CasparCG
Integrating Grafias with CasparCG through SDI
CasparCG is free and open source software which requires a client and server to work. If you are new to CasparCG just google it.
Download the CasparCG Server As this article is written we use release 2.3.3.
You also need to download the CasparCG client You can find the latest version on https://github.com/CasparCG
CasparCG needs videocard to run. We reccomend Ultrastudio HD for laptop use or Decklink Duo2 for Computer in 19" rack, or tower.
Once you have downloaded the software you will have to edit the configuration XML so that it recognizes the SDI card.
Go to the folder where you have extracted the files.
Find the CasparCG Config file in the Server folder and right click to edit it.
Edit in Notepad or other XML editor
To enable the Blackmagic Decklink card, you will need to add this line into the XML config.
Note that this is only for one video output with Fill and Key.
<channel>
<video-mode>1080p2500</video-mode>
<consumers>
<decklink>
<device>1</device>
<key-device>device + 1</key-device>
<embedded-audio>true</embedded-audio>
<latency>default</latency>
<keyer>external</keyer>
<key-only>false</key-only>
<buffer-depth>4</buffer-depth>
</decklink>
</consumers>
</channel>
Download the config file and open in notepad to check where to add the lines into the XML.
casparcg.config
6KB
Binary
In this same file you can also configure the output resolution you need, in the following table you can see the resolutions supported by CasparCG.
Depending on your card you can also output 4K
In this example we are going to configure it for 1080i 59.94, so in this case after editing the file it should look like this:
1080i 59.94 output
After you are done editing the configuration file remember save your changes.
For all Grafias templates to work properly in CasparCG, it is necessary to disable the Web Security of the Chrome Embedded Framework that is within the App.
For that we will have to create a shortcut to run the server. Rightclick on the CasparCG sever exe file and Create a Shortcut.
Once the shortcut is created, right-click on the shortcut icon and select Properties, in the text box where it says Destination, you will see the following text:
C:\CasparCG\casparcg-server-v2.3.3-lts-stable\casparcg.exe casparcg.config --args --disable-web-security
Add the following at the end of the line:
casparcg.config --args --disable-web-security
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You can now launch the CasparCG Server application by right clicking on the shortcut and select “Run as Administrator"
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Run the shortcut as administrator
When the app starts, it will initialize all the proper settings and check if the Blackmagic Decklink settings we have added loaded correctly. If you see this screen then you did.
Now we have to run the client, we go to the folder where we have unzipped it, look for the CasparCG Client, right click, and run the executable as administrator.
Run CasparCG client as administrator
CasparCG client
To check that the CasparCG client is connected to our CasparCG server, we have to go to Edit: Settings and check that in the Servers tab we can see our server. If we have the Server and the client running on the same computer then it should appear in the list, as can be seen ilike this screenshot:
CasparCG running
If the client and the server are on different computers, it is important that they must be on the same network. You must add the server by clicking the + button in the lower left and entering the server network address once the window appears.
Next, add the HTML Page from the Other assets, to the CasparCG client Rundown
Connect the HTML Page asset to server through which your graphics will run.
Copy the View URL from Grafias output
Remember the View Output URL in Grafias needs to be set to Transparent.
Paste the View URL from Grafias to the CasparCG Client HTML Page URL
In the Playout menu click Play, or hit F2 key.
If the Decklink is connected to two inputs on your Atem switcher you should see two black screens. Go back to Grafias and play the graphics. Then you will see the graphics played out.
Last modified 8mo ago