Blackstorm Clip Server
Eagle Brook uses a clip playout server for playback of pre-prepared media assets. The Clip Server sometimes referred to as the Blackstorm server, lives inside one of the engineering racks in your control or engineering room.
Why We Use This
The Clip Server allows for playback of pre-prepared assets, also known as clips. The most common clips used are countdowns, logo loops, and song credits, as well as promo videos, and backup message playback.
The Basics
The Clip Server has two channels, CLIP A (Channel 1) and CLIP B (Channel 2). Each channel is entirely independent and capable of video and audio playback. The Clip Server has multiple options for control. It can receive commands from the Video Switcher, or via Dashboard, a control application available on any PC or GFX 2, all accessible via a KVM user station. During most services, the Video Switcher is programmed to Cue and Play clips from the Clip Server in a specific order.
Preparing to Control
To operate the Clip Server, select the ‘Clip Server’ layout from the left side of Dashboard on any PC or GFX 2 on the KVM. There are four sections of Dashboard control for Blackstorm; Media Manager, Timecode Client, Output 1, and Output 2. These four panels open when you select the Clip Server layout in a pre-designed, easy to use layout. The language of the clip server is essential to understand for troubleshooting and smooth operation. To ‘Cue’ a clip means to load it into a channel and get it ready for playback. The first frame of the clip appears in the output and on any multiviewer that has the clip channel displayed. To ‘Play’ a clip means beginning playback of the clip to its output. To ‘Loop’ a clip means that once a clip has been played and reaches its end, it automatically re-starts playback from the beginning of the same clip. Looping is useful for clips such as logo loops or song credits.
Organization
Occasionally, a clip is no longer needed for playback and can be removed. Ensure the clip is not loaded in a channel, then select the clip and click ‘Delete.’ You do not need to empty the Recycle Bin or perform any other action to remove the clip.
Standard Operation
To Cue, a clip on a clip server channel, locate the clip you want in the list displayed in the Media Manager pane. If no clips are listed, ensure that you have the ‘Directory’ tab selected and that ‘No Filter (ALL)’ is selected in the filter drop-down. Once you have the clip located in the Media Manager pane, there are two ways to cue the clip in a channel for playback.
Be careful when cueing a clip on a channel, as cueing a new clip immediately stops playback of another clip playing in that channel. There are several ways to cue clips into the desired channel. Select the clip you want to cue, then either drag the clip into the desired channel, double-click the clip, or select the ‘Load’ button. Double-clicking and selecting ‘Load’ follows the channel you have selected in the Media Manager pane.
At the bottom of each Output control panel, you’ll find a series of playback control buttons, as well as a scrub bar. From left to right, they are Cue, Rewind, Frame Back, Play or Pause, Frame Forward, Fast Forward, Loop, and Eject. The Cue button re-cues a playing clip to the first frame. Use the Play button to begin playback of the clip, or the Pause button to stop at the current time. The Loop button enables loop mode for the clip, indicated by turning green. The Eject button immediately stops playback of the clip, remove the clip from the channel and turn the output of the clip channel black. Finally, you can click and drag the grey diamond on the scrub bar right and left to jump to a specific moment in a clip quickly.
Monitoring
During playback, the Timecode Client pane is useful for monitoring purposes. The timecode client is useful for a CPM, AD, or Switcher Operator to count down to the end of a clip over com. Each channel has multiple sections. However, the most useful for our purposes is ‘Clip A (1)’ and ‘Clip B (2)’. Each of these sections has 3 timecodes displayed. The ‘C’ timecode is a count-up timer, displaying the time since the beginning of the clip. The ‘R’ timecode is the time remaining before the end of the clip. The ‘D’ timecode is the duration of the clip and does not change.
Blackstorm Clip Servers are currently in use at the following campuses: WBY, SLP.