This page explains the terms the program uses. Three words appear everywhere: cue, playout and module. Several other terms appear on screen without an explanation. Read this page once, and return to it when a later page uses a term you are not sure about.
The three main terms
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| Cue | One line in the rundown: a clip, a still, a scene or a web page. Each cue has its own in and out point, volume, transition and follow action. |
| Playout | One complete broadcast line with its own cue list, preview, audio and output. You can run up to four playouts at the same time. |
| Module | A separate extension that adds a subject to the base program. A module that is not installed does not appear in the interface. |
Cue
The cue is the basic unit of the program, and it is not the same as a file. A cue points at a file, a scene or an address, and adds the information the program needs to play it: where it starts, where it stops, how loud it is, how it comes in, and what happens when it ends.
This is why the same file can appear three times in one list as three cues, each with a different trim. It is also why a cue keeps its settings when you replace its file.
Cues are numbered according to the structure of the list. The top level is numbered 1, 2, 3, cues in a group are numbered 3.1, 3.2, and one level deeper they are numbered 3.1.1. When you move a line, the list renumbers itself.
Playout
A playout is a complete, independent broadcast line with its own cue list, preview, transport controls, audio, master fader and output. For a viewer, a playout is “the channel”.
Most installations use one playout. You need more than one when you have several screens with different content, such as the stream and the screen in the hall, or a main output and a side display that runs all day. Even then, one person operates all playouts from the same window.
Module
A module is an extension that adds a subject to the base program. Modules are supplied separately, and when you switch a module off, its buttons, windows and designs disappear from the interface.
The modules in an installation do not say anything about the size of your licence; they only show which components are installed. This is why two copies of Ultimate Playout can look different, and why a colleague’s screenshot may show a button that you do not have.
Each module has its own part of this manual.
Words you see on screen
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Armed | The cue that goes on air at the next GO. It is green, has a NEXT badge and appears in the next-cue picture beside the preview. |
| On air / live | The cue that is playing now. It is red and has an ON AIR badge, and the preview has a red border. |
| Auto | A cue that starts automatically when the cue on air ends. It is amber and has an AUTO badge. |
| GO | Puts the armed cue on air. Use the button, the space bar or the Enter key. |
| Follow action | What happens when a cue ends: hold the last frame, continue with the next cue, repeat, or stop. |
| Transition | How a cue comes in: a hard cut, or a fade of a set length. |
| In / Out | The start and end point inside a file. Use them to trim a cue without changing the file. |
| Group | A container for a block of cues, up to two levels deep. You can collapse a group to one line. |
| Preview | The picture in the monitor panel. It shows what is on air or, when nothing is on air, the still or scene you armed. The next-cue picture beside it shows the armed cue at half size. |
| Output | The destination of the picture of a playout: an SDI card, NDI, a second screen or a stream. A playout can also have no output. |
| Canvas | The size and frame rate in which everything is built. All playouts share one canvas. |
Terms that are easy to confuse
Armed does not mean live. Arming a cue does not affect the broadcast, so during a show you can move the green marker up and down the list to look ahead while the picture on air stays the same. Only GO puts a cue on air. The same is true when nothing is on air: an armed cue appears in the next-cue picture beside the preview, but never on the output.
Stop does not mean pause. Stop takes the playout to black and ends the cue, but pause only holds the picture. That is why the program has two separate buttons. See Going live.