The Control Room is where you run your live graphics. You set up the graphics you need ahead of time, then put them on and off air during the match with a click. It's built for gameday operators, producers and anyone running graphics for a stream. A well set up room means fewer clicks, fewer mistakes and graphics that are already filled in when you need them.
Before you start
Your organisation needs the Broadcast Graphics module.
You need a Control Room. Create one from Themes > Control Rooms > CREATE CONTROL ROOM, giving it a Control Room Name and a Theme.
Assign the Control Room to your Theme Profile under DETAILS & SETTINGS > Automation & Control Room. It shows as Unassigned until you set it.
For match day, you need a match set up with its teams, and a live scorer using the LiveScore app if you want events and line-ups to flow in.
Part 1: Set up your Control Room
Do this once, before your first match. The same room can then be used match after match.
1. Add sections
Sections are the tabs across the top of the room, such as PRE-MATCH, FIRST HALF, HALF-TIME, SECOND HALF, FULL-TIME and EXTRA TIME. Click + to add your own, with a name and a colour. Grouping graphics by stage of the match keeps the room tidy and helps you find the right graphic quickly.
2. Add graphics
Inside a section, click Add Graphic to open the graphic library for your theme. Pick the graphics you want for that part of the match. Each one becomes a row with its own GFX IN, GFX OUT and Preview buttons.
3. Edit a graphic
Open the three-dot menu on a graphic row and choose Edit. On the Details tab you can change the name, title, template and the section it sits in. Clear names matter when you're working fast on match day.
4. Set up variables
Variables are the controls an operator changes live, such as which team a line-up shows. On the Variables tab you set each variable's settings and default value, and choose whether it's shown to or hidden from the operator. Hide anything that should never change so the room stays simple.
5. Add context
Context links a graphic to match events like goals, cards and substitutions. Once linked, clicking an event on the Events tab brings up the right graphic with the details already filled in.
6. Use graphic extensions
Extensions are extra graphics or options attached to a graphic. They let you build on a graphic you already have, rather than setting up a separate one.
Part 2: Run graphics on match day
7. Put a graphic on air
Click Preview to check a graphic, then GFX IN to send it to air. A red outline shows it's live, and its name appears as a chip in the top bar. Click GFX OUT to take it off. If you change a control variable while a graphic is on air, nothing changes on the live graphic until you click Update.
8. Show a goal from LiveScore
When the live scorer logs a goal in the LiveScore app, it lands on the Events tab seconds later. Click it and the room brings up your goal graphic with the scorer filled in, ready to preview and put on air. Cards and subs work the same way.
9. Bring up a team line-up
Line-ups only appear once they've been saved in the LiveScore app or arrive through external data. Use the TeamShow variable to choose home or away, for example Harbour City (HCF) or Ridgeview (RVR), preview it, then put it on air.
10. Put the scorebug on air
The Scorebug button keeps the score and clock on screen. Choose which scorebug graphic to use first, otherwise the button has nothing to show.
11. Take graphics off air
Take a single graphic off with GFX OUT or the cross on its chip in the top bar. You can also take multiple or all graphics off air at once, which is handy at a break or the final whistle.
12. Switch between Manual and Auto
In Manual, an operator runs the room. In Auto, the match's Automated Game Plan from the Automation tab runs graphics automatically. You can switch back to Manual at any time, for example for extra time.
Tips and common mistakes
Always preview before you click GFX IN, so you catch wrong names or the wrong team before viewers do.
No line-up showing? Check it's been saved in the LiveScore app.
Changed a variable but the live graphic looks the same? Click Update.
Set sensible default values on your variables so graphics are right first time.