To obtain sample Engine Switcher scenes

1. Authenticate to Vizrt's FTP at https://download.vizrt.com/

2. Navigate to products/VizMosart/Engine Switcher Scenes

3. Download locally, then import the switcher scene to Viz Graphic Hub

4. Set the path to the Switcher Scene in VizEngineSwitcherConfig.xml

Defining Sources

• Source ID from 1 - N.

• CLIP X-points from 1-6 are mandatory and used for internal switching.

• GFX X-points are mandatory for graphics.

By configuring these crosspoints on the video server ports in AV Automation or referring to them in Viz Mosart templates, these definitions enable standard Viz Mosart clip execution.

Effects

• Effects need a unique Emem Nr for calling a specific effect scene.

• Scenes are always prefixed with the string effect_x in the designated Graphic Hub effect Scene folder.
  x represents the Emen Nr defined in the configuration.

• Effect IDs must not be higher than 80, since numbers 80+ are reserved for transition effects within superchannels.
  

  

Presets

• In Viz Mosart, you see the preset names in the A/V Setup (AvConfig.xml) file.
  

  

• Preset names correspond directly to the presets defined in the switcher scene:
  

  

• A Preset plugin, as it appears in a switcher scene:

Standard Viz Engine configurations

You will need to provide basic Viz Engine configurations that include definitions of:

• Graphic Hub connection

• Output format

• Licenses

• Amount of inputs.

If these are not already in place, refer to the Viz Engine Administrator Guide.

Additional Viz Engine configurations for an Engine Switcher setup

1. Navigate to the configuration section Communication.

2. Select Super Channel Port and set it to an available Port (for example, 57777)
   

   

3. Clip channels: Activate the following clip channels:
   

   

• Clip channels 1-4 and 10-11 are for full screen and box clip playback.

• Clip channels 5-6 are optional for videowall integration playback (not included in default setup).

• Clip channel 16 is for clips loaded in top scenes.

Example of the MSE VDOM File

Presets

Viz Mosart includes a sample Switcher scene with eight presets.

• Use Viz Artist to edit any preset.
  

  

  
  For more details, refer to the Viz Artist User Guide.

• In Viz Mosart, you select the Preset name from the list of preset names that have been configured in A/V Setup (AvConfig.xml) file.
  

  

• Transition style

  The transition style (hard-cut or animation), and several label values can be specified.

  For example, in a DVE template (where Switcher plugin for the device is available), you can select the layout and look of the DVE effect by specifying a preset style (Style), the preset transition and the DVE window labels (Label1 - Label8), as required:
  

  You can also provide static values directly on the template. Additionally, newsroom tags can be configured to enable control from the NRCS.

Top Scenes

A typical use of top scenes is as an opener. For example, the top scene is played to introduce the Eight O’clock News show with many visual effects that fade to the following camera scene, when the news host takes over.

To Create a template to play a top scene

1. Select an appropriate template, for example Graphic or Jingle, corresponding to your Engine Switcher-controlled operation.

2. Enable Switcher plugin for the device.

3. From the Switcher plugin properties menu, specify a top scene name:

   1. None (Top scene unchecked)

   2. Check Top scene and select from the drop-down list of top scenes (configured in the A/V Setup).
      

      

Time-related configurations

There are two time-related aspects for top scenes (similar to handling clips):

1. The time it takes for the scene to load. This is controlled automatically by Viz Mosart when cueing the story item.

2. The time it takes for the scene to run. This is controlled with the template configurations Fixed Duration and Autotake next.
   

   

• Top scenes are started from within a story item and if long enough, continue to play even when the item ends.

• Top scenes ignore story items boundaries. The take out of a story item must match the animation length of the top scene.

• Top scenes can be played on top of anything else.
  

  

To create a template that plays a Viz Engine Top scene

The sample script below (code block) performs this operation:

1. Initially the scene is fully opaque, covering the switcher completely.

2. On Take, an animation starts.

3. After a pre-defined time, the openers content disappears (animates or fades out).

The Engine Switcher workflow does not need to contain a script; it is purposefully designed for simplicity. A script can be added, to call the "clear_front_layer" routine of the switcher script which will force-remove the top scene from the front layer after the animation is finished.

Example Script

In this case a clear_front_layer button is added to the animation in the Stage

Effect Scenes

Effect scenes, similar to Top scenes, are loaded to the front layer of the Engine Switcher for an upcoming switch between sources. These scenes are loaded automatically once a transition effect is triggered in Viz Mosart. Scene names must be added to AV configuration and are typically named "effect_<id>".

Example Effect

1. The scene is fully transparent at the beginning of its animation.

2. At Take, an animation starts to show content, animating to fully cover the scene underneath it (switcher).

3. After a predefined time, the animation reaches the autotransback script routine, which triggers the switch in the Switcher Scene.

4. The animation fades out, being fully transparent again.

Script

To define a director

• A director has the following naming format:
  content_transition:<ID>:<direction>:<transition_name> where

• • ID: Superchannel ID

  • direction: AB or BA

  • transition_name: Name the transition that will be called in the UI (for example wipe).

To create an Effect

1. In Viz Mosart Mosart AV Automation:
   

   

2. In the Viz Engine Engine Switcher Configuration file, C:\ProgramData\vizrt\VizEngine\switcher_config.cfg

   #custom content transition effects

   <content_transitions>80:wipe,81:rotate,82:twist</content_transitions>

3. The effect is now available for selection in Viz Mosart:
   

Example - Effect 80 - Wipe:

A typical wipe is set up by animating the subchannel's X position from left to right, then having the other subchannel follow.

Example: Labels populated from a DataPool plugin

The default map name is MIXER_LABELS. This can be changed within the Engine Switcher Configuration.

In this example you use a Vizrt Datapool plugin to access the content of the shared memory and deliver its content to a specified text container.

• An SHMTracker plugin reads the memory content.

• The content is forwarded to any other Datapool plugin within the scene.

• Here, ataText receives the memory content from SHMTracker and parses the values into a readable format

• The content is pasted into the geometries Text plugin.

1. Create a container, name it labels.
   

   

   
   

2. Add the SHMTracker plugin to it.

3. Set a unique ID for Output Field Name, in this example mixer_labels.
   

4. To access the Switcher scenes used SHM, set Shared Memory Type to Distributed.

5. Assign Share Memory Key Name. Default is set to MIXER_LABELS.

6. Create a child container and name it label1.

7. Add the Data Text plugin.

8. Set Field Name to the same ID as used in the parent plugin. In this example, mixer_labels.

9. In Rebuild Now

   1. Check Trim Options.

   2. Check Remove Prefix Until and enter Sub String label1=
      This crops the label from the incoming string.

   3. Check Choose an Entry.

      1. Set Delimiter to |
         This crops the string, revealing the first label entry.
         

         

10. Repeat these steps for all required labels, modifying the sub-strings accordingly to label2= etc.

Example of a container script

The default map name is MIXER_LABELS. This can be changed within the Engine Switcher Configuration.

This simple script example shows how to read in the content of a shared memory map, parsing the content for label name and content and pasting it onto an existing text container.

The given example reacts on a mapping change that typically is triggered from cueing the next Box item.