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Viz Pilot User Guide

Version 8.1 | Published August 16, 2017 ©

Viz Engine Preview Configuration

Local Preview

Local preview uses a local Viz Engine. It also requires the Viz Engine Preview Plugin which is not enabled by default, but can be enabled/disabled in the Viz Pilot Configuration Tool.

See

Remote Preview:

Remote preview uses a remote Viz Engine. This can either be a real time or a snapshot preview.

See

  • Configuring Remote Preview for the Newsroom and

  • Configuring Remote Preview in Director.

  • The real time preview option uses Viz Engine with a reference monitor for animated and snapshot still previews, and is the recommended solution for graphics designers, template designers and control room operators.

    • This option works best using an additional Viz Engine as this will give you an option to pass through your video input.

    • As an alternative to the extra Viz Engine you may also run two Viz Engine instances on one physical machine provided you have two graphics cards (in a dual channel setup).

    • As a final alternative you may also configure the Viz Engine used for program output to feed still previews using port 50010. This kind of remote preview can be configured from the Profile Configuration window in Director.

      Note: In control rooms it is recommended to use a stand-alone Viz Engine with a reference monitor for full graphics and video preview.

  • The Remote Snapshot Preview option uses a shared Viz Engine with the option of showing stills, animations and preview points, and is the recommended solution for multiple simultaneous users (e.g. for thumbnail generation and newsroom and non-linear editing users).
    The Remote Snapshot Preview option allows you to see a frame by frame preview. Either selected frames or frames of preview points added to the scene by the graphics designer. This option does not support preview of your video input.
    It is recommended to add the pilot1__tag on the scene’s default (main) director in order to set a specific preview or generation point. The same goes for transition logic scenes that must have the tag set for the foreground scenes. The pilot1 tag is case sensitive and MUST be lowercase.
    You may use Director’s built in Remote Preview (CTRL+P) window for a Remote Snapshot Preview. This option is configurable from the Director Preferences window and must not be confused with Viz Pilot’s Preview plugin which requires a local Viz Engine (see Configuring Local Preview).

See Also

Configuring Local Preview

Local preview requires the Viz Engine Preview plugin and a Viz Engine. The local Viz Engine used for preview rendering should preferably have the same configuration and hardware setup as the Viz Engine used for program rendering. Local preview is not a recommended setup if the machine does not meet the hardware requirements.

By default the Viz Engine Preview plugin is not enabled, but can be enabled/disabled in the Viz Pilot Configuration Tool.

If you are using Viz Engine to preview video clips from Viz One, Viz Engine must be installed with Video Codecs Installation. Note that the setup procedures of Video Codecs installations are only relevant for Viz Engine when used for previewing low resolution proxy versions of video clips stored on Viz One. Playout of the high resolution versions do not require this additional configuration step.

Ports for Local Preview

For local preview it is recommended to configure a Viz Engine to use the default port 6100. If local preview is a requirement, it is recommended to use the Viz Preview License server to minimize the need for hardware license dongles.

If the port number is changed, Viz Engine must change its communication port as well. Use Viz Config to set the new communication port number.

To configure local preview

  1. First, see how To add a Viz Engine, and then perform the following steps:

  2. Add the newly created Viz Engine to your channel and check the Viz Preview check-box. Use localhost as your hostname.

  3. Click Close

To automatically login to Graphic Hub

IMPORTANT! Users MUST configure Viz Engine To automatically login to Graphic Hub, as Director and/or Template Wizard are unable to do this.

Prerequisite: For automatic login to work, an initial login to a Graphic Hub via the Viz Engine must be performed before using this preview method. During this process, the Hostname, Hub and User must be typed in. For more information see the Viz Artist User’s Guide.

  1. Start Viz Config

  2. In the Database section enable Auto Login

  3. Click Save and close Viz Config

Configuring Remote Preview for the Newsroom

This section contains the following topics:

  • Ports for Remote Preview

  • To enable remote preview in Viz Pilot News

  • To configure remote preview for Viz Pilot News

  • Viz Engine Configuration Recommendations

Ports for Remote Preview

The recommended option is to configure a second Viz Engine to use the default port 6100 (which will give you a real-time preview on a reference monitor).

For remote preview where you want to support multiple users a remote Viz Engine can be configured to use preview port 50008 (which will give you a client-side still/snapshot preview).

For remote preview where you need to use the same Viz Engine for both program and preview rendering you can use port number 50010 (which will give you a still/snapshot preview on a reference monitor).

By default Viz Engine uses port number 6100 for both program and preview rendering. If a port number is changed Viz Engine must change its communication port as well. Use Viz Config to set the new communication port number. Note that this is not required for the multiplexing ports (50008 or 50010).

Note: Do not use a program renderer for Remote Snapshot Preview using port 50008.

To enable remote preview in Viz Pilot News

By default, Viz Pilot News uses Remote Preview, and this is enabled by default during installation.

If the Local Preview option has been used previously, ensure that it is disabled in the Viz Pilot Configuration Tool, otherwise the local preview will start instead of remote preview.

To configure remote preview for Viz Pilot News

  1. Go to the Pilot Data Server Web Interface

  2. Click the Settings tab

  3. Click the VCP Parameters tab

  4. Add or edit the ax_preview_host and ax_preview_port parameters.

  • ax_preview_host: <hostname>

  • ax_preview_port: 50008

Two or more hosts can be specified in CSV format, typically using a comma as a separator. Example: ax_preview_host = myengine1,myengine2. The feature is only for basic load balancing, and does not add redundancy. All hosts must serve the same content.

Viz Engine Configuration Recommendations

Recommendations for the Viz Config settings for the actual Viz Engine used as a Remote Preview for Viz Pilot News.

  • Setup a Viz Engine VGA version

  • Use all the default configuration

  • Under Memory Management in Viz Config, set the following:

    • Free Image Data (settings depends on the graphics Card) can stay on = No

    • Free Images = On

    • Free Fonts = On

    • Free Memory Threshold (MB) = 300

Some minor memory and speed gain is achieved by:

  • Turning off audio (Audio Settings > Audio Active > Off)

  • Deactivating Virtual Studio (Camera > Virtual Studio > Deactive)

  • Setting the Output Format lower than house standard (e.g. from 1080i to PAL 16:9)

  • Turning off plugins that are not used

Configuring Remote Preview in Director

This section contains the following topics:

  • To enable remote preview in Director

  • To configure remote preview in Director

  • To configure remote still preview in Director

  • To configure Remote Snapshot Preview in Director

To enable remote preview in Director

By default, Director uses Remote Preview, and this is enabled by default during installation.

If the Local Preview option has been used previously, ensure that it is disabled in the Viz Pilot Configuration Tool, otherwise the local preview will start instead of remote preview.

To configure remote preview in Director

  1. First, see how To add a Viz Engine, and then perform the following steps:

  2. Add the newly created Viz Engine to your channel and check the Viz Preview check-box

  3. Click Close

To configure remote still preview in Director

Still Preview allows you to use the program output to get a still preview, typically on a reference monitor. To achieve this the Media Sequencer creates a copy of the scene being read and sends commands to your program output renderer asking for a snapshot of the scene while the current scene on air is being rendered.

images/download/attachments/28385727/configuration_vizhandler_stillpreview.png

  1. Create two channels, one for program and one for preview

  2. Configure the same render engine twice as seen in how To add a Viz Engine

  3. For the second render engine set Port to 50010 and the Mode to Still Preview

  4. Click Ok

  5. Add the program renderer to the program channel and the still preview renderer to the preview channel

    Warning: This setup requires sufficient ring buffer on the program renderer in order for the rendered still preview not to cause the scene on air to drop frames; hence, this setting is deprecated.

To configure Remote Snapshot Preview in Director

  1. Start Director

  2. Select Director Preferences from the Options menu

  3. Select the Remote Preview option in the Director Preferences window

  4. Enable the Use this server option to override the database settings

    • Host: <hostname>

    • Port: 50008

  5. Optional: Enable the Always show “Animate” button option, and set a preferred poll interval (seconds) for how often images should be retrieved from Viz

  6. Optional: Configure size and position of the remote preview window

    Note: If the Viz Engine Preview plugin is enabled, local preview will start instead of remote snapshot preview. The plugin can be disabled in the Viz Pilot Configuration Tool.