What is Metus?
Metus Player is a professional video playback software that supports multiple formats and offers features like multi-channel output, variable speed playback, and playlist functionality. It is designed for use in various environments such as studios, newsrooms, and medical facilities.
For more information, please visit the Metus Player website.
Adding Metus 'device' to the Automator
In the top right corner of the Automator, we see 'Devices' - this can be either in red or green depending on the status of the configured devices. Click it and select 'Add device'.
Next, select 'Metus' from the 'Device type' dropdown list, then give it a name.
Once Metus is selected and given a name, we will see all the fields needed to configure it so it can be used with the Automator.
Basic device configuration
Metus
In Metus you will need to open the Options menu and navigate to the Telnet Control settings, here you want to make sure that this setting is Enabled and, depending on how many network adapters you have, you will need to define which is the one you want to use in the drop down menu. (If you only have 1 network adapter, you can check the Use default adapter option)
Automator
You can enable or disable Metus, you can enter the hostname, as well as the port. Once these settings have been entered, the device should show as 'online' (green) in the top right corner.
The settings that are entered by default by the Cuez Automator represent the default settings for Metus, but you can change these settings (host name, port, API Key) as needed, depending on your exact configuration.
Seeing that the connection is made over Telnet, the 'API Key' can remain empty for now.
Media handling configuration
Next, check the box to indicate that this Metus Player will be handling media. More settings will appear, allowing you to configure where media needs to be downloaded and which media we want our Metus to download.
Download folders
The 'Download folder' is the folder where Automator will download all media to for Metus, with its location seen as from the Automator. If Metus and the Automator are installed on the same computer, then this will be a local folder. If Metus and the Automator are on separate devices, this will be with an IP address on the local network.
The 'Device media folder' is the folder where Automator will download all media to for Metus, with its location seen as from Metus itself. This is most likely just a local folder on the same computer.
Keep filenames
Automator offers the option to keep the original filenames of the media that will be downloaded from the Episode into the download folder. By default, Automator saves the files with a unique ID. In case you want to manually check the files in the download folder, it can be helpful to check the box to keep the original filenames to have the files be more recognizable.
Automatically delete files
We can also set files to be automatically deleted after 24 hours or a week. This way you don’t keep all downloaded media in case it is not needed anymore.
Define Blocks with Media
Finally, we can configure which Blocks will need their media downloaded for Metus. For this, click 'Add media field' at the bottom, select your Block configuration (for example 'Clip') and then the field name of the media (usually 'Media'). Repeat this step for all Block configurations that need their media downloaded by the Metus device you are configuring.
As soon as these final settings have been configured, the media from the Episode will start downloading to the folders that were defined. A green checkmark next to a thumbnail (in the Script) indicates the media was successfully downloaded.
Configuring actions
The next step is then to configure each Item and Block configuration with the (set of) functions you want to perform on Metus when triggering the Item or Block - more on that in this article.