DAKTRONICS Venus Control Suite Software User Guide

DAKTRONICS Venus Control Suite Software

This guide is designed to help the user operate the Scheduling App of Venus® Control Suite. It is designed to explain and direct the user on accessing the app, understanding the Playlist Page, and creating and editing playlists.

Accessing the Scheduling App

1. Log into Venus® Control Suite.
2. Navigate to and click on the Scheduling App from either of the MyApps menus. Refer to Figure 1.
3. From the Scheduling App Playlist Page, all Scheduling App features es are available.

Playlist Page Figure 1: My Apps Menu
The Scheduling App Playlist Page lists all current playlists. The list view will show each created playlist for all levels of users. Priority view will show the playlists in descending priority for Select level and above users. These two views can be toggled using the List and Priority button on the Playlist Page. In the Priority view, the playlists can be dragged and dropped into the desired order. The highest priority is 1 and decreases thereafter with each playlist. This applies only to normal playlists. It does not apply to synchronized, overridden, and exclusive playlists. Once sorted, the playlists showcase individual information about each playlist. This information is detailed under the playlist’s title. Refer to Figure 2.

Delete one or more playlists by selecting them from the list and clicking .

Filters

Use the Filters Menu to limit what playlist(s) you see on the Playlist Page or search for a specific playlist. Filter based on the title, account, display(s), media file(s), and/or tags on the playlist(s). Use multiple filters to quickly narrow, locate, and access the desired material. Sort the playlists using the Sort Order drop-down menu. Refer to Figure 3.

Note: The Account, Display, and Media File fields also act as dropdown menus. These menus will list all applicable material found in each category and will limit the results based on your selection.

Creating a New Playlist

1. From the Scheduling Playlist Page, click Add New and Playlist to create a new playlist. Refer to Figure 4.
2. To create a new playlist, you must select media to play, designate the display(s) to play on, and set the properties of the playlist.

Selecting a Display

1. Click Add Displays, drag the content into Media, or click + under the Displays Field to select the display(s) the new playlist will appear on.
2. From the Select Displays menu, navigate through and select the desired display(s) from the drop-down menu.
3. A check mark will identify which display(s) you have selected and generate a list under the Displays Field. Refer to Figure 5.
   Note: Use the search and filter functions in Select Displays to quickly find the desired display.
   Note: Remove a display by either deselecting it from the drop-down menu or clicking the X in the Displays field.
   Note: The displays appear differently in the drop-down menu based on the available options. View “Display Picker” on page 7 for more information.

Selecting Media Files

1. Click Add Media or + under the Media Files tab to select the desired media for your new playlist.

2. Locate the desired media file using the filter options. The media filter can limit results using file title, modified date, account name, association, file type, dimension, and associated tags. Refer to Figure 6.
   Note: Using multiple filter options will further limit results.
   Note: Click Add All to add all media files to the current playlist.
   Note: Click RESET to remove current filter selections.

3. Select the desired media file(s) from the list within the Select Media menu by clicking +. The Media Files list will populate with the selected media files. Refer to Figure 6.

4. Remove a media file from the list by clicking, or remove all media files by clicking .

Selecting Playlist Properties

1. Click Playlist Properties from the Playlist Creation Page.

2. Enter the desired values in the Playlist Properties menu. Refer to Figure 7.

3. Enter a Playlist Title.

4. Select Active or Inactive.
   Note: This selection can be changed after saving the playlist.

5. Set Exclusive to On or Off.
   Note: The priority list goes Overrides, Synchronized Playlist, Exclusive Playlist, and then Normal Playlist.

6. Select an Initial Start Date. An end date can be selected if desired.
   Note: The default choice is the date of creation.

7. Select or deselect the days of the week the playlist should run.8. Select the time(s) of day you would like the playlist to start and end in the Start Time and End Time fields or select a premade time range from the list.
   Note: Use Time Ranges to create and save multiple sets of start and end times to be used in playlist creation. Refer to Figure 8.

8. Select the Playlist Mode.

9. Add tags to the playlist by entering a title and clicking +.

10. Use the Look Change drop-down menu to select the desired Look.
    Note: The Look Change property can only be initiated if a layout has a command zone and the constraint is set.

11. Click Confirm once the values are entered.

Saving a Playlist

1. Select either Save or Save As from the drop-down menu. Refer to Figure 9.
2. When selecting Save As, enter a new title for the Playlist.
   Note: Save As will save the playlist as Inactive.

Scheduled Content View
Scheduled Content view is used to review what is and is not scheduled to the displays associated with the account. Follow these steps to use Scheduled Content View.

1. Access Scheduled Content View through the left navigation of the Scheduling App. Refer to Figure 10.
2. Select a display to view the scheduled content. Refer to Figure 11.
3. Select a media item for details. Refer to Figure 12.

Synchronized Playlists
Synchronized Playlists allow for the creation of playlists that affect multiple displays or zones simultaneously. Synchronized Playlists are only available for the Professional package.

To create a Synchronized Playlist

1. Select Synchronized Playlists during playlist creation. Refer to Figure 13.

2. Select the displays for the playlist. After the displays have been selected, a table will be populated. Refer to Figure 14.

3. At this point, the table represents the synchronized playlist. Each column represents a display or a group of displays, while the rows are the total media set to the display or group of displays.

4. Fill in the cells of the table with desired media. Refer to Figure 14 for an example.
   Note: The rows can be manipulated with drag and drop, but the columns can only be moved via the overflow menu at the top of each column.

5. Set Loop Duration.

6. Click Save at the end of creation.

Interactive Playlists
Interactive Playlists allow for the creation of unique playlists that affect touchscreen-capable displays only. Interactive playlists require at least one attract loop (regular playlist) to be scheduled to avoid the screen going black.

Create an Interactive Playlist

1. Select Interactive Playlists during playlist creation. Refer to Figure 15.

2. Select the Displays for the playlist.
   Note: Only select displays capable of touchscreen functionality.

3. Select the Media File.
   Note: Media for interactive playlists is created outside of VCS by either the user or a digital agency. Only one media file can be used in an interactive playlist.

4. Click the selected media file to open the Trigger Options.

5. Adjust the timeout as necessary. Refer to Figure 16.
   Note: The timeout is the amount of time the interactive playlist will continue to display while there is no interaction with the screen before it reverts to the attract loop.

6. Open the playlist properties and set the Playlist State.

7. Select a Date Range.
   Note: Only one interactive playlist can be active at a time; do not overlap the start and end dates of multiple interactive playlists.

8. Click Save at the end of creation.

9. Interactive Playlists can easily be identified by the icon on the Playlists screen.

Scheduling an Attract Loop
An Attract Loop must be scheduled or the display will remain black. Simply schedule a regular, noninteractive playlist to the interactive display to set it as the attract loop.

Scheduling Interactive Content without an Attract Loop
It is possible to schedule interactive content without an Attract Loop. To schedule this, add the interactive content (one piece of media ONLY) to a regular playlist and schedule it as normal.
Note: Do NOT use the interactive playlist type from the drop-down menu during creation.

Display Picker
This section details the different views found while selecting specific types of displays during the playlist creation.

• Simplified View is for accounts with 20 or fewer displays or targets and uses zones. Refer to Figure 17.
• Hierarchy View is for accounts with more than 20 displays or targets, houses multiple sub-accounts, and does not use zones. Refer to Figure 18.
• Large Flat View is for accounts with more than 20 displays or targets, uses a single account, and does not use zones. Refer to Figure 19.
• Advanced Scheduling View is for display owners and populates the list with all displays and zones. Refer to Figure 20.
• Advertiser View is for advertiser accounts and only populates the list with displays and zones that have sales attached. Refer to Figure 21.

The Media Library
The Media Library in the Scheduling app houses all media functionality. Media is additionally used to upload and manage Content Studio Presentations, Web Presentations, and Free Content. This section will cover the primary uses of adding and removing media, as well as adding tags and using the Filter menu.

1. Click Media.

2. Click Add New. Refer to Figure 22.
   Note: The Add New button has a drop-down arrow for New Web Presentation, New Content Studio Presentation, or Free Content.

3. Drag and drop files or click and navigate to files inside the Upload Media menu. Refer to Figure 23.

4. Click Next.

5. Select an association from the list if using an advanced scheduling account.
   Note: Adding an association can also be done by either editing a media file or selecting Association in the media slide-in menu.

6. Add tags to the media by clicking the media file and selecting Edit Tags under tags. Enter a name and click.

7. Click Save.

8. Make bulk changes to media files by selecting multiple media files and clicking . This is used to bulk edit tags, download, or delete.

9. Preview a media file by selecting it and clicking on the thumbnail in the slide-in menu. Refer to Figure 24.

10.  Select and click to remove media.

Filters
The Filters menu is used to sort and identify specific media inside the Media Library.

• Type inside the Search bar to automatically sort the media files. Refer to Figure 25.
• Sort the files by selecting Newest First, Oldest First, Recently Modified, Alphabetical, or Reverse Alphabetical.
• Sort by Added to Library by selecting Past Day, Past Week, or Past Month.
• Sort by media Dimensions by selecting a dimension.
• Sort by file types by selecting a file type.
• Sort by Tags by selecting a previously created tag.
• Switch between List and Grid view by clicking and respectively.

Emergency Alerts
The Emergency Alerts page is used to manage the emergency alerts that are displayed through VCS. Emergency Alerts are distributed by the Integrated Public Alert Warning System (IPAWS) and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Each alert is listed with a title, date of issue, and issuer.

Follow these steps and refer to Figure 26 to set an alert to Active or Inactive:

1. Navigate to the Alerts page in the Scheduling App.
2. Select an alert from the list.
3. Use the slide-in menu to select which displays to set as Active or Inactive.
4. Click Set Active or Set Inactive to finish.

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