POWER STUDIO

Bulletin Builder

Bulletin Builder is a standalone tool that combines multiple audio segments into one rendered bulletin. It is commonly used together with the Item Download plugin.

The tool is installed as BulletinBuilder.exe in the Power Studio installation folder.

Configuration Files

Bulletin Builder uses an XML .config file that describes which items should be included.

Example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<bulletin>
  <items>
    <item action="Download" file="http://www.host.com/folder/file1.mp3" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
    <item action="Download" file="ftp://username:password@host.com/folder/file2.mp3" />
    <item action="Download" file="c:\folder\file3.mp3" />
    <item action="Rotate" file="c:\folder" />
  </items>
</bulletin>

Download loads a specific file from disk, UNC, HTTP or FTP. Rotate picks the next file from a folder.

When rotating through a folder, Bulletin Builder writes metadata to track which items have already been used. The Power Studio computer must have write permission to that folder.

Download and rotate items can be mixed. This makes it possible to use a fixed opener, rotate through several news segments, and then use a fixed closer.

Example:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<bulletin>
  <items>
    <item file="D:\News\Open.wav" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
    <item action="Rotate" file="D:\News\Items" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
    <item action="Rotate" file="D:\News\Items" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
    <item action="Rotate" file="D:\News\Items" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
    <item file="D:\News\Close.wav" startPos="0.0" stopPosFromEnd="0.0" />
  </items>
</bulletin>

Timing

Use startPos to trim the start of a segment and stopPosFromEnd to trim the end.

Bulletin Builder can also use start and end validity from Broadcast Wave Cart metadata, RIFF metadata, compatible editor metadata, or dates in the file name.

Examples:

2016-03-21_somefile.wma
somefile_2016-05-01.mp3
2016-03-01_somefile_2016-05-01.mp3

Validity dates are useful when items are recorded before they are allowed to air, or when an item should automatically expire after a specific date.

Command Line

Run help from a command prompt:

BulletinBuilder.exe --help

Common parameters:

  • -c points to the configuration file.
  • -o points to the rendered output file.
  • -f optionally forces the output format.

When called from the Item Download plugin, Power Studio can pass {input} and {output} wildcards to Bulletin Builder.

Example use in an Item Download workflow:

  1. Create one or more Bulletin Builder .config files.
  2. Point the Item Download source file to the .config file.
  3. Configure Bulletin Builder as the external process.
  4. Use {input} for the config file and {output} for the rendered bulletin.
  5. Use Test configuration and listen to the result.

For hourly bulletins, use file-name patterns such as News{Hour}.config so the macro can select a different configuration for each hour.