Playout Rules decide when a clip is allowed to play, and what happens after it. Shuffle uses the same gray state for clips that are not in this take.
Where to find it
Select one or more clips and click the pause / end icon on the clip (same place as the old Clip Pause). The dialog title is Playout Rules.
The top of the dialog is After Clip Action (pause / stop / continue). Below that is Limit Playout. Default for new Clips in the footer stores both for clips you add later.
After Clip Action
This is the former Clip Pause. It only runs when the clip actually reaches its end.
- PLAY next Clip — the playlist continues as usual.
- Pause after Clip — hold on the last frame and wait, or continue after a delay.
- Stop after Clip — stop playout at the end of this clip.
On the right you choose what follows: PLAY next Clip, CUE next Clip, or Do nothing, optionally after a number of seconds.
Limit Playout
Each checked rule must match now. Unchecked rules are ignored.
- Weekdays — only on the selected days.
- Primetime — time of day. From is included, until is not (18:00–20:00 means until 19:59:59). If From is later than Until (e.g. 22:00–06:00), the window wraps overnight.
- Campaign — calendar dates. Until included. If Until is off, the clip is limited to the From day only.
- Max playouts (per Day) — how often this clip may play on the current calendar day. The counter resets at the next check after midnight (no extra timer). A play counts when the clip finished and the playhead left it. Looping the same clip does not add extra counts. A manual start does count if that clip played through.
Several rules together are AND: weekday and primetime and campaign and max playouts, if they are all on.
Reset Selection / Reset Channel in this dialog zero the daily counters. File → Reset Clip Played Status does the same for played marks and counts.
Gray vs Inactive
Two different skips:
- First-column checkbox off — the clip is inactive. Automation will not take it, and you cannot start it with CUE / PLAY / Fade.
- Gray name + ↷ — the clip is out of this take (Limit Playout, or leftover after Shuffle). Automation, Follow, Planned duration and Get Next skip it. You can still start it by hand. That un-greys that clip only; it does not deal a new Shuffle take.
Block headers still show the count of clips that can actually play in this take (▸ 3 Clips), not every file in the block.
Shuffle
Open Clip Shuffle from the Block (Block End / list icon). Methods: No Shuffle, Shuffle all Clips, or Shuffle only N clips, with optional fixed clips at the top of the block.
PLAYDECK deals a take when the Block is played from the beginning: CUE / PLAY / Fade on the block header, on the first take clip, or when the Block becomes next in playout (Block End, command, action, schedule). Clips not in the take go gray (↷).
Looping the Block keeps the same take. It does not shuffle again. To deal a new take, start the Block from the beginning.
CUE / double-click on any other clip in the Block plays that clip (and un-greys it if it was gray). It does not reshuffle the rest.
Duration, Follow and Schedule
Planned time, block duration, Follow-after-clip, and Get Next only use clips that can play now (active, not gray, Limit allowed).
A scheduled Block with no take clip at fire time is skipped. Limit Playout lives on the clip, not on Schedule Block.
