Stingers are a great way to enhance your replay workflow for sports production. While the P-20HD does not have this feature built in, the remote control commands can be used for this.

We will cover two types of stingers:

• A single still image that is animated with the Slide transition in the P-20HD
• Up to 16 still images that are frames of an animated sequence

To run the commands, we will use Bitfocus Companion with an optional Elgato Stream Deck. The P-20HD does not have a Companion module, so we will use the "Generic TCP-UDP" module.

 

This guide assumes you have working knowledge of Bitfocus Companion, network configuration, and control systems.

If creating an animated PNG sequence, you will need motion graphics software capable of designing and exporting the images.

Therefore, this guide is only recommended for advanced users, and should be thoroughly tested before using it during a game.

 

 

Network Setup

Connect your P-20HD to the same local network as the computer running Companion.

On the P-20HD, go to Menu > LAN.

Set your IP address as needed. You will need to enter this IP address in the Companion settings.

Scroll to the next page and create a User ID and Password.

• User ID requires 4-8 alphanumeric characters
• Password requires 8-12 alphanumeric characters

Make a note of your password before pressing OK, as you cannot view it again after saving it.

Scroll to the next page and turn Remote Control > On

 

 

Importing Media

The stinger typically consists of one or more still images and an audio file.

• The image generally takes up most or all of the screen.
  • The P-20HD supports PNG files with alpha channel, making it easy to use images with built-in transparency.
• The sound effect should be no more than 2 seconds and is optional.

Example of a stinger image

 

 

Image Transition Settings

Note: If using a single still image as your stinger, follow the steps in this section to edit its Transition settings.

But if you plan to use an animated PNG sequence, you can skip ahead to the Output Transition Settings section because you want all image transitions to be off, which is the default setting for each image when you import them.

 

Press the Still button, select a pad, and push Enter to import and edit it.

Scroll to page 2 and change the In Transition and Out Transition

• Try a Slide style In Transition and Out Transition with a Time value of 0.5sec.
  • You can change these time values to your liking, but note it will affect the Companion delay values we will set later.
• For Direction, try either Left in and Left out, or Up in and Down out.

Press the Audio button, select a pad, and push Enter to import and edit it.

On page 1, you can adjust the Level setting, if needed.

Scroll to page 2 and set On/Off to Momentary.

 

 

Output Transition Settings

Next, go to Menu > Project - Transition and change the Time setting on pages 1 and 2 to 0.2sec.

This is because a longer transition may not look correct when combined with the images, so use this as a starting point.

Note that it's important to change the Time settings for both LIVE IN > REPLAY and REPLAY > LIVE IN. 

 

 

Companion Setup

In Companion, add the "Generic TCP-UDP" module and click Edit.

 

Set the Target IP to the P-20HD's IP address you set up earlier, set the Target Port to 8023, and leave the Connect setting as TCP.

 

On the Buttons tab, you will create 2 buttons for this workflow:

• A Replay Transition button to start the slow motion replay
• A Live Transition button to go back to the live action

 

For the following examples, our User ID is "1234" and Password is "12345678".

Note that all commands need to start with "%02" and use "LF" as the Command End Character.

Also make sure that "Relative Delays" is checked for each button, you can find it near the top of the button settings. This plays all the commands in sequence instead of at the same time.

• If you do not check this box, the delays will not work as intended, and you may lose still image output until you reboot your P-20HD.

 

Replay Button - Slide Wipe

This stinger uses a single still image set up with a slide transition

 

In Companion, create the following Press actions with the "tcp-udp: Send Command":

• Delay: 0ms, Command: %02USR:1234;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PSS:12345678;
  • This is the username and password, substitute the numbers with the ones you created
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PLY;
  • This starts the replay of the queued clip
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SPC:100;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SPC:50;
  • Sets the speed bar to 50%
  • You need to first set it to 100% when the clip is queued at 0% speed
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02STP:1;
  
  • This shows the still image imported to pad 1 using its In Transition settings
  • Change that value if you imported the image to a different pad
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02AUP:1;
  • This plays the audio file imported to pad 1
  • Change that value if you imported the file to a different pad
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02SLO:0;
  • This presses the Replay output button
  • Use a delay value of up to 500ms so you do not see the transition while the image is sliding
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02STS;
  • This removes the current still image using its Out Transition settings
  • Use a delay value of up to 1000ms, depending on how long you want the image displayed for
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02AUS;
  • This stops audio playback
  • You may need 100ms or more delay
  • Use in combination with the Fade Out setting in the audio clip's settings

 

The Live Button - Slide Wipe

For this command, you can copy the previous one you made and remove the PLY and SPC commands.

You also need to change the value for SLO from 0 to 1; more information below.

 

In Companion, create the following Press actions with the "tcp-udp: Send Command":

• Delay: 0ms, Command: %02USR:1234;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PSS:12345678;
  • This is the username and password, substitute the numbers with the ones you created
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02STP:1;
  • This shows the still image imported to pad 1 using its In Transition settings
  • Change that value if you imported the image to a different pad
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02AUP:1;
  • This plays the audio file imported to pad 1
  • Change that value if you imported the file to a different pad
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SLO:1;
  • This presses the Live In output button
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02STS;
  • This removes the current still image using its Out Transition settings
  • Use a delay value of up to 1000ms, depending on how long you want the image displayed for
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02AUS;
  • This stops audio playback
  • You may need 100ms or more delay
  • Use in combination with the Fade Out setting in the audio clip menu
• Delay: 500ms, Command: %02PUS;
  • This pauses clip playback

 

The Replay Button - PNG Sequence

Another option is to import a 16 image PNG sequence. As mentioned earlier, this means you can animate your stinger.

• Since you only have 16 frames of animation to work with, you might consider reversing it at the halfway point, where you play frames 1 through 16 and then 16 through 1.
• This is because 16 unique frames will not appear as smooth, but the benefit is you do not repeat any frames.

 

On the P-20HD, make sure each imported still image has its In Transition and Out Transition settings turned off, which is the default when you import an image.

In Companion, create the following Press actions with the "tcp-udp: Send Command":

• Delay: 0ms, Command: %02USR:1234;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PSS:12345678;
  • This is the username and password, substitute the numbers with the ones you created
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PLY;
  • This starts the replay of the queued clip
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SPC:100;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SPC:50;
  • Sets the speed bar to 50%
  • You need to first set it to 100% when the clip is queued at 0% speed
• Delay: 50ms, Command: %02STP:1~16;
  • This shows a still image imported to pad 1-16
  • You will need to create a separate command for each of the 16 still images
  • You may need to adjust these delay values while testing the animation
    • 16 images at 50ms each is an 800ms sequence
    • Also consider a longer delay at the halfway point 
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02AUP:1;
  • This plays the audio file imported to pad 1
  • Change that value if you imported the file to a different pad
  • Note: You need to place this command near the beginning of the STP commands
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SLO:0;
  • This presses the Replay output button
  • Note: You need to place this command in the middle of the STP commands
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02STS;
  • This removes the current still image using its Out Transition settings
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02AUS;
  • This stops audio playback
  • You may need 100ms or more delay
  • Use in combination with the Fade Out setting in the audio clip menu

 

The Live Button - PNG Sequence

For this command, you can copy the previous one you made and remove the PLY and SPC commands.

You also need to change the value for SLO from 0 to 1; more information below.

 

On the P-20HD, change Menu > Project - Transition > Replay to Live In - Time to 0.2sec

In Companion, create the following Press actions with the "tcp-udp: Send Command":

• Delay: 0ms, Command: %02USR:1234;
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02PSS:12345678;
  • This is the username and password, substitute the numbers with the ones you created
• Delay: 50ms, Command: %02STP:1~16;
  • This shows a still image imported to pad 1-16
  • You will need to create a separate command for each of the 16 still images
  • You may to adjust the delay values while testing the animation
    • 16 images at 50ms each is an 800ms sequence
    • Also consider a longer delay at the halfway point 
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02AUP:1;
  • This plays the audio file imported to pad 1
  • Change that value if you imported the file to a different pad
  • Note: You need to place this command near the beginning of the STP commands
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02SLO:1;
  • This presses the Live In output button
  • Note: You need to place this command in the middle of the STP commands
• Delay: 25ms, Command: %02STS;
  • This removes the current still image using its Out Transition settings
• Delay: Varies, Command: %02AUS;
  • This stops audio playback
  • You may need 100ms or more delay
  • Use in combination with the Fade Out setting in the audio clip menu
• Delay: 500ms, Command: %02PUS;
  • This pauses clip playback

 

 

Testing Your Setup

With everything set up, create some replay clips with the P-20HD and then press the Clip List button.

Also make sure that the Output is set to Live In and the Speed bar is not at 100%, or your replay might not play at 50%.

 

Press a pad to queue a replay clip, and then press the Replay button you created in Companion.

On your Main HDMI output, you should see the transition, hear the sound effect, followed by your clip playing at 50% speed.

You can use the replay controls like you normally do if you want to pause, jog, or annotate over the replay.

When you are finished, press the Live button your created in Companion to return to the action.

 

It may take some experimentation to line up the still image and audio file, but you can see this is a great way to add production value to your sports replay workflow.

 

There are many additional commands that can be used with Companion, the full list can be found in the P-20HD Reference Manual.