Show expected finish time in Backstage view for every event

[onkelfu]

Hi,

is there a possibility to switch the view and let Ontime calculate the finishing times for itself. In my example I'm setting 18:00:00 as start time for my event, duration 0:15:00. The end of event 1 is linked to the beginning of event 2. Event 2 (duration 5 minutes) will then start at 18:15:00 and Ontime is calculating and showing this. The end for event 2 is displayed as 18:20:00. So far, so good.

But when I'm starting my event some minutes later, maybe 2 minutes, Ontime still shows the beginning of event 2 at 18:15:00 and the ending of event 2 at 18:20:00. Actually it has to be 18:17:00 for the beginning an 18:22:00 for the finish. For each single event in the backstage view, the expected finishing time is displayed while the event is running, but not in the list of the upcoming events. In my opinion, the start and beginning of every upcoming event has to be recalculated.

Is there a possibility to show the expected times an not just the planned times? Do I have to create a custom view?

Thanks for your help!

[cpvalente]

Hi @onkelfu , thank you for taking the time to bring this up

I have been reviewing the backstage view and this is opportune.

As far as I could understand your request, we are talking about the runtime offset. This is added by Ontime automatically by calculating the difference of where we are and where we should be.
Some views (like the countdown) have an option to enable this (show projected time) and other views (like the timeline) do it by default.

I recognise that we need to do better at keeping things consistent and that is hopefully the outcome of the ongoing review.

The decision back in the day was that the offset is changing very quickly and often. The editor / show runner can leverage this data set to make decision on how the project can get back on track. That could be done by adding delays or removing time from upcoming or running events.

We thought earlier that this changes would be noisy for the backstage crew looking at the schedule, and they should get the stable version of it. This also gives the showrunner the possibility to choose how to communicate the delay and its resolution.

I am still of the opinion that this is the best default behaviour. But I am willing to be convinced otherwise.
What do you think?

Either way, this does not excuse the lack of the option and I will make sure to add a projected time switch for the backstage view

In short:

Is there a possibility to show the expected times an not just the planned times?

Yes!

Do I have to create a custom view?

If you want the feature right now, yes. But hopefully it wont be too long until we are able to release the backstage view review

[juzz197]

Having the option to display event start/finish times including the offset consistently across all views would be one of the biggest usability enhancements for my use and would address my original request in 646 to handle variable length events easily. so it's a +1 from me!

[onkelfu]

@cpvalente Thanks for your reply. My use case is the following: we are running an event with this planned sequence:

• 18:00 - Duration: 00:05: Intro
• 18:05 - Duration: 00:01: announcement
• 18:06 - Duration: 00:07: dance group 1
• 18:13 - Duration: 00:05: singer / songwriter with song xxx
• 18:18 - Duration: 00:06: dance group 2
• End: 18:24

The show starts at 18:07 because of some delays caused by technical problems. While the announcement there are some questions within the audience, so the upcoming dance group 1 - event is delayed by 3 minutes too. Now the singer / songwriter is waiting backstage until his time slots begins. The planned starting time of his event in the backstage view is still viewed as 18:13, but actually it will not start until 18:23. So the delays add up while the show is running and the actors / dancers / singers won't know the actual starting time of their own event to get ready backstage.

As our next show will run in two weeks, I'm looking for a quick workaround. Is there a way to chance the backstage view template a shown the expected times in the right column instead of the planned times?

Thanks a lot.

[cpvalente]

Hi @onkelfu ,

if you have someone in your team that knows javascript, you can compile a version of ontime that has the expected times on the right
This should be semi straightforward for someone with the right skillset

You could also consider using the timeline view, which does already include the projected times

If none of these produce results reach out on discord and we can try and help