Installation guide

Programming Crestron Controllers for a Kaleidescape System
Page 15
Random and repeat
In the Kaleidescape System, some music items always play in random order and
repeat. These music items include any genre, artist, composer, user-defined
collection, and all music.
When any of these items are saved to a preset and played, the item plays in
random order starting with a random track. If the preset is selected again, a new
random track plays. This setting removes the requirement to use a next track
button to skip a track within the selection. For example, if a preset button is
programmed to play the Jazz genre every time that button is pressed, a randomly
selected Jazz track starts playing. If the user does not care for the current track, the
user can simply press the button again to hear a different track. A Beatles button, a
Mozart button, a My Favorites button, or an All Music button behaves the same
way.
The most recent random and repeat settings in a Kaleidescape zone control how
albums, mix albums, and single tracks play from a preset. To control how these
items are played back, the random and repeat settings of the zone can be changed
with the SATP interface, the OSD interface, or through the programming interface.
Tags and the Preset ID
Most radio tuners have presets, typically using numbered buttons to define each
one. For instance, Button 1 can be WKRP, Button 2 can be WNPR, and so forth. The
Kaleidescape System uses a text tag instead of a physical button. Each preset is
defined by a tag associated with a music item in a system-wide table.
To simplify creating of presets, the Keypad Presets module uses a Preset ID
parameter to generate tags. A Preset ID can refer to a location or function. For
instance, a Preset ID like Kitchen can be used to create presets for the kitchen music
zone. A module with a Preset ID like Country can be used to program the same
button on all keypads in the installation to play Country music. For example, a
Preset ID named My Favorites can be used to create a My Favorites music button on
multiple keypads. This means the user can set the type of music the button plays.
The user can set the preset to play the genre Jazz, the sub-genre Dixieland, or even
a favorite mix album.
The Preset ID is appended with the module preset channel number to create the
final tag used by the module. In other words, if the module is programmed with the
Preset ID Kitchen, the module’s first preset channel uses the tag Kitchen1, the
second preset input uses Kitchen2 and so forth. For two virtual devices to share the
same presets, simply give the virtual devices the same Preset ID. To create separate
presets for each virtual device, assign different Preset IDs.
Tags are currently not visible to end users, but might be displayed on the onscreen
display or browser interface someday, so be sure to name Preset ID appropriately.