Playlist and Players

The playlist is the most important part of the playout window. It contains the items to be broadcasted in the specified order, through one our more players associated with the playlist.

While we talk about “the” playlist here, you can actually configure mAirList to have more than one playlist in the playout window. This can be done in the configuration app.

Managing Content

Items can be added to the playlist in various ways, for example:

  • By dragging items from the Browser.
  • By dragging audio files from Windows Explorer (or any other application).
  • Using the “Insert” menu in the main toolbar.
  • By loading or appending playlist files through the respective menu commands. mAirList supports many different playlist formats, from simple M3U to third-party broacast playlist formats.
  • By loading or appending playlist automatically through the Event Scheduler - this is typically used to reload the playlist at the top of the hour in automated playlouts.

Once added to the playlist, items are displayed with several columns of information, in particular:

  • Backtiming information (the projected on air time, or true on air time for items that have already been started or played)
  • Artist and title
  • Ramp/intro duration
  • Total (ramianing) duration

Items can be rearraged by dragging and dropping with with the mouse.

Multiple items can be selected using the mouse while holding down the Shift or Control key. Selected items can be deleted using the Delete button in the main toolbar, or by pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.

You can save the current state of the playlist as a playlist file (again, in various formats) through the Save menu.

When you open the playout application, it will load the Default Playlist, which can be saved through the Save menu. You can reopen it through the Open menu at any time.

Editing Items

(TODO)

Players

Each playlist is associated with one or more players, which are displayed at the bottom of the playout window. In the default configuration, there are two players A (red) and B (blue), but you can adjust the number, names and colors in the configuration app as needed.

Each player can load one item at a time, and is usually associated with an output channel on your mixing console (if you use one). The audio routing can be adjusted freely in the configuration app.

Operating Modes: ASSIST and AUTO

The playlist can operate in two modes, ASSIST and AUTO, which can be toggled through the buttons in the toolbar (or through remote control commands etc.). You can toggle between ASSIST and AUTO mode seamlessly at any time, and any active player will keep playing, in the new requested mode.

ASSIST Mode

ASSIST mode is meant for situations in which the playout is operated manually by a DJ. This means:

  • The players must be started manually (using the buttons in the player toolbar, remote control commands etc.).
  • They will still be loaded automatically with the next available item, unless disabled in the configuration.
  • You can still drag any other item from the playlist into an (idle) player manually.
  • The player still stop automatically at EOF or the configured Cue Out marker, but no automatic fading will take place (unless enabled in the configuration).

The only way to have two items play automatically in ASSIST mode is to link them by clicking into the gray circle icon in the rightmost column of the playlist. The circle will turn green, and red for the subsequent items, and the two items will be played within the same player as if you were working in AUTO mode. You can link multiple items this way.

AUTO Mode

AUTO mode, also called automation, is meant for unattended automatic playback. Once enabled, and having clicked the Play button in the main toolbar, the playlist will play the loaded items one after the other, respecting cue markers, and playing the fades/seques as defined in the Cue Editor.

Items cannot be loaded manually into the players while AUTO mode is active. Instead, the playlist will load the players automatically with the next available item.

By default, only a single player is used in automation mode - either the first player, or the one that was last active when you switched from ASSIST to AUTO. This is convenient because all AUTO operation will be conducted on the player (and thus, console channel) that was active by the time you switched to AUTO. This makes it impossible to “forget” to open the other channel on the console, which would lead to dead air when playback moves to the other player. If you dislike this behavior, you can disable it in the playlist options in the configuration app.

Items will be played in a row, one by one, unless a specific timing is set in the item properties. The following timing types are available, visualized by a distinctive item:

  • Normal The item will be started when the previous item has finished. This is the default.
  • Hard Fixed Time: The item will be started exactly at the time set up in its properties. The current item will be faded out.
  • Soft Fixed Time: The item will be started at or after the time set up in its properties, after the current item has finished.
  • Backtimed: When placed directly before a (hard or soft) fixed time item, the item will be treated as being fixed as well. The start time will be calculated from the fixed time of the subsequent item, minus its own duration. You can build a chain of multiple Backtimed items this way. This feature can e.g. be used to start a variable-length advertising break so that it ends exactly at the top of the hour where a (hard fixed time) news item is placed.
  • Fixed: Reserved for future use, currently the same as Normal.
  • Excluded: Same as Normal, but the item will not be accounted for during backtiming calculations.