Introduction to xLog
xLog is a feature of PlayoutONE Pro (v5.0 or newer) which allows stations to opt-out of their regular programming and use an extra log for special programmes (such as live sports coverage) without affecting their existing logs.
Your station's xLog will need to be configured on your main on-air machine or via the Audio Engine, as it will use the same audio devices as your regular PlayoutONE audio output.
🔧 Configuring an xLog
To create an xLog for your station, the feature first needs to be enabled by Aiir's Support team. If you cannot see 'xLog' as a sub-menu when you right-click your PlayoutONE log, contact us.
Once enabled, open the xLog Editor to start creating a broadcast template.
Unlike those created with Template Builder, xLog templates do not have to be assigned to any specific hours. This makes them ideal for live sports coverage, where you know there may be a certain number of commercial breaks but not the exact time they will occur.
Start by entering a name for your template in the text field in the top left corner of the screen.
You can right-click the log area to start inserting items or use the toolbar buttons:
| 1 | Template list | Create or load xLog templates |
| 2 | Delete | Deletes currently selected template |
| 3 | Duplicate | Creates a copy of the current template |
| 4 | New | Creates a new template |
| 5 | Import | Import a previously created template |
| 6 | Export | Export the current template |
| 7 | Save | Save changes to the active template |
| 8 | Commercial mapping table | Open the current template's commercial break map |
| 9 | Delete items | Deletes currently selected items from your xLog template |
As well as all the regular log items, including UIDs and commands, there are three xLog-exclusive items you can add to your log:
| xLog Commercial Break | An xLog break which is mapped to mirror ads scheduled in your regular log. See Mapping commercial breaks to see how to set these up. |
| xLog Meta | Custom metadata which xLog will send to all your usual outputs during the broadcast. |
| xLog Divider | A visual spacer to break up xLog items, indicating where your live content will be. |
There are also xLog-specific versions of many core PlayoutONE commands like PLAY NEXT and STOP EVERYTHING .
xLog does not chain items as the regular log does, so to run through several in sequence, you will need to use the xLog-specific AUTOMATION ON / OFF commands.
You may also want to set up your own pre-defined commands to use here for any useful tasks when going into or out of xLog programming, such as muting the main log output if you still have an hour of music scheduled or turning on or off GPIO relays using Data Controller.