Viz Pilot User Guide

Version 8.8 | Published September 25, 2023 ©

Software Requirements

Note: This is a general overview only. Always check the release notes for exact requirements.

This section contains the following topics:

System Requirements

Minimum Client System Requirements

  • Windows 10

  • 64-bit (x64) processor

  • 2 GB RAM (64-bit)

  • 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space

Supported Client Operating Systems

  • Windows 10 Enterprise

  • Windows 10 Pro

Supported Server Operating Systems

  • Windows Server 16

  • Windows Server 19

Note: Certain specific operating system versions and service packs are not supported after the official Microsoft support end date, which is also the end date for Vizrt support. End dates for support that expires before the official Microsoft support end date will be announced in release notes for new versions of Viz Pilot.

Minimum Supported Versions of Software Components Required by Viz Pilot

  • Database, one of:

    • Graphic Hub 3.0 (with Graphic Hub REST 2.0) or newer, or

    • Oracle 11 or 12.2

  • Media Sequencer 4.0

  • Viz Engine 3.3

Note: Irfan View is required for enabling preview of some templates when running Windows 10.

Recommended Server System Requirements

This is dependent on the overall system configuration and should be agreed with your local support.

Viz Pilot Database Requirements - Oracle

Viz Pilot Database Requirements

In this case, the Viz Pilot database is an Oracle database server. Usually, two database servers are installed where one is used for manual failover. Viz Engine graphics data is stored on Graphic Hub.

Viz Pilot Database Administrator Requirements

The Pilot Database Administrator tool (Pilot DBA) is a small application used for installing, upgrading, exporting, importing, and setting various parameters for the Viz Pilot Database. It's purely a DBA tool, and should therefore only be used by database administrators.

Viz Pilot Database Requirements - Graphic Hub

In the current example, the Viz Pilot database is a Graphic Hub, accessed via a Graphic Hub REST server. For full installation and migration information, see the Graphic Hub User Guide.

Migration from Oracle to Graphic Hub

To move data from Oracle to Graphic Hub, the schema in the Oracle database must be Viz Pilot 6.x or later. To upgrade the schema for use by the Pilot DBA, see Database Administration. Once the schema is 6.x or later, import the data into Graphic Hub.

Once the data has been imported into Graphic Hub, the schema version will follow the Graphic Hub version. Any required schema updates will be made the first time Graphic Hub is started up after a version upgrade for the selected data directory.

Note: The Pilot Database Administrator tool (Pilot DBA) is no longer required once you have migrated to Graphic Hub.

New Installations

For new installations, install Graphic Hub as described in the Graphic Hub User Guide.

Director Requirements

The table below lists machine specifications for a typical newsroom system setup, where Director is the control application receiving the playlist:

Component

Requirement

Software

Viz Pilot

Media Sequencer

Note: In order to configure the MSE database in Director, it is required to have installed VS13 libraries. They can be found here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40784.

Optional: Viz World Client (32-bit), TimeCode Monitor, Viz PreCut.

Optional: If you are using a local Viz Engine to preview video clips from Viz One, Viz Engine must be installed with video codecs (for example MPEG-4 codec and Haali Media Splitter).

Optional: Windows Media Player 11 for video clip preview in Object Store.

Local drive access

Oracle database is used to access Oracle client files and folders.

Network access

Mapped drive to Object Store still store folder.

Info: Director receives its Viz One connection parameters from the Viz Pilot database.

Note: Using remote preview that does not require a local Viz Engine or graphics cards on the client machine is recommended.

Viz Pilot News Requirements

The table below shows a basic setup of Viz Pilot News:

Component

Requirement

Software

Viz Pilot

Optional: Object StoreViz World Client (32-bit) 12.0 or later

Newsroom system client

Optional: If you're using a local Viz Engine to preview video clips from Viz One, Viz Engine must be installed with video codecs (for example MPEG-4 codec and Haali Media Splitter).

Optional: Viz EasyCut or Viz PreCut for video clip editing.

Local drive access

Read access to Oracle client files and folders, if using Oracle.

Network access

Mapped drive to Object Store still store folder.

Note: Using remote preview that does not require a local Viz Engine on the client machine is recommended. Local preview is not recommended.

Info: Viz Pilot News receives its Viz One connection parameters from the Viz Pilot database.

Note: The timeline editor in Viz Pilot News does not work on virtual machines.

Template Wizard Requirements

Template Wizard can be installed as a stand-alone product for editing and running Viz Pilot templates without a Viz Pilot Database server; for example, for Viz Trio or Viz Ticker3D. No Oracle Client is required for stand-alone installation. The use_database setting in the ContentPilot.ini file (under the [TEMPLATE_WIZARD] section) must be set to ‘n’.

Although it can be installed on the same machine as Viz Artist, it's recommended to install Template Wizard on a separate design client for template designers.

Template Wizard Specifications

Component

Requirement

Software

Media Sequencer

Optional: Windows Media Player 11 for video clip preview in Object Store

Optional: Viz World Client (32-bit)

Template Wizard connects to the Media Sequencer for testing and previewing template graphics. The Media Sequencer connection defaults to localhost. To use a different host, set the command line option -mse <host> in Template Wizard’s target path.

Pilot Data Server Requirements

Pilot Data Server

The Pilot Data Server is installed as an application layer on top of the Viz Pilot database. It acts as an application server for accessing the Viz Pilot database and other services. The Pilot Data Server may be asked to handle requests from scripts to provide information on data elements, or to tell Preview Server which scenes and data to render.

The Script Runner Service comes packaged with the Pilot Data Server. Thumbnail Generator is an optional component, which can be selected during Pilot Data Server installation.

Script Runner Service

The Script Runner Service provides users with a simple way to use the Update Service without needing to create their own service. See Update Script Editor.

Thumbnail Generator

The Thumbnail Generator is a Windows service that automatically generates thumbnails of data elements as they are created or changed. The thumbnails are stored in the Viz Pilot database.

Thumbnail Generator requires a Preview Server, which is used to serve the thumbnails in the data element feed.

Pilot Data Server Specifications

Component

Requirement

Software

Pilot Data Server

Services

Vizrt Pilot Data Server

Vizrt Script Runner

Vizrt Thumbnail Generator

Operating system

See the Viz Pilot Release Notes

Crop Service Requirements

Crop Service

Crop Service is a tool for basic cutting and zooming of images, which allows users to quickly add new images to a data element.

Crop Service Specifications

Component

Requirement

Software

Crop Service

Services

Vizrt Crop Service

Operating system

See the Viz Pilot Release Notes

Viz Engine Preview Server Requirements

The Preview Server is used in situations where one or more Viz Engines provide frames for snapshot or thumbnail generation. It is used by the Viz Trio client or Viz Pilot to fetch previews of overlay graphics; for example, for the Timeline Editor or the Thumbnail Generator.

Note: Although the Preview Server can run on the same machine as a Viz Engine, it's also possible to specify additional Viz Engines in order to spread the load.


Preview Server can manage a pool of Viz Engines, and clients can query it for a Viz Engine that matches a specific video mode. Preview Server provides load balancing and video mode matching, and can be used to create a redundant renderer pool. The pool of Viz Engines is configured on the Preview Server Web Interface.

For complete information on requirements, see the Preview Server Administrator Guide .