- R. Barth KG in Hamburg

Transcription

®
DIGISPOT
II
IBroadcast - System
White Paper
The Building Blocks to
set up a complete System for
Radio Broadcast Operation
to grow with the Needs.
Development of Hard- and Software for Audio and Video Broadcast Studios in
East and West Europe. Design and System Integration for Radio and TV Studios,
also for the Audio Recording Industry and in the field of Video Postproduction.
e.mail: [email protected]
web: www.digispot.eu
Page 2 of 55
Copyright: DIGISPOT System GmbH
CONTENT
®
1.
Introduction to the DIGISPOT II Radio Broadcast Operating System .......................................... 7
2.
Description of the DIGISPOT®II System Functionality and Features ......................................... 11
2.1
Media Database (MDB) ............................................................................................................. 11
2.2
Media DB Engine Advanced ..................................................................................................... 11
2.3
MBD Modify Service .................................................................................................................. 11
2.4
Administration Module ............................................................................................................... 11
2.5
DB Import for the Media Database ............................................................................................ 12
2.6
Media Database (MDB) Browser............................................................................................... 13
2.7
Module File Browser .................................................................................................................. 13
2.8
Skeleton Module ........................................................................................................................ 13
2.9
Clock & Grids planning tool for building the ON-AIR Schedule ................................................ 14
2.10
MAG Musical Schedule Generator and Jingles Rotation Application ....................................... 14
2.11
Schedule Import Module (used for schedules from 3rd party Systems .................................... 15
2.12
The ON- AIR Schedule .............................................................................................................. 15
2.13
Sound File merging module from Schedule .............................................................................. 16
2.14
Multi-Channel Player (X-Player) ................................................................................................ 16
2.14.1
Start Point Seek Module .................................................................................................... 16
2.14.2
Output predefining ............................................................................................................. 16
2.14.3
X-Player Mode of Operation .............................................................................................. 17
2.14.4
Rebroadcasting on the X-Player ........................................................................................ 17
2.14.5
X-Player status in XML Format.......................................................................................... 17
2.14.6
RDS Service IP Access Function For DJin........................................................................ 17
2.15
Jingle Machine Player, CartAsisst ............................................................................................. 17
2.16
Fast Jingles Player .................................................................................................................... 18
2.17
SJM Smart Jingle Machine ........................................................................................................ 18
2.17.1
SJM Touch Screen for ON-AIR operation ......................................................................... 18
2.17.2
SJM Editor ......................................................................................................................... 19
2.18
Block Player............................................................................................................................... 19
2.19
Pre-listening player ................................................................................................................... 19
2.20
Regional Player to insert regional elements for regional Transmission .................................... 20
2.21
Regional on-site Frame-Program Rebroadcasting Player ........................................................ 20
2.22
Track Marking and Normalization Module ................................................................................. 20
2.23
VoiceTrack Module for Recording in Schedules ....................................................................... 21
2.23.1
VoiceTrack Simple Module ................................................................................................ 21
2.23.2
VoiceTrack Pro Module ..................................................................................................... 21
2.24
Cross-fade Editor Module for Schedule & Players .................................................................... 21
2.25
BCS Multi Channel Audio Editor ............................................................................................... 22
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2.25.1
―Fragment Buffer‖ Module ................................................................................................. 22
2.25.2
Plug-ins Interface Module ................................................................................................. 22
2.26
Reports Module (GEMA, RAO, etc) .......................................................................................... 22
2.27
Gap Filler Module...................................................................................................................... 22
2.28
Data Reserve System ............................................................................................................... 23
2.29
Hot Reserve of the On-Air workstation ..................................................................................... 23
2.30
R-News for News Production and News-Cast presentation ..................................................... 24
2.30.1
'News Schedule ON-AIR Schedule ................................................................................... 24
2.30.2
The Universal News Browser ............................................................................................ 24
2.30.3
The News Text Editor ........................................................................................................ 24
2.30.4
The Moderator screen ....................................................................................................... 25
2.30.5
Audio Logger Client ........................................................................................................... 25
2.30.6
Video Logger Client ........................................................................................................... 25
2.31
The automatic News Import ...................................................................................................... 25
2.32
Audio Logger ............................................................................................................................. 25
2.33
The DIGISPOT II Video Logger ............................................................................................... 26
2.34
CD Grabber ............................................................................................................................... 26
2.35
Schedule items rotation module ............................................................................................... 26
2.36
OnAir Events Logging Module .................................................................................................. 26
2.37
DDB Exchange Module............................................................................................................. 27
2.38
Schedule Replication Service ................................................................................................... 27
2.39
Media-Planner Module .............................................................................................................. 27
2.40
Job Manager ............................................................................................................................. 28
2.41
Decro Scheduler ....................................................................................................................... 28
2.42
Timers Module .......................................................................................................................... 28
2.43
RDS-codecs control .................................................................................................................. 29
2.44
Information Aggregator for RDS Service .................................................................................. 29
2.45
Podcast Export Module ............................................................................................................. 29
2.46
Emulator of the ASIO-sound device for the Internet Broadcasting ........................................... 29
2.47
PowerGold Plugin ..................................................................................................................... 29
2.48
Popup Messaging ..................................................................................................................... 29
®
3.
The Structure of Radio Stations and deployment ....................................................................... 31
4.
The Environment for the DIGISPOT II Software Installation ...................................................... 32
®
4.1
General Equipment Requirements ........................................................................................... 32
4.2
General minimum requirements for the PC .............................................................................. 32
4.3
Conditions for Network Performance ........................................................................................ 32
4.4
Digital Audio Cards ................................................................................................................... 33
4.5
Audio Cards Support Module .................................................................................................... 33
4.5.1
DIGIGRAM ........................................................................................................................ 33
4.5.2
Marian - Digital Audio Electronics ..................................................................................... 34
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4.5.3
RME – Intelligent Audio Solutions ..................................................................................... 34
4.5.4
Lynx Studio Technology .................................................................................................... 34
4.5.5
Creative Labs ..................................................................................................................... 34
4.5.6
Yellowtec ........................................................................................................................... 34
4.5.7
M-Audio ............................................................................................................................. 34
4.6
Remote Control ......................................................................................................................... 35
4.6.1
USB to GPI/O Interface for 8 In- and Out .......................................................................... 35
4.6.2
ON-AIR Mixer Eela D3 with USB Interface....................................................................... 36
4.6.3
VoiceTrack 4 Fader Unit for manual Control of Cross fade.............................................. 36
®
5.
Integration of Remote Control Network Protocols to the DIGISPOT II Software System for
logistic interactive remote control of other Radio Broadcast Equipment .................................... 37
6.
Selection of Screenshots of the DIGISPOT®II Software package .............................................. 38
7.
Personal Remarks and Notes ...................................................................................................... 55
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1. Introduction to the DIGISPOT®II Radio Broadcast Operating System
About two decades ago when digitised audio and the technology of large storage capacity on Hard Disk
Drives appeared as a reality, it became obvious that the marriage between networked computer
technology and centralized storage of large amount of audio files, would be a tremendous opportunity to
improve the workflow for program production and ON-AIR delivery.
DIGISPOT®II has been one of the early developments, which introduced this opportunity to the radio
broadcast industry.
Within a minimum of time it changed the workflow of small and large radio stations totally and
consequently, it became the bases for a revolution to the about 70 years of experienced management and
workflow in large and small radio broadcast stations.
DIGISPOT®II, however did refer to this many years of experiences in the field of international
broadcasting and combined the new technology by careful conceptual system engineering to a complete
and functional system, it is now a modular radio broadcast operating system, combining both, software
and adequate hardware components, that allows to carry out all stages of radio program production and
the ON-AIR broadcasting process in an efficient easy going workflow.
The software structure permits you to use a great variety of modules to easily adapt to specific stations
requirements, allowing you to create and configure a system installation that helps to optimise the
workflow for each radio station with individual task related functions.
This booklet, the so called White Paper, is offering an overview to the DIGISPOT ®II Radio Broadcast
Operating System, its versatile functionality and the possibility to use it like building blocks for any kind of
Radio Station, from a small city station or a university radio to business orientated commercial radio
stations without or with regional program content as commercials and local news and station ID’s, up to
radio houses with multiple Programs ON-AIR and large News departments.
DIGISPOT®II is based on a very versatile and comprehensive SQL database handling engine. This Media
Database (MDB) is a special database working under the control of the Microsoft SQL Server 2008. MDB
stores descriptions of the elements, a set of categories created by the user, attributes and other
information. The main task of the MDB is to provide for the well-ordered storage of elements and
permitting for the convenient allocation of materials and for fast searches. A large number of DIGISPOT®II
modules used the database as support for a wide variety of individual tasks.
The redundant data storage for two or even three days of schedules and their related material at the local
hard drive of the ON-AIR station, the so called “Reserve system”, is based on the versatile MDB
management functions, increasing the system reliability and provides failsafe broadcasting, even in the
event of LAN or Internet breakdown.
To reach total failsafe operation the “Hot AIR Standby System” does provide for full play out
redundancy in synchronized play mode. For this the DJiN ON-AIR application with the X-Player and the
special software module ―Hot AIR Standby― have to be installed on two separate Workstations. These
workstations have no equal rights, one is preconfigured as the Main, the other - as the Reserve ON-AIR
Play out station with the equal schedule. Both workstations are interconnected by a ―Watch connection‖,
this is an Ethernet cable connected to a dedicated network card in each computer, this is a direct cross
wired network connection, by thus avoiding any additional Ethernet equipment and cable patching.
The ―Hot AIR Standby‖ Software consists of two parts, the Hot AIR Standby module and a special version
of the X-Player Play out module installed on each of the two workstations.
The following functionality is provided for full redundant ON-AIR operation including some features for
special requirements as technical service:
Automatic changeover to Reserve workstation in case of failure of the Main workstation
Workstation, which is quitting, stops play out ON-AIR
Workstation, taking over, starts play out ON-AIR
Manual changeover of Play out from Main workstation to Reserve by controlling from the actual
ON-AIR module:
Generation of control commands, necessary for workstation changeover (GPO for routing, control
of equipment, indication of actual status e.g.)
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Furthermore the MDB can be enhanced by another software building block, the specialized “Distributed
Data Base” (DDB) handling engine. The DDB Agent helps building up radio station networks with centralized
schedule preparation facilities allowing with the DDB Agent, for the easy exchange of data and audio material
between separated locations, which permits a convenient and fast allocation of content for production and
final ON-AIR delivery from any location.
DIGISPOT®II DDB Agent software module allows you to build a branched network for the retransmission of
radio broadcasts using cheap, low-speed Internet channels, which noticeably reduces the network support
expenses, that are associated with standard satellite communication channels or wide band network links.
The DDB Agent performs also the transfer of the ON-AIR schedules the moment they are ready direct to the
remote regional Station, whereby any later changes will be synchronized on both sites automatically. For
each schedule being transferred the local storage is checked for completeness of the ON-AIR material in
reference to the received ON-AIR schedules, and starting the transfer of those elements which are missing in
the local storage.
The integrated administration facilities in the MDB and DDB allow for the limitation of the rights for the user,
allowing each one to work only with a certain range of materials and perform only a specifically defined range
of actions related to his workflow and responsibilities.
There is a very new the Decro Scheduler module provides automatic filling of the replacement time frames to
a necessary length. Replacement time frame stands for a block in on-air schedule with a fixed length and
fixed structure containing mandatory and non-mandatory elements. Classical example of Decro block, or
commercials replacement block, is a specialized schedule block formed in a special way and intended for
smooth replacement of frame audio program block for a local (regional) commercials block. In that case
Decro Scheduler has to extend duration of local (regional) commercials block to the full duration of frame
program block by a preset skeleton and rules by adding non-commercial (decro) elements at the empty
spaces of local commercial block. Decro Scheduler fills commercial schedule blocks by preset rules at
command of operator. At processing of commercial blocks it is possible to bypass (not to process) some of
those. At that the current task should be fulfilled (independently or accordingly) either on the frame radio
station side or on regional radio station side.
The R-News building block of the DIGISPOT®II System type installation is a must for all radio stations which
are delivering beside the Music program a certain part of actual information content, as a news cast at each
half or each full hour and in between reports in politics, sports and other actual fields of information. The
following functionality is available for running a news department in the radio station including a versatile
module for the ON-AIR delivery of the information content.
The software provides the automatic text and audio import from News agencies by FTP server or satellite
connections, from the e-mail and internet automatically categorised in the System database by settings in the
system configuration. Easy and fast access for the journalist is supported by settings of search filters and key
word search functions. The DIGISPOT®II Broad-Cast System (BCS) Editor for text and audio editing as an
integrated tool in the system allows for a very smooth and effective workflow in the news department.
The completed news items are stored in the database for a chief operator to place them in the ON-AIR news
Agenda Schedule, or the journalist can place them from any workstation direct in the next actual news
agenda or any agenda schedule ahead of time.
The news ON-AIR Agenda can be called up on the second screen of the Main ON-AIR station if the
moderator in a self –op studio is presenting the news cast and the reports, or on a separate workstation and
screen in the News booth separated from the ON-AIR studio. The main feature of the agenda ON-AIR
presentation software is the combined handling of the text and related audio elements on the news reading
screen.
In the sequence of the text elements, the audio elements are indicated by a coloured line at the position of
the text where the audio is scheduled to be played. The coloured line is showing the title and the length of the
audio element and also the last words in the audio, so that the presenter knows when to start reading again.
The Smart Jingle Machine (SJM) module is a new element in the stack of building blocks for the
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DIGISPOT®II radio automation system. The module provides universal interface for playing of audio
elements, decorating the ON-AIR program. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) of this module is designed
for working with a touch-screen monitor, which helps to combine the known CartAssist visual interface
and button field for controlling by one functional hand on surface.
Screen layout can be arranged under tabs; each of them representing audio packaging elements for
various ON-AIR sessions for a morning show, or game show e.g. That helps avoiding "overloading" the
GUI with too many elements which are not needed always to be on the screen.
The most significant difference of the new Smart Jingle Machine is a new approach to correlate the next
musical element by changing its tempo without changing the pitch, to start as an opener or stinger over a
music bed, or in a crossover in the beat rhythm of the previous sound or underlay, whereby the start point
can also be defined precisely on the first or any other bar of the beat. Thus creating a smooth perception,
listening to a changeover from one musical piece in the crossover to the next one.
Further on the moderator can use a fader on the bottom of the touch screen to fade the intensity of the
playing elements to meet the optimal sound impression during a talk over or in the play out of two or more
elements being played in a mix.
The SJM system has two parts, the editor and the play out module for the moderator to be controlled by
the intuitive control via the touch screen monitor.
The set up of the touch screen can be configured by the moderator himself using the SJM Editor or by the
producer on his workstation. The screen can be easily set up in a flexible structure of buttons in different
positions and sizes including labelling the content under the button. An automatic follow up order of
element starts can be programmed and stored indicating the sequence on the screen when the screen
layout is called for the session. These screen layouts in an unlimited number, organised in groups or
categories, are stored in the DIGISPOT®II media database (MDB) and can be called up on any
workstation in the network.
The complete music, jingle and sound effect archive of the MDB is at hand for the producer and
moderator to be used in the jingle machine for a creative composition of a perfect radio show with an
ergonomic GUI for intuitive and secure handling.
The above given introduction selected only such building blocks of the DIGISPOT®II system
functionalities, which stand out and underline the measure which has been taken to provide a reliable
software system securing the highest possible operational availability for the radio station and those which
confirm that the system engineering department is supporting the actual demand of the user by providing
new, state of the art developments. Thus keeping the DIGISPOT®II equipped radio stations on top of the
media industry.
On the following pages a brief description of all available building blocks of the system which can be
obtained for covering the complete workflow in a radio station or a big radio house.
For references and actual system related news for new developments please refer to the following Web
site. http://www.digispot.eu
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2. Description of the DIGISPOT®II System Functionality and Features
This section describes the various functions of the DIGISPOT®II radio automation system that can be
described as elements or building blocks. They are combined together in the different boxes in such a
way to optimize the workflow in reference to the needs of any workstation. This also ensures that nothing
unnecessary is included in the system, meaning that the customer doesn’t end up paying for something
he or she doesn’t need. Maintaining only those elements necessary , will also prevent overloading of the
user interface.
When we refer to a ―function‖, we mean either an element of some application (e. g., player, in the ONAIR application) or a separate application designed for carrying out of a specific task (e. g., the music
play-list generation application MAG).
In some cases, we describe these functions as software module, or simply module. The control panels for
such modules may become visible on the monitor screen, or they do not have control panels and their
parameters can be set for general parameters within the system.
Some applications have personal names, e.g. ON-AIR application DJIN, music play-list generation
application MAG, the Media Planner for the commercial sales and disposition department, e.g.
2.1 Media Database (MDB)
The Media Database is a special database working
under the control of the Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
MDB stores descriptions of the elements, a set of
categories created by the user attributes and other
informations. The MDB structure provides for the
allocation of elements according to categories. A
single element may belong to several categories. A
lot of useful things can be done using the database:
the establishment of a hierarchical category
structure with unlimited nesting capacity, provision
of a fast search engine with complex search
conditions (e.g. you can easily obtain a list of titles,
written by one author of all news items prepared by
the same journalist), and much more.
The main task of the MDB is to provide for the wellstructured storage of elements for easy and fast
searches for material when it is needed.
The integrated administration facilities allow for the
limitation of the rights of the different users,
allowing them to work only with a certain range of
materials and perform only a specifically defined
range of actions in relation to their specific tasks,
This secures unintended changes or deletion of
material.
A large number of DIGISPOT®II modules use the
database for the support of a wide variety of
individual tasks.
2.2 Media DB Engine Advanced
Media DB Engine Advanced – extended version of
Media DB Engine capable to support unlimited
number of clients. In comparison with Media DB
Engine, this version features auxiliary service MDB
Modify Service – optimization MDB access agent,
providing minimization of peak overloads of MDB
server caused by multiple simultaneous requests
from various working places. For details on MDB
please refer to Media DB Engine manual
2.3 MBD Modify Service
This service optimizes requests from the client
working places to DB in order to eliminate peak
loads on the server, in particular, it is used for
getting information about changes happened with
MDB and passing this information to working
DIGISPOT II applications. Using of mdb_modify is
mandatory if quantity of simultaneously working
DIGISPOT II applications (DJin, BCS Editor, etc)
exceeds 20. This service is included in the MDB
Advanced Engine and is not included in the MDB
Engine .
All working places periodically are sending
requests for getting new information from DB. If
this service is not used, SQL-server will be
overloaded by these multiple similar requests for
updates which will be processed by server in turn.
At using the service MDB Modify, all requests
from all clients are "grouped" in the application
and a single request is sent to the server. The
data being received are stored in the files which
are read by all open applications in parallel. This
service helps to fantastically lower the load on the
server and to provide simultaneous work of a big
number of clients with the server. Practically, we
have checked that the server can work with 1000
clients simultaneously.
2.4 Administration Module
Flexible and versatile Administration Module
provides setting of user rights for various
functions of the system. You can set permissions
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or prohibitions for user groups for various functions
according to the radio station's workflow.
Administration settings are switched off by default
and every user has access to all functions in the
system. Standard user groups should be
considered as representing certain roles in the
system rather than a set of permissions and
prohibitions. For example, a user which is not
belonging to the managers group, will not be seen
in the list of responsible managers, even if he
belongs to the Administrators group with maximal
user rights.
Administration Module provides distribution of
powers to parts of the system: access to system
and interface settings, audio elements in data
storage, musical, commercial, news and program
elements in Media Data Base (creating, erasing,
editing, reading); to musical, commercial, news and
program schedule elements(creating, erasing,
editing, reading); schedule elements editing; file
import from 3rd party applications; schedule
skeleton editing (creating, erasing, editing,
reading); puting visa mark on schedule elements
and musical data base elements.
In the case if radio automation system DIGISPOT
II includes Media Planner module or Media
Planner application, then the Administration
Module will provide detailed settings system for
the commercials rotation workflow. Sales
manager may be allowed to work with assigned
advertising agents with full rights, to only preview
materials of other advertising agents, to edit list of
traffic-managers, to work with own media-plan
with full rights and to preview media-plans of
other managers, to change media plan status, to
"close" the day, to edit tariff nets and perform
other operations.
Digispot II administrative system can be
integrated with MS Active Directory service. In
that case user groups rights in the internal
administration system are corresponding to the
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user group rights in MS Active Directory. At the start
application is defining the user account in the MS
Active Directory and due to that defines rights of the
user. Login and password inquiry window will not
appear at application start in that case.
2.5
DB Import for the Media Database
The MDB import application allows you to add new
material automatically to the Media Database (MDB)
of the DIGISPOT®II System from files, folders or
external databases. There are several methods of
data import. In the simplest case, it allows you to
add files appearing in specified system folders.
Every folder can be configured as a source of a
certain MDB category. Description data, so called
Meta Data, can be taken from a neighbouring ASCII
file residing in the same folder as a data file. The
format of this ASCII file can be configured. In
another case, we can perform an analysis of
description information from specified folders in
order to find out the exact place where new data
files and their descriptions can be found in the
system. It is possible to organize the
synchronization of the musical database with the
external rotation system or the commercial
database with the external system for commercial
schedule planning. Further on different files can be
obtained from Internet sources or News agencies
for the news department. For the text import special
filter can be configured to organize the incoming
material direct in defined categories for immediate
access.
The key for such filters can also be a symbol or a
number which can be used to indicate the receipt of
a priority or emergency message. Beside the
possibility to pop up a related message on selected
workstations it is also possible to configure a GPO
Out signal to activate an outside alarm system to
switch on a flash light or any other type of signalling
system.
2.6 Media Database (MDB) Browser
This is the main module for communicating with the
Media Database (MDB). All functions of DB access
are supported in that window: preview, search,
sorting, filtering, adding, erasing of elements and
categories, and other operations. Besides this, the
module also carries out some administrative
functions: the setting of database parameters, adding
and erasing radio stations, the recovery of elements
being erased by mistake, and some other specialized
functions. The number of possible operations can be
limited by the administrative system of the
DIGISPOT®II radio automation system. You can print
out the contents of any MDB category using the
report skeleton.
Media database is a specialized database operating
under Microsoft SQL Server 2008. The database
contains descriptions of items, a set of categories
and attributes created by the user and other
relevant information. The database solves the
problem of categorizing the items, allowing an item
belonging to several categories at the same time.
Some of these capabilities are as follows. It allows
for a hierarchic category structure with an unlimited
number of nesting levels to be created. Also, items
that have the same value for a certain attribute can
be filtered out. For example, all songs by a certain
artist or all news items prepared by the same
reporter items can be searched for using compound
search conditions. This list of database capabilities
could go on, but those already enumerated should
be sufficient to give an idea about its advantages.
The main task of the database is to store items in
order for rapid location of the needed material. The
built-in administration system makes it possible to
limit the rights of an individual user, allowing him or
her to work only with the necessary materials and
perform only a predefined set of functions.
2.7 Module File Browser
The files module window allows you to play back
audio items (elements), preview information and
edit the descriptions of audio elements. The user
can access both the local hard disks of the
workstation and of network disks. The operator
gets information about the sound file format and
duration of the audio item. Depending upon the
file format, some additional information can be
accessed, such as text description, marking of an
audio item, e.g. Information of this type can be
viewed and edited and sorting by the fields is
possible. Frequently used folders can be put into
favourites for fast access. Selected files can be
added to the Media DB, schedule, players and
other system modules.
2.8 Skeleton Module
The Skeleton module has two main functions:
forming of thematic broadcasting plan (schedule
grids) and optimizing schedule production
process. First thing to be done on a new radio
station is to define the scope and genre content of
own program. Using our terminology this is a
combination of schedule blocks with defined type,
length and time of going on-air. The Skeleton
module helps to create the necessary sequence
of blocks to be replicated in each new schedule. If
the format of radio station is changing due to day
of the week, week, month etc., this should be
taken into account while creating group of
skeletons with individual appropriate settings in
each of them. Skeletons can be cyclically
repeated, e.g., in a month, day of a week, or they
will work at certain dates. This may be useful at
planning schedule for holidays, maintenance time
frames, etc. Skeletons have hierarchical
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structure; at new schedule generation the most
adequate skeleton will be selected from available
ones. For example, at schedule generation for the
first of May 1, the "May 1" skeleton will be selected
from all others.
Regular schedule elements like station IDs,
jingles, beds can be also displaced in skeletons to
save user from routine manual operations of filling
schedule with regular elements. Rotation jingles
can be also configured in skeleton (requires
Schedule items rotation module), also needed are
Media Database (MDB) or Media DB Engine
Advanced). At schedule generation this element
will be replaced with one of rotation jingles in the
queue that helps to maintain the format of radio
station and save user from other routine task of
manual changing the jingle.
The GUI of the Skeleton Module repeats
schedule GUI, helps user for faster learning. The
GUI has means to display conflicts that may
happen during planning of the block sequence.
Skeletons could be handled from every working
place which includes the Skeleton module.
Skeletons are saved in the Media DB. New
schedule will be generated with this skeleton
independently of the fact, what working place was
used for creating of this skeleton.
The Skeleton module is included in the optional
Schedule Skeletons and broadcasting plans. It
requires The ON- AIR Schedule Module .
process enormously. The created clocks and grids
are stored in the Media Data Base. If your schedule
features constant elements like jingles, background
sounds etc, it is sensible to mark them in the clocks
and the schedule operator will be saved from the
routine tasks of adding these elements manually. It
is possible to set up a jingle rotation by setting them
up in a grid structure. During schedule generation,
the system will take one of the jingles accessible to
the rotation and put it into the appropriate place, so
the operator will not need to rotate jingles manually.
The Grid Editor module is included in the option
"Schedule Skeletons and Grids". In order to use this
module at a particular working place it should also
have schedule module.
It is possible to work with this tool from practically
any workstation in a network that includes the
skeleton master module. The new schedule will be
generated according to the skeleton, independently
of the workplace where it was constructed.
This Software module does support the production
and editing of the daily ON-AIR Schedule. Providing
the logistics to coordinate Commercial and News
fixed ON-AIR time with the Music clock and all in
between elements for the actual play-out.
2.10 MAG Musical Schedule Generator
and Jingles Rotation Application
2.9 Clock & Grids planning tool for
building the ON-AIR Schedule
The basis for the ON-AIR schedule is the skeleton
which provides the frame for the format genre of
the ON-AIR schedule for the individual broadcast
station. Skeletons are common, periodically
repeated building blocks of the schedule. The first
task to be solved for a newly created radio station
is to define the volume and thematic content of
material to be broadcasted.
The Grid Editor module provides creating of
separate Clocks (hour skeletons) and then out of
them forms the grid. The same clocks could be
used for various grids, which simplify planning
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The MAG is one of the building blocks of software
applications to complete the DIGISPOT®II system
for the entire workflow of a Radio station. It performs
computer aided generation of musical play lists, like
other popular applications widely used in the
broadcast industry. Taking into account their broad
orientation, those applications are overloaded with
functions and options that make the everyday work
difficult and time consuming.
Due to the fact that MAG is using the DIGISPOT®II
media database as well, the data re-consolidation of
non played items in the last days ON-AIR schedule
is at hand any time, avoiding complicated or
insufficient interfacing to third party data base
systems. The MAG uses also the principle of the
rotation of musical material as other systems. Each
musical element is accompanied with a description
―card‖ providing the necessary ―meta data‖ for every
title in the record library. All musical elements
(songs) are divided into categories. Within the
category limits, songs are building virtual stacks that
are rotated according to the hourly clock, defined by
the user. The user sets special parameters
describing the selection process of a song in a
stack, defining the necessary rotation rules and
assigning priorities to these rules. The application
automatically generates a play list, which can be
edited if needed.
MAG includes several methods of musical-elementrotation control. They can be divided into two large
groups using the artistic characteristics of songs
and historical mathematical rules. The first group
provides rotation control according to artistic rules
that were defined by the user: tempo, the ―texture‖
of musical material, mood e.g. The second group of
rules is based on the control over the time of the
possible playing of music elements relative to the
time of its last usage.
MAG follows rules which are set by the user. These
rules tell the system how to interpret different artistic
characteristics of the musical element or the time of
its last play ON-AIR. The rules are very flexible.
Each user can employ them according to his or her
individual expectations. Everything depends upon
the concrete format and goals of the radio station.
2.11 Schedule Import Module (used for
schedules from 3rd party Systems
The schedule import module provides for the import
of ASCII files with a schedule prepared by a 3rd
party application (like Power Gold or Selector and
Music Master). The import module has a flexible
settings system that allows you to choose the
necessary types of fields, types of blocks and other
parameters. The module can be configured for
import from practically any known ASCII file format
that holds something similar to a schedule. In
special cases, we can provide pre-processor utility
for preliminary processing of an ASCII file before it
can be imported into the system. In practice, almost
every big radio station using our system is importing
a schedule or parts of it from one or another
external system as Music selection systems or
commercial disposition applications.
2.12 The ON- AIR Schedule
The software module which is handling the daily
ON-AIR Schedule is the core of the System. It does
provide all necessary logistics to handle the stations
specific program during 24 hours of the day.
Supporting the individual choices of operation in
manual mode , live assist mode and last not least in
automated mode. The flexibility of the software does
allow to change at any time in between the type of
operation
Automated mode can be used for 24/7
Broadcasting according to the schedule as fully
automated broadcasting (no operator), supported
by the possibility to pre produce live type
moderation by the DIGISPOT®II VoiceTrack
software module.
The block structure of the schedule allows for
work with blocks of various types – commercial,
music etc. Whereby it is possible for the
moderator to select blocks as such as
Commercial blocks to be hided in the schedule
and expanded again for keeping the space on
screen for the more important information.
Also the number of columns presenting the a
versatile amount of information for the system
logistics based on the field information in the
database, can be extended or limited to the most
important content as the timing information and
the title and artist or cross fade settings. The
notification of stop positions live moderation
places intro and outtro time length, indication of
schedule element type : music, jingle, audio, text,
also play duration and indication of timing
conditions for start and stop as ―not later‖ or ―not
before‖. Conflict indication inside the timeline field
supports the user when editing the schedule The
ON-AIR schedule logistics does further on
provide the possibility for settings to send or
except external commands associated to single
elements or schedule blocks. The logistics for
regional play out separation is also included
Automated synchronised insertion of dedicated
elements as newscast by parameter settings in
the schedule.
The active ON-AIR Schedule can be handled ―online‖ from any workplace in the production
departments for editing and insertion of additional
information and audio elements for the ON-AIR
presentation. This can be limited to a chief editor
position or to be completely blocked by means of
system administration settings..
Graphic User Interface (GUI) can be defined to a
certain degree by flexible adjustment of schedule
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outlook and displayed fields, in size and Colour.
The standard MS Windows® command shortcuts
can be used for schedule editing as cut & past or
drag & drop, undo & redo e.t.c. Report generation
tools for materials being broadcasted are provided
in the DIGISPOT®II system.
Further on a number of versatile pop up tools are
available for the moderator and the production
department for intuitive operation.
2.13 Sound File merging module from
Schedule
This allows you to export all schedule content
material (or some of it) to audio (sound) files in
standard formats. The resulting file can be created
much faster than it occurs in real time during ONAIR playback. All data like block and audio item
attributes, cross-fades, e.g. are taken into account
during this process.
A
s an example, you can merge a day of schedule
material to 24 1-hour long sound files. It is also
possible to store commercial or news elements in
the form of sound files. Each file will represent a
schedule block of commercials or news.
This module can be used in news and
advertisement agencies and at the centre of
network radio stations. Ready sound files can be
transferred to other radio stations where any
automation system can provide their playback ONAIR. Thus it is possible to use our system of
planning and production service for any other playout system at regional radio stations. The digital
audio format of the merged audio can be defined in
most of the common versions.
2.14 Multi-Channel Player (X-Player)
The X Player has extended functionalities in
comparison to former and mostly used two channel
A-B Player systems. The X Player can deliver a
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sequence of elements ON-AIR as they are indicated
in the schedule.
The player can be used in a system with several
physical outputs (up to 4).
The player window depicts a queue of elements with
defined depth (contrary to a 2-track player, which
shows only the currently playing and next
elements). It is possible to edit the queue of
elements inside the player. It is also possible to
open cross-fade editor and to add new elements
that are not listed in a schedule. It is possible to edit
the cross-fade of element being played with the next
element (2-track players don’t allow this).
Special features of X Player
2.14.1
Start Point Seek Module
The start point seek module defines the exact piece
of the audio element that will be used as a start
point during playback. You can assign the start point
to any of the three previously defined character
points of the audio element (INTRO) or search it by
playing the element at a different speed and in
different directions. The search window shows the
waveform of the audio, which simplifies the process.
It is possible to change the start point of the audio
element either from schedule or in a player. This
function is often used by ON-AIR operators when
they need to change the INTRO duration of a
musical element. You can control the process either
from a computer keyboard or from an external key
panel.
2.14.2 Output predefining
Another feature of this player is that it allows you to
assign a certain physical output to audio element,
for example, it lets you play musical elements via
one output and voice elements via another. The
signals for these channels can be processed
separately by FM processors with different settings,
providing better audio quality results in radio output.
X player can distribute audio elements automatically
by physical outputs according to their type (voice
track, commercials, music, e.g.) and to the DB
category to which they belong. It is possible to
define this manually for a certain audio element
either beforehand, during schedule preparation or
element Meta data description, or in the player itself
before actual delivery ON-AIR.
2.14.3 X-Player Mode of Operation
There are 3 modes of operation for X player,
distinguished by the degree of manual control
provided by the operator: MANUAL, LIVE and
AUTO.
MANUAL mode assumes that the operator starts
playback of every audio element by him or herself.
In LIVE mode, playback is performed automatically,
but can stop in special places of the schedule, if this
was planned beforehand. The operator then has to
launch playback manually. The operator may then
influence the playback process at any time, either
by starting the next audio element or by stopping
that currently being played. LIVE Mode of the X
player. is intended to allow the moderator individual
control for creative freedom to personalize his ONAIR show. The AUTO mode provides a full
autonomous mode of operation. Broadcasting does
not even stop at the special points mentioned in a
schedule. The operator can employ a non-plannedgap filler if necessary. The player can be controlled
remotely by "Fader Start" and "Cue" signals from
the mixing console and from the external key panel.
X player is mostly effective in the DB based
DIGISPOT®II systems and voice-track recording
module.
2.14.4 Rebroadcasting on the X-Player
This Module allows rebroadcasting on X-player. At
using this module in combination with a computer
audio card, signal from one of its inputs is fed to an
output by means of the card itself. This provides
means of manual or automatic (by schedule)
rebroadcasting (commercial, news). Start of
rebroadcasting can be defined firmly or conditional
(by assigning some events in the schedule). It is
possible to start at audio pattern recognition (jingle),
DTMF mark or high frequency mark in the frame
signal. It is important, that this module is intended
for the radio stations which are mainly broadcasting
own content and not rebroadcasting.
2.14.5 X-Player status in XML Format
This software module provides some status
information to the external systems in XML format.
This information refers to the currently playing audio
elements and those that are already in the playback
queue. Any player in the system can provide this
information, which can be stored in a previously
specified folder and updated dynamically according
to the status of a system. Files of the XML format
hold the audio element name, duration, author, e.g.
It can be used by external applications for various
purposes, e.g. for the generation of an RDS text
string or placing data on the radio station’s web site.
2.14.6 RDS Service IP Access Function For DJin
RDS Service IP access Function for X-player
provides real time transfer of playing title
parameters (name and performer) via IP protocol
to RDS service. At that, RDS server should have
its own IP address configured. RDS server runs
application RDS-service which transfers data from
Digispot II to RDS coder by means of COM port of
IP protocol.
2.15 Jingle Machine Player, CartAsisst
Jingle machine player is used for the instant (onekey) start of a necessary audio element. Audio
elements are represented on a monitor screen in
the form of a spreadsheet. This allows for the
easy location of the necessary element among all
others. The remote control of such a player from
an external key panel is also intuitive and simple
(the geometry of the key panel — the number of
rows and columns — should fit into the outlook of
a jingle machine table on the screen). Any player
element can be started by the press of a button
either on the computer keyboard or the external
key panel. This player can play audio elements
from jingles categories.
The player is most often used in the following two
ways.
In the first, the player is used as intended for
airing various audio items: audio effects,
background sounds, e.g. Most often, this is
necessary when preparing live broadcasts,
interactive games e.g. The operator can prepare
the needed audio items in advance and place
them on the buttons of the jingle machine in the
way that is most convenient for him or her. This
can be done not only from the broadcasting
station but from any production workplace. This
player variation is included in practically all typical
configurations of the DIGISPOT®II DJiN program.
The other method presupposes using the jingle
machine as a data source for a group of block
players. The screen button field buttons can be
used to switch to another category. This makes it
possible to organize a system for rapid navigation
Page 17 of 55
over the collections of audio items prepared in
advance. In this case, clicking the jingle machine
button in the button field simply selects an audio
item. It can then be added to the end of the block
player play list by clicking the corresponding
button-field button, which allows a play list to be
prepared rapidly. In this version, the greatest
efficiency is achieved when the jingle machine is
used with an external specialized key panel that
has both the jingle machine control button and the
block control buttons. Specialized remote control
devices manufactured by Eela Audio can be used
as these external key panels. Another option is to
use specialized computer keyboards, the keys of
which can be combined into buttons and have
commands assigned to them.
A typical configuration consisting of a jingle
machine and block players is a replicate of the
antiquated NAB cartridge machines, mostly being
seen as 4 in a row with a stack of NAB cartridges
above each machine prepared for the sequence
play.
2.17 SJM Smart Jingle Machine
The DIGISPOT®II SJM module provides universal
tool for playing audio elements, decorating the ONAIR program. The Graphical User Interface (GUI) of
this module is designed for working with a touchscreen monitor, which helps to combine the known
CartAssist visual interface and button field for
controlling one functional hands on surface.
2.17.1
SJM Touch Screen for ON-AIR operation
2.16 Fast Jingles Player
The Fast jingles player is a development out of
Jingle machine player. Its main function is to
provide the broadcasting operator with a means of
playing a certain type of jingle on the fly. The
player can play back a jingle from a group of jingles
by simply pressing a keyboard key or a button in
the external button field. The player has its own
simple rotation algorithm to avoid repeating jingles
from the same group, even if the items are played
back from several workstations simultaneously. A
group of items may be made up of the contents of
one of the categories of the F-Categories module
or any category of the MDB items.
Unlike the jingle machine player, the fast jingle
player can play not only jingles, but any type of
MDB item.
The minimal version of the player does not have its
own window. The system administrator creates
groups from his or her workplace and informs the
operator about the keys or button-field buttons
assigned to these groups by messages "Press 1
for a short jingle, 2 for a long jingle, 3 for a jingle
before news."
If necessary, a window can be added to the system
to show groups of items. The window's appearance
and functionalities are virtually the same as those
of the jingle machine player. Several players of this
type can exist simultaneously in the system. In this
way, items from different groups can be played
back through different physical outputs.
Page 18 of 55
The screen layout can be arranged under tabs;
each of them representing audio packaging
elements for various ON-AIR sessions for a morning
show or game show e.g. That helps avoiding
"overloading" the GUI with too many elements
which are not needed always to be on the screen.
The SJM system has two parts the editor and the
play out module for the moderator to be controlled
by the intuitive control via the touch screen monitor.
Further on the Moderator can use a fader on the
bottom of the touch screen to fade the intensity but
not the playback level of the playing elements to
meet the optimal sound impression during a talk
over, or in the play out of two or more elements
being played in a mix.
2.17.2
SJM Editor
moderator to be used in the jingle machine for a
creative composition of a perfect radio show with
an ergonomic GUI for intuitive and secure
handling.
2.18 Block Player
The most significant difference of the new Smart
Jingle Machine is a new approach to correlate the
next musical element by changing its tempo without
changing the pitch, to start as an opener, or stinger
over a music bed, or in a crossover in the beat
rhythm of the previous sound or underlay whereby
the start point can also be defined precisely on the
first or any other bar of the beat. This creates a
smooth perception listening to a changeover from
one musical piece in the crossover to the next one.
The set up of the touch screen can be configured by
the moderator himself using the SJM Editor or by
the producer on his workstation. The screen can be
easily set up in a flexible structure of buttons in
different positions and sizes including labelling the
content under the button. An automatic follow up
order of element starts can be programmed and
stored indicating the sequence on the screen when
the screen layout is called for the session. These
screen layouts in an unlimited number, organised in
groups or categories, are stored in the DIGISPOT®II
media database (MDB) and can be called up on any
workstation in the network.
Block player can be used for playing sequences of
audio elements (play-lists). Playback is carried out
via a single device, taking into account crossfades
between
elements.
The
play-list
represents a single block of the schedule. All
means of schedule editing with regard to audio
items (cross-fade, marking, normalizing, go to
next, voice track recording) can be applied to
contents of the block player. Play lists can be
loaded to the player automatically from blocks of
the schedule or manually by the operator. A
combined approach is also possible. In this case,
the schedule should list only obligatory material to
be delivered ON-AIR while all other elements
(audio items, jingles, etc) can be loaded manually
by the operator from a media DB, F-Categories,
jingle machine, files and other windows. Players
can be controlled from a mixing console with the
help of the ―Fader start‖ and ―PFL‖ signals.
Players can be set for automatic start at a
specified time or it can wait for a command from
the operator. There are a large number of
parameters that define the player behaviour.
A system usually has a number of block players,
each of which has its own tasks to fulfil and can
be configured in reverence to its task.
2.19 Pre-listening player
T
he complete music, jingle and sound effect archive
of the Station MDB is at hand for the producer and
The DIGISPOT®II system provides a versatile
functionality to pre-listen to an audio Item at any
time in any module of the software, inside every
position of the schedule or the player even if the
audio item is already playing ON-AIR to prelisten the ending.
In the CartAssist database window and in the
block player, the command is activated by the
mouse pointer in the related window by a click of
the left mouse button or by a special key from the
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key board or dedicated key pad.
Moving the mouse pointer left and right it is even
possible to scrap through the audio for the right
point of listening.
2.20 Regional Player to insert regional
elements for regional Transmission
This player is used at regional radio stations for the
playback of regional (own) programs or so-called
―inserts‖ to the frame (main) program. Insert player
automatically replaces parts of the frame program
with regional content.
The insert player is a part of a regional ON-AIR
workstation and works under the control of the
main ON-AIR station. The main ON-AIR station
generates a special control signal (command) prior
to the beginning of a part of the frame program that
can be replaced by regional content. This
command is fed to all regional stations. Upon
receiving this command, the insert player begins to
play back loaded regional content.
Two types of audio elements of the frame program
are usually replaced: ID jingles and commercial or
news blocks of regional importance. The ID jingle is
a short jingle providing information about the name
of the radio station and the broadcast frequency
(e.g. ―Radio GAGA 100 FM‖). The ID jingles of the
main radio station should never be played at the
regional radio stations, because the regional
stations may have different names and/or
broadcast frequencies. So the main station always
sends a command which is combined with the ID
jingle of the main station, and the regional stations
automatically replace it with their own ID jingles.
Blocks replacement happens only if the regional
insert player is loaded with actual material.
The user can build up a system of several regional
stations. A set of insert players can be configured
to work simultaneously: each of them with their
own regional schedule and an individual set of ID
jingles. This provides for the centralized production
of radio programs with several regional commercial
and news services. The system makes it possible
to generate schedules for main and regional
stations in the same environment. This feature,
together with automatic content replacement with
smooth transitions between frame and regional
Page 20 of 55
programs, provides regional broadcasting of high
quality. An additional argument for this approach is
the total control provided over the content of all
regional stations from the main station and the
simple structure of the overall system, which does
not require complex equipment.
2.21 Regional on-site Frame-Program
Rebroadcasting Player
The main difference between retransmission players
and other players is due to the presence of an
embedded switcher, which provides for change-over
from the retransmission signal (frame program) to
the regional signal (own program). This switching
can be performed either manually (from
mouse/keyboard or GPI signal) or automatically
(according to time or a command from an audiopattern recognition module). With the reception of a
command, the switcher initiates the playback of
audio material loaded into the player while
simultaneously (or even earlier – depending upon
the settings) fading out of the retransmission signal.
Thus, the system enters the own-program delivery
mode. Upon the completion of the loaded block
playback (or even earlier), the switcher starts fading
in the retransmission signal, bringing the system
back to retransmission mode.
The blocks of the regional program are loaded to
the player from the regional schedule automatically
in advance of their actual air time.
If a retransmission signal fails, the system launches
the guard player, containing a reserve block of
audio items.
2.22 Track Marking and Normalization
Module
This module prepares audio items for the Media DB.
Based on general settings, the module can
automatically define a pause in the beginning and in
the end of an audio element, set the start and stop
playback marks, estimate the signal level and
normalize it, if this is needed. This module saves the
operator from routine work on each and every audio
item, if not needed for special settings for an Item.
2.23.2
VoiceTrack Pro Module
2.23 VoiceTrack Module for Recording in
Schedules
Its responsibility is in the recording of audio (usually
voice) fragments during cross-fades from one audio
element to another. Maximum performance can be
achieved if the mixing console provides the
possibility in its remote control interface to read the
fader level control data for the DIGISPOT®II
software as with broadcast mixers like DHD, AXIA
or D.MAX. A special 4 Fader remote control unit can
be obtained also from the DIGISPOT product line.
One fader provides fade out of the first audio item,
while the second fader provides the fade in of the
second audio item. The start of the second audio
item is initiated by the second fader start signal, so
voice track recording is reminiscent of the real, live
ON-AIR process. The software application will
remember the fader’s movements and, while ONAIR, it will repeat them, providing a feeling of a live
show. During cross-fade rehearsal, the operator can
switch on the recording process and record a voiced
section that will be played through the cross-fade.
2.23.1
VoiceTrack Simple Module
This module can easily be used without a special
remote controller by using the mouse or hot keys
from the keyboard but this implies some limitations
as fixed fade in and fade out slopes as they are
settable in the software. At present, it is possible to
control the start point of the next audio item and
switch the record function on and off. The schedule
can be marked preliminary at the places where
voice track elements are needed. Afterwards, the
moderator can jump from position to position, so the
voice tracks can be recorded one after another.
If in case a cross-fade does not sound in the
rehearsal as expected or wanted it can be optimized
by the Cross-fade Editor Module which can be
called up by just a click with the mouse.
This new Voice-Track module provides recording
and editing in the same function on screen and
also does allow not only to record the voice, it
gives also the possibility to add a jingle or opener
/ stinger or just an additional soundtrack to the
Voice-Track position between two songs or
before the beginning of a music bed, easily to be
handled by using drag & drop direct from the
Database.
It offers a much more versatile possibility to give
the automated play out of the night time schedule
the real live sounding performance.
With the Voice-Track Module a third and fourth
fader will be used to add additional sounds like
sound effects or jingles to the Voice-Track
element.
2.24 Cross-fade Editor Module for
Schedule & Players
This module allows you to create cross-fades
between neighbouring schedule elements,
providing more dense and accurate broadcasting
without pauses between audio items. It can ―glue‖
2 or 3 neighbouring audio items that are located
in the same or in neighbouring blocks. The user
interface of this module is similar to the BCS
editor, so a user who is familiar with it will not
need much time to get going. Cross-fade editing
can be done either in a schedule window from
any workstation in the network, or inside the play
list of a block player, but only at an ON-AIR
Page 21 of 55
workstation. The block player can provide a crossfade of an already playing audio element with the
next one, while the schedule window allows for the
cross-fade of next element after that being played.
2.25 BCS Multi Channel Audio Editor
severely and cleaned from unneeded parts. In such
cases, search operations can take a lot of time.
This buffer preserves its contents after the restart of
the application so that it can be used for the ―long
term‖ storage of frequently used elements, such as
jingles and music beds.
2.25.2 Plug-ins Interface Module
The plug-ins interface module provides the
possibility to use 3rd party plug-ins supporting
DirectX technology. A selected fragment of audio
track can be processed by a chosen plug-in or a
chain of plug-ins. This module allows to save and
load presets.
It has several auxiliary modes:
rehearsal mode, looped playback and bypass.
2.26 Reports Module (GEMA, RAO, etc)
The editor is a separate application that can be
installed on workstations together with other
applications of the system or as a stand-alone
application. It allows for the production of
proprietary audio and text material for later delivery
ON-AIR and for refilling and / or editing from the
MDB. The BCS editor is designed and developed
by the DIGISPOT®II software development team
which has lead to the presence of common
modules and commands facilitate the easy learning
of the system and simplify the handling of overall
operations.
The BCS Editor is an integrated software module
with the ON-AIR application and appears on the
screen of the ON-AIR Workstation without
interrupting the ON-AIR session for a fast editing of
a listener telephone call or the change of a report
which is on the schedule. Editing can be performed
on one or more tracks, while recording can be
done only on one track. The application is oriented
toward the easy implementation of standard editing
operations used on radio stations for recording,
editing, level control by envelop settings for fade in
and out.
Text editing is an integrated function of the BCS
Editor also being orientated for the type of text
editing which is common practise in the news
department of the radio stations. This underlines
the importance of a persistent software design for
an optimised workflow in all departments.
2.25.1 ―Fragment Buffer‖ Module
The ―Fragments buffer‖ module provides the
means for the temporary storage of pieces of audio
and text in the editor application and actually works
as a specialized multi-level clipboard. It can be very
useful when source material has to be edited
Page 22 of 55
This module generates an ASCII file with
information about audio elements that had actually
been played ON-AIR. The file stores information
about the time at which each item was played,
player name, fader condition and item details (file
name). This file can be printed out using the report
skeletons form.
T
he format of the ASCII file can also be configured to
generate the GEMA report log for the precise ONAIR time.
2.27 Gap Filler Module
Gap (or unexpected and non-planned pause) filling
technology is necessary for radio stations with full or
partial autonomous broadcasting. When a nonplanned gap occurs (due to a breakdown in
communication lines, planning errors, e.g.) the gap
filler module automatically prepares a piece of
schedule from the elements stored in the database.
This audio content will fill the gap until the system
gets a valid audio element from the schedule to
play.
There are different algorithms for filling long
(minutes) and short (seconds) gaps. These
algorithms are developed in a way to provide the
smoothest possible fill in for the program failure.
System administrator can set up parameters for the
gap filler, which can vary for different time intervals.
The administrator can assign special DB categories,
filling skeletons and other parameters. Special
diagrams are provided to indicate the effectiveness
of the gap filler.
2.28 Data Reserve System
This module solves two tasks: providing uninterrupted
broadcasting in the case of LAN breakdown and the
physical delivery of audio material to the exact place
where it should be played. The idea of this module
is to perform background copying of all the audio
elements used in a schedule to the local hard disk
of the ON-AIR workstation. During playback the
system checks if a copy of next audio element
exists on a local HD. If it exists, then it is used
instead of the distant audio element. If the original
audio element is changed somehow, then the copy
will be updated automatically. Audio elements that
are used as a reserve are stored for 2 days, which
helps to eliminate the frequent copying of the same
files. Thus, when the system is set up carefully, the
broadcast never happens from a network, as the
network is being used only for preliminary copying
of files. Besides audio elements, the schedule itself
is also being copied. So, in the case of a network
breakdown, the ON-AIR station has both the
schedule and data on its local hard drive to provide
at least a day of broadcasting. After the reestablishment of the network communication, the
system will automatically synchronize schedules.
The usage of lower-bit-rate channels like slow
Internet between the ON-AIR workstation and the
production / planning workstation is possible due
to a Reserve module that can transfer all the
needed data to the local hard disk in advance. In
special cases, it is possible to organize
broadcasting with a connection channel that does
not provide real time throughput of material.
Assume that the material volume is not so high,
like when we need to transfer just 10 minutes of
commercials
per
hour,
and
that
the
communication channel provides a transfer rate
of a half the playback rate (64 Kbit/s). To transfer
10 minutes of audio, you will need 20 minute of
real time. But, if the schedule is prepared
beforehand (one day in advance), all the
necessary files will be transferred safely to the
ON-AIR workstation before the moment of actual
delivery ON-AIR.
2.29 Hot Reserve of the On-Air
workstation
To reach total failsafe operation the ―Hot AIR
Standby System‖ provides for full play out
redundancy in synchronized play mode. For this
the DJiN ON-AIR application with the X-Player
and the special software module ―Hot AIR
Standby― has to be installed on two separate
Workstations. These workstations have no equal
rights, one is preconfigured as the Main, the other
- as the Reserve ON-AIR play out station with the
equal
schedule.
Both
workstations
are
interconnected by a ―Watch connection‖, this is an
ethernet cable connected to a dedicated network
card in each computer, this direct cross wired
network connection is avoiding any additional
ethernet equipment and cable patching.
The ―Hot AIR Standby‖ software consists of two
parts, the Hot AIR Standby module and a special
version of the X-Player play out module installed
on each of the two workstations, one as MAIN
and the other as SLAVE. The following
functionality is provided for full redundant ON-AIR
operation including some features for special
requirements as technical service:
Automatic changeover to Reserve workstation in
case of failure of Main workstation
Workstation, which is quitting, stops play out ONAIR
Workstation, taking over, starts play out ON-AIR
Manual changeover of Play out from Main
workstation to Reserve by controlling from the
Page 23 of 55
actual ON-AIR module:
Generation of control commands, necessary for
workstation changeover (GPO for routing, control
of equipment, indication of actual status e.g.)
In radio house installations, in conjunction with ONAIR mixing consoles combined with audio router
systems like DHD or AXIA, the Hot AIR Standby
system allows an ―on the fly change over‖ from one
to the other studio without any drop of the ON-AIR
signal.
2.30 R-News for News Production and
News-Cast presentation
The R-News building block of the DIGISPOT®II
System type installation is a must for all radio
stations which are delivering beside the music
program a certain part of actual information
content, as a news cast at each half or each full
hour and in between reports in politics, sports and
other actual fields of information. The following
functionality is available for running a news
department in the radio station including a versatile
module for the ON-AIR delivery of the information
content.
refer to.
The GUI for the news journalist offers a versatile set
of different configurations for the fast and secure
content the user is orientated to for the type of news
he is working with. The categories for the source
can be selected followed by the selection of the
resort and priority being set by for the specific
reports.
The individual user can set filters for a key search
whereby the key can be a keyword or any kind of
symbol or number as it used, by example to mark a
priority message. The search function accesses the
full text of the messages. Priority or emergency
messages are automatically recognised by the
system and a notice will be indicated as a pop-up on
the screen of the user and there is also the
possibility to generate a command for a GPO,
activate an alarm system as a flashlight in the
newsroom.
2.30.3
The News Text Editor
2.30.1 'News Schedule ON-AIR Schedule
A separate schedule for the News Part of the
Radio Station orientated for each News Cast in
the Play-Out Schedule per the defined time
interval for the station
2.30.2 The Universal News Browser
The News Browser of the DIGISPOT®II R-News
system provides access to the actual incoming
news material as well as to the news archive.
T
he presentation of the incoming news reports is
following the international standards indicating the
day and the daytime the source and the headline
with the next two following lines of the text which
normally are being used as Slug lines in which the
keywords are listed to which the search filter can
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The DIGISPOT®II News Editor for text editing as an
integrated tool in the system allows for a very
smooth and effective workflow in the news
department. It is possible to load a number of
reports and start editing the text for the newscast
and if in case more detailed information has to be
researched where the answer will come some
minutes later, the next story can be addressed in
the meantime. If an O-Soundtrack is part of the
news text, this soundtrack can be inserted within the
related text file at the position where the soundtrack
should be started during the newscast presentation.
The completed news items are stored in the
database for a chief operator to place them in the
ON-AIR news agenda schedule or the journalist can
place them from any workstation direct in the next
actual news agenda or any agenda schedule ahead
of time.
2.30.4
The Moderator screen
2.31 The automatic News Import
This is part of the DB import software module,
providing the automatic text and audio import
from News agencies by FTP server or satellite
connections and also from the e-mail and
internet, automatically categorised in the system
database by settings in the system configuration.
Easy and fast access for the journalist is
supported by settings of search filters and key
word search functions.
2.32 Audio Logger
The news ON-AIR agenda can be called up on the
second screen of the main ON-AIR station if the
moderator in a self –op studio is presenting the
news cast and the reports, or on a separate
workstation and screen in the news booth separated
from the ON-AIR studio. The main feature of the
agenda ON-AIR presentation software is the
combined handling of the text and related audio
elements on the news reading screen.
In the sequence of the text elements, the audio
Elements are indicated by a coloured line at the
position of the text where the audio is scheduled to
be played. The coloured line is showing the title and
the length of the audio element and also the last
words in the audio, so that the presenter knows
when to start reading again.
2.30.5 Audio Logger Client
This software module can be obtained for any
workstation in the radio station network system
providing easy access to automatically recorded
news material at the Audio Logger
2.30.6 Video Logger Client
On each workstation in the news department a
Video Logger client is installed which provides the
possibility for the journalist to access the recorded
video on 2.33 The Video Logger and audio
selected by the TV station and the time of
transmission.
This module is used to record the signal from the
workstation’s external to the hard disk
automatically. A typical application is the aroundthe-clock
high-compression
recording
of
broadcast material and its subsequent long term
storage (up to 8 weeks) for the content control
purposes as required by the Legislation regarding
mass media. Another common application is the
high-quality recording of broadcast fragments for
subsequent playback or for using the recorded
material to prepare your own programs.
The recording panel of the application contains an
extensive set of parameters. Turning recording
on/off can be initiated according to a schedule,
using a specific signal level at the input or by GPI
command. The system can use one stereo input
as two independent mono inputs and can record
different programs with independent settings. It is
possible to determine the compression ratio, shelf
life and other parameters.
The number of recording modules present in the
system is unlimited, so it is possible to set up
multi channel recording of the signal.
A logger client software module can be obtained
for any workstation in the radio station network
system providing easy access for the program
department for checking and re-use of material
also to assemble sequences of commercial play
out for customer reference.
Page 25 of 55
2.33 The DIGISPOT®II Video Logger
For the news department it is common practise to
use the TV News and actual Information as source
for the radio newscast. For this it is very helpful to
have a workstation with video ingest possibilities
for up to four channels to automatically record
video signal and the related audio, whereby the
audio is stored as a separate file in the MDB for
direct editing with the BCS editor.
2.34 CD Grabber
This module is used to import information from
audio CDs into files. During the copying process,
the signal can be normalized, compression into
MPEG performed, gaps at the beginning and the
end of the track will be removed e.g.
2.35 Schedule items rotation module
The module allows using rotation elements at
generating of a schedule. A so called rotation
element (from the special DB category) can be used
instead of a particular element at schedule
generation. Replacement of such virtual elements
by specific audio elements is happening by the
command of operator. At that, the replacement is
done on the basis of a simple rotation algorithm:
audio elements from the category are being
selected on a principle of adequate samples. That
ensures lack of recurrence. After all elements are
played, their order is being mixed and the process
repeats.
The module allows replacing of elements in several
takes. If the schedule is updated by the new rotation
elements after the selection has been already done,
the next replacement will be done with accounting of
already selected audio elements.
2.36 OnAir Events Logging Module
This module provides recording of an ASCII (text)
file with the information about audio elements being
played on air. Air time, player name, fader status
and auxiliary parameters, e.g., file name, title,
author etc. The report could be printed out using
report forms allowing to adjust the appearance and
content of printed document.
The information about different on-air events is
stored in this log file – fader open/closed and so on.
The application automatically accesses a CD
database on the internet and reads information
from it about track names, performers and the like.
The imported information can be automatically
added to the specified MDB categories.
Remark :
It is not possible to use this tool for protected CD’s
Page 26 of 55
2.37 DDB Exchange Module
The DDB Agent helps building up radio station
networks with centralized schedule preparation
facilities allowing with the DDB Agent, for the easy
exchange of data and audio material between
separated locations, which permits a convenient
and fast allocation of content for production and final
ON-AIR delivery from any location.
DIGISPOT®II DDB Agent software module allows
you to build a branched network for the
retransmission of radio broadcasts using cheap,
low-speed Internet channels, which noticeably
reduces the network support expenses, that are
associated with standard satellite communication
channels or wide band network links. The DDB
Agent performs also the transfer of the ON-AIR
schedules the moment they are ready direct to the
remote regional Station, whereby any later changes
will be synchronized on both sites automatically. For
each schedule being transferred the local storage is
checked for completeness of the ON-AIR material in
reference to the received ON-AIR schedules, and
starting the transfer of those elements which are
missing in the local storage.
The integrated administration facilities in the MDB
and DDB allow for the limitation of the rights for the
user, allowing each one to work only with a certain
range of materials and perform only a specifically
defined range of actions related to his workflow and
responsibilities.
2.38 Schedule Replication Service
This service provides automatic cloning of blocks of
one schedule in other schedules. The system allows
automatic generation of the schedule with insertion
of clones (full replicas) of other schedules. To
accomplish this task a block of the new type is
created in the schedule: repeat block. Block
properties has reference to the source schedule
(path or name), time difference and exact time point
or time range. As a result, following blocks in the
schedule will be cloned from source blocks. New
blocks are reflecting all changes in the source
blocks. These blocks are treated by players as
normal blocks and they "remember" their origin.
Repeat block is completely ignored by the
players; this block is a kind of bookmark or
instruction for replication module.
Repeat block inserts clone blocks after itself.
Repeat block describes time range of original
blocks for the clone blocks (including blocks with
zero duration, only one block has exactly
corresponding time).
Source block by itself may be a clone. Recursing
cloning is possible.
Source block is identified by its on-air time.
Clone block automatically reflects all changes
made in source block, up to self-removal in the
case if the source block is removed.
Changes are reflected not instantly but at periodic
check. Checks interval is in the range of tens of
seconds.
Manual editing of the clone is not possible when it
is copied.
It is possible to allow clone editing by a special
command, at that the clone will stop to relect
changes, introduced to its source. It will behave
as a standard block with static content.
Updating of the clone block from its source could
be switched back but at that all changes in the
clone block will be lost.
Clone block has a special graphic attribute (icon).
The icon changes its states if the clone block is in
the editing mode or in the updating mode.
This service is very useful for multiprogram
broadcasting (or multizone) and it is necessary to
use the same material in different programs.
Simple example - copying of recorded news
blocks. More difficult example - forming of special
program version for Internet streaming, for
brodcasting to a different time zone, to crate
reserve slightly modified schedule etc. This
service requires base version of the system,
Schedule Module, MDB client License or MDB
Advanced Client License.
2.39 Media-Planner Module
Media Planner supports workflow of commercial
department of radio station and traffic-manager.
Main functions of the software:
Handling customers data base;
Constructing media plans of commercial spots;
Calculating price of media plan;
Preparing schedule of commercial blocks;
Page 27 of 55
Processing information about commercial
spots that were actually aired;
Preparing reports as results of commercial
campaigns.
Media Planner Module, integrated in radio
automation system DIGISPOT II, allows easy
exporting of commercial schedule to on-air
schedule of radio station. This can be done many
times. Besides, DIGISPOT II Media Planner allows
exporting
commercial
planning
data
to
bookkeeping automation systems and printing out
of paper reports like structure of commercial
campaign, sales statistics, table of planned and
aired commercial spots, bookkeeping reports.
Integrated administration system allows handling
user rights and separate tasks and responsibilities,
prevents placing of commercial spots on air by
unathorized users. Supports handling of multi-local
media plans.
The module is working if the Media DB Engine is
present in the system.
2.40 Job Manager
Job Manager is intended for keeping human users
away from routine periodic operations like data
export and import.
For the time of writing this text this module allows
to perform the following operations automatically:
1. Schedule import from ASCII file (according to
schedule)
2. Import from external DB
3. Export of own DB to a predefined folder.
The functionality of Job Manager will be extended
in the near future.
2.41 Decro Scheduler
Decro Scheduler Module provides automatic filling
of the replacement time frames to a necessary
length. Replacement time frame stands for a block
in on-air schedule with a fixed length and fixed
structure containing mandatory and non-mandatory
elements. Classical example of Decro block, or
commercials replacement block, is a specialized
Page 28 of 55
schedule block formed in a special way and
intended for smooth replacement of frame audio
program block for a local commercials block. In that
case Decro Scheduler has to extend duration of
local (regional) commercials block to the full
duration of frame program block by a preset
skeleton and rules by adding non-commercial
(decro) elements at the empty spaces of local
commercial block. Decro Scheduler fills commercial
schedule blocks by preset rules at command of
operator. At processing of commercial blocks it is
possible to bypass (not to process) some of those.
At that the current task should be fulfilled
(independently or accordingly) either on the frame
radio station side or on regional radio station side.
Decro Scheduler requires access to Digispot II
Media DB and Schedule Module.
2.42 Timers Module
The Timers Module provides counting and indication
of time intervals and generation of control
commands. Timer may send control commands due
to its start (with configurable delay if needed) and
stop (with configurable advance if needed)
conditions. There is a possibility to specify several
commands configured for start and stop of the
Timer.
The Timer by itself may be started or stopped by
command, assigned to a schedule element, to
another timer, from the timer context menu or by a
configured hot key. In the case of repeated start of
the Timer, its lifetime is prolonged. Timer lifetime is
defined either by evenly specified duration from the
moment of creation which is configured in the
control command, or by a time frame border, e.g. till
the end of an hour, end of quarter hour, etc, or
duration till the configured minute of an hour. As an
example, a 30 seconds duration limit of a filler
element in a commercial block from opener to
closing element could be given. Opener can be
followed by a timer start command with the duration
of 30 seconds; at timer stop the command will be
issued for changing to the next element, as a
Commercial
2.43 RDS-codecs control
RDS service is used at generating of data stream
for serial output to RDS-coder. Service allows
loading data from external sources (in particular, to
receive fresh weather reports, currency rates etc),
process data with XSLT-transform, save data and
send data to coder. Thanks to RDS service, FM
receiver LCD may display static and dynamic text
information. Example of static informion: text string
with phone of commercial department, name of
radio station, frequency (radio station dependent
information). Dynamic information: title and
performer of currently playing musical piece; this
information is received from external file. Data can
be displayed as a kreeping line or just stay static on
LCD for a certain time.
Main data source for RDS service is DIGISPOT II
radio automation system, providing parameters of
music title currently playing in one of players.
Service allows adding own static strings to RDS
data. Except for direct communication with
DIGISPOT II apps, RDS service can also import
data from XML-files (this was the first method of
communication
with
RDS
service;
direct
communication is possible with DIGISPOT II from
version 2.13 and later.
RDS service works with RDS coders FORA-600
(Fora FirmWare «May 7 2008 18:42:34» and later)
and 2Wcom (2Wcom RDS Encoder).
2.44 Information Aggregator for RDS
Service
Information Aggregation Module for RDS service is
a part of separate application RDS service. The
Module allows to download various ASCII data from
external sources for further processing and transfer
to RDS-coder. Types of information are preset, they
can include weather reports, currency rates,
commercials. Examples of sources of this
information: web sites, FTP, text files (XML, TXT
etc.).
2.45 Podcast Export Module
Podcast Module provides means for organizing
typical (fast) export of DB elements, schedule and
subject editor output elements for using outside of
radio automation system Digispot II (e.g., for
placing them on radio station's web site). If an
audio element is exported, an audio file with the
predefined format is created. At subject export,
text information is saved in ASCII file while audio
elements are saved in separate audio files.
Podcast Module allows creating presets for
various types of material export having configured
the path for the material, audio storage format
(sampling frequency, bit stream rate, compression,
and format) and other parameters.
2.46 Emulator of the ASIO-sound device
for the Internet Broadcasting
Internet Streaming Module with ASIO is intended
for provision of delivery of audio signal from on-air
workstation to Internet in the form of encoded
stream directly via network without audio card. At
that, an ASIO device is emulated in the system
which is assigned in the settings of the streaming
player. This device receives audio from the player,
encodes it in the format of Icecast or Shoucast
server; adds meta data (description of a title being
played) and sends it to a preset IP address of
Icecast or Shoucast server for further distribution in
the Internet.
This module could be also used for sending audio
signal to remote regional stations (broadcasting
points) using public Internet channels. If the central
(frame) and regional (local) stations are using
Digispot II software, it is possible to establish pointto-point
connection
without
using
of
Icecast/Broadcast
servers
for
further
rebroadcasting of the signal in FM range.
2.47 PowerGold Plugin
This does Provides integration of DIGISPOT II
applications (i.e., Media Data Base and on-air
schedule, generated by DIGISPOT II planning
utility) with PowerGold application ver. 8.х. This
plugin implements three base functions:
Acquisition by PowerGold of musical material
from DIGISPOT II Media Data Base.
Transfer of a schedule, generated by PowerGold,
to DIGISPOT II.
Transfer of information about elements being
played on air from DIGISPOT II to PowerGold.
2.48 Popup Messaging
DJin application users can exchange text
messages between computers. Sender may
assign message topic and select one of the
delivery methods:
Common — sending message to recipient and
Page 29 of 55
keep it until the latter reads it;
Time assigned — recipient will get a message at a
given time;
IMMEDIATELY — the same as "Common" but with
the higher priority (recipient gets message with a
special indication).
Page 30 of 55
3. The Structure of Radio Stations and deployment
The details of the new DIGISPOT®II System have been defined by the requirement for a smooth and fast
workflow for production and ON-AIR delivery for radio stations.
The DIGISPOT®II software development in cooperation with international experts in concept engineering
for the radio industry provides a wide range of technology and tools for automation, providing the basis for
adequate and modern design of all kinds of radio station structures.
When planning to renovate the station or replace equipment, the technology already in place at the radio
station has to be taken in account in conjunction with the intention for improvements the new installations
should provide. If the radio station is going to broadcast live programs, then it is necessary, by all means,
to provide live-program support. Live ON-AIR broadcasts require DJ live inserts for informational and
promotional messages, microphone inserts for moderators and guests in the studio, the ability to broadcast
telephone conversation ON-AIR e.g. The software of the radio station operating system and an adequate
ON-AIR mixing console should be selected as an inter – coordinated system for an easy going and
efficient live program presentation.
The automation functionality of the software system provides considerable cost savings for radio station by
pre-produced ON-AIR schedules. A workstation together with a small mixing console can be used for preproduction including inserting of commercials, news and other kinds of broadcast material.
The type of program and its list of content do finally define the size of system installation in regard to
software and hardware. The range of program content will be defined by the general orientation of the
radio station to be a music station or 24 hour news and information provider, or a combination of both in
different percentages of both, for music and news.
The choice of the program type will determine the needed production capacity in personal employment and
the technical installation, which will allow to avoid missing equipment for an efficient workflow or
unnecessary investment in not fully used workplaces This to the same time, to allow for the full installation
of necessary technology for aiding in production and maintaining the necessary reserve capabilities. To
follow these needs will be supported by a flexible and modular designed software package like
DIGISPOT®II which is providing a comprehensive number of building blocks to assist for a stepping up
process from the smallest functional radio station to grow up in a radio house installation with a future
prove technology.
The main points to be looked at for the definition of the radio station structure is the daily broadcast volume
and the amount of its content, that will involve the station production capacity. This parameter influences
the volume of resources necessary and the quantity and balance of various workplaces in the nowadays
type of modern radio stations.
The correlation between various types of broadcast materials in the program, as music, news, commercials
and pre-produced programs defines the genre of a radio station and influences the structure of the whole.
The number of workplaces and employments of the station and its investment on system technology will
also depend on the time frames with live moderated programs and time shifts with VoiceTrack prepared
programs running in automation.
Finally the necessary investment will depend upon the type of material intended to be produced in house
as commercials, news, music play-lists, pre-produced theme programs e.g. Buying external content
material and in what form, can be considered also. For this the software system has to have the right tools
to support the transfer of data and content an automated procedure in data communications with these
third party deliveries.
Retransmission of a frame program is a choice for stations being organized in a radio station chain just
efficiently equipped to provide the program content as news and reports which is orientated to the local
area at the position of the station.
The structure of the DIGISPOT®II task related software packages provide always the right building blocks
for an optimized workflow and efficiency for each size and type of radio station.
Page 31 of 55
4. The Environment for the DIGISPOT®II Software Installation
The very high demand for the system stability in a radio station to secure the steady presence of the ON-AIR
signal will not only be dependent on the quality of the software design and it’s bug-free performance as it can
be expected from the DIGISPOT®II application, it is also very much dependent on the computer hardware and
its performance.
The first and very basic condition will be that the computer units should be installed in a so called centralized
rack room. This room should have an extra air conditioning system which also will protect the room from dust
and other problems as to high humidity.
Also the ventilation noise of the computer hardware will not be able to build up a noise floor in the ON-AIR
studio and the production rooms which can later be recognized as a room noise floor ON-AIR, or on the
produced material.
In case the distance from the central rack–room is too long for the standard VGA monitor and keyboard mouse
cabling and even a passive extension which is normally not possible for more than 3 to 5 meters, so called
keyboard video-monitor extension systems can be used for distances to 50 and more meter, using CAT 5e
network cable. Nowadays these distance extender units are mostly used for USB ports.
It will be recommended always to refer to an expert with related skills and experience to prepare such qualified
environment conditions for a secure and long term performing technical installation.
The direct related hardware system requirements for the workstations including the needed audio cards and
the network installation will be briefly described in the following Position.
4.1 General Equipment Requirements
The DIGISPOT®II radio automation system creates
high reliability requirements for computer hardware.
In order to provide for the handling of audio MPEG
or PCM streams, you don’t need the most modern
processor or fastest RAM. But the hardware must
provide continuous fail-safe functionality for the
system in the course of long-term operation. We
recommend using equipment from well-known
manufacturers that has already proved its quality
and reliability. We recommend performing tests on
this equipment in severe conditions during a long
period to ensure concordance with the declared
characteristics.
Special attention is required when setting up the
device drivers and operating system parameters.
Incorrect settings may lead to non-systematic
failures while ON-AIR.
ON-AIR computers should use a multilayer reserve
system: uninterrupted power supplies, 2 or 3 power
supplies in the case of one computer as, additional
ventilation fans, a temperature and power-control
system and a fan-speed indication system.
For the comfort and convenience of the ON-AIR
operator, we recommend using 2 and 3 monitor
configurations. This helps to provide the most
necessary information on monitors in an adequate
and understandable format and with eye-friendly
density.
Page 32 of 55
We recommend setting up ON-AIR material and the
system root directory at a separate file server on
the basis of RAID massive. Total storage space
can be calculated out of the needed ON-AIR
material volume and audio bit rate.
4.2 General minimum requirements for
the PC
The DIGISPOT®II software application has been
designed to work on the standard Computer
hardware with the Windows™ operating system
XP professional, Windows 7 or Windows Server
both on 32 or 64 bit platforms.
The experience has been made at many
installations, that the big player in computer
manufacturing delivers, like HP or Dell,
appropriate units which can fulfil the following
described minimum condition to run the software.
Such suppliers do offer also a more than two
years onsite warranty within a very short time to
repair or exchange the defect system.
There are no special requirements for CPU, RAM
or HDD – any modern office PC could be used.
The HDD capacity for server and ON-AIR station
could be estimated by the value of the
broadcasted material.
4.3 Conditions for Network Performance
Requirements for the components of the local
network can be formulated as follows: component
characteristics must correspond to the parameters
declared by the component manufacturers.
The most important factor here is network
throughput: It should correspond to broadcasting
requirements. If playback is taking place from the file
server, then the stream between the file server and
the ON-AIR workstation may reach 500-700 KB/sec
(if working with non-compressed audio). In order to
facilitate this, you can use 10MB/sec networks. But,
in this case, there should be no other workstation
that can overload the channel file server – ON-AIR
workstation. We recommend using networks with
100MB/sec throughput.
A very important parameter for the network is the
network file access timeout (file read, write and open
requests). Incorrect network settings may result in
ON-AIR failures! That is why it is strongly
recommended to provide conflict-free network
settings. The average response network time to
read/write requests should not exceed 100
milliseconds, and the average response network
time to open/create file should not exceed 200
milliseconds. Breaking this rule may lead to interface
freezing for random applications. In the case of
relatively long freezing, ON-AIR gaps may occur.
Such things happen often in office networks, but they
are not catastrophic and are often not even
noticeable. But they must not happen at a radio
station, when an ON-AIR gap is audible and
disturbing.
4.4 Digital Audio Cards
The DIGISPOT®II radio automation system can work
with any kind of digital audio card that is supported
by the Windows operating system as an audio
device and which can be accessed by a user
application. After installation of the digital audio card,
check the sounds and multimedia section of the
control panel (bookmark ―Audio‖). If it indicates that
the card is installed, then you can count on the
application working with this card with high
probability. Nevertheless, they’re a lot of specific
details and nuances with various digital audio cards
from different manufacturers. These nuances can be
discovered at the most inappropriate moments, so
we recommend studying this part attentively.
As long as the manufacturer does provide a qualified
and reliable ASIO driver for his audio cards the
DIGISPOT®II system has no limitations to work with
the selected cards.
In the following an overview is given for the
manufacturers based on made experiences
4.5 Audio Cards Support Module
The Audio Cards support module provides
handling of any kind of digital audio card that is
supported by the Windows operating system as
an audio device and which can be accessed by a
user application. After installation of the digital
audio card, check the sounds and multimedia
section of the Control Panel (bookmark ―Audio‖).
If it indicates that the card is installed, then you
can count on the application working with this
card with high probability. Nevertheless, there
are a lot of specific details and nuances with
various digital audio cards from different
manufacturers. These nuances can be
discovered at the most inappropriate moments,
so we recommend studying this part attentively.
As long as the manufacturer does provide a
qualified and reliable ASIO driver for his audio
cards the DIGISPOT®II system has no limitations
to work with the selected cards.
As long as the manufacturer does provide a
qualified and reliable ASIO driver for his audio
cards the DIGISPOT®II system has no limitations
to work with the selected cards.
4.5.1
DIGIGRAM
DIGIGRAM is a well-known French company that
designs and manufactures digital audio cards for
radio broadcasting and radio production.
DIGIGRAM cards are most widely used in the
European radio industry. DIGIGRAM provides
API, which makes it possible for other companies
to use the internal capabilities of its cards.
DIGIGRAM provides a wide choice of digital
audio cards. They can be used on any type of
workstation. The high quality mixer in VX-series
cards allows you to use them at retransmission
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radio stations.
4.5.2
Marian - Digital Audio Electronics
The product range of audio cards Marian has
developed is very wide.
The meanwhile developed spate of TRACE cards
from Marian with balanced analog in- and outputs
and or AES/EBU in-and outputs provide a perfect
opportunity to equip all different type of workstations
with the adequate solution for the for the type of
application it is determined for, just using one brand
of audio cards with a very good relationship
between price and quality.
All cards have DSP power on board allowing level
control and on board mixing. Ideal for multi channel
play out with remote controlled level control and
cross-fading.
Marian does provide API support
Positive points:
Good price/quality ratio
Availability of digital inputs and outputs (SPDIF
optical and coaxial, ADAT).
4.5.3
RME – Intelligent Audio Solutions
This German company designs and manufactures
digital audio cards of good studio quality. The main
product is the Hammerfall series of multi channel
(up to 56) cards. For the radio broadcast industry,
DIGI96/8 cards (PST and PAD) can be used, as
well as Hammerfall DSP. The cards feature
analogue input/output, coaxial and optical SPDIF,
ADAT, and may be used at editing, planning, ONAIR workstations. Due to digital I/O, they can be
used in a studio with a digital mixing console.
Positive points:
High quality audio and high hardware reliability
Good driver quality
Advanced interfaces
Good price/quality ratio
years, they have introduced several series of cards
for the consumer market: SBLive, SB Audigy, SB
Audigy 2 and SB Extigy. SBLive can be used for
the pre-listening system at any working place. It
can also be used at Logger workstations, due to
possibility of installing several cards in one
computer (the last version of drivers supports multi
card modes). Audigy cards can be used on simple
editing workstations and simple musical editor
workstations.
4.5.6
Yellowtec
In such cases where the given circumstances will
make it preferable not to install an extra audio card
inside the computer the USB audio interface box
PUC 2 from the German company Yellowtec is a
perfect and suitable alternative:
4.5.7
M-Audio
Recognized around the world as the top choice in
host-based PCI digital audio solutions, the rackmount Delta 1010 is designed to handle the needs
of the professional broadcast system. The Delta
1010LT delivers much of the same universal
connectivity,
high
fidelity
and
seamless
performance as the popular Delta 1010 on a single
PCI card—and at a fraction of the price. Multiple
analogue I/O, MIDI, S/PDIF and surround sound
support are all here. Two inputs even have mic/line
preamps on XLR connectors, saving the expense
of outboard preamps. It’s all on a compact, half-size
PCI card with two colour-coded breakout cables..
4.5.4
Lynx Studio Technology
Lynx provides multi channel professional cards with
mostly digital I/O of good quality. Their cards can be
used for radio broadcasting. We primarily
recommend Lynx AES 16 and Lynx L22.
4.5.5
Creative Labs
This manufacturer is probably the best-known in the
world. Their cards feature good quality and
reliability, but at the consumer level. During recent
Page 34 of 55
4.6 Remote Control
Remote control can be understood as the control of
certain software modules (functions) of the radio
broadcast system from external hardware devices –
consoles, key panels e.g.
There is a set of commands provided by remote
control devices that can be interpreted by all virtual
players and schedule modules (Fader start, Fader
stop, PFL start, PFL stop). Some specific commands
can be interpreted by certain players only. There is
also a standard set of general commands that can
be interpreted by the base platform of applications.
Commands are delivered to the computer with the
help of the GPI (General Purpose Interface).
Software modules that can interpret remote control
commands may be configured for specific actions
assigned to certain commands. Several remote
control devices can be used simultaneously in one
system.
The general block diagram of a remote control
interface is presented below.
In order to provide remote control for a certain
function, you have to connect the hardware remote
control device, install drivers (if this is necessary),
choose the configuration file describing the method
of device initialization and data protocol (if needed)
and assign GPI commands to system functions.
At present, we are using LPT, COM, USB and LAN
(TCP/IP) interfaces to provide communication
between the computer and the remote control
device. LPT devices require a special driver that
provides the generation of a remote command
out of the contact closures on the LPT connector
(not supported under Windows 7). COM port
devices do not require a special driver, but each
device needs a configuration file (cdu-file)
describing the method of initialization of the
device and data protocol. This file will be used by
DIGISPOT®II applications. USB devices require a
driver converting the external signal to a remote
command
and
a
cdu-file
describing
communication with the USB device. In case of
LAN we do need a driver, but we need a cdu-file
with protocol description.
ON-AIR consoles: each channel provides Faderstart/stop and PFL start/stop signals. They are
usually connected to an LPT port. If the number
of channels is more as can be covered by the
limitation given by the LPT port, we use special
hardware-extension modules that are connected
to USB or COM ports.
4.6.1
USB to GPI/O Interface for 8 In- and Out
Part of the DIGISPOT®II product line is the
TP314 USB interface converter with 8 GPI/O per
unit available as a small aluminium box with a
mounting bracket which can easily be mounted at
a place near to the connected equipment. It is
also available as a slot mountable PC card for a
PC slot position.
The very flexible RS232 and/or TCP/IP protocol
can be adjusted to communicate with various
pieces of equipment including the input for fader
control information from mixing console which
can provide the fader position as serial data,
including the possibility to read the dynamic fader
level control for performing the Voice-Track
function in live mode operation.
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4.6.2
ON-AIR Mixer Eela D3 with USB
Interface
pre-listening of audio elements that are loaded into
virtual players.
Jingle-machine control commands.
Schedule-navigation commands.
Start-point search-module commands.
As example the new Eela D3 digital mixing console
is fully interfaced, even providing the fader position
for producing VoiceTrack preproduction by means
of the fader for fade in and out and cross-fades.
4.6.3
VoiceTrack 4 Fader Unit for manual
Control of Cross fade
A special 4 fader remote control unit to provide
manual fade out and in for the Voice-Track
recording module can be obtained also from the
DIGISPOT product line.
The dynamic level movement is stored as separate
data to the ON-AIR schedule for playback in
automation mode
Other well known digital mixing consoles as DHD
and D.MAX from Germany and AXIA form USA are
also fully controllable from the DIGISPOT®II system
to the console and from the console to the
DIGISPOT®II Software system.
External key panels can be connected via a COM
port. They feature sets of buttons oriented toward
universal or specific functions. Usually depressing a
button once results in a single remote command.
Most often these functions are used for remote
control as:
Playback start/stop of virtual players for fader
start/stop commands from a mixing console.
PFL start/stop from mixing console modules for the
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5. Integration of Remote Control Network Protocols to the DIGISPOT®II Software
System for logistic interactive remote control of other Radio Broadcast
Equipment
The new network interface protocol of the DIGISPOT®II for the integration of remote control, is designed
for easy and not complicated integration of new and additional protocols. The method of integration is
modular, by thus avoiding any conflict with the overall structure and functionality of the DIGISPOT ®II
Application Software.
In the following the use of the some actual modern digital Broadcast Mixer network protocols for the
integration of the DIGISPOT®II software in such Mixing console Control and Routing system to become
a coordinated and interactive functional Broadcast system will listed.
This increased logistic performance for the Workflow in the ON-AIR operation of modern Radio Stations
is already being developed and installed in numerous Studios for DHD, AXIA, and Lawo Mixers and
Routing Systems including the control of Codec systems and even the RDS encoder from 2Wcom .
The most appearing and basic advantages are the following:
Simple Interconnection by usage of standard ETHERNET Components.
In one network connection a multiple number of control and logistic functions can be performed which
otherwise would need a number of GPI/O Interfaces with extensive wiring efforts and supply of control
voltage.
Simple and less service needs by using Ethernet components.
No dedicated driver has to be obtained for individual GPI/O Interfaces
Driver compatibility in dependence to the operating system does not matter anymore.
The spare stocking of special hardware for redundancy becomes obsolete
Sequential logistic functionality, as example a switch over process between studios can be
accomplished easily by using the network protocol and will avoid complicated structuring of hardwired
GPI/O connections which would be needed for such purpose.
Changes or expanding of remote control functions will not require any more newly added or changed
wiring and installations of additional GPI/O contacts, by simple changes in the system configuration.
Further advantages are possible with integrations of logistic functions which would not be possible with
GPI/O Interfacing.
Dynamic, on line receiving and setting of Fader level of each individual Fader of the serial interfaced
mixing console for:
Providing the possibility to send special settings of the Fader level of the console when switching from
live to automation mode. This is even possible without motor fader. The fader position display will
indicate the actual control level position above or below the mechanical fader position. Moving the fader
to the indicated position will reactivate the manual control.
This dynamic inter active Fader level control does provide to perform Voice Tracking in live style
performance by manual controlled fader movement for the fade in and out from Moderation to Music
and visa versa. The dynamic fader level movement will be stored related to the play out schedule and
recalled when running in automation, using just one Fader channel of the Mixer.
Voice tracking is even possible in the studio during ON-AIR session based on the network protocol
interfacing with a one defined button control which sets the active fader channels for the ON-AIR play
out. In a second layer of the mixer control when the DIGISPOT®II system is switched in automated play
out. Simultaneously the active mixer surface control will be in the active surface layer virtual Fader for
the DIGISPOT®II System level control. Switching back and force is fast and simple.
The network protocol is opening a wide range of logistic control, it is possible to reach each button on
the mixer and configure an individual interactive task between the DIGISPOT®II software and the
Mixing console functions.
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The DIGISPOT®II „Hot Reserve System― Module can be used in connection with the network protocol
interfacing to switch the ON-AIR play out over to the hot Reserve System with a one Button command, by
thus having access to the complete ON AIR Studio for Production or service.
This versatile and secure Network protocol interfacing has been installed in the radio station of Radio
Hamburg and Alster Radio in Hamburg, both are using this functionality for a wide range of applications for
improving their station workflow which would not have been possible with GPI/O type interfacing.
A demonstration of such a state of the art technology installation, can be arranged any time and we would
like to show you this technology in the day by day usage in this stations.
6. Selection of Screenshots of the DIGISPOT®II Software package
The screenshots on the following pages are selected for the most important system functions to give a first
overview to the functionality and features the system provides for an easy and intuitive handling by the
system operators in a radio station.
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7. Personal Remarks and Notes
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- R. Barth KG in Hamburg

Transcription

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