Radio Playouts
WideOrbit visual radio and now-playing graphics
WideOrbit visual radio puts the item playing in WO Automation for Radio on screen. VRA links playout metadata to song-title graphics and combines it with camera automation for the studio.
What VRA does with WideOrbit.
Playing and queued items stay separate
An item starting updates now playing. A queue edit updates coming-up data only when the feed supplies that data.
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
- WO Automation for Radio with access to the station metadata output.
- A connection that maps that output to VRA automation data.
- Network access from the connection to VRA Core.
Select the station output in WO Automation for Radio and configure its metadata feed for actual item starts.
Map the playing item separately from stack changes. Include artist, title and a current-item identifier, plus category when available.
Convert the exported payload to VRA Generic AutomationLink JSON and deliver it to the endpoint on VRA Core.
Test an automatic transition, a manual start and a stack edit. Confirm that editing the next item does not replace the on-air title in VRA.
WideOrbit questions
Does changing the WideOrbit stack change the on-screen song? +
Only a change to the playing item should replace now playing. The connection maps queued items separately so a stack edit does not put the wrong song on screen.
Does VRA change the WideOrbit log? +
No. The connection reads metadata for graphics. WO Automation for Radio remains in charge of the radio log and audio playback.
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.
WideOrbit
About WideOrbit.
WO Automation for Radio manages radio playout. VRA uses its on-air metadata to update radio graphics while WideOrbit keeps control of the audio log.
WideOrbit visual radio from playout events
The connection needs the item that started playing, not simply the first item waiting in a stack. Configure the station's metadata output around actual play events, then map artist, title and item identity into AutomationLink. Stack information can supply coming-up data when available, but must stay separate from the current item.
For an XML metadata output, the connection parses the export and sends VRA-formatted JSON to Core. Category values can select music graphics or hide titles during commercials. The installed WideOrbit version and enabled output determine which extra fields are available.
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.
RCS Zetta
Use RCS Zetta Live Metadata with VRA for automated radio graphics. Titles, categories and timing from each event fill overlays and trigger visuals.
Myriad Playout
Connect Myriad Playout to VRA for now-playing graphics and visual radio. Keep your audio workflow and add automatic studio camera switching.
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.