General Concepts

• One Web application to serve all Image Library topics.

  • Ingesting

  • Editing (images + metadata)

  • Importing (from external sources)

  • Searching

  • Administrative tasks

• Image states: Images can have multiple states depending on the current progress in processing.

  • Image is stored on Graphic Hub Image Library storage, meaning only available for Image Library clients.

  • Image is processing, meaning it is currently converted to the native Viz Engine image format and imported to a destination directory.

  • Image is available, meaning Viz Engine can load the native format from Graphic Hub.

• Metadata:

  • The metadata structure is represented as a model based on the Vizrt Data Format (VDF).

    • This is fixed in the initial version and not user editable.

  • The metadata content is represented as a payload which is validated against the model.

    • This can be edited by the user and assigned to images.

• Reactive:

  • When tasks are executed in the background or by other clients the views are instantly updated.

    • Uploading an image with another client, makes the image immediately available in the main view, if image status changes, those changes are automatically reflected in the UI.

• Snackbars:

  • Snackbars display updates from the back-end regarding current tasks or errors.

  • They are visible until the user closes them.

• Tasks:

  • Tasks are asynchronously running background operations.

  • Currently there exist three tasks: import, delete and analyze.

  • These tasks can't run simultaneously.

  • They are shown by a progress bar.

    • For delete task and import task the progress bar is at the main menu at the top and shows the current item that is being imported or deleted.

    • For the analyze task the progress bar is displayed below the API configuration fields on the import view and shows which field is being analyzed.

View: How to Browse Images and View Metadata

Viewing current Image Library content in the main view where all other views are visible. Most of the necessary tasks should be done here.

• All available files are displayed in the main view.

• You can execute all actions (searching, ingesting, editing).

• Able to filter and order files on certain properties.

  • Refine your filters and ordering when browsing or serching

  • The filters are grouped and can be combined

  • Selected filters, ordering and active search are indicated with blue buttons

• Has pagination and displays the total number of files and currently viewed page.

• Amount of displayed files is defined by the screen space, and therefore dynamic.

• Images can be selected, and have an overlay to display their status.

• Images details can viewed by clicking on them:

  • Display the metadata.

  • Display the image properties

  • Display the image with an higher resolution.

Ingest: How to Add Images

Ingesting is the process in which a user uploads one or more an images to the Graphic Hub Image Library and assigns metadata.
This can be done by using the Upload/Import button on the main menu.

• At the "Ingest" page the user can upload one or multiple images by dragging and dropping an image onto the upload pane

• The ingest will automatically try to fill metadata by the file name, please revise!

• Required metadata fields must be filled by the user, this can be done by clicking on the specific image

• Confirm the upload of all selected image by pressing "Import"

• The image is uploaded to Graphic Hub and is immediately available for usage in the Image Library and Asset search in Pilot Edge

• Graphic Hub ImEx Agent automatically schedules an import and conversion to the Viz Engine native image format through Graphic Hub REST. This is indicated with the "processing" state.

• When the image is converted and ready for playout by Viz Engine it is in the "available" state.

Editing: How to Edit Metadata

Editing metadata can be done in the main and search view by selecting an image.

Deleting: How to Delete an Image

This can be done in the main and search view by selecting one or multiple images and then clicking Delete.

Searching: How to Search for Images

The search bar is used to search for images.

• Simple search based on all required metadata fields

  • Title

  • Description

  • Person:

    • TV Name

    • First Name

    • Last Name

  • Tags

• The search is case insensitive and narrows by combining words. i.e.: "Lionel Messi" will find only images with the searchable fields "Lionel" and "Messi"

• Total found results will be displayed under the page view

• You can also order and Filter the search result

Searching: How to Search for Images with Pilot Edge

The open search endpoint needs to be added as search provider in the Pilot Data Server configuration. Please consult the Pilot Manual for instructions.

Importing: How to Import an Existing Viz Object Store Database

Importing is a one stop process which allows to connect to an Viz Object Store Oracle database and import existing images (from the network share) and metadata once.

• It requires the Oracle access settings (hostname, username, password, database) and access to the network share used.

• Steps:

  1. Provide configuration and credentials for:

     • Hostname: Host where Oracle is running.

     • Username and Password: Oracle username and password.

     • Database service: The Oracle DB service instance (typically pilot or vizrtdb).

     • Server port: The Oracle service port (typically 1521).

  2. Click Check connection. It should show Database Connection Successful

  3. Edit the analyze options:

     • Edit Image Shares: Shows all image locations (network shares) found in the Oracle database.

       • From these paths the images are read and imported.

       • You are able to edit every individual path by editing the "Replace path with" part

       • You can replace all paths by adding applying a part of the path and its replacement in the first fields

• 1. • Full search: use all database entries, even if the image is not available on the network share

       • By default this setting is disabled, meaning only content is analyzed where an image is available.

       • Enabling this will only analyze and display the image entries, they will be ignored during the import because no image is available.

  2. Click Analyze Database: Starts to analyze the database content and the available images.

     • This can be done several times when the configuration is changed (for example, when editing the Image Shares mapping).

     • The Oracle database content and available images are analyzed, which can take some time.

     • If there are no results:

       • Please check that the network share is accessible for a service (Map it correctly)!

       • Refine your Image Share mapping by editing the image shares

  3. Select a subset or all images to import by clicking Select (top left) > Select All.

  4. Start the import by clicking Action (top left) > Import.

  5. The import process starts and runs asynchronously on the Graphic Hub ImEx Agent.

  6. The import process might take some time and the UI is locked and allows to view the progress and cancel the import.

     • Note that staging into the processing of the Viz Engine native format is done asynchronously and may lag behind.

     • It is recommended to have only one client active to avoid constant reloading of clients due to the massive amount of updates sent during the import.

Image Library Page has connection errors / Fresh installation / ImEx hangs

Image Library might not have been configured properly. Mostly those errors are because:

• Missing / Misconfigured License.

• ImEx Image Library is not configured to a destination directory.

• ImEx destintion directory is not properly configured.

• Graphic Hub REST is not properly configured.

Images are not found in search

• Check if the image you are searching has the searched metadata.

• The search index might be broken, you can fix that by following these steps:

1. Use the Image Library Administrative UI > Server page.

2. Database Indices > Select your server.

3. Check Indices: Will lock the Image Library for any write operation and run a task in the background.

   1. When the task of checking the indices is done you will see that Last Updated changed.

   2. If "Search Differences" is more than 0 and "Search Index Working" is not 0 you should fix the indices.

   3. If "Search Index Working" is also larger than 0 you should wait some time and check indices again.

4. If you have differences and use fix differences the server will try to fix the differences.

5. After a while you can check the differences again.

6. Don't forget to unlock the server again.

Image library cannot import / ingest images

• Check if you have the license properly configured . The Icon should not be red.

  • Main and Replication need a licence, please check both servers.

• Check if there is enough disk space available on Graphic Hub.

• Ingesting does not allow all file types with every format. Make sure you are importing a common file type.

• Make sure the Image library is not in "Locked" mode . The Lock should not be red.

In my cluster there are missing images or metadata is incomplete

• Main and Replication might have differences due to a network issues.

• Main and Replication might have differences due one server has not been available

Use built in tools to solve the differences:

1. Make Sure both servers are running and are in their native mode, with no open transactions.

2. Use the Image Library Administrative UI > Server page.

3. Server Synchronization > Select your server replication graphic hub (your ImEx should always be connected to the main server).

4. Show Differences: Will lock the Image Library for any write operation and run a task in the background.

   1. After the task is done, a list of differences between both servers appears.

5. Hit Sync Servers to synchronize both servers again.

6. Don't forget to unlock the servers again.

Image library is not deployed via deploy agent, I need a backup solution!

There are multiple ways of making a backup:

1. Shutdown:

   1. Shutdown you Servers properly at a service interval and let Graphic Hub Terminal handle the backup.

   2. Shutdown your Servers properly and backup the data directory.

2. Manual Server Synchronization

   1. You can synchronize your servers manually to a Multiuser server with a valid Image Library License.

   2. Server Synchronization > Enter your destination server instead of choosing one: VizDbServer@Hostname:19396.

   3. Show Differences: Will lock the Image Library for any write operation and run a task in the background.

      1. After the task is done a list of differences between both servers appears.

   4. Hit Sync Servers to synchronize both servers again.

   5. Don't forget to unlock the servers again.

Images are not available for Playout / Cannot find images in the Graphic Hub

The images are only available in the Graphic Hub when they have been converted to the native Viz Engine format. They will not contain any "usable" name, because they are only intended for automated playout.

You should not be using those images for Designing Scenes, etc...

If your playout cannot load these images make sure to have a look in the Distribution plan:

• You can view the distribution plan for the Image library in the ImEx configure web interface.

• You can view the distribution plan for the Image library in the Image Library Administrative view:

  • If there are Pending imports, you need to either wait for the ImEx to import the images.

  • Check the errors by clicking on the status bar.

  • Check your Graphic Hub for corrupted files.

  • If the Import does not continue, Restarting Graphic Hub ImEx Agent & Graphic Hub REST triggers a complete fresh import.

Distribution Plan does not continue upload / shows errors

The distribution plan is not continuing and stops without recovery might happen for various reasons:

• Check your Graphic Hub for corrupted files.

• Restart Graphic Hub REST Service.

• Restart Graphic Hub ImEx Agent Service.