The system consists of a server housed in the equipment room with a decklink card running software called CASPAR CG (open source).
The two iMacs (that can still be used for Premiere playback as a backup) are used to setup playback lineups and control playback of the CASPAR CG software.
The software running on the iMacs to control CASPAR is called SuperConductor download here (also open source.)
User Logs in to IMac A or B
With EID and Pw
Then Copies the settings from tempstorage to
the Documents folder
(Keefe working on a script
that does this automatically?)
...
Note see the bottom of this wiki for additional network configuration
Next mount the media server so can add filesto the playback libraryClick on >Go>Connect to Server Files.Note that files should be a .mp4 or .h264 of thestory package or PSA commercial to play duringthe newscast | Click on>Go>Connect to Server | ||
Enter the IP address of the Caspar server -smb://192.168.1.1Then clickClick on Connect | |||
Enter in the -User Name and PWisuser: ftp password: casparftp | mount "Media" share | is taped to the computer monitorat the top of the screen | |
Mount the volume share named ‘media’. | |||
If this is your first time logging into this system this semester then located on the volume share named ‘media’ is a folder named_NEED FOR DOCUMENTS FOLDER_Inside of that folder is a folder named SuperConductor. Copy that folder and paste it into your user’s Documents folder. | |||
Next look for the app namedSuperConductor in Applications | When the application opens Check that the server is connected to the application. Go to >Home >Bridges >Check Casper CG in the upper left corner and >Internal Bridge >Devices Status should all be green If not green then RESTART the IMac don't just log out RESTART and tha seems to fix it. | ||
Once SuperConductor is launched you should see a green indicator in the upper right corner that indicates you are connected to the Caspar server. If that indicator is red then you need to check the Bridges settings (see next item). | |||
If the indicator is red then select the Home tab and then select BridgesCheck to see if the IP address for the Caspar server is set to 192.168.1.1If it is not then you probably need to quit out of SuperConductor and copy the folder from 3 steps earlier over to your user Documents folder. Then go ahead and RESTART the entire computer. Don’t just log out, please REBOOT.If the IP address for the server is set to 192.168.1.1 and SuperConductor is still not connecting to the Caspar server then please request assistance. | |||
NextClick on LayersDVR A and B have settingsExample here is DVRB should be set toChanel 2 Layer 1 andCasparCG 2-1 should be set toChanel 2 Layer 1DVRA shouldbe set toChanel 1 Layer 1 andCasparCG 1-1 should be set toChanel 1 Layer 1 | |||
Next to add content to the Media serverSimply drag over the file to the media server as shownThe file should automatically show up in theSuperConductor library. If it does not load open QuickTime player and export outa 1080 file to recompress and it will fix the problem and thefile will show up in the app.QuickTime Player – Export a H264 file | |||
The file should automatically show up in theSuperConductor library.hit refresh on SuperConductor | |||
Click on Default Rundown tab to use the rundown playbackhit refresh on SuperConductor (need a picture for this)When the file loads into the library drag it tothe Rundown menuOnce the file is loadedthen, click theCue first part buttonto cue up the clip for playback | Then when DVRA or B is pressed on the Ross Switcher the file will play automatically. |
Katherine Heard set this up before she left, but ran out of time to document before she left. Hopefully we can get her back in a month and she can get all the things in this wiki. The crash cart is a useful KVM in the equipment rack room to use for directly plugging into the CASPAR server for configuration, for example, we already messed up the ftp login and had to re allow access by this method.
The advantage of this setup is that it does not require setup of a timeline. It accepts all frame rates, and raster sizes and does the conversion in realtime...so, the students are told 1080i, but if they mess that up, no big deal.
These general users (like ftp) will not and should not be the final way we use this system, but for now we're doing our best to try and get this thing rolling without spending 40k on a play out system...this was essentially free.
To Play SuperConductor from iMac
To control SuperConductor from Ross switcher
...
play button when you want to play the desired clipCueing has proven to be more trouble than needed, so do NOT cue any clips | |
To delete a rundownClick on the RED trash can to delete | |
Confirm you want to delete and click DELETE | |
Tech Note:Check the 2nd Ethernet port that connects to the Caspar serverThis port must be set to the same IP range of the server.Caspar IP is 192.168.1.1Station 1 should be set to Manual IP192.168.1.5Station 2 should be set to Manual IP192.168.1.6 |



