RTI Music Driver

This driver provides two-way TCP control of the RTI MS-3 Music Streamer, feedback about a player's current properties, and the ability to browse the music library of the server.

Note: This driver is intended for RTI Music enabled products only. As of this release, the RTI MS-3 is the only RTI Music enabled device.

Release History

V1.0 Initial Release of the Driver.

V1.1 Updated Hidden GUI Tags, text results of a new search in Spotify, and Two-Way List affecting the KX3 when used as a processor.

V1.2 Added visibility variables for layers and buttons.

V1.3 Fixed international character issue (UTF8).

V1.4 Fixed error changing driver property fields and changed default album information

V1.5 Adds support for the MS-1 (See Important Note below)

V1.6 Adds support for Off-site programming

V1.7 Minor updates to python

V1.8 Updated device discovery

V1.9 Fixed volume for grouping

V2.0 Modified startup procedure, added Sync group volume mode set.

Set Up:

Integration Designer 9 Users

When using ID9 it is suggested to set up the box using a static IP, which should be entered into the IP Address field, the Serial Number located on the back of the box. In order to configure the players within the server you need to enter the MAC Address of each player into the configuration these can be found in the MS-3 Configuration utility under “Players”. When using the driver with multiple music servers, you must have an instance of the driver for each server.

Integration Designer 10.13 or Later Users

***Depreciated as of V1.6*** When using ID10.13 or later either a static IP or DHCP reservation will work as this version of the driver includes Discovery. When adding the driver, it will automatically search your network for any RTI Music devices and display the serial number for each of them in the Driver Properties menu. If you do not find the RTI Music device you are looking for, you can trigger another search using the “Search for new devices” button in the Driver Properties menu. When you select the desired serial number, it will then display all Players associated with that server as configured in the MS-3 Configuration Utility you can assign those players to any Player Source of the driver. The number of Player Sources will scale with the number of players currently assigned to that server as defined in the MS-3 Configuration Utility.

***Important Note***: When adding a single MS-1 to your ID11 file, the driver will display both "Player 1" and "Player 2" in the "add to existing driver" menus. Please use ONLY "Player 1" the use of "Player 2" may cause unintended results. When using multiple MS-1's paired together all players shown are available for use.

When adding the driver first add sources for the number of players you plan on using from your RTI Music Devices (Up to 8 players are supported currently). The "Server" source can be disregarded this is only there to support earlier versions of the driver. After adding all of the desired players you will be able to create new pages, or use the ones provided by the template to program your devices. When you are on site and ready to hook up your RTI Music devices to the driver ensure your computer and RTI Music devices are on the same network and click the "Search for New Devices" button in the Driver Properties, this will provide you with numerous drop down menus to help you configure your sources in ID11 to the physical RTI Music players.

Note: Firmware version 21.9.6.0 or newer is required on all RTI Music enabled devices. Also, an updated License where RTI is indicated as the Manufacturer.

Settings:

The driver must be configured with some information about the RTI Music Device. All of the information can be obtained on the MS-3 Product page <https://www.rticontrol.com/dealer/ms-3-rti-music.html>.

Open the RTI Configuration Utility. How to access.

ID9: Automatically downloads to your computer when you update to ID9.19 or later.

ID10/11: Automatically downloads to your computer when you update to ID10.13 or later.

Connect to your RTI Music Device.

Log into selected streaming services

In Integration designer, add the “RTI Music” driver to your project and click “Search for New Devices” under Driver Configuration column.

Select “Driver Properties” and select your MS-3’s serial number from the Serial Number row.

Add players to the Player Names rows using the dropdown menu.

Note: For a visual walkthrough please see the “RTI Music: Getting Started” video found on the MS-3 product page.

Basic Driver Use

The driver has two main functions: browsing the music library and controlling what's currently playing. Additionally, there are some auxiliary functions such as (syncing players).

When browsing the library, most music services will let you navigate by selecting something in the list and after selected, may enable buttons for playback control.

Browsing the Library

The "Library" page is intended to let the user browse their music library. That includes local music (shared from other local data stores) as well as Internet Radio and streaming services like Pandora and Spotify.

The media is presented in a "tree" or "folder" view, where there is a top level (Home) which contains items. Items can be "opened" which updates the list to display the things "within that folder". In this way you could navigate to a particular track through Home -> My Music -> Artists -> Lorde -> Pure Heroine -> Royals as an example.

As you navigate, an item may support "playing" as well as have things "under" it. If something can be "opened" then selecting it in the list will open it. If that thing can be played, buttons to do so become enabled (visible) when the item is selected. The item selected is indicated in a set of “target” variables. The target is what is acted upon with Play Now and other library commands.

The Home can be customized for each player. This allows you to remove unwanted services or reorder them. See Integration -> Custom Home in the Configuration Utility.

Some items require "searching". For example, the Spotify service supports searching the Spotify library. When the appropriate "Search" item is selected, a variable to display a keyboard is set. A keyboard can then be displayed for the user. When the user completed the data entry, the search will be executed. This keyboard may be available in APEX but will have to be constructed in Integration Designer. See the demo for an example.

Using Favorites

The driver supports playing "favorites". A favorite is any playable item (a track, album, playlist, radio station, etc). These can be marked as a favorite. (Remember the Add Favorite command is operated on a Library Target). Once marked, they are published through appropriate variables and can be played directly. Favorites can also be deleted.

Now Playing

The "Now Playing" variables indicate what a player is currently playing. A queue list is available to indicate items to be played (or having been played) in the player's queue.

Queue and transport controls are available, however certain capabilities may be limited based on service. For example, not all services support rating a track, or skipping tracks, etc. Further, not all metadata may be available depending on service. For example, Station is only available for Internet radio stations, Sound Machine does not provide cover art, etc.

About Hidden GUI Elements

The driver depends on the use of visibility variables to facilitate the user experience. For example, the Play Now command is not appropriate in all contexts. There is a visibility variable for Can Play Now that should be used to enable/make visible a button executing the command, so a user does not think it is functional at inappropriate times. The keyboard functionality is a prime example of this.

V1.1 added three new visibility tags to show appropriate layers when needed.

Variable names

UI Visibility: Main – Set the Main Music Player layer to this visibility variable. The music player layer will be visible while Keyboard and Detail layers are hidden.

UI Visibility: Keyboard – Set the Keyboard layer to this visibility variable. The keyboard layer will be visible while Main and Detail layers are hidden.

UI Visibility: Detail – Set the Detail (Large Cover Art) layer to this visibility variable. The detail (Large Cover Art) layer visible while Main and Keyboard layers are hidden.

UI Visibility: Detail variable is intended to be used to toggle between the main music player layer and a layer with a larger cover art image. In order to do this, you will need to tag the dynamic image with “NP Cover 2” on the layer with the larger cover art.

Note: If services do not work (you cannot play or browse their contents), verify the appropriate account information has been provided. Test service functionality in the configuration utility to ensure proper access.

Notes about specific driver commands…

Library/Play from Library: This command has variable behavior depending on the target when the Action is “Now”. If there is nothing in the queue. The target is simply added. If there is something in the queue, the action depends on the first item in the queue and the target. If the target or the first item in the queue is one of the following: Internet Radio, Pandora, SiriusXM or SoundMachine, it will clear the queue and add the target. Otherwise, it will insert the target in the queue AFTER the currently playing item AND perform a “next” on the queue to advance the queue to the first of the items inserted. This may not always be what the user desires. If it is not, use the other actions (Exclusive, Soon and Later) as they behave consistently regardless of the library target.

Note on change to startup procedure:
When an RTI processor and the MS-1 or MS-3 lose power, it may take up to 30 seconds for the MS player to reconnect to the processor after all units are completely powered up.