Tria Clip Server
Eagle Brook uses a clip playout server for playback of pre-prepared media assets. The Clip Server sometimes referred to as the Tria 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 Tria clip server also allows for recording of clips in special circumstances.
The Basics
The Clip Server has four channels, Channel's A through D. At most sites, only two of the four channels are in use. 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 Tria Explorer, a control application available on the Clip Server, 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, connect to the Clip Server via KVM and open Tria Explorer, if it is not already open. 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, right click, and choose ‘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 Clip Library pane, at the bottom of the screen. If no clips are listed, ensure that you have 'Cueable Local' option selected at the top of the pane, and that no search terms have been entered in the search box. Once you have the clip located in the Clip Library pane, there are multiple 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 channel transport strips above the Clip Library.
In each channel transport strip, you’ll find a series of playback control buttons, as well as a scrub bar. 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. Finally, you can click and drag the orange triangle on the scrub bar right and left to jump to a specific moment in a clip quickly.
Importing a Clip
To import a clip into the Tria clip server, open the Tria Import application from the taskbar or start menu. When prompted, choose "Software Transcode" as the import transcoder, even if the file to be imported is in the Tria's native AVC-Intra codec. Next, click "Import From" and choose the folder which contains the clips you wish to import. Note that the folder will appear empty, even if the files are present. Click "Choose". Next, ensure the Import Destination is H:\Video\ . Click the green plus symbol, then select the files you wish to import, and click "Add Files". The files will be added to the import queue and will begin to transcode. The transcode process may take several minutes to complete.
Tria Clip Servers are currently in use at the following campuses: BOC, LHS.