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Using Templates

LTN Global
Updated

About: The Templates feature in LTN Schedule allows you to quickly and easily create and use templates for your programming schedules and share playlists across servers and with others. (Available since version 9.5)

With version 10.02 we added direct support of .bxf templates, generated with bxf flavor - https://smpte-ra.org/schemas/2021/2012/BXF. 

Template flows

Playlist_templates_-_workflows.png

Playlist_templates_-_workflows-1.png

Creating a template

To create a template:

Using_Templates_1.png

  1. Select the elements in your playlist that you want to include in the template. 
  2. Use the "Create template" option in the action menu at the top of the list to create a template containing all the selected elements, including meta-elements and live streams.

 

Using a template

To use a template:

Using_Templates_2.png

  1. Navigate to the template folder in the library and drag and drop the template into the playlist.

Using_Templates_6.png

 

Alternatively, you can right-click on a template and decide if you want to

  1. insert it at its original time into the playlist or
  2. insert it at a specific time.

Using_Templates_5.png

 

 

 

 

Import/Export a template.xml

By exporting templates from LTN Schedules you will get a xml file that contains your template information in a generic way that can also be used (imported) on other LTN Schedule systems.

This XML format is a simple way to also create a playlist with all dependencies from traffic automation systems like e.g. Mediagenix, WideOrbit and others. Please contact our support team support@ltnglobal.com if the import of your playlist format is not working right away. We are happy to help you bringing your export format into the right form.  

The LTN XML format has a simple schemata (similar to BXF Broadcast Exchange Format), including tags for all important information like in- and out-points, trim, ad-breaks, name, description, tags, epg information, media-source url, etc...

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Schedule>
 <Channel>
  <Name>Test Template</Name>
 </Channel>
   <StartDateTime>
     <SmpteDateTime broadcastDate="11-08-2024">
     <SmpteTimeCode>11:34:58:627</SmpteTimeCode>
   </SmpteDateTime>
  </StartDateTime>
<ScheduledEvent>
  <ScheduledElement>
   <EventData>
     <Id>id7b830fb3-f50f-49e8-8c8c-65f55f86efd4</Id>
       <TriggerEvents/>
        <PrimaryEvent>
         <ProgramEvent>
          <ProgramName>News-Reporter-loop</ProgramName>
           <ProgramDescription></ProgramDescription>
            <ProgramStart>
             <SmpteDateTime broadcastDate="11-08-2024">
             <SmpteTimeCode>11:34:58:627</SmpteTimeCode>
             </SmpteDateTime>
            </ProgramStart>
           </ProgramEvent>
          </PrimaryEvent>
        <LengthOption>
         <Duration>
          <SmpteTimeCode>00:00:21:20</SmpteTimeCode>
         </Duration>
         <TrimIn>
           <SmpteTimeCode>00:00:00:00</SmpteTimeCode>
         </TrimIn>
         <TrimOut>
           <SmpteTimeCode>00:00:00:00</SmpteTimeCode>
         </TrimOut>
       </LengthOption>
     <EndMode>Duration</EndMode>
   <PrivateInformation>
  <LibraryItem>
  <FileSource>https://demourl.ltnschedule.com/b2a40342-6029.mp4</FileSource>
  <Id>b2a40342-6029-42ab-b6bb-71899afea314</Id>
....

See the attached example template file (template-example.xml) below in this article. 

 

Import of none LTN Schedule sources

The LTN Schedule import and export functionality is designed to work primarily between LTN Schedule systems. External XMLs are officially not supported yet.

If you are experienced with creating XMLs, you can generate XML outputs from other systems and use them for import into LTN Schedule. To start, export one of our rundown XMLs first and make sure that your XML structure follows the given structure. 

In general you can also use this xml structure to import your content from external data sources like traffic management systems or media asset management systems (MAM). In this case you can use the <FileSource> tag to provide the link to your individual media asset. LTN Schedule will use this file URL to download the files.

In case you will provide your own file sources, please leave the <Id> tag blank or event to not provide the <Id> tag at all. In this case, LTN Schedule will create a new ID during the import process. 

 

Export of a template from the UI

To export a template from LTN Schedule:

Using_Templates_3.png

  1. Click on a template to open the inspector, which will show you all elements that are part of the template, including gaps, live streams, and other meta elements.
  2. Click the export button to share the template between servers or with other people quickly.
  3. Choose Import a template from the library menu to import a template that has been created previously on this or another server.

Using_Templates_4.png

 

Templates are a convenient and efficient way to reuse frequently-used items in your schedule and ensure that your programming is consistent and organized. Try using templates in LTN Schedule to streamline your scheduling process and automate workflows

Using Templates via API

Inserting templates.xml (or converted from bxf to LTN Schedule XML format) files or existing templates from the library into the playlist, importing a template.xml into the library or listing the available templates of the system is available via our LTN Schedule REST API. 

The Swagger interface list up all the available functionality and also creates example calls how to import templates via API. 

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This is one example, how a CURL post would look like to import a template into the 

curl -X 'POST' \
  'https://systemname.ltnschedule.com/api/v1/template/insert?insertTimestamp=123123123123&skipOnReady=true' \
  -H 'accept: application/json' \
  -H 'Content-Type: multipart/form-data' \
  -F 'file='

More Informations about how to use the templates API you can find here: https://ltnglobal.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409405370003-Using-REST-API

 

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