Rules that choose what plays

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Rules that choose what plays

Who wins when a live take, a rule and the call sheet all want the same screen — and how to set a stage rule.

At any moment, several things may want the same screen: the call sheet’s booking, a rule, a show cue, an operator’s take. Wunderframe decides the same way every time, on the server and on every screen, so a screen that restarts reaches the same answer.

Who wins

  1. A live take — from the Live board, a show cue or a session going live. Always first.
  2. A rule — the first one that holds: the stage’s own rules from top to bottom, then its groups’ rules.
  3. The call sheet — the booking for this time.
  4. Idle — the idle story, or the idle card with what comes next.

Releasing a take hands the stage to a rule that holds, otherwise to the call sheet. Each tile on the Live board says which layer is playing: Show cue, Preset, Taken by hand, Rule: Doors, Call Sheet or Idle.

When nothing is scheduled, a stage shows its idle card or plays a story you choose, so the screen is never black.

The lower part of the Edit stage dialog: Watching and casting options (Off selected, Presenters only, With the code on screen, With operator approval), an empty Rules section with Add a rule, and When nothing is scheduled set to Play a story with the Restaurant menu story.

When nothing is scheduled, a stage shows its idle card or plays a story you choose, so the screen is never black.

A rule is one sentence

A rule sits on a stage or a stage group and reads like a sentence: When it is between 17:30 and 19:00, play “Doors open”. While its conditions hold, the stage plays what it names; when they stop, the call sheet comes back. Nothing is written and nothing is taken, so there is nothing to undo.

A rule can read:

  • the time, the day, the date and your times of day, on the venue’s clock;
  • the session on this stage — starting within 10 minutes, live, on air for 5 minutes, overrunning;
  • a value from your data — “the train is more than 5 minutes late”, “the weather says rain”;
  • a named condition, to say the same thing on many stages.

A rule can also switch a stage’s TV channel instead of its content. A channel picked by hand on the Live board still wins.

Set one up

  1. Open the stage’s rules

    On Venue → Stages, open the stage — or a stage group, for a rule shared by all its stages — and add a rule.

  2. Say when and what

    Choose the conditions, then what to play while they hold. Use the arrows to put the rule that matters most first.

  3. Watch it before the day

    Open the stage’s Preview, move the time or flip the session in the Time & sensors bar, and watch the rule take the stage.

A rule with one condition: Time of day is from 18:00, then Evening loop. The line below it reads the rule back as a sentence.

The Rules section of the Lobby wall stage: rule 1, "After 18:00 play the evening loop in the lobby", switched on, with the condition Time of day is from 18:00 and Then Evening loop, followed by When nothing is scheduled and a collapsed Keeping the panels in step section.

A rule with one condition: Time of day is from 18:00, then Evening loop. The line below it reads the rule back as a sentence.

Stage rules are settings, not design: they reach the screens when you save them, without a publish. To switch a stage’s TV channel by a rule, see TV channels.