Pete's dashboard

Alright. We're back up and running. Looks like the Carousel machine went out of clone mode with the power loss. We restored it to the clone mode and Carousel was back up and running.

In regards to Cablecast/Video Server, we restarted the Cablecast service on the Video Server and got back up and running.

Case closed.

I'm on the phone with Rich now. Looks like the firewall may be acting up or the local IP address changed?!

Thanks for responding! If people are looking for more information on Dave's feature request, you can check out the original post here: http://gsfn.us/t/o74 – Pete, on December 08, 2008 08:09

I found these on our demo site...

Subject
Beginning Grade (Educational Access)
End Grade (Educational Access)
Beginning Class (Educational Access)
End Class (Educational Access)
Crew Members
Show Description
Copy Permission?

Richard-

Any luck getting the file into a compatible format using the other setting on the VideoTizer you referenced last week?

Paul-

I can get you the specific commands to turn this feature on in the BIOS. I'll just need to know the model number of your chassis.

Scott-

We'll need to figure out where the black is coming from. If you edit the existing bulletin, I'll have you choose a standby graphic that isn't black. Then, when it fails, let me know if you see black or the standby image.

Thanks Scott.

Tom.

Good question. We can transition from a multi zone layout to a single zone layout "on the fly". You could also schedule this to coincide with your Cablecast schedule for added effect.

To take advantage of this feature, we'll need to have a full alert zone created (see http://gsfn.us/t/o4e). From there, we can begin creating these "Full Alert" Messages which will override your existing layout. Most commonly, we see people using this for emergency situations or for their Cable Display pages.

Creating a Full Alert bulletin is very similar to creating a standard bulletin. We can access the Full Alert zone by selecting the zone from the main menu as explained in the above link.

Head into the Configure: Zones menu and select "Add Zone". After naming the zone, select "Full Alert" from the "Zone Type" drop down menu. Once you add this zone, we'll need to configure it to show on your existing channel(s).



Head into the Configure: Channels: *ChannelName*: Channel Setup menu, and select the Full Alert zone we just created from the "Subscribe to Full Alert bulleting from zone" menu and select "Save".



Now, from the Carousel main menu, we'll see a third tab, entitled "Full Alert"

Good question. I’ll walk you through creating one of these channel layouts. Feel free to check out http://gsfn.us/t/ni7 if you need some ideas on how to layout your channel.

?? Wondering the difference between a channel, bulletin, zone, layout, etc.? Check out http://gsfn.us/t/o4d for an explanation.

First, we need to determine what size screen we’re looking to display this information on. Usually this is 16x9 or 4x3. Check out http://gsfn.us/t/ni8 for some standard sizes. For the purpose of this post, we’ll recreate the ‘Welcome to Rosemount’ layout from the sample layout link above.



We’ll break this down into a few steps.

1. Create our zones


2. Create a channel


3. Build our layout

CREATE OUR ZONES
The channel we will be recreating contains four zones.

1. Header


2. Left column


3. Center column


4. Right column

First, we’ll need to determine what size we want each of our four zones to be. Keeping in mind that here, we are creating a 16x9 layout. We’ll use an output resolution of 1280x720 for our channel as outlined below.



I’ve done a little math and determined that our zone sizes (in pixels) should be as follows:

1. Header: 1280 x 187


2. Left column: 357 x 533


3. Center column: 565 x 533


4. Right column: 358 x 533

Next, we can create our four zones keeping in mind the above resolutions. Click on the ‘Add New Zone’ link in the Configure: Zones menu. Here we can give our zone a name, such as “Header”. Verify that the zone type is “Bulletin” and select “Add”. Lastly, enter the resolution we decided on above (1280 x 187) into the Resolution fields and select “Save”.



Repeat these steps for the remaining three zones, taking into account their differing sizes.

CREATE A CHANNEL

Head into the Configure: Channels menu and select “Add Channel”. Select the New Channel from the list by clicking on the words “New Channel*”. Within Channel Setup we are able to rename the channel which you may do if you wish. We’ll head into Channel Layout and design our channel.

BUILD OUR LAYOUT

First, set our output display setting to the resolution we decided on earlier (1280 x 720). Next, we can select the “Header” zone from the Available Zones menu and select “Add”



Next, we can add our second zone, “Left Column” to the layout. Select it from the Available Zones dropdown menu and select “Add”. Here it will place the zone in the upper left corner of the screen as shown below.



We want to push it down from the top of the screen by the same height as the header so it will display just below it. For this, we’ll need to adjust the Position from zero to “187” and select “Update”. This will adjust it 187 pixels from the top of the screen, placing it exactly where we want it.



We can repeat this process for the remaining two zones. Below you’ll see the offsets to enter so the zones align.



Once completed, your layout should look similar to this:



After saving your layout, you’re ready to start creating content.

---
Check out http://gsfn.us/t/nby to see how to add media packages to your system which will include background images and template layouts.

Good question. I’ve outlined a description and picture of each below

BULLETIN
A bulletin is an individual message within a certain area of the screen. A bulletin can be any of the following:

• static message (3 of which are shown below)


• uploaded message


• Flash animations


• uploaded video clips


• RSS messages


• EDS bulletins


• live video input


• analog clock bulletin


• crawls/tickers


• alert bulletins


• full alert bulletins

ZONE
A zone is a specific area on a screen that is displaying a list of bulletins. This zone can contain any number of bulletins which it will cycle through on a loop. Since Carousel has the ability to handle many different types of bulletins (as described above) the system can cycle to and from most of these. For example, Carousel can show a uploaded image, then play a video, then show the weather, then back to the uploaded image. I’ve outlined a single zone in yellow below.


CHANNEL (a.k.a. Layout)
A channel is what you see on your output screens. It may contain one or more zones. I’ve outlined a channel in yellow below.


LAYOUT
A layout is the same as a channel. See above for a description and image.

Good question. I’ve outlined a description and picture of each below.

BULLETIN
A bulletin is an individual message within a certain area of the screen. A bulletin can be any of the following:

• static message (3 of which are shown below)


• uploaded message


• Flash animations


• uploaded video clips


• RSS messages


• EDS bulletins


• live video input


• analog clock bulletin


• crawls/tickers


• alert bulletins


• full alert bulletins

ZONE
A zone is a specific area on a screen that is displaying a list of bulletins. This zone can contain any number of bulletins which it will cycle through on a loop. Since Carousel has the ability to handle many different types of bulletins (as described above) the system can cycle to and from most of these. For example, Carousel can show a uploaded image, then play a video, then show the weather, then back to the uploaded image. I’ve outlined a single zone in yellow below.


CHANNEL (a.k.a. Layout)
A channel is what you see on your output screens. It may contain one or more zones. I’ve outlined a channel in yellow below.


LAYOUT
A layout is the same as a channel. See above for a description and image.

Here's one.

Here's a few from our demo site...

See http://gsfn.us/t/nby to find out how to upload a media package. – Pete, on November 18, 2008 22:13

You can upload the media packages either from the server directly or from any workstation on the same network.

Directly from the server:

1. Open a web browser and head to localhost.



2. Log in to the system (See http://gsfn.us/t/nbr for instructions).


3. Head into Carousel and select one Zone you would like to add the content to from the Zones tab.


4. Head into the Media: Zone: Add Media Package menu.



5. Browse to the D:\TRMS\CarouselMediaPackages folder.


6. Select the content to upload. See http://gsfn.us/t/nbq if you’re confused as to which media package to upload).


7. Select Upload.


8. If you have more than one zone in your system, you will be prompted to copy this same media package to other zones, after selecting any, choose Save. Your media is now loaded. Repeat steps 4-8 for any additional media packages you would like to upload.

Any work station on the network:

1. Open a web browser and head to the IP address of the carousel server (See http://gsfn.us/t/nbv for instructions on finding your Carousel server).



2. Log in to the system (See http://gsfn.us/t/nbr for instructions).


3. Head into Carousel and select one of the Zones you would like to add the content to from the Zones tab.


4. Head into the Media: Zone: Add Media Package menu.



5. Browse to the D:\TRMS\CarouselMediaPackages folder.


6. Select the content to upload. (See http://gsfn.us/t/nbq if you’re confused as to which media package to upload).


7. Select Upload


8. If you have more than one zone in your system, you will be prompted to copy this same media package to other zones, after selecting any, choose Save. Your media is now loaded. Repeat steps 4-8 for any additional media packages you would like to upload.

If you're running Carousel version 4.5 or lower, you will need to be licensed for the Multimiedia Support Extensiion (MSE) in order for this feature to be enabled. Check with your dealer or our sales department for pricing. – Pete, on November 17, 2008 13:18