status Bar

Support Dialog Box

2 Panels

Working with Panels

Playlist Explorer

Tabs

Inventory

Customizing the Inventory Panel

Searching for Items in Inventory

Deleting Items in Inventory

Protecting Items in Inventory

Editing Items in Inventory

Clock

Playout

Media Viewer

Displaying Thumbnails in Media Viewer

Editing Fulfillment Data and Time Codes in the Media Viewer

Alerts

3 Playlist Viewer

Types of Playlists

Overview of Playlist Viewer

Toolbars

Hiding a Playlist’s Playout or Channel Toolbar

Channel Groups Buttons

Customizing the Channel Toolbar for Tally

Viewing Playlist Items by Component

Graphic Trigger Count

Customizing the Playlist Viewer

Customizing the Cursor

Customizing Playlist Clocks

Customizing Columns in Playlist Viewer

Time of Day Column

Resizing the Playlist Viewer

Displaying Thumbnails in a Playlist

Locking and Unlocking Playlists

Working with Channel Groups

Locking Channel Groups

Assigning Channels in Playlist Viewer

Setting the Graphics Style for a Channel Group

Setting Workstation Alias

Working with Standalone Playlists

Inventory Versioning

Working with Embedded Playlists

Using Time of Day Playlists

Editing Embedded Playlists

4 Shotbox Viewer

Overview of the Shotbox Viewer

Toolbars

Configuring the Channel Toolbar

Customizing the Shotbox Viewer