Bizywk Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 We're past our first Halloween and Christmas display set-up hurdles and now we're looking at additional fine tuning to make the experience look as good as we can. We had some really nice, short voiceovers made to help remind visitors to be kind to our neighbors, watch out for the running trick-or-treaters, use your running lights only, please keep off the grass etc. One of the things we've noticed is that our "Neighbors" and other voiceovers that go out in between sequences really needed some minimal visual twinkling of the lights so that folks would know the display was still working. The other thing is that our Tune To sign is on an old school light sensitive timer (because it takes up more power than we're comfortable with on a single LOR channel) and the timer doesn't sync well with the display's show hard start/stop time of 6:30pm so we're looking at putting out audio only between the two events, or even in the last few daylight hours before the show. Even though we're not profiting from this display, we're not quite clear on the "Fair Use" of music that isn't embedded in a sequence. We certainly don't want to run afoul of anyone so we figured we'd better do a little more digging. We came across a mention of Zara Radio in an old LOR forums post and looked them up on-line. There wasn't much detail on the forum, but Zara's website did indicate that it was originally designed for real radio stations and now is also commonly used in business to provid Muzak like internal audio/music. There appears to be a free streaming music add-on and local weather service information which could be programmed and allows us to program in the transmission of our own showtime information voiceover. It appears that this software will resolve our issue. Does anyone know anything about this service or how best to interface it with the showtime editor? It appears to be downloadable from a number of reputable companies free of charge. Does anyone have information on whether it's safe to use? There's never a free lunch, what's their hook? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherealone Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 I have used Zara for more than 6 years now....My first year I tried to use the DTMF tones to start and stop the radio stream when my show was running...until I kept having false alarms where sounds/tones within the show itself were being detected and triggering the radio feed to resume (nothing like driving up and tuning into your "show" only to hear overlapped audio playing!)....so I simply created simple timings (stop the radio feed 15 secs before showtime and resume 1 minute after the last show runs at end of each night).... As far as Zara itself....I can not say enough positive things about the program...and i am using a free version that is now years old! I have a built sequence of songs and bumpers (recorded radio announcments, time, temperature, etc). The played around with trying to leverage an internet stream for songs my first year as well...but A) I couldnt ever get it quite to work properly (doesnt mean you cant, just means I gave up on it) and I liked the idea of keeping my radio feed "my own". So I took all the holiday CD's I had...which remarkably turned out to be alot...ripped them to a HD on my computer (now have over 4-500 song library) and Zara just randomly picks songs from the pile! My drops/bumpers as well as the time/temp all were done by Kevin (The Demented Elf). He offers several DERN (Demented Elf Radio Network) pre-made packages if you want to go that route...interestingly enough, he also has a simple internet stream that you could prob hook up to Zara (it has very minimal commercials on it so even I might consider it if i was just starting out). Again, if you want to leverage your transmitter setup for when the show isnt running, I highly recommend Zara... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 I agree completely with the gentleman from Texas. Zara Radio is the best! I've been using it for the last five years and it has always met or exceeded my needs. I haven't gotten into the DTMF tones, nor have I felt the need to include time and temp (people can pretty easily figure that out for themselves) but for running music before and/or after the show it can't be beat. And the price is most definitely right. The software is solid - even their beta releases. Don't over-think it. Keep it simple. Give it a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pstigerfan Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 This will be the second year with using Zara. I'm also using the free version, and had difficulty figuring it out the first time around. But now, it's like my best friend. I had Kevin create my drops/bumpers and also purchased several of the DERN modules. I set Zara up to play radio content throughout the day when the show is not running (because I use my radio station inside my house as well). My song library is about 3-4,000 songs altogether, and Zara has been helpful in allowing me to leverage that. I'm with George, I haven't played with the DTMF tones either. I just simply stop Zara 2 minutes before show starts and start it back up 1 minute after show ends. He's also right in that you can't beat the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bizywk Posted December 5, 2013 Author Share Posted December 5, 2013 Awesome. Thanks for the input. We're going to give it a go and see how it turns out. We purchased a number of DERN modules as well. They are very well done. I hadn't considered broadcasting more than an hour or so before dusk, but I have stacks of CDs not doing anything, so we may venture into a bigger broadcast window too. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanelaLights Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Is Zara Radio the same as Zara Studio? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Yes. Main pagehttp://www.zarastudio.es/en/index.php Download page. Free version available a couple inches down from the top of the pagehttp://www.zarastudio.es/en/descargas.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 So I took all the holiday CD's I had...which remarkably turned out to be alot...ripped them to a HD on my computer (now have over 4-500 song library) and Zara just randomly picks songs from the pile!. I downloaded Zara yesterday and played with it last night for a while. I also have a huge pile of music CDs on my file server. I could not directly find a why to have Zara pick randomly from a directory. What I did find is that I could manually build a playlist and have it play randomly from that. Is that what you did or is there something I missed? I then played with timed events for announcements and such and got that pretty well figured out. Pretty easy to set up for the most part I will plan on putting Zara on the air shortly after I get my FM transmitter operating and use it during off-show hours rather than transmitting dead air for 18 hours a day like I did last year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
etherealone Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Jim - I replied to your direct email but am reposting here as well: you are correct, you have to build a playlist and within said playlist you have items...in this case you sprinkle in at least one or more "random tracks" where it prompts you for the file directory to randomly pull from...you can also add in bumpers or other drops into your playlist as well of course...then just have Zara repeat the playlist... LIke we said, you could play with the DTMF tones, but honestly its more trouble than it is worth since we all know, generally to the second, when our shows start and stop...just have Zara "scheduled" to start and stop at the right times and you are good to go. Keep it simple! -Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 13, 2015 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I have been playing around with this one for making my DJ shows and play list for before the show, after the show and just for the heck of having my own radio show for my patio and pool parties/ BBQ weekends etc. http://www.nch.com.au/dj/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 16, 2015 Share Posted June 16, 2015 I found another mixer that I am having fun playing with. It is also FREE and has a lot of good possibilities when it comes to fading from song to song etc. It doesnt have all the bells and whistles like being able to stream other sites and the weather announcements... ( which is not free to use on Zara anyway) but it is easy to use and set up to even run it as a AUTOMATIC DJ. it can be read about and downloaded at http://mixxx.org/ you can create your play lists, random ply lists., set the fade time going from one song to another etc.. But Like I said... I found it last night and so far I like it better then trying to figure out and use Zara.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 I suppose everybody has their favorites based on what they want to do. Zara Radio is what the old-timers recommended back when I got started with LOR. As promised, I found it easy to learn and simple to use. Not being a DJ, Zara has been perfect for everything I've ever wanted it to do related to my display and it's never once failed me. As a bonus for new people, Zara is such a common tool in this hobby (just like Audacity) that when someone has a question there are dozens of us ready with the answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Have not used Zara yet...whats the basic intent, to run Music on your Fm station before and after your show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Correct. You can do music, announcements, and just about anything else you want. I have not used it yet, but will be this year starting with Halloween music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 Cool...looking into it myself. I was reading your post earlier and you mentioned "Dead" air...I'm assuming you dont shut down your show at then end each evening but keep it running right thru ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k6ccc Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 For Christmas the light show ran from 1700 until 2200 or 2300 depending on what night it is. After that it went to the normal year round overnight static show until the sun comes up. Everything except the FM stays powered up 24x7x365. The FM was powered up a few days before Thanksgiving and was powered down after the end of the season. Therefore it was transmitting dead air during non-show hours. For 2015, I plan on having the FM powered up about a week before I turn on the Halloween lights with Zara carrying Halloween music. November 1st Zara will switch to Christmas music with announcements about the start of the show. Once I start the Christmas show, Zara will have Christmas music and announcements during non-show hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezimnow Posted June 18, 2015 Share Posted June 18, 2015 ah yes, the landscape lighting. Yes Zara can add a nice little touch to the show.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Sarge Posted June 19, 2015 Share Posted June 19, 2015 Received my FM transmitter today,, took my time, read the instructions as well as watched a couple u tubes on it... connected it things went great... made sure I connected antenna before turning it on,,, had good sound on a fm radio on other side of the house... BUT.... cant change the channel on it to a different Frequency.. BUT... it is stuck on 108.00... so had to box it up and send it back to Amazon for an exchange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcjfrank Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Question about Zara: I want my computer to automatically come back to where it should be after a power outage. The one problem I have is that it won't load the events -- I have to manually load those every time the program starts. Is there a command line switch or something someone knows about to get the events to load every time the program starts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmcjfrank Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Actually, I read it is supposed to save automatically in the registry. I uninstalled and reinstalled -- seems to load correctly now. Running on Windows 8.1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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