Newbie here, forgive me if these are dumb questions.
I’m using the demo version to evaluate whether or not mAirlist would be the right fit for our community radio station. There are a couple of things I had questions on:
First, I was planning on putting my 30 second spots in cartwall 1 and 60 second spots in cartwall 2. This way I don’t have to insert a particular commercial mp3 file each time, and each spot would get equal time on a rotation. So I put into the playlist 3 commands in the following order: AUTOMATION STOP, START CARTWALL 1, and AUTOMATION START. However, the next file after those three 3 command lines automatically plays. Is there a better way to achieve what I’m trying to do?
Secondly, by default mAirList automatically fades files at 5000 ms. I like this, but is there a way to make certain items to NOT fade? Sometimes I want the next time to start right away, but in general I like that the fade takes place.
Mixing automated playback and the cartwall is not recommended, because it can result in very complex setups. Some people do this, but generally you should try to put everything into the playlist and just let it run in auto mode.
How do you generate the playlist in the first place? Using mAirList’s Mini Scheduler?
The default fade duration is only used when an item is faded out prematurely, that is, when you click NEXT, or an event/fixed time kicks in. On the other hand, when the item is played all way through the end, the Fade Out and Cue Out markers are used to determine where the fade starts, and where it ends. You can edit the markers in the Cue Editor. For new files, mAirList makes an suggestion based on the Auto Cue algorithm. If you want to store your changes permanently, save to an MMD file or set up a mAirListDB database.
I’ve been compiling the play list manually, I haven’t played around with the scheduler yet, but I’ll look into it. Our station will run talk shows during the daytime hours and music during the nighttime hours.
As for the fade outs, I like that the default fade duration is used when a file is ended prematurely–so if I need to put 5 minutes of filler music to fill out the hour before Legal ID, it will fade out the music and not end abruptly. However, after the legal ID, we’ll play a “network file” that is an internet based mp3 file that is a top of the hour news update. But I need proceed to the next file 2 minutes into the 5 minute newscast to avoid playing commercials (don’t want to fade out on that). If I set “cue out” marker on this item on the 2:00 mark, and set the item to repeat hourly, will it hold when the file is replaced with a new .mp3 file the following hour?