ClockManager

One of the important iNEWS features that supports the director during a show is the iNEWS Showtiming clock. This clock keeps track of all the time limits of the show and displays them within the iNEWS toolbar.

This toolbar is very small and, of course, only available on PCs where the iNEWS client is installed on. As of these disadvantages there is no easy way to keep the whole gallery or the studio informed about the actual show times.

Thats where the ClockManager comes into play. The ClockManger makes it possible to open a Showtiming clock in a dedicated desktop window. This window is called the ClockClient. When opening the ClockClient a show can be choosen for which the clocks should be displayed. If the director starts Showtiming on this show the ClockClient displays the Showtiming clocks. As the ClockClient is independent of the iNEWS client it can run on all computers within your iNEWS client network.

• ClockManager displays iNEWS Showtiming clocks on a PC monitor.

• Server and client systems run on standard, low cost IT platforms.

• Because the display is a standard PC monitor the screen size is variable in wide range and not predefinded by ClockManager.

• Both, server and client are available for Microsoft Windows and Linux.

• No need for expensive and overscaled LTC-clocks.

• Protocol for communication between ClockClient and ClockServer is Java RMI. The network port is configurable so the system is easily configurable for a firewall.

• ClockServer can monitor multiple rundowns simultaneously.

• Showtiming clock of one rundown can be displayed by multiple ClockClients.

• One ClockClient in fullscreen mode can act as a studio clock.

• Multiple ClockClients on the same PC display might be helpful for master control room.

• The ClockManager and iNEWS communicate over the specified FTP interface.

• Only the ClockServer connects to iNEWS not every ClockClient.

• Granular configuration of the iNEWS connection settings as:
  • number of simultaneous connections to an iNEWS system.
  • number of simultaneous connections to either iNEWS server A or B, respectively.
  • load balancing – difference between connection numbers to A and to B

• Automatic failover if one of the iNEWS servers in a dual server system doesn't respond.

The ClockManager is a software for making Showtiming clocks available to the whole production team. The ClockManager is utilized in the following way:

1. The user opens a ClockClient window on a client PC. To see the times for a show she has to connect to a ClockServer.
   
   
2. The ClockClient connects to the ClockServer via Java RMI and displays a list with all the shows that can be timed.
   
   
3. Now the user can choose a show from this list.
   
   
4. If a show is chosen the ClockClient registers itself to the ClockServer as a listener for this show and gets updated by ClockServer for changes of the clocks.
   
   

• Linux or Windows

• Java 6

• .NET Runtime 2.0 on Windows machines

• Privilege to open FTP connections to the iNEWS system

• Linux or Windows

• Java 6

• .NET Runtime 2.0 on Windows machines

• Privilege to open a RMI connection to the ClockServer on a configurable TCP port

• Functional demo version - no installation, no configuration. Simply start the program and see how it works

• Initial version

• Elapsed time clock - a new clock counts forward and is reset to 0 on each sync triggering. Helpful to get the right times for displaying supers.

• ClockClient Layout - Clocks can now rearranged by drag&drop.

• Fix for floated stories - If the current aired story or the next hard out story is floated, iNEWS showtiming runs into a inconsistent status. In such a case the Clockclient now doesn't display times in the HardOut clock and in the Over/Under clock.

• Support for Time to Duration

Some of the following links are restricted to specific users. Read the overview on page Welcome who has which permissions.

Bugs & Features

Downloads

Forum

• The iNEWS Connection Framework is an integrated part of ClockServer 1.0. So the different Hmedia Manager programs (i.e. PrintServer and ClockServer) cannot share their iNEWS connections. In next version of ClockServer this framework is excluded in a separate server component.

• The configurability of the client GUI will be improved.

• We are thinking of a ClockClient with Studio Clocks as output devices

• We plan a SmartTrigger to forward the sync job to the mixer (triggered via GPI interface)

• Release date is not fixed for next version.

These broadcasters already use the ClockManager:

• Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg - RBB

— Andreas Hartmann 24.05.2007 10:24