TM Switcher will automatically manage robotics competition livestreams that use VEX Tournament Manager. It has been used successfully at dozens of events, including the Kalahari Classic Signature Event, Northeast Wisconsin VRC Showdown, Speedway Signature Event, Haunted Signature Event, and numerous state championships across multiple seasons.
This application provides automation to simplify the workload of running a livestream for your event. See below for a list of features!
-
Integrates with OBS to automatically change scenes when matches are queued or started
-
Capable of controlling an ATEM switcher over the network when matches are queued or started
-
Record timestamps for when each match starts and its timestamp in the livestream
-
Create recordings for every match
-
Support for events with multiple fieldsets and multiple divisions. This software assumes that each fieldset has its own livestream, so you will need to run an instance of the switcher for every livestream you wish to control.
Download the most recent build for your OS from releases, and run!
Some key implementation details to be aware of when deploying this at your event.
-
Make sure your LAN allows connections between devices! Typically, as an Event Partner, I will deploy our own router attached to the upstream network for our events. This is strongly recommended if you use tablet scoring or multiple computers in your tournament. Additionally, make sure that connections at the following ports are allowed between devices on your network:
80,4455 -
ATEM control over USB is not supported due to a quirk in the control protocol. You will need to ensure that your switcher is connected to the network. Most ATEM switchers assign themselves static IPs (usually 192.168.10.240), so make sure that your router is able to assign that IP. You can use the ATEM Setup utility over USB to connect to your switcher and determine what the network address of the device is.
-
DWAB's Third Party API requires that integrations have an internet connection. This means that the device running the switcher must have access to the internet. Currently, the tokens DWAB issues have a lifetime of around 2 hours, and TM Switcher requests a new token every hour. This means that if your device running the switcher loses access to the internet, you have at least an hour to regain the connection before TM rejects the integration.
-
You will need to supply an API Key from Tournament Manager. This can be obtained from
Tools > Options > Web Publishing. -
When using Audience Display Automation, you likely want to select a relatively neutral scene transition effect, like a fade. Wipes or other lateral motion can interact poorly with how TM Switcher sequences audience display commands and scene changes.
If your event has trouble with this tool, please get in touch with me!
This software is not officially supported by DWAB, VEX Robotics, or the REC Foundation. Event Partners utilizing TM Switcher are doing so at their own risk. This software is licensed under the MIT License, which permits commercial and non-commercial uses. The author disclaims all liability for running this software at your events.
