sserre's dashboard

sserre shared an idea in Tightrope Media Systems on November 04, 2008 20:24:

RSS Crawl on DSK

It would be great if we could add an RSS bulletin to our DSK crawl. Right now it appears that we can only add a text message to the DSK crawl.

For example, tonight we don't plan to offer any local election coverage (we have no local contests) but it would be great to show a CNN RSS feed on a crawl over our normal programming.

sserre replied on October 27, 2008 16:58 to the problem "DVD Import Creating Out-of-Sync Files" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Hey JJ,

I re-imported the DVD using the legacy settings, and got the same result.

sserre reported a problem in Tightrope Media Systems on October 27, 2008 15:33:

DVD Import Creating Out-of-Sync Files

We recently installed DVD Import version 4.5.9 build 2. At first, the program was working well, and in fact seemed like a huge improvement on the previous version we had. The importing was much faster, and the stereo audio on the files was much cleaner.

However, late last week I noticed that a couple of programs had lip sync problems. The sync is off from the very beginning of the program, it does not get better or worse throughout. The original discs test out ok. The problem was big enough (I estimate at least between 1/2 to 1-second delay on the audio) that it was immediately noticeable on the air.

What would be causing this to happen, and how do we best address this issue? DVD Import is a critical part of our workflow, but we can't put on programs with this kind of problem.

I have one of the offending mpeg-2 files up on an ftp server if someone would like to look at it.

Thanks!
Shawn

sserre replied on October 11, 2008 01:11 to the question "Creating an Event Schedule Bulletin" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Aha!! I think I found it. Under "How would you like to group the schedule information" I selected "Ungrouped" and it fixed the problem. I was assuming that I wanted the info grouped by time, but that turned out to be incorrect. Lesson learned!

sserre asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on October 11, 2008 00:06:

Creating an Event Schedule Bulletin

Creating my first event schedule bulletin based on iCal data, I ran into a problem: all the data being displayed seems to be shown in reverse date and time order. For example, the data created two bulletins. The first one that appears in the rotation was for Wed. 10/22, and shows two events, the first (on top) at 7 PM and the second at 5 PM. The second page is for Mon. 10/13 and shows one event.

So the question: is there a way I can sort those dates and events in the correct order? Forgive me if I just haven't done this enough yet!

Here is the link to this page if you're interested:
http://www.pittsfieldtv.net/Carousel/...

--Shawn

sserre replied on October 08, 2008 03:27 to the discussion "New opinions on compatible antivirus software" in Tightrope Media Systems:

How do people feel about AVG Free edition? We use this on our office computers, and we've been pretty satisfied overall. But I've always been concerned about sapping precious resources on our TRMS servers (especially during scans).

sserre replied on October 08, 2008 03:25 to the discussion "Configuring Carousel for Digital Signage And TV" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Let me throw a hat in here too... maybe it would be best to just add new carousel players/channel? That way you could configure the aspect to your needs.

We've been tossing around an idea of adding a channel of Carousel to our system, to drive a digital sign in our facility. This would be a 'welcome' sign, and feature our studio schedule for the day, as well as some pictures of members doing productions, etc.

What is the best practice to add onto an existing installation of Cablecast / Carousel? For example, would you suggest ordering a new Player 220 for this install? And would we require a new channel license, or is that included in the player hardware? Finally, what are people using for VGA baluns, and should we also specify the monitor control utility to turn the sign on/off? Welcome your opinions.

--Shawn

sserre asked a question in Tightrope Media Systems on October 07, 2008 01:41:

Looking for the latest version of DVD Import

What is the latest version of DVD import software, and where can I download it? I think we are working with a very early version of it with our VS4 server. Thanks! --Shawn

sserre replied on October 03, 2008 00:59 to the question "Trimming Programs" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Mpeg Streamclilp is awesome and free. Highly recommended. We had the same issues with long school committee meetings containing (seemingly endless) executive sessions. Streamclip allows us to trim the beginning and end, and also cut the middles of mpeg files.

sserre shared an idea in Tightrope Media Systems on October 03, 2008 00:54:

Text Character Limit on Carousel Bulletins

With many community users accessing and using Carousel at our site, I have observed some novice users frequently put too much text into a bulletin, making the auto-size text way too small to view on-air. I suspect they are cutting/pasting from press releases, etc. Then I must go in and edit the message, many times having to stretch a bunch of text over several bulletins.

It would be great if we had control over how many characters can be entered in a text box. This could be achieved in the layout template, as a check box for 'limit characters' and an entry box for 'number of chars allowed' for each text field. The template editor could change the allowance for characters based on the font, size, etc. Just like ebay, where you get a 'number of characters remaining' display while typing, the user could see how much space they have left as they type. At the end, there could be a message saying 'out of characters', with a button to create another page in a group (like we get when clicking 'more' right now).

What do you think?

sserre replied on September 27, 2008 13:44 to the idea "Template Suggestions" in Tightrope Media Systems:

How about a dynamic bulletin for schedule information, with a twist: Right now, the basic schedule bulletin sorts by day and time, and lists programs for that day or daypart. How about a schedule page that lists the program name, then when you can see that program this day/week/month? For example,

Title: City Council Meeting.
'See this program this week:
Tuesday 7 PM,
Saturday 12 PM,
Saturday 5 PM.'

Maybe include a picture field for a still frame that represents that show series.

sserre replied on September 27, 2008 13:35 to the idea "Paypal button for viewing on demand content feature request?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

When we first added VOD we were hoping we could somehow make it a "members only" service, to give our PCTV members a value-added extra to their membership (and help drive our membership rates up). So I would be in favor of some method of a gatekeeping option on these services. It could also help us pay for increased bandwidth to support the demand. After all, we get our cable channel space free, but if we want a bigger pipe, we don't get that for free!

Perhaps it could be on a show-record basis ('VOD Free' or 'VOD paid' status), or on a username basis in user management (is this person a member, are they allowed to view all VOD content by logging in), or some combination of both. Then perhaps also add a paypal button for those casual visitors to the website, with some kind of link to sign up for membership instead of just paying for this one video.

sserre marked one of JJ Parker's replies in Tightrope Media Systems as useful. JJ Parker replied to the question "Carousel Pro: Do I need to install PPT on the server too?".

sserre replied on September 22, 2008 02:00 to the question "Bandwidth requirements for streaming?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

We use Road Runner Business Class, which gives us 2 Mb up, over a cable modem. It seems to work for most of what we do (VOD and web streams for three channels), but we have found that in times of high demand, that's just not enough for lots of simultaneous clients. For example, we produced a Softball World Series that was held in Pittsfield this year, and we had hits from all over the country. The people who were able to connect were thrilled... but we had many more people who wanted to get in.

Here is a link to our public site for Pittsfield ETV, where you can jump over to the stream or click 'view' on a show to see the VOD.

http://www.pittsfieldtv.net/Cablecast...

Change the number at the end of that link to '1' or '3 to change channels.

--Shawn

sserre replied on September 19, 2008 16:25 to the question "Carousel Pro: Do I need to install PPT on the server too?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

That is AWESOME.

sserre replied on September 19, 2008 02:59 to the question "Recording Live shows- Playback of MPEG version in New program in Evening Schedule" in Tightrope Media Systems:

There must be a better way to accomplish this... we have a daily live morning program, and I do the first procedure described above (change the format from a live feed to an mpeg each day, then re-send autopilot). I would rather do this because I don't want to create new show IDs for essentially the same program.

Maybe there could be some kind of setting in the media, which would allow only the FIRST run of a program to take on one format, then all the rest of the runs belong to the second format.

sserre replied on September 19, 2008 02:47 to the question "Carousel Pro: Do I need to install PPT on the server too?" in Tightrope Media Systems:

Do we need Carousel Pro in order to use powerpoint files, or will (garden variety) Carousel also do this if we install powerpoint on all the players/server?

sserre started following the question "Carousel Pro: Do I need to install PPT on the server too?" in Tightrope Media Systems.

sserre replied on September 13, 2008 12:58 to the question "Making program length correction in schedule that doesn't get modified in the record schedule." in Tightrope Media Systems:

Release Version: 4.7.6 Build 15
Database Version: 4.6.0

sserre replied on September 12, 2008 02:09 to the question "VOD and Multi-Reel Shows" in Tightrope Media Systems:

OK, thanks Brandon!