Production Switchers

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

XPression Designer is the Creation tool for working with the XPression Graphics platform.  As a bonus with Carbonite Hardware based switchers you get the Live CG (designer dongle) included with a switcher.

You run that on a Windows PC with nVidia Graphics and can link the Media Store channels to be used as "frame Buffers" that it can control with Still only capability.

You can still design full motion and even export those to TGA or PNG sequences to load into the switcher RAM cache like other stills or Animations as well.

It's a similar process in this case to how your exporting from Photo Shop / After Effects to sequences to be loaded into the switcher.

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

XPression Designer is the Creation tool for working with the XPression Graphics platform.  As a bonus with Carbonite Hardware based switchers you get the Live CG (designer dongle) included with a switcher.

You run that on a Windows PC with nVidia Graphics and can link the Media Store channels to be used as "frame Buffers" that it can control with Still only capability.

You can still design full motion and even export those to TGA or PNG sequences to load into the switcher RAM cache like other stills or Animations as well.

It's a similar process in this case to how your exporting from Photo Shop / After Effects to sequences to be loaded into the switcher.

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

"You can still design full motion and even export those to TGA or PNG sequences to load into the switcher RAM cache like other stills or Animations as well."

What? I can do animations in Designer?

XPression Designer is the Creation tool for working with the XPression Graphics platform.  As a bonus with Carbonite Hardware based switchers you get the Live CG (designer dongle) included with a switcher.

You run that on a Windows PC with nVidia Graphics and can link the Media Store channels to be used as "frame Buffers" that it can control with Still only capability.

You can still design full motion and even export those to TGA or PNG sequences to load into the switcher RAM cache like other stills or Animations as well.

It's a similar process in this case to how your exporting from Photo Shop / After Effects to sequences to be loaded into the switcher.

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 13:22
From: Danny Skarka
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------

Sure. For animations, make them in After Effects with a green background (or any color that doesn't conflict with the graphics pallet) and export as 1920x1080 HD 59.94. (need that frame rate for animations to work, it seems). Make each lower 3rd it's own media file. Those will most likely be really small files that load fast. If you are going the Clip Player route, alpha doesn't matter. It doesn't use it. It's a basic full screen video player. Hence, the Chroma Key. 

Custom Control makes it very simple to use during the show. 

Again, I'm not sure of your gear. This is based on a Carbonite Ultra and a TouchDrive 2 panel. Your milage may vary. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 14:04
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Not familiar with Expression Designer...I work solely with Adobe products. Is it saving a .png with an alpha? What kind of file is it saving?

Ill definitely dig into the Custom Controls...thanks.

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 13:22
From: Danny Skarka
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

This may be irrelevant because of a different use case, but I do lower 3rds all the time with Carbonite/TD2.

• Make static L3rds in Expression Designer
• Export as single images to the PC. 
• Use Filezilla to put them in a folder in Carbonite 
• Use a Custom Control to recall them into any of the 4 Media Players
• These lower 3rds recall immediately when you recall the CC and is my favorite approach. 

We recently had a GRX designer create lower 3rds as 1920x1090 pngs, with the graphic element positioned as to where it would be on the screen.

Imported to Carbonite using Filezilla and again a CC to recall. 

On one occasion, someone made me a lower 3rd on Powerpoint which I then needed to import, mask and position with a DVE. 

For animated lower 3rds, I have used the ClipPlayer, with the lower3rd built over green and chromakeyed in the DSK. Again, Custom Control recalls the clip. I used the programable "Trans 1" button as a CC recall that turned the DSK on and then "played" the clip. So, 2 CCs .. one to recall the clip, a second to insert and play, with that second CC mapped to the Trans 1 button. 

Using a Custom Control, you can add a "hold" so that the next press fades out the DSK, or a pause that keeps the DSK active long enough for the animation to animate out and then turn off the DSK for you. All these senarios worked like a champ for a TD who was not super skilled at drive a switcher. It was all just 2 buttons. 

------------------------------
[Danny] [Skarka] Ross Pilot since Synergy
[Producer, Director, Technical Director]
San Francisco United States

Original Message:
Sent: 04-25-2024 10:10
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

I like the idea of just exporting to size. Unfortunately the system is a cross rental. I have asked for 2 full MEs, but other than that I have no info from the gear list. This is good info though.

I'll reach out to the gear supplier and get more specs on the brain and see what they have for software and features.

Thanks so much. Love the ROSS!!!

------------------------------
Tim Baker

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 15:07
From: Les O'Reilly
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

The issue you will have is going to be having these pre-cached.  How long is each one going to be?

to reduce overall cache use you would be best that they design them and export them to only using the pixel counts that they are.

Even if full width of say 1920 in HD/3G then only have them export the height that is needed for the lower third.  ie export as 1920x300 if that is all it needs.  This will help reduce the amount of space that each lower third image will need in RAM CACHE.  Then you can use the item properties to position it on the screen where it needs to be in x and y location (No DVE is used.. it's just where the media will be place in the raster).

You don't mention what switcher your using or the software version it is running (3S is the panel not the frame) but if it has the Sequencers then yes you could make sequencer entries for each lower third and then just use it like a playlist to cue each one up.  then if you dissolve or cut the key on (having set Auto Play in the parameters) it will  auto play when it goes to air.

This though is a great example where an external device with Video and Alpha -- or better yet XPression Graphics since then this would be a template that you fill in the text and it would render real time vs exporting numerous amounts of lower thirds as pre-rendered files.

------------------------------
Les O'Reilly
Director - Switcher Product Management

Original Message:
Sent: 04-24-2024 13:55
From: Tim Baker
Subject: Best practices for building Lower Thirds with Alpha for storage in a playlist?

Hey all,

I have a job coming up that will require animated lower thirds...probably 20 per day of individual speakers at an event. I am looking for the best practices to build and save/export the animated lower thirds so that I can preload them into the Carbonite 3S switcher for easy advancement to next speaker, but also a standardized key for recall when i need to put the lower third on screen.

Graphic artist is about a week away from building all of these...probably 100+ and I would like to have specs ready and my process for storing in the switcher in a play list or whatever way is best before they get started.  I really dont want to have to run these from an external laptop or source.

Thanks in advance.
Tim

------------------------------
Tim Baker
------------------------------