Webcasting Step-by-Step

Timeline

• 12 pm Add stories to the day's broadcast, if the executive producer hasn't already. Write clever headlines and gripping blurbs for each story, including the two news breaks. The content management system automatically enters each reporter's name, so you don't have to.
• 2 pm Post the rundown online through the content management system as a "pre-broadcast." Update as necessary if the rundown changes order or stories get pulled. Link to the radio home page.
• 2- 3:30 pm Test sound levels on Real Producer while the hosts practice reading. Stop testing at 3:50 and be in touch with the studio about actual start time of the show--employ a friend as a runner, if needed. Borrow Prof. Dinges' stopwatch, or use your own watch to record start times.
• 3:55 pm Be at the encoding machine, ready to begin recording the broadcast.
• 3:59 pm Begin encoding. At the same moment, start the stopwatch. Note each story's start time. Stop encoding as broadcast concludes. Save file to real server, check each piece online.

I. Preliminary Web Editing — 12 pm - 2 pm

1. Log on to the radio content management system with your University ID (the beginning of your Columbia e-mail address) and password. For more help with the content management system, read the system's help guide. Note: Links to the content management system and to the help guides will always be on the menu to your left.
2. The broadcast for the day should pop up. Click on "Edit."
3. Fill in the names of the hosts, executive producers, etc.
4. Now you can begin adding stories to the broadcast. Check with the executive producers on the status of all the stories--are they still running? Is anything going to be dropped? (It's a good idea to write your headlines and blurbs in Word, then past it inot the CMS, or you can just write directly into the CMS). Arrange the stories in the proper order. Once you've reviewed and copy-edited your text, and made sure your headlines are snappy, you're ready to publish online.
5. Go to the drop-down menu labeled "Index" and select "Broadcast." Selecting "Publish Brodcast As:" will allow you to publish the rundown online. Since you are not yet streaming live audio, select "Pre-Broadcast" and click Go. The system will give you an option to preview your rundown. Review the rundown again and make any final editorial changes. If you have time before sound check, take a break.

II. Sound Check and Encode Sound — 2 - 3:30 pm

1. Confirm hard wire connection from studio board to the Mackie board at workstation 18 and test stream with RealAudio player at least one hour prior to broadcast. The patch cable in the sound room connects from any board "out" signal to "in" signals for Web and Seminar Room at the bottom of the console.
2. Get a stopwatch (Professor Dinges has one) to record the start times of each piece in the broadcast.
   
3. Open Real Producer from the Dell PC desktop.
   
4. Choose "New Session" from the file menu.
   
5. Confirm the following setting for a media device to capture an audio source for a live broadcast:

streaming.jrn.columbia.edu
7070
liveradio.rm
For Testing, uncheck "Archive" and "Live" -- just make a Real Media file -- and save it to the desktop.

6. Settings: adjust title, date and copyright information as necessary. The Real Media settings should be Multi-Rate, with audio format set to Voice with Background Music. Under Target Audience, select for 56k modem, dual ISDN and 246k DSL.
7. For a sound test, select "Real Media File," name it test.rm and save it to the desktop. You will need to readjust these settings for the actual broadcast.
   
8. Press "Start" to record a test run on Real Producer while hosts practice in the studio and set your sound levels for broadcast. Green and red indicators of line level will appear in Real Producer. A large percentage of your sound should peak just below red, in the green range.
9. Adjust the sound accordingly on the sound board on the adjacent computer, the Mackie board on workstation 18. The "Main Mix" knob on the lower left should be straight up and down --pointing to unity gain. Adjust the trim above the "Control Room" knob until the sound is loud enough, but not too hot. Talk to the control room, hosts and board person to adjust sound to an optimum level--they should do most of the adjusting from the board. You should only make minimal adjustments in Real Producer's volume controls (located under Tools). If necessary, adjust Line Volume slightly.
10. Stop testing for sound about fifteen minutes to 4 pm, and get ready to encode the live broadcast. For the live broadcast, the settings must be re-adjusted in Real Producer-- "Archive" and "Live Broadcast" must be checked.
11. All audio files are saved in the appropriate program folder in streaming (S:). e.g.: My Computer/streaming/radio/workshop2004/2004-02-14.rm. Take care not to overwrite the previous broadcast. This saves the audio file to the audio server. The archived version will be save on the desktop in the "Radio Real Media Files" folder.

III. The Broadcast — 4 pm

1. One minute before the broadcast begins, edit the show page to reflect that the broadcast is underway. In the content management system, click on "Publish Broadcast As:", select "Live-Broadcast" and click GO, and then "upload." When you select Live-Broadcast, the system will make a link to the streaming audio file coming from the studio so anyone online can listen in.
2. Be in touch with the board room about the start of the program--they need to let you know when to start encoding. Start encoding (by pressing "start" in Real Producer) 30 seconds before the broadcast begins, before the filler music starts.
3. Check the radio Web site to make sure the link works and that you can hear the broadcast on another station.
4. If the broadcast has been delayed beyond the posted start time, edit the Web page to reflect the later expected start time.
5. Start the stopwatch when the intro music begins.
6. During the broadcast, take note of the exact start time of each new piece, including the news. Insert these start times into the content management system. Save changes. These will not be exact, but you can edit them later.
7. Stories are often dropped from the broadcast entirely. Be sure to remove stories that go unused. If you delete a story from the broadcast, the story will remain in the system and can be used in the next broadcast.
   
8. Stop recording after all sound is terminated including any musical outro.
9. Real Producer will take a few minutes to finish encoding the broadcast. Then it's done, move the day's .rm file from the "Radio Real Media Files" folder on the desktop to the streaming server in My Computer/radio on 'streaming' in the workshop2004 folder..
   
10. In the content management system, go to "Publish Broadcast As:" and select Post-Broadcast. This will redirect the link from the live streaming audio to the archived file.

V. Editing the Web page after broadcast

1. Find the audio file on the deasktop radio folder under the day's date. If there is any dead space at the beginning of the broadcast, you can edit it out in Real Producer, although this will change the start times for each piece, so be sure to readjust. Copy the audio file to the real server (Look for it on My Computer. The server is called "'radio' on 'streaming'". Look for the Radio folder, and put the file in Workshop 2004. My Computer/streaming/radio/workshop2004/YYYY-MM-DD.rm)
2. Test each piece with RealAudio software, to be sure the start times are accurate for each story--Real Player has a time code built into it, so the start times will be quite accurate. Adjust accordingly. Upload any changed ram files in the content management system.
3. If there were any mishaps with the beginning of the broadcast (i.e., too much dead air before the show, hosts, coughing before the show, etc.) you may edit the real media file with Real Producer's rudimentary sound editing program. (File>Edit>)