INTRO AND FEATURES - Overview and Uses
LEARNING, STEP-BY-STEP
We will be using some example files to explain and demonstrate what you need to do to set up your new TuneTracker-based radio station, so let's start by having you open up the Station folder on your desktop, and within it, open the Music folder, and inside that one, find and open the "Copyable Music Folder."
Next, get comfortable with using BeOS folders. You can move the folder around by grabbing any buttonless part of the yellow tab at the top of the folder and dragging. To resize the folder, use the little grab box in the lower right corner of the window border. Under BeOS, you can navigate to other folders using the orange and green navigation arrows. You can maximize the window by clicking the double-box icon in the yellow tab. You can minimize the window down to the Deskbar by double-clicking in the title area of the yellow tab, between the visible buttons.
When you begin adding your own content to the system, you will be making copies of this Copyable Music Folder; renaming the folder copies whatever you like, organizing them however you wish on your hard drive (including nesting them inside each other if you like) and then placing your music files into them. You can use LOTS of different file formats with TuneTracker™.
Examine the folder's contents. Notice the columns across the top of the Copyable Music Folder window, with headings like Artist, Album, Title, Name (filename), Comment, Genre, Rating, Publisher, etc.? These headings are called attributes, and they represent categories of information you can add to your music and other audio files. They can easily be customized by you for each file, to say whatever you like. Attributes are central to the TuneTracker System. They add a very powerful feature, because our music selection program, TuneStacker™, makes heavy use these attributes when finding and adding audio files to your program logs (playlists), based on a dizzying number of unique criteria of your choosing. For example, if you mark some files with the Comment, "MorningShow", you can set things up so that TuneStacker™ will randomly select the files matching that Comment and add them to your program log.
You can view additional file information (or less file information) by choosing items from the Attributes pulldown menu at the top. Close the Copyable Music Folder for now. Do so by clicking the button in the left corner of the tab at the top of the window.
Next, please read the How it Works page for a quick overview that will help you understand the way our system is designed.
As the "How it Works" page explains, the format clock, a text list of items you want included in your radio broadcast, is the heart of the system. It is nothing more than a list of things you want included in your programming hour.
Now let's go back to the Station folder on your TuneTracker desktop, and inside it, open the Logs folder. There are sub-folders within it containing Format Clocks, Master Logs, and Program Logs. Open up the Format Clock folder, and double-click on the sample_format_clock file and have a look at it. Don't panic if you don't understand it all at first glance. It is VERY straightforward, easy stuff. Initially you might want to just use the default format_clock_template with your own modifications until you're comfortable with the syntax it uses, though the more you understand the syntax, the more excited you will be about all the ways you use them!
Important Concept to Understand
TuneTracker System™ commands are your magic wand to make all kinds of wonderful things happen in TuneTracker.
Once you're ready to design your own custom format clocks, be sure to see this page for a guide, and read the sub-sections within it called "TuneTracker commands" and "TuneStacker™ commands."
You'll be excited when you discover the programming possibilities our commands make available to you.
You'll notice there are two kinds of commands used in your format clock. Lines that start with a pound sign (#) are TuneTracker's automation commands. They allow you to perform time-sensitive functions like fades, joins, and time-corrects. Those not preceded by a pound sign are TuneStacker™ commands. They tell TuneStacker™ how you want to you do things like selecting songs on a randomized basis, adding the entire contents of folders, playing specific audio files, and rotating through cuts cart-style.
Now, close the format clock file and double-click on the master_log_template file, which you'll notice is nothing more complicated than 24 copies of the format clock. The only item in the master log that must be unique from one hour to the next are the "# Hour" statements at the beginning of each hour, which have been numbered sequentially.
Now try making your own master log! Simply right-click on the format clock file's icon, move your mouse over the words "Open With" and in the options window that appears, select the tool "Make My Day." Make My Day will generate the whole day's master log in a split second for you and save it with the same filename, followed by the extension, ".day." So in this example, MakeMyDay will have created a file called, "sample_format_clock.day."
Try renaming it. Right-click on the icon for your new master log file, select the "Edit Name" option, type in a replacement name, and hit Enter. You can also rename a file the way you would under Windows, by left-clicking on the text beneath the icon, and when it becomes a black block with white text, typing in a replacement name and hitting Enter.
Ok, so now you have a completed master log, containing all the instructions and information necessary. Are you ready for broadcast? Almost! One step remains. You still need to run your master log through TuneStacker™. TuneStacker™ uses the information in your master log to select music and other programming elements you have indicated you want included, such as jingles, sweepers, and announcements. In order for TuneStacker™ to find them, though, the audio files' attributes must be marked. If you're unclear about the purpose of attributes, read this important information before continuing.
Launch TuneStacker™ by double-clicking its icon on your desktop, and drag your master log icon onto the surface of of the program (any blank grey area of the interface). This tells TuneStacker™ to use your particular master log as its guide when creating a program log. Now, specify the name of the program log you want to create, and the path where it should be saved, and then click "Generate," to create your program log. TuneStacker expects to find a traffic log even if you are not using traffic software, so if it complains about that, appease it by browsing to any text file and selecting that file as the traffic log, then click Generate again. A progress bar will show you how things are progressing. When it disappears, your program log is complete and ready for use. Close TuneStacker™.
Launch TuneTracker™ using the icon on your desktop. SoundPlay will also launch, which is normal. If you are using TuneTracker Basic™, you can resize and reshape them by dragging the lower right corner of their window borders. With Command Center, we recommend you stick with the full-screen interface at 800x600 resolution, and switch workspaces to work on other things when you need to.
Open the folder containing your program log, and drag the program log by its icon and drop it into the Program Log Queue window pane in TuneTracker. In TuneTracker Basic™, that's the top window pane on the front screen. In TuneTracker Command Center™, hit the "2" key to open the queue, and then drop in the program log. Watch for its contents to appear in the lower window pane, the one marked "Active Program Log." If it does not appear automatically, double-click on the name of your program log in the queue window. Double-clicking is a required step in Command Center.
Once the list appears, TuneTracker will automatically find the correct time on the log for it to begin playing. Click the Auto button to turn Auto to "On," then click the Start button. You should now be broadcasting!
Obviously, you need to customize your TuneTracker broadcast operation by eventually creating your own unique format clocks and master logs, and adding all your own interesting audio files.
The information above should get you off to a good start, but where-to next?! Here are some good startup resources in our manual.
More Good Startup Information
There is a full table of contents to help you with specific information on a wide variety of topics, but here are some highlights you might want to look at early in your setup process.
- Networking your BeOS computer to a LAN and to the Internet
- Streaming to the Internet, and intranet, or both
- Media Preference settings, for adjusting input and output volume, real-time audio, etc.
- Importing recorded content into your TuneTracker computer from various sources<
- TuneTracker interface basics
- TuneStacker interface basics
- TimeTracker interface basics
- CSacker interface basics
Table of Contents