Reference Manual

About	Description
Revision	6.1
History	v1.0
Authors	RTSW Support

 

Overview

Tactic Lite is an interactive application that allows you to place specifically designed graphics into recorded video. It has various configurations and modes of operation that meet the demands of sports analysts worldwide.

Tactic Lite may be used by presenters live on air to enhance discussions and analysis of sporting moments.

Tactic Lite can work with either internal, file based clips or via external baseband SDI video coming from either live sources or from VTR devices using a number of industry standard protocols. Video control is provided via an intuitive VTR control panel on screen.

Tactic Lite operates in 2 distinct camera modes. The camera mode dictates how the graphics drawn will appear in relation to the real broadcast camera used to film the footage. These modes are:

• 2D Camera – This is the simplest of all the modes and the graphics appear flat to the screen.
• 3D Camera – This uses a perspective camera. Graphics will appear on the playing surface and may be keyed between players and grass.  You can select from a list of preset camera positions or create your own. These may be used on a freeze frame of the video clip.

Both modes are available instantly.

As well as supplying a set of predefined graphics you can also build your own by combining any of these predefined graphics. These will automatically appear on the user interface.

Keyboard shortcuts are available for many frequently used functions. See Appendix  B for further details.

Video Tutorials

Video tutorials are available to assist with installation and using Tactic Lite SP.

https://vimeo.com/showcase/6717024

Installation

General Guidelines

Please observe these guidelines. Observation of these simple guidelines will avoid many typical installation problems.

• For Windows users to install, the user account name MUST have Administrator rights
• The user account name MUST NOT contain spaces or any non-English characters
• The software can only be used on the PC on which it is installed (no network / fileserver)
• The recommended screen resolution is 1920 x 1080
  (1366 x 768 minimum, 3840 x 2160 maximum)

Supported Hardware

Check our website for the latest supported hardware configurations: https://www.rtsw.co.uk

See Tactic Hardware Specs.

Tactic is made for broadcast use on Windows 10×64 platforms.

Nvidia Graphics Card and Drivers

If not already installed with the operating system, these may be obtained from the nVidia website www.nvidia.com and are specific to the hardware installed in your PC.

RT Software Security

Tactic Lite is licenced using one of the following methods.

1 – Software Licence (SL)

A software licence key installed on the PC.

A Trial licence is available upon request from RT Software  https://www.rtsw.co.uk/

To obtain a software licence, contact sales@rtsw.co.uk

2 – USB Security Key – Hardware Licence (HL)

The USB Security key (dongle) must be inserted in a USB port of the PC at all times.

To obtain a USB Security key (dongle), contact sales@rtsw.co.uk

NOTE: See the relevant sections in the Appendix C – Licensing to request / install / update or transfer the licence.

Download the Installers

Tactic Lite is available to download from our website https://rtsw.co.uk/software-downloads/#tab-2

Please contact support@rtsw.co.uk if you have any questions.

The following lists the installers needed for Tactic Lite:

Installe	Description
tacticlite-6.0_rxxxxx-windows-installer.zip	Tactic Lite installer

Installation

Once you have downloaded the necessary installer you are ready to proceed.

tacticlite-6.0_rxxxxx-windows-installer.zip

Unzip the file and place a copy of the installer on your desktop.

Run the installer, accept all defaults and conditions and click

as required.

Users Desktop

The installation process will have created an RTSW folder on the user’s desktop. See Appendix E for moving the RTSW folder.

NOTE: Do NOT delete this folder.

This RTSW folder will contain the Tactic Lite project folder etc..

The installation process will have created a Tactic Lite shortcut on the user’s desktop.

e.g.

Uninstall

Windows

To uninstall Tactic Lite run the uninstaller in the RTSW folder.

or

Use the system “Settings” tools, “Control Panel” or “File Explorer”.

Interface Overview

1. Toolbar
   • Undo/Redo
   • Clear
   • Motion Paths
   • Grid
   • Cameras
   • Keyer
   • Palette
   • Preferences

1. Video

2. Clip Browser
   • Analysis View
   • Bookmarks

3. VT bar
   • Play/Pause/Rewind/etc
   • Seek bar
   • VT Context Menu

4. Graphics
   • Basic Graphics
   • Composite Graphics

5. Parameters
   • Appearance/Style

Basic Configuration

Select Sports Package

Tactic Lite includes multiple predefined Sports Packages.

A Sports Package contains a project with sports specific graphics. On startup, if more than one Sports Package is installed, you will see a dialog asking you to select the Sport that you wish to analyse.

If you always use the same sport, select Remember My Selection.

Select the Pitch representing the required Sport.

The selected sport can be changed by clicking on the cog icon (top right) in Tactic and selecting “Switch Sport”.

Select League Package

• League packages allow a set of custom defaults dedicated to a particular “League” of the sport of your choice.
• League packages are scanned from the users RTSW folder rather than installed – this means they can be downloaded from the web and created without requiring a new release. (the example below shows the “Premier League” package in the drop- down selection menu), the package was added to: C:Users<Your Username>DesktopRTSWTacticLite
• League packages can consist of all of the default data that exists in a Sports package:
  • Composite styles
  • Presenter Page layout
  • Default palette with suitable colour combinations.
  • Custom Camera list.
  • Text files for the new text entry tool.
  • A customised icon that appears on the package selector page to identify this league
  • Custom badges based on the league

Creating a League Package

Creating a Package or Template

There are two types of files needed for the league graphic interface to automatically populate a graphic. The ‘package file’ provides the data which is used to populate the graphic, such as the names and positions of the players on a team. The ‘template file’ is used to arrange the raw data into the desired format. Templates use the column names found in packages to know what data to use.

These files are easily generated by entering the data into a spreadsheet and downloading it as a comma separated value file (CSV). The files can then be put into the correct place in the RTSW folder and Tactic will automatically pick them up.

Spreadsheet Instructions

In package spreadsheets the first row of each column should contain a suitable name for the data that is found in that column. The rest of the rows will contain the data. The name of the sheet should be the name of the package as the downloaded csv file will automatically have the sheet’s name.

Template sheets have only two columns. The first column contains the global parameter name that the arranged data will be applied to. The second column contains the pattern to apply to data. This pattern can contain plain text as well as the column names from package files. When referring to a package column name the name must be wrapped in ${name}. Eg, ${player_name} or ${position}.

When a spreadsheet has been filled in you can download it by going to ‘File > Download > Comma-separated values (.csv current sheet). This will download a .csv file with the same name as that sheet tab. Each sheet must be downloaded individually.

RTSW Folder

Each league you load will have it’s own folder in the main folder for the version of tactic you are using. eg ‘RTSW/TacticLite/Premier League’. This league folder will contain a folder called ‘text’. Package files should be placed here. Each graphic you wish to use a package with should have a folder in ‘text’ with the name of that graphic. Template files go into the folders of compatible graphics.

Package Example:

RTSW/TacticLite/Premier League/text/Everton.csv

Template Example:

RTSW/TacticLite/Premier League/text/advanced text/name and number.csv

The Default RTSW Folder location is on the Windows Desktop, see Appendix E on how to move the RTSW to a different directory if required.

League Graphic Interface

In Tactic Lite you will find a style page called ‘Text’. This page contains the league graphic interface. The top section shows the styles which have been found in the loaded projects and have an associated folder in the ‘text’ folder. The package combo box shows the packages which have been found. The template combo box shows the templates which are available for use with the current collection. If a template contains ${} variables which aren’t found in the current package the template will be unavailable for use with that collection. The table area shows the package data arranged according to the template.

Selecting a different style from the top section options will reload the collections. Selecting a package will reload templates.

Editing a Palette in Tactic Lite

Palettes can be edited inside of Tactic. Clicking and holding on a palette icon will open the full palette menu. The cog icon at the bottom will open the palette editor interface. This interface shows a list of all palettes down the left side. Clicking an icon will populate the top text field with the palette’s name and display the parameters that the palette sets. Changes made here are automatically saved. See “Colours” for more information.

Preferences

Tactic Lite should be pre-configured for your system and ready to use.

Access the Preferences to change the default configuration.

Select the “gear” icon in the top right corner and select “Preferences” …

For details of all application Preferences see Appendix A in this document.

User Data

All user data and application Preferences are stored in a single folder on the users desktop.

Each sport/League Package has its own subfolder. This includes Analysis, Composite Styles, Cameras and palettes.

This ensures that each sport can be configured independently, and any sport specific analysis tools are separated.

e.g. DesktopRTSWTacticLite

Within each sport/League Package folder are preferences for that sport

Initialisation File

Your settings can be reset to default by renaming this file, you can rename it back to the original name to restore it.

C:UsersYourUserNameAppDataRoamingRTSoftwaretacticlite.ini

Clip Browser

Thumbnails of all stored video clips in the folder specified in Set FileClipStore options.

e.g. DesktopRTSWclips

Select Refresh Clips to update the display

Click on a clip to open it in Tactic.

Load a Video Clip

Choose and select a video clip to analyse from the Clip Browser.

VT Controls

The VT Controls are used to Play/Advance/Rewind the video clip.

Rewind to beginning, Step back one frame, Play, Step forward one frame, Fast Forward to end.

Seek Bar. Drag the vertical line to the desired clip position (Timecode).

Jog video clip backwards or forwards.

The Timecode for the current video clip position and total duration of clip.

Jump to Timecode

Clicking on the timecode will open the “”Jump To Timecode” menu:

You can enter a timecode using the numeric keys, or by scrolling with the mouse wheel. Pressing accept will move to the specified timecode of the clip, or if “Analysis Timecode” is selected, to the timecode of the analysis file.

Save Screenshot

This tool allows you to take a screenshot of the current frame including any added graphics. You can name the file in the window prompt that appears when you click on the button

The default screenshot folder can be set in the Preferences menu under Files and Directories

Bookmarks

Use the VT Controls to Play/Advance/Rewind the video clip and create a Bookmark at any point in the video clip that may be useful for future analysis.

Add Bookmark

Add a Bookmark at any position (timecode) within the current loaded clip.

Load Bookmark

Choose and select a Bookmark to analyse from the Clip Browser.

Delete Bookmark

Select the Bookmark , press the “Right Mouse Button” then Delete

Stamps

Stamps provide an easy approach to inserting image graphics onto the scene.

Search for the images on your systems file manager and select images

Drag onto the tool box in Tactic Draw

Custom styles are created and stored in the current active tool page or the Composites page if the Basics page was previously active

Web Browser

Select the “Web” Button at the top of the page.

Enter a URL in the URL bar and press Enter to load the web page. Local directories can be used here too to show local images and PDFs.

Graphics can be placed on top of the web page.

To revert to clips, select any clip from the clip library on the left hand side.

URL Bar

The URL bar has tool buttons to help navigate through the web browser.

From left to right:

1. Open file
   1. Open a file to load into the web browser

2. Back
   1. Navigate to previous page

3. Forward
   1. Navigate to next page

4. Home
   1. Navigate to the home page set in preferences under ‘WebPage Support’

5. Refresh
   1. Reload the current web page

6. Bookmark Page
   1. Create a web bookmark (see Web Bookmarks)

Interactivity

Toggle Web mode with the Web button in the toolbar.

With Web mode active, mouse and keyboard inputs will be passed to the web page.

While Web mode is active, placed graphics will not be interactive without deactivating web mode.

Clicking a graphic tool will automatically deactivate web mode.

Cache

Web cache is stored while web pages are in use.

Clear web cache by selecting ‘Clear Web Cache’ in the cog menu.

Web Bookmarks

Bookmark a web page with the bookmark button in the toolbar.

Navigate to the web bookmark by selecting the bookmark in the bookmarks page.

Cameras

Tactic Lite operates in 3 distinct camera modes. The camera mode dictates how the graphics drawn will appear in relation to the real camera used to film the footage. These modes are:

• 2D Camera – This is the simplest of all the modes and the graphics appear flat to the screen.
  

  

   

• 3D Camera – This uses a perspective camera. Graphics will appear on the playing surface and may be keyed between players and grass.  You can select from a list of preset camera positions or create your own. These may be used on a “freeze frame” or using the “Motion Path” feature to follow the movement of play.
  

  

   

• 3D Image Tracked – In true 3D mode Tactic Lite supports feature based tracking. This allows graphics to be ‘tied-to-pitch’ – even when the camera view moves.

All camera modes are available instantly.

Select Camera

The currently active Camera is displayed on the Toolbar.

Select and hold the “My Cam” button to display a list of Cameras.

Select the required Camera from the list.

Edit Camera

Select and hold the active Camera to display a list of Cameras.

Select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

A “Render Grid” is overlaid on the video clip.

The Camera Editor dialog is displayed.

Adjust the grid using the slider bars (or place the cursor over the required slider bar and use the “Mouse Wheel”) so that the view and scale closely align with the video clip.

The perspective of analysis graphics will now scale correctly.

Rename the Camera if required

Clip                                Create a new camera named as the current timecode

Reset Current Camera        Reset to the installation defaults

Edit Lists                        Select and Edit specific camera from the Camera List

Add Camera

Add a new camera using the + symbol

Delete Camera

Delete unwanted camera using the – symbol

Grid

Toggle the Grid display on/off

Keying

Without a Keyer, graphics appear on top of the players.

Using a correctly defined Keyer, the players appear in front of the graphics. The graphics now appear to be painted on the pitch surface.

Without Keying                                        With Keying

Select Keyer

Select the required Keyer from the list.

Enable Chroma Keyer

Once Keying is enabled the icon turns green and the Auto Key button is displayed.

Press Auto Key to optimise the settings automatically.  The auto key button turns a lighter colour blue when it has been set.

Edit Chroma Keyer

Select and hold the active Keyer to display a list of Keyers.

Select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

The Keyer Editor dialog is displayed.

Display Key                 A Black & White image of the current settings overlayed on the                         video clip

Pick Hue                Manually select the background colour.

Reset Settings        Reset to the installation defaults

View and adjust the Keyer so that the graphics will only be drawn on the white area and appear behind objects that are black.

Enable Segment Keyer

Once Keying is enabled the icon turns green and the Begin Pick and Reset buttons are displayed.

Press Begin Pick and select the background colour..

Hold the Left Mouse button down and drag the cursor across the video to select the Keyed area.

Adjust the Keyer so that the graphics will only be drawn on the white area and appear behind objects that are red.

Press End Pick when finished.

Press Reset to return to the default settings.

Edit Segment Keyer

Select and hold the active Keyer to display a list of Keyers.

Select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

The Keyer Editor dialog is displayed.

Display Key                 View and adjust the Keyer so that the graphics will only be drawn                         on the white area and appear behind objects that are black.

Radius/Decay        Adjust the size of the Pick tool

Drag the cursor across the video to select the Keyed area.

DisplayOverlayKey         View and adjust the Keyer so that the graphics will only be drawn                         on the red area and appear behind objects that remain.

Palette

Use the Palette tools to set preferences for the graphics tools.

Palette tools include 2 colour combinations (Home and Away team), Thickness, Arrow Type, Size, Opacity and 2D/3D.

Select and hold the required Palette tool to change preferences.

You can also save customised palettes under a new name alongside other settings that can be customised (for example, you can name a palette the same as the home or away team) when you select to run Tactic with a league package.

Colours

Select and hold the Colour Palette tool to change preferences.

A selection of team colours has been pre-defined.

To edit the Colour combinations, select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

To change either the Primary or Secondary colour enter numeric values for RGB or use the Colour Picker.

Colour Picker

Add current colour definition to the colour palette.

Use the colour grabber to select colour from anywhere on screen.

Thickness

Select and hold the Thickness Palette tool to change preferences.

A selection of line thicknesses has been pre-defined.

To edit the line Thickness, select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

Arrow Type

Select and hold the Arrow Type Palette tool to change preferences.

A selection of Arrow Types has been pre-defined.

To edit the Arrow Type, select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

Size

Select and hold the Size Palette tool to change preferences.

A selection of Sizes has been pre-defined.

To edit the graphic Size, select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

Opacity

Select and hold the Opacity Palette tool to change preferences.

A selection of graphic Opacity settings has been pre-defined.

To edit the graphic Opacity, select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

2D/3D

Select and hold the 2D/3D tool to change preferences.

Toggle between the 2D and 3D styles of certain graphic tools, or select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

Create an Analysis sequence

An Analysis sequence of a sporting event consists of a sequence of Graphics used to explain the game play.

An Analysis sequence is usually cropped from the full duration of the original video clip.

The Graphics may follow the game play using a technique called Keyframing or may appear tied to the pitch using a Tracked camera.

An Analysis sequence may contain manual or automatic pauses to enhance the explanation of the game play.

Before creating an Analysis sequence, it is necessary to:

• Load a video clip
• Choose a Camera
• Setup a Keyer (if required)
• Define the graphic colours and size etc using the Palette

Analysis sequences can be saved manually, or set to auto save, see “Auto Save” for details.

Mark In / Mark Out

Select Show Additional Analysis Tools at the end of the VT Controls toolbar.

(Select Show Additional Analysis Tools again to toggle the menu display on/off)

Either drag the vertical line on the Seek Bar to the desired video clip position or use the VT Controls to Play/Advance/Rewind the video clip and pause at the timecode a few seconds before the Analysis sequence will begin.

Select Mark In

Either drag the vertical line on the Seek Bar to the desired video clip position or use the VT Controls to Play/Advance/Rewind the video clip and pause at the timecode a few seconds after the Analysis sequence will end. The Mark Out should not be the very last frame of the video clip.

Select Mark Out

The total duration of the video clip displayed on the Seek Bar now represents the time period specified between Mark In and Mark Out.

Add Graphic(s)

Either drag the vertical line on the Seek Bar to the desired video clip position or use the VT Controls to Play/Advance/Rewind the video clip and pause the video clip at the timecode where a Graphic is to be added.

Select a Graphic from the menu.

Place the Graphic(s) on the video clip.

The “In” timecode of a Graphic(s) in an Analysis sequence is marked on the Seek Bar as a thin green vertical line(s).

Once analysis Graphic(s) have been added, navigate the Seek Bar using

Add Multiselect Graphics

Holding the shift key whilst selecting graphics from the palette will allow you to add multiple graphics simultaneously.

In this case, each click will add all the selected graphics together at the same time. Graphics such as lines and arrows will be linked, with each click adding another set of linked graphics.

Add or Delete a Pause

A Manual Pause will require the user to select Play to restart the video clip

A Timed Pause waits for a predefined time before automatically restarting the video clip. The duration of a Timed Pause is specified in the Analysis Options.

Manual Pause

Add a Manual Pause using

A Manual Pause is added to the Seek Bar.

Delete a Manual Pause using

Timed Pause

Add a Timed Pause using

or the dedicated button in the VT Bar.

A Timed Pause is added to the Seek Bar.

Reduce (or remove) a Timed Pause using

Adjust Pause

Adjust a Pause by dragging the end point on the Seek Bar using the “Left Mouse Button”.

Remove Graphic(s)

To remove a Graphic after either a Manual or Timed Pause navigate to the end of the Pause on the Seek Bar using

and at the end of the Pause use

Or to remove all Graphic(s) at the same time

The “In” timecode of Graphic(s) in an Analysis sequence is marked on the Seek Bar as a thin green vertical line(s).

The “Out” timecode of Graphic(s) in an Analysis sequence is marked on the Seek Bar as a thin red vertical line(s).

Preview

Playback the Analysis Sequence using

This will begin at Mark In, display the Graphic, Pause, remove the Graphic and continue to Mark Out.

Save Analysis

Save the Analysis sequence using

There are 2 modes of behaviour of the Save Analysis feature:

• Save Analysis button and CTRL+ SHIFT + S act as a “Save As”:

User is prompted for a filename. If the filename is already used, a warning window opens to ask confirmation for overwriting.
If no analysis has been saved or loaded since loading a clip, the name of the clip is suggested by default.
If an analysis has been saved or loaded since loading a clip, the name of the latest saved or loaded analysis is suggested by default.
If no clip or analysis has been loaded yet, no suggestion is made, the box is empty.

Analysis view has an expanded tooltip, allowing the full name of the file and modification date to be seen.

You can save analysis files into a subdirectory. These subdirectories will appear on the analysis list as folders that you can browse into, similar to clips

• CTRL+ S acts as a ‘Save’:

If an analysis has been saved or loaded since loading a clip, it is overwritten immediately.
If no analysis has been saved or loaded since loading a clip, it acts as a ‘Save As’ (see above).

Auto Save

By default, Tactic is set to automatically saves the current state of the clip (Key, tracking etc) along with analysis files. When enabled, Tactic will automatically reload the last saved state of the analysis.

Auto save can me turned off in the preferences menu under “Analysis/Auto Save”

When playing out analysis files directly from Tactic, it is recommended that this feature is turned off.

The AutoSave directory is the same as the Analysis folder, for example:

RTSW/TacticPro/Football/AutoSave

Clear Analysis

Delete all graphics in the current analysis sequence and reload the current clip.

Note that the Mark In / Mark Out Timecodes and Tracking Data are preserved when re-loading the clip.

Load Analysis

Choose and select an Analysis from the Clip Browser.

Delete Analysis

Select the Analysis, press the “Right Mouse Button” then Delete.

Record Analysis (Create a Layoff)

Produce a movie file of the Analysis sequence, first specify a Record Filename

Then Record the Analysis sequence using

The movie file will be saved in the folder specified in Layoff options and in the format and quality specified in Layoff Movie format.

The layoff directory can be quickly changed by clicking on “Set Record Directory” in the Timeline Menu.

Motion Paths

Tactic Lite does not have the ability to create motion paths to animate graphics. However, the Motion path button can be useful as it shows a graphic control point.

Enable motion paths by clicking the Motion Paths button, it turns green when enabled..

Now, each graphic’s “Control Point” is visible as a blue dot. This may be useful when making precise adjustments to position, and also when joining graphics together to make “Composite Graphics” (see later chapter).

Edit a Graphic

The colour, thickness, style, size and opacity of many Graphics are controlled by the Palette.

These, and additional parameters of the chosen Graphic can be modified once the Graphic has been added to the video clip.

Navigate using the thick red line on the Seek Bar to the desired video clip position or use the VT Controls so that the chosen Graphic is visible.

Or navigate to the chosen Graphic using

Parameters

Select the Graphic on the video clip.

The parameters of the chosen graphic will be displayed.

Adjust the colour, thickness, style, size and opacity etc.. as required.

You can reset a value by right clicking it’s title and selecting “Reset Value”.

Set In/Out Timecode

The In timecode for Graphic(s) are initially set at the timecode when the Graphic(s) are added to the video clip. See Add Graphic(s).

The Out timecodes for Graphic(s) are set individually or all at the same time. See Remove Graphic(s).

Adjust the In and/or Out timecode by navigating using the red line on the Seek Bar to the desired video clip position or use the VT Controls and use

Delete Graphic

Delete the current Graphic from the Analysis sequence using

Create Style

Change the Parameters of the current Graphic and Save this as a new style using

Choose a name and an icon to represent the new style.

To allow the new Graphic to share colour, thickness, style, size and opacity from the Palette, enable “Use Tool Palettes”.

This will be added to the Composite Styles tab on the Graphic menu.

Delete Style

Select the Graphic with the “Right Mouse Button” to delete it from the Composite Styles menu

Rename Style

Select the Graphic with the “Right Mouse Button” to rename it from the Composite Styles menu

Add Pages for Composite Styles

Select and Drag the Graphic with the “Left Mouse Button” and place it on the + sign

This will move the selected Graphic to a new Page

To Delete a Page, select the Page with the “Right Mouse Button”

To Rename a Page, select the Page with the “Right Mouse Button”

Composite Graphics

Basic Graphic styles can be combined together to build more complex, Composite Graphics.

Add Basic Graphic(s)

Add the Basic Graphic(s) as required to build the new Composite Graphic.

Enable Motion Paths

Once Motion Paths are enabled the icon turns green and dot(s) appear on the Graphic(s).

Select and Drag the dots to combine the Graphic(s).

When complete, disable Motion Paths.

The Composite Style Graphic may now be used with Motion Paths in the same way as a Basic Style Graphic.

Save Composite Graphic

Save as a new Composite Style using

Choose a name and an icon to represent the new Composite Style.

To allow the Composite Graphic to share colour, thickness, style, size and opacity from the Palette, enable “Use Tool Palettes”.

This will be added to the Composites tab on the Graphic menu.

There are multiple options for how the graphic will behave on the pull down menu, “Run Once” means that you only use the graphic once before the tool becomes inactive, “Repeat” allows you to carry on adding new instances of the graphic one after the other. “Multiclick” allows you to keep growing the graphic, in the case of a circle and connecting line, each time you click a new player, a new circle and line is added, as below:

Text Entry Tool

The “Text” tool allows quick selection of text from “Collections” of data.

It provide player names, positions, numbers, etc as a spreadsheet

The text data is retrieved from “Comma Separated Values” file (.csv) that should be placed into the League package Text folder

Text templates allow names, numbers, etc. from a “Collection” to be quickly applied to a graphic.

Virtual Stadium

Enter the Stadium View using

Select Virtual Stadium Camera

The currently active Stadium Camera is displayed on the Toolbar.

Select and hold the active Stadium Camera to display a list of Cameras

Select the required Stadium Camera from the list.

Edit Stadium Camera

Select and hold the active Stadium Camera to display a list of Camera presets.

Select the “gear” icon at the bottom of the list.

A “Render Grid” can be overlayed on the Stadium View.

The Camera Editor dialog is displayed.

Adjust the position of the camera presets using the slider bars (or place the cursor over the required slider bar and use the mouse wheel).

Note The Camera Editor is only meant to be used to adjust/edit the Camera presets.

Use the Keyboard shortcuts when moving the camera during an animation sequence.

To KeyFrame (i.e. animate) the stadium camera, you move the stadium camera using the keyboard shortcuts:

• Translate on X axis:         Hold Alt and drag the mouse horizontally using the mouse wheel
• Translate on Y axis:         Hold Alt and drag the mouse vertically using the mouse wheel
• Translate on Z axis:         Hold Alt and drag the mouse vertically using the right mouse button
• Pan:                         Hold Alt and drag the mouse horizontally
• Tilt:                         Hold Alt and drag the mouse vertically
• Zoom:                 Hold Alt and scroll the mouse wheel

Clip                                Create a new camera named as the current timecode

Reset Current Camera        Reset to the installation defaults

Edit Lists                        Select and Edit specific camera from the Camera List

Add Stadium Camera

Add a new camera using the + symbol

Delete Stadium Camera

Delete unwanted camera using the – symbol

Virtual Stadium animation

Select Virtual Stadium

Within a pause, advance the video timecode (e.g. 5 seconds) and select/adjust the Stadium Camera as required.

Play the video and the Stadium View will animate smoothly from the first video timecode value to the second video timecode value.

The timing of the start and end of the animation can be adjusted.

e.g.
The Stadium View appears at timecode 0:00
The Stadium View remains stationary until timecode 2:00
The Stadium View animates to the new position though to timecode 4:00
The Stadium View remains stationary until timecode 5:00

This is achieved by moving the playhead to 2:00 in the scrub bar and and re-selecting the same camera as the previous keyframe position (eg “Gantry”).

Now move to 4:00 and select the same camera in the final keyframe position (eg Offside Right).

You can step through camera keyframe positions using the “ [ “ and “ ] “ keys on your keyboard.

Story

Use a story to collate a particular set of Clips, Analysis or Bookmarks for presentation, rather than providing the entire contents of the Clips folder.

For analysis files, this is the only way to put them on the Presenter interface.

Add an Analysis to a Story

To Add an Analysis to a Story, select the Analysis with the “Right Mouse Button”

Add a Bookmark to a Story

To Add a Bookmark to a Story select the Bookmark with the “Right Mouse Button”

View Story

To view the contents of a Story, select the Story tab

Remove from Story

To Remove an item from a Story select with the “Right Mouse Button”

Record Story

Select Show Additional Analysis Tools at the end of the VT Controls toolbar.

(Select Show Additional Analysis Tools again to toggle the menu display on/off)

To produce a movie file of the files save in the Story line, first specify a Record Filename

Then Record the Story sequence using

The movie file will be saved in the folder specified in Layoff options and in the format and quality specified in Layoff Movie format.

Save/Load a Story

To save a Story, select the story tab in Tactic below the transport controls. From there you can hit “Save” to save your existing story, or “Load” to load in another story.

Note: To transfer a Story to a different computer with the same version of Tactic, you must also copy over the Analysis and the Clip.

Presenter

The Presenter interface is designed for use on a Touch Screen for live presentations.

It enables you to load and play video clips and to add basic graphics.

Before using Presenter mode it is necessary to

• Choose a Camera
• Setup a Keyer (if required)
• Define the graphic colours and size etc using the Palette
• Create a Story if required

• Save/Load Story if required

NOTE: Complex animation sequences cannot be created or saved in the Presenter mode but it is possible to play back recordings of complex animation sequences that have been saved using Record Analysis.

NOTE: Navigation and Graphics tools are mirrored for left or right hand presentation and can be disabled if required.

1. Clip Browser
2. VT bar
   • Play/Pause/Rewind/Slow Motion etc

3. Graphics

Enable Presenter

Click on the Presenter Interface logo

Exit Presenter

To exit the Presenter interface hit F5 on the keyboard. When the Presenter Interface is closed you can also open it again with F5.

To refresh the presenter interface, hit F5 to close it, then F5 again to reopen it.

Toggle the interface from full screen to a window view by clicking on the Tactic logo.

e.g.

Change Presenter Tools

The graphic tools available in the Presenter interface are defined on the Presenter tab.

Drag and Drop Graphic tools to re-order the display order.

Drag and Drop any Composite Graphic tools to the Presenter interface or right click on the tool and choose “Copy to / move to” and select the Presenter interface.

Updated Graphics tools …

Re-open the Presenter interface to enable the updated tools …

Drag the tools left/right to scroll …

Change Presenter interface

In Preferences, set the interface tools on/off on the left or right hand side of the interface.

e.g.

Change Presenter logo

The default logo on the Presenter screen is the Tactic product logo …

To change the logo, in Preferences, replace the Brand Image file …

The new file MUST be the same name as the original and the same image type.

e.g.

NOTE: A .png format image with a transparent background will work best.

Change Presenter background and colours

To customise the appearance of the Presenter interface, in Preferences, replace the Background Image file or change the colours of the panels, Buttons and Sliders …

Tablet Control

Set the web interface page, port from the Web Server tab in the Preferences menu and save the settings.

Selection of clips and buttons works the same way as the presenter interface – choose the clip view type to pick between clips/stories, and the Default Web Page chooses the composite styles page that should be displayed.

Operating the Web Interface

Access the Web Interface on Tablet or computer by navigating to the local IP Address plus the port of the machine Tactic is running on in Google Chrome. You can find the “Web Server Port” in Preferences under “Web Server”, the default is 80.  Enter your IP then port in the Chrome address bar like in the example below.

The transport options at the bottom left of the page allow you to play, pause fast forward and rewind as well as change the clip speed. The “Previous” and “Next button” will select the next or previous clip or analysis in the browser. The undo button will undo your last graphic and the clear button will remove all graphics placed in the web interface.

To place a graphic, short press a graphic at the bottom right, then short press again on the interface where you would like the graphic. Remember some graphics require multiple presses to define where they will start and finish.

To select a different clip or item from your story (this is defined in the web interface settings) hit the options menu at the top left (at the “1” marker).

Appendix A – Preferences Reference

NOTE: The exact Preferences available may depend on software licence options.

NOTE: Restart Tactic for any changes to take effect.

Licencing

License Server, Default is localhost. “localhost” should be used when using a license dongle or software license. If using a license server, the IP of the server goes here.

Logging

Enable File Logging: Default on.

Log File Directory: Default blank.

Log File Name: Default blank

Debug Levels

Debug parameters should ONLY be used on instruction from RT Software.

Timing

Timing Level: Default setting is off. Timing level will display information about how long it is taking for graphics to be rendered across various processes.

Show Scope: Default setting is off. Gives a live scope of GPU Processing usage.

Show GPU: Default setting is off. Shows live  memory usage details.

Files and Directories

Project parameters should ONLY be used on instruction from RT Software.

RTSW Directory: This is the directory where most user generated content is saved.

The following project folders are where default content is stored and should not be changed.

Main Project: Default is $RESOURCES/TacticDraw/TacticDraw.prj

Extra Project 1: Default is $RESOURCES/TacticDraw/Tacticadv.prj

Extra Project 2: Default is $RESOURCES/TacticDraw/Tacticlite.prj

Extra Project 3: Default its Blank.

Extra Project 4: Default its Blank.

Global Font Directory: Default is $RTSW/Fonts. This is where imported fonts are stored.

Sports Settings Directory: Default is $RTSW/Fonts. The folder where sports user generated content is saved.

Sports Package Directory: Default is $RESOURCES/SportsPackages

Sports Package to Load: Default is Blank

Sports League to Load: Default is Blank

Stamps Directory: Default is $RTSW/Stamps. This defines where imported stamps are saved.

Screenshot Directory: Default: /RTSW/screenshots. This is the location where screenshots (when taken from the button next to the clip menu) are saved.

Video

Video Standard: Set this to match the format of the video clips you intend to                         analyse.

Video Device: Set this to match the video card type. e.g. AJA

Video in Enabled: Default is off.

Video out Enabled: Default is off.

Num input Channels: Default is 2.

Genlock: Default is COMPOSITE.

Timecode Source: Default is SERIAL.

Timecode Type: Default is VTC.

Drop Frame: Default is off.

Video Deinterlacing: Default is off.

Advanced Video

Video Card Delay: offsets the video card delay on the output. Default is 2.

Sync to Monitor: Synchronises the video output to the display to remove screen tearing on the monitor out. Default is unticked.

Horizontal Sync: Offsets the Genlock in pixels. Default is 0.

Vertical Sync: Offsets the Genlock in Lines. Default is 0.

Channel Number: Input the number of input channels you are using. Default is 0.

Enable Anc Data: Enable Ancillary data on output. Default isdisabled.

HDMI In: Enable if using the HDMI in input on an AJA card. Default is dsiabled.

Watchdog: If enabled Tactic will send watchdog data to allow use for fail safe features on AJA Corvid 24s and DVS cards that support this feature. Default is unticked.

Video Card Delay: Offset Video Card Delay. Default is 2.

 

Advanced 4K

4K TSI Enable: Default is off. Uses TSI four tessellation outputs instead of quadrants over four 1080p outputs.

Advanced Timecode

Ignore VITC2: Default is off.

NTSC+PAL field flag: Default is off.

NDI

Enable NDI Output: Default is off.

When enabled Tactic will output an NDI feed of the video out using the defined “NDI ID”

NDI ID: Default is the PC’s Name. The NDI ID is  what Tactic will broadcast on if “Enable NDI” Output is Enabled.

NDI Source 1-8: Default is not set.

Audio

Audio On/Off: Default is unchecked. When enabled Tactic will play the audio of the clip or live input on the video out.

PC Sound card Output: Default is unchecked. When checked  this will output the audio of the clip or live input out of the PCs default output.

Startup

Threaded Project Load: Default is unchecked. This allows projects to load much faster if using a dedicated GPU. It is recommended to only use this when using a machine which only has an Nvidia GPU.

Start Fullscreen: Default is unchecked. When checked, Tactic will start fullscreen.

Analysis

Default Pause Duration: Default 4 seconds. Defines how long manual pauses last after hitting play/space.

VT Pre Roll: Default 3 seconds.

VT Post Roll: Default 3 seconds.

Auto Save

With “Auto Save Analysis” turned on, Tactic will automatically save its current state and analysis graphics. On Relaunch, Tactic will revert to its previous state.

Annotations

Tracked Camera Colour: Default Green

Fixed Camera Colour: Default Blue

Current Keyframe Size: Default 10

Keyframe Size: Default 6

Layoff

Directory: Set this to the file path of the base directory to store exported video clips (layoff). e.g. DesktopRTSWlayoff

Type: Select either Movie or Image Sequence

Movie

File Format: Select preferred video file format for exported clips (layoff).

Video Codec: Select preferred video codec for exported clips (layoff).

Movie Quality: Select the required movie quality.

1 = Small file size, low quality video

30 = Large file size, high quality video

VideoRecord

Set the default directory for crash record videos, you can also change the record format (AVC100 recommended)

Presenter

Presenter FIle: Default location of Presenter interface

Presenter Page: Default Blank

Presenter Display: Default Windowed

Clear On Play: All graphics automatically clear when video clip plays

Clear All graphics: Default Off

Clip View Type: Clips/Bookmarks/Story

Presenter Advanced

Use Player Detections: Default on. This makes graphics placed on the presenter interface snap to the existing player detections.

Disable Touch Mouse Emulation: Default Off

Touch Click Tolerance: Default 5

VT Device

Plugin Name: Default is FileClipStore. Select the VT (clip) source, for local clips in RTSW/Clips, use “FileClipStore”.

Pause Delay: Default setting is 2 frames. Adjust this if you find that when playing the video clip it does not pause at the selected timecode once analysis graphics have been added.

Play Delay: Default setting is 2 frames.

Speed Control

Fast Forward Speed: Default 1.0

Jog Speed: Default 1.0

Shuttle Speed: Default 1.0

Slow Step Speed: Default 0.5

Fast Step Speed: Default 1.0

FileClipStore

Clip Directory: Set this to the file path of the base directory for your clips.
e.g. DesktopRTSWclips

Automatic Updates: Set this to automatically update the thumbnails in the Clip Browser.

Upscale/Downscale Filter: When using file based clips, these filters determine how video gets scaled if you feed a different video input than expected.

Different filters have different performance effects and have visually different results. Experiment with the scaling filter to find the one that suits your needs best.

Deinterlacing        : The method used to convert interlaced video clips.

Use TC Offset: Enable this to use Time Code Offset. With this enabled Tactic will offset real time timecodes sometimes used with MOVs and MXFs.

K2DirClipStore

Address: Set to the network address of the control port of the K2. This is a standard IP address or hostname. E.G.: 192.168.10.10, or K2Control.

NOTE: Based on the entry address typed here, Tactic will determine whether to use network or serial connection. Setting the address to tty… or COM… will select serial control. An IP address will select network connection.

Timeout: In case of serial control it indicates the timeout on trying to send a command to the K2 before an error returns on failure.

Directory Root: Type in a file path to limit which directories on the K2 will be searched and made available. For example, default/steve/tmp would only look inside of the “tmp” directory on the K2.

Input Channel 1-4: Tick the boxes next to the channels that Tactic will control on the K2 server. The corresponding channel selector buttons will become available on the VT Control section.

Record Channel: When using the Record functionality, this defines which channel of the device to control for recording clips.

Automatic updates:        Turn on automatic update if you want Tactic to automatically update its list in sync with the VT device. Clip changes on the VT device will be reported from a known sentinel point such as a refresh. If you delete or add clips these changes will automatically update Tactic Clip window.

NOTE: Network connection is preferred to serial connection because the network is faster and the serial does not support auto thumbnail creation.

Sony9Pin

The Sony9Pin (BVW75) clip plugin provides VT control via serial connection over any video device that supports this protocol. Tactic has been qualified with major brands such as K2, EVS, Sony Digital Betacam and Doremi.

Tactic preferences

VT Device: This setting defines how the System responds to some of the controls. It especially affects how the eject button works.

Seeking Method: This defines which Sony command is used for clip seek. If you are experiencing problems with seeking on clip restart you may find that changing this setting helps. This is especially true for VT Decks.

EVS configuration for the Sony9Pin plugin

This section describes how to set up an EVS Video Server for Sony9Pin control under Tactic. Although the EVS configuration is outside the remit of this document a brief outline is provided here to assist operators in setting up and troubleshooting the system.

NOTE: these settings were correct at time of writing, but if the EVS workflow has changed since then they may not be correct – consult the relevant technical studio/broadcast staff to check.

The control protocol used is Sony BVW75 (9 Pin) that allows simultaneous control of the EVS between Tactic and the LSM Remote controller.

The EVS is connected by a straight-through pin-to-pin RS422 serial cable to a serial extension panel of the Video Board on the Tactic PC.

EVS Setup via LSM

LSM Remote Main page

• From the Main system menu (Shift+Menu) select Technical Setup (press F10). Then use F10 to advance pages and F9 to go backwards in the Technical Setup menu.

• Find page T2.2 – as indicated in the top right corner of the screen and set by pressing F2 and then using the Jog Wheel to select SonyBvw75 from a list of available protocols:

• Advance to page T2.3 and set SonyBvw75 as a secondary controller.

• Go to page T2.5 where you can set SonyBvw75 to parallel or exclusive.

• When finished press Menu to quit the setup and the system will prompt to save which is necessary in order to apply these changes.

EVSClipStore

This plugin provides control over clips stored on an EVS using the Odetics protocol through serial RS422 connection to a generic serial port on the Tactic machine. Video streams are delivered over SDI.

Setup basics

• Connect an RS422 port on the EVS to the COM port of the Tactic PC. For RS232  ports an RS422 to RS232 adapter is required.
• Assign that EVS port to Odetics on the EVS.
• Select Odetics as a main or secondary controller on an EVS video OUT channel that will output to Tactic.
• In Tactic Preferences on the VT Device page select EVSClipstore.
• In preferences on the EVSClipStore page select the serial device. This is usually “COM1”, check Windows Device manager if you have multiple COM Ports.
• Set EVS Net ID (default is 0, for using one EVS only)
• In EVSClipStore preferences set bank, page and cam filters to determine which set of clips will appear in the Tactic cliplist.

See further configuration and parameter details below.

NOTE:  The EVS must be configured to output VITC time code and Tactic Timecode Type must be set to VITC on the Video preferences page.

Tactic configuration for EVS Odetics

Serial Device: Set to the PC serial port that is connected to the EVS. This is usually COM1.

Use Thumbnail Bank: This option has two features:

1. Sorting clips into separate directories according to Keywords that are set for clips on the server side.
2. Selecting a specific video frame from which the thumbnail will be made. See the Use Thumbnail Bank section below.

Generate Thumbnails: deselect this in case no thumbnails are needed.

Thumbnail Delay: Used in thumbnail creation. Set the delay between EVS starting to load a clip and Tactic grabbing the thumbnail. That is in case it takes too long for the EVS to load a clip before a frame is grabbed from the video input.

Page Filter: Include only these page numbers (0-9) when updating the clip list.

Bank Filter: Include only these bank numbers (1-9) when updating the clip list.

Cam Filter: Include only these camera inputs (A-F) when updating the clip list.

EVS Net ID: This will be 0 if the EVS server to which Tactic is connected is the very same server that Tactic needs to control.
If the EVS server of interest is NOT the one physically connected to Tactic but one on its network of servers, then set the target EVS server Net ID (1-99).

Please see the EVS documentation for further explanation on EVS server networks.

EVS Total Recording Trains: Specify how many record channels previously configured on the EVS you wish to be available.

Creating Thumbnails

The EVSClipStore plugin uses the SDI video input signal of Tactic to make thumbnails for the clips in the built clip list. For this it loads each clip on the EVS one after the other on whichever PGM channel Odetics is configured. If Use Thumbnail Bank is selected then only specific clips will load. Read the Use Thumbnail Bank section for more details.

NOTE: make sure that this process will not interrupt your production.

Use Thumbnail Bank

In this mode when the clips are prepared, the operator should clear all clips from other channels and save the clips on Cam A. They should then make a single frame clip from the clip on Cam A, and save it to the corresponding Page and Bank number on Cam B. This clip will be the thumbnail clip and it will only be used to generate the thumbnail.

E.G.: supposing there is a clip with ID 133A/00 the thumbnail MUST exist on 133B/00.

NOTE:

• Make sure that the Cam Filter settings exclude the channels where the thumbnail clips are stored. (Cam B usually)
• It is actually not restricted which channel to use for thumbnails and clips. Tactic will always look for a clip with the matching Page and Bank number on the channel consecutive to the selected clip’s channel: A->B, B->C, C->D,…

EVS configuration for the EVSClipStore plugin

Video connection

The EVS server provides VT source material via the SDI input to the Tactic system. The installed video board is likely equipped with several i/o BNC connectors and input-1 is where the selected channel on the EVS should be connected. The Output socket provides HD SDI output for Tx. This combines the EVS input with telestration. The Ref input is not used since Tactic is synced to its SDI input.

Serial connection for VT Control

The second connection between the EVS and the Tactic system is the RS422 Serial control feed. The serial connection is a straight thru cable and may be extended via CatV at the Studio panel or via fibre. The port on the EVS should be on the same channel as the EVS video output.

The Serial cable is terminated at the PC through an RS422/232 converter to the serial port, usually COM1. The converter is vital and correct operation will not occur if it is omitted. Ensure it is connected the correct way round with the 422-end plugged into the cable going to the EVS and the 232-end plugged into the computer.

The final stage in EVS configuration is the setup of Odetics protocol on the EVS.

Exclusive and parallel modes

The Odetics protocol can be used in three different modes on the EVS:

1. Odetics being set as a Main Controller on a PGM channel. No other controllers including the LSM can access that channel.
2. Odetics being set as a Secondary Controller in Exclusive mode. Both the main (LSM) and secondary (Odetics) controllers receive permanently the status of the channel(s), but only one controller at a time is able to actually control the channel. The main controller can decide at any time to pass the control to, or to retrieve the control from the secondary controller.
3. Odetics being set as a Secondary Controller in Parallel mode. Both the main (LSM) and secondary (Odetics) controllers receive permanently the status of the channel(s), and both controllers are able to control the same channel at any time. Either of both controllers can take the control as long as the other controller is not executing a command. The control can thus be freely passed on from one controller to the other.

The following sections describe how to set all this up on the LSM Remote’s user interface.

LSM setup on Multicam 16

The following is a working example on how to use Odetics with Tactic through a RS422 serial connection.

In this example, on all the EVS channels the LSM Remote is set as the main controller and Odetics is set as a secondary controller in parallel mode on channel PGM1. The serial cable is plugged into RS422 #2 connector on the server.

• From the Main system menu (Shift+Menu) select Technical Setup (press F10). Then use F10 to advance pages and F9 to go backwards in the Technical Setup menu.
• Find page T2.2 – as indicated in the top right corner of the screen and set by pressing F2 and then using the Jog Wheel to select Odetics from a list of available protocols:

• Advance to page T2.3 and set Odetics as a secondary controller.

• Go to page T2.5 where you can set Odetics to parallel or exclusive.

• Press Menu to quit the setup and save the changes when the system prompts to.

EVSLinX

Overview

The EVSLinX plugin is used to access and control clips stored on an EVS video server. Using the LinX protocol over network Tactic can control program and recording channels. Video streams are delivered over SDI.

Main features

• Full Tactic VT control on up to 2 PGM channels on the EVS using LinX as a Main Controller.
• Monitor any two of the Recording trains in E2E mode on two separate Tactic input channels.
• Full Tactic VT control on any of the recording trains.
• Record back to an EVS recording train in real time including Tactic graphics and clip creation.
• Create a clip list with thumbnails in Tactic. Thumbnails are grabbed from the SDI input while clips are loaded in a sequence.
• Auto update Tactic’s clip list in response to new clip creation and clip changes made on the EVS.

NOTE: EVS only supports LinX on Windows operating systems.

Connections

In a typical configuration the connections and work-flow between Tactic and the EVS server would be as follows:

Network connections

EVS Pc LAN socket                                →        main Ethernet Network.

Tactic PC network socket                        →        main Ethernet Network.

Video SDI connections

EVS OUT-2                →        TACTIC IN-1

TACTIC OUT-1        →        EVS IN-1

In this configuration Tactic can control one PGM channel on the EVS while monitoring it on the video input. Build its own customised clip list based on id filtering preferences from the clips that exist on the EVS server and create thumbnails for them by grabbing one frame of each clip.

After building an analysis sequence in Tactic the clip can be recorded back on to the EVS with the overlaid graphics, then Tactic will make a clip on the server at the specified time codes.

Network connections on the Tactic PC

LinX

The LinX protocol controls the EVS channels and connects to the PC LAN socket on the server.

Local IP setting

If there are more than one physical, active network connection on the Tactic PC on the same subnet to the EVS network then it is possible that LinX cannot reliably detect which local connection to use. In this situation you can set the Local IP address in the Preferences menu to avoid this. This is the IP address assigned to the network port that connects to the EVS. Check the Windows network settings.

It is recommended, however,  that 2 different subnets are used for the 2 connections.

EVS configuration for LinX

This section will explain how to set up a working configuration for LinX by using the EVS Multicam 16 software interface. See the EVS documentation for further details.

1. Open up the main configuration window.

This is the main window that appears after the EVS has started up. If the Multicam is at the clip list view then you must exit by either pressing ALT+Q or by using the LSM Remote.

Network connections

2. To set the PC LAN port IP address:
   1. Select a configuration line at the left side of the setup window
   2. Press L
   3. Set the IP address, Subnet and Default gateway
   4. Press ENTER to apply

Main  configuration window on EVS from Multicam 16:

Setting up channels for LinX

3. To set the channel configuration on the EVS:
   1. Select a configuration line under the setup window
   2. Press F8 then F3 for Advanced Mode
   3. Navigate to the CHANNEL window by pressing the RIGHT arrow
   4. Press TAB several times to navigate to the required line
   5. Set Base config to Multicam LSM.
   6. Press PageDown for the 2nd page and TAB to select the RS422 ports
   7. Set one of the RS422 ports to LinX.(This port and channel will be used exclusively by LinX)
   8. Set LinX as a Main controller on one or two OUT channels depending on how many channels Tactic will need to control.

NOTE: in Multicam LSM mode PGM1 and RS422 #1 has to be set to EVS Remote.

9. When finished press ALT+A to apply

CHANNELS  configuration windows on EVS from Multicam 16

page 1:

page 2:

Setup Tactic for LinX

To open the EVSLinX plugin open preferences and in the “VT Device” section select Linx. Then, expand the TV Device folder in preferences and go to the LinX page (see screenshot below). Set the LinX and Local IP.

If there are lots of clips on the EVS, it is recommended to to disable thumbnails so the clip list will refresh faster.

Set your EVS ID, in cases where you have only one EVS on the local network set this to 0, otherwise use the EVS ID the EVS is assigned too.

Set record channel 1 to whatever channel you have assigned LinX to on the EVS. If you are using a second channel in Tactic and have a second video in from the EVS, this should be set to the second channel LinX is assigned too. The Record channel is the output of Tactic going back to the EVS, set this to whichever channel is assigned to recording the Tactic return on the EVS.

It is recommended to use VITC timecode (see video preferences in Tactic) for most use cases.

This is the core set up for EVS Linx, however it is common to use bank, page and cam filters so only the clips in your designated bank/page on the EVS appear on the Tactic cliplist. See below for details on all LinX parameters in Tactic.

Opening EVSLinX plugin for the first time

On selection of the EVSLinX plugin for the first time after installing Tactic the plugin will not be initialized correctly. The first item to set is the LinX IP address of the EVS server. See the EVS Configuration for LinX section to determine this address.

Once the LinX IP is set LinX will try to re-initialize and if successful Windows will prompt to allow network connection to the EVS server. This will have to be authorized through a Windows pop-up dialogue.

Until LinX is configured correctly Tactic will repeatedly attempt to open the communication channels used to communicate with the EVS. This will result in various error messages appearing on the Tactic debug window until successful connection . See LinX debug output for further details.

EVSLinX setup via Tactic preferences / VT Device / EVSLinX:

LinX IP: PC LAN connection IP address set on the EVS server for LinX.

Local IP: This has to be set if there are more than one active network ports on the Tactic PC. Set this to the IP address of the network port that is connected to the same network as the PC LAN port on the EVS.

Clip folders: Thumbnails will be organized into directories according to the assigned EVS keywords in the clip.

Thumbnail Delay: The delay between requesting a thumbnail and grabbing it from video in. When thumbnails are grabbed from SDI input after being brought to air on the EVS this delay is the period of time that the plugin will wait before capturing video from the input.

Rec Train Delay: Optional delay to give time to EVS to switch to a LIVE channel when loading a recording train from the clip list or when loading an analysis before another event happens. This might be 0 depending on the usage and circumstances.

Generate Thumbnails:

• All Clips: make a thumbnail for every clip in the built clip list.
• New Clips Only: going through the clip list for each clip Tactic looks for a matching thumbnail file of the correct format in the Thumbnails directory. For every file that is missing, Tactic will grab a thumbnail.
• No: no thumbnails will be transferred. Tactic will still look for existing thumbnails in the Thumbnails folder and use them or set a default blank thumbnail for the clip.

Page Filter: Include only these page numbers (0-9) when updating the clip list.

Bank Filter: Include only these bank numbers (1-9) when updating the clip list.

Cam Filter: Include only these camera inputs (A-F) when updating the clip list.

Input Channel 1: Set EVS OUT channel (1-6) that is connected to Tactic video IN 1.

Input Channel 2: Set EVS OUT channel (1-6) that is connected to Tactic video IN 2.

Recording channel:        Set EVS recording train (1-6) on which Tactic output will be recorded (via SDI) for creating clips, locally or by Tactic.

EVS Net ID: This will be 0 if the EVS server to which Tactic is connected is the very same server that Tactic needs to control.
If the EVS server of interest is NOT the one physically connected to Tactic but one on its network of servers then set the target EVS server Net ID (1-99).

Please see the EVS documentation for further explanation on EVS server networks.

Automatic Updates:         Default to false. Automatically update Tactic clip list with changes made on the EVS regarding add/remove/rename clips.

Show OSD: Outputs text information on Linx channels the same way the Main channel does (on LSM Remote). Clip name, Timecode, etc..

Using the EVSLinX plugin

Build clip list

Clip list is always built and updated based on the Page, Bank, Cam filter settings in preferences.

To import the clip list, click on the Refresh Clips icon

EVSLinX debug output

Successfully initialized LinX with 2 PGM channels and one recording channel. LinX is configured to control through RS422 port-4 on the EVS.

———————————————————————————————————-

Channel connection error

“LinX – A player channel must be set to load clips. Set Input Channel 1 or 2 to the configured LinX port.”

– No channels are set on both Input channel 1 and 2.

———————————————————————————————————-

“LinX – connecting EVS-OUT1 -> PC-IN1 failed.”

“LinX – connecting EVS-OUT4 -> PC-IN2 failed. Error: Error during open access”

– Channels settings are incorrect. Failed to connect EVS PGM1 and PGM4 to Tactic. Check EVS configuration whether LinX is set to control these channels or change Input channel 1 and 2 to different EVS channels.

———————————————————————————————————-

Time code error

“LinX – Failed to get time code Error: Bad channel type”

1) Didn’t set Input channel 1 and 2.

2) Only either Input channel 1 OR 2 is set correctly but the VT Control channel selector is on the wrong channel.

———————————————————————————————————-

Lost network connection

“LinX – Failed to get timecode Error: A time-out occurred”

“LinX – Lost IP connection. Error: Connect error. Trying to re-open EVSLinX plugin.”

“LinX – IP connection failed. Error:  A time-out occurred”

– All these messages suggest that you have lost the network connection to the EVS. If the error message keeps appearing in a constant rate it means your connection is permanently off.

Every time the connection is lost Tactic will try to re-initialize the plugin.

———————————————————————————————————-

“LinX – Database connection failed.”

“LinX – Syncing Database failed.”

– When the database connection or synchronization fails but the IP connection is fine it means the database management was busy at the time and Tactic will try to re-open the connections.

EVSClipStore vs EVSLinX

This table collects the main technical differences between EVSClipStore and EVSLinX plugins. This is to help decide which plugin may work better for a particular production.

	EVSClipStore	EVSLinX
Connections
Tactic control over EVS	serial cable + rs422 converter or USB-Rs422	LAN via main Ethernet network
Tactic video I/O	SDI via video I/O boards	SDI via video I/O boards
Clip thumbnail transfer to Tactic	via SDI	via SDI
EVS setup
EVS channel occupation	can be set as a secondary controller on any EVS player channels, working in parallel with an LSM control.	Needs to occupy a whole EVS channel, taking exclusive control over it. (This is under review by EVS)
Compatibility	Requires Odetics protocol being available on the server. It’s an old protocol so very much available and compatible to old servers and Multicam too.	– requires Multicam 11.47 + – requires network Multicasting capabilities for Clip List Auto Update
Tactic Features
Making clips from Tactic output onto EVS (record+clip)	only manually via LSM	via Tactic interface with precise TC
Clip List Auto Update	no support	Tactic Clip List is managed by a regularly synced database. Any changes made on the EVS will appear in Tactic too.
Clip List thumbnails	Requires exclusive control over one EVS channel, temporarily. For every thumbnail: – Tactic loads a clip on EVS – records the first frame onto disk via SDI input – scales the picture to thumbnail size – Takes 1-1.5 sec each	Same as EVSClipStore

K2 DLC

System Overview

This guide is to provide a systems operators, support staff and engineers in the setup, configuration and operation of the K2 Video Server using DLC (Distributed Lan Client) to provide clip information for Tactic  direct from a K2 Summit/Solo or San system. The connection between the Tactic system and K2 is network based and utilises a DLC client/server mechanism called Storenext by Quantum. The diagram below illustrates the system architecture.

K2 DLC System Architecture

The principle behind the connection is basic file sharing. The media drive on the K2 is shared and is mounted onto the Tactic system. The DLC client provides a file system called CVFS or SNFS to allow this to be done.

Requirements and Warnings

There are a number of requirements to allow network mounted clip playback using SNFS/DLC. These are

1. SNFS/DLC with the K2 is not guaranteed to be real time in all situations. There is a finite amount of bandwidth available on the K2 and if this is being shared with SAN backup, DynoPA, Proxy control then your playback may not be in real time. You can still play and record back to the DLC and the completed clips will be real time. But if you are trying to play direct to air you should fully test your K2/Tactic setup beforehand.
2. Ensure you have JumboFrame support enabled on your network NIC’s If you do not you will not get the optimum performance and you will increase the chance of dropping frames.
3. Ensure you have Reference clips enabled on the K2. Otherwise, all clips without reference mov files will appear as directories in Tactic.
4. Ensure you are using the correct version of the SNFS Client for the K2 you are connecting to. RTSoftware does not supply the SNFS Client for this feature. If you require this then you should contact either GrassValley or Quantum.

Connection

The connection between the K2 and the Tactic system relies on a 1Gb network link. The network connections assume that network access is configured on both systems. It will also depend on whether you are running a DHCP server or not. If you are not running DHCP you will have to manually assign an IP address to the Tactic system.

The network cable should be connected to the Tactic system using the lower of the 2 network ports on the back of the machine (usually labelled ASF). You should have been supplied with a DLC.zip file that contains installers for Windows. It also contains this document as well as other docs for Windows configuration.

Windows Installation and Configuration

This guide does not cover the installation of the DLC client for Windows systems. This is extensively covered in the DynoPA system guide – PA_v2.0_ConfigMan.pdf

You will find this in the DLC.zip you should have obtained. The docs and installers are located in the Windows directory of the zip file.

Troubleshooting the K2 DLC

If you cannot successfully connect to the K2 you should check that the K2 is configured correctly. Check the following

1. Ensure you have entered the correct information into the Tactic system configurations files
2. Can you ping the K2 Open a Dos and type

ping <hostname of IP address>

The K2 should respond:

64 bytes from k2control.rtsw.co.uk (192.168.100.81): icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=0.090 ms

3. Is DLC enabled and running on the K2? On the K2 desktop, goto System->All Programs->GrassValley->DLC Config->Launch DLC Tool.

If this is not there then DLC has not been installed. If it is, run it and check that DLC is running. If DLC is not running consult GV docs on how to start.

4. Is the correct nameserver IP address entered? Run AllPrograms->StoreNext FileSystem->NameServers. The IP Address of The K2 should be configured. If it is wrong, delete the entry and type in the correct one. Note that you will need to disable the Write Filter to make permanent changes thru reboots. Check K2 docs for more info.

5. Is the Name binding correct? Open up the Network Setting dialogue.

Open up Network connections on the K2. Select ‘Advanced Settings’ from the Advanced menu at the top of the dialogue.

6. Ensure that the ‘Control Team’ is at the top of the binding list and that ‘Loopback Adapter’ is at the bottom. Use the arrow keys at the side to change.

LiveTouch

Live Touch IP Address: Default is Blank. The IP of the LiveTouch server

Network Port: Default is “80”. The PC network port to connect to the LiveTouch server.

Live Machine Port 0: Default is “0”.

Live Machine Port 1: Default is “0”.

Live Machine Port 2: Default is “0”.

Live Machine Port 3: Default is “0”.

Auto Update: Default is unticked. When ticked Tactic will automatically update changes from the LiveTouch server.

Category: Default is “togsports”.

PlaylistName: Default is “togplaylist”.

AJAKiProUltra

Configures connection to AJAKiProUltra..

3Play

3Play Address is for the IP address of the 3Play server.

Output Channel Defaults to 0. This selects the output channel used on the 3Play Machine.

Clip Directory is the path to the 3Play drive. This should be mounted as a network share on the PC. See Mounting a Network drive on Windows 10 for details.

Mounting a Network drive on Windows 10

To mount a network drive on Windows 10, first navigate to “This PC” in Explorer. Then Select the “Computer” tab and select “Map Network Drive”.

In this example X: has been used for the drive letter and the IP address of the NewTek system is \192.168.100.199 and select Browse.

Expand the folder tree and select your clip folder.

You can now navigate to this folder in explorer from “This PC” and obtain your clips directory for Tactic.

WebPage Support

In WebPage support there are the settings for the web control (tablet interface). The “Cef Home Page” is the first page you will see when hitting the “Web” button.

A sting is an animation or transition which will appear when loading Web or Clips, these can be enabled/disabled here.

Cef Home Page: Default: www.google.co.uk Defines your home page when you hit the Web Button.

Cef Cache Directory: Default $RTSW/Cache Defines the directory where Cef (browser) will cache data. This should not change with normal use.

Use sting on Web Navigate: Default Unticked. When enabled, Tactic will use a Sting  while the web page is loading.

Use Sting on Clip Load: Default ticked. When enabled, Tactic will use a Sting  while a clip is loading.

Delay before page displayed:  Default is 0.5

Take off Delay on Sting (secs): Default is 0.5. This defines the duration of additional time the sting will remain active after the take off has completed, in seconds.

Clip Load Delay (secs): Default 1.0. This defines the duration of additional time the sting will remain active after the clip load has completed, in seconds.

In the Advanced subwindow you enable GPU Acceleration, this will give better web performance for systems running dedicated GPUs. It is only advised to use this on a system which has a dedicated GPU.

The Cef Directory allows the use of specific versions of Cef, this should be left at default for normal users.

Web Server

Resource Path: Default is $RESOURCES/skins/TacticWebSkin. This can be changed to select between custom and the default Tactic Web skin.

Web Server Port: Default is 80. This is the network port the web server will operate on.

Clip View Type: Default is “Story”. This defines what clips will appear in the web interface clip panel.

Default Web Page: Default is “Presenter”.

Clear on Play: Default is checked. When ticked, all graphics laid down in the presenter interface will be cleared when the play button is pressed.

Clear all Graphics: Default is unchecked. When checked this will clear (hide) all graphics made in the main edit window in the web view (tablet mode).

Layout

Clip List Position: Default Left. The Clip List Position defines where the clip list (or burger menu to open it) will be placed on the Tactic Web Interface. It may be placed left or right.

VT Controls Position: Default Left. Defines where the VT Controls (rewind, play, pause and so on) will be placed on the Tactic Web interface.

Show Web Button: Default is unticked. When ticked a web button will be present on the Tactic Web Interface. When pressed it will open the Tactic built in web browser.

Show Live and Channel Buttons: Default is unticked. When enabled a live button will be present in the Tactic Web interface in the burger menu. When clicked Tactic will switch to the live video in.

Images

Background Image and Brand Image allow you to choose your own branded .png files. The background image is revealed when the logo is pressed to squeeze back video.

Colours

The colours menu allows you to customise aspects of the Tactic Web Interface. Left clicking on colours brings up a colour picker allowing full customisation of the Web interface. RGB values may be entered manually too. The final options on the far right are transparency values.

Blue Strength: Default is 10. This defines how much background blur there is on the Tactic Web Background.

Use Background Image: Default is Ticked. When unchecked the background image found in the Tactic Web Interface will be hidden.

VT Controls

In the Tactic Web Interface there are three slow-motion buttons with varying speeds. By default these are 0.75, 0.50, 0.25. These can be changed in this menu. 1.0 is 100% playback speed, 0.50 is 50% playback speed.

Joystick

When using a Contour Shuttle, select which model you have here.

Axis Mappings

To use this a contour must be selected in the “Joystick” menu. Here you can button map the shuttle and adjust the sensitivity of the wheel.

Button Mappings

To use this a contour must be selected in the “Joystick” menu. Here you can button map the shuttle.

Graphic Authoring

Always Reload Scripts: Default is unticked. When enabled scripts will always reload from disk when a graphic is run. This is slower, but means you can edit scripts and see the results without restarting Tactic.

Appendix B – Keyboard Shortcuts

“F5”                                Presenter interface

“F6”                                Refresh Clips listed in the Clip Browser

“F12”                                Clear Analysis

“9”                                Set the In Timecode of the currently selected graphic(s)

“0”                                Set the Out Timecode of the currently selected graphic(s)

“-“                                Copy Previous Keyframe

“=”                                Copy Next Keyframe

“R”                                Animates out the currently selected graphics at the end of                                 the current pause. If no pause exists, one is created.

“T”                                 Trim automatically sets the Mark In and Mark Out                                         Timecodes to before (pre-roll) and after (post-roll) the                                         graphics in the timeline.
The pre-roll and post-roll times are configurable in                                         Preferences > Analysis

“I”                                Mark In

“CTRL + I”                         Move back Mark in by Pre roll amount.

“O”                                Mark Out

“P”                                Preview

“Ctrl” + “P”                        Record

“[“                                Previous Keyframe / Event

“]”                                Next Keyframe / Event

“A”                                Select linked Graphics

“Ctrl” + “S”                        Save Analysis

“Ctrl” + “Shift” + “S”                Save Analysis As

“J”                                VT Play Backward

“K”                                VT Pause

“L”                                VT Play Forward

“;”                                Insert Pause

“Ctrl” + “;”                        Shrink/Delete Timed Pause

“Shift” + Left Mous        e        Select Multiple Keyframes

“Ctrl” + “Z”                        Undo

“M”                                Toggle Motion Paths

“,”                                VT Step/Jog Backward

“.”                                VT Step/Jog Forward

“/”                                Animate Off

“Alt” + Left Mouse                Tumble Camera

“Alt” + Middle Mouse                Track

“Alt” + Right Mouse                Dolly

“Spacebar”                        Cue Graphic

Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)

The above image shows current keyboard shortcuts, this can be found in the RTSW/Docs folder on the desktop or, can be accessed from the settings menu:

Appendix C – Licensing

Licence Details

Basic Licence details such as expiration date and licence id is displayed on the splash screen as Tactic starts:

To view more detailed licence information, select the “gear” icon in the top right corner and select “Show License Details” …

Exact License Details will be specific to the version and features of Tactic Lite purchased.

If no License is found the following dialog will be displayed.

If you already have a license and have been issued an extension, click on the link and follow instructions under “Install a Software Licence via the Web Portal” later in this section.

If not Click OK to get to the following menu:

The top section of this dialog refers to the older style USB Security Key and can be ignored if using a Trial license, Software License and the new style USB Security Key.

Press “License” to Install / Update a Trial license, Software Licence or new style USB Security Key.

New style USB Security Key

Install a Trial Software Licence

A Trial Licence is available upon request from RT Software  https://www.rtsw.co.uk/

To obtain a Trial Licence, contact sales@rtsw.co.uk

Upon receipt of the Trial licence file (TacticLite-30Days.v2c), save the file on your PC in a convenient location and apply the licence as follows.

Press “License”

Press “Apply Licence (v2c)”

Locate and Select the Trial licence file (TacticAdvancedSP-30Days.v2c)

Request and Install a Software Licence

A Software Licence is available upon request from RT Software.

To obtain a Software Licence, contact licence@rtsw.co.uk

Press “License”

Press “Create Request (c2v)”

Send the request file (Example_0.c2v) to licence@rtsw.co.uk

Upon receipt of your new licence (e.g.12345678901234567.V2C), save the file on your PC in a convenient location and apply the licence.

Press “Apply Licence (v2c)”

Locate and Select the licence file (12345678901234567.v2c)

Update a Software Licence or USB Security Key

To update your Licence, contact licence@rtsw.co.uk

Press “License”

Press “Create Request (c2v)”

Send the request file (Example_12345678901234567.c2v) to licence@rtsw.co.uk

Upon receipt of your new licence (e.g.12345678901234567.v2c), save the file on your PC in a convenient location and apply the licence.

Press “Apply Licence (v2c)”

Locate and Select the licence file (12345678901234567.v2c)

Transfer a Software Licence

A Software Licence may be transferred from an “Old” PC to a “New” PC.

This can be performed at any time without contact with RT Software Ltd.

1. Install Tactic Lite on both the “Old” PC and the “New” PC.
2. “Collect Info” and create the *.id file on the “New” PC.
3. “Transfer Licence” and create the *.h2h file on the “Old” PC using the *.id file from the “New” PC.
4. “Apply License” *.h2h on the “New” PC.

Press “License”

Select the “Transfer” tab.

Install a Software Licence via the Web Portal

If you were provided with a product key instead of a v2c file, please visit https://licensing.rtsw.co.uk/

and copy/paste the key in the appropriate field then hit “Login”.

Update a Software Licence via the Web Portal

Once an update to your licence is available, please visit http://licensing.rtsw.co.uk/

And click on the “License Update” tab then click on “Update Licenses”

Appendix D – Importing Fonts

Select the “gear” icon in the top right corner and select “Import Font” …

Locate the desired font …

Imported Fonts can be used in any graphic tool that uses text.

e.g.the Info Box

Change the Title Font parameter to the new font …

Appendix E – Moving the RTSW Folder

It is recommended to keep the RTSW folder in its default location:

C:Users[USERNAME]DesktopRTSW

However, it is possible to have the RTSW folder in a different location if required. If all your settings are set to default all you need to do is copy your existing RTSW folder from the desktop to your new desired location. Then in preferences under “Files and Directories” there is a “RTSW Directory” setting where you can enter your new directory.

If you have changed any other directories in Tactic preferences, you need to check they are going to the new RTSW directory too.

“$RTSW” denotes the directory specified in the “RTSW Directory” setting. This can be replaced by a full directory if desired.

“$RESOURCES” points to: “C:Program FilesTactic[VERSION]” and should not be changed.