Configuring Cinegy Air

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Configuration of the Cinegy Air application is performed in the "Cinegy Air PRO" tab:

multi_channel_mode_conf

The settings need to be defined here are described below in this article.

Global Settings

general_setup_config

Select the "Connect automatically" checkbox to enable Cinegy Air to automatically connect to the playout server(s) on startup.

Note
 When a user starts Cinegy Air control application, two processes are launched: CinegyAirServerEx.exe and CinegyAir.exe. The "Connect automatically" option defines CinegyAirServerEx.exe process behavior. When Cinegy Air control application is launched, a user can decide to cancel connecting to channels as well as closing the application but if the "Connect automatically" option has been ticked off, the playlist(s) are already sent to the Cinegy Playout server because CinegyAirServerEx.exe process has already connected to the engine on its startup, which may cause issues.

Select the "Swap control monitors" checkbox to swap the position of the control monitors on the playout control panel.

Important
 Refer to the Playout Control Panel section for the description of Air control monitors.

Select the "Don’t use Cinegy Browser" option if it is not required to use built-in Cinegy Browser for browsing through the Cinegy Archive database.

Security

Security settings provide user with the possibility to define the startup protection parameters as well as manage user’s permissions for editing playlist in active mode or enabling broadcast control.

To activate the security protection for Cinegy Air Control, press the "Security" button; the following dialog box appears:

cinegy_air_configurator_security

Here enable the password protection by ticking off the corresponding checkbox. Press the "Add" button to add a certain user or the whole group to the corresponding user group. The following dialog box appears:

cinegy_air_configurator_security_add

Here define the user or the whole group to be searched for.

Then press the "OK" button to apply the changes. Having set up the security parameters, the Cinegy Air control application will be launched with the security protection activated.

Important
 Refer to the Starting the Application article for more details about authorizing the Cinegy Air control application.

remove_button

Press the "Remove" button to remove the selected member from the corresponding user security group.
Note
 All logon events are tracked by the Cinegy Air application and written to the user log file when the security protection is activated.

Channels Configuration

The list of channels to control can be configured under the "Channel" panel. Multi-channel configuration is achieved by adding and configuring more than one channel. Each channel must be configured individually.

multi_channel_mode_new_item

air_channel_add

Press this button to add a new channel.
Note
 Once the channel is created, its name is written in red until you specify its playlist and engine parameters.
Note
 In order to prevent time differences between the control and playout stations, all Cinegy Air clients take the current time from the playout server.

air_channel_remove

Press this button to delete the selected channel.

air_channel_up air_channel_down

Use these buttons to change the channels order.

The following diagram represents multi-channel mode configuration:

multi_channel_mode

Time Zone

timezone_selection
Caution
 Time zone configuration is based on the DST shift. In order to ensure correct scheduled playback of playlist items during Daylight Saving Time changes, it is possible to define a time zone or a fixed time offset for each channel you are configuring.

Select the required time zone by choosing among options presented in the "Time zone" drop-down list. Selecting the time zone ensures the correct time offset for DST.

Note
 ISO 8601 UTC-aware time and date strings are used to define time in playlists stored in XML, preventing any ambiguity during seasonal time changes.

Checking the "Use fixed offset" option enables entering the required time offset in the time picker specifying hours, minutes and seconds. Using the fixed offset defines the server own time regardless of the time zone set.

If the "Use fixed offset" option is not checked, the selected time zone will be used instead.

Caution
 Time zone settings are set separately for each channel you are configuring.
Caution
 After applying time zone changes it is required to restart the Cinegy Air control application.

DST change affect playlists created using Cinegy Air v11 and converts them into a new format; once the Cinegy Air control application is launched, the following warning appears notifying about playlist format change:

new_playlist_format

TV Format, Playlist and Engines Configuration

In this section define the following settings:

conf_settings

  • Video system – the TV system used for broadcasting.

  • Audio level reference – the zero dB level for the VU meter.

  • Preserve original audio – the option for disabling the audio volume control on the playout control panel.

  • Engine 1, 2 – master and slave playout servers.

    Select the "Local" checkbox if Cinegy Playout is installed and launched on the local computer. In the corresponding "#" field next to the server IP address, define what engine instance will be used to process the specified playlist.

    Important
    		 Refer to the Multi-Instance Playout Service paragraph in the Cinegy Playout Manual to learn how to create additional Cinegy Playout instances.

  • Active playlist – the file with the *.MCRActive extension that contains the content of the active playlist.

    You can browse for an existing file or simply enter the file name in the defined location for a new file. The playlist will be restored from this file when you launch the Cinegy Air application in control mode. The playlist is automatically updated after each applied change. When the Cinegy Air application is closed, the currently used playlist is automatically saved to this file. If the *.MCRActive file is stored on the shared network drive and its location becomes unavailable, the applied changes will not be saved and the following error message will occur:

    unavailable_location

  • Backup location – specify the backup playlist location for the MCRActive and .bak file creation in the event of loss of access to the primary location. In case the location is unavailable or there is no sufficient rights to access it, the corresponding error message will appear:

    unavailable_backup_location

    Select the "Auto Append Playlist" checkbox to enable the auto-append feature. Once selected, the "Auto append folder" field becomes editable.

  • Auto append folder – the watch folder for the playlists to be automatically appended to the end of the current playlist. Once a playlist file is detected in this folder, validation of its TV format compatibility as well as its start date and time is performed automatically. If the playlist is scheduled to start in the future (i.e. it will not start immediately) and has the compatible format, it will be appended to the current playlist and the original playlist file will be moved to the "Processed" subfolder. If the playlist is scheduled to start in the past or has an incompatible format, it will not be appended and will be moved to the "Declined" subfolder. In this case the corresponding error message will be logged to the specified user log folder.

  • Auto item update – this option enables automatic update of items modified outside the playlist. Refer to the Auto Update of Playlist Items section for more information about this functionality.

    Note
    		 The result of the automatic item update operation is irreversible and may lead to unwanted changes in the playlist.

  • Shared playlist – this option allows you to edit the playlist from several computers simultaneously. If the playlist is changed on one computer, the changes will automatically appear in the playlist of Cinegy Air Control application running on the second computer. Refer to the Two Cinegy Air Clients, One Shared Playlist and One Playout Server paragraph for more information about this configuration model.

    Note
    		 Please note that the proper system time synchronization between two machines running Cinegy Air control applications ensures the correct work of the "Shared playlist" option.

  • No targeted channel override – select this option to prevent overwriting of the channel name value in MCRItems / MCRlists inserted in the playlist.

    Important
    		 Refer to the Insertion into Targeted Channel paragraph for more information on this feature.

CG Setting

  • Remote CG – the server and the instance number of the separate dedicated playout instance that renders Cinegy Title templates.

  • CG Repository – the location of the folder where Cinegy Title templates are stored.

    Note
    		 Cinegy Title templates are applied to items as secondary events.
    Important
    		 Refer to the Creating a New Title Scene article in the Cinegy Title Manual to learn how to create Cinegy Title templates.

Audio Settings

The audio matrix presets storage location can be defined in the "Audio Matrix presets" field.

Note
 If the audio matrix XML file cannot be found, opened or successfully processed, a warning prompt will be shown at the Cinegy Air startup. Cinegy Air control application will be loaded, but it will not be possible to change any audio matrices or audio encoding profiles. The valid audio matrix XML file should be specified in the Cinegy Air Configurator.

The "Legacy sequence audio" parameter defines how to process Sequences without master audio tracks prepared in Cinegy Desktop 9.1 and earlier.

Important
 Refer to the Sequence Compatibility article for more information on "Legacy sequence audio" handling.

Aspect Ratio

There are two parameters defining the aspect ratio values of the items inserted into a playlist.

aspect_ratio

Using the "Default original aspect" drop-down list, define the original aspect ratio value to be used by default for the source files inserted into a playlist. To define the aspect ratio value automatically, choose "Auto".

In the "Default target aspect" drop-down list, choose the target aspect ratio to be applied to playlist items. Set this value to "Original" to keep the original aspect ratio of a playlist item. If the "Stretch" value is selected, the target video stream is stretched to fill the entire frame, no cropping is applied.

Note
 Refer to the Aspect Ratio section for detailed information on playlist item display on the playout screen.

Variance Threshold

If there are gaps or overlaps between items start times in the playlist, the variance value is displayed in different color in the corresponding playlist column. A different color indication is also applied for the item duration and start time of the next item when there is a time discrepancy between them. In the "Variance threshold" field, you can specify a variance value, exceeding which leads to the use of following indication: red for negative variance values and blue for positive variance values. If the discrepancy is below the defined timecode value, no color indication is applied; the variance value is calculated and displayed in the corresponding playlist column.

Editing Secondary Events in the On-Air Items

To be able to add, change, or delete secondary events in the on-air item, enable the "Edit on-air item secondary events" option.

Having defined all necessary parameters, press "OK" to finish configuring the Cinegy Air control application.