Power Studio version 1.18.1

Power Studio version 1.18.1 is now available, with a clear focus on mixer integration, download, API and platform reliability and mix editing and voice tracking. For stations that connect Power Studio directly to broadcast hardware, this release adds practical control and integration improvements while still including the expected maintenance fixes.

Power Studio users can download version 1.18.1 from the download-page. The full release notes are listed below.

Updated to Microsoft.NET framework 4.8
Power Studio has been updated to the latest.NET framework version. Because of this we have been able to update the database and other libraries that Power Studio uses internally. This increases the performance and solves a large number of smaller bugs that we were not able to fix because we were stuck on old versions of some of these libraries. Also the BASS audio library has been updated to the latest version.

As a result of this support for Windows XP and Windows Vista has been dropped. The application should work on Windows 7, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, 8.1, Server 2012 R2, 10, Server 2016 and Server 2019, however we only actively support it on Windows versions which are currently supported by Microsoft.

Drag-and-drop on players
It is now possible to drop tracks and files directly onto the players of the playout playlist. This replaces the tracks which are currently loaded into that player and in the playout playlist. This makes for much faster last-minute changes on-air.

Playout playlist
An indication has been added to the playout playlist, indicating if a playlist has a floating, exact of manual program change.

Improved forced program changes, both stand alone and in a Multi-Studio environment.

Improved time calculation within the playlist.

Corrupt playlist lines are now automatically removed from the playlist, to prevent the playout from stalling.

VisualRadioAssist link plugin
An integration had been added for VisualRadioAssist, using the VisualRasioAssist link plugin. This allows for starting video clips in exact sync with Power Studio's audio playout as well as triggering track titles. Power Studio can trigger actions in VRA when items are started in the Cart players. Power Studio also informs VisualRadioAssist of a configurable number of upcoming tracks. (up to 100)

REST API
A REST API plugin has been added for custom integrations with Power Studio. This plugin adds functionality to access and update playlists, control playout and fetch detailed track information. The REST API has an integrated Swagger document which makes the API self-documenting and allows for automatically generating client code for the API. SwaggerUI functionality has been added to increase ease of development.

Please note that support on API client development falls outside regular support and might require additional consultancy.

Mix editor
Added a render function to the mix editor which can render the contents of the mix to a audio file.

ASIO playback
Improved stability of the playout through ASIO audio devices.

Axia / Livewire control plugin
Version 2.11 of the Axia Livewire driver contains a bug which can cause high DPC latency values on some machines. In those cases pops or clicks can be introduced by the driver when Power Studio sends GPIO commands to the driver. This version of the Axia / Livewire control plugin implements a workaround that works around this bug to reduce the occurrence of these pops or clicks.

The track titles being sent to the Axia mixers display are now trucated to 10 characters as per the LWRP protocol.

Xml / icecast / shoutcast title plugins
Improved the way the next item is determined in de Xml title plugin. In a multi-studio environment, titles are only sent by the Power Studio instance which is OnAir.

Configuration transformation
Added configuration transformation functionality to the Configuration tool, which makes it easier to deploy modifications in the configuration file. The transformation files use the Xdt transform syntax.

Item download plugin
Improved reliability of file copy actions withing the plugin. The rendered filename is made even more unique (in case the download action is triggered 2 times and the file is still locked.

Playlist creationSwitched order of the Artist separation rule and the Track separation rule, so artist separation is dropped before track separation. Which would prevent a specific track from being repeated too much, when not enough tracks are available because of artist separation.

Power Traffic integration
Reduced load load on the database when commercial blocks are imported in the playlists. Fixed issue with importing commercials which have already been (accidentally) removed from the database.

Log files
Added functionality to automatically clean up log files after a configurable number of days.

Improvements & Bug fixes

• Added configuration tool and other Power Studio utilities to the Windows Start menu.
• The Fill out checkbox is unchecked when the Clock Format line is moved to a place where Fill out is not allowed.
• Real time lines can now have the Fill out flag enabled in generated playlists.
• Fixed defect with switching from Training mode to Live assist mode.
• Fixed possible database issue when files with a very long filename are dropped into the playlist.
• Added Application settings with a setting for Process priority and an experimental setting for Low latency Garbage Collection.
• After updating the database, perform a normal VACUUM as opposed to VACUUM FULL which takes longer, locks the tables, has a risk of timeouts.
• Various small fixes and improvements