Where your files live

This page shows where the program stores your own work. You need this to make a backup, to put files on a network share, or to find a show from last year. If you maintain the installation itself, see where the files live in part 13.

Your own work

The program keeps your own work in one folder in Documents:

DocumentsUltimate Playout
  Lists      <- your rundowns (.playout)
  Exports    <- what you export: groups, bundles, selections
  Bundles    <- the media of bundles that you opened
  Songs      <- empty in a base installation

The program creates Lists, Exports and Songs at the first start, and Bundles the first time you open a bundle. Modules can add folders of their own.

These are normal folders, so you can back them up, put them on a network share or copy them to another computer.

Open and Save start in Lists, and the program saves exports in Exports, so in daily use you do not need to browse to another folder.

Your media

Your media stays where you keep it. The program does not manage your video and audio files, and a cue contains only the path to a file.

It is therefore worth deciding deliberately where you keep your media. Two setups work well.

Everything on one server, with the same drive letter or UNC path on every computer. You can then move lists between computers, and they play without changes.

Everything on the local disk of each computer. You then move shows between computers as bundles.

A mixture causes problems, with some material on a server, some on a desktop and some in a Downloads folder. This is the usual cause of missing files.

Your settings and the logs

C:Program FilesUltimate Playoutengineconfig

This folder contains your settings: the outputs, the playouts, the colours and the scenes. All users of the computer share it.

The logs are in the same folder. These are the files that you send when a problem must be investigated. See sending logs.

What to back up

Back up	Why
DocumentsUltimate Playout	Your rundowns and exports. They cannot be replaced
Your media folder	For the same reason
engineconfig	Your settings and scenes. A backup saves the time of setting everything up again

You do not need to back up the program, because you can install it again with the setup.

A second computer

The program stores the settings on the computer and not with your rundowns. On a second computer, you therefore have to set the outputs and the colours once. The quickest way is to copy engineconfig to that computer. The program keeps that folder when you reinstall it.