Simian Remote For PC – Version 1.0 Manual Information Validation Codes Website info@bsiusa.com codes@bsiusa.com www.bsiusa.com Sales Technical Support Phone: 541-338-8588 541-342-5250 Fax: 541-338-8656 sales@bsiusa.com support.bsiusa.com Broadcast Software International 909 International Way Springfield, Oregon 97477 USA Copyright 1989-2010. All Rights Reserved. 1 August 2012 – Manual Revision 1.0.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents: QUICK START ...........................................................................................................................................................4 CONNECTING A SIMIAN REMOTE CLIENT TO THE SIMIAN GATEWAY .........................................................................4 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION....................................................................................
____________________________________________________________________________________ In addition to the table of contents, we have included several other navigational aids in this manual. Special icons will alert you to items of particular significance: A useful tip or cool feature. Take note, be cautious, read carefully. ALERT - Extreme caution.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Quick Start This section is designed for those of you who don’t want to (or don’t have the time to) read the full manual. We will go over the basics of how to connect the Simian Remote to a Simian Gateway with the default settings. For further information about the Simian Remote and all its options and functions, you will need to check out the rest of the manual.
____________________________________________________________________________________ CHAPTER 1: Introduction Figure 1.0 Welcome to the Simian Remote Client for PC. BSI is proud to introduce you to the newest, most powerful feature addition to the Simian product family. We’ve spent many, many hours developing and perfecting the Simian Gateway and Simian Remote Clients so they will be as reliable and useful as is possible.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Simian Remote Features Simian Remote’s best features are its ease of use, advanced technology and high versatility. Let’s take a quick look at each of these features. Ease of Use • Runs on Windows XP Pro or Windows 7 Professional 32bit. • Is a simple to use remote control application to control your Simian 2.2 Pro host.
____________________________________________________________________________________ System Requirements Although Simian Remote will run on a variety of PC hardware platforms (we do not impose any restrictions) for peace of mind, we strongly suggest that you consider purchasing a fully configured system direct from BSI that is ready to operate out of the box (we can even pre-load a Music Library from our MusicStore for you).
____________________________________________________________________________________ • • • 'Cheap' Memory - make sure you use a brand recommended by your motherboard manufacturer. Flimsy, thin cases with little RF shielding Consumer Grade Audio Cards (these almost always lack the features required for some of Simian's advanced operations and virtually none provide audio level metering or 100% compatible Windows Mixer control). Contact Us: Home Page: http://www.bsiusa.com Support Page: http://support.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 2: General Pre-Setup Information This section is intended to give you all of the information that you need before you set up Simian Remote. It will cover a variety of “Gotchas” and other issues that will make the whole process go much more smoothly. Windows Issues It has been said that the main strength of Simian is that it runs in Windows, just like any other application.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Your PC as Broadcast Equipment Computers are often viewed as isolated devices much like any office machine, in that they can be protected against power transients by a simple protected power strip. However, when you make the commitment to install Simian and your entire library of music, commercials and station production packages, your computer suddenly becomes a major piece of critical broadcast equipment.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Why Use Professional Sound Cards? Professional Audio Cards are the most important investment that you can make to transform your high quality PC into a professional audio device. Professional audio cards provide the highest possible audio quality from your PC.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 3: Installation Before You Install Simian Remote: Verify that your computer is running properly and that it is properly connected to your network. A machine that is not running properly will not run Simian Remote properly. Similarly, a machine that’s having problems communicating across a network will not allow Simian Remote Clients to connect to the Simian Gateway.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Installing Simian Remote Considerations Installing Simian Remote is an easy task, and to make it easier, we'd like to point out a few things that you should take into consideration before installing the software. 1. Do you have a properly working network card installed in your computer? Simian Remote will not run properly without a working Ethernet device. 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 4: Getting to Know Simian Remote The Simian Remote for PC User Interface Figure 4.1 When Simian Remote opens, it will not be connected to a Simian 2.2 Pro host, so most of the menus and other user interface elements will not be available (see figure 4.2). This section will walk you through all the user interface elements that are available while connected to a Simian 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Menus The following list is a breakdown of each menu and their selections: • File Menu o New Log – Creates a new log o Open Log – Opens an existing program log o Save Log – Saves the current program log o Save Log As – Saves the current log with a new name o Import Log – Opens the Import Log dialog o Sort By Scheduled Time – Sorts all items in the program log by scheduled time.
____________________________________________________________________________________ o • Tools o Show Audio List – Displays the Audio List, which contains all the available audio files on your Simian 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________ By default, when you load the Voice Track editor in Simian Remote, it does not automatically download the intro and segue audio files. You can still record a voice track, but without the intro and segue audio files you will not be able to set overlap times for your Voice Track, which means that when your Voice Track plays back on air it’ll be “dry”, with no overlapping of the surrounding audio files.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5: Operation Once you have configured Simian Gateway to connect to your Simian Pro automation system and configured its Simian Remote connection settings, and configured your router for port forwarding/NAT, it’s extremely easy to connect the Simian Remote to your Simian 2.2 Pro system.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Viewing and Loading Scheduled Events Sets You can view the events in the Scheduled Events Set currently loaded on the Simian 2.2 Pro machine by going to the Async menu and choosing Scheduled Events Viewer. You can instruct the Simian 2.
____________________________________________________________________________________ o Hide Scrubbers – If you want to prevent yourself from accidentally scrubbing a playback deck that is on an on-air machine, enable this option. All it does is hides the scrubbers at the bottom of each playback deck. • Voice Track Editor Assignments – This section determines which playback and record devices are used, what mixers are linked with which audio devices, and what ducking settings you want to use.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6: Troubleshooting Optimizing Windows® When using Windows, there is little that you can do to optimize the actual Microsoft release of the operating system. Unfortunately many computer manufacturers decide that the original version of Windows isn't good enough, and they add programs that run all of the time… Whether you want them to or not. These types of programs can affect Simian's on-air performance.
____________________________________________________________________________________ • BsiNet32.dll • HolyGrl32.dll • mswinsck.ocx • mmbsi32.dll • wavinfo32.dll 6. Verify that the following files have been removed from the C:\bsi32 folder: • SimianRemote.exe 7. Search the Windows Registry for the word “Simian” (no quotes), and remove any Keys (not just Values) that refer to it.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Random Problems Errors that seem to occur sporadically and that are difficult to reproduce may indicate a DLL conflict or a corrupt audio database (audio.mdb). Try deleting your audio.mdb and letting SoundHound recreate it. Also, verify that you have only one copy of each of the following DLLs and that they are all in your c:\Windows\System (C:\WINNT\System32 for NT based machines) folder and no other. • BsiNet32.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Technical Support BSI offers different Tech Care Plans to reflect the different levels of technical support required by individual users. Simian Lite does not include any support plan, but 6 months of Web-Based Support Tickets are included from the date of purchase. Everyone has access to our web based user forum & knowledge base. Customers can choose between our GOLD and PLATINUM Tech Care Plans for additional support.
____________________________________________________________________________________ PLATINUM Tech Care Plan - $1299 per year All Simian Pro customers are automatically enrolled in the PLATINUM Technical Care Plan for the first 12 months from date of purchase. The Tech Care Plan is then optional, and renewable annually throughout the life of the software.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Technical Support or Training? BSI has two sections designed specifically to assist you; Technical Support and Training. While they are both here to help you out, their backgrounds and goals are a bit different. Let's take a look at each: Tech Support Our Technical Support department is made up of hardcore computer people who work hard to fix problems with BSI software.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Appendix Contact Information Headquarters: Broadcast Software International 909 International Way Springfield, Oregon 97477 USA Email: info@bsiusa.com Sales: 1.888.274.8721 541.338.8588 Email: sales@bsiusa.com Technical Support: 541.342.5250 Support Center: http://support.bsiusa.com Training 541.338.8588 Validation Codes: Visit http://www.bsiusa.com/codes to submit a validation code request. Fax: 541.338.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Vendor Contact Information AudioScience, Inc. Manufacturers of audio cards recommended by BSI. Phone: 302-324-5333 Fax: 302-235-7110 www.audioscience.com Broadcast Tools Manufacturers of trigger and relay devices and audio switching devices used with BSI software. Phone: 360-854-9559 Fax: 866-783-1742 www.broadcasttools.com/ Natural Broadcast Systems Manufacturers of Natural Music and Natural Log software.
____________________________________________________________________________________ GLOSSARY ACM Codec This is a codec (code-decode) used to encode or decode audio files which is part of the Windows multimedia audio sub-system. Simian Gateway requires an MP3 ACM codec to create intro/segue cuts for Remote Voice Track creation. Adobe Audition (formerly CoolEdit) A software application used for audio production/editing that can be launched from within Simian.
____________________________________________________________________________________ box at the bottom. You just have to make sure you select the right section, which would just be one repeating section of music throughout your audio. Cart A list of two or more audio events to be played in a virtual loop (AutoStart Cart), or played signally (a Randomized Cart or a SmartCart), which are associated with a single Event name (cart number).
____________________________________________________________________________________ Device A device can be part of a professional audio card (a multi-device sound card lets you playback more than one file at a time) or it can be any machine or component that attaches to a computer, such as a printer, disk drive, mouse, etc. DirectSound Microsoft Windows 98/2000/NT/XP include an audio capability called DirectSound.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Hertz The unit of measurement for frequency of oscillation of a sound wave, equal to 1 cycle per second. Abbreviated Hz. KHz is the abbreviation for kilohertz, or 1000 Hertz. Hooks A hook is a segment of an audio cut that contains the most familiar refrain. It is comparable to a movie trailer or preview. Hooks are set like tones in the Info Editor.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Natural Log Traffic and Billing system from Natural Software. Offers traffic, billing, reporting, data backup/restore capabilities, account receivable and payables and end of month closing features. Natural Log can handle two stations within a single billing environment as well as an unlimited number of separately billed clients. Natural Music Music scheduling system from Natural Software.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Sample Rate The rate at which the data in an analog audio signal is measured to form a digital representation of the sound wave. In a computer, it is impossible to work with an infinite amount of data, which is what would be required if a continuous wave were to be represented digitally inside the machine, so at every possible instant in time we would have the measured value of the waveform at that instant.
____________________________________________________________________________________ SoundHound An application that manages your audio file database. It sits on your Windows taskbar and can be accessed by double-clicking the binoculars icon. Auto launch and exit functions for SoundHound are in the Tools/Hardware Options menu in the Playback tab. Speedy (BSI Product) Automated CD-to-PC dubbing. The recording system automatically dubs, names and tags each song for you.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Time-Shift Recording A new feature of Simian that allows you to record and playback a file simultaneously. This means you can start recording a network program (via satellite for example) and begin playing it back on-air at a scheduled time even though the program is still recording at the other end of the file.
____________________________________________________________________________________ Index A P Audio File Formats · 11 Problems · 21, 23 Products · 27 C S Contact Information · 27 Support · 24 System Requirements · 7 I T Installation · 21 Installing Simian · 13 Interface · 14 Technical Support · 24 ____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 37
