This document describes all new features which have been added since v.3.5. Please read What’s New Playout v.3.0, 3.1 and 3.5 for more information about previous releases. |
Our playout solutions v.4.0 support macOS Catalina (10.15.7), macOS Big Sur (11.7.x) and macOS Monterey (12.6.x) on Intel-based Mac's and Apple silicon-based Mac minis / Mac Studios.
Version 4.1 introduces support for macOS Ventura (13.x) on Intel-based Mac's and Apple silicon-based Mac minis / Mac Studios. If you plan to run macOS Ventura (13.x) then please update to Version 4.1/4.2.
Before installing, make sure that Gatekeeper is properly configured as shown here. If desired, you may revert the setting after the installation has succeeded.
Simple Graphics Function: Version 4.0 introduces a new way to use on-air graphics. This new feature is aimed at customers that do not necessarily require animated graphics for their channels but want to air a simple station bug or independently need to define two still images where one will be played by default for every element in the video track (movie, live event, and so on) and the other one whenever a live event on air.
OP-47 and improved subtitle support: Version 4.0 supports the insertion of OP-47 subtitles as VANC data into the SDI signal, either embedded in the MXF container or provided as EBU-STL or SRT sidecar files. In addition, sidecar files in the SCC, MCC, or SRT formats are now supported for CEA-608 or CEA-708 closed captions. Please see the Administrator Manual for more information about the feature itself and the current limitations.
Improved Channel Handling: In addition to the already extensive professional playout features, version 4.0 extends its channel handling capabilities by allowing ad-hoc changes to non-engine related settings, without affecting the on-air signal. This also applies to changes to a channel with a redundant engine.
The library views in just:play or just:live’s scheduling tab now have an additional “Length (In-Out)” column to show the length of a video between the defined in- and out-points. In case this is different to the video’s original length, the length is marked in yellow.
The As-Run-Log now correctly logs Gap and Placeholder items as “Aired Gap” and “Aired Placeholder” respectively instead of just “Aired”.
When creating a SCTE-104 VANC event, there are now three commands available: “Splice Request” (this was previously available), “Time Signal Request” and “Insert Segmentation Descriptor Request”. In addition, multiple SCTE-104 commands may be combined in a single preset, and these will be grouped together into a single VANC packet.
It is now possible to trigger actions in Just Control via GPI (Service USB device). Please contact ToolsOnAir support directly if you want to use this feature.
Added a new “Heartbeat timeout” property to the engine configuration panel. This allows you to specify a longer timeout that is used to detect that Just Out has stopped sending heartbeats and should be disconnected. This may be relevant when using failover control when network issues may sometimes cause heartbeats to drop out for a few seconds.
Stopping a channel in Just Control Configurations now only stops the main engine and not the redundant engine. This allows customers with a redundant setup to maintain a channel without interrupting the On Air signal.
New “Gap After” status in a playlist where a gap exists before the next playlist. This is shown at the bottom of the playlist.
Version 4.1 adds support for macOS Ventura (13.x) on Intel-based Mac's and Apple silicon-based Mac minis / Mac Studios. We have partially tested compatibility with macOS Catalina (10.15.7) and expect that customers will be able to use this version of the macOS with v.4.1 as well.
Several speed improvements and bug fixes related to the engine and the user interfaces. Especially customers using several channels in the same just:control UI, and/or a NAS for the video repository, will see huge speed improvements. Please see the ReadMe in the Just Playout folder for all bug fixes and new features coming with this version.
The “Codec” column in the Library now shows the full name of the codec when available instead of the 4-character-code.
If the output device is “lost” during playout (e.g. a device connected via thunderbolt when the cable is disconnected or the device loses power), Just Out now restarts automatically, the channel is shown as “offline” in Just Control and an error is displayed. Once the device is restored, Just Out will automatically resume playing.
When creating SCTE-104 event presets, there is a new “Splice Null Request” option.
It is now possible to preview and trim growing movie files both in the Library for scheduled items (e.g. in just:live’s Workbench). While the movie is selected but not “loaded” in the preview (only showing the poster frame), the overlay will show the clip’s current duration as it grows. Once “loaded” (e.g. after playing the movie), the movie will no longer update automatically and you can only preview/play the clip up to the duration when you started playing the movie.
Added a new preference to the “Playout” preferences in Just Control to enable synchronising a movie’s in-point and poster frame. When enabled, after trimming a scheduled movie the poster frame is automatically set to the new in-point.
When previewing a graphic in the library that has a “custom HTML control interface” defined, the custom interface is now shown in a separate window. When such a graphic is on-air, the custom interface is also shown, or can be opened by selecting the graphic in the schedule and clicking the “Open” button in the Inspector’s “Custom Interface” group.
All event related attributes (e.g. “Start Event”) and the “Events” tab in the Library are no longer shown for channels that do not have an event layer.
When a channel with “Failover Control” activated is stopped in Just Control, the channel now first switches to the “REDUNDANT” state, including firing any defined events. This will remain the failover state until the channel is restarted.
The “Show Metadata” menu item in the scheduling tab’s “View > Workbench Columns” menu is now disabled if the channel does not have any metadata fields defined.
It is now possible to rename event device configurations. This may be necessary if you have two or more event devices using the same device to prevent them having the same name.
Just Control now uses Metal for rendering all of the overlays (e.g. timecode and audio bars) for improved performance and to ensure compatibility with future releases of macOS.
Support for the latest AJA SDK: If you are using AJA hardware, please update your drivers to v.16.2.5.
Rules: In addition to the ability to define Events that can be scheduled and played out using the just:live or just:play user interface, it is now possible to execute such elements based on certain conditions like the engine status (automated failover control) or based on time. This allows scheduling repeating events per second, hour, minute, or day for a certain channel within the Just Connect Configuration window and therefore without messing up the timeline of the user interface.
Greyed out jump to next button: Like with v.2.x and earlier, the jump to next button is greyed out for 2 seconds once pressed. This avoids the operator from pressing the “Jump to Next” button a second time after skipping the currently playing element.