Eyset Rundown: user guide

Eyset Rundown is a running order for live events. You build the rundown, run the show from it, and share parts of it with the crew, presenters, the autocue and a confidence monitor. It runs in the browser, with nothing to install.

Contents

1. Signing in
2. Building a rundown
3. Timing
4. Running the show
5. Share links and roles
6. The autocue
7. Privacy

Signing in

Sign in with a passkey. On the sign-in page choose New here? Create an account, type your name, and your device asks for your fingerprint, face or PIN to make a passkey. Next time, choose Sign in with a passkey and pick it. You never type a username or password.

There is no email recovery, so open Account and add a second passkey, for example your phone as well as your laptop, so you can still get in if you lose a device. You can rename or remove passkeys there, but the last one cannot be removed. We keep only a public key, never your fingerprint or face.

Building a rundown

Each row is an item or a header. An item has a title, a type (such as VT or Live), a duration, talent, notes, an optional colour and a flag for optional items. A header is a section title with no time of its own.

• Duration takes 5:00, 90s, 2m 30s or a bare number of minutes, so 5 is five minutes.
• Fixed start is a time the item must start at, such as 9:30 or 9:30pm. Items after it follow from it.
• Optional items can be dropped if the show runs long. Turn off Include optional items to see the show without them.

To add rows, use Add item or Add header, or paste rows from a spreadsheet with Paste rows. Paste a few lines of text from Excel or Google Sheets, and you will see a preview with any warnings before anything is added. Columns can be Title, Duration, Talent and Notes, or a header row with names such as Type, Colour and Fixed start.

To bring in a file, use Import file. It can be a CSV or TSV table, or a JSON backup made with Backup (JSON). You see a preview before anything changes. Export CSV gives you the rundown as a spreadsheet, and Print or save as PDF gives a run sheet.

Keyboard shortcuts in the grid

Scripts

Select an item and press Script, or Alt + Shift + E. The script panel holds the words the presenter reads.

• Ctrl or Cmd + B makes the selection bold.
• Ctrl or Cmd + K makes it a cue, which is an instruction the presenter sees but does not read aloud.
• Ctrl or Cmd + Shift + L chooses a colour.
• Escape closes the panel.

The panel shows a preview and a reading time. Use as duration sets the item's duration to the reading time.

Who reads a script depends on the link:

• The autocue reads every script, in order.
• A presenter link reads only the scripts of items with its name in the talent field. The presenter page shows cues, not scripts.
• The confidence monitor reads no scripts.
• Crew and the show's owner read every script.

Timing

The totals bar at the top works out where the show ends.

• Show starts and Hard out take times such as 09:30. Once both are set, the bar says whether the show fits.
• Over or under shows how far the show is from the hard out. When it is over, the sentence can name the optional items to drop to fit, for example "Drop item 7 (optional) to fit."
• The Start column shows when each item starts. It is worked out from the durations, and from any fixed starts.
• Show date and Time zone place the show on a real clock. They are needed for the times the monitor and the presenter views show.

Running the show

The live bar above the grid runs the show.

• Go puts the selected item on air. It cannot put a header on air.
• Next and Back move to the next or previous item, and skip headers.
• Pause holds the countdown, and Resume starts it again.
• Stop takes the show off air. It asks first. Items that have already run keep the length they ran for.
• Reset clears every recorded time and takes the show back to idle. It asks first. It has no keyboard shortcut, so it cannot be pressed by accident while you are typing.

Only one person runs the show at a time. The first person to press Go, Next, Back, Pause, Stop or Reset takes control. Anyone else with the show open sees who is in control, and a Take control button. Their own buttons are refused until they take it, and taking it asks you first. Editing the rundown is never held up.

If the person in control loses their connection, nobody else can take over without asking for 30 seconds, so a brief drop does not hand the show to someone else. After that the show is free for anyone to take.

Reset is separate from taking control. It asks you to confirm, then clears every recorded time and puts the show back to idle.

Shortcuts: Alt + Shift + G for Go, N for Next, B for Back, P for Pause or Resume, and S for Stop. They do nothing while you are typing in a cell or a box.

The live bar shows what is on air, the time left, the connection, and who is watching.

When the connection drops

If the connection drops, the page says Reconnecting and tries again by itself. Go, Next and the other controls are off until the connection is back, so a command cannot be lost in the gap.

Your edits are never lost on the way. The page saves every change on your device first, and shows one of these:

• Saved: the change is on the server.
• Saved on this device, not sent yet: the change is on your device and will be sent when the connection is back. You can leave the page safely.
• Saved on this device. Trying to send again: a send failed, and the page is trying again.
• This browser cannot keep changes on the device, so they stay in this tab until sent: keep this tab open until it says Saved.

Messages

The Messages panel above the grid sends a short message to the people on the show. Pick who it is for, type up to 280 characters, and press Send.

• Everyone, All presenters, The monitor, The autocue and The crew send to a whole group.
• A person's name sends to one presenter, matched by first name as in the talent field, or to the link whose label is that name.

Each message shows under the panel with who has seen it. Presenters, the monitor and the autocue see a banner with a Got it button. Once they press it, the banner goes, and your message shows Seen by their name. Crew and you see every acknowledgement. Others see only their own.

Share links and roles

Open the show from the dashboard and choose Share. Pick who the link is for, give it a label, and create it. The link is shown once, so copy it then. If you lose it, revoke it and make a new one.

A presenter's link label is their name. A presenter sees the notes on any item whose talent field includes their first name, so a label of "Sam" matches "Sam Carter". Use the name the talent appears under in the rundown.

Every role also gets the messages addressed to it, and the banner for each.

Revoke stops a link working straight away. Any screen open on it says the link is no longer valid. Shares are limited to 20 live links per show.

The autocue

Open the autocue from its share link. It shows every item's script in order, with the item's title above it.

Keys

• Space plays or pauses the scroll.
• Up and Down change the speed.
• 1 to 9 set the speed directly, with 1 the slowest and 9 the fastest. 0 stops the scroll.
• Left and Right move the text so that the title of the previous or next item sits on the reading line. At the top, the first title is already on the line, so Right goes to the second item and Left goes back to the first.
• Page Up and Page Down move by most of a screen.
• Home or R goes to the top.
• F turns follow on or off. With follow on, the text moves to the running item.
• B or the full stop key blanks the screen to black, and does it again to show the text. The text keeps moving underneath, so you see where it has got to.
• S opens or closes the settings. Escape closes whatever is open, or stops the scroll if nothing is.
• ? lists every key. Escape or ? closes the list.

Many presentation clickers send the arrow keys, B or the full stop, so they can control the autocue. Check yours before the show, because each one is different.

Scrolling with the mouse wheel or by dragging on a touch screen moves the text by hand, and that turns follow off. The Blank and Keys buttons do the same as B and ?.

Resizing the window or rotating the device, and changing the font, margins, line height or the reading line, keep the text you are reading on the reading line. The line moves with the change, so the same words stay under it.

Settings are font size, margin, line height, the reading line (where the line sits on the screen), the mirror (for a reflector), and follow. The settings are kept in the address, so the same settings come back when you reload the page or share the link. Only the settings you have changed appear in the address.

Privacy

• What is stored: your sign-in details from Google or Microsoft (an identifier, your name and, where the provider gives it, your email address), your shows and what is in them, and share links. A share link's token is stored only as a one-way hash, so it cannot be shown again.
• Sessions: one cookie keeps you signed in for 30 days, and only a one-way hash of its token is stored.
• Share link tokens: the token is in the address after the #. A browser does not send that part with the page request. When a view opens the live connection, the token is sent to our server, because the server must check the link before it will connect the view.
• Abuse limits: requests are counted per visitor with a one-way code. The network address is not kept.
• Deleting: from Account you can download everything we hold about you, or delete your account. That removes your shows, links and sign-ins.

For the full text, see the privacy page.