Automation events appear in blue rows. They are used to keep AutoCast running on time, put live events on the air, play time and temperature announcements, and to add personal notations to your format clocks.
A comment is just a for-your-reference line in the program log — AutoCast reads past it without doing anything. Use Memos for remarks and reminders. A common use is time markers: a Memo with the text like :00, :15, :35, or :45 tells you the times when you anticipate that events will play.
Parameters: A brief sentence or phrase, containing any text you wish to add to the format clock.
Inserts a blank line in the program log. Purely cosmetic — used to visually separate sections in the log file, making it easier to read in ClockMaker or a text editor.
Puts a live audio input source on the air. AutoCast will use whichever input has been specified in its Audio settings. No parameters needed here in the log. Note that a Live event will stay on the air until it a time-sensitive "Interrupt" cuts it off, or a staffer manually does so by killing the event onscreen.
Like Live, but with a time limit. AutoCast will air whichever line input has been specified in its Audio settings for the specified duration, then will move on to whatever is next in the format clock. If you don't have a switcher, Live-For is a quick-and-dirty way to put a satellite newscast on the air.
Parameters: Volume boost amount, a duration in HH:MM:SS, and an optional label (displayed on the AutoCast screen during the live segment).
Interrupts what's on the air at a precise time within the hour. AutoCast watches the clock and triggers this event when the specified minute and second arrive, regardless of what else is playing. An optional fade duration can be specified — AutoCast fades the current audio before firing the interrupt.
Parameters: A time offset in MM:SS format (e.g., :59:50 means 50 seconds before the top of the hour), and an optional fade duration in seconds. The fade number is optional — Interrupt@:59:50 without a fade number is perfectly valid.
Pauses AutoCast for a specific duration. Use this to create timed gaps, hold points for live voice tracks, or wait for external events, or simply to "go silent" for awhile without triggering a silence sense. Setting the duration to 99:00:00 creates an indefinite pause that requires manual intervention (or an Interrupt command) to release.
Parameters: A duration in HH:MM:SS format.
Pauses AutoCast until either a wall-clock time is reached or a trigger condition is received from your hardware. One potential use is to sit idle while your station is off the air overnight, if that's the case at your station. You could set the Pause-Until for 6 AM, for example.
Parameters: A mode (Specific Time or a hardware-based condition) and, if using Specific Time, a wall-clock time in HH:MM:SS format.
This is a "soft" time correction that assures AutoCast doesn't play too much music in a given period of time. If you set a Time-Correct for :58, AutoCast will assure that the event that's currently playing at :58 will be the last thing that's played before AutoCast advances to whatever follows the Time-Correct, even if that means skipping some songs or other events to do so. AutoCast won't cut the currently playing event off, as an Interrupt does. It'll let it finish gracefully and then advance to what follows the Time-Correct.
Parameters: Specify minutes and seconds in the How Box, indicating that AutoCast should advance, once the currently playing event has finished, to whatever follows the Time-Correct.
Place Time-Correct near the end of your clock, after all your music content but before the final Fill lines. One Time-Correct per clock is typical.
Triggers AutoCast to speak the current time using a pre-recorded time announcement system files stored in a hard-wired location inside your Station folder.
Triggers AutoCast to speak the current temperature using a pre-recorded time announcement system files stored in a hard-wired location inside your Station folder.