Polycom PDS 2000 - Manual

Polycom, Inc. 1 About Polycom Digital Signage This chapter explains the Polycom Digital Signage architecture. This chapter includes the following sections: • Polycom Digital Signage Solution • Architecture Overview Polycom Digital Signage Solution The Polycom Digital Signage solution is a combinatio...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Architecture Overview 2 Polycom, Inc. Polycom Digital Signage Web Controller The Polycom Digital Signage Web Controller software lets users easily update and manage content on the Players in a Polycom Digital Signage network, with point-and-click simplicit...

Polycom, Inc. 5 1 Configuring the PDS Player This chapter explains the basic configuration processes for the Polycom Digital Signage Player. This chapter includes the following sections: • About the PDS Player • Accessing the Player • Configuring the Player Directly • Configuring PDS Player Video Se...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring the Player Directly 6 Polycom, Inc. If using RDP to access a Player, you will not be prompted to enter login credentials. Please note, however, that to reboot a PDS Player using RDP you will need to enter A LT + F4. This will launch a shut down...

Configuring PDS Player Video Settings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 7 Output Windows Settings The Output Window section of Video Settings includes the following configuration options: • Standard: Specifies the dimensions of the video output window. Choose from a list of standard resolutio...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Startup Settings 8 Polycom, Inc. • Full screen: When selected, the PDS Player output will be displayed in full screen mode (either on the primary or secondary display). When unselected, the PDS Player output will be displayed in a separate window. • Output...

Startup Settings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 9 Settings defined in Startup Properties let you specify templates or scripts that may load when PDS Player initially launches, as well as application functions that may occur when PDS Player initially launches. Startup Properties The Startup...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Options 10 Polycom, Inc. • Load previously loaded playlist on startup: When enabled, loads the previously loaded playlist when the PDS Player launches. When disabled, the PDS Player launches remaining in a ready state with no content displayed on the CG ou...

Options Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 11 General The General Settings panel allows administrators to dictate certain general configuration settings for the CG Rendering engine that is launched by default from the PDS Player. The settings are described as follows: • Show renderer control p...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings 12 Polycom, Inc. Audio The Audio Settings of the Options window are described as follows: • Adjust volume on slide load: When enabled, increases or decreases the audio output level based on the number configured in ...

Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings Configuring the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 13 Renderer Settings The Renderer Settings options of Advanced Program Settings are described as follows: • Renderer IP Address: Displays the IP address of the rendering engine. • Renderer Executable Filename: Displays...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Configuring PDS Player Advanced Settings 14 Polycom, Inc. • Command folder: Displays the folder to which the commands are stored on the system for use with other PDS applications such as Remote Manager, or Web Screens. Playout Settings The Playout Settings...

Polycom, Inc. 15 2 Using the PDS Player This chapter outlines local control of the Polycom Digital Signage Player. In a typical implementation, however, all configuration and content management will be performed through the PDS Remote Manager and PDS Web Controller. Please note that these tools are ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Getting Started 16 Polycom, Inc. 3 If you have elected not to use full-screen mode, the content will be displayed on the CG Rendering Window. To disable the CG Rendering Window, open Tools > VertigoCG and select Stop. Alternatively, press A LT + E SC . ...

The PDS Player Interface Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 17 The PDS Player Interface The PDS Player is designed to facilitate the task of playing out either individual templates, playlists, or creating schedules of events. Current Playlist Displays the directory path and name of the currently act...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide The PDS Player Interface 18 Polycom, Inc. Specifies the rendering layer in which a template loads. Options available are Background and Foreground . Default Transition Specifies the default transition effect to be used in between templates loaded in a play...

The PDS Player Interface Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 19 : Message Control • When Show Messages is enabled, displays messages from the PDS Player. The Clear button clears the contents of the Messages window. Current Output Window • When Enable Auto Screenshot is enabled, displays a preview of ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Scheduling Events with the PDS Player 20 Polycom, Inc. Scheduling Events with the PDS Player With the PDS Scheduler, you can create playout schedules for several different playlists, or assign PDS commands to occur at specific times throughout the day. Sch...

Scheduling Events with the PDS Player Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 21 2 If the Schedule is presented by Month rather than Day, go to the View Mode box and select Day . 3 In the Day view, right-click on the date and time at which to start playing the slideshow. From the Scheduler menu that appe...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Scheduling Events with the PDS Player 24 Polycom, Inc. To edit a scheduled event: 1 In the PDS Scheduler, select the event you want to edit and right-click. 2 In the menu that appears, select Edit Event… The Add Schedule Event dialog appears. To immediatel...

Controlling the VertigoCG Renderer Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 25 Controlling the VertigoCG Renderer The PDS Player lets you gain access to the CG rendering engine directly. This lets you start and stop the CG as desired. To start and stop the VertigoCG, do the following: 1 In the PDS Player,...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Controlling the VertigoCG Renderer 26 Polycom, Inc. 4 Click Control Panel to launch the VertigoCG Control Panel. Hardware Settings allow users to choose a video card device for output, select video and audio capture devices, whether to display the Renderer...

Controlling the VertigoCG Renderer Using the PDS Player Polycom, Inc. 27 5 The Software Settings tab provides another set of configuration options. Users can change the scene directory, dictate a log file, change the TCPIP Port for the CG Renderer, change the Cel Cache Size, and enable MipMapping, a...

Polycom, Inc. 29 3 Using the Remote Manager This chapter explains the interface and use cases for the Polycom Digital Signage Remote Manager. The installation of the Remote Manager is detailed in the Polycom Digital Signage Server Getting Started Guide. This chapter contains the following sections: ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Main Window 30 Polycom, Inc. The toolbars provide the buttons used for a number of high-level operations within PDS Remote Manager. Most other operations are available through dialog boxes that will be displayed (e.g., on a Player name or thumbnail image)....

Tool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 31 Current Incidents Pane The Current Incidents pane shows the actual log messages from PDS Server and the PDS Remote Manager. The events shown here are all major and minor log messages from the Polycom PDS Server and the PDS Remote Manager, including ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Tool Bar 32 Polycom, Inc. Auto-Refresh Menu The Auto-Refresh menu allows you to select the interval at which the status information in Remote Manager is refreshed. This includes refreshing the screenshots as well as all other system information displayed i...

Tool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 33 Publish New Content Click Publish Content to bring up the Publish Content dialog. The dialog has a Package Name field at the top (enter the name of your content package here) and three tabs in the main section: To publish content: 1 Click Add Files…...

Tool Bar Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 35 Remove Old Content If there is old content to be removed from the Players receiving the package, you can specify the file names for the old content in the Remove Old Content tab.Click "Add Files" to add files to the removal list and bring up...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Tool Bar 36 Polycom, Inc. Publish Software Update Polycom Digital Signage Remote Manager can be used to publish routine software maintenance updates to the network of Players. To publish a software update: 1 Click Publish Software Update . 2 The Open Execu...

Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 37 Network and Groups Pane The Networks & Groups pane shows a tree view of the hierarchy of networks and groups of Players managed by the PDS Server. The network or group you select here will select the Players shown in the Network p...

Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 39 Manage Players The Networks and Groups Pane allows direct configuration changes to the Players on a Server. 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Groups Pane. Select Manage Players from the context menu...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network and Groups Pane 40 Polycom, Inc. Delete Offline Players Offline Players can be deleted individually by right-clicking on the Player in the Connections tab of the Network pane. Alternatively, selecting Delete Offline Players will delete all offline ...

Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 41 Create New Network New Networks can be created by right-clicking on a Server in the Remote Manager. Subnetworks can be created by right-clicking on a Network. 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Group...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network and Groups Pane 42 Polycom, Inc. Manage Users 1 Right click on a Server, Network, or subnetwork in the Networks and Groups Pane. Select Manage Users from the context menu. 2 The Manage Accounts window will appear. 3 To delete an account, right-clic...

Network and Groups Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 43 — The Network Administrator oversees all configuration on a given network via the Remote Manager, as well as all content oversight abilities. — The Content Manager has content update privileges on a given network via the Web Controlle...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 44 Polycom, Inc. Network Pane The Network pane shows different properties of the Players that are in the network or group selected in the Networks & Groups pane. Manager List A list of managers appears below the Player list in the Network ...

Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 45 Double-clicking a manager’s username launches a chat pop-up: Connections The Connections tab shows a table with one row for each Player. The table columns show the following information for each Player: — Name — Online status — IP address — Netw...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 46 Polycom, Inc. — Date and time the Player was last online (for offline Players) Note: — The name in the network column indicates the network to which the Player belongs, which is useful when you have selected a network or group that contains...

Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 47 — Time stamp (in Player local time) of the last screenshot sent to PDS Server — The full Windows file path of the currently running playlist Please note that: — Players that are currently offline will be shown as dimmed, i.e., the text of their ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Network Pane 48 Polycom, Inc. You can select the monitor whose image is used for the screenshots by selecting from the pop-up menu immediately below the screenshot viewing area. You can select PDS Output Screen (this is the default option), System Primary ...

Network Pane Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 49 — Players that are currently offline will be shown as dimmed, i.e., the text of their table row will be a light gray color, and you will not be able to perform most operations on them. — You can sort the table entries by clicking any of the colu...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Remote Player Management Console 50 Polycom, Inc. Remote Player Management Console Double-clicking a Player in the Network pane (double-clicking the Player row in a tabular view, or double-clicking the Player's thumbnail image in an image view) will bring ...

Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 51 Tools Menu The Tools menu contains the following options: — File Browser : Select this option to bring up a File Manager view, browsing the Player's file system, in a separate window. The File Manager is described in detail b...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Remote Player Management Console 52 Polycom, Inc. — In the Arguments field, enter the command-line parameters, if any. — In the Working Directory field, enter the full path of the directory (on the Player) that will be the working directory for the new pro...

Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 53 Monitoring Settings The Monitoring Settings dialog box allows you to configure different settings for the Player Agent: • Enable Self-Healing allows the agent to take corrective action should a Player experience a problem pla...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Remote Player Management Console 54 Polycom, Inc. — Missing audio : This alarm condition occurs when the agent is not able to obtain any audio output from the Player. This usually indicates a problem with the Player. (Note that Enable Audio Monitoring must...

Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 55 Status Detail Panel The Status Detail panel of the Remote Player Management Console provides granular and up-to-the-moment status information regarding the Player. The Status Detail panel also provides remote process manageme...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Remote Player Management Console 56 Polycom, Inc. Running Processes The Running Processes tab functions as a process manager for the remote Player. • To stop a process running on the PDS Player, right-click on the process and click Kill Process.

Remote Player Management Console Using the Remote Manager Polycom, Inc. 57 Windows Ser vices The Windows Services tab displays the Windows services on the selected PDS Player. As with the Running Processes tab, users can remotely start and stop these services when necessary. • To stop a running Wind...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Remote Player Management Console 58 Polycom, Inc. File Manager The File Manager allows direct management of the files on the PDS Player. Using the File Manager, administrators can navigate through the files stored on the PDS Player. • If you wish to alter ...

Polycom, Inc. 61 4 Using the Web Controller This chapter outlines the use of the Polycom Web Controller in content managment procedures. It contains the following sections: • About the PDS Web Controller • Installing the Web Controller • Opening the Web Controller • Web Controller Interface Guide • ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Installing the Web Controller 62 Polycom, Inc. Installing the Web Controller Web Controller is supported on Windows XP, Windows Vista (32 bit), and Windows 7 (32 bit). Windows Vista and Windows 7 require the additional pre-installation steps outlined below...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Opening the Web Controller 64 Polycom, Inc. 6 A review screen will appear. Click Install . 7 Double click on the PDS Web Controller desktop icon to begin. Opening the Web Controller When you first open the Polycom Digital Signage Web Controller application...

Opening the Web Controller Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 65 Please note that you should not need to edit the TCP Port when using the default PDS Server configuration. Licensing the Web Controller The Web Controller must be licensed prior to use. To license the Web Controller: 1 Navigate to ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Web Controller Interface Guide 66 Polycom, Inc. Web Controller Interface Guide After login and licensing, the Web Controller landing page appears.

Web Controller Interface Guide Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 67 Main Panel All content management and Player configuration tools reside in the Main Panel of the Web Control.Each tab is documented individually throughout the rest of the chapter.

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Web Controller Interface Guide 68 Polycom, Inc. Player Monitor Panel The Player Monitor Panel of the Web Controller user interface displays screenshots of all connected Players on the given network of the Polycom Digital Signage Server. Use the Zoom tool t...

Web Controller Interface Guide Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 69 2 The Full Screen Monitor pop-up will appear. 3 To change the Monitor view, open the Screen drop-down on the far left. Choose whether to view the PDS Output Screen, System Primary Screen, or System Secondary Screen. For more in...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Web Controller Interface Guide 70 Polycom, Inc. Changing the Layout To change the layout of the above panels, navigate to View and choose Horizontal Layout or Vertical Layout. The Vertical Layout, selected by default, places the Monitor Panel to the right ...

Control Panel Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 71 Control Panel The Control Panel provides a set of direct controls over the Players in the associated network. The Control Panel is the starting point for content management on Players. Greater detail is provided on the subsequent tabs in the PD...

Control Panel Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 73 Selection Wizard After selecting one of the above options, the Player selection window will appear. Offline Players will display a darkened screen; online Players will show a blue screen. Click OK . Editing the Announcement and Emergency Crawls...

Control Panel Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 75 Please note that the Emergency Crawl will appear in red: 4 To stop the crawl, click Stop Crawl in the Web Controller. The Player Selection screen will appear again; indicate which Player you wish to target and click OK.

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 76 Polycom, Inc. Playlist Editor The Playlist Editor tab in the Web Controller provides controls over playlists displayed in the PDS Player. To create, edit, or play Playlists via the Playlist Editor: 1 Select a Playlist from the Available ...

Playlist Editor Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 77 a To retrieve a specific Playlist from a player for editing, click Retrieve from Player. The Player Selection window will appear; choose a player and a playlist and click OK. b To create a new playlist, click New . The Save As dialog appears....

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 78 Polycom, Inc. 2 The Playlist will then appear. 3 To add a template to the playlist: a Choose a template from the Available Templates drop-down menu. b Choose the duration in seconds for which the template will run. c Choose whether the i...

Playlist Editor Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 79 7 To remove a single template, click the Remove link beside the template inside the Playlist. To remove all templates from the Playlist, click Clear All . To delete the Playlist altogether, click Delete Current Playlist . 8 When all configura...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 80 Polycom, Inc. Default Playlist The PDS Player and PDS Web Controller ship with a preconfigured default playlist: The following templates constitute the default playlist: • Lower Crawl : the crawl that plays throughout the playlist. Can b...

Playlist Editor Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 81 • Sports Headlines : a default data feed that displays sports news from a pre-defined feed. This feed updates regularly and populates the template with headlines, stories (usually one or two sentences), and images if possible. • Video 16x9 : ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 82 Polycom, Inc. 2 The Template Parameters screen will appear. 3 To add a live video stream or website display, enter the URL in the text field under VideoStreamSource . 4 To add a static message: a Click the browse ( ... ) button under Mes...

Playlist Editor Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 83 AddOn PowerPoint Schedule: Displays a PowerPoint slide of your choosing; this template is intended to display a calendar or schedule created in PowerPoint. To add your own schedule template: 1 Click on the Params link beside "AddOn PPT Sc...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Playlist Editor 84 Polycom, Inc. 4 PowerPoint will launch. You will then have the below PowerPoint slide available for changes and population of your required data. 5 From here you can adjust the default information, including location names, time interval...

Playlist Editor Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 91 4 This will launch Excel and open the spreadsheet: 5 Type in your desired question under the Question row, four responses in the Options columns, and the correct response in the Answer column. 6 Save your changes in Excel. 7 Launch the Remote...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Crawling Ticker 92 Polycom, Inc. Crawling Ticker The Crawling Ticker is an animated item that runs at the bottom of the Player screen. The ticker can be populated with user-designated text or with an automatically-generated feed of news stories, entertainm...

Crawling Ticker Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 93 2 If you have chosen a manual crawl, enter your message in the Manual Crawl Text field. If you wish to fill the field with the crawl text currently running on a Player, click Retrieve From Player. The Player Retrieval screen will appear. Sele...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Slide Show Tickers 94 Polycom, Inc. Slide Show Tickers The Slide Show Tickers tab allows administrators to directly edit and replace frequently-updated elements of the playlist, the Event Calendar, Product Catalog, and About Company Text . To update the Ev...

Slide Show Tickers Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 95 Save the file and select the target Player. Do not alter the default save location. 3 If you wish to retrieve a Calendar running on a particular Player and redistribute to another Player, click Retrieve from Player . 4 Alternatively, if yo...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Video Slide Content 96 Polycom, Inc. Video Slide Content The Video Slide Content tab allows changes to be made to the video template in the playlist. From this tab, users can edit the Sidebar Message, the Standard Format Video Clip List, and the Widescreen...

Message Board/Webcast Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 97 2 To change the order of appearance of the clips in the list, use the upward and downward-facing arrows to rearrange the clips. 3 To remove a selected clip, click Remove . To remove all clips from a list, click Clear All. 4 Click Save C...

Alerts Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 99 Alerts The Alert tab allows content managers to stop the playlist to display an alert screen. To broadcast an alert: 1 Edit the Alert Title and Alert Message text fields as necessary. 2 Choose whether to play one of the default Audio Alerts as well.

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Alerts 100 Polycom, Inc. 3 Click Load Alert Screen and choose a target Player. The alert will display. 4 When the alert is no longer necessary, click Restart Playlist.

Settings Using the Web Controller Polycom, Inc. 101 Settings The Settings tab allows you to simply apply overarching customizations to your playlist. Style Sheet A set of default style sheets come pre-configured with Polycom Digital Signage solution. These stylesheets apply to all templates within a...

Polycom, Inc. 103 5 Using Template Maker This chapter explains the interface and use of the Polycom Template Maker.This chapter contains the following sections: • About Polycom Template Maker • Installing Template Maker • Licensing Template Maker • Navigating the Template Maker Interface • Template ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Licensing Template Maker 104 Polycom, Inc. 3 Double click on the PDS Template Maker setup .exe file. The PDS Template Maker setup screen appears. Click Next . 4 Designate a destination for the file. The default directory, C:\Program Files\Polycom\PDS Templ...

Navigating the Template Maker Interface Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 105 Navigating the Template Maker Interface The Polycom Template Maker interface consists of two main sections: the Polycom Template Maker tool and the Microsoft PowerPoint interface that launches beside the Template Maker co...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Navigating the Template Maker Interface 106 Polycom, Inc. The Template Maker Companion Window The diagram below depicts the Template Maker companion window as it will appear upon first launching Template Maker. Toolbar Current Slide Area Selected Object Ar...

Navigating the Template Maker Interface Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 107 Style Browser To launch the Style Browser, navigate to Tools > Style Browser . Select a Type from the drop-down menu: • Text: Displays available text styles. In the Category box, choose from the list of categories.

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Template Maker Output Settings 108 Polycom, Inc. • Objects: Displays available graphic objects for each category. Some objects include links to live data. In the Category box, choose from the list of categories. • Templates: Displays completed templates. I...

Template Maker Output Settings Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 109 • Standard: Specifies the dimensions of the video output window. Choose from a list of standard resolutions: 640x480, 720x480 (DV-NTSC), 720x486 (NTSC SMPTE), 720x576 (PAL), 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x720, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, and 1...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Template Maker Output Settings 110 Polycom, Inc. Advanced Settings Renderer Settings The Renderer Settings options of Advanced Settings are described as follows: • Renderer IP Address: Displays the IP address of the rendering engine. • Renderer Executable ...

Template Maker Output Settings Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 111 Playout Settings The Playout Settings of the Advanced Settings are as follows: • Player Mode box: — Standard: Configures the PDS Player to function as an authoring station. — Interactive: Configures the PDS Player to function as a...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Working with Slides 112 Polycom, Inc. 6 The Messages dialog will appear. Review the information and correct your configuration as necessary. Adding and Working with Slides Slides comprise all the assets, scripts, and data used to create a comple...

Adding and Working with Slides Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 113 • Auto Clear Slide — If set to True, the slide will be cleared from the rendered output after a specified interval. • Auto Clear Interval — The time, in seconds, after which a slide will be automatically cleared from the rendered ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Working with Slides 114 Polycom, Inc. • Show Clip Proxy — If set to True, displays a thumbnail from a selected video clip as the background of the slide (when Background is set to Video Clip). If False, color bars are shown instead. • Auto Advan...

Adding and Working with Slides Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 115 4 Position — Position and size of background. Options available are Default, Custom. Modifying Actions on a Slide Slide actions let you automatically perform certain scripted functions when a slide loads. A series of actions can b...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Working with Slides 116 Polycom, Inc. 8 Choose OK to close the Command Builder dialog box. The action appears in the Playlist Editor. 9 To delete a command, select a command in the Playlist Editor and choose Delete . 10 To edit a command, select...

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 117 2 To browse to an audio clip on disk, click the browse button. A standard file explorer dialog box appears. 3 Select an audio file and choose Open . The audio file appears in the Audio Playlist. 4 To preview the audio ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media 118 Polycom, Inc. • Display Name — Name used to reference the object within the digital signage solution. • Full Name — Full name of object used internally by Microsoft PowerPoint. • Type — PowerPoint object type....

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 119 Applying a Text Style With the Text Style Browser, you can apply text styles to text in text objects, and create a text object from an existing text style. To apply a text style to a PowerPoint object: 1 Create a text ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media 120 Polycom, Inc. 1 In the Style Browser, be sure Text is selected as the Type and right-click. 2 From the menu that appears, choose Edit . The Style Browser PowerPoint file named StylesText_Default.ppt opens. Not...

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 121 a In the Text Properties tab of the selected text box, click the Text field. The entire string of text is highlighted. b Enter the text you wish to place into the text box. c Press Enter . • Enable Antialiasing — When ...

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 123 Modifying Image Properties The Image Properties tab reveals options associated specifically with an image, and are defined as follows: • Use Key — If set to true, uses an external key as an alpha mask, defining which a...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media 124 Polycom, Inc. Working with Media Inserting Media Polycom Template Maker provides the ability to import various forms of media as assets to be used in your digital signage application including video clips, liv...

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 125 — Script Module — Name of VBScript module containing the script function. — Script Function — Name of VBScript function to execute when Run Script on Change is set to True. — Run Action on Change — If set to True, exec...

Adding and Editing Text, Images, and Media Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 127 • Remove Clip(s) button — Removes selected video clip(s) from the Clip List. • Loop — When enabled, loops the playback of all video clips listed in the Clip List. • Randomize list — When enabled, randomizes the playbac...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing a Crawl 128 Polycom, Inc. Modifying Flipbook Properties The Flipbook Properties tab reveals options associated specifically with a flipbook, and are defined as follows: • Filename — The file path and first filename of the flipbook sequen...

Adding and Editing a Crawl Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 129 3 In the Selected Object area, select the Crawl tab. The slide crawl properties appear. Select a crawl action from the drop-down menu. » Do Nothing — Does not affect the state of the crawl. If a crawl is currently playing, it continue...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding and Editing a Crawl 130 Polycom, Inc. 5 Set the crawl Type to Manual . 6 Enter text into the Crawl Data text area, entering a line break in between each line of crawl data. 7 Click Apply to instantly preview the crawl on the screen. Creating a Data-...

Adding and Editing a Crawl Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 131 6 Set the crawl Type to Data Driven. 7 In the Data Filename field, click Browse to select an Access database or text file. 8 Click Apply to instantly preview the crawl on the screen. Crawl Properties Crawl properties apply equally for...

Adding and Editing a Crawl Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 133 Setting the Position of a Crawl Open the Layout tab of the Crawl Settings dialog to set the crawl position within the template. • XPos — Specifies the horizontal begin point of the crawl (in pixels). • YPos — Specifies the vertical po...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding Clocks and Tickers 134 Polycom, Inc. Adding Clocks and Tickers Adding a Clock Using Template Maker, text boxes can be configured to receive dynamic text, such as a running clock or date field, as opposed to simple text that is entered at design time...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Adding Clocks and Tickers 136 Polycom, Inc. 20 To delete a ticker, select the ticker in the Clocks and Tickers tab and choose Remove . 21 To copy a ticker from one slide to another, select the ticker in the Clocks and Tickers tab and choose Copy . 22 To pa...

Working with Objects Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 139 • Auto start on load — Begins displaying items in the database immediately after the slide is rendered to the screen. • Advance to next slide after last record — Proceed to the next slide in the playlist after all records from the database ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Working with Animations 140 Polycom, Inc. Working with Object Groups Individual slide elements can be grouped together and treated as a single object. When you use the Group command to group objects, you combine them so you can work with them as though the...

Working with Animations Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 141 — Animation Type — Select from a list of predefined animation effects. See “About Template Maker Animations” for a description of each animation. — Preview button —Previews the selected animation effect in the CG Renderer. — Offset box —...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Saving a Template 142 Polycom, Inc. • Scale Y: the object will appear compressed, and will stretch out along the vertical axis of the slide, as though it is “growing” up from the bottom of the slide. • Scale Y + Fade: the object will fade into view appeari...

Saving a Template Using Template Maker Polycom, Inc. 143 5 To assign the template to one or more specific categories, in the Categories area, in the Existing Categories list box, browse to an available category and choose Add Selected. 6 To assign the template to a new category, in the Selected Cate...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Saving a Template 144 Polycom, Inc. 10 In the Template Parameters area, to add a variable parameter to the object that can be modified when the template is added to a playlist in the Web Controller, choose Add. 11 The Template Parameter Properties dialog b...

Polycom, Inc. 147 6 Using the Data Parser This chapter explains the interface and use of the Polycom Digital Signage Data Parser.This chapter contains the following sections: • About the PDS Data Parser • Creating a Data Source • Using a Data Source About the PDS Data Parser The Polycom Digital Sign...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Creating a Data Source 148 Polycom, Inc. 3 The RSS Wizard will appear. Click Next . 4 You will be prompted to designate a Data Feed Name and Database File , which should be changed from the default. These values must contain no spaces. You will also be pro...

Creating a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 149 5 After designating a Data Feed name, URL, and Database File, enter the Refresh Interval . This value determines the time, in seconds, between live updates of the RSS feed.Click Next. 6 The Title Format window will appear. a Choose a Cas...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Creating a Data Source 150 Polycom, Inc. 7 The Story Format window will appear. a Choose a Case Conversion method, if necessary, to modify the capitalization of all text contained in the Story section of the feed. b If necessary, enter Search and Replace f...

Creating a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 151 8 Verify the formatting and content of the incoming data feed by examining the text in the Data Preview panel. Click Next . 9 The completion screen will appear. Click Finish . NOTE: Not all RSS feeds can be parsed and displayed correctly...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Licensing Data Parser 152 Polycom, Inc. 10 The feed created in the RSS Wizard will now appear as a Data Source in the Data Parser main menu. This means that a Data Definition .xml file and a .mdb Database File will now appear in the PDS Data Parser directo...

Using a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 153 Using a Data Source After a Data Source is created, it can then be used to replace the sources in the Entertainment, Breaking, and Sports News default playlist templates or to create a new FSData template. With the Remote Manager and Web Co...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Using a Data Source 154 Polycom, Inc. 4 Add the .xdsrc file to the Content Update. Right-click on the file and select Change Target Path . Enter the target path C:\PolycomContent\Data. 5 Click Next . Designate the Content Update Properties and all Target P...

Using a Data Source Using the Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 155 8 Navigate to the Playlist Editor tab. 9 To edit an existing template, click Params next to that template. Please note that only the Entertainment News, Breaking News, and Sports Headlines default templates are appropriate for RSS feeds imp...

Polycom, Inc. 159 7 Non-Standard Installations This chapter outlines potential changes to the standard Polycom Digital Signage Server. This chapter includes the following sections: • The PDS Server Configuration Utility • Downloading and Installing the Agent The PDS Ser ver Configuration Utility The...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide The PDS Server Configuration Utility 160 Polycom, Inc. • From the Server tab, administrators can designate a server address, the ports used by the server, the file transfer directory, and whether it is functioning as a primary or secondary server.Port conf...

The PDS Server Configuration Utility Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 161 • From the Service tab, users can start, stop, and monitor the status of the PDS Server service. Renaming the Ser ver The PDS Server Configuration Utility allows you to rename the PDS Server. To rename the PDS Ser ver:...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Downloading and Installing the Agent 162 Polycom, Inc. To change ports: 1 Open the PDS Server Configuration Utility. 2 In the Server tab, provide a new Primary Port and Secondary Port . 3 Click Save in the PDS Server Configuration Utility toolbar. 4 In the...

Downloading and Installing the Agent Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 163 3 Copy the Agent installer executable file from the download location to the PDS Player. 4 Directly or remotely access the Player appliance. double-click on the Agent installer. The setup wizard will appear. Click Next...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Downloading and Installing the Agent 164 Polycom, Inc. Changing Agent Settings on a Player Polycom recommends downloading and distributing a new Player Agent when configuration changes have been made. The Agent configuration can be directly changed on each...

Downloading and Installing the Agent Non-Standard Installations Polycom, Inc. 165 4 In the Connection Settings tab, enter your new Server Name and/or Server Port . Click Test Connection to confirm that the changes have been made correctly. Click OK to complete.

Polycom, Inc. 167 A Appendix A: Player Commands This appendix contains a list of the commands available for use in Polycom Digital Signage applications and required parameters: • Standard Commands • Player-Specific Commands Standard Commands APPENDTOFILE|Filename|<Text to write. Replace line brea...

Player-Specific Commands Appendix A: Player Commands Polycom, Inc. 169 SIMPLECRAWL|<Layer>|<Image filename>|<BackColor (Black=0)>|<ForeColor (White=16777215)>|<YPos>|<Height>|<FontSize>|<';' delimited text> SIMPLECRAWLUNICODE|<Layer>|<Image fi...

Polycom, Inc. 171 B Appendix B: Data Parser This appendix contains a tutorial, examples and a reference guide for creating custom data source definition files. Creating a data source definition is an advanced topic that requires in-depth knowledge of pattern matching, Internet protocols and formats ...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Definition File Overview 172 Polycom, Inc. For example, the following is invalid: <StartTag>"Hello & Goodbye"</StartTag> Instead, the special characters must be replaced: <StartTag>&quot;Hello &amp; Goodbye...

Data Source Definition File Overview Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 173 the table, and will create an index for this column. The default for KeyField is False.Regardless of the table structure schema, Data Parser always inserts two additional columns into the table: — An ID column that contai...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Definition File Overview 174 Polycom, Inc. • Result specifies the name of the container that should receive the output of the pasring rule. Ultimately, parsing rule results need to be placed into the data table fields defined in the <TableSt...

Data Source Definition File Overview Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 175 <SearchText>Football</SearchText><NewText>Baseball</NewText></ParsingRule> The following parsing rule sets the value of the City container to "New York, NY". <ParsingRule Type="...

Data Source Tutorial Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 177 <ParsingRule Type="TrimFromStart" Source="Equation" Result="Variable"><SearchText>=</SearchText></ParsingRule><ParsingRule Type="TrimToEnd" Source="Equation" Result="...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Data Source Tutorial 178 Polycom, Inc. General Settings The general settings for the weather data source are straightforward. We tell Data Parser to refresh the feed every hour (i.e. 3600 seconds), to allow duplicate rows in the table, to fetch the feed fr...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 192 Polycom, Inc. Parsing Rule Reference Guide This section describes all the parsing rules you can use with Data Parser. GetImage The GetImage rule downloads a file (not just image files) from a URL to a local file.The Source ...

Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 193 The following rule extracts whatever text lies between the fifth occurrence of "here" and "there". <ParsingRule Type="GetTag" Source="Source" Result="Replaced"><StartTag>here<...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 194 Polycom, Inc. Example: <ParsingRule Type="Lcase" Source="SomeSource" Result="AllSmallLetters" /> Left The Left rule extracts a specified number of characters from the beginning of the Source co...

Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 195 Mid The Mid rule extracts a string of a specified length from a specified starting character in the Source container. Parameters: • Length: The number of characters to extract. • Start: The character position in the Source contai...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 196 Polycom, Inc. ReadTextFile The ReadTextFile rule loads the contents of a text file into the Result container.The Source attribute is required, but ignored. Parameters: • Filename: The path and name of the file to load. Exam...

Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 197 ReplaceCharacterCodes The ReplaceCharacterCodes rule replaces all occurrences of various HTML character codes with their true characters.Parameters: None Example: <ParsingRuleType="ReplaceCharacterCodes"Source="Som...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 198 Polycom, Inc. Example: If the LongString container contains "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" then the following rule will place "vwxyz" in the ShortStuff container. <ParsingRule Type="Right" Source=&#...

Parsing Rule Reference Guide Appendix B: Data Parser Polycom, Inc. 199 StrCat The StrCat rule concatenates two strings, optionally adding a space between them.The Source attribute is required, but ignored. Parameters: • String1 (taggable): The string that will be the start of the result. • String2 (...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Parsing Rule Reference Guide 200 Polycom, Inc. TrimFromEnd, TrimFromStart, TrimToEnd and TromToStart These four rules all remove some text from the source container. They all take the same parameter, SearchText. The rules differ in whether they trim the be...

Polycom, Inc. 201 C Appendix C: Configuration Files This appendix outlines the procedure to change PDS Player settings via the Remote Manager. Please note that this appendix is intended only for sophisticated users. Contact Polycom Support before changing any configuration files. Changing Output Set...

Polycom Digital Signage Administrator Guide Changing Output Settings with the XPT.ini Configuration File 204 Polycom, Inc. » StandardOutputDims=1 : 720x480 resolution. » StandardOutputDims=2 : 720x486 resolution. » StandardOutputDims=3 : 720x576 resolution. » StandardOutputDims=4 : 800x600 resolutio...

Changing Output Settings with the XPT.ini Configuration File Appendix C: Configuration Files Polycom, Inc. 205 12 In the Select Target Players dialog that appears, indicate to which Players you wish to save the changed configuration file. Click OK. 13 The Request window will appear. The file will up...