Working with Templates

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In Cinegy Title Studio, media organization is structured around production folders, each representing a distinct show created within the application. Every production folder contains all essential components for that show, including Cinegy Title templates, playlist items, data sources, and working environment configuration files. These configuration files store information about which templates are assigned to which layers, their order within those layers, and details about user interface customizations, such as panels resizing.

This architecture ensures a smooth and efficient workflow when managing multiple shows. By simply switching to a different production folder, the user instantly enters the complete context of another show, with all its associated assets and configurations. As a result, transitioning between productions becomes fast, consistent, and highly efficient.

Tip	In the following public GitHub repository you can download sample Cinegy Title templates for testing: https://github.com/Cinegy/Title

Production Folder Selection

When the application is launched for the first time, no production folder is defined. A corresponding message is displayed in the lower-left corner of the Template list panel.

To define a production folder, use the "File" → "Select folder" main menu command and in the folder selection dialog choose the desired folder:

The selected production folder is remembered and automatically loaded in the next application session.

If a production folder was previously selected in the application but later becomes inaccessible (for example, if it was deleted, access permissions were revoked, or the network share went offline), the following warning is displayed on the application start:

Template List

This panel displays all Cinegy Title templates stored in the selected production folder. The folder contents are presented in a grid format, showing each template’s thumbnail (represented by its middle frame), name, description, and controls for sending the template on-air on a specified layer.

Cinegy Title templates are sorted alphabetically by name in the Templates list. Use the Title_Studio_sorting_button to toggle the sorting order between ascending (A to Z) and descending (Z to A).

After double-clicking a template in the grid, it is loaded into the Edit/Preview panel. The template currently loaded in the Edit/Preview panel is displayed in bold font in the template list grid.

The Cinegy Title template can be sent straight on-air from the Template list panel. To do this, specify the layer on which the template will be applied and press the "Play" button:

Playlist

The Playlist panel displays Cinegy Title templates that have been drag-and-dropped from the Template list, thereby saving them as playlist items within the current production folder. The information within playlist is presented in the form of the grid specifying the type, name, description of the playlist item and the layer it is set to be applied on.

To add a Cinegy Title template to the playlist, drag it from the Template List panel. A green line will indicate the insertion position within the playlist:

After dropping the template at the desired position, the following dialog is open:

Here you can define the name and description of the playlist item. Each playlist item must have a unique name that differs from the name of the corresponding Cinegy Title template, in order to prevent confusion and potential playback errors. Press "OK" button to finish adding an item to the playlist. The template is saved as a playlist item, retaining its current variable values and the layer to which it is assigned in the Template list.

To change the name or description of an item in the playlist grid, click within the corresponding column and press F2. The "Name" or "Description" field will then enter text editing mode:

Press Enter to apply the changes, or Esc to discard any modifications made to the item name or description.

To change the order of playlist items within the grid, click and drag the item to the desired position.

You can remove unnecessary item from the playlist by using the "Remove Item" command from the item context menu.

Double-click a playlist item in the grid to load the referenced Cinegy Title template into the Edit/Preview panel. The loaded playlist item is displayed in bold in the playlist grid.

Press the "Play" button to send the playlist item on air on the specified layer:

Editing Playlist Items

There are two types of items in playlist: manual and automated. Automated playlist items are Cinegy Title templates mapped to external data (XML, JSON, Excel), while manual items are saved with variable values edited manually.

Important

The detailed description of working with automated items is provided in the Automation article.

Unavailable Templates Handling

If the original template becomes unavailable within the production folder, a red exclamation mark is displayed for the corresponding item in the playlist that references it. Such an item is disabled for selection within the playlist and cannot be previewed or sent to playout.

All items that have missed referenced title template can be deleted from the playlist via the "Clean up playlist" option in the "Edit" menu.

Previewing and Editing Templates

Cinegy Title template is loaded into the Edit/Preview Panel after double-clicking in the Template List or in Playlist panel.

At the top of the panel, the template name is displayed in bold yellow font, preceded by the name of the panel from which the template was opened, shown in bold white font.

The Cinegy Title template will be displayed in the preview window, along with safe zones to help control the positioning of template objects. You can view any frame of the template by dragging the time slider or using the "Play" button.

The start and end frames of the loop span are shown as blue bars on the scrollbar. During preview, for the template to leave loop, press the "Exit Loop" button.

plays_pauses_scenes

starts/stops the scene playback;

next_keyframe

exits loop set up via Cinegy Title Editor.

If multiple layouts are configured for the Cinegy Title template, each will be displayed on its separate tab. Switch between the tabs to preview the corresponding layout.

Previewing Area Settings

It is possible to define viewing mode for the preview window. The options are solid color background, transparent background and alpha layer preview. Viewing mode can be switched using the following icons in the bottom right corner of the canvas panel:

Canvas_view_background

When "Solid background" is selected, the background color specified during the Cinegy Title template creation stage is displayed in the viewing area. For detailed information on setting the background color, refer to the Background section in the Cinegy Title Manual.

Note	Please note, the solid background color is used only on the Cinegy Title template previewing stage and is not passed to the output.

Canvas_view_transparent

When "Transparent background" mode is selected, the background is changed to a checkered board for better understanding of objects transparency.

Canvas_view_alpha_scene

Use "Alpha layer" viewing option to preview the alpha (key) value of the objects, to estimate and adjust their transparency.

floating_window

When the "Show in floating window" button is pressed, the preview area opens in a separate window, allowing you to enlarge the preview size or display it on a second monitor.

Editing Variables

The "Variables" tab displays the list of variables defined for the current Cinegy Title template. Variables can be edited on the fly, even while the template is on air. To modify a variable, click in the "Value" field and enter the desired data. Any changes made to variable values are reflected instantly in the Edit/Preview panel.

Title_Studio_update_variables

After defining the new variable value(s), click the "Update variables" button to apply the changes on air on the specified layer.

Working With Text-Based Variables

If a variable of the "Text" type contains long text, just one line with the beginning of the text will be displayed in the "Value" field along with the "…" button that opens the extended text window. In this window the variable text can be edited.

Text formatting can be applied via tags or using the interface elements. In the "Edit text" dialog, the buttons for applying bold, italic attributes, changing foreground and background colors, inserting images into text are available if the "Show tags" option is disabled. Otherwise, it is necessary to enter corresponding tags to change the text formatting.

You can format text using the following tags: [b] [/b] for bold, [i] [/i] for italic, [color] [/color] and [bgcolor] [/bgcolor] for text and background color formatting respectively as it is shown in the example below:

Alternatively, disable the "Show tags" option and use the formatting buttons:

Note	The text formatting buttons are active if the cursor is placed inside the text.

Select the "Word Wrap" checkbox to split long text into lines inside the text field in the "Edit text" dialog without actual line breaks.

Formatting

Select the text or place the cursor inside the word and press the "Set Bold" and/or "Set Italic" button(s) to apply the corresponding formatting. The button with applied formatting will be highlighted in light grey.

Color

To apply the foreground or background text color, press the corresponding button. Pressing the title_smatr_text_box_unfold sign opens the following drop-down menu:

Note	The most recently used color is displayed on the "Foreground" and "Background" buttons.

Choose one of the pre-selected or recently used colors or press the "Create Custom Color…" button to define another color, the "Select color" dialog will be open. Here you can define the color components in different color modes:

Note	You can also use predefined basic colors or recently used colors from the corresponding palettes.

For the foreground color, applying the "Reset Color" command changes the text color to the value defined in the "Color" field. Resetting the background color removes the color highlighting from the text.

Note	If a text color is defined via the "Foreground" button when the "Text" field is empty, the same color is applied to the "Color" parameter.

Note	If all text is selected in the "Text" field, the color set via the "Foreground" button is also applied to the "Color" parameter.

Image

To add an image inline with text, press the "Insert image" button; the following options are available:

Select the size of the image to be inserted - the size of uppercase, lowercase characters or the full font size (the height of the string for the defined font size). The "Default font size" option corresponds to the value defined with the "Default Graphics Size" parameter. Then the common file selection dialog is open.

Following are the results of the image inline insertion:

Sending a Template On-air

The Cinegy Title template can be sent on-air from the Edit/Preview Panel. Whether the template was simply previewed or its variable values were edited, the following controls are available for sending the template on-air:

Here specify the layer on which the Cinegy Title template will be applied and press this button to sent the template to air on the specified layer.

Saving Templates

To save the changes introduced to the variables defined for the playlist item, simply press the "Save" button.

Note	The "Save" button is not active for the templates added to the Preview\Edit panel from the Template list.

Saving changes as a playlist item via "Save to playlist" button creates a link to the original template. This approach maintains a connection to the original template, meaning that the changes to the original template will be reflected in the playlist item. Also a set of variables specific to the playlist item is stored, enabling customized playback settings without altering the original template.