v4.1.1 – Bug fix release

2024-08-05 - v4.1.1

• Fix situation where supplied JSON data could still overwrite cue_file results even if a file’s liq_cue_file tag was set to true, meaning the cue_file results should be preferred in any case.
• For freshly generated/downloaded news or time announcements, this could lead to erroneous cut-offs or loudness jumps in case AzuraCast’s media checker hadn’t yet picked up the new data. It would then overwrite the actual file data with stored values from the database.

Update highly recommended.

v4.1.0 – Feature Release

2024-07-05 – v4.1.0

New features

• New liq_cue_file handling, allows to ignore overrides for cue_file data if true. This is mainly for fast-changing files like news or time, for which LS/AzuraCast might not yet have updated the metadata.
  • not set — default behaviour (metadata can override cue_file results)
  • false — don’t autocue (still use metadata if present)
  • true — cue_file results override metadata (special use cases)

For a more thorough explanation, see the FAQ

Update recommended.

v4.0.6 – Bug fix release

2024-07-04 – v4.0.6

• Make duration non-overridable by existing metadata or annotations.
  • The real file duration is not a tag, but determined otherwise.
  • If such a tag is found, it is typically unusable, incorrect or in a different format.
  • AzuraCast might annotate the duration from an earlier version of the file, because the media scan is only done once in a while. With frequently changing files of the same name, like syndicated news or time announcements, this could be problematic.

v4.0.5 – Bug fix release

2024-07-02 – v4.0.5

• Fixed a situation where cue_file would read a string duration from ffprobe for audio stream #0, which led to an error in the AzuraCast log like this:

  2024/07/02 16:03:27 [autocue:2] Error while processing autocue: error(kind="json",message="Parsing error: json value cannot be parsed as type {duration: float, _}",positions="at autocue.liq, line 814 char 6 - line 826 char 10")
  

• cue_file now outputs the same duration for both tag reading and full analysis mode.
• cue_file will not anymore write a duration tag to files. That was a newly introduced bug in v4.0.4.

Update recommended.

v4.0.4 – Bug fix release

2024-07-01 – v4.0.4

• Allow to override results via JSON even after having done a fresh analysis (automatic or forced), for ultimate flexibility when using cue_file for pre-processing. You can now add fades, ramp or hook points, or do other calculations and feed the results into cue_file for tagging. Use with care, because some values are dependent on others. In any case, cue_file will ever only write tags beginning with liq_ and (if requested) replaygain_.
• Prevent some strange errors that could happen when piping something into cue_file and JSON input was not stdin. We now use ffmpeg -nostdin to prevent it reading input that was meant for cue_file.
• Don’t write all liq_* tags (could have side effects), but only those known (see cue_file --help for current list).
• Streamlined tag conversion code a little.

Update recommended

v4.0.3

2024-06-18 – v4.0.3

• Changed default of -x/--extra and settings.autocue.cue_file.overlay_longtail from -15.0 LU to -12.0 LU, requested by @RM-FM and the community. Together with the -d/--drop default change from 60.0 to 40.0, this makes for a "tighter" playout and doesn’t lose too much of long or sustained endings.
• Updated README and Presentation as well, to reflect the new default.

v4.0.2

2024-06-16 – v4.0.2

Bug fixes, enhancements

• Allow recognition of values like -8.33dB (without blank before "dB") in autocue.cue_file.liq as well (it’s already in cue_file). Note: Metadata with units should be used with a blank in between value and unit.
• Streamline "sustained endings" code.
• Add some diagnostics output to cue_file on the console to easier find and fix problems:

  Overlay: -23.50 LUFS, Longtail: -38.50 LUFS, Measured end avg: -48.40 LUFS, Drop: 29.09%
  Overlay times: 336.50/348.50/0.00 s (normal/sustained/longtail), using: 348.50 s.
  Cue out time: 353.00 s
  

  Overlay times shown as 0.00 mean a calculation has not been done or wasn’t needed, like longtail above.
  Diagnostics are output to stderr, so don’t interfere with the JSON on stdout.
• Changed default for "sustained endings" loudness drop from 60.0% to 40.0%. This was a wish from the community and makes for a little tighter/denser song overlap.
• Modify to your liking by using cue_file’s -d/--drop parameter or settings.autocue.cue_file.sustained_loudness_drop := 40.0 in Liquidsoap/AzuraCast. A value of 0.0 switches the "sustained endings" feature completely off (behaviour like in older versions).

v4.0.1 – Bug fix release

2024-06-15 - v4.0.1

• Bug fix: Catch index error in sustained ending calculation if we’re already at the end of the track. This could happen in very rare cases, if no earlier overlay start than the end of the track could be found.
• Added song that exposes this situation to the test set:
  • Camel - The Great Marsh

v4.0.0

2024-06-14 - v4.0.0

New features

• Even better transitions, using both "longtail" logic and the new "sustained endings" feature by @RM-FM, which we could even improve on, in a collaborative work. We are really happy with the results!

• Combined with the existing blankskip handling (whose default is now 5.0 seconds instead of 2.5 s, to avoid false triggers), we are able to handle the greatest variety of possible song endings with great transitions. Be it a cold end, a long fade, a trick ending, an unexpected noise, chord, riff or vocal at the end — we catch them all. Pure listening enjoyment!

• If you’re interested, here’s part of our testing set. Try it out for yourself!
  Songs with difficult endings:

  • Beatles, The - Strawberry Fields Forever
  • Ben Folds Five - Underground
  • Black, Mary - Columbus
  • Darkness on Demand - Quicksand
  • Def Leppard - Let It Go
  • Electric Light Orchestra - Don't Bring Me Down
  • ella_henderson_rudimental_-_alibi_feat._rudimental
  • Global Deejays - Get Up (feat. Technotronic)
  • J.B.O. - Ein Fest
  • Nirvana - Something in the Way _ Endless, Nameless
  • Pink Floyd - Goodbye Cruel World
  • Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody
  • radiomonster.fm_-_dropin_01
  • R.E.M. - Losing My Religion
  • robbie_williams_-_angels
  • Stürmer, Christina - Ich lebe
  • test-5-15-5-15-5s
  • testfiles.txt
  • TLC - Waterfalls
  • Toto - Africa
  • Vega, Suzanne - Tom's Diner (vocals only version)
  • Walker, Tom - Leave a Light On
  • Who, The - Won't Get Fooled Again
  • Wonder, Stevie - Another Star

• New "sanity check" that (also) checks if your external cue_file and the Liquidsoap code have matching versions (a suggestion by John Chewter (@JohnnyC1951)), and shuts down otherwise. After your settings, simply use this code:

  # Your settings go here...
  
  # Check Autocue setup, print result, shutdown if problems
  # The check results will also be in the log.
  # Returns a bool: true=ok, false=error. We ignore that here.
  # Set `print=true` for standalone scripts, `false` for AzuraCast.
  ignore(check_autocue_setup(shutdown=true, print=true))
  

Recommendation

• Always use the check_autocue_setup function after your settings, in both standalone scripts and AzuraCast. It will not only check versions, but also set the crossfading duration to a correct value, based on your fade-out setting.

Breaking changes

• New informational boolean value liq_sustained_ending in cue_file result, file tags, and Liquidsoap metadata. It shows whether the "sustained endings" feature has been used to determine the "start next song" overlay point.

• Analysed timings shown on console, in case you manually tag a file or just want to check the results. This output don’t affect normal operation, it is done to stderr:

  Start next times: 257.50/261.30/0.00 s (normal/sustained/longtail), using: 261.30 s.
  Cue out time: 263.20 s
  

v3.0.0

2024-06-12 – v3.0.0

New feature

• Adjustable minimum silence length for blank skipping, i.e., cueing out early when silence is found in the track, for instance from a long pause and "hidden tracks".
• A much requested feature many have been waiting for (including myself)!
• This new function adds almost no extra CPU load.
• Longer silent parts and "hidden tracks" will be detected accurately, without many false triggers, and the track cued out early, with a perfect transition.
• Long tail handling, overlay point detection (next song start) and fading stay active as before—they just work from the new cue-out point.
• The new cue-out point will be set at the beginning of the specified and detected silent part. We don’t want to produce "dead air", after all.
• cue_file still supports the -b/--blankskip option, which will use a default of 2.5 seconds minimum silence duration.
• Note: If using only -b/--blankskip without a value, you should use it as the last parameter and then add a -- before the filename, to signify "end of parameters". This is standard syntax and you probably know it already from other programs.
  Example:

  $ cue_file -kfwrb -- "Nirvana - Something in the Way _ Endless, Nameless.mp3"
  

• You can add the desired duration after -b/--blankskip in seconds, it is a new optional parameter.
  Example:

  $ cue_file -k -f -w -r -b 5.0 "Nirvana - Something in the Way _ Endless, Nameless.mp3"
  

• In Liquidsoap/AzuraCast, you can use this setting which defaults to zero (0.00) and means "disabled":

  settings.autocue.cue_file.blankskip := 0.0
  

  Don’t forget to change this setting if you used true or false before!

Recommendation

• I recommend not to use this feature on jingles, dry sweepers or liners, advertisements and podcast episodes. Especially spoken text can contain some pauses which might trigger an early cue-out.
• Nobody wants a podcast episode to end in the middle, or even risk losing ad revenue!
• You can easily prevent this and turn off blank skipping
  • by tagging a file with the liq_blankskip tag set to 0.00,
  • by not using cue_file’s -b/--blankskip option when writing tags,
  • by prefixing annotate:liq_blankskip=0.00 on playlists.
  • An annotation has precedence over a file tag.
• In some special cases we automatically turn off blank skipping:
  • SAM Broadcaster: Song category is not "Song" (S). For all other categories like News (N), Jingles (J), Ads (A), etc. We look for the songtype tag here. This is useful if you use a common music library, or have files that have been tagged using SAM categories.
  • AzuraCast: Hide Metadata from Listeners ("Jingle Mode") is selected for a playlist. This sets a jingle_mode=true annotation we honor.

Breaking Changes

• liq_blankskip is now a float, not a boolean anymore!
• Re-tagging recommended! Sorry for that, but I hope the new functionality will outweigh the effort.
• Both cue_file and autocue.cue_file.liq will handle the "old" tags gracefully, using 0.00 for former false and your setting or the default of 2.50 s for former true.
• 0.00 (zero) now means "blankskip disabled".