Campcaster
Encyclopedia
Campcaster is a free
and open source
radio
management application for live broadcasting, remote broadcast automation (via web-based scheduler), and program exchange between radio stations. Campcaster was designed to allow implementation in a number of use scenarios, ranging from an unmanned broadcast unit accessed from remote through the Internet to a local network of Campcaster machines inside a radio station handling live broadcasts and delivering program automation by accessing a central audio storage system.
, Robert Klajn, a radio producer at Radio B92
, and Douglas Arellanes and Sava Tatić from the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF)
. The initial development was financed from a grant from the Open Society Institute
's Information Program, through its ICT Toolsets initiative. The development was originally coordinated by MDLF through its Campware.org initiative, now spun off as the independent not-for-profit organisation Sourcefabric
.
in June 2010, and the software has been deployed by Open Broadcast, a user generated radio station transmitting on Digital Audio Broadcasting
frequencies in Switzerland.
, replaces the C++ scheduler of Campcaster with Liquidsoap
, and includes a drag and drop web interface based on jQuery
. .
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
and open source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
management application for live broadcasting, remote broadcast automation (via web-based scheduler), and program exchange between radio stations. Campcaster was designed to allow implementation in a number of use scenarios, ranging from an unmanned broadcast unit accessed from remote through the Internet to a local network of Campcaster machines inside a radio station handling live broadcasts and delivering program automation by accessing a central audio storage system.
History
The initial concept for Campcaster, originally named LiveSupport, was developed in 2003 by Micz Flor, a German new-media developer. The concept was further developed by Ákos Maróy, a software developer and then-member of Tilos RadioTilos Rádió
Tilos Rádió is a community, non-profit, listener supported radio station in Budapest, Hungary.-Overview:Tilos Rádió was the first community radio station in Hungary, established as a pirate broadcaster in 1991. The station's programmers have always contributed on a voluntary basis...
, Robert Klajn, a radio producer at Radio B92
B92
B92 is a radio and television broadcaster with national coverage headquartered in Belgrade, Serbia. The network's key demographic is chiefly urban and young audience. Its programs, including the news cover topics with fairly liberal political painted attitudes...
, and Douglas Arellanes and Sava Tatić from the Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF)
Media Development Loan Fund
Media Development Loan Fund is a New York-registered 501 non-profit corporation and investment fund that provides low-cost financing to independent news media in countries with a history of media oppression...
. The initial development was financed from a grant from the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
's Information Program, through its ICT Toolsets initiative. The development was originally coordinated by MDLF through its Campware.org initiative, now spun off as the independent not-for-profit organisation Sourcefabric
Sourcefabric
Sourcefabric is a not-for-profit organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic, with branches in Berlin, Germany and Toronto, Canada. Sourcefabric was spun off from the Media Development Loan Fund's Campware project in May 2010.-Software:...
.
Components
- Studio: a desktop application for live shows or scheduling automated playback.
- Web: an HTML interface for remote scheduling of automated playback.
- Scheduler: a daemon which plays songs at their designated time. There is an XML-RPC interface for the Scheduler.
- Storage Server: stores audio files and playlists and allows access to them via XML-RPC.
Criticism
Despite the early enthusiasm and early adequate funding, Campcaster has yet to gain a greater foothold among radio broadcasters. A new Campcaster development team was recruited by SourcefabricSourcefabric
Sourcefabric is a not-for-profit organisation based in Prague, Czech Republic, with branches in Berlin, Germany and Toronto, Canada. Sourcefabric was spun off from the Media Development Loan Fund's Campware project in May 2010.-Software:...
in June 2010, and the software has been deployed by Open Broadcast, a user generated radio station transmitting on Digital Audio Broadcasting
Digital audio broadcasting
Digital Audio Broadcasting is a digital radio technology for broadcasting radio stations, used in several countries, particularly in Europe. As of 2006, approximately 1,000 stations worldwide broadcast in the DAB format....
frequencies in Switzerland.
Airtime rewrite
In January 2011, Sourcefabric announced a rewrite of Campcaster, beginning with the 1.6 beta release. The new product, known as AirtimeAirtime
Airtime is a free and open source radio management application for remote broadcast automation , and program exchange between radio stations.-History:...
, replaces the C++ scheduler of Campcaster with Liquidsoap
Liquidsoap
Liquidsoap is an audio programming language developed initially to produce audio and video source streams sent to an Icecast server. The difference with other available tools is that Liquidsoap interprets a dedicated script language, which makes it very versatile and adaptable to a lot of various...
, and includes a drag and drop web interface based on jQuery
JQuery
jQuery is a cross-browser JavaScript library designed to simplify the client-side scripting of HTML. It was released in January 2006 at BarCamp NYC by John Resig...
. .