[campcaster-dev] Studio Redesign, or "What happens when you are trapped in Denver airport sleep - Airtime Development Discussions on Sourcefabric Forum

import

On my way home for Christmas, my plane landed in Denver airport in the
middle of a huge snowstorm. I still had a connecting flight, but all
flights were cancelled by the time I got off the plane. I called to
reschedule - the next flight I could get would be on December 26th, 6
days later! Then I found out that all roads were closed as well.
Looking outside you could see why - there was about 2 feet(60cm) of snow
and counting. Luckily my destination was only an 8 hour drive away and
my parents were able to drive to come pick me up...but that didnt happen
till the next day. In the meantime, there were 4000 refugees in the
airport - they were handing out blankets, everyone was buying food for
fear of it running out, etc. Everyone found a place on the floor to
sleep and camped out. While I was doing that, I wrote this up...

==========================
Campcaster Studio Redesign
==========================
First Draft: January 3, 2007
Author: Paul Baranowski

The Campcaster GUI is currently not aligned with user modes of
operation. There are many windows, and these windows do not group
common functions together. Two of the windows, the Scratchpad and the
Search window, are always required for playlists, LiveMode, and
Scheduler. Each user is required to devise their own layout of the
windows. This makes for a steeper learning curve for the beginner.
This document is meant to describe a way to simplify the user interface,
but note that this is considered an early draft and is subject to
change. All comments are welcome.

Primary Functions
=================
The following are the "primary functions" of the Studio:
1) Create/edit a playlist
2) Schedule a playlist
3) Edit audio metadata
4) Import new audio files

#1 and #2 *always* require the Scratchpad+Search (remember this point).
#3 can be reached from Scratchpad, Search, #1, and #4.

Notice that the concept of the "Live Mode" window is gone from this
list. This is because it is encompassed by point #1 - why not just
create a playlist and start playing it? This vastly simplifies things -
no duplication of features between the "playlist editor" window and the
"live mode" window; this will also automatically keep the history of any
show you have done.

Single-window Design
====================
Currently it can take up to 6 clicks(one for each window) to bring
Campcaster to the front. Due to this problem the Studio should become
one main window for all primary functions. Having a single windows
enables the application to cater to the primary functions more easily,
as will be shown below. More minor functionality (i.e. less-frequently
used), can be in sub-windows; for example, the options.

Suggested Layout
================
Suggested layout is like so:
[Master Panel]
[Scheduler Status Bar]
[Tabs: Audio|Import|Options]
[Tab Content]

* Audio Tab:
[Tabs: PlaylistEditor|ScheduleEditor] | [Scratchpad] | [Search]
[Preview Bar]

* Import Tab:
An improved version of what we have now, with support for importing
directories.

* Options Tab:
Same as what we have now.

The metadata editor would be a non-modal popup window since it can be
accessed from som many different places and you dont want it to get in
the way of other things you might be doing.

Details of each section is below.

Scheduler Status Bar
=====================
[TimeStart-TimeEnd] [Stop] [---Progress Bar---] [Time] [Title - Artist]

The [Stop] button will have a confirmation. It will also remove the
playlist from the slot. You cannot drag the ProgressBar.

We may want a [Pause|Play] button in the SchedulerPlaying bar, but
having it is a bit problematic. After you pause, there are multiple
ways to start playing again:
1) jump ahead so that the end time is still correct
2) continue playing at previous point, and shift all playlists
appropriately
3) continue playing at previous point, just fade out the end of the
playlist
In all cases, the playlist should fade back in.

Playlist Editor
===============
This is a combination of the Live Mode window and the playlist editor
window. There would be a visual indication of what is currently
playing. Playlists can be expanded to see what it inside of them using
a tree view.

Schedule Editor
===============
The schedule editor will look like the "daily view" of the HTML
interface: a calendar at the top to allow you to select the day, and
underneath there would be an hourly schedule on which you can drag and
drop playlists. When viewing the scheduler editor, the views of the
scratchpad and the search would change to only display playlists.
Calendar will highlight days that have schedules. Ability to remove
scheduled playlists, even ones that are playing.

Preview Bar
===========
The PreviewBar is located at the bottom to visually separate it with
live output. It would look similar to Amarok's play bar:
[Pause|Play] [Stop] [Rewind] [FastForward] [---Progress Bar---] [Time]
[Title - Artist]

import

Hi Paul,

I think we could make Studio into a usable Live Assist system with
relatively minor changes. It would be a huge waste to stop now, start
over from scratch, and spend months on a complete redesign. These are
the minor changes I have in mind:

Usage scenario:

1. The audio technician opens a file browser to a USB stick or a network
drive, selects the files prepared by the journalists, and drops them on
a desktop shortcut for the Mass Import script.

2. He starts up Studio, which opens the sub-windows to the configuration
in which he left them the previous day.

3a. The Search window has an option for searching for files added
recently. He finds the files he just added, and drags them over to the
Live Mode window.

3b. Optionally: searches for some more files, and adds these to the Live
Mode window as well.

3c. He adds some jingles from the Scratchpad to the Live Mode Window.

4. He rearranges the files in the Live Mode window to the correct order;
marks some of them as "beds", ie, background sounds which will loop
continuously when played.

5. He presses a (customizable) key to start playing the top item in the
Live Mode Window; this key would do this no matter which window is
selected. He can also double-click an item possibly different from the
top one, to play it out of order.

6. He logs out, exits Studio, exits the studio, and goes home.

The changes we'd need to implement for this are the following:

* Modify the mass import script to accept directories and files mixed
together (at the moment, you have to specify -f or -d).

* Remember the open/closed state of windows at logout.

* Implement a "search for recently added" feature in the Search window.

* Implement drag and drop between Studio windows.

* Forget the idea that everything touched goes to the Scratchpad
window, and use it as a jingle bank instead.

* Add an Automatic/Manual switch to the Live Mode window.

* Implement a global hotkey which activates the Play button in the
Live Mode window.

These are all small changes which can be done in the next weeks, instead
of months, and would noticeably improve the usability.

After this, there are (bigger) second tier features we can do:

* Allow for mass import directly into Studio.

* Implement an audio properties pop-up window for displaying (possibly
editing) metadata.

* Integrate the Scheduler into Studio, including a nicer Scheduler
window, with day view.

* Grey out instead of remove played items in the Live Mode window, and
allow the contents to be saved as a playlist metafile.

* Support for web stream inputs.

* Support for streaming the output to a web stream.

* Allow the user to save his user name, password and preferred
language, so in a single-user setting he wouldn't have to log in every
time he starts Studio.

* etc

Completely redesigning the interface to make it single-windowed, in my
mind, comes somewhere way down the list, after all of the above are
finished. Having said that, I _would_ like to rewrite Studio in
libglade: that would mean separating the code from the visual design, so
it would allow creative people to redraw windows (change color, spacing,
placement of widgets) without any change in the C++ code. That would be
a good thing, and I hope Sava can find the budget for it, but it
probably won't be easy.

Ferenc

import

I totaly agree with this. For having presented the software to some
people working in radio, I know they got confused with the multiple
windows. On the other hand, some other people do like that kind of
environment (such as the one proposed with Gimp)...

To me, the most important thing to enhance is the "live mode". In
fact, once your playlist is loaded and is put into "live mode", you
often need to change the order for songs, add some new, delete
others... I think that Rivendell do pretty well for this:
http://www.salemradiolabs.com/images/rdairplay1.png

With the queued songs on the left side of the screen and the kind of
"audio bank" on the other makes things really easy to understand
combined with some sort of up/down functionality to move songs.

Have a great new developing year,
----
Pierre-Luc Bacon
http://www.aqra.ca

2007/1/3, Paul Baranowski :
> On my way home for Christmas, my plane landed in Denver airport in the
> middle of a huge snowstorm. I still had a connecting flight, but all
> flights were cancelled by the time I got off the plane. I called to
> reschedule - the next flight I could get would be on December 26th, 6
> days later! Then I found out that all roads were closed as well.
> Looking outside you could see why - there was about 2 feet(60cm) of snow
> and counting. Luckily my destination was only an 8 hour drive away and
> my parents were able to drive to come pick me up...but that didnt happen
> till the next day. In the meantime, there were 4000 refugees in the
> airport - they were handing out blankets, everyone was buying food for
> fear of it running out, etc. Everyone found a place on the floor to
> sleep and camped out. While I was doing that, I wrote this up...
>
> ==========================
> Campcaster Studio Redesign
> ==========================
> First Draft: January 3, 2007
> Author: Paul Baranowski
>
> The Campcaster GUI is currently not aligned with user modes of
> operation. There are many windows, and these windows do not group
> common functions together. Two of the windows, the Scratchpad and the
> Search window, are always required for playlists, LiveMode, and
> Scheduler. Each user is required to devise their own layout of the
> windows. This makes for a steeper learning curve for the beginner.
> This document is meant to describe a way to simplify the user interface,
> but note that this is considered an early draft and is subject to
> change. All comments are welcome.
>
>
> Primary Functions
> =================
> The following are the "primary functions" of the Studio:
> 1) Create/edit a playlist
> 2) Schedule a playlist
> 3) Edit audio metadata
> 4) Import new audio files
>
> #1 and #2 *always* require the Scratchpad+Search (remember this point).
> #3 can be reached from Scratchpad, Search, #1, and #4.
>
> Notice that the concept of the "Live Mode" window is gone from this
> list. This is because it is encompassed by point #1 - why not just
> create a playlist and start playing it? This vastly simplifies things -
> no duplication of features between the "playlist editor" window and the
> "live mode" window; this will also automatically keep the history of any
> show you have done.
>
>
> Single-window Design
> ====================
> Currently it can take up to 6 clicks(one for each window) to bring
> Campcaster to the front. Due to this problem the Studio should become
> one main window for all primary functions. Having a single windows
> enables the application to cater to the primary functions more easily,
> as will be shown below. More minor functionality (i.e. less-frequently
> used), can be in sub-windows; for example, the options.
>
>
> Suggested Layout
> ================
> Suggested layout is like so:
> [Master Panel]
> [Scheduler Status Bar]
> [Tabs: Audio|Import|Options]
> [Tab Content]
>
> * Audio Tab:
> [Tabs: PlaylistEditor|ScheduleEditor] | [Scratchpad] | [Search]
> [Preview Bar]
>
> * Import Tab:
> An improved version of what we have now, with support for importing
> directories.
>
> * Options Tab:
> Same as what we have now.
>
> The metadata editor would be a non-modal popup window since it can be
> accessed from som many different places and you dont want it to get in
> the way of other things you might be doing.
>
> Details of each section is below.
>
> Scheduler Status Bar
> =====================
> [TimeStart-TimeEnd] [Stop] [---Progress Bar---] [Time] [Title - Artist]
>
> The [Stop] button will have a confirmation. It will also remove the
> playlist from the slot. You cannot drag the ProgressBar.
>
> We may want a [Pause|Play] button in the SchedulerPlaying bar, but
> having it is a bit problematic. After you pause, there are multiple
> ways to start playing again:
> 1) jump ahead so that the end time is still correct
> 2) continue playing at previous point, and shift all playlists
> appropriately
> 3) continue playing at previous point, just fade out the end of the
> playlist
> In all cases, the playlist should fade back in.
>
>
> Playlist Editor
> ===============
> This is a combination of the Live Mode window and the playlist editor
> window. There would be a visual indication of what is currently
> playing. Playlists can be expanded to see what it inside of them using
> a tree view.
>
>
> Schedule Editor
> ===============
> The schedule editor will look like the "daily view" of the HTML
> interface: a calendar at the top to allow you to select the day, and
> underneath there would be an hourly schedule on which you can drag and
> drop playlists. When viewing the scheduler editor, the views of the
> scratchpad and the search would change to only display playlists.
> Calendar will highlight days that have schedules. Ability to remove
> scheduled playlists, even ones that are playing.
>
>
> Preview Bar
> ===========
> The PreviewBar is located at the bottom to visually separate it with
> live output. It would look similar to Amarok's play bar:
> [Pause|Play] [Stop] [Rewind] [FastForward] [---Progress Bar---] [Time]
> [Title - Artist]
>
>

import

Great ideas Ferenc. As you pointed out, both ideas are compatible with
each other. I'll start a wiki page with these proposals.

Ferenc Gerlits wrote:
> Hi Paul,
>
> I think we could make Studio into a usable Live Assist system with
> relatively minor changes. It would be a huge waste to stop now, start
> over from scratch, and spend months on a complete redesign. These are
> the minor changes I have in mind:
>
> Usage scenario:
>
> 1. The audio technician opens a file browser to a USB stick or a network
> drive, selects the files prepared by the journalists, and drops them on
> a desktop shortcut for the Mass Import script.
>
> 2. He starts up Studio, which opens the sub-windows to the configuration
> in which he left them the previous day.
>
> 3a. The Search window has an option for searching for files added
> recently. He finds the files he just added, and drags them over to the
> Live Mode window.
>
> 3b. Optionally: searches for some more files, and adds these to the Live
> Mode window as well.
>
> 3c. He adds some jingles from the Scratchpad to the Live Mode Window.
>
> 4. He rearranges the files in the Live Mode window to the correct order;
> marks some of them as "beds", ie, background sounds which will loop
> continuously when played.
>
> 5. He presses a (customizable) key to start playing the top item in the
> Live Mode Window; this key would do this no matter which window is
> selected. He can also double-click an item possibly different from the
> top one, to play it out of order.
>
> 6. He logs out, exits Studio, exits the studio, and goes home.
>
> The changes we'd need to implement for this are the following:
>
> * Modify the mass import script to accept directories and files mixed
> together (at the moment, you have to specify -f or -d).
>
> * Remember the open/closed state of windows at logout.
>
> * Implement a "search for recently added" feature in the Search window.
>
> * Implement drag and drop between Studio windows.
>
> * Forget the idea that everything touched goes to the Scratchpad
> window, and use it as a jingle bank instead.
>
> * Add an Automatic/Manual switch to the Live Mode window.
>
> * Implement a global hotkey which activates the Play button in the
> Live Mode window.
>
> These are all small changes which can be done in the next weeks, instead
> of months, and would noticeably improve the usability.
>
> After this, there are (bigger) second tier features we can do:
>
> * Allow for mass import directly into Studio.
>
> * Implement an audio properties pop-up window for displaying (possibly
> editing) metadata.
>
> * Integrate the Scheduler into Studio, including a nicer Scheduler
> window, with day view.
>
> * Grey out instead of remove played items in the Live Mode window, and
> allow the contents to be saved as a playlist metafile.
>
> * Support for web stream inputs.
>
> * Support for streaming the output to a web stream.
>
> * Allow the user to save his user name, password and preferred
> language, so in a single-user setting he wouldn't have to log in every
> time he starts Studio.
>
> * etc
>
> Completely redesigning the interface to make it single-windowed, in my
> mind, comes somewhere way down the list, after all of the above are
> finished. Having said that, I _would_ like to rewrite Studio in
> libglade: that would mean separating the code from the visual design, so
> it would allow creative people to redraw windows (change color, spacing,
> placement of widgets) without any change in the C++ code. That would be
> a good thing, and I hope Sava can find the budget for it, but it
> probably won't be easy.
>
> Ferenc
>
>

import

hey everyone

i know i'm not a developer on the team and so i obviously don't
see/understand these things the way you do, but
the radio station i'm a part of could not work with campcaster, because it
failed to supply a comfortable/easy (or even suffice) solution for uploading
the programs we're running and providing the live broadcasters to upload a
whole folder of their songs into the scratch pad to be used while in live
mode. not to even mention being able to import the station songs to the
library and be able to random (or even without random) play the songs when
not having scheduled shows.

that's why i found the import to be the main issue - because we failed at
being able to _use_ campcaster at all because of it.

when i read all the discussion here i doubt whether the import is really the
problem, but i can't imagine how someone could work with campcaster when
they can't import a folder right, and have to upload song by song in the UI,
not to mention having to wait for track copy to be made whenever wanting to
add a broadcast (which is 1 hour at least - which means it could take up to
100MB or more) in order to play it at a specific time.

i've tried to look for explanation in the documentation online, but failed
to see why some people are apparently able to work with campcaster and my
station can't.

i would be mighty thankful if anyone could correct me on this and show me
what we're doing wrong. i know caring for my BS isn't a top (or even minor)
priority for campcaster but it is really important to us, since campcaster
seems like the solution we want and the only thing that bothers us is the
importing our recordings (songs, shows) into the library/scratchpad. even
the issues you all raised (which you know more about than i do) don't bother
us. we're at a desperate point, really.

thanks for reading/listening and sorry for the bitching and long email.

best regards,
sawyer.

On 1/6/07, Paul Baranowski wrote:
>
> Great ideas Ferenc. As you pointed out, both ideas are compatible with
> each other. I'll start a wiki page with these proposals.
>
>
> Ferenc Gerlits wrote:
> > Hi Paul,
> >
> > I think we could make Studio into a usable Live Assist system with
> > relatively minor changes. It would be a huge waste to stop now, start
> > over from scratch, and spend months on a complete redesign. These are
> > the minor changes I have in mind:
> >
> > Usage scenario:
> >
> > 1. The audio technician opens a file browser to a USB stick or a network
> > drive, selects the files prepared by the journalists, and drops them on
> > a desktop shortcut for the Mass Import script.
> >
> > 2. He starts up Studio, which opens the sub-windows to the configuration
> > in which he left them the previous day.
> >
> > 3a. The Search window has an option for searching for files added
> > recently. He finds the files he just added, and drags them over to the
> > Live Mode window.
> >
> > 3b. Optionally: searches for some more files, and adds these to the Live
> > Mode window as well.
> >
> > 3c. He adds some jingles from the Scratchpad to the Live Mode Window.
> >
> > 4. He rearranges the files in the Live Mode window to the correct order;
> > marks some of them as "beds", ie, background sounds which will loop
> > continuously when played.
> >
> > 5. He presses a (customizable) key to start playing the top item in the
> > Live Mode Window; this key would do this no matter which window is
> > selected. He can also double-click an item possibly different from the
> > top one, to play it out of order.
> >
> > 6. He logs out, exits Studio, exits the studio, and goes home.
> >
> > The changes we'd need to implement for this are the following:
> >
> > * Modify the mass import script to accept directories and files mixed
> > together (at the moment, you have to specify -f or -d).
> >
> > * Remember the open/closed state of windows at logout.
> >
> > * Implement a "search for recently added" feature in the Search
> window.
> >
> > * Implement drag and drop between Studio windows.
> >
> > * Forget the idea that everything touched goes to the Scratchpad
> > window, and use it as a jingle bank instead.
> >
> > * Add an Automatic/Manual switch to the Live Mode window.
> >
> > * Implement a global hotkey which activates the Play button in the
> > Live Mode window.
> >
> > These are all small changes which can be done in the next weeks, instead
> > of months, and would noticeably improve the usability.
> >
> > After this, there are (bigger) second tier features we can do:
> >
> > * Allow for mass import directly into Studio.
> >
> > * Implement an audio properties pop-up window for displaying (possibly
> > editing) metadata.
> >
> > * Integrate the Scheduler into Studio, including a nicer Scheduler
> > window, with day view.
> >
> > * Grey out instead of remove played items in the Live Mode window, and
> > allow the contents to be saved as a playlist metafile.
> >
> > * Support for web stream inputs.
> >
> > * Support for streaming the output to a web stream.
> >
> > * Allow the user to save his user name, password and preferred
> > language, so in a single-user setting he wouldn't have to log in every
> > time he starts Studio.
> >
> > * etc
> >
> > Completely redesigning the interface to make it single-windowed, in my
> > mind, comes somewhere way down the list, after all of the above are
> > finished. Having said that, I _would_ like to rewrite Studio in
> > libglade: that would mean separating the code from the visual design, so
> > it would allow creative people to redraw windows (change color, spacing,
> > placement of widgets) without any change in the C++ code. That would be
> > a good thing, and I hope Sava can find the budget for it, but it
> > probably won't be easy.
> >
> > Ferenc
> >
> >
>

import

"when i read all the discussion here i doubt whether the import is
really the problem, but i can't imagine how someone could work with
campcaster when they can't import a folder right, and have to upload
song by song in the UI, not to mention having to wait for track copy
to be made whenever wanting to add a broadcast (which is 1 hour at
least - which means it could take up to 100MB or more) in order to
play it at a specific time. "

With most radio automation software I have seen from now, you have do
to so (waiting for track copy to be made)... Campcaster isn't just a
"music player" as Rhythmbox or Amarok are after all. But I agree to
that it could be harder to prepare your programming without the random
play functionality.

2007/1/7, sawyer x :
> hey everyone
>
> i know i'm not a developer on the team and so i obviously don't
> see/understand these things the way you do, but
> the radio station i'm a part of could not work with campcaster, because it
> failed to supply a comfortable/easy (or even suffice) solution for uploading
> the programs we're running and providing the live broadcasters to upload a
> whole folder of their songs into the scratch pad to be used while in live
> mode. not to even mention being able to import the station songs to the
> library and be able to random (or even without random) play the songs when
> not having scheduled shows.
>
> that's why i found the import to be the main issue - because we failed at
> being able to _use_ campcaster at all because of it.
>
> when i read all the discussion here i doubt whether the import is really the
> problem, but i can't imagine how someone could work with campcaster when
> they can't import a folder right, and have to upload song by song in the UI,
> not to mention having to wait for track copy to be made whenever wanting to
> add a broadcast (which is 1 hour at least - which means it could take up to
> 100MB or more) in order to play it at a specific time.
>
> i've tried to look for explanation in the documentation online, but failed
> to see why some people are apparently able to work with campcaster and my
> station can't.
>
> i would be mighty thankful if anyone could correct me on this and show me
> what we're doing wrong. i know caring for my BS isn't a top (or even minor)
> priority for campcaster but it is really important to us, since campcaster
> seems like the solution we want and the only thing that bothers us is the
> importing our recordings (songs, shows) into the library/scratchpad. even
> the issues you all raised (which you know more about than i do) don't bother
> us. we're at a desperate point, really.
>
> thanks for reading/listening and sorry for the bitching and long email.
>
> best regards,
> sawyer.
>
>
> On 1/6/07, Paul Baranowski < paulbaranowski@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Great ideas Ferenc. As you pointed out, both ideas are compatible with
> > each other. I'll start a wiki page with these proposals.
> >
> >
> > Ferenc Gerlits wrote:
> > > Hi Paul,
> > >
> > > I think we could make Studio into a usable Live Assist system with
> > > relatively minor changes. It would be a huge waste to stop now, start
> > > over from scratch, and spend months on a complete redesign. These are
> > > the minor changes I have in mind:
> > >
> > > Usage scenario:
> > >
> > > 1. The audio technician opens a file browser to a USB stick or a network
> > > drive, selects the files prepared by the journalists, and drops them on
> > > a desktop shortcut for the Mass Import script.
> > >
> > > 2. He starts up Studio, which opens the sub-windows to the configuration
> > > in which he left them the previous day.
> > >
> > > 3a. The Search window has an option for searching for files added
> > > recently. He finds the files he just added, and drags them over to the
> > > Live Mode window.
> > >
> > > 3b. Optionally: searches for some more files, and adds these to the Live
> > > Mode window as well.
> > >
> > > 3c. He adds some jingles from the Scratchpad to the Live Mode Window.
> > >
> > > 4. He rearranges the files in the Live Mode window to the correct order;
> > > marks some of them as "beds", ie, background sounds which will loop
> > > continuously when played.
> > >
> > > 5. He presses a (customizable) key to start playing the top item in the
> > > Live Mode Window; this key would do this no matter which window is
> > > selected. He can also double-click an item possibly different from the
> > > top one, to play it out of order.
> > >
> > > 6. He logs out, exits Studio, exits the studio, and goes home.
> > >
> > > The changes we'd need to implement for this are the following:
> > >
> > > * Modify the mass import script to accept directories and files mixed
> > > together (at the moment, you have to specify -f or -d).
> > >
> > > * Remember the open/closed state of windows at logout.
> > >
> > > * Implement a "search for recently added" feature in the Search
> window.
> > >
> > > * Implement drag and drop between Studio windows.
> > >
> > > * Forget the idea that everything touched goes to the Scratchpad
> > > window, and use it as a jingle bank instead.
> > >
> > > * Add an Automatic/Manual switch to the Live Mode window.
> > >
> > > * Implement a global hotkey which activates the Play button in the
> > > Live Mode window.
> > >
> > > These are all small changes which can be done in the next weeks, instead
> > > of months, and would noticeably improve the usability.
> > >
> > > After this, there are (bigger) second tier features we can do:
> > >
> > > * Allow for mass import directly into Studio.
> > >
> > > * Implement an audio properties pop-up window for displaying (possibly
> > > editing) metadata.
> > >
> > > * Integrate the Scheduler into Studio, including a nicer Scheduler
> > > window, with day view.
> > >
> > > * Grey out instead of remove played items in the Live Mode window, and
> > > allow the contents to be saved as a playlist metafile.
> > >
> > > * Support for web stream inputs.
> > >
> > > * Support for streaming the output to a web stream.
> > >
> > > * Allow the user to save his user name, password and preferred
> > > language, so in a single-user setting he wouldn't have to log in every
> > > time he starts Studio.
> > >
> > > * etc
> > >
> > > Completely redesigning the interface to make it single-windowed, in my
> > > mind, comes somewhere way down the list, after all of the above are
> > > finished. Having said that, I _would_ like to rewrite Studio in
> > > libglade: that would mean separating the code from the visual design, so
> > > it would allow creative people to redraw windows (change color, spacing,
> > > placement of widgets) without any change in the C++ code. That would be
> > > a good thing, and I hope Sava can find the budget for it, but it
> > > probably won't be easy.
> > >
> > > Ferenc
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>

--
Pierre-Luc Bacon
www.aqra.ca

import

are we doing anything wrong?

On 1/7/07, Pierre-Luc wrote:
>
> "when i read all the discussion here i doubt whether the import is
> really the problem, but i can't imagine how someone could work with
> campcaster when they can't import a folder right, and have to upload
> song by song in the UI, not to mention having to wait for track copy
> to be made whenever wanting to add a broadcast (which is 1 hour at
> least - which means it could take up to 100MB or more) in order to
> play it at a specific time. "
>
> With most radio automation software I have seen from now, you have do
> to so (waiting for track copy to be made)... Campcaster isn't just a
> "music player" as Rhythmbox or Amarok are after all. But I agree to
> that it could be harder to prepare your programming without the random
> play functionality.
>
> 2007/1/7, sawyer x :
> > hey everyone
> >
> > i know i'm not a developer on the team and so i obviously don't
> > see/understand these things the way you do, but
> > the radio station i'm a part of could not work with campcaster, because
> it
> > failed to supply a comfortable/easy (or even suffice) solution for
> uploading
> > the programs we're running and providing the live broadcasters to upload
> a
> > whole folder of their songs into the scratch pad to be used while in
> live
> > mode. not to even mention being able to import the station songs to the
> > library and be able to random (or even without random) play the songs
> when
> > not having scheduled shows.
> >
> > that's why i found the import to be the main issue - because we failed
> at
> > being able to _use_ campcaster at all because of it.
> >
> > when i read all the discussion here i doubt whether the import is really
> the
> > problem, but i can't imagine how someone could work with campcaster when
> > they can't import a folder right, and have to upload song by song in the
> UI,
> > not to mention having to wait for track copy to be made whenever wanting
> to
> > add a broadcast (which is 1 hour at least - which means it could take up
> to
> > 100MB or more) in order to play it at a specific time.
> >
> > i've tried to look for explanation in the documentation online, but
> failed
> > to see why some people are apparently able to work with campcaster and
> my
> > station can't.
> >
> > i would be mighty thankful if anyone could correct me on this and show
> me
> > what we're doing wrong. i know caring for my BS isn't a top (or even
> minor)
> > priority for campcaster but it is really important to us, since
> campcaster
> > seems like the solution we want and the only thing that bothers us is
> the
> > importing our recordings (songs, shows) into the library/scratchpad.
> even
> > the issues you all raised (which you know more about than i do) don't
> bother
> > us. we're at a desperate point, really.
> >
> > thanks for reading/listening and sorry for the bitching and long email.
> >
> > best regards,
> > sawyer.
> >
> >
> > On 1/6/07, Paul Baranowski < paulbaranowski@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Great ideas Ferenc. As you pointed out, both ideas are compatible
> with
> > > each other. I'll start a wiki page with these proposals.
> > >
> > >
> > > Ferenc Gerlits wrote:
> > > > Hi Paul,
> > > >
> > > > I think we could make Studio into a usable Live Assist system with
> > > > relatively minor changes. It would be a huge waste to stop now,
> start
> > > > over from scratch, and spend months on a complete redesign. These
> are
> > > > the minor changes I have in mind:
> > > >
> > > > Usage scenario:
> > > >
> > > > 1. The audio technician opens a file browser to a USB stick or a
> network
> > > > drive, selects the files prepared by the journalists, and drops them
> on
> > > > a desktop shortcut for the Mass Import script.
> > > >
> > > > 2. He starts up Studio, which opens the sub-windows to the
> configuration
> > > > in which he left them the previous day.
> > > >
> > > > 3a. The Search window has an option for searching for files added
> > > > recently. He finds the files he just added, and drags them over to
> the
> > > > Live Mode window.
> > > >
> > > > 3b. Optionally: searches for some more files, and adds these to the
> Live
> > > > Mode window as well.
> > > >
> > > > 3c. He adds some jingles from the Scratchpad to the Live Mode
> Window.
> > > >
> > > > 4. He rearranges the files in the Live Mode window to the correct
> order;
> > > > marks some of them as "beds", ie, background sounds which will loop
> > > > continuously when played.
> > > >
> > > > 5. He presses a (customizable) key to start playing the top item in
> the
> > > > Live Mode Window; this key would do this no matter which window is
> > > > selected. He can also double-click an item possibly different from
> the
> > > > top one, to play it out of order.
> > > >
> > > > 6. He logs out, exits Studio, exits the studio, and goes home.
> > > >
> > > > The changes we'd need to implement for this are the following:
> > > >
> > > > * Modify the mass import script to accept directories and files
> mixed
> > > > together (at the moment, you have to specify -f or -d).
> > > >
> > > > * Remember the open/closed state of windows at logout.
> > > >
> > > > * Implement a "search for recently added" feature in the Search
> > window.
> > > >
> > > > * Implement drag and drop between Studio windows.
> > > >
> > > > * Forget the idea that everything touched goes to the Scratchpad
> > > > window, and use it as a jingle bank instead.
> > > >
> > > > * Add an Automatic/Manual switch to the Live Mode window.
> > > >
> > > > * Implement a global hotkey which activates the Play button in the
> > > > Live Mode window.
> > > >
> > > > These are all small changes which can be done in the next weeks,
> instead
> > > > of months, and would noticeably improve the usability.
> > > >
> > > > After this, there are (bigger) second tier features we can do:
> > > >
> > > > * Allow for mass import directly into Studio.
> > > >
> > > > * Implement an audio properties pop-up window for displaying
> (possibly
> > > > editing) metadata.
> > > >
> > > > * Integrate the Scheduler into Studio, including a nicer Scheduler
> > > > window, with day view.
> > > >
> > > > * Grey out instead of remove played items in the Live Mode window,
> and
> > > > allow the contents to be saved as a playlist metafile.
> > > >
> > > > * Support for web stream inputs.
> > > >
> > > > * Support for streaming the output to a web stream.
> > > >
> > > > * Allow the user to save his user name, password and preferred
> > > > language, so in a single-user setting he wouldn't have to log in
> every
> > > > time he starts Studio.
> > > >
> > > > * etc
> > > >
> > > > Completely redesigning the interface to make it single-windowed, in
> my
> > > > mind, comes somewhere way down the list, after all of the above are
> > > > finished. Having said that, I _would_ like to rewrite Studio in
> > > > libglade: that would mean separating the code from the visual
> design, so
> > > > it would allow creative people to redraw windows (change color,
> spacing,
> > > > placement of widgets) without any change in the C++ code. That
> would be
> > > > a good thing, and I hope Sava can find the budget for it, but it
> > > > probably won't be easy.
> > > >
> > > > Ferenc
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
> --
> Pierre-Luc Bacon
> www.aqra.ca
>

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

Poll

Top Posters