Input Gateway
The Input Gateway handles control devices that are not capable of running a Web Browser. This allows Sofie to integrate directly with devices such as: Hardware Panels, GPI input, MIDI devices and external systems being able to send an HTTP Request.
To install it, begin by downloading the latest release of Input Gateway from GitHub. You can now run the input-gateway.exe file inside the extracted folder. A warning window may popup about the app being unrecognized. You can get around this by selecting More Info and clicking Run Anyways.
Much like Package Manager, the Sofie instance that Input Gateway needs to connect to is configured through command line arguments. A minimal configuration could look something like this.
input-gateway.exe --host <Core Host Name> --port <Core HTTP(S) port> --https --id <Peripheral Device Id> --token <Peripheral Device Token/Password>
If not connecting over HTTPS, remove the --https flag.
Input Gateway can be launched from CasparCG Launcher. This will make management and log collection easier on a production system.
You can now open the Sofie Core, http://localhost:3000, and navigate to the Settings page. You will see your Input Gateway under the Devices section of the menu. In Input Devices you can add devices that this instance of Input Gateway should handle. Some of the device integrations will allow you to customize the Feedback behavior. The Device ID property will identify a given Input Device in the Studio, so this property can be used for fail-over purposes.
Supported devices and protocols
Currently, input gateway supports:
- Stream Deck panels
- Skaarhoj panels - TCP Raw Panel mode
- X-Keys panels
- MIDI controllers
- OSC
- HTTP
Input Gateway-specific functions
Shift Registers
Input Gateway supports the concept of Shift Registers. A Shift Register is an internal variable/state that can be modified using Actions, from within Action Triggers. This allows for things such as pagination, Hold Shift + Another Button scenarios, and others on input devices that don't support these features natively. Shift Registers are also global for all devices attached to a single Input Gateway. This allows combining multiple Input devices into a single Control Surface.
When one of the Shift Registers is set to a value other than 0 (their default state), all triggers sent from that Input Gateway become prefixed with a serialized state of the state registers, making the combination of a Shift Registers state and a trigger unique.
If you would like to have the same trigger cause the same action in various Shift Register states, add multiple Triggers to the same Action, with different Shift Register combinations.
Input Gateway supports an unlimited number of Shift Registers, Shift Register numbering starts at 0.