Where the files live

For whoever has to back it up, move it, or find the log. Part 9 covers the same ground from the operator’s side; this page is about the installation.

On disk

C:Program FilesUltimate Playout
  UltimatePlayout.exe        <- the launcher
  Modules                   <- the modules, and which are switched on
  engine
    bin obs-plugins data  <- the pinned engine and the program
    config                  <- settings, scenes, designs and logs

DocumentsUltimate Playout
  Lists Exports Songs     <- the user's own work

The configuration folder

engineconfig holds everything about how this machine is set up: outputs, playouts, colours, templates, scenes, and the state the program comes back to.

It is writable by everyone who logs in on the machine, which has one consequence worth deciding about rather than discovering:

Everyone shares one setup. For a control-room PC with changing volunteers that is exactly right — whoever sits down finds the machine as the last person left it. For a workstation where people expect personal settings, it is not, and the answer is separate machines or separate Windows installations.

The logs

In engineconfig, one file per run, named by date and time. They record what the program did: which modules loaded, which outputs started, every GO with its cue and its transition.

They are the first thing to look at when something needs explaining, and the first thing to send when reporting a problem — see sending logs.

What to back up

Back up	Why
DocumentsUltimate Playout	Rundowns and exports — irreplaceable
The media folder	Same
engineconfig	Saves setting up a replacement machine from scratch

The program itself needs no backup: it reinstalls from the setup, and the engine comes with it.

Moving to another machine

1. Install the program there.
2. Copy engineconfig across, with the program closed on both ends.
3. Copy DocumentsUltimate Playout and the media.
4. Check the outputs — device names and screen numbers are of the machine, not of the configuration.

That last step is the one people forget: the settings arrive, but the DeckLink port and the screen number on the new machine may not be the same ones.