HyperCaster v6.2 and above gives you the ability to Schedule a Playlist. (In earlier versions of the HyperCaster, playlists were used only for continuity.) A scheduled playlist will run at the scheduled time for the duration of the full playlist, including all of the playlist items.
See these instructions to Create a Playlist.
To schedule a Playlist in Calendar View:
- Select Playlist from the Content filter at the top to display all playlist thumbnails
- Drag and drop thumbnail of selected playlist into calendar schedule
To schedule a Playlist in Classic View:
- Click the Add a Playlist button to open the scheduling options:
- Fill in the fields on the screen as described below.
Channel & Playlist
- Channel – If this is a multi-channel installation select a channel from the drop-down list. If this is a single-channel installation the channel will already be selected.
- Playlist –Select any file from the drop-down list. Duration of the playlist will be automatically displayed.
Date & Time
- Start – Use a Calendar icon to select a start date or enter a date in the form MM-DD-YYYY up to one year from today.
- Time – Enter the start time in HH:MM:SS format using 24-hour time. For example, 1:00 PM is 13:00:00.
- Play Immediately – To start playout as soon as the Save button is clicked, check this box.
- Cancel Conflicting Events – Check this box if you want the current event to take precedence over any previously-scheduled events.
Optional Recurrence
- Day of Week – Check one or more boxes to the right of the day of the week to have the file play on that day at the specified time. To play the file every day, click Daily, which will check all the boxes. To uncheck all the boxes, click None. There is a one-year limit on recurring playouts.
- Until Date – Use a Calendar icon to select the last day for the recurring playout. If you are playing the file on several days of the week, it will play on the last day up to and including the date you select. There is a one-year limit on recurring playouts.
Click here for more information on scheduling, viewing and editing recurring events.
Optional Program Guide Data
- Include in Program Guide – checked by default. If you do not want the program guide report to display this playout, such as for a test file, uncheck this box.
- Track Content Metadata – checked by default. If the box is checked, the schedule will use the metadata stored for this content file. Uncheck the box to override the metadata for the selected file.
- Program Code –A code that distinguishes what type of program this is, if program codes are used in this installation.
- Episode Code –A code that distinguishes what episode of a series this is, if episode names are used in this installation.
- Program – If this installation does not use program codes, the name of the program.
- Episode – (when episode codes are not used) If the file is part of a series and each episode has a name, it is displayed here.
- Description – Type a detailed description of the content.
Click the Save button to add the playlist to the schedule.
The server checks for errors. If none are detected, the Programming page is displayed with the new entry.
Playlist events on the Classic scheduling view include a + button to expand the entry and see the individual items that will play in that playlist.
As Run reporting will show entries for both the entire playlist, and each individual playlist item, and you can selectively filter either or both out using the event type checkbox filters.
Once you have scheduled a playlist, if any of the content files used as playlist items are subsequently replaced with files of different durations, it will impact the timing of the playlist as follows:
- Replacing such that an item is longer than as originally scheduled will automatically truncate the item to preserve the total scheduled duration for existing events for that playlist.
- Replacing such that an item is shorter than as originally scheduled will automatically shorten the entire playlist, leaving a gap in the schedule for the difference.