This is information from the Myers Knowledgebase, which you can find here: http://support.myersinfosys.com/kb/
By using rule based Superimposed Attachments in ProTrack it is possible to use a generic form of a promo and have ProTrack provide the automated tagging instructions that would be sent to automation for execution. The following outlines the procedures to accomplish this task. Please note ProTrack Support (support@myersinfosys.com) must set up the configuration for each site.
The first step in this procedure is to create the necessary superimposed spots in ProTrack. These spots can be generic for each station and then placed on generic promos using superimposed attachment rules. Examples of necessary superimposed spots needed:
- Tonight at 8
- Tuesday at 8
- Next on
To build these spots in ProTrack, use Promo/Filler>Superimposed Spots.
The important pieces of information when building the Superimposed Spot are:
- The Duration – by making the superimposed spot a variable length, we can adjust the duration of the placement with the superimposed attachment rule.
- The Eligibility – make the date range and days of the week wide open, so this superimposed spot may be used at various dates and time, but only make the spot eligible on one channel.
- Video Source – ensure the spot points to the proper automation rule or “page”.
Superimposed Attachment Rules
Once we’ve established our generic superimposed spots we can build a library of superimposed attachment rules. These rules will be attached to our generic promo so the proper graphic is displayed when the promo is scheduled. These rule can be accessed by going to Promo/Filler>Superimposed Spot Attachments or by locating the promo that we wish to establish rules for and selecting Tools>SI Attachments from the spot. Since the promo spot needs to be established anyway, it is easier to build the rules directly from the promo spot. Below is an example of our generic promo spot:
The key information for the promo spot is the eligibility. Promos can be eligible to air on on one channel or multiple. Weekly promos can have their eligibility dates set for one week and all the days are set to “Y”. This spot is the generic NOVA spot, we will now build rules to use this spot as a “Coming up next” spot or a “This week on NOVA” spot or a “Tuesday on NOVA” spot.
From the Promo Spot screen select Tools>SI Attachments. If the spot already has attached rules they will be displayed, if not, an empty list will display. To add a new rule select Edit>Insert.
The channel will be selected (unless it is a virtual digital channel, in that case simply use the pull down to select the virtual channel). When you tab through the Superimposed ID field ProTrack will open a window to query for the superimposed spot:
Use normal ProTrack query techniques to find and select the superimposed spot (e.g. Tuesday at 8).
Attachment Type: Since we started this attachment from the promo spot this field is already set to interstitial and the correct interstitial has been selected.
Screen Format: Again, since we’re making the attachment to a specific promo spot we can leave the screen format to all.
Dates/Times: Dates aren’t really a factor when establishing these rules. Since we’ll want to duplicate promos and have the attachment rule continue to work we can leave the dates for a wide range. An end date of 12/31/9999 ensures this rule will be valid for a long time!
Times and Days Allowed are different. This is how we get the correct graphic to appear over the promo when it is placed in the log. In the example preceding we’ll be putting the “Tuesday at 8” graphic on the promo. That may mean we wish to use that any time of day for all days except Tuesday. On Tuesday we may have a “Tonight at 8” graphic and possibly a “Coming Up Next” graphic that we attach to the promo. In those instances, the only day allowed would be Tuesday. For the “Tonight at 8” rule we would limit the hours to 00:00:00 to 19:30:00 and for the “Coming up next” rule we might limit the hours from 19:30:00 to 20:00:00.
Do not place spot within the FIRST: Enter the duration into the promo for the start of the graphic. In the example preceding the graphic will turn on 20 seconds into the 30 second promo.
Do not place spots within the LAST: Enter the amount of time at the end of the promo without the graphic turned on. In our example, the graphic will be turned off for the last second of the promo. This means the graphic will run for a duration of 9 seconds.
Placement Type (Continuous/Intermittent): In our example we’ve built the superimposed spots to be variable length. Therefore we select Continuous because we want the graphic to run for the entire 9 seconds.
Event Type: ProTrack limits the insertion of graphic events in a break to one of each type. If we leave event type “blank” and we have other rules adding superimposed spots to the break we run the risk of a rule not placing. In the example TN could mean Tuesday Night, but any 2 character code will work.
Run for entire program segment if longer than:/but shorter than: Since we are not segmenting our promo these fields are not used.
Days Allowed: See discussion preceding in Dates/Times.
In the preceding example rule, ProTrack will place the graphic “Tuesday at 8” on the promo “This Week’s NOVA Promo (6/19/12) at 20 seconds into the promo, for 9 seconds (since the duration of the promo is :30). This rule is eligible on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday through Saturday (not on Tuesday), any time this promo appears in a log and superimposed attachment rules are loaded. The limiting factor for dates becomes the eligibility dates of the promo.
Other Examples:
In this example, the rule will only place the “Coming up next” graphic on Tuesdays between 7:30 PM and 8 PM.
In this example, the rule will place the graphic “Tonight at 8” on every placement of the promo on Tuesday between 6 AM and 7 PM.
Duplicating the Promo
The Promo Tagging "On the Fly"'s configuration keeps the attached rule with a promo when the promo is duplicated. In our example we have a promo “This Week’s NOVA Promo”, a promo for the NOVA the week of May 24th at 8 PM, with the following attachment rules connected:
Building the Promo
It is possible to copy an existing promo with all of the attachment rules to a new promo. In this example, "This Week's NOVA Promo (5/24/15)" will be duplicated for the next week. First, query for "This Week's NOVA Promo(5/24/15)" and select Edit>Duplicate – a new promo will be added. The only modification necessary will be the title, video/audio source, and eligibilities.
All the attachment rules will already be in place:
Applying the rules from the log
Once the rules are in place simply place the promo in the broadcast log like you would normally do (manually or by flight). Once the spot is in log load the superimposed attachment rule (Edit>Add Secondary Events>Superimposed Video>Load Attachments or [CTRL]-U). Depending on where the spot is in the log will determine which rule places which spot.