What is BitCentral PTA?
BitCentral PTA is a playout and clip-serving device used for automated video and audio playback in broadcast workflows. The Cuez Automator can control BitCentral PTA directly — cueing and playing clips, pausing and resuming playback, and stopping or continuing across specific channels.
Find more information about BitCentral on their website.
Adding a BitCentral PTA '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 'BitCentral PTA' from the 'Device type' dropdown list, then give it a name.
Basic device configuration
Enter the Host name of the machine running BitCentral PTA (localhost if the Automator and PTA are on the same computer). The Base port defaults to 8001, matching PTA's standard control port. Set the Source frame rate to match your source material — options include 25, 29.97 (drop-frame, NTSC), 30, 50, 59.94 (drop-frame), and 60.
Once the settings have been entered correctly, the device should show as 'Online' (green) instead of 'Offline' (red).
Media handling configuration
Next, check the Handle Media box if this BitCentral PTA device will be handling media (e.g. clips triggered as part of your rundown). More settings will appear, allowing you to configure where media needs to be downloaded and which media to download for this device.
Download folders
The Download folder is where the Automator downloads media for BitCentral PTA, as seen from the Automator's perspective. If PTA and the Automator are on the same computer, this will be a local folder. If they're on separate devices, use an IP address on the local network, or send to an S3 bucket using the tab alongside 'Download locally'.
The Device media folder is where the Automator downloads media for PTA, as seen from PTA's perspective. This is typically a local folder on the same computer.
Downloading enabled / Keep filenames
Check Downloading enabled to have the Automator actually download media for this device. Automator saves files with a unique ID by default — check Keep filenames if you'd rather keep the original filenames for easier manual inspection of the download folder.
Automatically delete files
Files can be automatically deleted Never, after 24 hours, or after a week, so downloaded media doesn't accumulate once it's no longer needed.
Configuring actions
The next step is then to configure each Item and Block configuration with the (set of) functions you want to perform on BitCentral PTA when triggering the Item or Block; more general information on that is available in this article.
Available functions
Play Cue — Cues and immediately plays a clip on the specified channel. Configured with Channel and Clip ID.
Cue Clip — Cues a clip on the specified channel without playing it. Configured with Channel and Clip.
Play — Plays the currently cued clip on the specified channel. Configured with Channel.
Continue — Resumes playback of a paused clip on the specified channel. Configured with Channel.
Still — Pauses playback on the specified channel, holding on the current frame. Configured with Channel.
Stop — Stops playback on the specified channel. Configured with Channel.
💡 Available in Stable from v1.36.0 (1 Sep 2026) onwards.
Troubleshooting
If the BitCentral PTA device shows 'Offline' in the Automator:
Confirm the machine running BitCentral PTA is powered on and reachable on the same network as the machine running the Cuez Automator.
Double-check the Host name and Base port match what's configured on the PTA side — the default port is
8001, but this can be changed on either end.Confirm the Source frame rate matches your actual source material — a mismatch can cause playback timing issues even when the connection itself is healthy.
If a firewall or network security tool is active on either machine, make sure port
8001isn't being blocked.