9. Just Connect (v.5.x)
Make sure that Just Connect is not started automatically using the “Login Items” functionality of the system preference pane “Users & Groups” or “General → Login Items”. Instead, use “Stay Alive” to start the application automatically after a restart of the Mac or a crash.
Just Connect acts like a channel manager, receiving and processing all the information related to a channel. At the same time, it connects all Just Out engine(s) and Just Control user interface(s) which are related to a particular channel administrated by Just Connect.
Key Features
Channel Repository: Just Connect holds all the information about a channel, such as Format, related User Interface, used video hardware, and more.
Centralized Schedule: For each Channel, a single copy of the schedule is held by Just Connect, which is sent to the clients automatically.
Rights Management: Control of who may connect to a Channel and what rights a user has to alter a schedule.
Redundancy: Optionally, a second Just Out engine can be defined for each Layer to act as a redundant Playout node. In this case, every change made in just:live/just:play will be automatically sent to the Primary and the Redundant engine.
Automatic Channel Backup: There is a backup feature that allows you to automatically back up all of your Channel configurations to a second destination.
Interface
Just Connect comes with a very basic interface, which shows important information about the status of a Channel.
Before activation and without a connected Just Out Engine
All Channels: TRIAL MODE – there is no licensed Channel yet and therefore the channels are in Trial Mode.
Memory: Shows the amount of RAM used by Just Connect
Channel: Shows the Channel name, and if the Master or the Redundant engine is on air, the IP address, Port, and the output device used.
Status: in this example, “Waiting for engines” means that there is no connection to the Just Out engine assigned to this Channel.
Scheduling: Shows the user interface defined for this Channel.
Video Mode: Shows the video mode defined for this Channel.
Port: Shows the Port defined for this Channel.
Buffer: Shows the buffer status of the Just Out engine currently on air. This is empty for a Channel that is not playing out.
After activation and with a connected Just Out Engine
All Channels: number of Channels licensed that can be used for production playout.
Memory: Shows the amount of RAM used by Just Connect.
Channel: Shows the Channel name, and if the Master or the Redundant engine is on air, the IP address, Port, and the output device used.
Status: in this example, “Playing” means that there is a Just Out engine assigned to this Channel which is started and connected.
Scheduling: Shows the user interface defined for this Channel.
Video Mode: Shows the video mode defined for this Channel.
Port: Shows the Port defined for this Channel.
Buffer: Shows the buffer status of the Just Out engine currently on air.
While Just Connect does all those things, the setup and administration of the channels is done in Just Control, which provides a centralized user interface to define the attributes of all Channels.
The following chapters describe how to create a Channel for the first time, but also how to add a new Offline or Online Channel to the existing list of Channels using Just Control. In addition to the basic setup, we will describe how to add further functions to a Channel using the Expert User mode.