Playlists 101

Playlists are a fundamental element of the Revel Digital platform responsible for defining which content to play as well as the order to play it in.

A playlist consists of a series of sources. In most cases a source will be a media item such as an image or video, but a source could also be an RSS feed, web page, command, template, or even another playlist.

 

Creating a new playlist

To create a new playlist, navigate Playlists and click the New Playlist button.

There are a few playlists types to select from including:

• Multimedia Playlist
  Compatible with every media type supported by the Revel Digital platform including videos, images, YouTube, etc.
• Slideshow Playlist
  Only compatible with image sources such as JPG, PNG, RSS, Web Pages, etc. The slideshow playlist is generally used when special transitions between images is required.
• Marquee Playlist
  This playlist is specifically designed to be used with the Marquee zone in a template. A marquee is scrolling text.
• Template Playlist
  This playlist is similar to the Multimedia playlist but may also contain templates.

 

Adding Sources

Once created, you can begin adding your sources. Click the green box to open the source dialog.

The following dialog will appear where you may select your source type, source items, and the duration (in seconds). The duration determines how long each source item will display for and can always be adjusted later as necessary.

The following source types are available:

• Media
  Any form of compatible media including images, video, PDF, PowerPoint, etc
• RSS
  Embed media from an RSS feed URL
• YouTube
  Embeds a YouTube video
• Web Page
  Captures and embeds a web page as an image
• Playlist
  Embeds another playlist. The playlist may be inlined in it's entirety, or source by source using Loop Policies
• Template
  Embeds a template
• Command
  Triggers a command
• Vistar Media
  Embed advertising from a linked Vistar media account
• Place Exchange
  Embed advertising from a linked Place Exchange account

Sequencing Sources

The sequence or order of the sources can be changes by dragging the source to the desired position. The number in the lower-right corner of the source item shows the position within the playlist.

 

Finishing Up

Once your sources have been assigned, save the playlist and it can then be assigned to a schedule, or a specific zone in a template.

 

Advanced Options

Source Scheduling

Individual source items may have their own schedule. This is the same Smart Scheduling available to top-level schedules, but is unique to a single source item. This is a very powerful feature in that it provides the ability to perform scheduling right within the playlist rather than having to use multiple top-level schedules.

To access scheduling, click the Schedule tab at the top of source dialog.

Now define any number of condition for When or Where you would like this source item to play.

 

Loop Policies

A loop policy is a method for automating the population of a playlist based on a policy or rule. Loop policies require a fixed playlist duration along with one more sources with a designated loop policy.

The following Loop Policies are available:

• Over Saturate
  Play this source X number of times per loop
• Post Fill
  Fill any unused time at the end of the playlist
• Pre Fill
  Fill any used time at the start of the playlist
• Randomize
  Randomly place this source anywhere in the loop
• Spread Fill
  Fill any unused time by spreading this source evenly throughout the playlist
• Under Saturate
  Play the source once every X loops

Remember, in order to utilize loop policies the playlist must have a predefined duration. Configure this duration in the playlist properties.