OnTheAir Node Remote at Mac App Store analyse

OnTheAir Node Remote allows any WiFi Connected iPad to control any number of OnTheAir Node playout servers in a network. It uses Bonjour to discover the playout servers and show the running playlist on these servers.

ATTENTION: This application will NOT play video on the iPad. It is designed to control the playout of a Mac-based playout server using Softrons OnTheAir Node application.



The following controls are enabled for the current playlist of the selected node:

- Play / Pause / Stop
- Skip to previous / Skip to next
- Set playlist mode to Loop / Cue / Chain
- Remove a clip from playlist
- Move a clip
- Change Built-in Clip Attributes (Logo overlay, Clip End Behavior, Field Inversion, ...)
- Change Custom Attributes (GPI Commander, OnTheAir CG, Video Router Control, ...)


The limitations are:

- OnTheAir Node Remote can currently only retrieve playlists built by Softrons OnTheAir Live, not schedules built by Softrons OnTheAir Manager.
- You can not add a clip to a playlist (this is done via OnTheAir Live on a computer)
- You can not create a new playlist (this is done via OnTheAir Live on a computer)
- You can not save playlists, only retrieve the playing playlist on the selected Node



About OnTheAir Node:

OnTheAir Node is Softrons next generation playout engine for the Mac. It has been designed to be an inexpensive, reliable and customizable video server that has an open client-server architecture. OnTheAir Node can be controlled remotely over the network. One client computer in a control room can control multiple OnTheAir Node playout servers located in the machine room.

With its unequaled openness, OnTheAir Node brings a new era to the world of Mac based playout servers. OnTheAir Node allows third party applications such as Traffic and Media Asset Management solutions to easily take control of a reliable playout server with real-time media cataloging and validation.

OnTheAir Node will launch automatically at start up and will resume operation, even after a power loss. it will run on any Intel based Mac equipped with a video card (AJA, Blackmagic Design or Matrox) installed in the MacPro, Xserve, Mac mini or MacBook Pro.

OnTheAir Node comes with the same playout engine as Softron’s flagship product OnTheAir Video, so it has the same reliability that OnTheAir Video has proven over the years. OnTheAir Node will not only output video to any of the available video output on the Mac, and allow it to be controlled remotely, but it will also catalog the available assets in one or more scan folders and it will inform any of the client application (OnTheAir Live or OnTheAir Manager) when a new asset arrives or is deleted. It will also check for validity and compatibility. Information on the clips is provided as XML, making it easy for any other third party application to retrieve the clips characteristics. (Ex: video codec, audio sample rate, creation date, last modification date, finder label etc.)

OnTheAir Node’s open architecture will allow any third party application such as Traffic or Media Asset Management software to control the playout and to see the list of available media. OnTheAir Node uses Telnet for its communications meaning that the protocol is a proven and open standard that doesn’t need any special requirements.