How To Control Multiple Graphics Independently From Each Other

In this How To you will learn to operate several graphics simultaneously from the Director. Oftentimes you want to have more than one graphic on-air on a machine. We will show you how to define the layout of the graphics and adjust the Director's UI according to the needs of your show.

Even though this is a Director How to it is required to build a template inside the Designer first. And in this Template scene we need to prepare the Template to be able to work in a multi channel show. So if you dont have a Template scene yet head over to this How to and learn how to build one.

Introduction

A multi channel show can be very helpful in larger productions to keep the different content from getting confused with each other and to make sure it is always displayed in the right way. For example: you could create Channels only for the background, lower third, foreground and so on. This How to will guide you trough the necessary steps to successfully deploy a multi channel Show.

Creating the Layout scene

In order to successfully use multiple channels we need to make a Layout Scene. Follow the instructions in the upcoming section and create a layout scene with two ports instead of the example shown with three.

Template Settings

Now we need to open the Template we made and fill some Properties with information. This has to be done in either one of the following ways depending on if the Template has a Animation or not.

Preparing an Animated Template

After opening your scene in the Designer you need to find the Animation node. Then take a look at the Animation Editor and select the Logic View. Now click on the yellow present state 1.

2. After you clicked on the state you will find the shown properties in the Property Editor. If there are no properties for you then the Animation Control was not added to the scene Data yet.
   • Display Name: Is the name that is going to be displayed in the Template Window inside the Director.
   • Description: Can be used to the describe the function of the Template. This will be shown as tooltip when hovering over the Template in the Director.
   • Category: Every Template can have one Category which it will be in. This can be seen in the Director. It is also possible to assign multiple Templates to one Category.
   • Channel ID: Enables the ability to sort Templates by ChannelID inside the Director. Can also be used to restrict its use in combination with channel rules.
   • Keywords: Enables the ability to sort Templates by Keywords inside the Director. Can also be used to restrict its use in combination with channel rules.
   • Thumbnail Area: Determines the are which will be captured when pressing on the Create Thumbnail Button. Can be unfold with a  click on the property to manipulate the area in which the Thumbnail will be taken from. The area can be made visible by clicking on the Show Thumbnail Area which makes its visible inside the Renderer Window.

As a simple example we are only going to give the Template a name, a keyword and create a Thumbnail.

This Keyword is important later when we are creating the channel rules so the content will only work on the specific channel. To create a Thumbnail simple click the Create Thumbnail button on the bottom of the Properties Editor and leave the Thumbnail Area settings as they are.

Now your Thumbnail is prepared and we can start building the Topology.

Preparing Non-Animated Templates

When working with a static template like a plain background image there is no animation and there fore also no state where we could edit the properties in. So to reach the Template Data, as they are described in the section above, you need to add at least one property of the node that is inside the Template scene and add it to the Scene data. After that you can access the Template Data by going above the Layer level and clicking on a empty spot inside the Content Editor. Now you should see the Template Data inside the Property Editor.

Building the Topology

One of the fundamental design principles of the Director is the separation of content and the actual rendering system via Channels. A Channel is a stream of content (specifically templates being cued, filled with values and taken on air). Where that content is rendered is not part of the show but part of the Topology.

In order to build a new topology for a multi channel show start the Director and hit the small Topology Editor button.

After opening the Editor the first you will probably see is the Topology itself. To navigate inside the Editor hold the middle mouse button to move around, to select things and into empty space to add new things to the Topology. Before you can start building the actual topology you need to know what all this different elements are actually representing.

• 1: This "Slot" represents one channel. Every slot hast two outputs. One for the Preview and one for the Program.
  • Preview as the name suggests is a preview window for the Template
  • Program is the window which shows the content that is currently on air
• 2: These dots are the connection to the pipe and are called Ports. Every pipe will only have one output, the input on the other hand can have multiple ports. How to change them will be explained further down.
• 3: The output Ports of the Pipe.
• 4: A View Element, which represents the rendering windows inside the Director. These can be individually named depending on your preferences.
• 5: This is the Cluster element which breaks down to the Name at the top, the actual Machine which are represented by a rectangular box with their IP-address and name next to it, the status of the VMS connection (indicated in green here, which means its connected and good to go) and the pipes.

Now that you know what these elements are lets build a new Topology for our multi channel show. First hit the small + in the bottom left corner to create a new Topology, so we dont work in the default local one. Give it a name and hit ok. There are two ways to add the different elements we need. The first one would be the small menu bar in the bottom left.

Or by right clicking empty space inside the Editor.

Add a Local Machine, and change the Pipes to Dual. As you will see these Pipes only have one Port. To change that  click in empty space again and click on Properties. Here you can change the number of input Ports every Pipes will have. To not make it more complicated change it to 2.

This is what you should see by now.

To add a Slot  click in empty space and under Add you will also find the Slot. Add two of them and for the sake of clarity name them Channel 1 and Channel 2. Also add two View elements.

In order to connect those correctly we need to connect the View elements first. To determine which Pipe will be handling the rendering of the Program and Preview. To connect a element with another  click and hold on a Port and drag it over to the View element.

Now connect the Slot Ports with the respective Pipe.

The Topology is all set and ready to go. Now you can open your show and move on in this guide. Your Topology should be already selected.

Creating Channel rules

With channel rules you can assure that only the right templates can be cued in the right channel. To set those rules open your show with the Topology we just build and click on Show and then on Channels.

By default there are no Channel Rules applied

So let us change the first channel rule, you can either double klick it or single klick on the channel and hit Edit. Now we are going to add 2 new rules to it.

• 1. Change the Name of the Channel to Background
• 2. Hit new to create a new rule, the condition stays on Always
• 3. Change the Action to Block

This would now block every Template from being qued, so to only allow Templates with the Keyword "Background" in it we need to create another rule.

• 1. Create a new rule
• 2. Change the condition to Keyword
• 3. Type in the Keyword
• 4. Change the Action to Allow

Now every Template with the Keyword "Background" in it will be allowed in this Channel. Repeat this steps for youre second Channel with the Keyword set to "Foreground", and you are all set to go live with your first multi Channel show. It is important to know that the order of the rule is important. Ventuz Director is handling the rules from top to bottom. In our case, we block first all entries and afterwards we allow a specific keyword. The second rule is the exception of the first made rule. If we would turn around the order of the rules, we would allow one keyword (which is allowed anyways, in the case of no rules) and afterwards we would block all keywords. The one we allowed before as well.

Tips&Tricks

This section will teach you some valuable Tips and Tricks to optimize your Workflow in the Ventuz Director.

Override Channel rules

It is possible to override existing Channel rules while operating without the need of changing them. To do this, simply hold the ALT key while dragging a Template in the Channel. Now the rules are ignored and you can que Templates that usually wont be allowed in there.

Shortcuts and Hotkeys

Here is a list of all Shortcuts and a explanation how you create custom Hotkeys: Shortcuts and Hotkeys

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