What you need:
–A Ross Switcher with the Pro7 machine as an added “server” device.
-Dashboard computer should be on the same network as the switcher and Pro7 machine
-A MEDIA playlist on Pro7 with less than 20 videos in it. (Not a regular playlist)
-This uses the AMP protocol, and the Ross devices consider Pro7 to be a Server.
-This is for playing back video, not controlling lyrics or other presentations. ( I suggest a separate lyric machine)
Renewed Vision has added Rosstalk to ProPresenter 7 (Pro7). That’s great. But Pro7’s Rosstalk feature only talks to Ross devices, it does not listen. You can control certain functions on a Ross switcher. There are many ways that can be helpful. But you can’t control Pro7 from the switcher.
But what if you specifically wanted to use Dashboard to fire videos from a Pro7 machine?
It is possible, if you have a Ross Switcher that allows you to add devices like Media Servers, We have a Ross Carbonite (The older one, not the Black series.).
Add Pro7 to The Ross Switcher–
To add the Pro7 machine you need to add the device on the switcher panel, not Dashboard. Go into the menu and add a device, choose a server and put in the Pro7 IP address when prompted. Remember what slot you used, that will show up in Dashboard. Make sure to set the device up to “roll clip” when you switch to it.
Configure Pro7 to talk to Dashboard-
On the Pro7 machine, configure the preferences to communicate using the AMP protocol. This article will help: https://support.renewedvision.com/hc/en-us/articles/360060251553-Devices-AMP. If your switcher is set up, when you hit Connect it will change to green. Right click the media playlist and “select for communication.”
Now your Dashboard can talk to your Pro7 machine. The Dashboard software can send a few commands, like cue, play and stop. Here’s how to set up a macro to load a play a particular clip.
In Dashboard, Custom Controls, pick the control button you want to use. Go into the shot editor, find the bank and button.
Load the clip-
Modify Event list, select devices, server. Then select Cue. The settings should default to your server and slot for the Pro 7 machine. If not, select those. Channel 1. Then type the exact file name of the video clip you want to load. Insert command.
Play the clip-
Modify event list, device, server and select play, server and channel 1. Insert command.
Now, hit record in the custom control editor, put your Pro7 machine in preview and hit auto trans. Stop recording. Name the command and hit done. Switch back to the shot box and test the macro.
When you need to change videos, just edit the custom control and change the name in the Cue and hit Replace Item, Done.
You can also set commands to stop and play the Pro7 machine. It will only play a clip that is already loaded.
Limitations
You can only fire videos from this machine on this one media playlist. You could set up another Pro7 machine the same way and load it into another slot on the switcher, but you would need an entire extra Pro7 machine.
Cautions
ProPresenter is presentation software, not a professional video playback solution. It plays video fine. but it can glitch, and need to be restarted. Contrast that with the Grass Valley K2 device we had been using. For all its quirks, it played video every time. The 2nd week we were using the Pro7 set up the audio on our service intro video was just a square wave. I thought we had gone back to dial up internet. Restart Pro7 and the problem was fixed. So, restart each week. Listen to the playback (don’t just watch meters) and don’t think you have to keep updating a solid machine. Only update the video playback machine when you need it. Run lyrics and other presentations off another device.
Scott Link Media 