Thanks and some more dumb questions

Hi,

A big thanks to everyone who helped me develop our “Simple Live-Assist” layout - which I posted here:
http://forum.mairlist.com/index.php/topic,2853.0.html

We have been using it during our current RSL broadcast and 99% of feedback from presenters is that they love it. The remaining 1% I think I can address one way or another!

A couple more questions if possible:

1/ Is it possible to make the directory/filename text in the browser window bigger?
2/ EOF flash warning. Is it possible to have an “end of sequence” warning instead? ie: get it to flash at the end of the last item in a sequence of items, rather than at the end of every item.
3/ I’m confused about the role of “on the fly” database and whether or not to set it to scan when mAirlist opens, or even if I need oen at all. We have a library of around 12000 songs/jingles. Without scanning when mAirlist opens it takes around 30 seconds to open (which is bad enough). With scanning on open it can take 2 hours or more to open! I have set-up a batch file to kill and re-open mAirlist with a scan at 3am every morning. I’m doing this because we add the odd new track from day to day, and I assume mAirlist needs to scan to realise the new track is there. However when setting-up mAirlist on another machine last night, I noticed that it was “seeing” directory content even before I had created an “on the fly” database. So I’m now wondering if I need a database at all!
4/ I’m also confused about song cross-fading. I’ve set it to cross fade at -12dB, but I’m not convinced it is actually obeying that setting, because when there is a file with silence at the end we get dead-air. Is there a post somewhere which explains this? We have not tagged our library with ramps, fades etc - and I’m sure we will never find the time to do this!

Thanks again. If you like take a listen to http://www.thornburyfm.org/live/listen. Every ad break and sponsor tag is thanks to mAirlist - and when it has re-scanned the database every song played too!

Cheers, Glyn

I’m not sure; I haven’t tried changing the Browser panes’ Font or Size: one for Torben! :slight_smile:

2/ EOF flash warning. Is it possible to have an "end of sequence" warning instead? ie: get it to flash at the end of the last item in a sequence of items, rather than at the end of every item.
First define what you mean by a 'seqeunce of items,' or more specifically, if you 'were' mAirList, how would you be able to tell that an item was or was not the 'last item in a sequence?' Might it have a different End Type, for example? Or a specific colour? A specific title or artist, perhaps? Once you can do that, then yes it can be changed, using a script (probably a Notification Script triggered by a Player Start and/or Player Stop) which 'finagles' the EOF Flash time behind the scenes.
3/ I'm confused about the role of "on the fly" database and whether or not to set it to scan when mAirlist opens, or even if I need oen at all. We have a library of around 12000 songs/jingles.
I share your pain. I gave up 'on-the-fly' databases some time ago in favour of running Media Monkey [i]alongside[/i] mAirList as a 'companion program.' MM provides excellent facilities, can save M3U playlists for use in mAirList, and is very modestly priced for what you get. You [b]do[/b] need the registered 'full' version to be able to pick up new files 'on the fly,' but without the overhead of stopping/starting anything: you just tell it which directories you want it to 'monitor.' mAirList 3.0 will contain a proper database, but until then, I would say that Media Monkey (or iTunes, [b]if[/b] you already use that, but not otherwise) is a better bet for things like finding tracks quickly and monitoring for new ones.
4/ I'm also confused about song cross-fading. I've set it to cross fade at -12dB, but I'm not convinced it is actually obeying that setting, … We have not tagged our library with ramps, fades etc - and I'm sure we will never find the time to do this!
OK (here we go again! ;)) … I presume that the phrase 'set it cross fade at -12dB' [i]actually[/i] means that you have set: [b]Config[/b] > [b]Miscellaneous[/b] > [b]File Import[/b] > [b]Thresholds for Auto Cue[/b] > [b]Fade Out[/b] to [b]-12dB[/b], correct? ;)

What that setting does (always a clue in the name!) is to set up mAirList so that when you first open a track in a Player, mAirList will scan the track and set its Fade Out cue point to the point where the track last reaches a level of -12dB. This usually does a good job, but you do need to check because on some tracks, that sets it miles too early.

Ideally, this would happen in the File Tagger or a PFL Player, where you would check the ‘auto’ points; then set any other points, like Ramps, maybe alternate Cue Ins for live tracks, etc.; and finally Save the results, ideally as a Metadata File or MMD.

When the track is played out IN AUTOMATION, mAirList will use the saved Fade Out point to decide when to Start the next item and simultaneously start to Fade the playing track. Incidentally, the duration of fades out in Automation is set here:
Config > Miscellaneous > Settings > Default Automation fade time
Note that this is in MILLIseconds, so 3000 = three seconds, which I find a good value: you might prefer it ‘tighter.’

The upshot of all of this is:

[ul][li]Automated crossfading ONLY happens in AUTO mode, never in ASSIST mode.[/li]
[li]Automated crossfading REQUIRES files to be tagged with either a Fade Out or Start Next cue point.[/li]
[li]Loading a non-tagged track automatically sets some cue points, according to the File Import values set in Config.[/li][/ul]

I just ried taking three ‘unknown’ tracks into mAirList here, and it ‘auto-tagged’ and auto-mixed them perfectly. Hope the info above helps you to do the same!

The browser font cannot be modified at the time being. I’ll put it on my to-do list. Someone remind me please if I should forget it (which will most likely happen g).

Regarding the auto fade out, you can easily check whether the -12dB worked by first adding the file to the playlist and then opening in PFL mode in some player (or the Properties dialog), checking if there is a Fade Out marker set.

Unfortunately, the changes I made in v2.2.1 to make auto cue faster seem to have broken the feature in a way that only Cue In is set but not Fade Out or Cue Out. If you notice that the Fade Out marker is missing after the import, I strongly recommend that you disable the new optimizations by opening mAirList.ini in Notepad, navigating to the “[Options]” section and adding the following line to it:

AutoCueSetPos=on

I will investigate this issue and come up with a solution for v2.2.2.