You can create a dynamic block by clicking the "+" icon next to “Assets” in the Playout Scheduler:
Assets
After giving a name to your block, you will be able to set the rules for which assets you want to include in it. Keep in mind that you may add multiple rules:
- Category: Assets that have the selected Category value will be included in the block.
- Season: Assets that have the selected Season value will be included in the block.
- Series: Assets that have the selected Series value will be included in the block.
- Episode: Assets that have the selected Episode value will be included in the block.
Order
You can choose the order in which the assets will play back each time the block airs. This can be accomplished by selecting a field to order the assets by, and then choosing a sort option, either Ascending or Descending.
You can order the assets by the following fields:
- Created At
- Published At
- Season
- Title
- Shuffle: You have the option to add order by “Shuffle” to your dynamic blocks. This means that when “Shuffle” is selected as the ordering rule, videos that meet the criteria will be inserted into the block in random order.
You also have the ability to decide from when the content will be eligible. For example, let’s say you want to dynamically play content ordered by “Published At” and sorted in Descending order. You may choose to start from content only published after 4/21. Alternatively, you might want to begin with a specific season, such as Season 2 of a series.
Fill rules
You will need to specify the duration of your block. You also have multiple options to better adjust the content of your block:
-
Reuse Videos: If the Reuse flag is on, once the block runs out of content to use, it will look for assets with the rules you define in this setting.
Note that once you turn this on, the same filling rule you had set before will appear but with the inverse Sort Order. However, while you can keep this rule as it is, you can also change it so that new assets can fill the block once it runs out the original content.
- Fit to Content: If on, the block duration will be truncated exactly to its videos duration, without leaving any extra gap. Items after it will be moved to avoid the remainder gap.
Ads
Finally, you will be able to enable an ad rule for your block. This will allow you to choose a fallback slate and decide whether you want to include pre-rolls, mid-rolls, and/or post-rolls. You can read more on ads here.
Note: You may create a dynamic block without content or ad rules. This will allow you to edit the block as a track item later. If the block doesn't have any rule, nothing will be added as content.
If the dynamic block doesn't have any assigned assets at the moment of publishing the channel, the default channel slate will play.