RCS is excited to announce the release of Zetta 5.24.1. A significant update that includes over 470 enhancements and fixes. If your station likes to limit their upgrade cycles, this is a build for you. Between Sequencer Failovers, modernized GSelector integration, expanded user activity reporting, Ember+ / Lawo enhancements, SQL improvements and AMU metadata extraction, Zetta 5.24.1 is an impressive build.
Starting with the Sequencer Failover enhancement, this is a feature that many Zetta users have been waiting for. If Hot Spare is moving play streams / stream groups, then the Sequencer Failover allows engineers to also move the Sequencer machine if there is a potential issue. Before 5.24.1, users would select a single computer under Configuration | Stations | Details | Sequencer Computer. Now, they can simply add multiple computers. If the main Sequencer goes down, there can be multiple Sequencer Computers to take over. In the video, we quickly outlined a downed Sequencer, a second computer running the Sequencer, and a third sequencer in case the first two Sequencer Computers go down. This adds a new level of redundancy, allowing engineers to truly customize their redundancy air chain.
As part of Zetta’s 5.24.1 modernization, RCS has evolved how Zetta integrates with GSelector. Without getting too technical, instead of MSMQ messaging, Zetta now utilizes the Site Replication services for integration. This allows for additional scalability and continued reliability for live logs and a shared Library with mutual attributes and metadata. Speaking of modernization, 5.24.1 also includes a wide array of SQL database enhancements for better performance. If you’re a Lawo user, 5.24.1 also introduces some Ember+ behaviors for better integration with Lawo AoIP, audio over IP, solutions. In addition, engineers who are configuring GPIOs will find an easier Properties display while building GPIOs under Configuration | System | Command Mappings.
Zetta 5.24.1 also introduces various user activity reports. From the Logs module, right click within the log and select View | Log Event Changes to display a new Log Event Changes window. This will track any changes made to the log. Although this was already available in Zetta Reports (Tools | Reports), it’s now more streamlined to see any changes to the log. If an administrator wanted to see changes done at the metadata level, users can now see a full list of changes via the Metadata module’s Changes subtab. If you change a Title, that change, including the user, computer and date time stamp are all displayed.
Since it’s a little difficult to cover all ~470 enhancements and fixes, as a final feature we discussed the new AMU metadata extraction. Again, without getting too technical, Zetta 5.24.1 pivots away from AFC and utilities BASS to import metadata from various sources, including ID3v1, ID3v2, CartChunk and XML. This allows for easier importing across the Title, Artist, ISRC, Album, Publisher, Label, Sponsor and Product fields. For example, if a user imports an asset from iTunes that includes these types of metadata fields, Zetta will automatically inherit those values.
If you’re looking for a full list of enhancements and fixes, please review Zetta 5.24.1’s Release Notes. If you want to schedule an upgrade, engineers can schedule an upgrade via our bookings portal: https://www.rcsworks.com/bookings/. Because there is new GSelector integration, a reminder that GSelector should be upgraded first to 5.1.1. Of course, if you schedule an upgrade with RCS Support, we’ll know to make sure GSelector is upgraded before Zetta. Don’t forget to check out the RCS Live Archive for past videos, including GSelector 5.1.1 New Features and we’ll see you next time for another RCS Live.