Overview 

OnDemand is a flexible yet powerful playout solution that fits perfectly in any broadcast environment regardless of its complexity, allowing the playout and immediate broadcast of Aston graphics and templates, and edit them on the fly if required. OnDemand even allows users to control Aston projects when embedded in Infinity Set. 

OnDemand provides operators with a flexible toolset to create rundown lists, modify them on the fly, and delve into the details allowing individual editing of elements such as graphics, videos and on-air shots, and then playing them out to air.  

The integration with Aston is such that OnDemand’s powerful playout even understands the specific behaviour of any Aston graphic.

Complex graphics management 

OnDemand enables the easy management and playout of complex graphics templates in any order and combination, for broadcasters who require more than a simple rundown system.  

OnDemand has the ability to operate in multiple modes, making it the ideal tool for any playout situation: live sports, channel branding, gameshows, news, tickers, election graphics and many more.

Playout flexibility 

The control and playout of graphics is becoming increasingly complex as the number and combination of graphical elements to be displayed multiplies. OnDemand can control all such elements and is able to launch graphics simultaneously, sequentially, in random order and combine them as required.  

There is no need for the graphics department to create all possible graphics combinations, as any graphic elements can be grouped and ordered inside OnDemand. It allows broadcasters to relieve the design and graphics departments from simpler tasks such as creating basic edits of graphic templates, further increasing the flexibility of the staff. It is also possible to search, call up and launch templates on the fly.

Different sections are created by the operator in OnDemand for the various program types to be controlled, any of which can operate in the available modes. It is possible to move from one section to another very intuitively and easily, whether using keyboard shortcuts, the mouse or combining both.

Flexible configuration 

Multiple OnDemand machines can also control a single render machine in cases where different instances of OnDemand are controlling different graphics to be sent on-air simultaneously. Also, OnDemand is compatible with Brainstorm products like Infinity Set or Aston, with which OnDemand can be bundled together as an integral part of the Aston family. A single instance of OnDemand can send identical or different content to multiple render machines, render graphics in multiple languages, and have a real-time preview of graphics.

StormLogic 

StormLogic is Brainstorm’s approach to intuitive template interaction. It is a tree structure of folders, that defines the logic between templates. This structure is created just by dragging and dropping templates in the desired place in the folder structure, where each folder defines the behaviour of the objects it contains.  

OnDemand supports Brainstorm’s StormLogic, that enables the automatic management of complex interacting graphics and templates without the usual need for hours of programming and the creation of complex tables or spreadsheets, providing users with an extremely flexible playout system.

QuickTemplates 

QuickTemplates are elements that complement the templates by adding playout features (channel assignment, timers, or even combination of templates…). It is possible to create as many pages/instances as required, just by dragging and dropping the QuickTemplate into the rundown. They are also editable, and by editing the QuickTemplate all the instances in the rundown will automatically change accordingly. Any graphic element can be grouped and ordered inside OnDemand. There is no need for the graphics department to create all possible graphics combinations as even these groups can be exported to third party automation systems. 

SmartTemplates 

Aston’s SmartTemplates can feature as many animations as necessary and as complex as required. As OnDemand is always interacting with them, those animations could be triggered whenever required, even while the template is on-air. SmartTemplates also allow elements to change dinamically when data changes, and in adittion scripting can be included.

Hardware Recommendations

OnDemand is a playout and control system not requiring high-end performance as it does not perform any renders but controls other workstations for them to render and playout. This means it can be insatalled in virtually any laptop or even some tablets, also supporting touch screen operation.