Live Text

21 min

This page / section pertains to BrightAuthor Classic, our legacy app. BrightSign Author is our latest app for managing content and players.

Development of BrightAuthor Classic has largely ceased and the app will eventually be deprecated and replaced with BrightSign Author.

A Live Text state consists of an image overlaid with various text fields and/or media. You can layer both static text and updatable RSS and MRSS content on top of images and customize the position/size of items in relation to the background. You can even use Live Text to overlay content on top of a video in another zone.

To add a Live Text state to your presentation, drag the Live Text icon from the Other tab to the playlist area and set the following parameters:

State name: Enter a unique name for the Live Text state.
Set as initial state: Check this box to make the Live Text state your Home Screen.
Background Image: Click Browse to locate and select a background image for your Live Text.

Image ModeImage Mode settings that would normally crop displayed images (i.e. “Center Image” and “Scale to Fill and Crop”) are not applied to the background image of a Live Text state. To get consistent performance between images and Live Text states, you will need to resize images accordingly.

Update Live Text Data: Click this button to have all Live Text Data fields display their current value.

Change Size / Position of Live Text

Click the Add Item button (shown below) to add a new text/media item to the Live Text canvas. You can then edit the size and positioning of the item:

Size: Adjust the size of a text field or item.
- W: The width of the text field or item
- H: The height of the text field or item
Position: Adjust the position of a text field or item.
- X: The position of the text field or item on a horizontal axis
- Y: The position of the text field or item on a vertical axis.

You can also click and drag the text fields in the preview area to adjust sizing and position.

Offset next: Check this box to set an initial position for new items in relation to the most recently created item. Input the offset distance for the next text item in the X and Y fields.

Selecting the Item Type

Use the Type dropdown menu to select the source of the content in the selected item:

Fixed Text: Displays simple, static text. A text field will appear below Text Type, where you can type your customized text. As you type, you can view the text in the preview image.
System Variable: Displays the device serial number, firmware version, script version, or other System VariableSystem Variable value. Use the dropdown list to determine which value you would like to display.
Live Text Data: Displays content from a Data FeedData Feed in the text field. The displayed Data Feed item will remain fixed and will not cycle through feed items like an RSS ticker (use the RSS Feed type for this functionality). However, you can still update the text in real time by modifying the feed on the server and changing the description associated with the item title or index.
- Add Data Feed: Click this button to add a Data Feed to your presentation. You can use any feed type (RSS, Live Data Feed, MRSS, Dynamic Playlist) as Live Text Data, but you must specify the Data feed content usage as Text when adding the Data Feed.
- Data Feed Name: Select the desired Data Feed from the dropdown menu.
- Item title: Specify the feed item to display using the Title/Name of the item.
- Item index: Specify the feed item to display using the index number of the item.

When you use the Item index, subsequent RSS text fields will automatically contain the next item in the index (i.e. the previous index number + 1).

Media Counter: Displays how many times a file in the presentation has played. Each Media Counter field must correspond to a specific file. Use the dropdown list to pair the Media Counter field with a file in the presentation. To use this feature, Media Counters must first be enabled: Navigate to File > Presentation Properties > Variables and check the box labeled Automatically create media counter variables.
User Variable: Displays the current value of a User Variable. Use the dropdown list to specify a User Variable for the text field. To use this feature, you must first create a User Variablecreate a User Variable.
RSS Feed: Displays content from an RSS feed. To edit the amount of time each RSS item is displayed, click Set Text Parameters and modify the Time to Display Each Line field.
- Update RSS URL List: Click this button to create a list of Data FeedsData Feeds to use as RSS sources.
- Display RSS title: Check this box to display the title of the RSS item.
- Display RSS description: Check this box to display the description of the RSS item.
Media RSS Feed: Displays content from a Media RSS (MRSS) feed.
- Update Media RSS URL List : Click this button to create a list of Data FeedsData Feeds to use as MRSS sources.
- Display Media RSS title: Check this box to display the title of the MRSS item.
- Display Media RSS description: Check this box to display the description of the MRSS item.
- Display Media RSS media: Check this box to display the media item associated with the MRSS item.
- Custom fields: If your MRSS feed contains custom text fields, this section will allow you to show or hide the custom fields as required.
Image: Select this option to display an image over the background image. Select Browse to locate an image file to use in this item.
Validate Live Text Data: Click this button to verify that the source URL for the selected Live Text Data item is valid.

Customize Text Parameters

Click the Set Text Parameters button to customize the parameters for a selected field.

Alignment: Use the dropdown list to set whether the text is left aligned, right aligned, or centered.
Foreground text color: Click Choose to select a color for the text.
Background text color: Check this box to include a background color for text fields. Click Choose and set a default color for the backgrounds.
Transparency: Drag the bar to set the transparency for the background text color.

Transparency does not appear in the Live Text image preview or in Presentation Preview. You will need to publish the presentation to a BrightSign player to view the level of transparency.

Font:
- Select Browse to locate and select a font for the text. You can use any TrueType or OpenType font. When selecting a font file, you cannot browse to the font files in the Windows fonts folder. You will need to copy the font file to your Desktop or another location and then select it using the Browse button.
- Select Reset to System Font to reset the font to the default.
- Select Automatic to fit the text to the height of the text field, or select Fixed point size to enter a value for the font size (1 - 500).

The LS422, HD120, HD220, and HD1020 models support a limited number of Live Text items with custom font.

Note that the default parameters of a text item will differ depending on how it is created:

The first text item will use the default text parameters set in the Edit Preferences window ( Edit > Preferences > Live TextEdit > Preferences > Live Text ).
If you create a text item while another text item is selected, the new text item will inherit the parameters of the selected text item.
If you create a text item without another text item selected, the new text item will inherit the parameters of the last created text item.

If you choose to include a Background Text Color, the Transparency setting will be enabled, allowing you to edit the transparency of the Background Text Color. If you choose not to include a Background Text Color, characters in the text fields will appear over the elements beneath it.

Layers

Use the Layer buttons to determine the layering of your Live Text elements. The background image is always displayed behind all elements.

Sends the selected element behind all other elements.
Sends the selected element behind the element that is directly beneath it.
Sends the selected element in front of the element that is directly in front of it.
Sends the selected element to the front of all other elements.

Live Text with Video

You can use a Live Text state to layer text and images over video. To do so, you must add the Live Text state to a Video or Images or Images zone, and place it on top of a Video Only zone. To help you position text over the video, we recommend using a screenshot from the video you want to use. Complete the following steps:

Under Layout, click Add Zone.
1. Click Add Zone to add a Video Only zone.
2. Click Add Zone again to add an Images or Video or Images zone.
3. Set the Graphics plane z position of the Images zone to Front.
4. Resize the Images zone so that it completely covers the Video Only zone.
Click the Playlist tab and select your Video Only zone.
1. Drag the desired video file from the Media Library to the playlist area.
2. Make the zone Interactive.
Use the dropdown list to select the Images zone.
1. Make the zone Interactive.
2. Drag the Live Text icon from the Other tab to the playlist area.
Click the Live Text icon to open the Add Live Text window.
1. Click Browse beside Background Image.
2. Locate and select the screenshot image file taken from the video file used in the Video Only zone.
Click Add Text Item.
1. Adjust the Size and Position of your text field by clicking and dragging over the preview image or inputting exact numbers in the corresponding fields.
2. Select your Text Type and input the desired text.
3. Click Set Text Parameters and edit text parameters as desired.
4. Click OK when finished.
Repeat step 5 for each text field you wish to add.
When all text fields are in place, click Clear next to Background Image.
Click OK.

Clearing the Background Image removes the image from the zone. The text fields will appear directly over the video. By temporarily including a Background Image taken from the video, you can better position the text fields in relation to the video playing behind the Images zone.

Examples

This presentation uses a Live Text State linked to a Live Data feed to display the pricing for a menu board. The feed will update prices and changes you make to it will be shown within moments.

Installation and Configuration

Log in to your BrightSign Network Account via the Web UI.
Go to the Create tab and select Live Data.
Select Add a new feed and give it a name.
Enter the data below, using one set of Title/Description fields for each item/price pair.
1. Download the Baxter_MenuBoard_Demo.zip file from the link below and unzip it to a location on your PC.
2. Open the project file named baxterburger720_v2.bpf
3. Go to File > Presentation Properties > Data Feeds and Add Data Feed.
4. Specify a Feed name.
Select Live Data Feed and choose the Live Text feed created in Step 4.
Adjust the Update Interval to 30 seconds and click OK.
Select the "Live Text" zone and double click on the Live Text state.
Under the Data Feed Name field, select the name of the Live Text feed you created in Step 4. Repeat this process for all 19 text items in the Live Text state. You can use the Next button to advance through all the Live Text items quickly. Once all 19 fields are associated with your Live Text Feed, select OK to close the Live Text window.
Save the presentation and publish it your player using any publishing method. The presentation will begin running and download the dynamic data from the Live Data feed.

Baxter_MenuBoard_Demo.zip

Updating the Live Text

To edit the Live Text pricing:

Log in to your BrightSign Network account via the Web UI.
Go to the Create Tab and select Live Data.
Select the Live Data feed linked to the presentation.
Edit the pricing of any of the fields and select Save. The pricing on the display will update within 30 seconds.

Using UDP messages with Live Text

Displaying / updating Live Text using UDP messages

To create the required number of User Variables, go to the File > Presentation Properties > Variables tab and click the Add Variable button to create each user variable. Then click OK.
Drag and drop a Live Text state onto an interactive playlist.
Select User variable for the item Type, then select the corresponding User Variable(“cell1” in this example).
Click Add Item to add more text widgets to the Live Text canvas, and then assign the remaining User Variables to these widgets. Click OK when you’ve added all the required widgets.
Under the Media Library > events tab, drag and drop the UDP Input event onto the Live Text widget.
In the UDP Input Event window, enter "” (without the quotation marks) into the Specify UDP input field.
Select Transition to new state.
Under the Advanced tab for the UDP Input event, select the Assign input to variable? option and make sure that the Input specifies variable option is selected. Click OK to publish the presentation to the player.

Sending UDP messages

You can use any application capable of sending UDP messages to display your UDP messages on screen. This example uses Hercules to send UDP messages to the networked player(s) playing the above presentation.

Open Hercules and go to the UDP tab.
Under Module IP, enter the player IP address and port 5000 (the default UDP sender and receiver port).
Under the server settings make sure to deselect Server echo, Redirect to TCP Server, and Redirect to TCP client.
Under Send, enter “cell1:new message” and click Send to display “new message” on the player. The string consists of "User Variable:the message".
You can also use one UDP string to update multiple Live Text items at the same time. To do so, you need to separate each message with a “!!”. For example, you can enter “cell1:my message!!cell2:my other message!!cell3:yet another message” and click Send.

To broadcast a UDP message to all the BrightSign players on the same subnet, you can replace the IP address of the player with a broadcast address such as “192.168.1.255”.