Review: Sunnyside Software RayCaster 1.6
Finally, the control module has large stop and go buttons, large "On Air" and "Recording" indicators, a clock, and a CPU load readout. My only suggestion here is that in the broadcast world, the "On Air" and "Recording" lights you see outside control rooms are red—not light blue.
Setting up RayCaster is done via the settings window (see Figure 3). How to access the settings window isn’t immediately obvious, until you realize that it’s available via the webcast menu and also via a small icon along the top of the interface. Given the slick look and feel of RayCaster, I’d expect a button in the interface. I’d suggest something along the bottom of the encoding module.
Figure 3 (below): How to access the settings window isn’t obvious, but once you find it, it’s easy to configure your settings.
The settings window allows you to specify everything about the webcast. You can specify the type of DV input, choose the slides you’ll be using, enter metadata, specify an archive directory, and choose encoding profiles for each of your streams. You can also modify profiles and save them for future use.
After you’ve configured your settings, using RayCaster couldn’t be simpler. Press the Go button when you want to start encoding, and the Stop button when you’re done. Double-click on any source to make that source live. Use the audio-level adjustment to fade your audio in at the start and out at the end. Keep an eye on your CPU load to make sure you’re not running out of CPU horsepower. The CPU load display is color-coded to make this simple: yellow means you’re running out of steam, and red means you’re in trouble.
RayCaster provides excellent scripting functionality; for example, to flip HTML presentation slides. You can create all your script commands in advance, and then trigger them during your live broadcast. The RayCaster also provides a nice Script Wizard, which makes it simple to create script events without a lot of redundant typing. And finally you can save lists of scripts as "script play lists" for future use, which is handy (see Figure 4).
Figure 4 (below): You can save lists of scripts as "script play lists" for fugure use.
Another helpful RayCaster feature is remote administration. This functionality is rudimentary at present, but still useful. Essentially, you can access RayCaster from any browser (provided you’ve configured your firewalls and security software appropriately). All you have to do is open up a browser to your encoding machine on port 3841, and you’re presented with a minimalist web interface that allows you to start and stop your encoding, send a script event, check your play status, and get the current settings in an XML file.