Pro Video Server
Eagle Brook uses a clip playout server for playback of pre-prepared media assets. The Clip 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 from the control interface on the Clip Server itself, 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, find the Pro Video Server application on the Clip Server. There are two sections of the control panel; Vtr1 and Vtr2. Vtr1 is the control section for Clip A, and Vtr2 is the control section for Clip B.
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 open Finder from the dock on the bottom of the screen. Finder will automatically open up with the CVL_Clips* folder selected, or you can select it from the sidebar on the left. Find the clip you wish to delete, right-click it, and choose “Move to Trash”. Then click the Trash from the dock at the bottom of the screen, and in the window that opens click “Empty”.
Standard Operation
To Cue, a clip on a clip server channel, find the clip list under the channel you wish to cue on (Vtr1 or Vtr2). To cue the clip, simply click it in the clip list under the channel you wish to cue on.
Be careful when cueing a clip on a channel, as cueing a new clip immediately stops playback of another clip playing in that channel.
In the middle of each channel control section, you’ll find a series of playback control buttons, as well as a scrub bar. From left to right, they are Jump to Start, Rewind, Pause, Play, Fast Forward, Jump to End and Stop. 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 Stop button immediately stops playback of the clip and turns 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.
To set a clip to Loop, find it in the clip list. On the right of the clip entry, change the mode from “Stop” to “Loop”. Each time the clip is cued, it will be in loop mode.
Monitoring
During playback, the Preview pane is useful for monitoring purposes. The timecode counters are useful for a CPM, AD, or Switcher Operator to count down to the end of a clip over com. The timecode on the left is the current playtime, counting from 0 up. The timecode on the right is the time remaining in the clip and will count down to 0.
*CVL is used as an example. Campus codes: LLK, WBL, SLP, BLN, ANK, WBY, WHS.