Clocks in PLGen Pro

[nelson c]

The second one is also on the list to be implemented, this will require more work (one of the problems here is that Palylist Generator will need to "know" when the playlist will start playing so it can check start times)

That is true and I had not taken it into account.
At MusicMaster we work this way. A preset is assigned to each hour. Of course this has its limitations that radioboss events do not have, but like everything it has some advantages.
Some radio magazines recommend using slightly different presets for each hour, again avoiding repetitive patterns for the listener. For example, "Song of the Week" is in a single preset C that rotate. For example, Monday will be at 12, Tuesday at 13 and Wednesday at 14.

Yesterday I wanted to do this same thing in radioboss with the new option for events by day of the week and time.
I spent about an hour working on this with an Excel guide and gave up on how cumbersome it was.
For each preset I had to load a lot of values and what's worse is how I prepared the lists half an hour in advance, offsetting the Excel an hour before.
At the moment I think I'm going to look for a way to program a script that generates the events and then I can import them to the programmer because it is a lot of work and very prone to errors.

 

[djsoft]

At MusicMaster we work this way. A preset is assigned to each hour. Of course this has its limitations that radioboss events do not have, but like everything it has some advantages.

One way this can be achieved is if the scheduler passes start time to playlist generator. But event's start time is not necessarily when the generated playlist will actually play (e.g. an event can be used to only create a playlist, and it will start playing later, from another event). So this needs to be thought through.

For each preset I had to load a lot of values and what's worse is how I prepared the lists half an hour in advance, offsetting the Excel an hour before.
At the moment I think I'm going to look for a way to program a script that generates the events and then I can import them to the programmer because it is a lot of work and very prone to errors.

This looks like some manual work, but it's fairly easy and can be automated with a script.
You only need a single event for each preset, and then you can add multiple start times to make it start when needed.

 

[tomimatko]

Can someone please explain to me how to automate with a script? Since I also have a lot of categories and events.

 

[tomimatko]

I like this idea with Clock rotation (since we are working on something similar). At our radio station, all events are organized on an hourly basis. I particularly find this a good idea with graphical representation and the ability to add events to the table. That way, I have an overview of what's happening during the week and can quickly change the schedule. Perhaps considering adding this as an option would be beneficial.
Currently, we have 75 events per hour, and that list is overwhelming. Organizing events according to the new feature "Multiple start times/days for events" doesn't suit me because it would make everything even more untransparent.


For example: maximum 2 consecutive "slow" songs
Do not play track/artist within 10 minutes of it being played yesterday.

Adding new rules to all of this would help songs be even better distributed.
Proportional categories are a great step in that direction, but unfortunately, it's not very reliable in hourly period. Everything by us is organized in hourly intervals. I think a serious radio station certainly doesn't have a 12 or 24-hour playlist or 3 x 8 hours...

 

[nelson c]

This looks like some manual work, but it's fairly easy and can be automated with a script.
You only need a single event for each preset, and then you can add multiple start times to make it start when needed.

It's about 4 assignments per 7 days of the week for 5 presets. Multiple start times is essential for this. The issue is that it is not very practical, there are dozens of starting times to load. In our case I must think about assigning it an hour before the one I need. Since I generate the playlists in advance.
If I had an assignment schedule, where I could display each preset for each hour I need, it would be much easier and less prone to errors.
Anyway, it's somewhat distant from the current RB design, so maybe I'll make my own development for this for now.

 

[nelson c]

ut event's start time is not necessarily when the generated playlist will actually play

That is a good point and that in my case means that I have to think about a shift of the events one hour with respect to the time I think

 

[nelson c]

Organizing events according to the new feature "Multiple start times/days for events" doesn't suit me because it would make everything even more untransparent.

In my case it seems like a great, very convenient addition. Avoid dozens of identical events, what is still not convenient is the way to assign hours and days when you want to fill a 24-hour grid

 

[djsoft]

Can someone please explain to me how to automate with a script? Since I also have a lot of categories and events.

Events in RadioBOSS are stored in a text form (you can save events list to an .sdl file and then open it with a text editor). As the format is simple, you can create a script or other means to automate creation of events or modify existing events.
Or it can be sort of semi-automatic, when you manually use text editor capabilities to edit events (e.g. copy a list of "multiple start times" between events).

That way, I have an overview of what's happening during the week and can quickly change the schedule. Perhaps considering adding this as an option would be beneficial.

One possibility I see for this to be added - in a form similar to Ads Scheduler, a module may be called like Clock Wheel Planner, where you configure a "wheel", and based on it, it generates the necessary scheduled events automatically.

Proportional categories are a great step in that direction, but unfortunately, it's not very reliable in hourly period. Everything by us is organized in hourly intervals. I think a serious radio station certainly doesn't have a 12 or 24-hour playlist or 3 x 8 hours...

Yes you're right. I think it may be improved further, there'll be an option to have truly random weighted selection (suitable for creating longer playlists, or even 24x1hour playlists if you only care about distribution on a day scale) - like it works now, and another option will be to have a "modified random" selection where weights are considered in a more strict way.

 

[djsoft]

If I had an assignment schedule, where I could display each preset for each hour I need, it would be much easier and less prone to errors.

Please see my post above about Clock Wheel Planner - what do you think about this idea?

 

[djsoft]

Organizing events according to the new feature "Multiple start times/days for events" doesn't suit me because it would make everything even more untransparent.

For transparency, there's an "Event Overview" feature where you can see what starts when. The analysis can also be saved as CSV so you can open it in Excel for further filtering/sorting and other operations.

 

[nelson c]

Please see my post above about Clock Wheel Planner - what do you think about this idea?

yes it is an excellent idea.

As we discussed previously, we generate events 50 minutes in advance. So then a "prepare the lists x minutes in advance" would be necessary. (That shifts those 50 minutes from the grid)

do you mean something like this?

 

[nelson c]

PD Clarification of the example. per hour the logical thing would be a single preset

 

[djsoft]

As we discussed previously, we generate events 50 minutes in advance. So then a "prepare the lists x minutes in advance" would be necessary. (That shifts those 50 minutes from the grid)

This means you have two events - one that creates the playlist, and another that runs it. Those will need to be scheduled separately.

do you mean something like this?

Not quite, I think it can be implemented as an actual "wheel" where events can added somehow. We'll need to test various approaches for this.

 

[nelson c]

This means you have two events - one that creates the playlist, and another that runs it. Those will need to be scheduled separately.

That's how I work. The insert event is always the same for all presets and you only need to enter the list into the playlist. Nothing else

Not quite, I think it can be implemented as an actual "wheel" where events can added somehow. We'll need to test various approaches for this.

It's interesting. I still can't quite understand how that would work, but I'll be eager to try it. I hope it can be configured every hour for each day of the week.

 

[lughsan]

I think we need to create a music programmer.

This app will allow you to add the Playlist Generator Pro categories or presets.
I would like to know what everyone thinks of this idea.

 

[lughsan]

I think we need to create a music programmer.
View attachment 13593
This app will allow you to add the Playlist Generator Pro categories or presets.
I would like to know what everyone thinks of this idea.

Also add audio files or m3u lists.

 

[tomimatko]

I like the idea. It provides a better overview of the Event schedule throughout the week. I prefer the grid style over the Clock Wheel Planner. It somehow seems clearer to me. The question is, in which direction is the development going? Will this replace the current Scheduler list, or will it be some combination, or will there be an option to choose?

 

[djsoft]

It's interesting. I still can't quite understand how that would work, but I'll be eager to try it. I hope it can be configured every hour for each day of the week.

I guess it'll allow selecting day of the week and will show a "wheel" (a 24 sectors circle / a grid / whatever) for each hour of the day. Something like this. We'd need to start with something then we'll see where to move on.

This app will allow you to add the Playlist Generator Pro categories or presets.
I would like to know what everyone thinks of this idea.

That's what the new module "Clock Wheel Rotation" (or whatever it'll be called) is supposed to do.

The question is, in which direction is the development going? Will this replace the current Scheduler list, or will it be some combination, or will there be an option to choose?

The scheduler will certainly not be replaces. There are lots of stations that use it and we need to keep compatibility, so that updating to a new version is not a pain (as you may have noticed, updating RadioBOSS, in any direction - old version to new, or revert new to old - is always seamless and with little/no issues, and we will keep it that way).
The new module will be a tool similar to Ads Scheduler - it will create and manage scheduled events, the idea is to make it easy to create multiple similar events.

 

[nelson c]

I guess it'll allow selecting day of the week and will show a "wheel" (a 24 sectors circle / a grid / whatever) for each hour of the day. Something like this. We'd need to start with something then we'll see where to move on.

It sounds interesting, but I think it's simpler to have an Excel cell-style grid where I can assign each preset to each hour of the week.
The problem with seeing only day by day is that it complicates the overall vision.
It's just an idea, we'll see which direction this goes and what other users think.

 

[tomimatko]

I agree that it's better to have a weekly overview (in a grid style) rather than day by day.