BrightSign Support
There are several ways to do this in BrightAuthor.
Using a Background zone
Button presses (or other interactive events) can send a command to a background zone, and the background zone will only relay the command to play the next file if it receives an OK from the currently playing file indicating that it is done. So, it just requires using zone commands in addition to the normal events you're using. Click here to download an example project.
Using a User Variable and Conditional Targets
The following steps will show you how to build a presentation that does the following:
- Contains multiple video files.
- Transitions between videos using UDP commands.
- Ensures that the next video will not play immediately (i.e. not as soon as a UDP command is sent to the unit), but instead waits until the end of the current video before switching to a desired file.
Note: The example presentation file and video tutorial are attached below.
1. Create a new presentation with an interactive playlist. Add media files to the playlist.
In our example, we start playback from a home image, and wait to start video playback until the UDP command "start" is sent to the BrightSign player. Our normal loop will be video1 > video3 > video5: The unit will loop those videos by default until we send a UDP command to switch playback to video2 or video4.
2. Go to File > Presentation Properties > Variables. Add a variable to presentation.
Specify the name and default value of the variable. The value of a variable can be changed during a presentation by using the Set Variable or Reset Variable commands.
The variable will be our reference point. We will use Conditional Targets to decide which state the playback should switch to based on the value of the user variable.
3. Use Media End events to create the conditional transitions.
Under Media Library, select events and drag the Media End event onto the video1 file in playlist. In the video1 state, go to Advanced > Set Conditional Targets > Add Conditional Target. The default value of our "var" variable is 0:
- If "var" = 0, we want to transition from video1 to video3 (i.e. the standard playlist behavior).
- If "var" = 1, we want to transition from video1 to video2 (i.e. the first interrupt).
Drag a Media End event onto video3 and go to Advanced > Set Conditional Targets > Add Conditional Target. Assign the following conditions:
- If "var" = 0, then transit from video3 to video5 (i.e. the standard playlist behavior).
- If "var" = 1, then transit from video3 to video4 (i.e. the second interrupt).
4. Ensure the interrupt videos return to the standard playlist
After video2 has ended, we want to return to our normal loop. Use a Media End event to draw a connection from video2 to video3.
Double click the Media End icon, go to Advanced > Add Command, and select the Other -- Set Variable command. Select the variable ("var"), set the value to 0, and click OK. This will ensure that the variable value is reset once we return to the standard loop.
Repeat this step to draw a connection from video4 to video5.
5. Close the loop on the standard playlist
Select the Media End event from a tool bar and draw a connection from video5 back to video1.
Congratulations! The video zone is built. The final playlist should look like this:
6. Create a background zone to listen for the interactive events
We need a separate zone to listen for UDP messages and use them to modify our "var" variable, thus triggering the playlist interrupts.
Go to Edit > Layout and click Add Zone. Select an Audio Only zone.
Note: It doesn't have to be an Audio Only zone. We just want a zone that won't interfere with the visual aspects of a presentation.
7. Add Event Handlers to handle the interactive events
Go to Edit > Playlist and select the newly added Audio Only zone. Set the playlist type to interactive mode.
Under Media Library, select other and drag the Event Handler icon onto the playlist two times so that you have two Event Handler states. Name one "var=0" and the other "var=1"
Select the UDP Input Event from the tool bar and use it to draw a connection from the "var=0" state to the "var=1" state. Specify the UDP input as "go".
Double click the second Event Handler ("var=1"), go to Advanced > Add Command and select the Other -- Set Variable command. Select the variable ("var"), set the value to 1, and click OK.
Select another UDP Input Event from the tool bar and use it to draw a connection from the "var=1" state back to the "var=0" state. Specify a UDP input as "go".
Notes:
- The UDP Input Event isn't a requirement: You can build a project using whatever interactive events your BrightSign player supports.
- You can add more than one variable to a presentation and use them, along with the Conditional Targets feature, to create more complex playlists.
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