AxisTV supports a wide
variety of media formats you can use to energize your visual
communications. Import slick still graphics or dynamic animated content
to capture and keep your audience’s attention.
To help
you get the most out of your message, follow these suggestions to
optimize content from the most popular media platforms:
Import graphics from a
wide range of software applications by saving or exporting them into
popular graphical formats. AxisTV supports JPG, TIF, GIF, PNG, WMF and
Microsoft Windows® bitmap (BMP) files.
Here are some tips for
optimizing your graphics for AxisTV:
Build your graphics
to 1024x 768 pixels, or match the pixel dimensions of the AxisTV
content block(s) in which they will be displayed.
If the graphics will
be used in content blocks with 16:9, 9:16 or other unique aspect
ratios, build them to match that aspect ratio and content block
pixel dimensions. Otherwise, your content may appear distorted, like
it has been squeezed or stretched.
Set the image
resolution to 72 DPI (dots per inch). With this technology, there is
no need to worry about print quality DPI.
Animated GIFs cannot
be directly imported, but third-party software can be used to
convert animated GIFs to Flash® files or video files.
To import a graphic as a
message, navigate to Import, Image/Video in the AxisTV
browser interface. To import a graphic into the library for reuse,
navigate to Manage, Graphic Files in the AxisTV browser interface.
Video
Attract and entice your
audience with dynamic video content. AxisTV supports AVI, MPEG-1,
MPEG-2, and Microsoft Windows Media Video® (WMV) formats.
Consider these tips when
creating and optimizing your video content for AxisTV:
For best playback
performance, encode or convert videos to the Microsoft Windows Media
Video® format. Other formats will work, but utilizing the most
efficient format will get the best performance from your Channel
Players.
Encode videos at a
bit rate of 1 to 4 megabits per second. AxisTV can play back higher
bit rates, but if you intend to display tickers, transitions,
backgrounds, Flash® or other media simultaneously, you may run low
on processor resources. Encoding your videos to a lower bit rate
will avoid using a majority or all of the playback resources for
just one video.
To import a video as a message, navigate to Import,
Image/Video in the AxisTV browser interface. To import a video
into the library for reuse, navigate to Manage, Video Files
in the AxisTV browser interface.
Adobe® Flash®
Wow your audience with
creative content built in Adobe Flash®.
(An Adobe Flash® Support
license is required for each Channel Player to play back Flash® files.)
There are a wide variety
of ways to create content in Flash®, so here are some tips for
optimizing your material for playback in AxisTV:
Set the frame rate
to 12 frames per second.
Match the aspect
ratio of the Flash® movie to the aspect ratio of the content block(s)
scheduled to host the movie. (Flash® scales all movies, keeping
their aspect ratio intact – if the content block aspect ratio
differs black bars will be created on top and bottom or on left and
right.)
Use only tweened
animation.
Don’t set the Flash®
movie to loop or replay by scripting or other means.
No interactive
elements can be included in your Flash® movie – it should not
require user interaction during playback.
Avoid embedding
videos. Flash® loads all of the video frames into memory for
playback and this can deteriorate overall Channel Player
performance. Video files are best played in a Windows Media®, AVI,
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 format.
To import a Flash® movie as a message, navigate to
Import, Image/Video in the AxisTV browser interface. To
import a Flash® movie into the library for reuse, navigate to Manage,
Video Files in the AxisTV browser interface.
Microsoft® PowerPoint®
Microsoft PowerPoint® files can be imported
directly into AxisTV. Simply select the slides you want to import by
choosing from thumbnail images of each slide, and they are converted
into AxisTV bulletins as still slides (JPG) without animations or slide
transitions. (A copy of PowerPoint® 2003 must be installed on the AxisTV
Content Server to enable the PowerPoint® import feature.)
You also have the option
of converting your PowerPoint® slides to Flash® animation, allowing
basic slide and text block transitions to be a part of your finished
Flash® playback. AxisTV is limited in the types of transitions it can
convert to Flash®, so if PowerPoint® animations and transitions are an
important part of your visual design, we suggest that you use a third
party product designed specifically to convert PowerPoint® to Flash®,
and then import your finished Flash® file into AxisTV. (See Flash®
section above for more details.)
The AxisTV Flash®
translator imports up to ten (10) slides at a time, so if you need more
with animations, you will need to break your single presentation into
multiple files.
Here are some tips for
optimizing your PowerPoint® files for playback in AxisTV:
Use larger font
sizes to maximize readability.
Choose font colors
that contrast well with PowerPoint® background.
If you are
converting your PowerPoint® into Flash®, choose common transitions
such as wipe, push and cut. Avoid using GIF images with transparent
backgrounds when possible, as they will likely import with a solid
background.
AxisTV cannot import
PowerPoint® slides with embedded videos or links to embedded videos.
To import a PowerPoint®
file as a series of one or more messages, navigate to Import,
PowerPoint in the AxisTV browser interface.
Media Streaming
Your organization may
already be using media streaming as a way to share video and audio
content over their network. AxisTV offers media stream playback,
allowing you to display a compatible media stream on one or more Channel
Players.
AxisTV supports two
popular media streaming formats: Windows Media® and MPEG-2 by VBrick
Systems. Windows Media® format tends to produce the best playback
performance, but AxisTV also supports
MPEG-2 streams originated by VBrick encoders or servers. Note that one
copy of the Vbrick StreamPlayer Plus software is required for each
Channel Player using MPEG-2 media streaming.
Visix recommends media encoding products by VBrick Systems, Inc. and
additional information can be found at
www.vbrick.com. Visix does not
warrant or claim to support all video stream encoders or decoders.
To schedule the playback
of streaming media, navigate to Now Playing, Streaming,
and choose a Channel Player to add a streaming program.
Media
Library
AxisTV supports a
library of media files that can be reused for many messages. This
library is accessed via the Manage menu in the AxisTV browser
interface.
Even if you don’t intend
to reuse a particular media file in more than one message, you must
sometimes use the library to import the file. Files that are larger
than 10 megabytes in size should not be imported directly through the
Import, Image/Video menu in the AxisTV browser interface.
Uploads conducted
through the Import, Image/Video screen burden the web server to absorb
the file in its entirety. Files larger than 10 megabytes can easily
overwhelm the web server. Larger files should be uploaded using the
AxisTV Media Importer utility, which is available at the System Tools,
Install Media Importer screen in the AxisTV browser interface.
The AxisTV Media Importer installer will place the
utility directly onto your PC and can upload extremely large files (or
many files at once) without burdening the web server.
