Automation

Kinetra can run parts of the show for you: take Now & Next when an item starts, show a countdown five minutes before the next item, cycle sponsor logos, or run several steps from one button.

There are three ways in, from simple to advanced:

• Automations in Control: ready-made packages for common jobs. Available in Simple mode.
• Cues: buttons in Control that run several steps. See Control.
• Flows: build your own automation from blocks. Advanced mode only.

All three are flows underneath.

Add a ready-made automation

1. Open Control and select the screen.
2. In the side panel, under Automation, click Add automation….
3. Pick one:
   • Event schedule: a run of show with a board, Now & Next and a countdown.
   • Sponsor slideshow: a corner card cycling through your sponsors.
   • Sponsor wall: a full-screen grid of sponsor logos, highlighted in turn.
   • Countdown to doors: a full-screen countdown to the next schedule item.
4. Choose whether the layers go on an Existing screen or a New screen, and click Install.

Kinetra adds a source with sample data, the templates, the layers and the rules. Replace the sample data with your own in Sources.

Rules from an automation start disarmed, so nothing happens until you’re ready. Expand the automation in Control to see its panel and its Rules.

Schedule and countdown panels

An automation built on a schedule shows a live panel in Control:

• Up next, with Start now (N) and +5 min (D).
• The Run of show, with each item’s status. Each item has a menu: Start now, End, Set as next…, Delay +5 min, Delay by…, Set start time…, Cancel, Restore and Back to automatic.
• Undo (Ctrl+Z).

A countdown panel shows what it’s Counting down to, with Start now, Set target time and Reset.

Slideshow panels

A slideshow panel shows the current slide, with Previous slide, Play/Pause and Next slide. Set how long each slide shows (Every N s), Shuffle, Per-slide durations, Loop and the Transition.

Remove an automation

Open the automation’s ⋯ menu and choose Remove…. Its rules become ordinary flows, and what it created stays in the project. Tick Also delete what it created to remove its source, templates and layers too.

If you delete something an automation needs, Control shows needs attention. Click Fix… to pick another source, or Delete….

Flows

A flow is a chain of blocks: a trigger (when), then logic and actions (what to do). For example: when an item in the schedule becomes NOW, take Now & Next for 10 seconds.

Flows are in Flows in the sidebar (Ctrl+5). Switch to Advanced mode first (Preferences › General › Mode).

Create a flow

1. Click New flow.
2. Choose Blank (starts with a Cue trigger) or From a template.
3. Type a Name and click Create.

From a template, pick what the flow should point at: your screens, layers, sources or schedules. Kinetra fills in the rest.

Edit a flow

The editor has the blocks on the left, the canvas in the middle and the settings of the selected block on the right.

• Drag a block onto the canvas, or select it and press Enter.
• Connect blocks with wires. Event wires carry the “go”, data wires carry values.
• Select a block to set it up.

Deploy and arm

Your edits are a draft until you click Deploy (Ctrl+Enter). Until then, the flow keeps running its last deployed version. Discard draft throws your changes away.

The Armed switch turns a flow’s triggers on and off. A disarmed flow never starts by itself.

Blocks

Triggers (when the flow starts):

Block	Starts when
Cue	You press its button or hotkey in Control.
Schedule item status	An item becomes NOW, UP NEXT, DELAYED…
Before next item	N minutes before the next item starts.
Time of day	At a time, on chosen days.
Timer reaches zero	A layer’s countdown ends.
Layer on/off air	A layer goes on or off air.
Slideshow wrap	A slideshow completes a cycle.
Source row changed	The current row of a source changes.
Run by flow	Another flow runs this one.
API value changed	An API source’s data changes.
MIDI in	A key, pad or knob on a MIDI controller.
OSC in	An OSC message from a control surface or app.
Media ended	A media layer reaches its end.

On a Mac

On a Mac, MIDI in doesn’t fire. See Kinetra on macOS.

Data: Source row, Schedule now/next, Field value, Layer state, Constant, Time now, Format text, Math and Compare.

Logic: Branch (then or else), Switch, Gate, Delay, Wait until, Debounce, Throttle, Sequence, Once, Counter, Random pick and Repeat.

Actions:

Block	What it does
Take	Takes a layer on air, optionally for a set time.
Clear layer	Takes a layer off air.
Clear screen	Takes every layer of a screen off air.
Clear all screens	Takes everything off air.
Set fields	Sets a layer’s field values.
Set timer	Starts, pauses, resets or sets a timer.
Step source	Goes to the next, previous or a given row.
Pause/Resume source	Pauses or resumes stepping by itself.
Schedule action	Starts, ends, delays or moves a schedule item.
Set variant	Shows another look of a layer.
Media	Plays, pauses, stops or seeks a media layer.
Take preview	Takes a screen’s Preview to Program (Studio mode).
Run flow	Runs another flow.
Stop flow	Stops a running flow.
Log	Writes a message, and can show it as a toast.

Actions do the same as the buttons in Control and follow the same rules.

Flow templates

New flow › From a template offers ready-made flows, grouped as Show running, Event schedule, Sponsors, Sports & LAN and Building blocks. Examples: Break with countdown, Next guest, Five-minute warning, Now & Next on new item, Main sponsor every third loop and Match end results.

Flows that start by themselves are added disarmed. Arm them when you’re ready.

Automation off

Turn on Automation off in the Control toolbar to stop everything that runs by itself. An amber Automation off pill shows in the top bar while it’s on.

It stops: triggers such as times, schedules, timers and MIDI or OSC flow triggers; running flows; and sources stepping by themselves.

Still working: cues and hotkeys you press, and MIDI or OSC controls mapped to Control actions.

When you turn automation back on, nothing catches up on what it missed.

Tips

• Test a new flow with a Cue trigger first, then change the trigger when it works.
• Keep flows small. Use Run flow to reuse one flow from others.
• Arm automatic flows just before the show, and use Automation off if you need to take over by hand.
• PANIC stops every running flow.

Common problems

A flow doesn’t start

Check that it’s Armed, that it’s deployed (no Not deployed note), and that Automation off isn’t on.

“Flow … is disarmed”

Arm the flow in Flows, or with the switch on its row.

“Failed: …”

The message says which step failed. A missing layer or screen is skipped with a warning; other errors stop the run.