ADENA Hack: How to make your own layouts for AREC?

The way your video sources are positioned and chosen on AREC devices is determined by what we call layouts. Simply put, layouts are compositions of video channels or video sources. By default, all AREC Media Stations have a number of preset layouts with different video channels in varying sizes and positions. However, it is possible to edit these preset layouts. AREC offers two primary ways of doing so: inbuilt Online Director’s Layout Editor and a separate Layout Editor application for Windows. As we’ve covered the Online Director version in the ADENAHack №31, we will focus on the Layout Editor app instead.

You can download the application from our website www.a-dena.com. To use it, first, export only the theme and layout configuration file from the Media Station. 

To do so, open the web page of your station by typing its IP address in a browser, proceed to the ‘Administrator’ web page, and log in. Then, click on ‘System’ -> ‘Configuration’. Tick a box next to ‘Theme and Layout’ and press ‘Export’ below. Your browser will download a .config file which you need to open with the Layout Editor app. Simply open the app, click ‘File’ -> ‘Open’. Select the .config file that was downloaded from the station and open it. You can now modify all of the layouts of your Media Station. We recommend making a copy of this file before editing it so that you would have a backup of your layout configuration at hand.

The app is very straightforward. Select a layout that you want to change. If you need to change the number of channels visible in this layout, press on the ‘Select Layout’ button and select the right template. Drag the channel with your computer mouse, resize it, and change the channel number, order, or aspect ratio with the buttons. Press on the ‘Tick’ button to accept changes and overwrite the .config file when you are finished editing. You can now import the .config file through the same page on the Media Station by pressing ‘Import’, selecting the overwritten .config file, and pressing ‘Apply’. You will be able to access your newly edited layouts as soon as the station finishes applying changes.

Would you like to learn more about other features of AREC products and software? Contact us at www.a-dena.com and we will be happy to provide you with more information.