To remove the watermark from the trial version and use PLAYDECK without restrictions, you need a valid license. On the website www.playdeck.tv you can choose between different licenses (Lite, Plus or Studio version) with a duration of one month or one year, with or without automatic renewal.
After the purchase you will automatically receive an e-mail with your access data for the online license pool. If you do not receive this mail within a few minutes, please check your spam folder.
To transfer your license from the online license pool to your system, please open the License Manager under the menu item Help.

If you have not yet transferred a license to your system, the left list (Local Licenses) will only show the trial version. To connect to the online license pool, please press the Connect and Update Licenses button.

Now enter the e-mail address you used to register and the password you received and click OK. If you ever forget your password, simply request a new one by clicking Forgot Password.

After PLAYDECK has successfully connected to the online license pool, you will see an overview of your available licenses in the right list. Select the license you want to transfer to your local system and click Checkout.

You will now be asked if you want to activate the checked out license for immediate use. If you click Yes, PLAYDECK will restart and activate the new license, if you select No, the license will still be available for later activation in the left list of local licenses.

You can switch to another of the local licenses at any time by selecting it and then pressing Activate License.

If your system is not connected to the Internet and you therefore cannot or do not want to use the online license pool, another option is to use a so-called Offline License. This license is not available in the webshop. Please contact our support at [email protected].
In order to send you a valid license key for your system, we need the System ID, which is displayed here.
You will then receive an e-mail from us with your license code, which you should copy into the window below. After successful verification of the license code (no Internet access is required) your offline license will appear as usual on the left side of the licenses stored locally on your system and can be activated exactly like an online license.

If you want to protect access to the license manager from unauthorized access, you can set up a password. To remove the password protection, you must enter the password again. If you ever forget the password, please contact our support at [email protected].

One of the most convenient features of PLAYDECK (from the Plus version upwards) is the automatic adjustment of the playback volume of each clip. This means that the viewer will perceive them as equally loud.
Please set your desired Target Loudness as well as the True Peak Level. PLAYDECK will now ensure that the maximum level is not exceeded even during peaks.
As a rule, you should leave the Loudness Range value as it is.
By default, PLAYDECK scans a maximum of the first five minutes of each video file to estimate the volume distribution of the clip. If you often use significantly longer files with a strongly fluctuating volume, you should set a longer scan time. However, this increases the time needed to determine the correct level.

You can set separate values for output volume or input sensitivity for the two stereo channels of all outputs and inputs.
You can also output the two playlist outputs as a mono summed signal and mute the output via the Windows standard audio device. The latter is useful to avoid slightly shifted audio playback from the video output card if it is inadvertently selected as the Windows default audio device additionally.

A maximum of 16 audio channels are available for output. You set these in the menu item Playlist Output – Audio Format.

PLAYDECK does not make any changes to the audio channel routing by default (no entry in the lines), but allows you to intervene manually. Please enter the desired mix pattern in the two lines for Playlist 1 and Playlist 2, separating the channels by commas.

To apply a changed audio routing to the clips in the playlist, press the Update Clips button.

Here are a few examples:

1+2,1+2 (Mono Mixdown)
2,1 (Swap left and right channel)
1,2,1,1 (Copy channel 1 to channel 3 and 4)
0,2 (Mute channel 1)
0,0,1,2 (Move channel 1 and 2 to channel 3 and 4)
1+3+5+7,2+4+6+8 (Stereo mixdown of 8-channel-track)

In the control section there is a preview window for each of the two playlist channels with adjacent buttons for operating playback.
Above these buttons you will find several timers that help you to keep track of the timing of your show.
In the middle are the buttons for recording start and stop, for opening the SmartClips window and for SYNC operation of both playlist channels.

Channel Previews

The Channel Previews always show the currently playing video signal. Next to it there is a VU meter with a clear indication whether the audio output is muted or not.

Left mouse click on the green field Audio is ON will mute the audio output and the display changes to a red field Audio is OFF.

Right-clicking on this field leads you to the audio settings in a very easy way:

Mute in Windows disables sound output via the default audio device defined in Windows. If playback is done via a dedicated playout card, e.g. from Blackmagicdesign, then this sound output is not affected by this setting.

Audio Settings directly takes you to the corresponding menu (see chapter 2.1.6).

In the lower section Options you can select which number of channels the VU meter should display. Important: You can only display more than two channels if you have selected an audio format with more than two audio channels for the corresponding output channel in the Settings under Playlist Output (see chapter 2.1.2.1).

If you right-click on the preview window, the following context menu opens:

If you would like to view the contents of the preview window in full screen, please select Fullscreen. You can leave the fullscreen mode again by performing a single mouse click.

If you would like to display a channel name in the preview window (just like Giant Screen in the example above), please select Show Channel Name. To hide it, select Hide Channel Name. You can edit the channel name by selecting Change Channel Name.
The channel name is also displayed in the Director View. Of course it is not visible in the actual video output.

If you have connected PLAYDECK to a compatible device (e.g. Blackmagic ATEM series switcher, NDI receiver, vMix or TSL-enabled switcher), you can display a green (preview) or orange-red (program) tally frame around the preview window. To do this, select the menu item Show Tally Lights.

To display closed caption texts in the preview window, please activate the function Show Closed Captions.

Control buttons

STOP stops the current playback and displays the content you selected in the menu item Background under Settings – All Settings – Playlist Output – Channel 1/2.

FADE fades a clip in or out of the background. The clip to be faded in must be selected in the playlist, but must not yet be in the CUE.

CROSS FADE, on the other hand, fades the currently running clip into the next clip.

Right-clicking the FADE button opens a menu where you can set the effect duration for fade-in and fade-out for both channels or change the fade mode to Cross-fade:

The JUMP function is particularly useful during rehearsals. With the help of JUMP you can easily skip the first X seconds of a clip or show only the last X seconds of a clip. You can set how many seconds are skipped at the beginning or displayed at the end of the clip under All Settings – Workflow – Playlists (see chapter 2.1.1.1).

Alternatively, the button can be assigned with the NEXT function. This way, you can put the next clip in the CUE, start it immediately or start the next block at the touch of a button.

You can set the function of the button via the context menu, which can be accessed by right-clicking on the button.

The control looks as follows when NEXT is activated:

Note: If you want to use both the JUMP and NEXT keys in parallel, please use keyboard shortcuts or remote control.

The CUE button prepares a selected clip for playback and waits for the PLAY command on the first frame of the clip. If there is a clip in the CUE, this button is filled in green.
However, CUE does more than that:

1. If you put the first clip of a block into CUE and this block has been assigned a scheduled start time (see 3.1 Block Header Functions), the countdown timer is automatically displayed.
2. When you put any clip into CUE, PLAYDECK waits for remote start commands to arrive, either from connected tally interfaces or directly from connected Blackmagic ATEM switchers, vMix Software, NDI receivers or TSL-enabled switchers (see 2.1.9.1 Incoming Remote Connections).

The PLAY/PAUSE button toggles between playback start and stop. During playback, the button turns orange.
If you want to start a clip from the playlist without putting it into the CUE first, you can simply double-click on this clip if you have set this function (see 2.1.1.1 Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Playlists: Double-click on playlist clip).

Block Timers and Countdown Timers

Block Timers

In the area above the control buttons you will find the Block and Countdown Timers.
The grey coloured Block Timer shows you from top to bottom

1. the time at which the block will end (as long as a clip is in the CUE, this end time is continuously updated)
2. the remaining duration of the currently played block, and
3. the remaining duration of the clip currently playing with a separate Clip Timer. Within the Clip Timer, you can jump to different positions within the clip with a single mouse click.

The block and clip timers can take on a signal color and can also play a warning sound when a preset remaining time is reached (see 2.1.1.1 Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Playlists: Show Colored Alert).

Use the small clock icon in the lower left corner to toggle between the remaining and the elapsed clip runtime.

The left and right arrows move the playhead one frame back and forward.

Countdown Timers

If you use the Schedule Block function (see 3.1 Block Header Functions), additional Countdown Timers are displayed:

When you put the first clip of a block to which you have assigned a scheduled start time into the CUE, the upper larger countdown timer will appear. This counts down to zero and then automatically starts playback (shown by a triangle next to the clock icon), or it just counts down to zero and then up again without starting the clip (depending on the setting made in 3.1).

The countdown timer may change to a signal color if a certain time is reached before the scheduled start time (see 2.1.1.1 Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Playlists: Show Colored Alert). It will always turn red as it counts up.

If you have provided a block with an autostart command that should be executed in any case (regardless of the current playback status of the playlist), you will receive an additional, smaller countdown timer as a warning.

SYNC Button

If you activate the SYNC button (it turns orange), you control both playlist channels together.
To prevent unwanted synchronous operation, an orange border is displayed around all control elements when the SYNC function is activated:

A right click on the SYNC button opens a selection menu with which you can determine which functions are to be sent to both playlist channels in SYNC mode:

If you do not see the SYNC button, you have either not activated the second playlist channel or you have deactivated the display of the button under menu item View – Show Sync Button.

REC Button

In the Studio version of PLAYDECK, the Edit-while-Ingest function is available. By pressing the REC button you start recording an incoming video signal (the button turns red). Pressing the REC button again stops the recording.

If you right click on the REC button, a menu opens where you can program the automatic recording start and open the recording settings:

EDIT Button

Pressing the EDIT button opens the Editing Workspace with the Edit-while-Ingest function.
For more information on the Editing functions, see chapter 6 The Editing Workspace.

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.

Most of the control commands for the operation of the two playlists, the overlay and action buttons as well as the editing window can be easily and flexibly assigned with keyboard shortcuts:

First, define your keyboard layout. Then select the control command you want to assign a shortcut to from the three categories and then press the corresponding key combination on your keyboard.
If you want to use keyboard commands that interact with Windows shortcuts, please activate the function Disable Keyboard Input to Main and SmartClips Window under Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Shortcuts.

For some functions it is helpful to be able to execute the command repeatedly while holding down the key. For example, you could assign the Next Frame command to a shortcut in the SmartClips window. If you press the corresponding key once briefly, the playhead jumps to the next frame. You might want the playhead to continuously jump to the next frame after a certain delay while you hold down the key until you release it.
You can set this up by selecting the corresponding function and then pressing the “Repeat” button:

When you have set up all your desired shortcuts, it is useful to save your shortcut set.
PLAYDECK allows you to save and load any number of different shortcut sets.
The Fastswitch dropdown field allows you to switch between the last used sets at lightning speed.

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.

An action is a media file (video, audio or full-screen graphics) in direct access. As soon as the corresponding button is pressed, PLAYDECK starts playing the stored file.
Up to 30 such action files can be stored per playlist channel and controlled via mouse clicks or particularly conveniently via keyboard shortcuts or LAN commands.

Files can be dragged and dropped directly from Windows Explorer or the Add-Clip window onto the desired button. Action buttons that have not yet been assigned a file have a gray outline, otherwise the outline is orange.
Actions that are currently played back have an orange button. They can be cancelled by clicking the mouse again.
Left mouse click on the arrow up-down button switches to the next actions, a right click returns to the previous bank.

Right clicking on an empty action opens a menu in which you can assign a media file or change the button name.
If the action is assigned, a right click leads to the following extended menu:

Change File opens the File Explorer and allows you to exchange the saved media file.

Change Name opens a window in which you can give the button for the action a descriptive name.

Change After Action:
Here you can set how PLAYDECK should behave when a played back action clip is over. You can choose from the following options:
Default:
Uses the setting you have selected under Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Playlists in the “Default Behaviour after playing an action” section.
Pause on last Frame of Action:
PLAYDECK stops on the last frame of the action clip and waits for further commands.
Stop Playback and show Background
PLAYDECK stops playback and displays the default background. For details on setting the default background of a playlist, see X.Y
Return to Playlist Clip on Last Position
At the end of the action clip, PLAYDECK jumps back to the position in the playlist where the action clip was started. The state of the playlist when the action button is pressed is taken into account: If PLAYDECK was in a running playback, the playback will continue. If PLAYDECK was in a pause or cue state, this state will be restored.
Replay last played Playlist Clip
If the action button was pressed during an ongoing playback, the interrupted clip is played back from the beginning after the action clip has ended.
Play next Clip in Playlist
If the action button was pressed during an ongoing playback, the interrupted clip is skipped after the action clip is finished and the following clip is started.
Play selected Clip in Playlist
While the action clip is playing, the operator can decide where to resume playback after the action clip is finished by selecting a clip from the playlist.

Cut/Crop opens a window in which you can assign IN/OUT points to the action file and crop it in size. For more information, refer to the Playlist Functions – Clip Related Functions section.

If you activate Loop Action, the action is played back in an endless loop.

Change Custom Gain allows you to adjust the volume of the action file.

Copy Action opens a window in which you can easily copy buttons including all settings.

Clear Action deletes the corresponding action file from the button.

An overlay is an image, a text, a ticker, an HTML file or even a website that can be superimposed on the output video signal. The image may or may not be full-screen and may or may not contain transparency information (alpha channel). Thus overlays are just as suitable for permanent station logos as for short lower thirds. Multiple overlays can be active simultaneously, with the exception of HTML overlays. PLAYDECK gives you access to up to 30 overlays per playlist channel. The overlays can be faded in and out with repeated left clicks or particularly conveniently via keyboard shortcuts or LAN commands.

Files can be dragged and dropped directly from Windows Explorer or the Add-Clip window onto the desired button. Overlay buttons that have not yet been assigned a file have a gray outline, otherwise the outline is orange.
Overlays that are currently displayed have an orange button.
Left mouse click on the arrow up-down button switches to the next overlays, a right click returns to the previous bank.

Right clicking on an empty overlay opens a menu in which you can assign an image file or change the button name.
If the overlay is assigned, a right click leads to the following extended menu:

Edit Overlay opens a menu bar at the top of the interface where you can make all settings:

Select the file, rename the button or display the overlay. In addition, you can freely position and scale each image and add a fade-in and fade-out duration. Additionally you can assign a transparency (alpha channel) to the overlay.

Change Content lets you conveniently assign another media file to the corresponding overlay button.

Change Name opens a window in which you can give the button for the overlay a descriptive name.

Set Duration opens a window in which you can define whether the overlay is automatically hidden and after which time. This is perfect for displaying lower thirds which should automatically disappear after the same display duration.

Copy Overlay opens a window in which you can easily copy buttons including all settings.

Clear Overlay deletes the corresponding overlay from the button.

Each playback block in PLAYDECK ends with an end of block command.
Right clicking on the block end opens the Block End Functions:

Insert Clip inserts a playlist entry just before the end of the block.

Delete (Merge Blocks) deletes the end of block command and merges the current and the following playback block into one.

Change to … opens a submenu with which you can change the block end command. The displayed command depends on the current end-of-block command.

Change to … (Default) replaces the current end of block command with the default one stored in Settings – All Settings – Workflow – Playlists