RadioBOSS Cloud

I suppose you can use the Scheduler to make anything run on time. I don't see any reason to include timed events in the playlist. Playlist is a list of tracks that are about to play, Scheduler lists events that run on time.


This is called Sweepers, desktop RadioBOSS has this feature, and RadioBOSS Cloud will also have it soon: https://manual.djsoft.net/radioboss/en/sweepers.htm
Hi, any news or estimate for when Sweepers will also be available in Cloud?

Many thanks. I’m very happy with the Cloud service and your support.
 
I have simplified my programming a lot, and RB cloud is working very very well. I do have a very small issue, as well as a couple of feature requests that I don't remember if I brought up before.
I have managed to create time announcements in RB Cloud. It was a pain, as I had to go in and associate each time file with the correct hour in the scheduler, so instead of just one event set to repeat hourly calling for a time announcement, I had to create 24 of them. The problem I have is due to the different lengths of my station ids, which are currently set to play on the hour at 59:52 if memory serves me correctly, with the time announcement set for every hour at 00, then the playlist for that hour set for 00:07, which, in theory, should give the time announcement time to play without getting cut off. Sometimes it works, and others it does not. My guess is that the id played before the time announcement runs over, thus clearing the time announcement, because the playlist just starts right after the id. So, if I move the id back, it could solve that problem, but I create another, where something else could start playing between the id and scheduled time announcement, which doesn't sound good either. So, it would be good to allow a certain amount of silence between events. I'm not talking 20 or 30 seconds, as that wouldn't be good. But 1 or 2 seconds of silence between said events, instead of the system starting another track, could be preferable.
My first feature request is for time and weather announcements that can be added directly to a playlist. So, instead of having to add so many items in to the scheduler, they would just be items in the playlist. That would also fix my previous problem. I know that especially weather would require some work, as there would need to be a system in place to pull data for the selected location. Also, the user would need to provide both time and weather files for these events to work, as none of the text to speechh voices sound good enough for radio production. But by providing our own, we can do it in whatever language our station is in, and give them the desired sound for our station.
My second feature request would be for the ability to have an rtmp output, where we could broadcast certain programs straight from RB Cloud to services like facebook, youtube, etc. I know that would not work for music, because of copyright, but for spoken word content, it would be great, so we would not have to run another program from our computers to broadcast said programs on social networks. Even better would be the ability to activate and deactivate said rtmp at the beginning and end of our programs. You could count it as another encoder just like icecast or shoutcast. But being able to schedule the items in scheduler would be awesome, especially if we could upload a different image for each event, which would be the image used in the encoder to send along with the station audio. Other control panels do have this feature (though not as advanced as what I am describing) such as EverestCast and Azuracast.
 
I have managed to create time announcements in RB Cloud. It was a pain, as I had to go in and associate each time file with the correct hour in the scheduler, so instead of just one event set to repeat hourly calling for a time announcement, I had to create 24 of them
You can do it with single event, e.g. instead of 24 events like \TimeAnn\01.mp3, ..., \TimeAnn\23.mp3 a single event will use a file name template: \TimeAnn\?hh.mp3
More about templates: https://www.radioboss.fm/support/radioboss-cloud/scheduler-file-name-templates/
 
then the playlist for that hour set for 00:07, which, in theory, should give the time announcement time to play without getting cut off.
You can schedule it for 00:01, just after the time announcement at 00:00. Just don't enable the "Run without waiting for the playing track to finish" and it will wait until the time announcement is done.

So, it would be good to allow a certain amount of silence between events. I'm not talking 20 or 30 seconds, as that wouldn't be good. But 1 or 2 seconds of silence between said events, instead of the system starting another track, could be preferable.
What is the point of silence? It's never good for a radio. The order of playback of the events depend on two things: start time and queuing options. There are plenty in RB Cloud so almost any setup should be possible.

I know that especially weather would require some work, as there would need to be a system in place to pull data for the selected location.
RadioBOSS has automatic weather announcements: https://manual.djsoft.net/radioboss/en/automatic_weather_announcement.htm and after some time RadioBOSS Cloud will also have a similar feature.

My second feature request would be for the ability to have an rtmp output
This is planned for the future, however I can't tell when it's going to be added.
 
You can do it with single event, e.g. instead of 24 events like \TimeAnn\01.mp3, ..., \TimeAnn\23.mp3 a single event will use a file name template: \TimeAnn\?hh.mp3
More about templates: https://www.radioboss.fm/support/radioboss-cloud/scheduler-file-name-templates/
Okay, this might make things a lot better! So, right now, because of the previous system I used, my time files look like this. time0100 for 1:00 am, time 0200 for 2:00, up to time 2300 for 11:00 at night. If I were to change them to just time00, time01, time02, etc, then I could set up an item in the playlist at the very beginning that would look like: time?hh.mp3.
Is this right? If so, that would help a ton. Just want to make sure I understand exactly what the format should look like before I go making changes.
 
What is the point of silence? It's never good for a radio. The order of playback of the events depend on two things: start time and queuing options. There are plenty in RB Cloud so almost any setup should be possible.
Agreed that silence is normally not good, but it can be preferable to having one event with a fixed time, another with a fixed time quickly afterwords, but not quickly enough to avoid a clip of another track being played in between. Then it just sounds bad and not very professional. But, I didn't know RB Cloud supported the templates for time files. If I can just add that to the playlist, then I can solve a lot of my problems right there.
 
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Okay, this might make things a lot better! So, right now, because of the previous system I used, my time files look like this. time0100 for 1:00 am
In this case, the template will look like time?hh00.mp3 - there's no need to rename the files.

but not quickly enough to avoid a clip of another track being played in between
This can be solved by adjusting start times for events. The easiest way is to schedule events 3-4 seconds apart, and make them queue one after another.
 
Hello,
I know this template would work in scheduler, but if possible I would like to actually add it to the beginning of each playlist. So, each playlist would begin with the time announcement. However, there is no way to actually enter the file name. If I add an item, select file, it forces me to select a particular file. It won't let me enter a file name manually where I could use the template you provided. Any way to make this work as an actual part of the playlist?
 
Ignore that last message. I have implemented this in the scheduler. We'll see if this gives me the expected result. Station id is set to 59:51 of each hour, thus giving me the end of hour id I want. Time file using the template is set for 00:00 of each hour, then the playlist for 00:01, both time file and playlist are set to cue after playing track, id is set to not wait for current track to finish, so hopefully nothing can sneak its way in between the id and the time announcement. I depend on things running in a precise manner. I used to have the incoming playlist set to replace previous playlist just to make sure time sensitive sweepers and jingles didn't remain in the cue after they shouldn't. Suppose I could always have the station id also clear the playlist, that way the time announcement and new playlist start up as expected and nothing from the previous hour makes its way in to the next hour.
 
I know this template would work in scheduler, but if possible I would like to actually add it to the beginning of each playlist. So, each playlist would begin with the time announcement. However, there is no way to actually enter the file name
You can save it to a file, and then edit it in a text editor - to change file name to template.
Another way is to use multiple actions in the event: first goes the time announcement (template) and second action is the playlist you want to start.
 
Hello,
Actually, it's still not working. The time announcement still keeps getting skipped. Template is scheduled as previously described, with station id set for 59:53, time at 00:00, playlist at 00:05. On some hours, it works. On others, the time announcement is skipped. Seems to get skipped when the previous station id is a little long.
Id is set to replace playlist and not wait for current track to finish, thus playing at the exact time I want. Time is set for 00:00 and cue after next track, thus it should be what runs right after the id. Playlists are also set for cue after next, so you would think they would fall in cue behind the time announcement. Is that not the case? If I'm doing something wrong, please let me know how to fix, as I am frustrated with the announcements playing only on certain hours. Feel like I'm still missing something here.
 
So, upon reviewing the options for track scheduling, I think I may have found the problem. Both time announcement and playlist were set to "cue after playing track." As previously described, on some hours, he time announcement plays, and on some it does not. Best guess is that the station id from the previous hour runs long, and just doesn't give the time announcment enough time to trigger before the next event, the playlist, is triggered. So, that time announcement does not play as expected. Furthermore, it just gets left in the cue, and randomly plays some point later on. So, I have kept the time announcement set to cue after playing track, but changed the playlist to cue after scheduled tracks. That way it should work, as since the station id of the previous hour cleared out whatever could have remained from the previous hour, as it is set to replace playlist, when the playlist is triggered at 00:05, there should be nothing in the cue after the time announcement. I'm hoping this will do the trick, as nothing else I have tried has worked to perfection.

On an unrelated note, it would be incredibly awesome if playlist duration could be calculated, even if within a range based on the average length of the songs and other tracks in said playlist. All it shows right now is n/a. It would be good to know if there is enough content programmed so as to avoid certain parts of the playlist repeating more than once in an hour, since if there is not enough content, the playlist will go through again, thus creating some unwanted consequences. Having even an estimate of the playlist length would be nice.
 
On others, the time announcement is skipped. Seems to get skipped when the previous station id is a little long.
How is it skipped, is there an error (or any other message) in the log about the time announcement?

Playlists are also set for cue after next, so you would think they would fall in cue behind the time announcement. Is that not the case?
Playlist events should have "If there are scheduled tracks in the playlist, enqueue" option enabled, to ensure they are put after the time ann. Without this option, the playlist will be inserted before time ann event.
 
Setting playlists to play after scheduled track did the trick. Now, everything is working as expected. Sounding great. I never did look at the log to see what error it may have been giving for the time, but it doesn't really matter anymore, since everything is working now as desired.
A feature requestt for scheduler:
It would be nice to be able to view items by the times they are scheduled for, rather than in the order they were added. For example, I set up my whole schedule, first setting up everything for Monday-Friday, then weekends. But after setting all that up, I picked up a few more programs, and had to make changes to the existing events to make them repeat less, and add the new programs. The problem is, after doing this several times, without being able to sort events by their start times, everything is a jumbled mess and it becomes hard to find anything quickly. Being able to sort events by start time would help a lot.
 
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