Quick Start

This chapter will walk you through a few basic operations of your Cablecast system. The purpose of this chapter isn't to give you an in-depth explanation of how everything in Cablecast works. Instead, our aim is to walk you through a few of the basics that you will use virtually every day you use Cablecast.

If you perform all of the following sections in order, you will have a basic idea of how to login to the software, add a digital file for playback, schedule that file, and commit the changes to automation. If everything works as expected, you will have a file playing back on-air in about 10 minutes.

In this quickstart, we'll be covering the basics, including:

  • Logging in
  • Uploading a video file
  • Creating a show
  • Scheduling your show
  • Sending Autopilot

Logging In

For the sake of example, we'll pretend your server is at domain tv.yourtown.org.

To log in to the Cablecast software:

  1. From a web browser on your system, navigate to http://tv.yourtown.org/
    • If the Frontdoor login screen doesn't automatically appear, navigate to http://tv.yourtown.org/frontdoor/
  2. Enter your username in the username field.
  3. Enter your password in the password field.
  4. Click "Log In"

Uploading a Video/Show

Cablecast is able to playback programming from a variety of sources. The most common type of source used is a video server that is capable of playing back files. This exercise will walk you through the steps needed to add a file to the video server and create a new Show record based on that file.

  1. Open your Cablecast UI in your web browser and ensure you're logged in.
  2. Click on "Assets" on the left navigation bar
  3. Find and click on Upload (In the upper right corner of the page)
  4. Choose a file to upload
    • Optionally: Give the file an alternative filename to upload as
  5. Select the server the file should be uploaded to.
  6. Click Upload.

File Upload Progress

You can monitor the progress of the upload by viewing the progress bar at the footer of your page. Once the upload is complete, you're able to move onto the next part, Creating a new show.

Creating a show

  1. From the Main Menu of the Cablecast Web User Interface, click on the Folder icon labeled "Assets" in the Side Menu.
  2. Cablecast is now showing all playback files that are "Unlinked", or are not attached to a Show.
  3. Click on the file you uploaded previously from the list of Assets or search for it by name above the list.
  4. The Asset Details screen opens on the right. Click Actions.
    • Choose New Show from the list of Actions.
  5. The New Show screen opens.
    • Here you can populate more information about the Show. For now, we'll keep everything default.
  6. Scroll to the bottom of the New Show screen and click Save.

Scheduling a Show

Now that we have a Show we can add it to the Schedule so that we can play it back automatically.

  1. Click the Calendar icon labeled "Schedule" in the Side Menu.
  2. The Cablecast Schedule interface will appear.
  3. Locate the Show that we just added in the list of Shows on the right side.
  4. Click on the Show to select it.
  5. Locate an open time slot in the Schedule on the left side.
  6. Click on one of the open time slots in the Schedule on the left side to schedule the program.

Sending Autopilot

Now that we have a Schedule, it is time to commit these changes so that Cablecast can calculate timecodes and commands for Router equipment. We call this Sending Autopilot. To send Autopilot:

  1. Click the Paper Airplane icon labeled "Autopilot" in the Side Menu.
  2. Choose "Send Autopilot".
  3. Click "Send".

You will be taken to the Autopilot Send Report screen. The status of the send should transition from "Queued" to different states, finally landing on "Success". The Autopilot Report Screen includes information about any errors or warnings that occurred while Autopilot was being sent.

Congratulations, you have just sent Autopilot! You now have the ability to upload files, create shows, schedule playback, and send Autopilot.

Agenda Link is a third party meeting management tool that helps you create and manage meeting agendas.

This is a quick start on getting the integration setup and running:

Initial Setup

  1. Navigate to Settings / System Settings and enter Integrations
  2. Follow the Integrations steps for setting up Agenda Link.
  3. Navigate to Settings / Location Settings and enter "Custom Fields"
  4. Create a new custom field for Agenda Link.
  1. In a show record, using the new custom field, Link an Agenda Link item to the show record.
  2. In the Web Video item for the show record, Use the Agenda Link controls to your liking.