Chapter 3. Content Management with RDLibrary
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## Chapter 3. Content Management with RDLibrary

## 3.1. The Rivendell Library Structure and RDLibrary

### 3.1.1. Carts

The Rivendell Library consists of a set of objects called carts. A cart is a data container that holds either one or more pieces of audio (called an audio cart), or macro commands to the system (called a macro cart). The cart is the fundamental schedule building block in Rivendell, in that it is the smallest object or 'atom' that the outside world (like a traffic or music scheduler) can see.

RDLibrary, upon startup, will show the current list of all carts on the system (see below).

RDLibrary Main Window

A number of important attributes of carts can be seen from this illustration. First is the cart's number. Each cart in the Library gets assigned a unique number when it is created. This number can range between 000001 and 999999, and is the primary 'handle' by which both Rivendell and external systems (like traffic or music schedulers) refer to the cart. Very often, sites have specific rules concerning which types of audio (commercials, promos, music, etc) and macros get assigned which numbers. We'll cover this area in some detail when we discuss groups.

Immediately to the left of the cart number is an icon indicating the type of cart. Just to the right of the cart number is the average length of the cart. Except in the case of where timescaling is in use (in which case it will be indicated in blue numerals), this value is calculated automatically by the system.

Next comes various columns showing information from the cart label – Title, Artist, Client and Agency data, etc. This information can be edited by opening RDLibrary's Edit Cart dialog, either by double-clicking on the desired cart entry in the list, or by touching the desired cart entry and then touching the Edit button. In either case, you should get a dialog similar to that shown in the illustration.

The Edit Cart Dialog

Near the center of the dialog will be a dropdown box labeled `Schedule Cuts`. When set to `By Weight` (the default), this will allow cut rotation to be managed by means of daypart settings (see Section 3.1.2.2, “Cut Dayparting”). When set to `By Specified Order`, the precise rotation of the cuts within the cart can be set manually.

This is how an audio cart looks when loaded into the Edit Cart dialog. The upper half of the dialog is the cart label data. The meaning of most of these fields should be fairly self-evident, but a few call for special comment:

Enforce Length

  When checked, this indicates that timescaling should be applied to this cart when it is played in RDAirPlay, meaning that the cart will air at the length indicated by the Forced Length field, rather than the native length of the audio. Care is needed when implementing timescaling within a facility, as there are limits to how much the length can be altered, while only certain types of audio adapters support it at all. See the Rivendell Technical Guide for more information.

Group

  This is a pull down menu by which the group ownership for the cart can be set. The system administrator configures the list of available groups for each user in RDAdmin.

User Defined

  As the name implies, this field has no dedicated meaning to Rivendell itself, but is provided for each site to use as is seen fit.

The example in the illustration above shows an audio cart. As such, the bottom half of the dialog displays the lists of cuts contained within the cart.

### 3.1.2. Cuts

Each audio cart can contain one or more cuts. A Rivendell cut is an actual piece of audio, somewhat analogous to a 'track' on a CD. Up to 999 such cuts can exist within a single cart. Each line in the cut list contains information about the cut, including:

`WT`

  The weighting value for the cut. see Section 3.1.2.2, “Cut Dayparting” for discussion.

`ORDER`

  The order value for the cut. see Section 3.1.2.2, “Cut Dayparting” for discussion.

`DESCRIPTION`

  n arbitrary name, assignable by the user as an aid in keeping track of the content, it is roughly analogous to the 'Title' field in the cart label.

`LENGTH`

  The actual, measured play out length of the cut audio. This field is calculated automatically by the system.

`LAST PLAYED`

  he last date and time that the cut was aired by one of the on-air modules. Useful for keeping track of stale inventory.

`# OF PLAYS`

  The total number of times the cut has been aired by the one of the on-air modules.

`ORIGIN`

  The name of the host upon which the audio in the cut was last recorded, along with the date and time.

`OUTCUE`

  A user settable field. This line shows up in the RDAirPlay log when the cut is played.

`START DATE`

  The effective start date/time of the cut.

`END DATE`

  The effective end date/time of the cut.

`START DAYPART`

  The start time of the cut's daypart.

`END DAYPART`

  The start time of the cut's daypart.

`NAME`

  The internal CUTNAME of the cut as used in Rivendell's database.

`SHA1`

  The SHA-1 hash value of the cut's file in Rivendell's audio store.

#### 3.1.2.1. Multiple Cuts in a Cart

What happens when more than one cut is placed into a cart? The answer, in a word, is rotation. Rotation is the ability to schedule a single cart in a log, but to have that cart play out different material at different times. This capability has a myriad of uses. One of the simplest, common in commercial radio facilities, is to allow multiple versions of a spot to be placed into the system, while still allowing the traffic department to have to track and schedule only one cart number. A more sophisticated use involves use of the cut's dayparting settings, forcing different cuts to play based upon certain date/time criteria, such as day of the week or time of day. Cut dayparting is a very powerful feature in Rivendell, and is something we will discuss shortly.

To edit the properties of a cut, either double-click its entry in the cut list, or touch it once to highlight and then touch the `Cut Info/Record` button. The Record Dialog will now open up.

The Record Dialog

Roughly the upper third of the dialog is for editing the various cut parameters, the middle section is for configuring the cut's daypart settings, and the bottom third is a record machine that can be used both to record new audio into the system and to audition any recording already made.

#### 3.1.2.2. Cut Dayparting

For carts for which `Schedule Cuts` is set to `By Weight`,each cut in can be dayparted on the basis of these parameters:

- Weight
- Absolute Start and End Date-Time
- Relative Start and End Time
- Day of the Week

While not strictly a dayparting parameter, the `WEIGHT` setting of a cut can strongly influence the order (and hence placement) of when a particular cut will play. The weight value of each cut in a cart consistutes the numerator of a fraction, the denominator of which is the sum of the weight values of every cut in the cart. Rivendell's cut selection algorithm will seek to play each cut in like proportion. If it is important in some cases to be able to specify the precise order of each cut play-out, consider changing the `Schedule Cuts` dropdown to `By Specified Order`.

By default, each newly created cut in a `By Weight` cart starts out with dayparting disabled, meaning that it will be 'eligible to play' at all times. By clicking the `Enabled` radio button in the `Air Date/Time` box, an absolute start and end date for the cut can be entered, meaning that the cut will be prevented from airing in the on-air modules at any time outside the range of those date-times. Likewise, by selecting the `Enabled` radio button in the `Daypart` box, start and end times (relative to the day the cut is to air) can be entered. Cuts designated in this way will be allowed to air only within the specified range of times. Finally, by ticking or clearing the appropriate boxes in the `Day of the Week` box, a cut can be constrained to air only on certain days of the week.

All of the dayparting parameters can be used either singly or in combination with each other. When combined, the resulting 'eligibility' is calculated as the logical AND of the applied dayparting limits. For example, a cut with the 'Monday' box cleared will refuse to air on Mondays, regardless of whether any of the other daypart rules match.

It's important to remember that dayparting rules affect audio play out only within the on-air modules. You will still be able to audition and play the audio without limitation in the other Rivendell modules.

#### 3.1.2.3. Cart and Cut Color Coding

Each cart or cut in RDLibrary is assigned a color to indicate it's 'playability' for air, as follows:

NO COLOR

  Event will play normally

CYAN

  Event will not play (cut datetime is in the future)

RED

  Event will not play (outside of dayparting limits or audio is not available)

GREEN

  Event will play an Evergreen

It's important to remember that the color displayed for each event indicates playability at the instant that the event is being viewed.

#### 3.1.2.4. Recording and Auditioning a Cut in the Record Dialog

The lower third of the Record Dialog is used both to audition and record audio. To audition the cut, simply press the play button (the one with the triangular symbol). The button will illuminate, audio will show on the bar meter and start playing immediately. The audio will play to completion, unless either the stop button (square symbol) is pressed, or the Record Dialog is closed.

To record new material into a cut, first ensure that the `Channels` drop-down menu is set to record the appropriate number of channels, then touch the `Record` button (round symbol). If the cut contains audio that was recorded previously, a warning box will pop up at this point to inform you of this and to give you a chance to abort the recording without erasing what was previously recorded. If `Yes` is selected here, the previous recording will be overwritten and no longer accessible. The `Record` button will now be illuminated steadily, while the `Play` button will be flashing, indicating that the record machine is in 'ready' mode. The bar meter will also be active to indicate input levels, and this is the point where you want to verify that your levels are correct, with peaks just into the yellow area being optimal. Nothing is actually being recorded just yet.

We have two options for actually starting the record machine. We can start it manually by pressing the `Play` button, at which point the machine will immediately begin recording, or we can set the `Record Mode` drop-down menu to the `VOX` (short for voice activated) setting. When in `VOX` mode, the record machine will start automatically as soon as it senses the presence of audio at the input.

Once started, recording will continue until either the `Stop` button is pushed, or the maximum allowed length for a manual recording (set by the system administrator) has been reached. Once stopped, if the `AutoTrim` drop-down menu has been set to `On`, the Start and End markers will be automatically set to the beginning and end of detected audio within the cut. (We will discuss Markers in detail when we get to the section on the Edit Markers dialog).

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