Skip to main content
All CollectionsStudioScreens
Casting: How to Instantly Take Over Your Screens Using ScreenCloud
Casting: How to Instantly Take Over Your Screens Using ScreenCloud

Learn about ScreenCloud's casting feature, and instantly take over your screens and run different content with ScreenCloud.

Updated over a month ago

Screen_Shot_2020-04-20_at_1.45.31_PM.png

1. What is the casting feature?

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.50.58_AM.png

ScreenCloud gives you the ability to instantly send content to a screen. Using this feature, you can immediately take over any screen with any file, playlist, app, etc. and cast it to any screen(s) of your choice.

This feature can take over any content currently playing on screen, then resume your normal playlist by turning off the cast manually at any time you'd like from within your ScreenCloud account. This is useful for getting a quick message or update out across your screens, for example:

  • Set up a timeframe for the screen takeover to be active on your displays

  • Displaying company-wide announcements immediately

  • Emergency updates, notices, and warnings

  • Changes in schedules, meetings, or upcoming events

  • Photos, videos, apps, or documents you want to instantly showcase

You can also use the cast feature to preview how a specific piece of content or app will display live on your screen. Casting the content to a screen from your account lets you also see what it will look like in real-time, before pushing it to a live channel or screen.


2. How do I cast something immediately?

There are three ways you can cast by using individual pieces of content or a playlist.

i) Cast any content from your media library and/or links:

Get started by visiting your “Media Library” or "Links" in the left-hand navigation of your account.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.51.33_AM.png

Click on any piece of content and/or link. For this example, I’ve chosen an image uploaded into my Media Library.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-20_at_1.44.51_PM.png

Click on “Cast” icon in the lower-right hand corner. You can now select any screens from your account or search for a specific screen you want to take over with this content.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.48.28_AM.png

Once you’ve selected your screen(s), select the drop-down menu available to select the "Cast" option. You can also visit your “Media Library” and see a “Casting” status update for any screens that are currently being taken over by this piece of content.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.52.25_AM.png

ii) Cast a playlist:

Visit “Playlists” in the left-hand navigation of your ScreenCloud account.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.53.07_AM.png

Click into any playlist, then navigate to the “Cast” icon in the upper-right hand navigation. You can now select any screens from your account or search for a specific screen you want to take over with this playlist.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.47.35_AM.png

Once you’ve selected your screen(s), select the drop-down menu available to select the "Cast" option. You can also visit your “Screens” and see a “Casting” status update for any screens that are currently being taken over by this playlist.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.53.41_AM.png

iii) Cast any content and apps from your screens menu using the media picker:

Visit “Screens” in the left-hand navigation of your ScreenCloud account.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-20_at_1.51.26_PM.png

You can hover over any screen and a “Cast” icon will appear to the right, highlighted in yellow. Click here to view the “Media Picker”, where you can choose any existing content, playlists, or apps in your account. Then, you can use the drop-down menu to select the "Cast" option.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.49.13_AM.png

Once you select what you’d like to cast, click on the yellow “Cast” button in the lower right-hand corner. Your screen will now cast the content selected.

iv) Cast any downloaded app:

Visit “Apps” in the left-hand navigation of your ScreenCloud account. From here, you can view all of the apps which you've downloaded and manage instances you've created to cast automatically on any screen. For example, if you'd like to have an automatic screen takeover to play a YouTube live stream immediately on every screen in your account, you can use the cast feature for the app to display on all of your screens.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.54.09_AM.png

Select any of your installed apps, then navigate to the settings icon (three horizontal dots) on any instance. Click here to use the "Cast" function and select the screens you'd like to use for the takeover. In the example below, the message from Noticeboard 2.0 will be immediately cast from the app across any of your screens.

Screen_Shot_2020-04-20_at_1.52.38_PM.png


3. Managing and stopping your casts

We understand the importance of being able to manage multiple pieces of casted content, we've got you covered with one spot to manage and stop any of your casts, at any time.

3.1. Visit “Screens” in the left-hand navigation of your ScreenCloud account. From here, you can hover over any screen using a cast and click the "Stop Casting" option, or you can manage multiple screens by clicking the "Casts" button. This is only if you've selected that the cast runs indefinitely - you can set up automatic casts by assigning a duration of time for the cast to end automatically.

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.53.41_AM.png

3.2. If you've selected casts: You can now view and manage all of your casts in one spot, including being able to pause any of your casts directly through here. This is useful if you've cast multiple items from your account and would like to review them in total. Simply hover over the “Stop” button and click to stop the cast takeover for any specific screen.

Screen_Shot_2019-09-18_at_4.23.19_PM.png


3.3. Manage duration for your casts: you can manage the duration or length of time that you perform a screen takeover. The system allows you to set up an indefinite cast (please note, this requires you to manually turn off the cast features to resume your normal content), pre-set durations or you can set up your own custom duration.

Example of selecting a time:

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_11.50.58_AM.png

Example of setting your own duration:

Screen_Shot_2020-11-03_at_3.25.53_PM.png


4. Using tags to quickly search for and cast content

You can set any tags (e.g. keywords) you’d like for content, playlists, and even screens to quickly display and search for while visiting different sections of your ScreenCloud account. Instead of braving through loads of content you’re using, setting tags for your content can help you easily search it later to cast it quickly to any screen. Please visit ScreenCloud's guide on how to manage your media and content using tags by clicking here.

Advanced tips:

  • Multi-space casting can also be managed with our developer tools and API. Our team advises that organizing content into playlists for sharing across spaces is the most recommended method for managing your content most easily, but our API is a free development tool using Graph QL. This can be manipulated for using advanced functions and querying data for exploring advanced control of your casts across spaces managed in your ScreenCloud account. You can learn more by clicking here to view ScreenCloud's GraphQL documents.

Did this answer your question?