Overview

Overview

March 6, 2020 by
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.

Incoming

Incoming

March 4, 2020 by

PLAYDECK can be controlled remotely via a number of different methods, but can also send out control commands itself.
To control PLAYDECK from outside, the following methods are available:

  • TCP Commands
  • Auto-play via NDI Tally Light
  • Auto-play via GPI / COM-Port
  • Auto-play via Blackmagic Design ATEM Series Live Production Switcher
  • Auto-play via vMix Live Video Streaming Software
  • Auto-play via TSL UMD Protocol (v. 3.1 or 5.0)

You can remote control both playlists from PLAYDECK via TCP/IP commands from a remote control computer. You can use any tool you like for this, as no special format is required (no special encoding, no line ending command necessary). You can send several commands simultaneously.

Bitfocus Companion and Universe Show Control have already integrated extensive libraries for controlling PLAYDECK, which makes control particularly convenient.

The following control commands are available:

<cue|PLAYLIST|BLOCK|CLIP>
<cueandplay|PLAYLIST|BLOCK|CLIP>
<cuenext|PLAYLIST>
<cueandplaynext|PLAYLIST>
<cuenextblock|PLAYLIST>
<cueandplaynextblock|PLAYLIST>
<cueflex|PLAYLIST|PATTERN>
<cueandplayflex|PLAYLIST|PATTERN>
<cueandplaysync|PL1 BLOCK|PL2 BLOCK>
<cueandplaysyncflex|PL1 PATTERN|PL2 PATTERN>
<play|PLAYLIST>
<stop|PLAYLIST>
<pause|PLAYLIST>
<jumpstart|PLAYLIST>
<jumpend|PLAYLIST>
<previousclip|PLAYLIST>
<fadein|PLAYLIST>
<fadeout|PLAYLIST>
<restartclip|PLAYLIST>
<playoverlay|PLAYLIST|OVERLAY>
<stopoverlay|PLAYLIST|OVERLAY>
<toggleoverlay|PLAYLIST|OVERLAY>
<stopalloverlays|PLAYLIST>
<playaction|PLAYLIST|ACTION>
<playactionsync|PL1 ACTION|PL2 ACTION>
<loadplaylist|AUTOPLAY|FILENAME>
<selectclip|PLAYLIST|BLOCK|CLIP>
<insertclip|PLAYLIST|FILENAME>
<changeclip|PLAYLIST|FILENAME>
<appendclip|PLAYLIST|FILENAME>
<activate|PLAYLIST|BLOCK|CLIP>
<deactivate|PLAYLIST|BLOCK|CLIP>
<muteaudio|PLAYLIST>
<unmuteaudio|PLAYLIST>
<toggleaudio|PLAYLIST>
<hidenotes>
<restartscripts>
<startstream|TARGET>
<stopstream|TARGET>
<startrec>
<stoprec>

A detailed explanation of the individual commands, together with examples, can be obtained by clicking on the button Show Commands.

When PLAYDECK’s NDI output is activated, PLAYDECK receives tally signals from the connected NDI receiver via a return channel. As soon as PLAYDECK is switched live on air there, PLAYDECK starts playing the clip that is currently in the CUE state.

You can connect both playlists to almost any video mixer and have playback start automatically as soon as the corresponding channel of the mixer goes on air. For this purpose, the tally signal of the mixer is registered at the chosen COM port. As soon as a clip is in CUE state, PLAYDECK performs a simple loopback test on the corresponding COM port: If a galvanic connection between pin 3 (Transmit Data) and pin 2 (Receive Data) is registered for at least 50 ms, playback starts immediately.
If you need a corresponding tally-to-USB interface, please contact our support team.

Playback can be automated particularly conveniently if you have connected PLAYDECK to a Blackmagic ATEM Series live production switcher. As soon as a clip is in CUE state, PLAYDECK listens to the connected ATEM mixer. If the corresponding channel is switched live, playback starts immediately.
In order for PLAYDECK to communicate with your Blackmagic ATEM device, you need to install the ATEM Control software on your PLAYDECK computer. It is NOT necessary to start the software. PLAYDECK only requires access to the appropriate drivers and libraries.
Enter the IP address of the mixer (it must be in the same address space as your PLAYDECK system) and click Connect. Then you can select from the two drop-down fields which input channel of your ATEM device PLAYDECK should listen to.
Finally, please activate the checkbox on the left.

PLAYDECK can also be remotely controlled very conveniently when you connect it to vMix. The operating philosophy of vMix is that you can assign a source to several inputs. Enter the IP address of the vMix PC and fill in all vMix inputs for the two playlists to which PLAYDECK is to react with an auto start (separated by comma).

Finally, remote start via TSL UDP Tally protocol is available. PLAYDECK supports versions 3.1 and 5.0.
You can freely select the number of the port to be used for communication.
Enter the TSL ID to which Playlists 1 and 2 are to respond in the corresponding fields (some manufacturers call this ID “Screen ID”, “Channel ID” or “Device ID”). If PLAYDECK is to respond to more than one TSL ID, please separate the IDs with commas.

PLAYDECK expects the signal for Preview on Tally 1 and the signal for Program on Tally 2.

Channel 1 / Channel 2

Channel 1 / Channel 2

February 12, 2020 by

Playlist Settings for Channel 1 and 2

Use the drop-down boxes to set the desired values for output resolution, color space, additional audio output device and audio bitrate/channel number. Please note that the output card you are using may not necessarily be able to display all offered resolutions. If in doubt, please contact the manufacturer of your output card.
The Automatic setting for the color space is recommended for most use cases. Only if you want an output with alpha channel for transparency information, please select the ARGB32 setting.
By activating the checkbox next to HDR/10 Bit you start the HDR output of PLAYDECK. HDR is ONLY supported for devices, but not for desktop output. You also will not see HDR colors in your preview in PLAYDECK. Supported devices are Blackmagic (Input and Output) and Deltacast (Output only). You also need a NVidia GPU set as Decoder in PLAYDECK. You can play any HDR Clips (all codecs) and also select HDR Tracks in YouTube videos. HDR can also be combined with Alpha/Keying. When using the HDR output, please use videos whose frame rate and resolution match the output values, otherwise the system performance requirements will increase drastically.
You can also create a custom output format. Please make sure that the output board you use can actually reproduce the values you set.

In this section you can set the content that PLAYDECK should display when the playlist is in STOP status.
Select <File> to store an image or video file and assign it using the File Explorer on the right. Selected video files are played back in a loop. For an optimal playback, please make sure that the start and end frame match each other to ensure a clean loop. If you want the sound to be audible during playback of the desired video loop, please activate the Keep File Audio checkbox.
Select <Channel 2> if you want to output the current playback from Channel 2 (and vice versa).
Select <Input 1> or <Input 2> if you want to output the signal of a live input.
Select <Last Frame> if you want PLAYDECK to hold the last frame displayed when you press STOP.
With <Custom Color> you can display a freely selectable background colour.
Alternatively, select one of the four available test patterns, or choose a blue, black or white background or transparent output.

In the Device Output section please select your desired output board. Some output cards provide different signals (e.g. SDI and alternatively HDMI). In the Line section you can activate the different jacks. Under Keying you can select whether the output signal should contain transparency information. The entries that you find in the drop-down field are provided by your output card. If in doubt, please ask the manufacturer of your output board which keying method you have to select for your desired purpose. See https://playdeck.tv/howto/internal-and-external-keying/ for more information about Keying, especially using Blackmagic Design output cards.

If you cannot use a dedicated playout card for video output, you can alternatively use a local output of your graphics card in the Desktop Output area. Before activating this feature, please make sure that you have selected “Extended Desktop” in the Windows settings for the screen display and that the settings of your graphics card for the extended desktop correspond to your desired playlist resolution and refresh rate. Please note that the quality of the color reproduction for the desktop output is determined by your graphics card and PLAYDECK has only little influence on it.
Ticking the checkbox Enable High Quality Display often results in more precise colour reproduction.

Additionally, you have the possibility to provide the video signal via network as NDI stream (NDI is a trademark of NewTek). Give your playlist stream a different name (if desired) and assign an NDI group name if necessary.
Check the box to start the NDI stream.

Advanced Settings

Advanced Settings

February 12, 2020 by

Advanced Playout and Hardware Settings

When this function is active, PLAYDECK checks all files in the playlist in the background for possible changes and reloads the corresponding clips. If a clip from the playlist cannot be found, it is marked in red.
If this function is deactivated, you can manually reload the clip by right-clicking on it.
Deactivating this function is useful if you mainly load clips via a network and want to avoid unnecessary loads on the network.

Activating this function enables frame-synchronous playback from both playlist channels. In order for playback to remain frame-synchronous, a valid sync signal (reference signal) must be present.
Preparing both playout channels for synchronous start requires a start delay that you can set freely. If this time is too short, the synchronous start does not work reliably. In such a case, please set a longer time.

Normally, the frame rate control is taken over by the connected output device. If you observe lags, you can transfer frame rate control to PLAYDECK by activating this checkbox.

In individual cases, especially in the combination Blackmagic Design Decklink playout card togehter with keying, it may be necessary to reinitialise the playout card after starting PLAYDECK. To do this, please activate this function.

If you need special stability of the playout in demanding scenarios, you can start a separate render process for each clip in the playlist.
This function is not recommended for longer playlists, as it requires more resources.

If you activate this check box, PLAYDECK does not use the saved and cached metadata of the clips from the playlist, but reloads the metadata from the header of the files every time the programme is started.

Activating this function causes the internally used Chromium Browser to write error logs.

You can use your own set of flags for the embedded Chromium browser. This may be necessary if security features restrict the scripts you use. Enabling this feature will turn off our default Chromium flags.

The default flags are:

--disable-application-cache
--disable-cache
--disable-gpu-program-cache
--disable-gpu-shader-disk-cache
--autoplay-policy=no-user-gesture-required

This function is particularly helpful if you want to open and check playlists from third parties and you do not have the corresponding files. In such a case, PLAYDECK replaces the missing files with a video or a still image with a black frame.

If you want to use an NDI Discovery Server, you must tell the system running PLAYDECK the IP address of the server. To do this, be sure to use the official NDI Access Manager. Only in cases where you do not have this software, you can enter the IP address of the NDI Discovery Server directly here in PLAYDECK.

Advanced Recording Settings

If enabled PLAYDECK will try to recover any crashed recording for playback. This can lead to increased resource requirements of active recordings.

Advanced Apllication Settings

Normally, you should not notice any difference between the 32-bit and the 64-bit video engine.
Should you notice difficulties with the 64-bit engine in rare individual cases, you can switch to the 32-bit version here.

Only use this function if our support asks you to do so. A large amount of data will be written and your production could be slowed down.

PLAYDECK Professional Video Playback Playout Software for Windows * Workflow Advanced Settings

Some hard disks go into an energy-saving mode after a certain period of time without read/write access, which in some cases cannot be influenced by the Windows system settings. In such cases, a clip that has been in CUE state for a longer time may start up after startup and then stall briefly until the hard disk has reached its nominal speed again. To avoid this phenomenon, PLAYDECK writes small files to the hard disk at regular short intervals and then deletes them again. Uncheck the checkbox if you want to disable this function.

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