The Prompter presents the script of the current Viz Mosart rundown as classic teleprompter text: large white type on a black background, rolling at a steady reading pace.

Opening the Prompter

1. From the Mosart Web Apps Configuration Tool, select App Launcher > Prompter.

2. The Prompter opens in your default web browser. On a system configured with multiple studios, it opens for the selected studio.

Until a script is available, the Prompter shows one of the following messages in the reading area:

A connection chip in the top right corner of the screen shows the live connection state at all times: Connecting…, No Mosart Server, or Connected.

The Prompter View

The whole rundown renders as one continuous script, in running order. What the reading area shows depends on whether the Prompter is following the live item or being browsed.

The view keeps itself up to date: stories and script added, edited, deleted or reordered elsewhere (in Showmaker or in the newsroom system) appear in the Prompter automatically, without reloading the page.

While Following the Live Item

During normal on-air operation the reading area is kept as clear as possible, so nothing but script passes through the cue line:

• The in-flow story headers and item labels fade out, so they never roll up through the reading area and distract the talent.

• Instead, a fixed banner at the top of the screen carries that context: the on-air story and item, so the presenter always knows what is live. Items with nothing to read are tagged No script in the banner.

• The state strip stays visible in the top left corner, with the on-air timers just below it. Both are described below.

While Browsing

The moment the operator scrolls or steps away from the on-air item, the full structure of the rundown reappears:

• Every story appears as a numbered header showing its name, and its planned duration when one is set. The on-air story's header also shows a live countdown to the next story.

• Each item in a story is labelled with its Mosart template (for example, a camera or package name) in the template type color, together with the item's planned duration when one is set. Items with script show their script below the label; items with no script show the label only.

In both states, a thin progress bar along the bottom edge of the screen shows the reading position within the whole rundown, and the name of the loaded rundown appears in the top right corner while the control bar is visible.

Story headers of rundowns created in Showmaker also offer an Edit in Showmaker button, which opens that story in Showmaker in a new browser tab. Like the control bar, it is only shown while the controls are visible, so it disappears once they auto-hide.

State Strip

Once a rundown is loaded, a compact state strip stays visible in the top left corner of the screen and shows two words. It is deliberately exempt from the control bar auto-hide, so the operator can always read the transport and follow state without touching anything. It is hidden in the connecting and empty states, where a transport word would be misleading, and in display-only mode.

Timers

While Follow the rundown is on and the on-air item is found in the loaded rundown, an elapsed timer sits below the state strip in the top left corner, counting up to show how long the on-air item has been live.

A second timer joins it only while an item with no script is on air. It counts down to the moment the next scripted item is due to roll, adding together the time left on the on-air item and the planned durations of any further no-script items ahead of it, so a run of back-to-back packages reads as one shrinking number. If the on-air item runs long, the countdown crosses zero and turns red to show that the next script is overdue.

Following the On-Air Rundown

With Follow the rundown switched on (the default), the Prompter follows the production automatically, item by item:

• When a rundown is taken on air, scrolling starts automatically; nobody has to press play.

• Taking an item that has script brings that item's script to the cue line and rolls it at the reading pace. The roll holds when the last line of the item's script reaches the cue line, so the Prompter never rolls ahead of what is on air.

• Taking the same item again (a re-take) re-anchors its script to the cue line and rolls it again from the top.

• A take always restarts the roll, even after a manual pause. A manual pause holds only between takes.

Reading Ahead over Items with No Script

When an item with no script is taken on air (a package, a full-screen graphic, a break, a live source), there is nothing for the talent to read, so the roll stops. What happens next depends on the Read ahead during no-script items setting (default on):

• On: The Prompter brings the next scripted item in the rundown to the cue line so the presenter can read ahead. The reading cue turns amber, band and arrows alike, to signal that the script on the cue line is not yet on air, and the countdown timer shows when it is expected to roll. The moment that item is taken, it rolls from where it already sits.

• Off: The Prompter freezes in place until the next scripted item is taken.

In both cases the on-air banner keeps showing the live story and item, tagged No script.

Browsing While On Air

Scrolling by hand (mouse wheel, touch drag, Home, or stepping between items) while Follow is on switches the Prompter to PREVIEW: the roll stops so the operator can read anywhere in the rundown without being pulled back. To return:

• Select Jump to live (or press L) to snap back to the on-air item and resume following.

• Or simply wait: the next take automatically returns the Prompter to the live item.

On a touch screen, a stationary tap only reveals the controls. It takes a real drag to switch to PREVIEW, so touching the glass cannot knock the Prompter off air mid-read.

While following, if the on-air item is not present in the loaded rundown (for example it was removed after the rundown was loaded), the Prompter stops the roll and shows the warning On-air item is not in the rundown rather than rolling stale script.

The Control Bar

A floating control bar at the bottom of the screen keeps the essential controls within reach. It hides after four seconds without input and reappears on any mouse movement, touch, or key press. It also stays put while the settings panel or the Help menu is open.

The speed and text size controls, the play button and the reading cue are all hidden while one of the messages above is shown, since there is no script to drive.

Settings

The gear button on the control bar opens the full settings panel. Every setting takes effect immediately and is remembered by the browser on that machine, so each prompter position keeps its own setup.

The Reading Cue

The reading cue marks the line the talent should be reading. It consists of two parts:

• Cue arrows at the left and/or right edge of the screen, per the Cue indicator setting.

• An optional translucent highlight band across the full width of the script.

When following the rundown, each item taken on air aligns its script to the cue line, and the auto-roll keeps the current text passing through it. The cue's vertical position is adjustable in the settings.

Some talent find the full-width band distracting at large studio text sizes. The Highlight band setting turns the band off while keeping the arrows, matching the arrow-only cue of traditional prompters. Setting the cue indicator to Off hides everything, band and arrows alike.

While the Prompter is reading ahead over an item with no script, the band and the arrows turn amber as a reminder that the text on the cue line is not yet on air.

Manual Transport

For rehearsal, or whenever the operator wants full control of the pace, switch Follow the rundown off (the F key). The state strip reads MANUAL and the Prompter no longer reacts to takes; the script moves only when the operator drives it:

• Start and pause the roll with the play button or Space.

• Adjust the pace with the speed slider or the Up and Down arrow keys.

• Change the text size with the slider or the + and − keys.

• Step to the previous or next item with Page Up and Page Down.

• Scroll freely with the mouse wheel or by touch; press Home to return to the top.

The same transport controls also work while Follow is on: they simply switch the Prompter to PREVIEW until the next take or a Jump to live.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Press K (or select Help > Keyboard shortcuts) to show this list in the app.

The plus and minus keys work on both the main keyboard and the numeric keypad. Shortcuts do not fire while the keyboard focus is inside a control, a menu or a dialog, so the focused control keeps its own key handling; and the transport keys stay inactive until a rundown is loaded.

Remote Control from Smart Panel

The Prompter can be driven from a Smart Panel:

• A panel button with the Prompter Play/Pause action starts and pauses the roll. The play/pause state is shared, so every open Prompter window starts and stops together.

• The Prompter widget embeds the live prompter output in a panel, script only with no controls, for confidence monitoring alongside other panel items.

Display preferences (font, text size, mirroring, the cue indicator) remain local to each Prompter window and are not affected by remote control.