This page describes the Link column, with which a cue also starts a cue on another playout. This makes it possible for one person to operate two screens: you start the item, and the second screen follows automatically.
Setting a link
Click the Link cell of the cue. The menu shows the other playouts that are switched on, with their cues. Choose the cue that must start together with this line. To remove the link again, choose No link.
If there is nothing to choose, the menu shows the reason: (no other playout switched on), or (no cues) when the list of the other playout is empty.
What happens on GO
A GO on the linked cue starts both cues: this cue on this playout, and the target cue on the other playout. Each cue uses its own transition and follow action, because each is a normal cue in its own list.
A link works in one direction only. Starting the target on the other playout does not start anything on this playout.
Moving lines does not break the link
A link refers to the cue, not to its number or row. You can therefore renumber the list, move a block or collapse a group, and the link still refers to the same line.
If you delete the target, the column shows the old target with a line through it, and when you open the link, it shows: that cue no longer exists in the other playout.
When to use a link
| Situation | The link |
|---|---|
| A clip on the stream and a still on the screen in the hall | The clip has a link to the still |
| A programme item with its own graphic on a side screen | The item has a link to the graphic |
| Two screens that must change together at a fixed moment | Link the two cues at that moment |
When not to use a link
Do not build a complete second rundown from links. If two playouts run together from start to finish, you need only one playout. In that case, put the content of the second screen in a scene on the same playout, or supply the second screen from the same output.
Links are meant for the moments when two playouts must act together, and not for joining two playouts permanently.