Supported Input/Output cards

We basically support all cards of the following manufacturers, since we always include the latest drivers. But because of the vast amount of cards out there, we only tested the most common ones.

These are the devices that have been tested with PLAYDECK.

AJA

  • Corvid 24 R1
  • Corvid 44
  • Corvid 88
  • KONA LHi
  • KONA IP

Blackmagic Design

  • DeckLink 4K Extreme 12G
  • DeckLink 8K Pro
  • DeckLink Duo 2
  • DeckLink Intensity Pro 4K
  • DeckLink Mini Monitor / Mini Recorder
  • DeckLink Quad 1 / 2 / HDMI Recorder
  • DeckLink SDI 4K
  • DeckLink Studio 2 / 4K
  • Ultra Studio HD Mini / 4K Mini / 4K Extreme 3 / Monitor 3G

Bluefish444

  • Epoch 4K Neutron
  • Epoch 4K Supernova S+
  • Epoch Neutron
  • Epoch Supernova CG
  • KRONOS K8

Deltacast

  • DELTA-3G-e 22
  • DELTA-3G-elp-d 8c
  • DELTA-3G-elp-key 11

DekTec

  • DTA-2144B

Magewell

  • Pro Capture Quad HDMI
  • Pro Capture Quad SDI

Osprey

  • Osprey 915
  • Osprey 925
  • Osprey 927
  • Osprey 935
  • Osprey 945
  • Osprey 914
  • Osprey 924
  • Osprey 944
  • Osprey 1214
  • Osprey 1215
  • Osprey 1225
  • Osprey 1227
  • Osprey 1245
  • Osprey 1285
  • Osprey M15
  • Osprey M14
  • Osprey M24
  • Osprey M25

Stream Labs

  • Alpha HD
  • MH4LM
  • MS4
  • MSP2

Yuan

  • SC550N1

Setup RustDesk unattended Access for Remote Support

RustDesk is a free Remote Destop Software, which we use to login to remote systems.



1. To get started, download our customized RustDesk from our website. This version will use our private RustDesk server (and not the public server) to protect your data and improve the connection speed.
https://get.remote-joy-event-media.de/

2. Once you start RustDesk for the first time, you will need to install it. Please deactivate “Install virtual display driver”, which might interfere with PLAYDECK.


3. After re-starting RustDesk, you will not need to activate “Start Service”. This is important to elevate priviliges to e.g. open the device manager. After that you need to setup a permanent password: Click on the Edit Icon next to “One-time Password”.


4. Then click on “Unlock Security Settings” and scroll down.


5. Please send us your ID together with your permanent password to [email protected]


6. (Optional) If possible, please start RustDesk on a secondary PC (No need to install) and test the connection to the System you have setup for remote support. Now thru this remote connection, on the secondary system, please try to:

– Open Device Manager
– Open Task Manager
– Open NVidia Panel
– Copy any File to this Folder: c:\Program Files (x86)\JoyEventMedia\Playdeck\
– Re-Install the current PLAYDECK Version

These tests make sure, that all needed support actions can be done remotely. If is likely, that any Anti-Malware or other Protection software breaks the connection. In that case please de-activate those Tools temporarily for the remote support session.

Setup Multichannel Audio

Multichannel Audio is supported in PLAYDECK for all Inputs/Outputs, that being: Device, NDI, Internal. To activate Multichannel Audio, you only have to increase the Audio Channels in Playlist Output:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Setting Multichannel Audio 7.1

After that you may select how many Audio Channel you want to display in the VU Meter by Right-clicking it. Now add any Multichannel Clip into the Playlist. We prepared a 7.1 Clip SAMPLE (right-click and “Save as..”) for you:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Setting Multichannel Audio for 7.1 Audio

Audio Channel Routing

In PLAYDECK, all Audio Channels are enumerated from 1 upwards, within the current selected Audio Track. If you have multiple Audio Tracks, you first have to select the Track you want to output. Then you can mix the Audio channels in any way possible:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Setting Multichannel Audio Routing

Now you can reference your Audio channels (source) and route them to the NEW channels seperated by comma (target). There are several examples listed with the Routing Popup:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Setting Multichannel Audio Routing

Send to OBS via NDI

If you want to use 8 Channel in OBS, activate NDI in PLAYDECK Playlist Output, then insert PLAYDECK as NDI Source and you are ready to go:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Sending Multiple Audio Channels from PLAYDECK to OBS

Send any Trigger to external Systems/APIs

For cases, where NDI tally flag trigger or ATEM/vMix remote connections cant be used, you can setup a custom trigger at any given point.

Send trigger via TCP command

If your receiving side is able to understand any custom TCP command, you would setup the remote connection like this:

  1. Setup and activate the Connection in the settings via “Remote Control > Outgoing > TCP Custom”.
  2. You would then create a new Overlay of type “Remote Control” and insert your custom TCP command there.
  3. (Optional) You would then add the Overlay to any point in the Playlist, e.g. on Clip 1 of a new Block via “Right Click Clip > Overlays”.

As a result the TCP command will be send at the given time in the playlist or when you press the overlay button.

Send trigger via JavaScript

If your receiving side is a custom API or needs special formatting, you would need to setup your own script for this:

  1. Create a new Overlay of type “Webpage / HTML File”.
  2. Use JavaScript in your HTML File to embed any custom command. A good examle would be a NodeJS server sending customized TCP commands.

Send trigger via API (WebSockets)

If you want the current PLAYDECK status in your script, you can use our API:

  1. Create a new Overlay of type “HTML Templates”.
  2. For an Introduction on how to use the API, click on “Main Menu > Settings > Scripting > How to create Scripts”
  3. Modify any Sample (duplicate it) or create your own Script

vMix: Send/Receive Video

The best way to connect vMix with PLAYDECK (both ways) is NDI. Multichannel Audio is supported.

Send Video from vMix to PLAYDECK

You only need to activate NDI as External Output like this:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from vMix
PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from vMix

Send Video from PLAYDECK to vMix

Activate NDI Output in PLAYDECK and add the NDI as new Source in vMix like this:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from vMix
PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from vMix

OBS Studio: Send/Receive Video

The best way to connect OBS with PLAYDECK (both ways) is NDI. Multichannel Audio is supported.

OBS doesn’t deliver NDI out of the box. You need to install an additional PlugIn, which is a quick and easy process:

  1. Download PlugIn HERE (Select “obs-ndi…..Windows-Installer.exe”)
  2. Close OBS and install the PlugIn like any other Windows App

Send Video from OBS to PLAYDECK

The NDI PlugIn inserts a new Option into the Tools Menu. Pick NDI Output and activate it:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from OBS
PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from OBS

Send Video from PLAYDECK to OBS

Activate NDI Output in PLAYDECK. The OBS NDI PlugIn inserts a new NDI Source, which you can add to your OBS Scene like this:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from OBS
PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Send and Receive Video to and from OBS

Remote Control Playlist 2 via Playlist 1 events

Sometimes the SYNC feature isn’t enough to have simultaneous playback and the operator wants to setup more complex ways of automation between the playlists. This can be done by setting PLAYDECK to remote control itself.

Sending Commands to anywhere in PLAYDECK via Overlays

To send a Command, you want to create a new “Remote Control” Overlay. You can now add one of the Custom Commands, that will be recognized by PLAYDECK. Basically you can CUE and PLAY clips, start Actions, show Overlays, etc..

Example: <cueandplay|2|1|1>
This will instantly play Playlist 2, Block 1, Clip 1.

A complete list of all commands can be found within PLAYDECK via “Show Commands”
Your overlay will look something like this:

Setup PLAYDECK events for automation

You add events to the playlist by adding the overlay with the commands to the clip. For example, if you want to start Playlist 2 (first clip) as soon as Playlist 1 starts playing, you would add the above Overlay to Clip 1 like this:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Remote Control

Install PLAYDECK on Amazon EC2

PLAYDECK supports most Amazon EC2 server instances and the NVidia GPU Power they provide. This allows you to setup a cloud based infrastructure for NDI transport or other purposes.

Quick start instruction

  1. There is a quick start guide by Amazon, where you can also select your instance:
    https://docs.nvidia.com/grid/qvws/latest/qvws-quick-start-guide-amazon-web-services-ec2/index.html
  2. A typical instance would be “Windows 2019 / g4dn.xlarge” – It has a Tesla Virtual NVidia GPU and enough specs to run PLAYDECK: 16 vCPUs (Intel Xeon), 64GB RAM, 1 vGPU (NVidia T4) with 16GB GPU RAM.
  3. Install the Instance, which will conclude in running it within Amazons EC2 instance manager.
  4. To connect to the instance via RDP you first have to open Port 3389 in the Instance Security Settings.
  5. Once connected, you find yourself unable to download anything via the Browser. Therefore enable Downloads like this: START Menu > Server Manager > Local Server > IE Enhanced Security Configuration > Off
  6. Now download and install PLAYDECK as usual:
    https://playdeck.tv/download/
  7. Since NVidia driver are pre-installed, the GPU support in PLAYDECK will be enabled by default

Additional information

PLAYDECK can be installed on any Windows EC2 instance. Allthough GPU support isnt a requirement with PLAYDECK, it still is recommended for best performance. A list of all EC2 instances:
https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/instance-types/

If you decide to go with a clean installation of an instance (without a preselected windows image), you need to install the NVidia driver manually like this:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/WindowsGuide/install-nvidia-driver.html

PLAYDECK also supports a multi-user environment and saves licensed for the whole server instance.

Use Playlist 2 as alpha channel over Playlist 1

This can be achieved via any supported output card, which supports internal keying.
For this example we use the “Decklink Duo 2”. In PLAYDECK this sample will look like this:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Keying

Configure Decklink for Internal Keying

Open the Decklink setup utility “Desktop Video Setup” and set SDI 1+2 like this. This will be used for internal keying, where SDI 1 will receive the video signal from Playlist 1 and will key Playlist 2 over it and output the combined video via SDI 2.

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Keying

Now you setup SDI 3 as standalone without keying. This will be used to send the video signal from Playlist 1 to Playlist 2 via SDI Loop.

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Keying

Decklink SDI connections (Loop Cable and Output)

Use a short SDI cable and connect SDI 3 directly with SDI 1. We use this to feed the Playlist 1 signal via SDI 3 into the keying input SDI 1. Connect your final mixed output to SDI 2.

Setup PLAYDECK für Internal Keying

Channel 1 will send the video signal via SDI 3 to SDI 1 for mixing. Therefore you output Channel 1 like normal:

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Keying

Channel 2 will receive the video layer on SDI 1. Now let PLAYDECK tell the Decklink to use Internal Keying to mix the Channel 2 signal over the one coming via SDI 1. Your final mixed output will be send to SDI 2.

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Settings for Internal Keying

Overview

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * User Interface with two Playlists, Control Section and Overlay and Action Buttons
The user interface of PLAYDECK is divided into three main areas: Control Section, Playlist Area and Overlay/Action Buttons

Menu Bar

The menu bar takes you to the basic settings of PLAYDECK.

Under the menu item File you will find the commands for creating, opening or saving a playlist, the functions for importing and exporting a playlist as well as for generating a clip run log file.

The menu item Settings takes you to the sub-menu All Settings, where you can make the most important settings. You will find more detailed information in chapter 2.1. Furthermore, you will find the menu item Scripting, where you can extend and individualise the functionality of PLAYDECK with the help of various Java Script files. In addition, you can define keyboard shortcuts for almost every command via the sub-item Keyboard Shortcuts to adapt PLAYDECK perfectly to your usual workflow (see chapter 2.2).

Under the menu item View, you can adjust the visual appearance of the user interface to your personal preferences. For example, you can adjust the line height of the playlist, show thumbnails of all playlist clips or hide the overlay and action buttons.

The menu item Streams lets you start and stop the streaming playback for the two playlist channels and the Production Window and displays the stream status.

Under the menu item Help you can check for available updates, get access to the license manager and get in contact with our support team.

Control Section

In the upper area of the user interface you will find a preview window of the currently output video signal including audio level for each channel, the buttons for controlling the playout, and a number of time specifications for the playlist (end of playback of the current block, remaining time of the current block and the current clip, countdown to blocks for which the Schedule Block function has been set). Furthermore, between the two playlists you will find the button to start recording and open the edit window, as well as the button to activate the synchronous operation of both playlist channels.

Playlist Area

The largest area of the user interface is available below the control section for the playlist and its configuration. Here, you will find all entries that you have prepared for playback with PLAYDECK, clearly arranged in the respective playback blocks. A playback block consists of the block header with block name and information about scheduled start times, one or more lines of media (videos, still images, audio tracks, Youtube clips) or live inputs with the associated information, and a block end that defines the behavior of PLAYDECK when reaching the end of a block. To keep track of longer blocks, the view of the playlist can be customized in many ways. For more information about working with playlists, please refer to chapter 3.

Overlay and Action Buttons

Below the playlist you will find the buttons for controlling the overlays and the actions. Overlays can consist of videos or graphics (with or without transparency), text, scrolling text, web pages or HTML code, which you can show manually or automatically over the output video signal during playback from the playlist. Actions are individual media files in direct access. Pressing an action button interrupts the current playback and starts the stored media file. You can define how PLAYDECK should behave after the action file has finished playing. Please refer to chapter 4.2 Working with Actions for more details.

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