Here you learn to open Showmaker, recognize the main views, understand some important terminology, then create and run your first rundown.
Opening Showmaker
First try this
Showmaker runs in a web browser. Enter the URL your administrator provided. It will look something like this:
https://<your-mosart-web-apps-host>/showmakerOtherwise, launch the Mosart Web Apps Configuration Tool
Click the desktop shortcut, or run
C:\Program Files\Vizrt\MosartWebApplicationsConfiguration\MosartWebApplicationsConfiguration.exe.From App Launcher, select Showmaker.
Authentication
Whether you need to sign in depends on how your administrator has configured Mosart Web Apps.
Authentication off: you reach Showmaker without signing in. This is the default.
Authentication on: you are redirected to your organization's identity provider and sign in there. Once in, your email appears in the user avatar at the top right.
Info: Showmaker is one of several Mosart Web Apps, and the same host serves them all. Switching between them does not require signing in again.
Roles
Your role decides what you can do. When authentication is on, Showmaker reads your role from the identity provider:
showmaker-admin: full access to create, edit, activate and put rundowns on air.
showmaker-viewer: read-only access to browse shows, rundowns and templates. Editing controls are hidden or disabled.
Info: If you sign in successfully but are told you do not have access, you have been authenticated but not granted either Showmaker role. Ask your administrator to add one in your identity provider. If instead you are told your access could not be checked, the check itself failed rather than being refused, and you can retry.
Troubleshooting
If Showmaker opens but you cannot see any shows, or the rundown table cannot reach a Viz Mosart server, the one-off configuration is still needed. See Setup and Administration of Showmaker.
Tour of the Interface
Showmaker has three views:
Landing page: select a show and browse its rundowns or rundown templates.
Rundown page: build and edit a single rundown.
Rundown template page: build and edit a single rundown template.
Info: All three are described in detail in Working with Showmaker.
Key Terms
Showmaker organizes content hierarchically. A show contains rundowns, each rundown is made of stories, and each story holds the items, notes and content that go on air.
Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
Show | Top-level container. Holds the rundowns and rundown templates for a single programme or production. |
Rundown | An ordered sequence of stories that Viz Mosart can run on air. |
Rundown template | A reusable rundown structure. A rundown created from a template is independent of it. |
Story | A slice of a rundown. Holds the automation items, manual items, graphics, clips and scripts that share a context. |
Story item | One automation step inside a story, that is a Viz Mosart template instruction. |
Manual item | A story item taken to air by the operator during the show, rather than executed automatically. |
Story note | A free-text block pinned to the top of a story. Not sent to Viz Mosart. Can be dragged under an item to become that item's script. |
Script | Presenter or editorial text attached to a specific item. Sent to Viz Mosart with the rundown. |
Graphic overlay | A Viz Pilot Edge or Viz Flowics element attached to an item. |
Clip | Video media attached to an item. Only compatible story item types accept one, for example Package or Voice over. |
Show asset | A graphic saved to the show for reuse, so recurring graphics do not have to be rebuilt story by story. |
Reading-speed preset | A named reading speed, usually per presenter, used to calculate an item's duration from its script. |
Comment and mention | A note left on a story, optionally addressed to a colleague with @. Unread comments and mentions are gathered in the activity panel. |
Studio | A label grouping one or more MOS devices, for example the main and backup Viz Mosart servers of one gallery, or several galleries on one site. Assigned per show, and overridable per rundown. |
Active | Toggle on a rundown. When on, the rundown is synced live with Viz Mosart and appears in the Viz Mosart UI. |
Ready to air | Toggle on a rundown. When on, the rundown is added to the Viz Mosart Rundowns > NCS active > READYTOAIR rundown, where the operator can take it on air. |
ON AIR | A chip on a rundown when Viz Mosart is currently running it. |
Floated story | A story marked to be skipped during playout. Drawn with diagonal stripes in the story list. |
Your First Rundown
A short walk-through that introduces the core concepts. It assumes Showmaker is connected to a working Viz Mosart system, as described in Setup and Administration of Showmaker.
Create a show. On the landing page, open the show menu and choose New show. Give it the title My first show, select a Studio, and create it.
Create a rundown. With the show open, create a new rundown, title it Demo, and set a planned duration of 10 minutes. Creating it takes you to the rundown page.
Name the first story. A story already exists. Click Untitled and rename it Intro.
Add an automation item. From the assets panel on the right, open the Viz Mosart templates if they are not already showing, then drag a template onto the story. Alternatively, select the template and click ADD TO STORY.
Add a script. Click the script area on the item and type a line or two. If your show has script timing turned on, the item's planned duration is calculated from the reading speed as you type.
Sync it with Viz Mosart. Turn on Active for the rundown. It is now live-synced, so it appears in the Viz Mosart UI and every edit you make is reflected there immediately.
Offer it to the operator. Turn on Ready to air. The rundown is added to the Rundowns > NCS active > READYTOAIR rundown in Viz Mosart, where the operator can take it on air.
You have now built and aired your first Showmaker rundown. To go deeper into any step, see Working with Showmaker.
Tip: Deleted a story or an item by mistake? A toast offers Undo, and Ctrl+Z does the same.
Getting Help
The ? icon in the top-right corner of every page opens the help menu.
Option | Opens |
|---|---|
Keyboard Shortcuts | The list of available shortcuts. See Keyboard Shortcuts. |
Documentation | This user documentation. |
What's new | The Showmaker release notes. |
Give feedback | A feedback mail to the Showmaker team. |
About | Showmaker version and build information. Worth including in a feedback mail. |