Creating Copy Plans is easy. Determining how to rotate complex collections of Copy records can sometimes be difficult. VT provides you with two primary methods to create a plan rotation. We’ll call the first method manual and the second automatic. Here is how VT uses a plan regardless of the method that you use to create the plan.
When VT assigns Copy from a plan, it will move from the top down through each plan item in the Current Copy in Plan list. If necessary, plan items will be skipped when Copy has expired or is not allowed to play during the time VT has scheduled the spot.
If an item is skipped, VT moves down the list until it finds a plan item it can assign. If VT reaches the bottom of a plan definition, it will start over at the top of the plan list and continue trying until a "good" Copy record is found or all have been tested and failed. At that point, no legitimate Copy is available and VT will fail to assign a Cart number to the spot.
It is perfectly acceptable to have a plan with only one plan item. Of course, this means the plan will act like a single copy record because no rotation of cart numbers is possible. However, if additional carts are added to an order later, it will be easier to simply modify the plan rather than changing the Spot Pattern definition that may call for a single copy record. In fact, using plans on Spot Patterns instead of copy records can allow for easier changes.
You can use plans to automatically change carts on a given day. Enter a plan with one cart that runs until a specified day. Enter another cart on the plan that starts on the following day. The plan will only play the first cart until it expires. Then the plan switches over to the other cart and completes the schedule. On the Spot Pattern you just refer to the plan which does all the difficult work for you.
There are two ways to set up a rotation plan using the Copy Rotation Plan dialog:
The first method is strictly manual. You add the copy records you want to the plan and arrange the plan rotation order any way you like. When you manually arrange the plan rotation, select the View Rotation option. Select the Copy you want in the plan from the Available Copy list and click Add to Plan to place them in the Current Copy in Plan listing. You can add the same piece of copy multiple times into the plan rotation sequence. This may be necessary in some cases to provide the desired rotation order.
Each position in the plan has a Rotation Number (Rot #). You can have multiple Rot #’s that refer to the same Copy record. In addition, each Rot # has an Iteration Count. This is the number of times you want to assign the same Copy in the Plan Rot# before you move to the next Rot #. For example, if the Rot # shows 4, that tells the plan to play (Assign) the Copy record in this plan position to four spots on the log before moving to the next plan rotation #.
Using manual plan rotation methods, you place the Copy where you want it in the plan and assign the number of Iterations to each Rot #. The default Iteration count is 1. You can adjust the sequence of the plan members using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.
You can view how each Copy record is used in the plan as a percentage by clicking View Percentage/Ratio. Switch back to View Rotation at any time and make revisions to the plan. Changes can be made in View Percentage/Ratio mode unless you have Lock Iterations checked. However, when you make additions, deletions, or changes to the plan in View Percentage/Ratio mode, your plan rotation sequence may now be changed by VT’s automatic plan rotation calculations. If you have Lock Iterations checked, you cannot make additions or changes to the plan when you are in View Percentage/Ratio mode and VT will not change your rotation.
If you setup a manual plan rotation scheme, it is not required that you space the Copy plan rotation evenly. You can do it any way you want.
When you use automatic plan rotation, VT can make quick work of complex plan rotation sequences and figure out everything for you. With this method, you should be in View Percentage/Ratio mode with the Lock Iterations checkbox clear. Add the Copy records you want in the plan one time. The Iteration Count column changes to %/Ratio. Enter the number of times you want this Copy to play in your plan in the small box on the bottom where you previously set the Iteration Counts. That is all you have to do.
If you now click View Rotation, VT will create your rotation sequence and display it by Iteration Count rather than percent. Most but possibly not all of the Iteration Counts will show 1 play per Rot #. If it is a complex rotation with lots of copy records or a variety of percentages of play, you might have a large number of Rot # items.
Anytime you use VT to automatically schedule your plan rotation, each Copy record will be placed as far away from another occurrence of the Copy record so the rotation is as even as it can be based on the percentage of play.
In the simplest possible plan rotation, two pieces of copy named A and B are each given 50 percent rotation in the plan. This produces a plan rotation that looks like:
A B
Something a bit more complex like 3 spots, A, B, and C with rotations of 30, 50 and 20 percent produces the sequence:
A B C B A B A B C B
VT attempts to rotate each plan item as evenly as possible while maintaining the percentage of play.