10 May 2011 Added changes and new feature information for v October 2010 Added changes for v2.7.1; 18 Oct. Added Vizrt information (Rev B)

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1 Avid inews Command Version ReadMe Date Revised Changes Made 8 August 2011 Added changes for v May 2011 Added changes for v May 2011 Added changes and new feature information for v March 2011 Added changes for v February 2011 Added changes for v January 2011 Added changes for v December 2010 Added changes for v November 2010 Added changes for v October 2010 Added changes for v2.7.1; 18 Oct. Added Vizrt information (Rev B) 17 August 2010 Initial version 2.7 w/newly rebranded look Important Information Avid recommends that you read all the information in this ReadMe file thoroughly before installing or using any new software release. Note: Search the Avid Knowledge Base ( for the most up-to-date ReadMe file, which contains the latest information that might have become available after the documentation was published. This document describes compatibility issues with previous releases, hardware and software requirements, software installation instructions, and summary information on system and memory requirements, when applicable. This document also lists any hardware and/or software limitations.

2 Contents Important Information... 1 Compatibility... 5 Microsoft Windows Operating Systems... 5 Avid inews Command... 5 Avid License Service... 5 Avid Service Framework... 5 Avid Interplay... 5 inews Server... 5 inews Client... 5 AirSpeed... 5 AirSpeed Multi Stream... 6 Deko... 6 Deko Select Plugin... 6 Deko MOS Gateway... 6 Deko MOS Macro Server... 6 Thunder and Thunder Select Plug-in... 6 MOS... 6 ENPS... 6 X-Keys rd Party Devices via Network Control rd Party Devices via Serial (VDCP) Control rd Party Devices via Avid Graphics Device Service... 7 GPI Control... 7 Serial Control... 8 Qualified Localization Languages... 8 Installation Notes... 8 Command... 8 Deko Integration... 8 DekoSelect... 8 Rover Button... 8 Upgrade Notes... 9 Command v Airspeed MultiStream... 9 Command v

3 Avid Service Framework... 9 Hardware and Software Changes Between and Between 2.9 and Between and Between and Between and Between and Between 2.8 and Interplay Integration Omneon Integration Between 2.7.x and Between and Between 2.7 and Between and New Features ENPS rochannel and rometadatareplace Loop Only Set Loop Count from inews Follow-on Playout Follow-on Playout with Looping AirSpeed Multi Stream Low-Res Proxy Player AMS Configuration Command Configuration Low-res Proxy Use Graphic Device Service Macros GPI Out (GPO) Commands with Graphics Set Mark In Point from inews Turn Off Autocue for a Channel Group Perle IOLAN Configuration Vizrt Integration For Version Failover Protocol Redundancy Guidelines Administration Failover Process System Recovery

4 Known Limitations inews Integration Recording AirSpeed Multi Stream Graphic Integration Maney Panel Play While Record Media Viewer Avid Video Device Service As Run Logs Hold Last Frame Licenses VDCP Timecode Graphics Channel Assignments Deko Playout Redundancy GPI UMD Anti-Virus Protection Upgrades ENPS Integration Looping Mirrored Playout Localization Newsroom-Controlled Playlist User Interface Shotbox Viewer Panel Installation Avid Service Framework with Command Services Channel Groups Thunder Workflow Documentation Notes and Errata Installation and Configuration Guide Technical Support Information

5 Accessing Online Support Compatibility This Avid inews Command release is compatible with the following: Note: For the latest specifications regarding minimum system requirements, please visit: Microsoft Windows Operating Systems This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with: Windows Vista (32 bit, workstation only) Windows 7 (64 bit, workstation and server) Windows 2008 R2 (64 bit) Windows XP Professional (SP2 or later) Windows 2003 Server (SP1 or later) Avid inews Command Starting with Command 2.7, the version number for device services is no longer the same as the Command version number. For Command 2.7, the version number is Additionally, the services may appear as "WNA Common", such as in the Health Monitor version number tool tip or version mismatch alerts in the Command Workstation. Avid License Service This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Avid License service version Avid Service Framework This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Avid Service Framework version ASF currently requires all TCP and UDP user ports ( ) to be open. Framework uses about 100 ports total, but they are unpredictable in that range. Avid Interplay This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with the Avid Interplay 1.1 or later. inews Server This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with inews Server or later, but Avid recommends using the latest released version. inews Client This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with any inews client software that s compatible with inews Server or later. AirSpeed This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with AirSpeed versions and later. Command supports the Local/Network Play 1 and VDCP Play 2 configuration. Unrestricted VDCP is not supported. 5

6 For thumbnails of video on AirSpeed video servers, Interplay v1.1 is required. AirSpeed Multi Stream This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with AirSpeed Multi Stream version or later. CAUTION: Users who upgrade to the Command 2.9 version of the AMS device service MUST ALSO UPGRADE their Airspeed Multi Stream to version or later. The 2.9 AMS device service is incompatible with all earlier versions of AMS. Also note that the AMS Device Service has its own version number, which is wna common Any Command users relying on the autocue feature need to make sure that the AirSpeed Multi Stream Show first of next option is turned off. To do so, go to the Airpseed Multi Stream application and click File > Preferences > Channel Configuration, and uncheck the Show first of next box for all channels. Deko This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with the following Deko models and the listed software versions for each. Deko550 Versions and later. Deko1000 Versions and later. Deko3000 Versions and later. FX Deko II Versions and later. Deko Select Plugin This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Deko Select version 3.04 and later. Note: The latest version of Deko Select, v.3.1.3, requires Deko version 5.3.4; therefore, an upgrade to Deko Select v requires an upgrade of the Deko as well. While the earliest version of Deko supported with Command remains v.4.1.2, there are no version compatibility problems with Command if you upgrade Deko to a later version to meet the Deko Select requirements. Deko MOS Gateway This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Deko MOS Gateway version and later. Deko MOS Macro Server This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Deko MOS MacroServer version and later. Thunder and Thunder Select Plug-in This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with Thunder and Thunder Select. MOS This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with MOS protocol versions 2.6 and 2.8. Avid recommends using MOS 2.8, which is the default. ENPS This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with ENPS version 4.05 or later. It has been tested and qualified with

7 X-Keys Command now supports the following X-keys devices in native mode. Macro Works is not needed, nor should it be installed. X-keys 20 Key, XD-03-USB-R X-keys Jog and Shuttle Pro (48 key), XPS-08-USB-R X-keys XK24 Programmable Keypad, XK-24-USB-R (Command does not support LED programming.) 3 rd Party Devices via Network Control This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for network control and full redundancy via the Avid Video device service with the following: Omneon: Spectrum and Media Deck (6.1 and newer) Harris Nexio Note: The minimum qualified version of Omneon with Command is 6.1. Users with earlier versions of the Omneon firmware should upgrade to 6.1 before implementing Command control of the Omneon. 3 rd Party Devices via Serial (VDCP) Control This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for serial (VDCP) control via the Avid Video device service with the following: 360 Systems Image Server Grass Valley Group: K2 Quantel sq EVS (10.04 and newer) 3 rd Party Devices via Avid Graphics Device Service This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for telnet Intelligent Interface control via the Avid Graphic Device Service. Chyron HyperX, MicroX, and Lyric 6.5 and 7.0, and 7.1. Users who want to use Command with the inews LUCI ActiveX plug-in should use Lyric 7.1 and must have the Autocue feature turned on. This version of Avid inews Command is qualified with the following for network control using the Graphic Device Service Vizrt plugin: Viz Content Pilot and Media Sequencer Engine GPI Control This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with the Sealevel 8004e (16 in, 16 out, GPIO) PCIe card. To configure, use the Sealevel Systems DIO-32.PCI board type. This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with the Sealevel 8012 (8 in, 8 out, GPIO) PCI card. To configure, use the Sealevel Systems DIO-16.LPCI board type. 7

8 Serial Control This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with a Digi Acceleport 422 card. Note: Command does not support the Digi Acceleport 422 card with Windows 2008 R2. For any Windows 2008 R2 installations, only the Perle IOLAN port server is supported. This version of Avid inews Command is qualified for use with the Perle IOLAN SDS 8 port server. Although not tested, the 16, 4, and 2 port servers use the same firmware, and are also considered qualified. Qualified Localization Languages This version of Command is localized (at the workstation) for the following languages and is also supported with those languages: French French (Canadian) Spanish Spanish Latin Italian Chinese (Traditional) Chinese (Simplified) Japanese German Installation Notes The following sections provide notes pertinent to the installation of Command and products with which it is integrated. Command For Command 2.9, there have been the following changes to the install program: Users can choose 3rd Party Graphics Device as an install option. In the server installation, there are no longer any default devices. Deko Integration With Command 2.9, we have added a file called RunCommandDekoSetup.bat to the install directory. Users should use this file when you have hard drive space problems when installing or upgrading Command on a Deko. Here are instructions: 1. Copy the batch file and Avid_iNEWS_Command_setup.exe to a folder on the D: drive of the Deko. 2. Double-click the RunCommandDekoSetup.bat file. This will install to the C: drive, but will use the D: drive for the temp files that are used during installation. Note: The batch file will create a temporary directory on the D: drive. This directory will be emptied automatically when the install completes. DekoSelect Rover Button The DekoSelect client software must be installed on the ENPS workstation before the plug-in will show up on the Rover button. 8

9 Upgrade Notes Command requires that all machines in the Command workgroup be on the same version of Avid Service Framework, Licensing Service, and Command. This means that all machines in the workgroup must be upgraded. The steps to upgrade might vary depending on the version from which you are upgrading. Command v2.9 Upgrades from Command 2.8.x or earlier to any Command 2.9.x version require an update to version of the Service Framework, and version of the Licensing Service. Note: The Licensing Service should ONLY be installed on machines where it is already running, so unlike Framework and Command, it is not installed on every machine in the workgroup. Users upgrading from Command 2.9.x to do not need to upgrade the Licensing Service or Framework, only Command (and the AMS Device Service if necessary). Airspeed MultiStream CAUTION: Users who upgrade to the Command 2.9 version of the AMS device service MUST ALSO UPGRADE their Airspeed Multi Stream to version or later. The 2.9 AMS device service is incompatible with all earlier versions of AMS. Also note that the AMS Device Service has its own version number, which is wna common Command v2.7 Command v2.7 has some features that were released in conjunction with Airspeed Multi Stream 1.6. In order to utilize the following new features, users need to upgrade the Avid Multi Stream device service. Those features are: Subclips UDX and Auto Switch output format Avid Service Framework When upgrading from Avid Service Framework, the installation process can mess up the quick launch icons, changing them to a default Windows paper icon. The shortcut itself continues to start the correct application. Users can remake any icons in the quick launch bar. 9

10 Hardware and Software Changes The following changes were made to existing features in inews Command. Between and In previous versions of Command, it could take up to 15 minutes for the license seat to be released. This was fixed. Now, Command releases its license seat immediately when the workstation application is closed. With this version of Command, items updated in the newsroom rundown should now have the correct frame rate assigned to them and play for the correct duration. In previous versions of Command, a precued item that became available via the Send to Playback feature would play automatically when the previous item finished playing. This has been fixed so that now precued items will cue when the previous item is finished playing. With this version of Command, use of incorrect localization strings for Simplified Chinese has been fixed. In previous versions of Command, there were certain cases where an inews playlist would not promptly update an item when its status changed from unplayable to playable. This has been fixed, and users should no longer see delays in reporting playability in inews playlists. Thunder items with more than 32 characters no longer cause the service to restart continuously. The character limit still remains; however, any items with 32 or more characters will not appear in the inventory panel. The Thunder Device service logs will report that an item has more than 32 characters. Command now resets the play point properly when an item is recued using the channel-specific recue command. Therefore, any subsequent playlist changes will not affect the recued item. Command now supports Media Viewer scrubbing with VDCP devices. The behavior will vary depending on the speed of the serial connection. With a slower connection, scrubbing will be less smooth but still fairly accurate. In previous versions of Command, cueing unplayable Omneon items could cause problems with other transport commands on the channel. This has been fixed. Command now clears the Count Up and Count Down clocks when a looped item is ejected, and any subsequent items that are played show the correct elapsed and remaining time. With previous versions of Command, an update would overwrite any custom GDS profiles, such as the chyron.profile file. This has been fixed. Custom profiles are now maintained during an upgrade. In previous versions of Command, when there were two (or more) playout channels on separate Deko devices, Command would wait for a motion to complete on one channel before sending a Play command on the other channel. This has been fixed. Activity on one Deko no longer affects playout on another Deko. Between 2.9 and In previous versions of Command, there were problems with Omneon inventory reporting that required the Video Device Service be restarted. With Command 2.9.1, this issue has been resolved; restarting the VDS to get accurate inventory should no longer be necessary. Play While Record is now supported in the Media Viewer. Playing items should get updates to the out time while the item is recording. This release of Command fixes the problem with Chinese language and the Media Viewer arrow, space, and number keys. They should now work as expected. 10

11 Between and 2.9 With earlier versions, Command would incorrectly set a mark out for Play While Transfer items, which would cause unexpected behavior during Play While Transfer. This problem was specific to Airspeed Multi Stream TMF transfer, and has been fixed. Airspeed Multi Stream now shows the transferring status in the Inventory panel; The icon appears as an orange arrow (shown at left), and after the transfer is completed, changes to a green check mark. For the Play While Record feature with a mark in, an upgrade to Airspeed Multi Stream 1.8 is required to fix the problem where an item would not eject when finished. There was an issue with Command and Airspeed Multi Stream, where there would be a delay of up to three seconds between pressing Play and the item actually rolling on the AMS. To fix this issue, upgrade to AMS or later and to inews Command (specifically, the AMS Device service 3.3.0). CAUTION: Command is not compatible with any AMS version before Some minor changes have been made to the workstation layout and default options. The default layout has been changed - some of the little used panels are hidden by default. The first time that the user launches the workstation, Command now checks in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Avid\iNEWS Command\ui\workstation\ui (C:\Users\All Users\etc for Windows 7 and 2008) for a uioptions.ini file, and uses that as the starting profile for a new user. If an administrator wants to use a different layout/options scheme than the factory default, they can simply copy the specific uioptions.ini to the All Users location, and this will be propagated to all new users. Once the uioptions.ini is written to the user's profile, Command only uses that, rather than the All Users version. There were some improvements to the Media Viewer focus so that users do not get 'stuck' in the Mark In/Out text boxes, which would prevent scrubing using left or right using the arrow keys. Now, if the cursor is in either of those text boxes, click the scrub bar to move focus there, and the left/right arrow keys will scrub as expected. With this version of Command, Media Viewer scrubbing with VDCP devices should work as expected. With this version of Command, the Command Workstation will remain in the Health tree for approximately 4 minutes after the application has been closed. With this version of Command, X-keys should automatically reconnect in the event that the device is unplugged. It is no longer necessary to restart the Command Workstation in this case. Command will display an alert to confirm that the X-keys device is connected, and warn when it is disconnected. Note: For users with X-keys, Avid strongly recommends positioning your Alerts panel so that it is always visible, so that operators will see these notifications. Occasionally, when dropping an item in the playlist, it would be placed at the bottom of the list, rather than at the expected location. This has been fixed. This version of Command no longer shows a MOB ID mismatch when the user has HD/SD mirrored playback. 11

12 With previous versions of Command, pressing and holding the right/left arrow key in the media viewer would cause the scrolling to loop, rather than continuing to scroll forward or backward. This has been fixed so that now it scrolls at about the same rate as when it's playing. Users can now change the location of the Reason for playability status, or remove it altogether. This is most commonly seen as MEDIA NOT FOUND on the playlist. To do so, select Tools > Options > Playlist > Playlist Viewer and change the Unplayable description. Note: This feature is not translated in 2.9, but will be translated for the next major release of Command. Between and Some changes were made to this version of inews Command to improve the ASSIGNID functionality. Between and Beginning with Command 2.8.3, a paused Deko item will remain paused when other playlist changes occur, rather than cueing the next item and skipping the remaining triggers. In previous versions, Command would occasionally falsely report that the channel was disconnected and display a ***CHANNEL DOWN*** status in the playlist. This has been fixed. In previous versions, Command would play a looped item more times than was specified in the loop count. This has been fixed. Between and Renaming an Omneon video ID would cause the headframe to disappear. This has been fixed. Changes were made to the Command workstation so that it does not immediately report Disconnected status when it briefly loses connection to the MOS or inews service. Changes were made so that when the second-to-last item in the playlist is playing, and the last cued item is deleted, that cued item is ejected after the playing item finishes. If you have an item opened in the Media Viewer, and you play that same item in a playlist with looping enabled, you can now close the Media Viewer without interrupting the looped playback. Between 2.8 and The desktop icon for the Avid Graphic Inventory Editor application has changed. The new icon is shown at left. In previous versions of Command, mirror only items would not do follow-on playback as expected. This has been fixed. In previous versions of Command, there were some cases where infinite looping would fail. These have been fixed, so an item should now loop infinitely as expected. With Command 2.8.1, users should be able to open the Command Workstation application when there are license problems. Users cannot open the application under the following circumstances: if the TEMP license is expired or if the user has exceeded the license count. In all other cases, including when there is no license service running, users will be able to open the application and play items to air, but they will not be able to change any device channels until the license issue is resolved. With Command 2.7 and Airspeed Multi Stream 1.6, resuming a paused item would play the next cued item, rather than the paused item. This has been fixed, but requires Airspeed Multi Stream 1.7 or later, and Command or later. 12

13 Interplay Integration With this version of Command, the metadata cache has been changed to a metadata store. With the old cache, there was a FIFO size of 3000 items, so with large inventories, older metadata would be deleted. With the store, the medatadata is stored based on the inventory. This was necessary because the Interplay Agent service now requests slug, format, and thumbnail information from Interplay. Previously, only the thumbnail was requested. When an item arrives from Interplay Send to Playback, the Interplay Agent now does additional requests for metadata from the playback catalog. If an item is delayed in arriving, it still should get the metadata from Interplay. Omneon Integration Doing a Delete or Delete Protect while item is being recorded on the Omneon should no longer affect the Video Device Service (which required a restart of the service in previous versions of Command). Recuing a subclip that is still copying should no longer cause problems with the Video Device Service (which required a restart of the service in previous versions of Command). Recuing an item while the subclip is still being copied no longer causes the cue to jump to the top of the playlist. For initial inventory, Command now requests inventory items from open playlists first, and then requests the remainder of inventory. Beginning with this release of Command, when you play a subclip that is still being copied, it correctly finishes and ejects the item, rather than immediately playing the next item. Command has optimized the Video Device Service redundancy. Election times should now be more in line with the other Command services (10-15 seconds). Between 2.7.x and 2.8 In previous versions of Command, the Transfer Status icon was temporary. This has been changed so that the icon persists on screen. Users can manually clear the transfer status, however, via an option in the right-click context menu. A user s ability to change either the ID or the slug can now be done via a single Rename dialog box. Users creating subclips (in AirSpeed Multi Stream and Omneon only) can now edit the slug. For Omneon users only, the format is also kept. In Command, a user can now double-click on a playlist item to cue that item, rather than opening it in Media Viewer. This functionality can be disabled via Tools > Options in a new setting for Playlist Viewer Behavior. If the check box called Double-click to cue is selected, double-clicking on an item will cue it, and users must press Ctrl+E to open an item in the Media Viewer. Between and In Command v2.7.0, a regression was introduced with the Thunder Device service that caused it to fail to report inventory. This has been fixed. Command has fixed its handling of the Airspeed (classic) spontaneous pause issue so that it works for mirrored channel playback. For Play While Record, the playing item would not eject properly when it reached the end of its duration. This has been fixed. Now the item will properly do a hold last frame and eject as expected. For this fix to work, AirSpeed Multi Stream version 1.7 or later is required Between 2.7 and In Command v2.7, attempts to save changes to the workstation layout would fail. This has been fixed. 13

14 In previous versions of Command, a JAR file would go missing causing a problem with the Graphic Inventory Editor application when used with Chyron Intelligent Interface control. This has been fixed. Between and 2.7 The desktop icon for Command has changed. The new icon is shown at left. Functionality in the Media Viewer was changed for navigating through video using certain keys or keystroke combinations on the keyboard. Refer to the following list for more details how far you can navigate by using these keys: Right Arrow key moves one frame forward Left Arrow key moves one frame backward Alt+Right or Left Arrow key moves 15 frames forward or backward Ctrl+Right or Left Arrow key moves 1 second forward or backward Shift+Right or Left Arrow key moves 10 seconds forward or backward In previous versions of Command, playing the first item in a playlist, selecting Cue Last Played, then playing a follow-on playlist would cause the playlist follow-on function to fail. This has been fixed. Follow-on playout will continue in this case. In previous versions of Command, the cursor on the local workstation would be affected by playout from a different workstation. This has been fixed. The cursor will only move when a channel group is locked locally. In previous versions of Command, PAL items being played on third-party video servers would have incorrect durations. This has been fixed. Note: The Avid Video device service must have Frames Per Second set correctly for proper duration to occur for PAL items on third-party video servers. All device services, such as Avid AirSpeed Multi Stream and the Avid Deko device services, will have version numbers of 3.0 or later and no longer match that of Avid inews Command. This version of Avid inews Command has a new and improved Help system, which was updated with the latest information on basic user operations and software changes. It is available at any Command Workstation via the Help menu. 14

15 Note: The help window s size is adjustable and, when opened, dependent on previous help windows opened. The entire documentation set for Avid inews Command including the User s Guide, the Administration Guide, and the Installation and Configuration Guide was updated for this release. New Features The following section provides new features first made available in the specified release. ENPS rochannel and rometadatareplace This version of Command now supports rochannel with rocreate, and rometadatareplace in the MOS Communication Service. Note: These changes are compatible with any current configuration - current users are not required to set a MOS Channel. Here are guidelines for using rochannel. Users can now set the MOS Channel in the ENPS properties, and when the rundown is loaded, Video items will be assigned to that channel group. Only one entry is allowed, and users should not set the MOS Channel to a graphic channel group; it is not necessary. Users should add all channel groups that may be used to Command's System Settings > MOS > Channel Groups. The channel group assigned in the MOS Channel will be the first one displayed in the Command playlist. Other channel groups will be to the right of it. In this example, omab is defined in the ENPS MOS Channel, and therefore displayed first. Both omab and omc are defined in Command's System Settings > MOS > Channel Groups. If there are graphic channel groups, they will be dislpayed after the channel group set in the MOS Channel. 15

16 In this example, the channel group omab is set in the ENPS MOS Channel, Dekohyb is a graphic channel group. omab, omc, and Dekohyb are all defined in Command's System Settings > MOS > Channel Groups. You can still assign an individual item to a different channel group by simply changing the MOS Channel in the rundown (rather than the rundown properties). If the rundown MOS channel is set when the rundown is made MOS Active, the item will keep its channel designation. The rundown MOS Channel will not override the rundown's MOS Channel. Users can easily switch to a different channel group for a MOS Active/Ready to Air rundown by opening the rundown properties and entering the new MOS channel. Before the change is made in ENPS, the operator must unlock the current channel group in Command, and then lock the updated channel group after the change is made. Note: If you plan to use MOS Channel to change the channel group for any MOS Active rundown, you need to define channel group in the MOS Channel field for all rundowns. If the MOS Channel is not defined when the rundown is MOS activated, the MOS Channel needs to be set twice to make the change happen. Loop Only This version of Command now supports loop-only playback that does not require follow-on playout. Note: The looping only feature requires that Autocue be turned on in Command. To set an item to loop (only): Select the item and press Ctrl+Shift+L. Note: The alternative procedure for setting an item to loop as documented in the User s Guide has not changed and is still accurate. After the loop is set, a Looping icon (shown at left) is displayed along with the total number of loops. When the item gets to its last loop, Command will automatically cue the next item in the playlist. Users cannot cue another item until the last loop has started; Command will show an alert. Item looping is not supported in embedded playlists. Set Loop Count from inews The loop count for items in a Command playlist can now be set from an inews Workstation, but for this enhancement to work, it must be enabled in Command. To enable loop count from inews: 1. Select Tools>System Settings. The System Settings dialog box appears. 2. Select Inventory. 3. Set the Parse loop count separator to the at symbol (@). To set loop count from inews: 16

17 Follow-on Playout and the numerical value for the loop count to the end of the video ID in inews. For instance, to loop an item four times, to that item s video ID. To set loop count to infinity from inews: to the end of the video ID in inews. This existing feature works as it has previously, so the information provided here is for your convenience. Note: The follow-on playout feature requires that Autocue be turned on in Command. To set an item to follow-on playout: Select the item and press Ctrl+/. Note: The original Follow-on icon (shown at left) and the alternative procedure for setting an item to follow-on playout using the menu in the Trigger column as documented in the User s Guide (page 136) has not changed. Follow-on playout is only supported for single channel playback. Follow-on Playout with Looping Command still supports follow-on playout with looping, which is the original method of looping items in a playlist. You can use the previously described procedures to set an item to follow-on and looping. If an item is set to follow-on playout with looping, the total loop count is shown along with a Followon Looping icon (shown at left). Restrictions for looping and follow-on playout, as mentioned in the previous sections, also apply to follow-on playout with looping. AirSpeed Multi Stream Low-Res Proxy Player Command v2.9 supports a new low-res proxy player. The feature requires AMS v1.7 or later, and that an H.264 card be installed on the Multi Stream server. With this feature, users can see the video output (and hear audio) in the Media Player; they do not need to use a hardware channel to view output. There are the following limitations: The player is only supported for items that are recorded on the Airspeed Multi Stream. It is not supported for items that are sent to playback. Only 2 players can be opened at once. Customers wanting to use this low-res proxy feature in Command will need to have an H.264 decoder. For users with any operating systems before Windows 2008 and Windows 7, Avid recommends to install the DivX H.264 codec pack. To do so, go to Customers must review and agree to the DivX license agreement upon installation of the DivX H.264 codec pack by clicking I agree. Windows 2008 and Windows 7 operating systems already have an H.264 decoder installed. AMS Configuration Once the low res proxy card is installed, complete the following steps to configure in AMS. In the AMS Application, click File > Preferences > Generate proxy after record. 17

18 The proxies are kept on E:\madamsdb\proxies (where madamsdb is the default database). The E: drive must be shared. Command Configuration To configure Command: 1. Select Tools > Options > Media Viewer. 2. Check the Use AMS low-resolution proxy viewer if available. Note: The AMS proxy directory is a Windows share; all permissions need to be verified before the proxy viewer will work correctly. Low-res Proxy Use The Low-res Proxy Viewer opens as a separate application from Command. Otherwise, functionality is similar to the default Command Media Viewer. Users can play the item, jog/shuttle, set mark in or out points, and create subclips. As with the Command Media Viewer, the Low-res Proxy Viewer sets a "soft" mark in, meaning it only applies to the item in Command - it does not set the mark in/out in the AMS application. So, for items opened from the inventory panel, they must be dragged into a playlist to play the item with its mark in/out. Play while record is also supported. Note that the Command specific keystrokes, such as Alt+-> (forward 15 frames), are not functional in the Low-res Proxy Viewer, but users can use the simple right/left arrows to scroll. If users open items from the inventory panel, there will be a second media viewer window that only displays the headframe. The only purpose of this second window is to allow users to drag and drop the item into a Command playlist. Graphic Device Service Macros Command v2.9 supports sending a macro through the Avid Graphic Device service. To configure Command for sending macros through the Avid Graphic Device service: 1. Create a macro in the Chyron Lyric software. Macros should not be used to change the status of the item in the frame buffer. Command relies on the frame buffer status to be consistent when sending transport commands, and having a macro change that status could severely impact playout. 2. Go to the Avid Service Configuration application, locate to the Graphic device service, and define the macro on the Macros tab. Command supports up to 10 macros. 3. Select Tools > System Settings > Channel > Indices and add your graphic channel to an Index. 4. To trigger the macro, it needs to be added to an X-keys or GPI device. For X-keys, select Tools > Options > Actions > X-keys. Click the button and in the Choose Action dialog box, select the macros from Control, Macros. For GPI, select Tools > System Settings > GPI and select the appropriate GPI. Then select Control, Macros, and then the appropriate index. Note: Command sends the macro through its index, but unless the macro also specifies the frame buffer, Lyric will apply the macro to the active frame buffer - so even though Command is channel specific, the Macro is not channel specific unless the frame buffer is defined in the Macro. GPI Out (GPO) Commands with Graphics Command v2.9 supports sending GPO commands when playing or ejecting graphics. There are 2 configuration requirements. 18

19 The GPI device service must be configured to do GPO commands. To configure GPI Out, go to the Avid GPI Device Service, and if you only have GPI in commands, you need to click Add Panel, and then select Output Panel in the Add Panel dialog box. After that is added, the configuration is similar to the GPI in. Note: The configuration includes Pulse Width and Output Early settings. Output early is not supported with the Play and Eject commands. At a Command Workstation, select Tools > System Settings > Channel > Groups, and edit the channel group. At the bottom of the Edit Channel Group dialog box, select the GPO for Play and Eject, and optionally add and Eject Delay if necessary. Set Mark In Point from inews Command 2.9 supports setting the Mark In point from an inews story form. To configure Command to allow it: 1. Select Tools > System Settings > Inventory 2. Check the Parse mark in seperator (+) box. 3. Click OK. To set the mark in: 1. At an inews Workstation, navigate to the story containing the media s video ID. 2. Add a plus sign to the end of the Video ID in the story form field. Command uses the following format for the Mark In value. XX, the Mark In will be set to seconds. In the above example, it is set to 2 seconds. XX:YY, the Mark In will be set to ss:ff (seconds and frames). XX:YY:ZZ, the Mark In will be set to mm:ss:ff (minutes, seconds, and frames) After the Mark In is set, users cannot change it in the Command Media Viewer. Note: HD frames are parsed correctly, but display in the UI is divided by 2. So, if you set a Mark In to 02:10 in inews, Command displays the Mark In at 2 seconds and 5 frames, although it does start at 10 frames. 19

20 Turn Off Autocue for a Channel Group Command 2.9 supports the ability to turn off autocue for a channel group. To turn off autocue: 1. Select Tools > System Settings > Channel, Groups 2. Click Edit. The setting is called Disable autocue for channel group. Perle IOLAN Configuration Here are instructions for configuring the Perle IOLAN port server for use with Command. Please see the IOLAN documentation for further details. Here is the wiring diagram for the IOLAN to Video Server. The lines in this diagram are colored only to show the connections. They do not correspond to any wire colors on an RJ45 cable. If you are using DB9 connectors, the inside of the RJ45 side of the connector s wires are counted from 8->1 (with the connecting tab on top). The connector's wire colors are never consistent either, so we strongly recommend that you use a volt meter to confirm the correct color wire for the 2, 4, 5, and 7 pins of the RJ45 cable, and then plug them into their appropriate place on the DB-9 connector. If you are diagnosing connection problems using Avid Diagnostics, and the Command Video Device Service shows a WARNING message, "Unable to create a VDCP channel on port COM58", and the details show that the port is in use, it means that the wiring is not correct. To configure the IOLAN Server: 1. Turn on the IOLAN server and connect it to the network. Make sure it is in the same subnet as the Command server. 2. On the Command server, install the Perle TruePort software, which includes the Perle Device Manager and the TruePort Management Tool. 3. Launch the Device Manager. 4. It should automatically detect the IOLAN server, and enable the Assign IP button when it does. 5. Click the Assign ID button and configure for a Static IP. 6. Once the IP is configured, click the OK button to open the configuration utility. 20

21 7. If prompted for a password, enter superuser. 8. Click Tools, Import Configuration from a File. Navigate the Avid Command IOLAN configuration file (IOLAN.dme) and click OK. NOTE: The configuration file IOLAN.dme is in the Command install directory. 9. Confirm the following settings: a. Network, IP Settings, IPv4 Settings: confirm that IP address, Subnet Mask, and Default Gateway are correct. b. Serial, Serial Ports: Confirm that the serial ports are all enabled, and that the listening ports are through Click the Edit button to continue. c. On the Serial Port 1 Settings dialog, confirm that Listen for connection is selected, and that the TCP Port is d. On the Advanced tab, confirm that the Enable TCP Keepalive box is checked. e. On the Hardware tab, confirm that Enable line termination is checked. f. On the Packet Forwarding tab, confirm that Prevent Message Fragmentation is checked, and the delay is set to 10 ms. 10. If any changes were needed, click OK, and then click Copy, to set all of the other ports to the same settings. 11. Click Download All Changes. 12. Click the Tools menu, then Reset, then Reboot IOLAN. To configure the TruePort clients: 1. Run the TruePort Management Tool. 2. Click the Add button. 21

22 3. On the Add TruePort Adapter Wizard dialog, enter the IP address for the IOLAN server and click Next. 4. Add the number of serial ports corresponding to your server (i.e. 2, 4, 8, or 16). Choose a starting COM port - Avid recommends you choose 50, so that it's clear that you are using the serial-to-ip ports. Click Next when finished. 5. Click Finish to commit changes. 6. On the TruePort Management Tool's home window, click Properties to configure the ports. 7. On the Configuration tab, click Settings. 8. On the Settings dialog, confirm that the listening ports match the ones configured on the server, On the Connection tab, select Full Mode for the Connection Mode. 10. On the Connection tab, select Initiate connection to device server, and confirm that the TCP port is On the Advanced tab, select the following options: Return when connection is fully established with five second wait time Deselect send keep alive packets 12. On the Packet Forwarding tab, select Enable Packet Forwarding, and set the Idle Time to 100 ms. 13. Click the Copy Settings To button, and copy the settings to the remaining COM ports. 14. Click OK to save and exit. You might be asked to restart the computer. 22

23 After you have completed these steps, proceed with wiring serial cables between the video device and IOLAN server, and configure the Avid Video Device service for serial communication. See the Avid inews Command Installation and Configuration Guide for further details. Vizrt Integration Avid strongly recommends that users install the Avid Graphic Device service on the machine that runs the Viz Content Pilot. To install and configure Command for Vizrt: 1. Install the Avid Service Framework. Select the Client Install. 2. Install the Avid Graphic Device service on the machine running the Viz Content Pilot. When going through the install, select to install the Workstation, and then on the next page, deselect the Workstation, open the Avid Graphic Device Service, and select the Avid Graphic Device Service Install the Vizrt plugin. For full installation details, please see the VizrtiNEWSCommandPlugin_1.0_AdministratorsGuide.pdf. For Version 2.7 For the new AMS Up/down cross convert integration to work, users will need to turn autocue off when transitioning between XDCAM 720p and 1080i clips. For Auto Switch Output Format, users also need to turn off autocue if they plan to switch formats. This is because the AMS channel needs to be in an idle state not playing for instance for it to switch formats. Note: Avid recommends that users have dedicated channels for specific resolutions. Failover Protocol The Avid inews Command Best Practices document, which is available as a free download in PDF format on Avid s Knowledge Base, contains the latest information pertaining to failover and hotswap functionality, including failover scenarios, symptoms, and recommended recovery procedures. However, some new alterations to the recommended procedure for failover and recovery have been made, and are, therefore, provided in this ReadMe for your convenience. After primary server failover has occurred, to recover: 1. Continue with current playlist until the show has been finished. If there have been changes to the inews rundown after failover occurred, it will be necessary to load the inews rundown to the backup server. To switch to the newly loaded inews rundown, unlock the channel group on the disconnected playlist and lock on the connected playlist. Note: Do not override the lock on any channel group until at least 5 minutes after the failover happened. 2. After you have reached an opportune time to bring the Command system back to its Primary/Backup configuration, shut down all services on the backup server and primary server, if necessary. 3. Start all services on the primary server. 4. Wait for at least one minute, and then restart the services on the backup server. 5. Wait 5 minutes before using the Command system. 6. Open the Avid Interplay Health Monitor and confirm that the two servers have the expected primary and backup status. 23

24 Redundancy Guidelines The following are redundancy guidelines for both administrators and users. Administration Command determines primary and backup based on the length of time the service has been running. The server that has been running longer is the primary. Therefore, to get all primary services on one server, it is necessary to start the primary server first; when all services have started, start the backup servers. Not all services run in a primary/backup configuration, such as the inews Communication service. This means that when a server fails, it loses connection to the NRCS (inews, ENPS, etc.). At that point the playlist becomes disconnected, which is indicated by the flashing red X over the inews or MOS icon. Users are still able to operate the playlist in this mode, but it does not get any updates to the rundown. See below for full details. Services that are primary show a green dot in the Health Monitor tree. Backup services show a yellow dot. Non-redundant services do not show a dot. All three are shown here. Failover Process When a failover happens, here is what the user will see. The status bar at the top of the playlist will change to red, and the inews or MOS icon will have a flashing red X over it. This indicates that the playlist has been disconnected from the newsroom system. Two alerts will appear, stating that the workstation is unable to connect to the Playlist Store and Playlist Manager services. Transport controls will be unresponsive. Items (both graphic and video) will continue in their existing state - e.g. a playing item will continue playing. Within 15 seconds, the services on the backup Command server should take over as primary, and restore functionality to the workstation. Users will see 2 or 3 alerts, the Playlist Store, Playlist Manager, and Playlist Controller services. Transport controls will become responsive again. At this point, users will be working with the disconnected playlist, so they will not see any updates from the Newsroom system. In order to restore connection between the newsroom and Command, users will need to reload the show to the backup server. For inews, this is just a simple MON load to the appropriate Command server. ENPS users need to do a MOS redirection with the rundown, which requires some initial configuration to support MOS Redirection. See the Avid inews Command Install/Config guide for further details. The reloaded show will appear as a second playlist in Command, and users will need to switch to the connected playlist and lock channel groups. This should be done at a convenient time, such as during a commercial break, or weather. 24

25 System Recovery After the primary Command server has been restored to functionality, here are the steps to get the system back to its proper state. This should only be when Command is not needed for on-air playout. 1. Stop all services on the primary server. 2. Stop all services on the backup server. 3. Start services on the primary server. 4. Wait a few minutes, and then start the services on the backup server. 5. Confirm system functionality by loading shows from the newsroom and playing items on all device channels. Known Limitations This section provides information on known limitations that were not addressed in this release. Any available workaround procedures are also documented, when possible. Note: For limitations related to compatibility of this release with previous versions/other products, see the section of this document entitled, Compatibility. inews Integration Recording inews must have the video-id and item-channel fields in the storyform of the rundown. Excluding either of these fields can cause serious problems with Command and inews communication. If a recording item crosses the midnight boundary, the starting time is not correctly set to 1:00:00;00, which causes problems with Command s Count Up/Down clocks. The workaround is to manually set the start time to 1:00:00;00 in Newscutter. AirSpeed Multi Stream If a recording item crosses the midnight boundary, the starting time is not correctly set to 1:00:00;00, which causes problems with Command s Count Up/Down clocks. Workaround: Manually set the start time to 1:00:00;00 in Newscutter. Any Command users relying on the autocue feature need to make sure that the AirSpeed Multi Stream Show first of next option is turned off. To do so, go to the Airpseed MultiStream application and click File > Preferences > Channel Configuration, and uncheck the Show first of next box for all channels. Graphic Integration Maney Panel For graphic systems that use databases (such and Orad and Pixel Power), leaving the Graphic path blank in the Graphic Editor will cause Command to not send an Intelligent Interface M command. While ControlAir supported Maney Panel with both the Measurement Computing and SeaIO cards, Command supported the use of a Maney Panel device only with the Measurement Computer card. Play While Record When an AMS play while record item finishes playing, it will remain in the playing status, rather than eject and hold last frame. Workaround: Eject the item or ignore the status; it does not prevent the next item from being played. 25

26 Media Viewer In the Media Viewer, 1080i scrubbing with AMS is very slow and considered unusable, especially for Play While Record workflows. Users may be able to use it in a scenario where a quick turnaround is not an issue. The Media Viewer can only be used to modify the in and out points of a clip. The use of Media Viewer requires that a browse channel is set up as part of the channel group that is locked. Avid Video Device Service As Run Logs Hold Last Frame Licenses The Avid Video device service can only be set to one frame rate; therefore, all of the channels on the video device (such as Omneon, Harris, and so forth) need to be set to the same frame rate. Otherwise, items will not play correctly. Despite the fact that as run logs in Command are saved as.csv files, opening them in Microsoft Excel 2003 required a user import the file via the Tools > Data > Import menu. Workaround: Upgrading Microsoft Excel to a newer version will allow you to double-click on any as run log from Command to open it in Excel. When an item with a short hold last frame of 2 seconds or less finishes playing on an AirSpeed Multi Stream, it ejects as expected, but the next cued item also ejects. This is configuration issue on the AMS. Workaround: On the AMS server, select File > Channel Configuration and deselect the Show first of next checkbox for each channel to resolve this issue. When replacing temporary licenses with a full license, users must delete each TEMP line individually before adding a full license. VDCP Play While Record does not work with VDCP. Timecode Graphics Users can edit the in and out times for a loaded playlist by opening the Deko item in the Media Viewer, but the story slug will not update. The user can see the updates in the Start and Duration columns, though, and will have to ignore the out of date story slug. If the playlist is disconnected or standalone, the story slug does update with the new times. Channel Assignments When a channel goes down, Command will adjust the channel assignments automatically to not include the down channel. However there are two limitations; Manual ripple (Ctrl+R) ripples with the down channel Workaround: Unlock and relock. This will ripple assignments in the playlist with only the connected channels. If the channel goes down while the channel group is locked, the status of the down channel will remain, meaning that an item cued on C will remain cued after C goes down and the 26

27 Deko channel is reassigned to B. Despite this, users can ignore the remnant status and continue playing. If users plan to trigger graphics in an inews playlist by setting the In/Out time in the inews Deko Select plugin, the Deko Device service should be set to Single Channel mode. Dual channel mode does not provide for accurate triggering. The new auto-motions feature of Deko 5.0 does work with Command 2.0 with a couple of exceptions: First, it does not do the playoff auto-motion when a stopped item is ejected. Secondly, the last item does not do its playoff auto-motion. Workaround: In the case of the last item not working, add a blank graphic after the last item. Then auto-motion will work as expected. The Deko Device service must be restarted after any change to a style directory via the Deko Macro Server or any addition of a new style via the Deko MOS Gateway. FX Deko II freezes after installing Avid Interplay Framework and/or Command. Workaround: Any time you restart the computer, do the following: 1. Disconnect network cable. 2. Restart machine. 3. Go into Properties of the My Network Places. 4. Right click the network card and choose disable. 5. Wait 10 seconds and then enable the network card. 6. Plug in the network cable. The machine should not freeze at this point. Ejecting a multi-triggered graphic while it s at one of its trigger points (Command shows it in a paused state), the preview buffer of the Deko channel will contain the previous graphic played in the playlist. Workaround: Manually cue the next desired graphic. Playout Follow-on will only work with clips of 2 seconds or greater. In previous versions, if a user used the lock and override feature, the playlist and playout functionality would not work properly for one to five minutes after a server failover. Workaround: Unlock and relock, if necessary. When an item ID is manually changed, the user must wait 2 to 3 seconds before cueing and playing that item. Preview channels in a channel group don t show the Preview item playing. Preview channels are not supported for Command 1.1.x 27

28 After restoring a Command Server to primary status following a failover, items won t autocue. Workaround: Manually cue the items. The only supported Control Configuration for AirSpeed with Command is Local/Network Record or Play. Unrestricted VDCP is not supported. When using Command to control playout on AirSpeed video servers, ensure proper configuration on the actual AirSpeed. To set Control Configurations on an AirSpeed: 1. Select Setup > Channels. 2. Set Control Configurations to Local/Network Record or Play. Redundancy If using Command offline with AirSpeed video servers that are also used with a different playout control system for on-air broadcasting, this setting must be switched according to which system is controlling the video server. When the backup server loses network connection, the services need to be shut down before reconnecting. A temporary network interruption is likely should the server running the backup Command services be disconnected from the network and reconnected. This interruption might appear as a possible loss of follow-on playout or affect the appearance of inventory status. In a redundant configuration, if the network connection to the server running the Primary Command services was lost, if the server was shutdown, or if the server lost power, the Command system would automatically regain functionality after the workstation shows the alert, The Playlist Controller is available, and the alert details state, Items can be played again. Reconnecting a network connection to a previously dropped primary Command Server will cause a second interruption in playback. In a redundant configuration, if a network connection to the server running the primary Command services is lost, the Command system will automatically regain functionality after the workstation shows the alert that items can be played again. The limitation comes in if the network connection is restored without the original primary services being restarted after the disconnection. For example: Server A is the primary and Server B is the backup. Server A loses and regains its network connectivity while on-air. In this case, when the Server A regains its network connectivity, there will 28