Getting started
What is Commercial Cue?
It runs commercial breaks in OBS. Your spots live in Google Drive. You press a break length, and Commercial Cue cuts OBS to the spots, counts down, cuts back to your show and logs every play. See What Commercial Cue does and what you need.
What do I need?
OBS Studio 28 or newer with its WebSocket server on, a Google account, your spots in Google Drive (one folder for each length), and a browser on the same computer as OBS.
Is there anything to install?
No. Commercial Cue runs in your browser, and inside OBS as a Custom Browser Dock.
Does Commercial Cue stream my show?
No. OBS does the streaming. Commercial Cue switches scenes and plays spots in OBS.
OBS
Can OBS run on a different computer?
No. Commercial Cue reaches OBS at localhost, so open it on the same computer as OBS, or use the OBS dock. See Connect OBS.
Which scenes and sources does it use?
Two scenes, named exactly LIVE and AD_PLAYBACK, and a media source named CommercialCueSource in AD_PLAYBACK. The setup assistant creates them. See Create the scenes and media source.
OBS disconnected. Will it reconnect on its own?
No. Reconnect from Settings → OBS, or reload the control room. See Fix OBS connection problems.
Spots and Google Drive
Which video files work best?
MP4 with H.264 video and AAC audio. MOV, WebM and other video types play but are marked Warning; MKV is Not recommended; anything else is Unplayable. See Prepare your spot files.
Can I use a Shared Drive?
No. Keep your spot folders in My Drive.
Do new files appear on their own?
No. Press Rescan Drive after adding, renaming or removing files. See Map your break folders and rescan.
Where does the advertiser name come from?
The file name: the text before the first dash, underscore or bar. ValleyFord-Fall-Event-30.mp4 belongs to ValleyFord.
Breaks
How are spots chosen?
One spot of the exact length if there is one; otherwise up to four shorter spots. Spots that have never played go first, then the one played least recently, never two from the same advertiser. An active campaign's spots go first, by weight. The slate fills any seconds left. See How spots are picked.
Can I choose exactly which spots play?
Yes, with a break pod. See Build a break pod.
Can I schedule breaks for set times?
No. Breaks start when someone presses a button in the control room or the dock.
What if something goes wrong on air?
Press Return to live now to cut straight back to your show, or Play slate to cover the screen. See Return to live early and Play the slate in an emergency.
Campaigns and proof
Can two campaigns run at once?
Only one fills breaks at a time: the one with the latest start date. See Create a campaign.
How do I show a sponsor what aired?
Share a link to their campaign report. They don't need to sign in. See Share a report with a sponsor.
Can I export the log?
Yes, as CSV, from Proof of play and from the campaign report. See Export breaks and spots to CSV.
Team
Can I invite other people?
Yes, as operators. They run breaks and nothing else. See Invite an operator.
Can there be more than one admin?
No. Each workspace has one admin, the person who created it.
Does Commercial Cue email my invites?
No. It copies the invite link for you to send yourself.