These are the release notes for the Media Sequencer (MSE) version 5.7.0. This document describes the user-visible changes that have been done to the software since release 5.6.0.

Media Sequencer 5.7.0

Release Date: 2024-11-28

Note:

Refer to comprehensive documentation of the Media Sequencer (MSE) in the MSE Manual. When the sequencer is running, this manual is available at http://localhost:8580/mse_manual.html. You can also access the manual by opening the local file www/mse_manual/index.html in the MSE install directory.

Since version 3.1, Media Sequencer is only available as a 64-bit software.

System Requirements

Software

Supported operating systems:

  • Server: Windows Server 2016 or higher.

  • Workstation: Windows 10 or higher.

Since Media Sequencer 5.7.0 is 64-bit software, it can only be run on 64-bit versions of Windows.

Operating systems that have reached their end of life cycle and are no longer officially supported by their manufacturers, are not supported for use with the MSE.

A Media Sequencer used with a Viz Pilot system needs to access the database which Viz Pilot uses. For Viz Pilot version 6 or older, this is an Oracle database, which previous Media Sequencers had to connect to directly.

While this configuration remains supported, Media Sequencer 4.0 and Viz Pilot 7 introduced the ability for the Media Sequencer to connect to the Pilot Data Server instead. The Pilot Data Server introduced in Viz Pilot 7 can in turn, run with either an Oracle backend or a Viz Graphic Hub backend.

When a Media Sequencer is set to connect directly to the Oracle database, an Oracle Database Client (Runtime or Administrator) is needed. Administrators must take care to install the 64-bit version of the Oracle Database Client.

Microsoft .Net

The Media Sequencer requires Microsoft .Net framework 4.7.2 (full) or newer to be installed on the machine. The installer notifies the user if .Net 4.7.2 is not found.

Licensing

As of version 5.4.0, Media Sequencer requires WIBU licensing. The Wibu CodeMeter runtime must be installed and configured, to make Media Sequencer licenses available. CodeMeter is installed as part of the new bundle installer.

Selecting which license container to use and which licenses to enable, is configured from the Media Sequencer launcher with elevated privileges. The launcher generates a license configuration file licenses.json in the Media Sequencer data directory. A Media Sequencer core license is required to launch. Additional licenses must be enabled for running the sequencer as a central Gateway, or for licensing the Viz Multiplay client.

As of version 5.5.0, Media Sequencer supports Viz License version 3 (movable licenses), in addition to the already supported Viz License version 2 introduced with 5.4.0. The launcher has been changed to allow selecting between version 2 and version 3 licenses, in the case where both are available.

The MSE can be configured to alert about license expiration in two ways, either via email (SMTP) or via Graphic Hub journal messages. This alert ability can be configured from the License Alert configuration, available from the launcher when the MSE is running.

For information about how to configure MSE licenses and license alerts, refer to the MSE WIBU licensing documentation (available from the Windows Start menu).

Hardware

System requirements for hosting the Media Sequencer:

Workload

Processor

Memory

Standard

2 cores / 4 threads

6 GB

Demanding

4 cores / 8 threads

12 GB

Running other resource-intensive software on the same machine is not recommended as it can slow down the Media Sequencer.

Virtualization

The Media Sequencer may be run inside a virtual machine. We recommend following the table above when allocating resources to the virtual machine. For time-critical operations we recommend using the Element Scheduling REST API to trigger frame accurate playout.

Applications and Components Recommended with this Release

  • Viz Trio 4.3.0 or higher

  • Viz Multiplay 3.3.0 or higher

  • Viz Pilot 8.9.2 or higher

  • Viz Pilot Edge 3.1.0 or higher

  • Template Builder 3.1.0 or higher

  • Pilot Data Server 9.1.0 or higher

  • Preview Server 4.7.0 or higher

  • Graphic Hub 3.9.2 or higher

  • Graphic Hub REST 2.9.2 or higher

  • Graphic Hub ImEx Agent 2.1.2 or higher

  • Viz Engine and Viz Artist 5.3.0 or higher

  • Viz One 7.5.3 or higher

The Media Sequencer has been designed to have backward compatibility with older versions of these components. We work hard to keep the Media Sequencer backward compatible, however, for some older versions of the Delphi-based clients (for example, Director and Viz Trio), we highly recommend upgrading these clients to a more recent version.

Silent Installation

Silent installation allows the Media Sequencer to be installed without user interaction.

To perform silent installation, open a command shell as an administrator and run the Media Sequencer bundle installer with the -s or --silent option.

It is also possible to select features to be installed from the command line.

To get all options available, run the Media Sequencer bundle installer with the --help option.

Example command:

MediaSequencer.BundleInstaller-5.x.x.xxxxx.exe -s

Example command to install Media Sequencer with Gateway controller:

MediaSequencer.BundleInstaller-5.x.x.xxxxx.exe -s --mse-gw-controller

A license configuration file licenses.json in the Media Sequencer data directory (C:\ProgramData\Vizrt\Media Sequencer) is required to run Media Sequencer. If licenses.json is missing, the installer will prompt the user to create it using the Media Sequencer launcher. Note that license configuration can not be changed using the non-admin Media Sequencer launcher.

To avoid the automatic license configuration prompt before running silent installation, copy licenses.json from another successful Media Sequencer installation to the Media Sequencer data directory. See License section for more information.

Running the Media Sequencer

It is highly recommended that the Media Sequencer is run as a system service, rather than in a console. This is the default behavior after installing.

To start the Media Sequencer, licenses must be configured. This can be done from the launcher with elevated privileges. For more information about licensing see the License section, and the MSE WIBU licensing documentation (available from the Windows start menu).

The Media Sequencer can be started and stopped using the Media Sequencer launcher. You can do both with and without elevated privileges. In order to start and stop the Media Sequencer without elevated privileges, open the shortcut Media Sequencer (non admin) available from the Windows Start menu. Note that it is not possible to configure any settings from the launcher without elevated privileges.

Removed Functionality

Deprecated Plugins

Plugins are sometimes deprecated with a new release of the MSE. These plugins will no longer be available in the next release. You need to migrate away from using them.

The following plugins are deprecated in this release:

  • None.

Media Sequencer Core Enhancements and Fixes

Update WIBU Codemeter Runtime to version 8.10a

(MSE-9452).

Support for full vdf for live updates

(MSE-8274).

Improve Media Sequencer Launcher for licenses with duplicate names.

(MSE-9046).

Support creating elements from atom entry with the new document types

Media Sequencer can now create elements from atom entry with content type of application/vnd.vizrt.auto.operation+xml and application/vnd.vizrt.auto.livesource+xml.

(MSE-9277).

Security improvements

(MSE-9412).

Support Quick Presets in superchannel workflow

Quick Presets allows users to alter preset layouts on the fly without modifying the scene on Graphic Hub.

(MSE-9060).

New Plugins

Plugin Enhancements and Fixes

viz

  • Fixed the default command timeout's incorrect floating point format (MSE-9337).

  • Fixed a bug in which an item status could become stuck in the pre phase when using frame-accurate playout. This issue causes Viz Multichannel to permanently show an element as playing (MSE-9336).

channel_state

  • The channel_state now reports the element change if new children are added to the element (MSE-9347).

http_server

  • Fixed a bug where a payload containing fractional XSD decimal number fields could be serialized incorrectly (MSE-9403).

  • Support creating and serializing video clip elements with filename only from REST API (MSE-9330, MSE-9331).

vGPI

  • MSE now supports vGPI (virtual GPI) as an experimental feature. Customers can try the functionality and give feedback, but we do not commit to immediate bug fixes (MSE-7689).

playable_cache

  • Playable cache now supports inline bgfx mastertemplate document in template document (MSE-9379).

http_request

  • Documented the timeout values for the http_request actor (MSE-9349).

Known Issues

This section describes issues that have been reported but not resolved.

Incorrectly displayed WIBU License in Media Sequencer Launcher

If multiple versions of a license are available on a license server, the license displayed in the main window of the Media Sequencer Launcher may show an incorrect 'Count' and 'Expiration date' compared to what is selected in the Media Sequencer Settings (MSE-9522).

Issue with "Out" Command when Performing Frame Accurate Playout of Transition Logic with Video

If you do frame accurate out and then two take operations of transition logic elements with video, the second video will not start from the beginning of the clip (MSE-7046).

MSE may Report the Main Thread Slow on the Re-initialization Process

MSE may report the main thread to be slow while it is re-initializing. This issue typically occurs when the Viz Pilot database is at a remote location.

Inaccurate Video Availability Progress if the Video Clip is Deleted from a Publishing Point

Availability progress of a video clip is not immediately reset to zero when the related video clip is deleted from a publishing point. This is due to the limitation of the Viz One API feedback (ME-664).

Ordering of Fields in Payloads and Models Not Respected

Media Sequencer does not respect ordering of fields and fielddefs in VDF payloads and models, meaning that for example, a payload inserted using the REST interface may have the fields in a different order when later obtained from the REST interface. This has no consequence for playout, but may cause unexpected reordering of fields and fielddefs in software used to display or edit payloads or models (MSE-6565).

Superchannels May Become Stuck in Transitioning State when Arm/Fire Non-Existing Video Clips

When operating in superchannel arm/fire mode, the Media Sequencer requires feedback from the Viz Engine to ensure that the Viz Engine has finished transitioning between playing and pending subchannels before sending next commands; otherwise, the next commands may affect the incorrect subchannel. The Media Sequencer holds any new commands during transitioning until it receives transition completed feedback from the Viz Engine. When a user arms a non-existent video clip, the Viz Engine does not notify the Media Sequencer that the clip is not available. If the user continues to fire this non-existent video clip, the Media Sequencer will stop executing new commands until the viz_feedback_timeout_seconds is reached. This viz_feedback_timeout_seconds can be configured in superchannel_manager handler settings (MSE-8414).

Documentation

Documentation for the Media Sequencer is available in the bundle installer on the Vizrt FTP.

Once installed, documentation is available within the MSE, see the note above.

Support

Support is available at the Vizrt Support Portal.