Destinations, working with

What is a destination?

A destination is defined as a source of data for one or more Players. The destination specifies a place where Dise Bridge will store all files added to the destination. All destinations have a name, which you can select to properly describe where the content will be played, for example “Region North” or “Store X”.

On each destination you can specify one or more channels. A Channel is defined as an area of a display where the content is played. The areas can overlap and enable multiple and complex messages on the same display.

Display Schemes, Dependencies and Scheduling

Each channel contains a Display Scheme. A Display Scheme is a sequence of Dise Movies created by Dise Composer combined with the scheduling rules for each movie.

The Dise Movie listed in the display scheme will play one at a time from the top of the list in the order they are specified. The scheduling rules will be consulted at the start of each Dise Movie.

Each Dise Movie file can be dependent on several files to work properly. The .disemovie/.evs file created by Dise Composer is always needed, and in addition to that, all external files such as images, video files, etc. also need to be transmitted to the players.

All the necessary files are grouped together, and are called Dependencies. The dependencies are checked against the content database inside Dise Bridge and only new or changed files are distributed.

Groups and Players

A destination can hold the data for many players. In big networks there might be hundreds of players that get their data from the same destination. With Dise Bridge it is possible to specify different display schemes for each player. To be able to specify a different display scheme for a player, it has to be defined in Dise Bridge. As soon as it is defined, Dise Bridge will display it under the destination, making it possible to create a specific Display Scheme for just that player.

The player you define can correspond to a Dise Replay application somewhere in your display network. When the number of individual players increase, it is convenient to start grouping them together, to make editing of their display schemes more easy. In this way, you can add Dise Movies to a large group of players at once.

A group is just a way of grouping the players together for easier editing and several players can be members of the same group.

Both player definitions and groups are optional features. If you want the same messages to be displayed on all the players, you don’t need to specify each player individually. In this case, you setup your Dise Replay applications to play the display scheme of the destination.

For each player a file list will also be created, so that you can instruct Dise Probe to only download the files that are needed for that player.

All files that you add to a specific group or player will be uploaded to the destination, this can be a good thing since you can easily switch between different content for different players when testing or previewing. If you only want each player to download the files it will need for playback then you can use the file lists created.

When you set up a Dise NoBorders system, for example a screen wall, defining players is a part of defining what content is to be played where.

Creating a destination

Creating destinations is a task that is normally performed only once when you setup Dise Bridge for the first time.

Change to the Destinations tab to the left in the main window.

Destination settings

Main article: Dise Bridge Destination Preferences

Add Channels

When you create a destination, a default channel, called Main will be created, so you can skip this step if you want. The players and groups that belong to the destination will all retain the same channels as the destination. To create an additional channel in this destination, follow these steps:

• Select the destination where you would like to create this channel and click the plus button above the channel list in the lower left.
• Give the channel a name.

Add Movies

Select the destination, group or player where you want to add a Dise Movie and select the “Multiple months” view button in the toolbar.

• Select the channel you want to add to in the channel list at the lower left of the main window.
• Change to the File Browser tab on the left, browse to the directory where you have saved your Dise Movies.
• Select the Dise Movie you want to add in the File Browser and drag it onto the Planner view.
• An item will be created with a default display time of 6 days.
• You can drag the item around and change its scheduled display time by dragging the start and stop of the item.
• If you want more advanced scheduling for the movie, this can be done on the Schedules tab to the left.

Send to the destination

After you have created your destination, added some Dise Movies or changed the content in your display scheme you can send your content. This is done by selecting the destination(s) to be updated and clicking on the Send button.

On the log tab you will see information about the sending process.

Notes about destination paths

For updates and everything to work correctly together with Dise Probe and Dise Replay you need to use Bridge to send the files to some path where Dise Probe will download the files. In an optimal installation this path is to an server from which Dise Probe then downloads the files using FTP or directly through a shared network folder. However, due to restrictions in a network of the unavailability of an central server to store the files on it is sometimes required to use alternative methods. The only real requirement for a central server is that it is reachable from all players in the system and that it is turned on during the time updates are needed. With shared network directories or/and an FTP server you can upload and download files. You are however recommended to make sure that this server will not break, crash or in another way malfunction since this will mean that you will be unable to maintain updates when it does.

Note: The below alternatives disregard network security setups. It is recommended that you apply as much security as possible to keep files safe.

Read more: Network and file access

1. Share a directory on the manager and transfer the files locally to this directory. Dise Probe on each player will then download the files directly from this directory. The downside is that the manager will consume more disc space hosting all the destination files and that it will have to be switched on for updates to work.
2. Share a directory on each player and use Bridge to transfer the files there. The Dise Probe will copy the files internally on the player. The downside is that this will use more disc space on the player and that you can not send files to the player if it is not turned on. This also means that each player has its own content and each need to have its own destination in Dise Bridge.
3. Share a directory on one of the players and have Dise Probe on the other player download the content to this local download location. For the first player it will be equal to point #2, for the other players it would be like having a server in the network. Benefits include less to the central server. The downside is that if the "server" player is shut off updates will not work.