Re: [RDD] Slightly OT: future directions

["Jay R. Ashworth" <jra@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Jul 28, 2004 at 08:49:20AM -0400, Fred Gleason wrote:
> On Tuesday 27 July 2004 23:05, Jay R. Ashworth wrote:
> > 1)	Does AirPlay handle metadata in the deph that would be
> > necessary to, for example, pop up patter info; song notes, that sort of
> > thing, if the jock asks for it?
> 
> The plan right now is to provide a 'script engine' functionality that
> would be capable of associating HTML-based content with a given cut.
> This will likely be a 'version 1.1' type thing, as it largely doesn't
> exist right now.

The ability to launch a browser with a URL constructed from the CutID
might be enough to build the functionality around; multiple screens on
the user workstation seem to begin to be essential.  I'm pondering the
potential of 2 vertically stacked LCD's, the lower one at a shallow
angle from horizontal and with a touchscreen.

> > 2)	(and vaugely related)  Is the design of AirPlay sufficiently
> > uncoupled that the log logic and such could be used to drive other
> > engines... like one to play video clips, maybe?
> 
> Yes. RDAirPlay doesn't actually touch the audio at all -- all it
> does is send commands to the caed(8) daemon, which is what actually
> accesses audio hardware, streams files, etc. The full command protocol
> is documented in 'docs/cae.sxw' in the Rivendell sources. In theory,
> it should be possible to extend CAE to support other media types
> without having to mess with any of the other components (although,
> obviously, some sort of 'video library' component would be needed to
> manage the content). Mind you, I'm no video engineer -- I learned just
> enough to pass the FCC exams twenty-five years ago, and then promptly
> forgot most of it. :)

The video playback stuff is actually likely not to be all that painful.

I had figured you probably factored it correctly; nice to see my faith
confirmed.  :-)  Does AirPlay currently understand the idea that there
may be more than one daemon?  or does the daemon do multi-channel
inherently?  or should I download the damned sources and look?  :-)

More When I Know More.

Cheers,
-- jra
-- 
Jay R. Ashworth                                                jra@xxxxxxxxxxx
Designer                          Baylink                             RFC 2100
Ashworth & Associates        The Things I Think                        '87 e24
St Petersburg FL USA      http://baylink.pitas.com             +1 727 647 1274

	"You know: I'm a fan of photosynthesis as much as the next guy,
	but if God merely wanted us to smell the flowers, he wouldn't 
	have invented a 3GHz microprocessor and a 3D graphics board."
					-- Luke Girardi
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