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LiveText projects are launched from the Session Page in TriCaster’s Startup Screen. After creating a new session or opening an existing one, click Graphics on the icon ring (see Section 5.3). This reveals options and links at right, discussed previously in the Startup Screen chapter just mentioned.
21.1.1 SESSIONS, PROJECTS AND DISPLAY
LiveText uses the current session settings for output to TriCaster’s video outputs, new projects (created within the LiveText File menu or from the Session Page) and bitmap file exports. If you use the File menu to Open a project whose settings do not correspond to the current session settings, TriCaster will attempt to display it on its hardware video outputs, if possible.
LiveText sends output from the canvas to TriCaster’s outputs continuously while running. For this reason, the Live Display pane and associated tools that appear at upper-right (above the Pages Panel) in LiveText standalone do not appear in TriCaster’s LiveText interface.
When LiveText is running, TriCaster’s video outputs (rows 1-3) will all conform to the session format. That is, if the project is HD, the SDI outputs will all be HD, and the analog outputs will be Component HD.
Likewise when the project is SD, the SDI outputs will all be SD. As there are multiple connection options for analog SD video, please refer to the following table in this case:
Row Number | SDI | Analog BNC 1 | Analog BNC 2 | Analog BNC 3 |
1 | SD | Y | Pb | Pr |
2 | SD | Composite | Y | C |
Note: It is possible to use LiveText’s File menu to open a project that does not correspond to the current session settings. TriCaster will attempt to provide video output, but it’s possible that a given monitor may not display it correctly.
LiveText’s file dialogs (for File>Open, File>Add, File>Save and Save As) have pre- configured QuickTabs pointing to the following default paths for the current session.
Note: the Quicktab links refer to ‘session-dependent’ paths, thus are not permanent. That is, for a given session, the path the Quicktab refers to is established at launch time. For this reason, the TriCaster version of LiveText does not support user-added Quicktabs.
LiveText’s File menu has two special items – Send Current Page to Live, and Send All Pages to Live. (These take the place of other export options appearing in the standalone version of LiveText.) As you would expect, these functions creates files for use in the Live Desktop, automatically storing them in the correct place(s) for easy access.
Titles prepared in LiveText can be either still or motion pages. When you send a still page to Live, it becomes a Title Page file, with the characteristic filename extension “.cgxml”. Title Page files can be edited in the Live Desktop’s Media Players. Send Current Page to Live will automatically store exported title page files in the D:Media\Titles\sessionname\projectname folder.
Motion pages (scrolls and crawls) that you send to Live are stored as bitmap animation files (with an .avi file extension), suitable for playback in Live Desktop’s DDR. These are sent to the session folder inside TriCaster’s main Clips folders. The content of motion pages cannot be edited in the Live Desktop.
When you select Send All Pages to Live, each page in the project is exported in turn to the appropriate format and location. This means they are readily accessible in the Live Desktop’s Media Browser afterward, for easy addition to a Media Player playlist. Title Page icons will appear grouped under their project names in the Media Browser’s File Pane when you select the session name in the Location List at left.
Among other things, the Title Editor in TriCaster’s Media Players (DDR, Still and Titles) allows you to substitute a different image for stand-in (or “placeholder”) images in Title Pages (.cgxml) exported from LiveText (working with stand-in images is discussed in Section 11.3).
When creating title pages for this purpose in LiveText, you may find it saves you time to add the string “_placeholder” somewhere in the filename of images you prepare for this purpose. For example, you might name an image "headshot_placeholder.png", or "_PLACEHOLDER_crest.jpg".
Images named in this manner will automatically appear as stand-in images (unlocked) in the Title Pages you export to TriCaster using the Send to Live options in LiveText’s File menu.