Welcome < Configuration < Stations < ETMs & Fill

ETMs & Fill

The ETMs & Fill tab is used to configure the settings for Exact Time Marker events and Fill. From this tab the user can configure the Top of Hour Exact Timer Marker type, the Soft ETM window for log execution and how to execute Exact Time Marker events in Live Assist Mode. This tab is also used to select the category to use for Spot Block Fill and Fill to meet the ETM.

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TOH ETM Type

The Top of Hour marker is treated as a Comment unless this option is set to Soft, Hard, Reset or Hit. For more information on ETM Types see the Exact Time Marker section of this guide. This setting defaults to Reset. When the TOH ETM type is set, the Top of Hour markers in the Log will show the Gap Time for the hour. When the TOH ETM type is set to None, no Gap Time is shown in the Top of Hour marker in the Log.

Soft ETM Window, Early: X Late: Y (seconds)

The 'Soft ETM Window' option is used when a Soft ETM is scheduled in the log for the station. If the log is under filled by less than the ETM window stated here, then the event after the Soft ETM will be started and hour fill will not occur. If an event is to start within the Soft ETM window and has more audio after the end of the ETM than before, then this event will be skipped and the event after the Soft ETM will be started. For instance, if the Soft ETM window is one minute and the event that is to start is three minutes, there will be two minutes of audio left after the ETM. Therefore, Zetta will skip this event and play the next event after the Soft ETM.

When within the window, prefer Closest/Over/Under

The 'When within the window, prefer Closet/Over/Under' option works with the Soft ETM Window setting above to determine how the Sequencer will hit the Soft ETM marker.

If no Soft ETM window is defined (0/0), then this setting does NOT apply and Zetta will use the legacy default Soft ETM behavior which means the log will stay overscheduled but not by more than one event.

If Soft ETM window is defined and the log is overscheduled and starts dropping events:

• If there are NO over/under combinations within the ETM window, Zetta will fall back to the above legacy default Soft ETM behavior.
• If there ARE one or more over/under combinations within the ETM window, the 'When within the window, prefer' setting is applied:

Over - If Over is selected, Zetta will keep the extra events to stay over but while within the ETM window, Zetta will NOT try to eliminate extra events that may exist while still staying over.

Under - If Under is selected, Zetta will keep on eliminating events until the window is no longer overfilled but still within the ETM window.

Closest - If Closest is selected, if multiple over/under options exist, Zetta picks the one closest to the Soft ETM time, while still within the ETM window. So based on the size of the window and the length of the events in the log, multiple events can start and end within the window (e.g. your window is large but you have a bunch of short events). In this case Zetta will drop as many events as possible to bring the log closest to the time of the ETM. Zetta can also go under as long as it is within the window; e.g. with a 20s window that means that getting a gap of -5s is better than an overlap of +18s, so we go with -5s as it brings the log closer to the target time of the ETM.

Hard ETM Fade Start Offset

The Hard ETM Fade Start Offset is used to set the time, in seconds, for how early the sequencer is to start fading audio prior to a Hard ETM. With no offset the Hard ETM will execute at the time specified (8:00 for example) and any audio currently playing will fade out at that point. With an offset, the fade executes slightly earlier and any audio currently playing is faded by the time the ETM executes. This value must be less than or equal to the Fade-Out Duration set in the Playback tab of the Station Configuration. 

Execute ETM events in Live Assist Mode

The Execute ETM events in Live Assist Mode option is typically used with Backtiming. When this option is selected the user is presented with two options for playback when the ETM executes:

Resume playback if stopped when Soft ETM executes - When this option is selected and the Sequencer is in Live Assist mode all fixed events will play before the next Soft ETM. If this option is enabled when the sequencer is in Live Assist mode the Soft ETM events will execute the same as if the sequencer were in Auto mode.

Resume playback if stopped when Hard ETM executes - When this option is selected and the Sequencer is in Live Assist mode all fixed events will play before the next Hard ETM. If this option is enabled when the sequencer is in Live Assist mode the Hard ETM events will execute the same as if the sequencer were in Auto mode.

Soft or Hard ETM with Execute ETM events in Live Assist Mode enabled:

Scenario 1 - Events marked as Fixed with a Hard ETM

Scenario 2 - Events marked as Fixed with a Soft ETM

Scenario 2 - No Events marked as Fixed with a Hard ETM

Scenario 3 - No Events marked as Fixed with a Soft ETM

Execute ETM events in Network Mode

When the Execute ETM events in Network Mode option is selected, the user is presented with two options for playback when the ETM executes:

Resume playback if stopped when Soft ETM executes – When this option is enabled and the station is in Network mode and idle (not playing a Log Event), executing a Soft ETM will drop anything prior to the ETM and start playing the Log Event immediately after it. The event that needs to fire should be immediately adjacent to the Soft ETM; if it is not (say there is a Comment), the playable event (e.g. a Spot Block) will not be fired. Only the next event will play when in Network mode. When the event is finished, all playback will stop as all events are treated as having a stop chain in Network Mode.

Resume playback if stopped when Hard ETM executes - When this option is enabled and the station is in Network mode and idle (not playing a Log Event), executing a Hard ETM will drop anything prior to the ETM and start playing the Log Event immediately after it. The event that needs to fire should be immediately adjacent to the Hard ETM; if it is not (say there is a Comment), the playable event (e.g. a Spot Block) will not be fired. Only the next event will play when in Network mode. When the event is finished, all playback will stop as all events are treated as having a stop chain in Network Mode.

ETM events can remove Fixed Items

Enabling the ETM events can remove Fixed Items option, will allow Zetta to remove any fixed events from the Log in the situation where there are more fixed events scheduled than there is time remaining before ETM.

Fill

The Fill section is used to set the Fill Category for fill to ETM and for Spot Block fill. The Fill Category can be set from the assets types of Song, Link, Custom Asset Types, Voice Tracks or Quick Records. Categories can be created in Zetta in the Station Specific tab of the Metadata card, however when the system is integrated with GSelector the song and link categories are created in the GSelector database and then synced to Zetta. The Category field will display the short and long name of the category when GSelector is integrated. If a Fill Category setting is changed, Zetta will re-evaluate the fill of the Log based on the new category assignment and reapply the fill using the new category selected. The Fill section is also used to select the Fill Strategy to use for Spot Block Fill and ETM Fill. A Fill Position event can be used to control where Zetta is to place the fill assets. For more information on changing the Fill Categories see the Fill Category Tips section of this guide.

ETM Fill Category

The ETM Fill Category field is used to specify the category used to fill audio to meet exact time markers (ETMs) with a negative Gap time. Fill is initiated when the station Sequencer is in Auto mode and the station is about to run out of scheduled audio. Fill does not occur until the hour with an exact time marker is about to run out of audio. If there is a negative gap time for a Soft or Hard ETM of 10 minutes then 13 minutes before the ETM, Zetta will fill to the ETM. This setting can also be changed using the Sequencer.SetEtmFillCategory Zetta Command. By default, the Fill position is above the consecutive sequence of Fixed events that are closest to the Soft / Hard ETM that the Sequencer is trying to hit. Where Fixed events are used in the log, Zetta will use Backtiming to ensure the fixed events play. Also, keep in mind that Fill will not kick in if any “predropped” events are found in the log segment. This field allows the user to type in the name of a Category. As the user begins to type, Zetta will start filtering for the characters typed and highlight the results. To turn off ETM Fill set this field to (None).

Spot Block Fill Category

The Spot Block Fill Category field is used to specify the category used to fill audio to meet set Spot Block length in the log. Fill events automatically have a Timing of stretch when Zetta adds them to the log. This setting can also be changed using the Sequencer.SetSpotBlockFillCategory Zetta Command. By default, Zetta will fill at the End of the Spot Block unless a Fill Position event is used to control where Zetta is to place the fill assets. Spot Block fill is performed for all Spot Blocks that are within the Sequencer queue. Zetta sequencer will adjust the fill assets as events are added, skipped, ejected or deleted by the user to ensure the fill length of the Spot Block is met. This field allows the user to type in the name of a Category. As the user begins to type, Zetta will start filtering for the characters typed and highlight the results. To turn off Spot Block Fill set this field to (None). The Split Behavior of the Spot Block, the Fill Length of the Spot Block, the existence of Child Events in the block and the Use longest Spot Block length will have an impact on the driver of the Spot Block fill.

Spot Block Driver Logic

The Split Behavior of the Spot Block, the Use longest Spot Block length, the Fill Length and the existence of Child Events in the block will have an impact on what controls the length of the Spot Block.

This can be ‘Parent Driven’ meaning the Spot Block dictates the length, or ‘Children Driven’ meaning the sum of all the Log Events inside the Spot Block dictates the length. The following table shows possible Scenarios and the Outcome.

Fill Strategy

The Fill strategy is used for both ETM Fill and Spot Block Fill. The Fill Strategy drop-down can be used to select one of the following options:

Favor Variety - When Zetta fills, it will follow these steps:

1. Zetta will request all assets in the selected category with a length less than the fill length * 2.
2. This will return a list in most rested order (average between asset last play and artist/sponsor last play).
3. Then Zetta will use the top 66% based on most rested, sorted by length to match the calculated fill length +/- the stretch/squeeze percentage.
4. If that fails, Zetta will then increase the top range by 5 seconds until it finds a match.
5. Zetta will find up to three matches within the range then randomly pick one of the three assets found.

Favor Fewest Fill events - When this option is selected, Zetta will follow the above steps but will pick the solution with the smallest number of events; in the case where there are MULTIPLE solutions with the smallest number of fill events Zetta will pick a random event.

Number of Fill Solutions to Calculate (Change only under RCS Supervision)

The 'Number of Fill Solutions To Calculate' setting can be used to adjust the number of solutions Zetta will calculate to find the fill event to use in the Fill Category. The default setting is 3. This setting should only be change under RCS Supervision as it can slow the performance of Zetta. Contact RCS Support for assistance.

Favor Long Items for Gap Times Exceeding x Seconds

In cases where the gap time is substantial, it is possible to end up filling a two-minute gap with four 30-second promos. This may not be desirable in most cases. With the 'Favor Long Items for Gap Times Exceeding' setting Zetta can OVERFILL the gap with an element but fade out early. This setting applies to both ETM and Spot Block Fill.

Examples:

If the value is set to 120s (= 2 min) AND the gap Zetta is filling is less than 120s, then Zetta will execute the Fill logic based on the selected Fill Strategy.

If the value is set 120s (= 2 min) AND the gap Zetta is filling is greater than or equal to 120s, then Zetta will Favor Long Items for the Gap Time.

This option is typically used with splits to fill with longer events such as songs that can fade out early rather than filling with multiple links. When this setting is empty (null) this feature is ignored. The default setting is null.

Avoid dead air for ETM Fill (may overfill)

Use the Avoid dead air for ETM Fill (may overfill) option to have Zetta always fill the gap to avoid dead air.

For Example: This may happen when there is a very small gap of time to a Hard ETM (e.g., 10 seconds) and only longer events are available (e.g. 4+ minutes) in the selected ETM Fill Category.

Selecting this option in this scenario would tell Zetta to fill the gap to prevent dead air. The event used to fill the gap will fade out when the ETM is fired.

Fill Category Tips

Although Zetta does not have a grid-like control on which a user could define what categories are used across a week, we can still emulate the functionality using Commands in Zetta.

Execute Command Control Event placed in the Log

To change the Fill Category quickly on a station insert a Control Event into a Log. This event can be placed in a Station Log or a Recorder Log.

1. Right-click anywhere in a Log or Recorder Log
2. Select Insert Control Event from the resulting menu
3. Select Execute Command from the Insert Control Event consideration window
4. In the New Execute Command Properties window select a Hard Time then select the Time for the Execute Command
5. Select the Task Type of Sequencer.SetETMFillCategory or Sequencer.SetSpotBlockFillCategory
   
6. Select the Station
7. Select the Category to switch to on the Station selected
8. Drag and Drop the Execute Command from the Insert Control Event consideration window to the Log

Macro Control Event placed in the Clock

1. From the Configuration Menu select Macro Configuration
   
2. Select a Station from the Select Station drop-down
3. Click the Add Macro button
   
4. Enter a Name for the new Macro
5. Select how to Execute this Macro.
6. Click OK
7. Select Execute Command from the Insert Control Event consideration window
8. In the New Execute Command Properties select the Task Type of Sequencer.SetETMFillCategory or Sequencer.SetSpotBlockFillCategory
9. Select the Station
10. Select the Category to switch to on the Station selected
11. Drag and drop the desired event into the Event window from the consideration window.
12. Add additional events to the Macro as needed
13. Select Clocks or Recorder Clocks from the Modules menu
14. Select the Station
15. Select the Day
16. Right-click a location in the Clock
17. Select Insert Control Event
18. Select Macro from the consideration window
19. Select Hard Time in the properties window and enter a time if the Macro is to start at a specific time.
20. Select the Macro created from the properties window
21. Double-click the Macro in the consideration window
22. The selected Macro is inserted into the clock at the location selected.

Zetta Macro Event placed in the GSelector Clock

Once a macro has been created using the Macro Configuration option in the Configuration Menu of Zetta^® the user can then Publish the Control Events to GSelector^®.

1. From the Configuration Menu select Macro Configuration
2. Select a Station from the Select Station drop-down
3. Click the Add Macro button
4. Select how to Execute this Macro.
5. Enter a Name for the new Macro
6. Click OK
7. Select Execute Command from the Insert Control Event consideration window
8. In the New Execute Command Properties select the Task Type of Sequencer.SetETMFillCategory or Sequencer.SetSpotBlockFillCategory
9. Select the Station
10. Select the Category to switch to on the Station selected
11. Drag and drop the desired event into the Event window from the consideration window.
12. Add additional events to the Macro as needed
13. Once a macro has been created it will need to be published to GSelector. Select System from the Configuration menu
14. Select the GSelector tab
15. Select the Sync Categories and Control Events button
16. Click OK to the Control Events Published Successful message.
17. Click OK to the All Stations Categories Published Successful message.
18. The Macros can now be scheduled as a Zetta Macro Control in the GSelector Clock. Go to Clocks in GSelector.
19. Select the position or add a position to the Clock. Select the event type Control.
20. Select the configured Zetta Macro.

Using a GPIO Command Mapping to change the Fill Category

1. From the Configuration Menu, click System.
2. Click the Command Mappings tab
3. Click Add GPIO Event Mapping option from the Add new mapping drop-down button.
4. Enter a Name for the GPIO Mapping (default is New Mapping GPIO).
5. Enter a Description for the GPIO Mapping (optional)
6. Using the Processed By drop-down select the computer that has the device installed and configured, see the Adding GPIO Devices section of this guide for details on configuring a GPIO device for a computer.
7. Select the Input Trigger Mappings (GPIs) tab
8. Click the Add New Mapping button
9. Select Enabled to enable the GPIO mapping
10. Enter a Name for the mapping
11. Select the Context
12. In the GPI Trigger column, use the drop-down to select the Input to use.
13. Select the Execute Command field
14. In the Properties pane select the Task Type Sequencer.SetETMFillCategory or Sequencer.SetSpotBlockFillCategory
15. Select the Station
16. Select the Fill Category
    
17. Click Save to save the mappings. 

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