AUDICOM
Video Controller
TITLE PANEL PDF Imprimir E-mail

 

TITLE panel is used to display text and image overlays on top of the video image. This control lets the operator add a variety of layered objects over the video. Examples include JPG images to show scores and music information, fixed texts, animated logos (gif image files), banners, and news tickers.

 

Whenever we refer to TITLE we are thinking of a preset button containing layers of objects that will be place in front of the video (the SET). The purpose of having separate presets for SETs and TITLEs is that they can be activated independently from one another. For example, the operator can configure a TITLE preset button to displays the legend "LIVE" in one corner of the screen. This text layer can be activated independently from the SET chosen at any given moment in time. These TITLE presets can be automated, so that captions like: "You're listening to: Madonna - Material Girl" or "Weather Info: 72F' appear during specific moments in each show. Below we are going to look into the functionalities provided by the TITLE panel.

TITLE Panel shown with various texts and superimposed logo images.

 

TITLE presets: similar to the SET presets, these preset buttons display a thumbnail image displaying the graphic layers contained. Each TITLE preset may contain a variable number of layers. For changes in the TITLE panel to go on-air the operator has to press the PREVIEW/PROGRAM bar button (located in the TRANSITION panel).

 

TITLE presets are always toggle buttons. Are activated when pressed once, and deactivate if they are pressed once more. When a specific preset button is on air, the button's name background turns red. Selected buttons display a green frame around them. These framed objects will go on-air as soon as the operator clicks on the PREVIEW/PROGRAM bar button.

 

The user can have as many preset buttons active at once as he needs (up to 30 layers in total): One button may hold the isologotype image of the radio station or TV channel, another may display the name of the show currently on the air, a third one can display a news ticker on the bottom of the image, another could hold weather information, etc.

 

The order in which HDVmixer displays the preset buttons in the panel (left to right and top to bottom), is the order in which the layers are stacked one on top of the other in the final video composition. When two layers overlap the one on top will be displayed above the other ones.

 

LIST OF ACTIVE LAYERS

 

List of active layers.On the righthand area of the TITLE panel a list of all currently active layers is shown. The layers displayed here correspond to all the objects found on every preset button currently selected. So when there is more than one preset button selected simultaneously, the layer list will append all the layers corresponding to all preset buttons in the correct order in which they should be displayed.

 

Each layer in the list on the left has a box that lets you show/hide each layer independently. This feature is useful to have pre-configured text layers that are not visible, until the user updates it's text field with new information. It is therefore possible to have generic presets for LIVE COVERAGE, TELEPHONE INTERVIEW, etc, and only time-specific info of each particular event has to be filled just before going on the air. Avoiding the need for the operator to be working out layer configurations when he has to be focussed on the live coverage underway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDITING TITLE PRESETS

 

Double-clicking on a preset button will bring up the TITLE edit window. Each of the layers contained in the preset can be individually modified. New text and image layers can be created, or existing layers can be reordered up or down in the layer stack, or simply deleted. 

 

TITLE preset edit window.

The existing types of layers in HDVmixer are:

  • Text
  • Images
  • Ticker: scrolling text (used for news)

To simplify operation, layer properties have been divided into tabs to sort properties by function: Text, Image, etc. Additionally there is a tab called 'General' with the properties common to all types of layers.

 

LAYER PROPERTIES

 

The 'General' tab displays the following common attributes to all layer types:

  • Visble: Whether the layer is hidden or not
  • Width: Width of the layer
  • Height: Height of the layer
  • X: Horizontal position of the layer inside the scene
  • Y: Vertical position of the layer inside the scene
  • Opacity: Transparency Level of the layer
  • Global: Sets weather the layer has local scope to the current scene in particular or global scope. All layers which have animation and that the animation should not restart from the start when switching scenes should be defined as global. Since this allows an animated logo, or news ticker to continue the current animation sequence even when changing scenes
  • Global Allocation: Indicates the global identifier assigned to the layer (HDVmixer supports up to 10 global text layers and 10 global image layers)

 

Specific properties of text layers.In addition to common attributes, there are specific attributes for each object type. The specific attributes of text layers are:

  • Title: Short name describing the layer. It's used to refer to the layer in the Layers list area
  • Font: Font type and size
  • Text: Text to be displayed in the layer. The user can use 'metanames' (tags) that are automatically updated with information from AUDICOM's data base. Information such as the Title/Performer of the song currently been played, current time, temperature, RSS news feed, or several other data fields can be used to assemble text layers
  • File: Used to define an external text file used to import the layer's text from
  • Color: Text color
  • BackColor: Text background color (if any)
  • Align: Text alignment options (left/center/right)
  • Opacity: Sets the degree of transparency of the text. 100% indicates a solid object, whereas 0% indicates that the text is completely transparent
  • Border: Defines a border around each letter of the text. This functionality is frequently used to ensure that the text's visibility is optimal both over light or dark backgrounds
  • Border Width: Defines the thickness (in pixels) of the font's outline border
  • Border Color: Sets the color used by the font border
  • Border Opacity: Sets the degree of transparency of the font's border
  • Speed: News headlines are often displayed as scrolling text. A text layer can be configured to scroll at a specific speed. Scroll speed is given in pixels per second

 

Specific properties of image layers.The specific attributes for image layers are:

  • Path: Image file to be displayed (supported image file types: BMP, PNG, GIF, JPG)

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  • Color (optional): Color used to tint the image. It can be useful to match a specific color set during some shows, while not having to create separate logos and captions for each program. If color is set to white, the feature is overridden

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  • Chroma Key: Activates the chroma keying for this particular layer

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  • Chroma Color: Sets the color the user wants to chroma key out of the image (make transparent)
 
TRANSITION PANEL PDF Imprimir E-mail

 

HDVmixer's TRANSITION Panel.

The TRANSITION panel is where the user clicks to trigger a video transition from one scene to the other. All changes done to the scene, whether they are source changes, new graphs to be overlayed, or a new news ticker are applied using a soft fade transition effect lasting 500mS. This provides multimedia radio broadcasters with an agile and professional look comparable to commercial TV broadcasts.

 

This panel has a PROGRAM/PREVIEW button that visually mimics the 'bar' control found on traditional hardware video mixers. The operation of this bar is described below associated with the operation of PREVIEW mode.

 

TRANSITIONS UNDER MANUAL OPERATION

 

To activate the PREVIEW mode, click on either the VIDEO or the TITLE buttons until they lit in green. When the PREVIEW mode is active any changes made to the scene will not be applied immediately. The changes will go on-air only after pressing the PREVIEW/PROGRAM 'bar' button. Applying changes will generate a smooth transition in the main video output (PROGRAM) from the previous scene to the new one. It's therefore very easy to perform several changes at once: first change the elements of the scene and then press the 'bar' when you are ready to air the new scene.

 

AUTOMATIC TRANSITIONS

 

Sometimes the operator needs to change the video sources on the fly and as fast as possible. Avoiding to hit the 'bar' button each time a source change is needed would be a plus in such circumstances. HDVmixer provides an AUTO apply mode for these applications. For example, if the operator wants to switch from 'Camera 1' to 'Camera 2' as fast as possible, he can do so with a single click. As soon as the AUTO button is activated (it's located next to the VIDEO PREVIEW button), changes to the SET will go on-air immediately. When the AUTO mode is active, both the AUTO and the PREVIEW buttons will lit in red indicating that changes will be applied automatically. When the AUTO mode is active the following changes will apply intermediately: selecting a new SET template, clicking any of the video input matrix buttons in the MONITOR panel, or selecting a background image in the BACKGROUND panel.

 

Both AUTO apply feature is only available to the MONITOR, SET and BACKGROUND panels. The TITLE panel does not have an AUTO apply changes feature, as text/graphic layers have to be carefully configured before been displayed on the air. Most of the time this involves changing more than one text at a time, so automatically applying changes does not seem to be a good idea.

 

SPLIT SCENE CHANGES FOR WORKLOAD SHARING

 

HDVmixer has separate buttons for controlling VIDEO and TITLE (text/graph layers). This allows to split the workload between the station's staff members in a logical workflow. As one person can be responsible for changing the video scenes, whereas another can be in charge of text and image updates (TITLE). There can be several HDVmixer clients running on different workstations, and all connected to the same HDVmixer server. Therefore, it is possible that journalists in the news room use their workstation's HDVmixer to update the news tickers, while the producers of a show are in charge of updating the names of the interviewee, while SET changes correspond to the video operator (or are automated using autoVJ rules). As HDVmixer has separate buttons to apply VIDEO and TITLE changes, one HDVmixer terminal can be locked to change only VIDEO or TITLE elements, not allowing it to interfere with the rest of the scene configuration. To grant permission to modify either VIDEO or TITLE objects, is as simple as activating/deactivating either VIDEO or TITLE buttons in the TRANSITION panel.

 
 
OVERVIEW HDVmixer Client PDF Imprimir E-mail

The HDVMixer client module is a user interface that can locally or remotely control the station's HDVMixer Server settings. The server runs in the DJ's on-air computer, whereas information is gathered and generated by other staff members. Therefore it's necessary to have remote control capabilities to feed information into the video stream.

 

Running several HDVmixer clients in various computers through the station a logical information workflow can be accomplished. For instance journalists at the news room can update news tickers, while the producers can update guest names, photos and info from a different location. While this is taking place, the DJ can be selecting a specific camera, or he can even activate HDVmixer's autoVJ feature for the software to automatically select the proper camera view based on a set of predefined rules.

 

General view of HDVmixer Client. Click to view full size.

 

HDVmixer is divided into 7 panels, each having a specific function. The panels are:

  1. MONITOR: Where video SOURCES are configured

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  2. TRANSITION: Where transitions between SETs are configured

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  3. SET: Where the video compositions are configured (up to 4 simultaneous SOURCES can make up the scene)

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  4. BACKGROUND: Where the SET's background image is configured

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  5. TITLE: Where text/image overlays are configured

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  6. SCENE: Where SCENE buttons are configured. These buttons activate a particular combination of SOURCES, TRANSITIONS, SETS, BACKGROUND and TITLE. These buttons can have autoVJ automation rules which allow them to automatically trigger under specific circumstances

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  7. STREAMING: Where the streaming status is selected and the connection status is displayed. HDVmixer can be either STREAMING, or in PREVIEW mode. Connection health statics are displayed in this pane too. Warning information is shown when network congestion or server disconnection occurs
 
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