Andrew Starks's dashboard

Eric,

I'm sorry that it's so frustration, and you're right that we need to publish video specs for Carousel.

I have tested wmv files with the 300R and have had great success with video from here: http://tinyurl.com/oxf5o

Can you try one of these and let me know what happens? H.264 at 1080p will stutter.

I like these ideas, Megan.

Quite honestly, some of this stuff would require deep changes in Carousel, but all of it fits with what the product is really about. I will submit take your suggestions and make sure that they are reviewed and thought about. I can't tell you that they'll all end up in our product or when you'll see changes, but I can tell you that we'll take them seriously! :)

Ok. So let me run this by you...

If I gave you the ability to associate a bulletin with a show in Cablecast so that specified Cable Display-type bulletins played when that show was aired or in the schedule, would that satisfy? You could say:

When this show is airing and I have a coming up next graphic, show this bulletin using this template with this video in it.

When this show is over, play these bulletins.

When this show is in my schedule, show this bulletin for 2 weeks prior and this bulletin as an active repeating bulletin (every 10 bulletins) 3 days prior.

============= Would that satisfy?

Understand, these are not feature promises or anything on our radar. I'm just trying to get a clearer idea of what you are looking for and fit it into what our product is about.

Hmmm... no. I hear two things:

Random video clips.

Making Carousel do specific videos for shows in Cablecast.

Could you flesh this out a bit more for me?

We showed this at InfoComm JR! No need to be so secretive! :)

In Carousel 6.0, you'll be able to put in "b", "i" and "glow" tags, along with some others. You'll also be able to make lists.

Yo. It is a great idea and it goes right along with everything that Cablecast is about. Trouble is, the way that Cablecast is made, this is very non-trivial. It requires lots of additions to the system that are just flat out not there.

Many of the changes that Brandon made to Autopilot set the stage for such a feature. It is on our road map, but where it lands has not been settled.

Along those lines:

Emailing/texting/beeping when a show is not on the server.

Doing deeper checks to see if a file is suitable for playback.

Automatically switching to Carousel with an apology if a file fails to play.

Great question, TRMS FAQ!

The key to remember is, Cablecast uses the SHOW ID number to link show files to show records. As we show in section 3.6.4 of Cablecast: The Manual, each show record must start with the show ID number.

Step 1: Create a show record in Cablecast

Step 1: Save that Show record and note the new show ID number.

Step 3: Name your video file so that it starts with the show ID number

Example: 1234 - My Show.m4v

Setp 3.a: If your show has multiple reels, then you have to include the reel number after a dash.

Example: 1234-2 My Show.m4v

When you automate Cablecast, it will look on all of the video servers for that show ID number and play from the correct server.

Chris,

In fact we did get full cooperation from Adtec, back in 2004, to support the Soloist. To put a finer point on it: each individual Soloist was very reliable. It was just that every individual Soloist that we encountered had different responses to commands we were sending it.

We may have been dumb or misinformed. Regardless, it wasn't working for us.

If you would like us to pull our control module for your video server, let us know and you can consider it done. We'll let our existing Soloist customers know. – Andrew Starks, on February 05, 2009 13:14

Chad, post the fix in this thread if there was one. – Andrew Starks, on January 16, 2009 22:09

Hey Nick,

I appreciate that. It's good feedback and, unfortunately, you're not the first to give it. :P

We are working towards that goal, of being able to pick the phone up for SA Gold people. I think we'll get there shortly. Trouble is, we haven't kept up with growth and we are doing a lot of things the hard way.

Having someone on chat and forum is a great way to answer... I'd say 80 percent of the calls that we get. The other 20 require a phone call. The trouble is, 90 percent of those that could be better served on the forum call, instead.

Add to that the new dealers that show up to an installation, call us and say, "Walk me through this" and then the end users who don't ever look at the manual. You can see why we are working really hard to make the phone the last choice for most people.

Look at it from our perspective:

You call us and leave a voice mail (because everyone else is calling us and nobody is there to take your call). Our support staff transcribes your voice mail into a case. They (eventually) call you and are now dedicated to just you and your issue. They cannot help anyone else, even if there are short lulls in the process of fixing your issue.

Meanwhile the phone is ringing.

If they go into your system to fix a problem directly, you have not learned anything, but it works and since that is fastest, this is what our staff generally does. After they are finished with you, they need to document everything that happened. If they have time, which they do not, they post it on the forum for anyone else who may have that issue.

The second option is that you go to our forum and the above thread happens. Later, someone else searches on the same keywords. They're helped.

Now, your experience didn't fix the problem, but more often than not, it does. As the right people begin to use chat and the forum and the phone gets used only as needed, everyone will be more happy. In short, the phone sucks in every way, except that it makes our customers feel more comfortable and, in SOME cases, is faster for them.

BTW 1: Only one person is dedicated to chat and forum. The other three answer phones.

BTW 2: The obvious answer would be to add more bodies to support by making it unavailable to those that do not buy it, thereby supporting the cost of those people. This is something that we have thought much about, but is not in line with our philosophy. We need to be better at free support and that is the path that we've chosen.

We're constantly improving and looking for input. I appreciate this input and would like more if you have it.

Thanks Nick!

LCTV,

Is this an SX video server? If so, are you on 4.8 beta? If not, you may want to consider contacting us about going to 4.8 beta. That is a known problem with earlier releases.

First, check the force (matrix) menu. Make sure that it shows that it is switched to the device that should be playing on your channel. You can look at the Event Table menu to see the active device.

If it is switched correctly, there may be a problem with either the wiring or the server. Check in the force (matrix) menu that the server shows that it is, in fact, playing a file. If the server shows that it is playing a file and since the server is playing on the other channel, I would check the wiring first, as that is probably the issue.

Take the video output of that channel of the video server and plug it into a monitor that you know works. Is it playing? Try a new cable. If it still does not work, there may be a problem with the server.

If, in the force menu, the video server did not show that it was playing a file, then there may be an issue with the file. Try forcing the file to play from the force menu. Click the green arrow to the left of the Actions pop-down list. Enter the show id number of the show into the ShowID field. Select "Play" from the Actions pop-down list. Then click the Dev Only button. (Click Dev Only if the routing switcher is already switched to this input).



If the file still fails to play, then I would suspect the file is the issue. You may try running it through our TRMS Labs MPEGFixer program, which is open sourced and available at:

http://github.com/trms/fixmpeg/tree/m...

If it does play, then you may have issues with the way Cablecast is set up for that device. I would go into Location Settings: IO: Devices. Look at that video server out put and compare it to the working one. Other than the addressing, they should look the same. If it is an SX Video server, consult the SX Quick Start guide, which you can get here:

http://www.trms.com.s3.amazonaws.com/...

Good luck and let us know how you fair!

I like your writing style. Very funny.

I'll put the number of bugs and subsequent pain-and-suffering that we've put people through with Carousel up against Scala's record any day of the week.

Looks like you hit an especially painful bug, which we'll enter into our system and fix. We're sorry about that.

As for why you'd stick with us? Well, if you want what InfoChannel does and don't need what Carousel does and are okay with paying 3 times what Carousel costs, then you may want to switch. Keep in mind, seldom do we put a Carousel system in the state of Minnesota without pulling a Scala (and very often InfoChannel) system out. We must be doing something right! :)

The schedule in Cablecast is not directly linked to the status on the main page. That is because the status on the main menu of Cablecast is a reflection of what is in your event table, which is created when you send autopilot.

Make a schedule...
Send autopilot...
The main menu status will reflect your schedule...
Change your schedule...
The main menu status will be out of sync...

BTW: This sounds very similar to what's going on with the city of Boston.

If your Carousel channel shows a zone that only has a black screen, this could be caused by a number of issues.

First, be sure that you do, in fact, have a zone placed in that portion of the screen.



If you see black in any portion of your channel layout, you don't have a zone in that area and you will not see any image there.

If you do have your whole channel covered with zones, be sure that you have at least one bulletin in the afflicted zone AND that that bulletin is currently active (green dot on the right).



If both are true, maybe your bulletin is no good? Is it a video with an incompatible codec or an RSS feed that Carousel can't reach? Try deleting the bulletin that is in there and make a test bulletin using the "Standard" tab in the "New Bulletin". Make sure that the test bulletin that you are going to make is set to display today.

If a standard bulletin works where your RSS/EDS/Video bulletin failed, then there is your problem. In the case of RSS bulletins, make sure that your network connection is good and that the RSS feed that you are reading is a valid feed (try another one from another site).

If it's an EDS bulletin, be sure that you have events scheduled for the current time or that you have the EDS bulletin to say "no events" if there are no events scheduled.

If it's a video, chances are that you're trying to play a video that Carousel can't handle. MPEG, h264 QuickTime and WindowsMedia are supported.