SCTV17's dashboard

SCTV17 replied on September 28, 2009 17:20 to the question "SX2 only playing files with 48khz audio sampling - Help Please" in Tightrope Media Systems:

We had this problem when we upgraded from the VS4 - anything we recorded on the internal card couldn't play back on the new server until we fixed the audio. The default audio encode on the card must not be 48k. A bit of a pain - but anything ripped off of DVD was fine using DVD import.

On the plus side, it doesn't take long to reencode the audio for each file.

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on September 24, 2009 20:42:

'View' button shows up prematurely which, and many old VODs missing 'View' button

The 'View' button comes up on web page before file is finished rendering. Is this an easy fix?

I know the current system searched for the file number on the VOD - if doesn't see one, it'll put it in the queue, and then start the render. The problem I get is when we trim our meetings the next day and then render those files out to the VOD, the 'View' button is available before the file can be played. It confused several people and generated enough e-mail explaining the situation on my end that it might be worthy of a fix.

Is there an easy fix to do a search for a valid finished file before the 'view' button is posted?

I also noticed there were many orphaned .wmv files that don't show up with a view button from a previous Cablecast version - the files are there, the show ids are correct, it's just not parsing them correctly to put the button up. If I click on the make vod toggle, it will search for the .mpg file, which is now long gone.

Update - If I toggle the file, it now finds the .wmv and puts in the view button - but It's going to be tedious to search back through every meeting, find if it has a .wmv and a view button, then click the 'On demand' button for each of the records back to 2006. Any suggestions to speed up the process?

Thanks

Tom

A comment on the idea "Paypal button for viewing on demand content feature request?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Good idea, but I don't think iTunes is allowing individuals to charge a fee yet - I know you can do podcasts with a chargeback, but not sure if video podcasts are a part of that yet....it would be very cool.

Paypal will allow you to do something similar, but you'd need to host the files yourself. – SCTV17, on August 25, 2009 14:37

SCTV17 shared an idea in Tightrope Media Systems on June 01, 2009 18:22:

A way to make your VOD files more accessible on the web. www.salemnhhistory.com

A way to make your VOD files more accessible on the web. www.salemnhhistory.com

We were having an issue with the VOD shows. You could play them, but browsing the 1200+ files was very cumbersome. If you didn't know the keywords, you'd never find a file.. one solution was to create separate web sites with thumbnails for different genres. First we tried a separate site for our annual Holiday parades ... that went well, but was limited to just that series of shows. The example is at www.salemchristmas.com

Next, we coordinated with the local Historical Society to expand the archives of shows and the school system to create www.SalemNHHistory.com. This let us at least give a thumbnail idea for each show, link to various places, and utilize the VOD as a repository for all the files, with the web site hosted at another server. It also allowed us to add other elements - an audio archive from the Historical Society from the 1970's, a historic photo section and desktop pictures, and links to other history sites including the local library genealogy database.

Is anyone else trying to expand your VOD coverage by either breaking out specific shows with a link, or a special web front end to highlight your content? I'd be interested in trading ideas. Thanks

Tom Giarrosso
Salem Community Television

SCTV17 replied on June 01, 2009 18:02 to the question "How do I change the IP address that my podcasts use?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

This got me back up and running on the Podcast side. Thanks.
BTW - is there a simple way to have the Podcasts encode and live on the VOD instead of the cablcast machine? I only have 90 gigs there, as opposed to the 4TB on the Video server....

SCTV17 replied on April 20, 2009 19:25 to the question "DVD import - Maximum number of secrets exceeded???" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Which version of DVD import are you using?

SCTV17 replied on April 20, 2009 18:43 to the question "Root issue with Pro-16 and autopilot" in Tightrope Media Systems:

I did cycle, but this time waited 2 minutes and restarted. Also cycled the cablecast.

It did switch over this time. I'll set up another test, but Hopefully we're back on track. Thanks for the help.

Tom

SCTV17 replied on April 20, 2009 17:17 to the question "Root issue with Pro-16 and autopilot" in Tightrope Media Systems:

That fixed part of the issue. I can now send the autopilot without a root error - but the Leightronix still didn't switch over. The Video server fired off a PSA block, and I could manually force it from the force matrix, but it should have switched over when it fired off the show.

I'd say it's a communications/cable, but I can switch manually to everything, and the other leightronix pro-8 is working fine.

Ideas?

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on April 20, 2009 16:20:

Root issue with Pro-16 and autopilot

One of our channels is sending a successful autopilot, which is very strange. I get this error:
The send FAILED.
An error occured sending to 'Pro 16'. Check the configuration or the physical connections.
Root element is missing.
Cable seems connected and fine. A send to the Pro-8 for the other channel is fine. Any suggestions where else to check?

I did do a send with the hardware checked off - that sent fine to change the schedule. I also have full force control from the matrix, so the signals are getting to the Pro-16.

Very odd. I had come in on the weekend to a black screen, and could manually change things over.. but this morning it looks like the switching over still isn't sending.

SCTV17 replied on March 25, 2009 18:03 to the question "BUG ++ 2 files attempting to transcode for 18 months in Background on VOD." in Tightrope Media Systems:

I just noticed that on the top of the page - was looking for a new post and missed that. I requested a key to get the versions ( and a TT for some help with the whole install.. things are all klutzed up)

Thanks

Tom

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on March 25, 2009 17:38:

BUG ++ 2 files attempting to transcode for 18 months in Background on VOD.

Bug find - 2 files have been attempting to transcode for 18 months in the background on the VOD.
We might need a fix for this...

I was trying to set up a live statehouse feed to record, and looked at the transcode log for the day - it had 2 files repeating transcode attempts every 2 minutes. The files are from 2007.

We upgraded in November of 2007, so I assume it's been running since then. I went into the file id for the show, clicked off the on demand box, and the attempts stopped.

I'm wondering what effect this might have had on our other intermittent issues. I'm running Cablecast 4.7.8 - upgrading when the 4.8.2 comes out.

Can other people with VOD's check and see if they have the same issue?
Go to Main Menu : Location Settings : Control Module Sets and click on the 'Log & Events' under the WMEncodeCM module....

Thanks

Tom

SCTV17 replied on March 20, 2009 23:39 to the problem "No audio on Cablecast programs" in Tightrope Media Systems:

One longshot - check and see if the audio card on windows is set to center balance, and up to full. We've had loss of sound once, and it was traced back to a windows issue with the volume through the sound card audio driver....

SCTV17 replied on March 17, 2009 21:06 to the question "Anyone home at the ranch? No luck contacting support..." in Tightrope Media Systems:

Joe did get back to me this morning - I managed to get things back on track with the re-install, but it looks like to fix the other issues, it makes sense to wait until 4.8.2 comes out, then track the issues down.

Thanks for getting back to me. It's gets a little frustrating when things aren't working, and you have a dead channel.

Tom

SCTV17 replied on March 17, 2009 16:26 to the question "Anyone home at the ranch? No luck contacting support..." in Tightrope Media Systems:

I've tried reinstalling Cablecast 4.7.6 and the correct control module. Now I can at least control the channel, and had a successful autopilot, but it's not keeping the control module choices when I try and save them - it defaults to the 1st one on the list.

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on March 17, 2009 15:39:

Anyone home at the ranch? No luck contacting support...

Is anyone available to track down an issue with Cablecast? It's not responding at all to program the station!

I've tried the support line - get voicemail. Tried the operator - get voicemail - tried the chat room - no one there - and submitted a trouble ticket yesterday. Usually it's something that can wait, but I'm not able to control the channel right now, or contact the video server to manually play videos.. so we're dead in the water at the moment.

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on March 10, 2009 16:39:

Win32/Parite worm on Video Server - and it's spreading through the network!

What do you suggest for an antivirus software - I was going to install sophus on the Video server, since other machines are saying it has the Win32/Parite worm.

SCTV17 replied on March 04, 2009 15:07 to the question "Carousel only playing bumper graphic and crawl." in Tightrope Media Systems:

Chad -

No luck. I wiped the cache, and it went totally black. What is the path on the main Carousel for the cache that gets sent to the player? At least I might be able to move it over manually as a temp solution.

Diagnositcs suggested taking down the firewall - there is none between those machines.

SCTV17 asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on March 02, 2009 16:26:

Carousel only playing bumper graphic and crawl.

After a power outage Thursday, one carousel player will only show the Bumper Graphic and the crawl. Diagnostics say it's pinging the cablecast machine, and while it's seeing new pages in the queue, it's getting incomplete pages and skipping over them.

Suggestions?

SCTV17 replied on March 02, 2009 16:21 to the question "Shows cutting off playback in Cablecast" in Tightrope Media Systems:

It happened to me again this morning - a delay in black of 1:10, then the show started to play. All clocks and computers are synced, as well as the Leightronix.

The next show played correctly. Very strange. It's not an upgrade issue - I haven't installed them yet.

SCTV17 replied on March 01, 2009 11:32 to the question "Shows cutting off playback in Cablecast" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Friday we had a similar issue again... a random amount of black would kick in before the show played - about a minute or so.. and the show would be cut off on the end - I'm tracking back why, but it's not a time drift issue between computers and the leightronix.

This had happened in the past.. reboots sometimes would clear it, but many times it just 'went away' with no specific reasoning.

I haven't upgraded to the latest versions yet either, so I don't think it's related to the new build.