Auto mode vs. Manual mode
Auto, Manual and Semi-auto decide how the show advances from one block to the next while it is on air.
Auto and Manual decide how the show advances from one block to the next while it is on air. The toggle sits in the live control bar at the bottom, and you can switch at any time without disrupting the run.
This is a show-level setting, not a per-element one. What each element does on its own clock is set by its start and duration. See When an element starts.
Auto mode
The show advances on its own. When a block finishes, the next one starts. Hands-free.
Best for: rehearsed shows where the timing is locked in, and unattended runs.
Manual mode
The show stops at each boundary and waits for you to advance it: Next, Story or Segment, using the paired back/forward buttons in the control bar.
Manual mode is also what enables navigation: in Auto the engine owns the running order, so the navigation buttons only apply while you are in Manual.
Best for: live shows where the pace depends on what is happening on camera.
Semi-auto: the middle ground
In Edit rundown there is Semi-auto mode. The show runs on its own inside a segment, then pauses at the end of every segment until you press GO.
It is the usual choice for a show with a fixed structure and unpredictable joins: the blocks play themselves, you decide when the next one starts.
Pausing
Pause is graceful: the story on air finishes and the show stops before the next IN. The control bar says finishing story… while it waits, and clicking again cancels the pause.
Anything pending, including timed field changes, holds until you resume. Nothing fires mid-pause.
Skipping and suspending
- Skip during the show cleanly takes the current graphic off and jumps to the right spot.
- Suspend from queue takes an element out of the run before air. A suspended element is not on air, so it is not anybody's "previous" either; elements chained to it re-anchor.
Start in Manual for your first broadcasts to get comfortable with the flow. Move to Semi-auto once the blocks are rehearsed, and to Auto for shows that run themselves.