Radio PRO - MP3 and OGG-streaming solution

Hi Vontarga

Thank you very much for your interest in “Radio”!

I’ll try to answer your questions the best I can:

  • As you can verify with our demos, it’s absolutely possible to play many stations at the same time. The only limitation is the Internet-connection.
  • The output is routed to an AudioSource which has “Spatial Blend” for 3D positioning (like distance etc.). But atm, we use OnAudioFilterRead which “ruins” the effect (distance is working). This will be fixed in the upcoming release 2.3.0
  • We are currently working on an other asset which would allow you to play your own (local) music. It will also have a “setlist” function and many more gimmicks for personalization. I think this is what you are referring to. If everything goes according to plan it will be in the Asset Store in a few weeks. Also, with the “Radio” asset you can provide music in your own network by securing the endpoints (e.g. with HTTP-authentication).
  • The implementation for access control is up to you. In our case, we simply read the current stations from a file on our web server. But you could handle this with an API and a real “webapp” behind it.

Just contact me if you have further questions.

cheers,
Stefan

1 Like

Thank you for the prompt, detailed answers, Stefan.

Reid

Hi Stefan,
Does this asset support pandora.com Internet radio? Thanks for any info.

Hi reddo

Thank you for your interest in “Radio”!

Unfortunately, I can’t access pandora.com from Switzerland during licensing constraints…

But as long as you can access an OGG or MP3 stream it should work.
You can test it with the **demo **app (“SimpleUI”-scene) by replacing the url etc. with the desired values.

I hope this helps!

So long,
Stefan

Thanks for the quick reply Stefan.
The client I’m working with has the backing of Pandora so just looking for possibilities in regards to streaming from Pandora in a mobile app.
I’ll give the demo app a go.
Cheers
Red

Hi Red

Please let me know if it worked.
And if so: could you please send me the station you’ve tested (with the URL) via PM? Thank you.

Cheers
Stefan

Hi Stefan,
Just bought this. It’s good. Built an osx standalone and it works.

Is their a demo scene that shows how to use this across different scenes, so the audio keeps playing?
If not, documentation?
That would be quite helpful.

What’s your rough eta on your dj app so players can hear their own music?
Will it work on OSX?

thanks!

Hi shwa

Thank you for buying our asset “Radio”!

To survive a scene switch create the following script “SurviveSceneSwitch.cs” in your project:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class SurviveSceneSwitch : MonoBehaviour {

   public List<GameObject> Survivors = new List<GameObject>(); //any objects, like RadioPlayers

   private Transform tf;

   void Awake () {
      tf = transform;
      DontDestroyOnLoad(tf.root.gameObject);
   }

    void Start () {
      foreach (GameObject go in Survivors) {
         go.transform.SetParent(tf);
      }
    }
 
    void Update () {
      if (Time.frameCount % 150 == 0) { //ensure every 150 frames that the parent is still this object
         foreach (GameObject go in Survivors) {
            go.transform.SetParent(tf);
         }
      }
   }
}

After that, open your scene from where the sound should start, add an empty gameobject and call it “Survivor”. Then add the script from above and drag’n’drop all needed “RadioPlayers” (or any object that should survive the scene switch) and you’re good to go. :slight_smile:
You can add the desired objects also via scripting by adding them to the Survivors-list.

About the DJ: it will be available at the end of the month. We’re currently in an extensive testphase and will submit it by the end of the next week. After that, it’s in the hands of the UAS-team.
It will work (like Radio) on any platform, including OSX.

Please let me know if this was helpful.

So long,
Stefan

Edit:
“SurviveSceneSwitch” is now part of Radio

Thanks, Stefan, much appreciated!

did a quick and dirty test, and it works. I’ll need to refine things.

Are there any Rights Usages/Copyright details we should know, if we use the radio stations that have been preset with the demo?

I see SomaFM and 1.fm.

thanks,

Hi shwa!

You’re welcome.
About your legal question: We did look up various legal issues, however, we only found specific information about Switzerland:

Before we released this asset we looked up various legal stuff which we thought could be an issue (plus we wanted to be on the safe side).
Here is what we found:
According to the GT2b (Gemeinsamer Tarif 2b 2014-2017: Entschädigung für das Weitersenden von Radio- und Fernsehprogrammen und der darin enthaltenen Werke und Leistungen über IP-basierte Netze auf mobile Endgeräte oder auf PC-Bildschirme) which was approved by the “Eidgenössische Schiedskommission für die Verwendung von Urheberrechten und verwandten Schutzrechten” in 2013, it is perfectly legal to receive Internet radio stations, as long as you don’t send anything. Since our “Radio” asset functions only as a receiver, it is legal to use it.

The various internet Radio stations pay copyright bills, they are the ones sending the music. Again, since this asset does NOT SEND any music but just RECEIVES it (including commercials of the various stations), there are no legal ramifications. Plus you can’t save or repeat any of the music, it’s just like listening to Radio stations the “old school” way.

BUT: We talked to copyright experts here in Switzerland, and the legal documents linked above are also Swiss. Unfortunately, we can’t look up each and every country’s laws regarding this issue.

The following links to music licensing bodies may be of help:

USA:
www.loudcity.net
www.swcast.com
www.bmi.com
www.ascap.com
www.soundexchange.com

UK:
www.ppluk.com
www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk

Germany:
www.gema.de
www.gvl.de

France:
www.sacem.fr

Netherlands:
www.bumastemra.nl

South Africa:
www.samro.org.za

Canada:
http://www.cmrra.ca

On a more general note:
We included the various stations in the demo scene mainly to show that it works technically and also for fun (we like music and it was interesting to find all these different radio stations).
If you plan on including stations in a game that you release on a commercial basis, we strongly recommend that you contact the stations you want to use yourself.

Cheers,
Stefan

Thanks for this information, Stefan.
Much appreciated!

You’re welcome :slight_smile:
If you have any suggestions or questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

So long,
Stefan

We currently working on the 2.4.0 update of Radio.
We’re happy to announce official demos and packages for the following assets in our upcoming release:

Audio Visualizer:



Visualizer Studio:

and PlayMaker (without picture).

Here is the download for the actual demo application:

Windows
Mac
Linux

So long,
Stefan

Hi there! great asset. Is there a way to just play/stream a single MP3 from the web?

Hi musikito

“Radio” isn’t designed for this purpose, but it’s possible.
We will release our new asset “DJ” in a few days - it’s much better for local an remote files…

Anyway, here is a working setup for “Radio”:

2701962--191380--Audiofile.PNG

It’s important to set the “Cache Stream Size” higher than the file size!

Cheers
Stefan

That this the trick of what I was looking for.

Waiting for the DJ asset

Hi musikito

I’m glad it worked!
We made large general improvements in Radio over the last weeks, so DJ is a bit delayed.
But we will release it soon, I promise (and will post it here when it’s ready)!

We’ve just submitted version 2.4.0 to the store. Here is the change-log:

  • PLS and M3U-parser added!
  • over 30 new stations: adding up to a grand total of 134!
  • Custom editors incl. Test-Drive implemented
  • Configuration window and “UnityPreferences” added
  • Update-checker added
  • All callbacks renamed to OnXY
  • Demo for “Audio Visualizer” added (see folder ‘3rdparty’)
  • Demo for “CompleteSoundSuite” added (see folder ‘3rdparty’)
  • Demo for “VisualizerStudio” added (see folder ‘3rdparty’)
  • PlayMaker actions improved
  • Code improvements
  • Documentation improved
  • Minimal Unity version is now 5.1.1

Here are some impressions of the new Editor-integration:

2711163--225367--PrefWindow - 01_Config.png

2711163--225369--ConfigWindow - 02_Prefabs.png
2711163--225370--ConfigWindow - 03_TD.png

2711163--225371--ConfigWindow - 04_Help.PNG

2711163--225372--ConfigWindow - 05_About.png

So long,
Stefan

1 Like

Bought PRO version on sale :slight_smile: Looks nice, just one note - somewhere should be written that some of Standard Assets are needed.

Hi Smokas

Thank you for buying “Radio PRO” and your feedback!

We already removed the “Standard Assets”-part in the upcoming version. It’s only used for the 3D-audio demo scene and should be added manually if the scene is needed…

So long,
Stefan