Prompter

See Sofie views for how to access the prompter page.

The prompter will display the script for the Rundown currently active in the Studio. On Air and Next parts and segments are highlighted - in red and green, respectively - to aid in navigation. In top-right corner of the screen, a Diff clock is shown, showing the difference between planned playback and what has been actually produced. This allows the host to know how far behind/ahead they are in regards to planned execution.

If the user scrolls the prompter ahead or behind the On Air part, helpful indicators will be shown in the right-hand side of the screen. If the On Air or Next part's script is above the current viewport, arrows pointing up will be shown. If the On Air part's script is below the current viewport, a single arrow pointing down will be shown.

Customize looks

The prompter UI can be configured using query parameters:

Query parameter	Type	Description	Default
mirror	0 / 1	Mirror the display horizontally	0
mirrorv	0 / 1	Mirror the display vertically	0
fontsize	number	Set a custom font size of the text. 20 will fit in 5 lines of text, 14 will fit 7 lines etc..	14
marker	string	Set position of the read-marker. Possible values: "center", "top", "bottom", "hide"	hide
margin	number	Set margin of screen (used on monitors with overscan), in %.	0
showmarker	0 / 1	If the marker is not set to "hide", control if the marker is hidden or not	1
showscroll	0 / 1	Whether the scroll bar should be shown	1
followtake	0 / 1	Whether the prompter should automatically scroll to current segment when the operator TAKE:s it	1
showoverunder	0 / 1	The timer in the top-right of the prompter, showing the overtime/undertime of the current show.	1
debug	0 / 1	Whether to display a debug box showing controller input values and the calculated speed the prompter is currently scrolling at. Used to tweak speedMaps and ranges.	0

Example: http://127.0.0.1/prompter/studio0/?mode=mouse&followtake=0&fontsize=20

Controlling the prompter

The prompter can be controlled by different types of controllers. The control mode is set by a query parameter, like so: ?mode=mouse.

Query parameter	Description
Default	Controlled by both mouse and keyboard
?mode=mouse	Controlled by mouse only. See configuration details
?mode=keyboard	Controlled by keyboard only. See configuration details
?mode=shuttlekeyboard	Controlled by a Contour Design ShuttleXpress, X-keys Jog and Shuttle or any compatible, configured as keyboard-ish device. See configuration details
?mode=pedal	Controlled by any MIDI device outputting note values between 0 - 127 of CC notes on channel 8. Analogue Expression pedals work well with TRS-USB midi-converters. See configuration details
?mode=joycon	Controlled by Nintendo Switch Joycon, using the HTML5 GamePad API. See configuration details

Control using mouse (scroll wheel)

The prompter can be controlled in multiple ways when using the scroll wheel:

Query parameter	Description
?controlmode=normal	Scrolling of the mouse works as "normal scrolling"
?controlmode=speed	Scrolling of the mouse changes the speed of scolling. Left-click to toggle, right-click to rewind
?controlmode=smoothscroll	Scrolling the mouse wheel starts continous scrolling. Small speed adjustments can then be made by nudging the scroll wheel. Stop the scrolling by making a "larger scroll" on the wheel.

has several operating modes, described further below. All modes are intended to be controlled by a computer mouse or similar, such as a presenter tool.

Control using keyboard

Keyboard control is intended to be used when having a "keyboard"-device, such as a presenter tool.

Scroll up	Scroll down
Arrow Up	Arrow Down
Arrow Left	Arrow Right
Page Up	Page Down
	Space

Control using Contour ShuttleXpress or X-keys (?mode=shuttlekeyboard)

This mode is intended to be used when having a Contour ShuttleXpress or X-keys device, configured to work as a keyboard device. These devices have jog/shuttle wheels, and their software/firmware allow them to map scroll movement to keystrokes from any key-combination. Since we only listen for key combinations, it effectively means that any device outputing keystrokes will work in this mode.

Query parameter	Type	Description	Default
shuttle_speedMap	Array of numbers	Speeds to scroll by (px. pr. frame - approx 60fps) when scrolling forwards. The beginning of the forwards-range maps to the first number in this array, and the end of the forwards-range map to the end of this array. All values in between are being interpolated using a spline curve.	0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 30]

Key combination	Function
Ctrl Alt F1 ... Ctrl Alt F7	Set speed to +1 ... +7 (Scroll down)
Ctrl Shift Alt F1 ... Ctrl Shift Alt F7	Set speed to -1 ... -7 (Scroll up)
Ctrl Alt +	Increase speed
Ctrl Alt -	Decrease speed
Ctrl Alt Shift F8, Ctrl Alt Shift PageDown	Jump to next Segment and stop
Ctrl Alt Shift F9, Ctrl Alt Shift PageUp	Jump to previous Segment and stop
Ctrl Alt Shift F10	Jump to top of Script and stop
Ctrl Alt Shift F11	Jump to Live and stop
Ctrl Alt Shift F12	Jump to next Segment and stop

Configuration files that can be used in their respective driver software:

• Contour ShuttleXpress
• X-keys

Control using midi input (?mode=pedal)

This mode listens to MIDI CC-notes on channel 8, expecting a linear range like i.e. 0-127. Sutiable for use with expression pedals, but any MIDI controller can be used. The mode picks the first connected MIDI device, and supports hot-swapping (you can remove and add the device without refreshing the browser).

Web-Midi requires the web page to be served over HTTPS, or that the Chrome flag unsafely-treat-insecure-origin-as-secure is set.

If you want to use traditional analogue pedals with 5 volt TRS connection, a converter such as the Beat Bars EX2M will work well.

Query parameter	Type	Description	Default
pedal_speedMap	Array of numbers	Speeds to scroll by (px. pr. frame - approx 60fps) when scrolling forwards. The beginning of the forwards-range maps to the first number in this array, and the end of the forwards-range map to the end of this array. All values in between are being interpolated using a spline curve.	[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 17, 19, 30]
pedal_reverseSpeedMap	Array of numbers	Same as pedal_speedMap but for the backwards range.	[10, 30, 50]
pedal_rangeRevMin	number	The end of the backwards-range, full speed backwards.	0
pedal_rangeNeutralMin	number	The beginning of the backwards-range.	35
pedal_rangeNeutralMax	number	The minimum input to run forward, the start of the forward-range (min speed). This is also the end of any "deadband" you want filter out before starting moving forwards.	80
pedal_rangeFwdMax	number	The maximum input, the end of the forward-range (max speed)	127

• pedal_rangeNeutralMin has to be greater than pedal_rangeRevMin
• pedal_rangeNeutralMax has to be greater than pedal_rangeNeutralMin
• pedal_rangeFwdMax has to be greater than pedal_rangeNeutralMax

The default values allow for both going forwards and backwards. This matches the Yamaha FC7 expression pedal. The default values create a forward-range from 80-127, a neutral zone from 35-80 and a reverse-range from 0-35.

Any movement within forward range will map to the pedal_speedMap with interpolation between any numbers in the pedal_speedMap. You can turn on ?debug=1 to see how your input maps to an output. This helps during calibration. Similarly, any movement within the backwards rage maps to the pedal_reverseSpeedMap.

Calibration guide:

Symptom	Adjustment
"I can't rest my foot without it starting to run"	Increase pedal_rangeNeutralMax
"I have to push too far before it starts moving"	Decrease pedal_rangeNeutralMax
"It starts out fine, but runs too fast if I push too hard"	Add more weight to the lower part of the pedal_speedMap by adding more low values early in the map, compared to the large numbers in the end.
"I have to go too far back to reverse"	Increse pedal_rangeNeutralMin
"As I find a good speed, it varies a bit in speed up/down even if I hold my foot still"	Use ?debug=1 to see what speed is calculated in the position the presenter wants to rest the foot in. Add more of that number in a sequence in the pedal_speedMap to flatten out the speed curve, i.e. [1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, ...]

Note: The default values are set up to work with the Yamaha FC7 expression pedal, and will probably not be good for pedals with one continuous linear range from fully released to fully depressed. A suggested configuration for such pedals (i.e. the Mission Engineering EP-1) will be like:

Query parameter	Suggestion
pedal_speedMap	[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 12, 17, 19, 30]
pedal_reverseSpeedMap	-2
pedal_rangeRevMin	-1
pedal_rangeNeutralMin	0
pedal_rangeNeutralMax	1
pedal_rangeFwdMax	127

Control using Nintendo Joycon (?mode=joycon)

This mode uses the browsers Gamapad API and polls connected Joycons for their states on button-presses and joystick inputs.

The Joycons can operate in 3 modes, the L-stick, the R-stick or both L+R sticks together. Reconnections and jumping between modes works, with one known limitation: Transition from L+R to a single stick blocks all input, and requires a reconnect of the sticks you want to use. This seems to be a bug in either the Joycons themselves or in the Gamepad API in general.

Query parameter	Type	Description	Default
joycon_speedMap	Array of numbes	Speeds to scroll by (px. pr. frame - approx 60fps) when scrolling forwards. The beginning of the forwards-range maps to the first number in this array, and thee end of the forwards-range map to the end of this array. All values in between are being interpolated in a spline curve.	[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 30]
joycon_reverseSpeedMap	Array of numbers	Same as joycon_speedMap but for the backwards range.	[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 30]
joycon_rangeRevMin	number	The end of the backwards-range, full speed backwards.	-1
joycon_rangeNeutralMin	number	The beginning of the backwards-range.	-0.25
joycon_rangeNeutralMax	number	The minimum input to run forward, the start of the forward-range (min speed). This is also the end of any "deadband" you want filter out before starting moving forwards.	0.25
joycon_rangeFwdMax	number	The maximum input, the end of the forward-range (max speed)	1

• joycon_rangeNeutralMin has to be greater than joycon_rangeRevMin
• joycon_rangeNeutralMax has to be greater than joycon_rangeNeutralMin
• joycon_rangeFwdMax has to be greater than joycon_rangeNeutralMax

You can turn on ?debug=1 to see how your input maps to an output.

Button map:

Button	Acton
L2 / R2	Go to the "On-air" story
L / R	Go to the "Next" story
Up / X	Go top the top
Left / Y	Go to the previous story
Right / A	Go to the following story

Calibration guide:

Symptom	Adjustment
"The prompter drifts upwards when I'm not doing anything"	Decrease joycon_rangeNeutralMin
"The prompter drifts downwards when I'm not doing anything"	Increase joycon_rangeNeutralMax
"It starts out fine, but runs too fast if I move too far"	Add more weight to the lower part of the joycon_speedMap / joycon_reverseSpeedMap by adding more low values early in the map, compared to the large numbers in the end.
"I can't reach max speed backwards"	Increase joycon_rangeRevMin
"I can't reach max speed forwards"	Decrease joycon_rangeFwdMax
"As I find a good speed, it varies a bit in speed up/down even if I hold my finger still"	Use ?debug=1 to see what speed is calculated in the position the presenter wants to rest their finger in. Add more of that number in a sequence in the joycon_speedMap to flatten out the speed curve, i.e. [1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 4, 4, 5, ...]