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IBIS ServerPlay - iSP

• News Playout
• Playout

News Playout

Product Overview

IBIS ServerPlay (iSP) is a scalable, intuitive, application offering ultimate flexibility for News, Sports & Transmission environments where speed & reliability are fundamental. iSP can control multiple videoserver ports from a single user interface. Clips can be played individually; linked in a run down sequence or looped. This makes the application ideal for both news story playout and rolling ‘over the shoulder’ studio backgrounds where more formal pre-planning is not an option.

ServerPlay News comes with a sophisticated MOS interface providing an industry standard interface to a number of newsroom scripting systems (NRCS). Real time dynamic schedules are fully supported together with placeholder functionality and optional links to Caption and Subtitling devices.

When a rundown in the NRCS is made ‘MOS Active’ and then loaded into ServerPlay, the playlist is populated with the all the scheduled clips - whether they exist or are still in production. Missing clips are easily spotted as they are highlighted in the rundown in red. As these clips become available (usually as an edit is completed and the finished clip is cleared editorially for tx) these missing warnings are cleared, and the completed clip is ‘pulled through’ to the ServerPlay rundown.

The ports used by ServerPlay can be configured so that alternate ports are rippled through the rundown according to operational requirements. As clips are played ServerPlayreports on their status and this is fed back to the NRCS. What happens on screen at the end of the clip can be configured according to requirements.

Changes made to the rundown in the NRCS will be reflected in the ServerPlay playlist whilst it is on air. IBIS offers a variety of configurations for dealing with auto-rippling of channels; rippling cued clips; un-cueing deleted clips.

In the event of a newsroom system failure ServerPlay will continue to operate and control the servers. IBIS offers Master/Slave/Standby configurations are available for added resilience.

To work alongside ServerPlay, IBIS offers a useful hardware control panel, which is ideal for the live studio environment.

Key Features of ServerPlay News

• Multiple ports of server playout 
  

ServerPlay can control either two ports or four ports of videoserver playout as standard. This allows an A/B roll, or A/B/C/D roll as standard. Variants of this can be offered to suit current workflow. Playout of clips can be configured to start on the first frame of the clip; run and freeze on final frame; run and end on black. 

• Modes of Playout
  

• Clips can be triggered to run and stop as a single event in each run-down; to run and trigger the following clip as in a typical list run-down; to run as a loop of one or more clip. 
  
• The ‘In’ Point and Duration can be adjusted to play only a certain portion of a clip if the entire clip is not required. 
  
• Cue: cues the highlighted clip to its first frame.
  
• Take: starts the highlighted clip playing or continues it from stop. Note that with certain video servers, a clip does not need to be cued before hitting take.
  
• Stop: freezes the highlighted clip on the current frame.   
  
• Recue: will cue the current clip on the port back to its first frame. 
  
• Auto Cueing automatically cues the next clip on the port after a definable time delay. 
  
• Missing clips displayed in red text with the word ‘MISSING’ in their status line. They will be ignored and skipped over by ServerPlay if left in the list at play time. When they are loaded into the server and become available for playout ServerPlay will spot them at its next scan for missing clips.
  

• Random Clip Playout
  

ServerPlay offers true random access playout.  Should your operational requirement be for random access, ServerPlay will deliver any clip, anywhere on the list, on any port at any time which is particularly suited to a news environment.  

• MOS Playout
  

IBIS has a great deal of experience of MOS interfacing with ServerPlay.  We currently support MOS Gateways with ENPS, iNews, Dalet and Octopus. With truly reactive interfacing to these major NRCS we are able to provide an integrated playout environment for fast reactive news channels. 

• Block Playout
  

By setting up the application, or parts of the run down in block playout mode, once triggered the sequence of clips runs on until the end of the block.  Perfect for running commercials or promotions in the centre of a news bulletin. Or for running more ‘traditional’ playlists where random access of material is not required. 

• Loop Playout
  

Typically used post close-down – looped material can be run overnight keeping the channel brand alive and on-air.  Looped playout is also used by shopping mall TV channels where playlists of material advertising events and stores are played in a loop throughout the retail day. 

• Playlist Editing
  

Off line editing of the playlist is possible. The .ply files within the ServerPlay directory can be called up and edited before tx. 

Playout 

Product Overview

ServerPlay is a PC based application designed to provide single or multi-channel playout primarily from servers but with the optional additional ability to add control of a small number of other devices as required. It has many of the features that users have expected from cassette library systems, such as those provided by Sony’s Betacart and LMS, combined with the much greater capabilities of servers, to offer an extremely fast and flexible system ideally suited to a variety of on-air applications including news, sports, programme and commercial playout

The standard package allows for control of up to 4 independent server ports.  Playlists can be created within the application and saved for later use as required. Alternatively playlists can be provided from external Newsroom or Scheduling Systems either in the product's own simple text file format or the native system format. The playlist can easily be edited at any time whilst on air and clips can be added from the server library via keyboard entry or drag and drop.

The system provides three standard modes of clip playout; single, block and loop. In single play mode clips will be played one at a time, stopping after each item. In block play, the selected group of clips will be played sequentially until the end of a block. In loop play mode a block of clips is continually looped until a given time is reached. Multiple loops can be set up as required with start date and time against each one and the system will move on to the next loop at the scheduled time.

Event control can be either manual, time-triggered based on a time and date set against each event or triggered by an external GPI such as the opening of a mixer channel.

Whilst standard playout is from top to bottom of the playlist ServerPlay also provides the user with the ability to select any clip from anywhere in the list for playout, whether or not it has already been played, making it ideal for highly dynamic environments such as News Transmission.

Additional devices can also be controlled as required such as further server ports, VTRs, switchers, logo generators, still stores etc. A purpose designed control panel is available which allows easy operational control of iSP in parallel with the primary keyboard allowing dual control (for example, a producer may edit the list while an operator is controlling playout). 

• Playlists
  

Playlists can be created and edited by dragging and dropping clips from the database window to the appropriate point anywhere in the playlist. Additionally, clips may be inserted at any point in the playlist using the Clip ID.  These playlists can be saved as a .ply file in a standard windows style directory for ease of retrieval.

An existing playlist can be called up from the playlist directory quickly and easily in order to be loaded and played straight to air or appended to an existing rundown.

• Playlist Modes
  

Playlists can be set up to play sequentially until the end of the block of clips (Block); to require a separate trigger for each clip (Single); or to play in loops with a start and end clip designated for each loop. In Single Play Mode the clip will be played to the end and then stop making it ideal for a production gallery style playout.

In Block Mode the list will play one clip following another from the start to the end of the block.

In Loop Mode the list will play one clip following another and will loop until stopped.

• Playout
  

• ServerPlay can be set to play out of up to four independent ports or channels of a video server from one user interface. The clips will be assigned to channel A unless settings for AB Mode have been enabled in which case each clip will be assigned the next channel in the sequence, ie A + B for two channel playout. A + B + C + D for four channel playout. 
  
• During playout to air the clip status will be reported on the user interface using colour coding ie Cued, Playing, Stopped.  
  
• ServerPlay offers true random access playout.  Should your operational requirement be for random access, ServerPlay will deliver any clip, anywhere on the list, on any port at any time. 
  
• Clips can be triggered to run and stop as a single event in each run-down; to run and trigger the following clip as in a typical list run-down; to run as a loop of one or more clip. 
  
• The ‘In’ Point and Duration can be adjusted to play only a certain portion of a clip if the entire clip is not required. 
  
• Cue: cues the highlighted clip to its first frame. 
  
• Take: starts the highlighted clip playing or continues it from stop. Note that with certain video servers, a clip does not need to be cued before hitting take. 
  
• Stop: freezes the highlighted clip on the current frame.   
  
• Recue:  will cue the current clip on the port back to its first frame. 
  
• Auto Cueing automatically cues the next clip on the port after a definable time delay. 
  
• Missing clips displayed in red text with the word ‘MISSING’ in their status line. They will be ignored and skipped over byServerPlay if left in the list at play time. When they are loaded into the server and become available for playout ServerPlay will spot them at its next scan for missing clips. 
  

• Redundancy Options 

• Slave: the slave ServerPlay runs on the same or alternative PC as the Master ServerPlay but is configured to connect to different ports on the server, or to a different server altogether. The slave system will mirror all actions performed by the master system. 
• Standby: the standby system runs on the same or alternative PC as the Master. It is configured to control the same ports as the main system but does not actually issue commands to those ports until a switch is made in the main menu setting: ‘Take control of the Ports’. When this is checked, the Standby system will begin to send commands to the playout ports and the Main system will be disabled. 
  

For further information about IBIS products please contact us.