Asset Watcher

The Asset Watcher monitors designated folders on the Asset Manager node's file system and automatically imports new or changed files into the show. This enables unattended content ingestion workflows — content creators, render farms, or automated systems can drop files into a watched folder, and the Asset Manager picks them up, optimizes them, and distributes them to display servers without any manual intervention.

The Asset Watcher is a key component in collaborative and live-update workflows where media changes frequently and the show must stay current without operator involvement.

How It Works Internally

The Asset Watcher uses operating system-level file system events (Windows ReadDirectoryChangesWatcher) rather than periodic polling. This means:

• Changes are detected instantly — the OS notifies WATCHOUT as soon as a file is created, modified, or deleted. There is no scan interval or polling delay.
• Burst debouncing — when multiple file changes occur in rapid succession (e.g., a render farm writing many frames at once), the watcher collects them into a single batch using a 50ms debounce window. This prevents triggering dozens of separate import operations for a burst of file writes.
• Low system overhead — because event-driven monitoring does not require continuous directory scanning, the watcher consumes negligible CPU resources even when watching large folders.

When the watcher detects a change:

1. New files — the file is automatically imported as an asset. It is copied into the Asset Manager's internal storage and optimization begins using the current codec mapping and quality settings.
2. Modified files — if a source file that was previously imported is modified, the asset is re-imported and re-optimized. The updated content replaces the previous version and is distributed to display servers.
3. Organization — imported files are placed at the asset path specified when the watch folder was configured. If no path was specified, they go to the root of the asset tree.

The watcher processes files using the same optimization settings (codec mapping, quality, track management) as manually added assets. See Asset Manager Settings for details.

Startup Behavior

When the Asset Watcher is started, it performs two actions:

1. Folder structure sync — the folder structure on the target Asset Manager is recreated inside the folder being watched. This gives you an overview of what is already on the Asset Manager and reduces the risk of misspelling an intended asset path.
2. Upload scan — all files and folders inside the watched folder are uploaded, provided they have changed since they were last uploaded or have not been uploaded before.

Example:

• There is a single watch folder located at C:\watched with no Asset Path configured.
• The target Asset Manager has the following folder structure:
• videos
• images
• audio

During startup:

1. The following local folders are created (if they do not already exist):

• C:\watched\videos
• C:\watched\images
• C:\watched\audio

1. All files already in C:\watched\ are uploaded to the target Asset Manager.

Setting Up a Watch Folder

Watch folders are configured in the Network window, under the Asset Manager node's settings:

1. In the Network window, locate the node designated as the Asset Manager.
2. Click Add Folder to Watch.
3. In the dialog, configure:

• Folder to Watch — the path on the Asset Manager's file system to monitor. Use the file browser or type the path directly.
• Asset Path — an optional sub-path within the show's asset tree where imported files should be placed. Leave empty to place them at the root.

1. Click OK to start watching.

The folder path is validated before the watcher is created. The system checks that:

• The path exists and is accessible on the Asset Manager node.
• The path does not conflict with the Asset Manager's internal storage directories.
• The path is a local disk path (for local Asset Managers) or accessible on the remote machine (for remote Asset Managers).

Asset Path

The Asset Path field controls where watched files are placed in the Asset Manager's asset tree. It can be left blank (files go to the root) or set to a specific sub-path.

Example:

• There is a single watch folder at C:\watched.
• The target Asset Manager has the following folder structure:
• videos
• draft
• final

To upload assets from C:\watched into videos/draft, set the Asset Path to videos/draft in the Add Watch Folder dialog.

Alternatively, leave the Asset Path blank and let the Asset Watcher create the Asset Manager folder structure inside C:\watched on startup. Then place your files in C:\watched\videos\draft.

Think of the Asset Path as an optional way to restrict or map the upload to a specific location.

Removing a Watch Folder

To stop watching a folder, locate it in the Asset Manager node's settings in the Network window and remove it. Existing assets that were imported from the folder remain in the show — removing the watch only stops monitoring for future changes.

Command Prompt

It is recommended to configure the Asset Watcher from Producer, but you can also start it from the command prompt. This is useful when a machine is not running Producer but you still want to share content from it.

To start the Asset Watcher from a command prompt:

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Navigate to the folder where asset-watcher.exe is located.
3. Run the command with the target Asset Manager IP and the folder to watch:

asset-watcher.exe -i <Asset Manager IP> -f <folder path>

Example:

asset-watcher.exe -i "192.168.0.12" -f "C:/watched"

You can also map a watch folder to a specific Asset Path using the -> syntax:

asset-watcher.exe -i "192.168.0.12" -f "C:/watched -> videos/draft"

This uploads everything in C:/watched to the videos/draft path on the Asset Manager.

For a full list of options, run:

asset-watcher.exe --help

Local vs. Remote Configuration

Scenario	Path Validation
Asset Manager runs on the same machine as the Producer	The folder path is validated as a local disk directory
Asset Manager runs on a remote node	The path is validated on that remote machine; it must be accessible from the Asset Manager's file system

In remote configurations, ensure the watched folder path is valid on the Asset Manager node, not on the Producer machine. A common mistake is entering a local path that doesn't exist on the remote Asset Manager.

Integration with Dynamic Assets

The Asset Watcher can work together with Dynamic Assets to create fully automated content rotation workflows:

1. Create a dynamic asset in the show and place it on the timeline.
2. Point the Asset Watcher at a folder where updated content will arrive.
3. When a new file arrives in the watched folder, the watcher imports it as a new version of the corresponding dynamic asset.
4. The dynamic asset automatically switches to the new version, and every cue referencing it picks up the change.

This is particularly useful for live content updates, sponsor rotations, and multi-language content swaps that need to happen without operator intervention.

Reserved File/Folder Names

Certain file and folder naming patterns inside a watch folder instruct the Asset Manager on how the content should be treated. These reserved names trigger special behavior automatically.

Dynamic Asset Folders

Creating a folder named _dyn_ causes the Asset Manager to create a Dynamic Asset. The suffix determines the dynamic asset category:

Suffix	Category	Description
_dyn_visual	Visual	Images, video, and SVG content
_dyn_audible	Audible	Audio content
_dyn_display	Display Data	Projection mapping data (MPCDI, etc.)

Valid examples:

• a_dyn_visual
• b_dyn_audible
• c_dyn_display

Files placed inside a _dyn_ folder become versions managed by that dynamic asset. Each new file added extends the version chain, and cues referencing the dynamic asset automatically pick up the latest version. See Dynamic Assets for details on version behavior.

Image Sequence Folders

Creating a folder named _img_seq tells the Asset Manager to interpret its contents as an image sequence. Images added to that folder are converted to a video asset.

You can patch an existing image sequence by replacing an image file inside the _img_seq folder. The Asset Manager detects the change and re-processes the sequence with the updated frame.

Video Patching

It is possible to patch a video asset by adding a new video file that specifies a frame insertion point in its filename.

If you have a video named awesome.mp4, you can patch it by adding a file named awesome-1000.mp4. This inserts the frames of awesome-1000.mp4 at frame 1000 of awesome.mp4.

• Only the starting frame is specified — there is no way to define a frame range.
• The entire contents of the patch file are inserted at the specified frame position.

Use Cases

• Collaborative workflows — content creators drop rendered files into a shared folder on the Asset Manager node. The operator's show picks them up automatically without needing to manually import each file.
• Live content updates — update content during a running show by overwriting files in the watched folder. The watcher detects the change and triggers re-optimization. The new content reaches display servers as soon as optimization completes.
• Render farm integration — point the watcher at a render output directory. As the render farm completes frames or video files, they are imported into the show automatically.
• Scheduled content changes — combine the watcher with external scripting (e.g., a scheduled task that copies new files into the watched folder at specific times) to automate content rotations.

Best Practices

• Use a dedicated watched folder. Do not point the watcher at a general-purpose directory (e.g., Desktop or Downloads). Use a dedicated, clearly named folder (e.g., C:\WO_WatchFolder\) to prevent accidental imports.
• Ensure files are fully written before they appear. If a content creation tool writes files directly into the watched folder, the watcher may detect the file before it is fully written. To avoid importing partial files, write to a staging folder first and then move (not copy) the completed file into the watched folder. On the same drive, a move operation is atomic and completes instantly.
• Organize with Asset Path. Use the Asset Path field to direct watched imports into specific subfolders in the asset tree. This prevents the root folder from becoming cluttered with auto-imported files.
• Clean up the watched folder periodically. The watcher does not delete source files after importing them. Over time, the watched folder can accumulate large amounts of media. Establish a cleanup procedure to archive or remove processed files.
• Test with a single file first. Before deploying a production watcher workflow, test with one file to verify that the import, optimization, and distribution pipeline works end-to-end.

Limitations

• Watch folders cannot overlap. Watching two sibling folders is allowed (e.g., C:\watched and C:\watched2), but watching a folder and one of its subdirectories is not allowed (e.g., C:\watched and C:\watched\videos).
• One Asset Watcher per node. Only a single Asset Watcher process can run on each node. This prevents conflicts from overlapping watch folders.
• Deleting files locally does not delete assets. Removing a file or folder from the watch folder does not delete the corresponding asset on the target Asset Manager.
• Moving files locally does not move assets. Moving a file or folder within the watch folder does not move the asset on the Asset Manager. Instead, a new asset is created at the new location.

Troubleshooting

Problem	Cause	Fix
File is not detected after being placed in the watched folder	File was placed in a subdirectory, or the path does not match the configured watch path	Verify the watched folder path matches exactly; place files directly in the watched folder, not in subdirectories
File is imported but optimization fails	Source file format is unsupported or corrupt	Check the asset's error state in the Properties panel; verify the file plays in a media player
Partial or corrupt file is imported	The file was still being written when the watcher detected it	Write files to a staging folder first, then move them into the watched folder in a single operation
Watch folder validation fails	The path does not exist or is inaccessible on the Asset Manager node	Verify the path exists on the correct machine (the Asset Manager node, not the Producer); check file permissions
Watcher stops detecting changes after a long time	Network folder connection dropped, or OS file system event queue overflowed	Remove and re-add the watch folder; prefer local disk paths over network shares for reliability
Files from a network share are not detected	Network shares may not support file system change notifications reliably	Use a local folder on the Asset Manager node instead; copy files to the local folder via a script or sync tool