Radio Playouts
DigaSystem visual radio and now-playing graphics
DigaSystem visual radio puts the item on air into the picture. VRA uses your DigAS playout information for song titles and item-based graphics, alongside microphone-driven camera switching.
What VRA does with DAVID DigaSystem.
The on-air channel is the source
Read the station channel that actually feeds the broadcast. A production playlist or archive export must not drive the on-air title.
Graphics follow the item
Link title and artist to text layers in the Visual Designer. The values change when the next on-air item reaches VRA.
Music and commercials apart
Map the categories supplied by the feed to VRA item groups. Use those groups to show a song title during music and hide it during commercials.
Cameras follow the conversation
Add microphone channels to Audio Triggers and connect your ATEM, vMix or OBS. Camera switching uses the microphones separately from the playout metadata.
How to set it up.
Requirements
- Access to the DigaSystem on-air metadata and export configuration.
- An export-to-VRA field mapping for the installed DigaSystem workflow.
- VRA Core reachable from the metadata connection on the studio network.
Identify the DigaSystem playout channel and its on-air metadata source with the station engineer.
Configure an on-air export for that channel. Where BUS is used, select an export task and trigger that follow actual playout changes.
Map the export fields to VRA artist, title and current-item identity. Parse XML before sending it to the Generic AutomationLink JSON endpoint on VRA Core.
Test a normal transition, a manual start and an interrupted item. Verify the current item in VRA before connecting graphics and item-group conditions.
DAVID DigaSystem questions
Can VRA use a DigaSystem XML export? +
Yes, through a connection that parses the export and maps its fields to VRA automation data. The export must describe the item on air, not only the planned playlist.
Is a BUS export enough for now-playing graphics? +
Only when the configured task and trigger supply current playout information. BUS also exports other data, so the on-air source must be selected for the station.
Does this replace my radio automation? +
No. Your radio automation keeps playing the audio and managing its log. VRA reads the on-air information and uses it for the video side of the show.
Does now-playing data also switch the cameras? +
Now-playing data identifies the item, not the person speaking. Connect the studio microphones to Audio Triggers for speaker-driven camera switching.
DAVID Systems
About DAVID DigaSystem.
DAVID DigaSystem covers radio production and playout. VRA adds automated radio graphics from the station's on-air metadata, with the audio log remaining in DigaSystem.
DigaSystem visual radio from the on-air feed
The connection starts with the station's playout configuration. DAVID's Broadcast Utility Server supports export tasks, but an exported media record or planned rundown does not by itself identify the item currently on air. Select an export tied to the actual playout state and map its fields to VRA.
The connection translates artist, title and item identity into AutomationLink data. Include duration and category where the source provides them. An XML export needs parsing and mapping; VRA's generic text reader does not read arbitrary DigAS XML. Visual Designer uses the resulting values in the station's graphics.
What you can do with this connection
The products behind it.
More integrations.
Inbound HTTP
Send now-playing data to VRA over HTTP from any playout system: post the current and upcoming items as JSON and your radio graphics follow the show.
Dalet
Connect Dalet radio playout to VRA for visual radio and now-playing graphics. Song titles follow the on-air feed without replacing your audio workflow.
CGI dira
Connect CGI dira to VRA for visual radio, now-playing graphics and camera automation. Keep your radio playout and build the video workflow around it.
Check your studio setup with us.
Tell us your camera models, video switcher and radio automation. We will check the connections and show you the workflow that fits your station.