EASY Digital Signage MADE Ryan Willerton Director of Student Activities Facilities University of Notre Dame

SESSION OVERVIEW Why a simple solution works for ND Contrast advanced vs. simple systems Planning considerations Equipment overview Updating content Advice

Notre Dame Experience

ADVANCED SOLUTION Tightrope Media Systems 5 monitors managed remotely

SIMPLE SOLUTION Looks similar Smaller Managed locally

YOUR PC SERVER PLAYER MONITOR STANDALONE PC MONITOR ADVANCED SIGNAGE SYSTEM * SIMPLE SIGNAGE SYSTEM * Not indicative of all digital signage systems CONTRASTING ADVANCED VS. SIMPLE

PROS Cheaper option for 1 location No annual service agreement No IT/server issues Simple to understand Easy to troubleshoot Reuse equipment if it doesn’t work out CONS More expensive for multiple locations Dedicated PC Static content 2 steps to update Cumbersome at times Full screen ads only No sound PROS & CONS OF A SIMPLE SYSTEM

WHERE TO USE A SIMPLE SYSTEM Information Desk Lounge Office Reception Area Building Entrance Convenience Store Retail stores By stations

To be successful…

IS Understand your vision Plan the location PLANNINGCRITICAL

Who is your audience? Will it be in a location where it will be read? Static or dynamic content? Videos? RSS? Text crawl? Who will create the content? Who will maintain it? QUESTIONS TO ASK

Secure mounting Concealing cables Access to IR sensor Electricity Portrait or landscape Standard size monitor PLANNING: THE MONITOR

Basic CPU Secure location Electricity Easy access to 3 USB drives Jump drive (for pictures) Mouse Keyboard PLANNING: THE CPU

Long VGA cable Lighting Network connection Tamper proof PLANNING: OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

BEFORE YOU START DESIGNING CONTENT

6 PREP STEPS

CHECK THE MONITOR’S PIXEL HEIGHT & WIDTH DIMENSIONS 1

ADJUST THE DISPLAY SETTINGS 2

MATCH THE SCREEN SIZE TO MONITOR SPECS `````````````` 3

TURN OFF SCREEN SAVER 4

TURN OFF POWER SETTINGS 5

Create 2 Folders on the Desktop CURRENT ARCHIVE 6

SOFTWARE TO CREATE IMAGES Adobe Fireworks (formerly Macromedia)

HOLD ON! TEST THE DIMENSIONS BEFORE YOU CREATE ALL OF YOUR IMAGES

Create a test image to check proportions Draw a box to the proportion of your screen with a 10 pixel border. Draw a circle Draw a square Insert a picture Preview this image & look for distortion

THE SIGNAGE SOFTWARE

USING PICASA

USE THE TOOLBAR TO START SLIDESHOW

OR JUST CLICK THE “PLAY” BUTTON

YOUR SLIDESHOW IS NOW UP & RUNNING! Hover your mouse at bottom of screen

TOOLBAR AT THE BOTTOM OF SCREEN

SLIDE TRANSITION TIMING

ADJUSTING TRANSITION EFFECT

ADVICE Test your images Have default content available Create a schedule for updates Make sure the Process is not Cumbersome Empower one staff member Create templates to save time

EASY Digital Signage MADE Ryan Willerton Director of Student Activities Facilities University of Notre Dame