HELP.md

Renewed Vision PVP 3

This module only supports PVP version 3.1 and above.

Go to Renewed Vision to learn more about the software.

ProVideoPlayer (PVP) is a Mac-based software application designed to play back and manipulate video across one or more screens.

For over a decade, productions and installations have used ProVideoPlayer for playback to one or more screens along with other tools as part of the full rig: ProPresenter for text and CG, a video rig for camera shots and live produced content, and an expensive screen control system to pull it all together. For many events, a lot of powerful and expensive equipment is radically under-utilized, so we set out to see if we could make a single product that would provide the tools needed for many productions when the complexity of more expensive solutions is unnecessary. That is the vision realized with PVP3.

Configuration

Prepare PVP

Open Preferences in PVP, switch to the Network tab, and enable network API support. Note the settings as they'll be needed to configure Companion.

Configure Companion

Enter in the IP address and port PVP is running on:

• PVP Host: The IP address or hostname of the PVP instance you want to control.
• Use HTTPS Check if PVP's Use HTTPS Connection is checked.
• Authentication Token: The Authentication Token as shown in PVP's Network Preferences, only if PVP's Require Authentication is checked.
• Port: The port PVP is running on.

Backup Instance

If you only have a single PVP instance, leave the following fields empty.

If you have two PVP installations that are running in a primary/backup mode, you may want actions to go to each PVP install to keep them in sync. Instead of creating two PVP instances in Companion and adding the same action for both instances, just add the backup PVP's connection information and let the module handle the work for you:

• PVP Host (Backup instance): The IP address of the backup PVP instance.
• Use HTTPS: Check if the backup instance requires an HTTP Connection.
• Authentication Token: The Authentication Token for the backup instance.
• Port: The port the backup instance.

All actions sent to the primary PVP instance will then be mirrored to the backup instance.

If you need to send an action to just one of the two PVP installations, you'll need to create a second PVP module instance in Companion and add those actions there.

Relative Layer Opacities

If you're using the relative layer opacity action and have a backup instance, please be aware that the opacity is relative to each instance's layer opacity.

Network Backup Triggering

PVP 3.2 added a network backup triggering mode, which can automatically keep two (or more) PVP instances in sync. This is a great solution if you're controlling PVP from its interface, but not so much if you control the master externally and it fails.

If you use the backup instance feature in this module, be sure to disable PVP's Network Backup Trigger feature.

Important Notes

Whenever you see Layer ID or Playlist ID mentioned in an action, you can reference it in one of two ways:

• By its full name (as displayed in PVP). This is the easiest way. A name is case-sensitive.
• By its index. For example, the first layer has an index of 0, the second has an index of 1, etc.

Number IDs are always interpreted as indexes, even if a layer or playlist has a numeric name.

Live Video: A playlist ID of -1 refers to the Live Video playlist.

Actions

Clear/Hide/Mute Layer/Workspace

Action	Description
Clear Layer	Clears the specified layer of all media.
Mute Layer	Mutes the audio in specified layer.
Unmute Layer	Unmutes the audio in the layer.
Hide Layer	Hides the specified layer.
Unhide Layer	Unhides the layer.
Clear Workspace	Clears all the layers in the workspace.
Mute Workspace	Mutes the audio in the workspace.
Unmute Workspace	Unmutes the audio in the workspace.
Hide Workspace	Hides the workspace.
Unhide Workspace	Unhides the workspace.

Select Layer/Workspace

Action	Description
Select Layer	Selects the layer in PVP. Set Target Layerto Yes to make the layer the target of untargeted media.
Select Playlist	Selects the playlist.

Trigger

Action	Description
Trigger Cue	Triggers a cue by its ID in the selected playlist.
Trigger Playlist	Triggers the first cue in the playlist.
Trigger Cue in Playlist	Triggers the cue in the playlist.
Trigger Cue in Playlist on Layer	Triggers the cue media in the playlist on a layer.

Layers/Workspace

Action	Description
Go to Layer Offset (Seconds)	Skips the layer's playing media to a specific offset. Positive numbers indicate the offset is from the start, and negative numbers from the end. Examples: 5 moves to 5 seconds from the start. -5 moves to 5 seconds from the end. 0 moves to the start. -0 moves to the end.
Layer Blend Mode	Sets the layer's blend mode. The default blend mode is Normal.
Layer Opacity	Sets the layer's opacity by percentage; a whole number from 0 to 100. You can also make relative opacity adjustments by prefixing the value with a + or -.
Layer Preset	Applies a preset to the specified layer. Leave the Preset Name option empty to unlink the layer's preset.
Layer Target Set	Changes the layer's target set. A PVP bug prevents target sets from being addressed by index. It can only be addressed by its name.
Layer Transition Duration (Seconds)	Sets the transition duration of a layer. See Transition Duration Note below.
Layer Effect Preset	Sets the layer's effect preset by its name. Leave the Effect Preset Name field empty to clear all effects.
Pause Layer	Pauses the media playing in the layer.
Play Layer	Plays/resumes the media playing in the layer.
Skip Media in Layer (Seconds)	Skips the layer's playing media back or forward some number of seconds. Negative Seconds skips back. Use decimals to skip back fractions of seconds; -1.5 will skip back one-and-a-half seconds.
Track Matte	(PVP 3.3+) Sets the layer's blend mode (how it blends with the layer immediately under it). Can't be used on the base layer. The White Matte mode doesn't support the Invert Matte option.
Workspace Effect Preset	Sets the workspace's effect preset by its name. Leave the Effect Preset Name field empty to clear all effects.
Workspace Transition Duration (Seconds)	Sets the transition duration of the workspace. See Transition Duration Note below.

Transition Duration Note

Any layer or workspace that uses the Default transition in PVP shares that same duration property. For example, if Layer 1, Layer 2 and Workspace [Master] use the Default transition, then changing the duration of any one of them will change all the others.

Give each layer its own transition, like Dissolve, if you want to be able to control them separately.

Error Codes

The following table is from the PVP API documentation:

Error Code	Meaning
400	Bad Request -- Your request was invalid.
401	Unauthorized -- Authorization failed.
403	Forbidden -- The endpoint requested is hidden for administrators only.
404	Not Found -- The specified endpoint could not be found.
405	Method Not Allowed -- You tried to access an endpoint with an invalid method.
500	Internal Server Error -- We had a problem with our server. Try again later.
503	Service Unavailable -- We're temporarily offline for maintenance. Please try again later.

Presets

The included Presets can be used to quickly create basic buttons for Layers and Workspace.

Presets for Layers	Description
Clear Layer #	Clear a specific layer.
Mute Layer #	Mute a specific layer.
Unmute Layer #	Unmute a specific layer
Mute/Unmute Layer #	Mute and unmute a specific layer with a Key down and Key up action.
Select Layer #	Select a specific layer.
Hide/Show Layer #	Hide and unhide a specific layer with a Key down an Key up action.
Select Playlist	Select a specific playlist.
Trigger Cue	Trigger a cue in the current playlist.

Presets for Workspace	Description
Clear Workspace	Clears the workspace (all layers).
Mute Workspace	Mute the workspace.
Unmute Workspace	Unmute the workspace.
Mute/Unmute Workspace	Mute and unmute the workspace with a Key down and Key up action.

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For additional actions, please raise a feature request on GitHub.