SongShow Plus Display Settings - DeckLink TOLV IMAG

Applicable SongShow Plus Versions: 
This article applies to SongShow Plus versions 9.1 and later

 * Ensure that you are using the most current build of SongShow Plus from the Download page for the best experience. *   

One very useful feature in SongShow Plus is the ability to utilize DeckLink hardware and software for lag-free Text Over Live Video (TOLV) and IMAG. If you are interested in this technology, contact the sales team at GoFishMedia for details.

NOTE: If you are not familiar with the types of Output Windows available, refer to article SSP109.

SongShow Plus display settings are used to configure where content is displayed, both externally and internally.  Outputs can go to an external display device (monitor/projector/etc) or used within the Presenter window only using the embedded Placement option.

In these setup instructions, it is assumed that Output Window 1 is already selected as the main projection output. This is required for the DeckLink setup.

NOTE: The instructions below assume that you have already connected and configured your DeckLink card and verified that it is working as expected using their LiveKey tool. If you have not done this yet, please do this first. Until you know that LiveKey will present a partially transparent image over a live video in the video resolution you want to use, you can't move onto SongShow Plus configuration because the DeckLink card is not yet connected and configured correctly. Once it is, the following steps are needed to get SongShow Plus to work with the DeckLink card. 

SongShow Plus Display Settings - DeckLink

• DeckLink - This configuration is uniquely designed to be used to project alpha channel enabled output for effective Text Over Live Video (TOLV) and IMAG.
  

To set up the DeckLink configuration:

You need the following:

• A Projection License
• The DeckLink Plug-in (Included with the purchase of a ProKey Encore system.
• BlackMagic DeckLink software installed.
• A Multi-Display License (Ultra has this)
• A physical display as a target (this is usually connected to the DeckLink card)

There are two parts for this setup - DeckLink Configuration and Display Output Window settings.

  DeckLink Configuration:

1. Open SongShow Plus
2. From the main toolbar click on Settings > Display...
3. Select the DeckLink configuration tab. 
4. For the most common configuration, set the following settings: 
   1. Set Enabled to Yes
   2. Set Source Window to Output Window 1 (this must be used for DeckLink)
      
   3. Set Resolution Mode to match the resolution and frame rate of your input device.
   4. Set Key Mode to Internal for most setups.
      1. Off - No keying is used.
      2. Internal - With this setting the hardware receives a video signal and then overlays the image onto the video signal using the image sources alpha-channel data. The merged video signal is then sent to an output channel from the card.
      3. External - With this setting the hardware will send out two signals, one is the main image and the second is an alpha-channel key image that can be merged by a supported video switcher.
   5. Set Key Opacity to 100. This setting specifies an adjustment to the alpha channel values. The recommended setting is 100.
   6. Click OK to save and close.

 Display Output Window settings:

1. Open SongShow Plus
2. From the main toolbar click on Settings > Display...
3. Select the DeckLink Output Window. 
4. At minimum, set the following settings: (other settings can be used to enhance the output)
   1. Set Enabled to Yes.
   2. Set Placement to Display Device.
   3. Set Display Device to the hidden display device that matched the resolution and frame rate of your input device.  (see related article for current bug)
   4. Set Placement Area to Whole - This must be ONLY set to Whole for DeckLink setup.
   5. Set Transparent Base to Yes.
   6. Click OK to save and close.
5. Once this is complete you may need to close and reopen SongShow Plus to reset the external displays.
6. After opening SongShow Plus, project some content and ensure it appears on all displays as intended.

Related Settings:

Ensure Transparent Backgrounds
When specifying slide properties for song, scriptures, and slide shows, if you intend for any of these have text that is overlaying video, you will need to ensure that the background is set to be transparent. To do this, within the Background slide property panel - Ensure that Base Color is set to a transparent setting.

Ensure that there are no items in the Layers list, that is, unless you are using a layer that is partially transparent. A layer may be partially transparent if its image or video source has transparent areas in it, or if you have applied an effect that causes the layer to be partially transparent, like the Transparent effect.

NOTE: If you have not already, refer to article SSP109 for additional information on Slide Properties guidance and possible limitations.

 Training Videos - A video walk-through of this process may available.  

Depending on your current subscription level, you can go to the GoFishMedia website training page and log in with the same Customer ID and password that you use to log in to the SongShow Plus site or activate SongShow Plus. Review this article for more details.

If you have any questions regarding the use of or issues with any of the SongShow Plus display settings, please contact the Support Team.

(SSP161)