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Viz Pilot Release Notes

Version 8.5 | Published April 23, 2020 ©

Viz Pilot 8.5.0

Release Date: 2019-12-18

These are the release notes for Viz Pilot 8.5.0. This document describes the user-visible changes that have been done to the software since release 8.4.0.

This release fixes a number of bugs, including some regressions. One focus area is the new playlist in Director. Please read the note about Unicode character handling before starting to use this version.

System Requirements

Minimum Hardware Requirements

  • Windows 7

  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

  • 1 GB RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

  • 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Supported Operating Systems

  • Windows 10 Enterprise

  • Windows 10 Pro

  • Windows 8 Enterprise 64-bit

  • Windows 8 Pro 64-bit

  • Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (recommended)

  • Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit

  • Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

A specific version and service pack of an operating system will not be supported after the official Microsoft support end date, which is also the last date of support from Vizrt. Earlier support end dates will be announced in release notes for new versions of Viz Pilot.

Minimum Software Requirements

  • Pilot Database, either Graphic Hub 3.0.3 (with Graphic Hub REST 2.0.3) or Oracle 11g

  • Media Sequencer 4.0

  • Viz Engine 3.3

  • Viz World client 17.0.1. The integration might work with earlier versions as well, but not without issues.

  • Pilot Data Server 8.2. The integration should work with earlier versions, but this has not been tested.

Other Requirements

  • Windows Media Player needs to be installed on the system to use the Object Store application.

Changes and New Features

General

  • Restored Unicode character handling fixes that were originally introduced in version 8.2, and then reverted in 8.3 for legacy template scripts that were written in a way that relies on incorrect, legacy character handling. Unfortunately, it's not possible to have both compatibility with all previously working template scripts and correct storing and displaying of emojis and other symbols simultaneously. A new database parameter with a default value of false has now been introduced called legacy_unicode_handling, which is created automatically by any Pilot application version 8.5 or higher if it's not already present in the database. If your templates start misbehaving by turning some characters into gibberish, turn the parameter on in the settings page of the Pilot Data Server.

    Warning! Note that this causes other parts of Pilot applications to fail to handle some characters correctly, just like before.

    The best solution is to update all template scripts to be compatible with the designed way of handling text, and then turn the parameter off. Most importantly, this means replacing all usages of UTF8Text properties of various template components with direct reading and writing of the Text property. The GetUnicodeValue and SetUnicodeValue functions are no longer required. There may also be other reasons why a template script fails to work with Unicode characters; please contact your support representative for help in fixing any remaining problems. (VCP-8139)

Bug Fixes

General

  • The media metadata viewer no longer gets stuck loading some fields for certain assets returned by a Viz One server. (VCP-7352)

  • It is now possible again to drag and drop files to the media order form. This was a regression in 8.4. (VCP-8122)

  • Overwriting a template during import no longer breaks it. This was a regression in 8.2, and only happened when using Graphic Hub as the Pilot database. (VCP-8129)

Pilot News

  • The variant selected when opening a template now always is the one that was created first. Unless later renamed, this is called Default. (VCP-8123)

Director

  • Thumbnails of items in a playlist are no longer displayed while scrolling when the playlist view is set to text only. (VCP-7561)

  • Navigating a playlist using the up and down arrow keys now works reliably. The same goes for jumping to the top or bottom using CTRL + HOME and CTRL + END, respectively. (VCP-7445)

  • Reversed the order of options in the playlist view mode selector (small or large or no thumbnails) to fix an inconsistency in its behavior. (VCP-8124)

  • A concept selected for a playlist now remains persistent when closing and reopening it. (VCP-7602)

  • Fixed an error in the new playlist that could cause items to get stuck as selected, or make it impossible to Take anything. (VCP-7631)

  • Eliminated some unnecessary network name resolutions when communicating with clients connected to TCP port 6484. This speeds up operation on some network configurations. (VCP-7628)

  • Improved the user experience when moving items around in the new playlist using drag and drop. (VCP-8133)

  • The application no longer crashes when taking a template or element that has an update script attached to it. (VCP-8141)

Known Issues

  • The Oracle connection to the Media Sequencer will not work properly unless the schema name is added in uppercase. From Media Sequencer 4.1.1 the schema name entered in the Media Sequencer Configuration in Director is converted automatically, but for earlier versions you need to type it in uppercase yourself. (VCP-6723)

  • After upgrading from versions before Pilot 5.7, some customers have experienced a change in the default text in the templates. The text components in the templates start showing old text that was originally in the control text fields when the Template Wizard created the templates. There is a manual tool for fixing this on the database. Please contact Vizrt Support for more information. (VCP-3273)

  • On Windows 7, any application using the .NET 4.5.2 framework may hang for a minute after being launched but before showing the user interface. This includes the Pilot Configuration program. (VCP-3649)

  • Pilot clients are 32-bit software. As such only 32-bit versions of the Viz World Client software can be used with Viz Pilot.

  • The property editor in Template Wizard does not support Unicode directly. To edit properties like UTF8Text, the user needs to press the ellipsis button (...). (VCP-3123)

  • In Director it is not possible to drag and drop images to a control list component in a template if the new playlist is in use. To work around this go to Options > Preferences in the main menu, choose Playlist and check the Use playlist from <= 5.7 option. (VCP-4193)

  • Changing the value of the Imported property on the TStoryImporter or TDirectStoryImporter in the property editor in Template Wizard designer causes error. (VCP-4290)

  • If you have more than one version of Pilot installed on a machine, and uninstall 7.0 or earlier, the other versions will not work anymore. To fix this, find them in Add or remove programs and select Repair. (VCP-5091)

  • There can only be one version of Pilot News registered at a time. If you have multiple versions of Pilot installed on a machine, you can register the version you want to use by repairing the installation. (VCP-6484)

  • Connecting to a Graphic Hub with a user that requires a password is not supported. (VCP-5585)

  • Elements in playlist can have default concept with old name after concept is renamed. The best way to work around the problem is to avoid renaming concepts already in use. If you do have to rename a concept then the only way to fix a corrupted data element using it is to open and save it again. (VCP-4623)

  • In the new playlist, the list of variants is not populated until a concept has been selected in the drop-down list. (VCP-5776)

  • The Viz Tab in Director only works if the Viz Engine in the preview channel is on port 6100. (VCP-5711, VCP-5791)

  • Template Wizard does not detect conflicting field identifiers when scenes are added to or changed in a transition logic template after it has been created. (VCP-5795)

  • Payload sent using RunUpdateScript not conforming to VDF spec by not including the correct default namespace. (VCP-4569)

  • The following macros are not implemented for the new playlist:

    • playlist:insert_playlist_template

    • playlist:update_item_editor

    • playlist:show_toolbar

    • playlist:hide_toolbar

    • playlist:add_selected_dataitems

    • playlist:reload

    • playlist:neutral_gfx

    • playlist:set_active_on_air

    • playlist:toggle_autocue

    • playlist:clip

    • playlist:toggle_ab

    • playlist:set_channel_filter

    • playlist:append_last_in_group

    • playlist:jump_to_ncs_cursor

    • playlist:reset_ncs_cursor

    • playlist:follow_ncs_cursor

    • playlist:set_ncs_cursor

    • playlist:run_selected_with_custom_action

    • playlist:toggle_tally

    • script:run_playlistitem_script

    • script:refresh_playlistitem_script

    • playlist:environment:add

    • playlist:environment:get

    • playlist:environment:clear

    • playlist:run_external

    • playlist:gui_context:add

    • playlist:gui_context:clear

    • playlist:move_selected_down

  • The macro playlist:copy_to_new does not copy the settings, only the elements of the playlist, if it is used with the new playlist. (VCP-5531)

  • The macro playlist:start_on_preview does not behave in the same way in the new and the old playlist. (VCP-5645)

  • The macro playlist:set_filter does not take effect until the playlist is reopened if called after the macro playlist:open_playlist_by_name. (VCP-4039)

  • Template script functions used to send commands to Viz Engine (SendSingleCmd, buffer_put, buffer_put_unicode, etc) only work as expected if the Viz Engine is configured to use UTF-8 encoding. (VCP-6005)

  • Working with Expert mode controls in scenes is not supported in Pilot applications. (VCP-5637)

  • Accidentally taking a group in the new playlist can mark elements with an error symbol. This just means that the elements were not taken with the group. The errors can be cleared by doing a Take Out on the group. (VCP-5156)

  • Director's Camera Controls feature is no longer supported and will be removed. (VCP-5038)

  • Triplet editor component has some issues with min-max values. (VCP-6560)

  • Drag and drop is never triggered for panel in templates. (VCP-6573)

  • Take out does not behave consistently on groups. Use Stop instead. (VCP-7199)

  • Order management doesn't work in Pilot News when hosted in Octopus Newsroom. (VCP-7401)

  • AX round-robin GH access is not checking if engines are actually active and ends up stalling. (VCP-5471)

  • When working with large images (over 4K) in the (new) Crop Tool, the process might run out of memory and stop working. To reduce the likelihood of this happening, one should avoid clicking the Preview button. (VCP-7517)