Although VT will readily export any log as long as it is official, it is very important that the log within VT be setup to meet the requirements of the automation system before you attempt an export. If the log is not correctly arranged, the external system will not perform properly.
The first step is to determine the exact requirements of the program log. That discussion goes beyond this help topic. It is suggested you contact Visual Traffic Support for guidance in setting up your VT system to work with your automation system.
The information you need to gather is the station format, which may be supplied to you as hour "clocks" if you are on a satellite system. The format should specify where the spot breaks will occur on the log and any other information regarding log events such as break lengths, programs, ID announcements, announcer changes, recorded feeds, etc.
You will probably want to arrange the breaks on the log so they will "load" the external automation with the necessary spots (cart numbers) into a "queue." The queued spots should be ready to play before the automation system receives a tone cue from a satellite network or the board engineer (or announcer) presses a button to play the break.
In addition to arranging the position of breaks, the length of a break can be of critical importance to a totally automated station. For example, a satellite service that sends a tone for the local station to play a break will expect the break to be exactly timed (2 minutes, 90 seconds, etc.). When properly timed, the program begins again after the commercial announcements without "dead air" or overlapping audio sources.
It is also important to make sure all the necessary Log Directives are created and placed on the log at the proper times. These are instructions to the automation system that are placed on the log to be executed at a specific time. Many different directives are possible for most digital audio systems.
Another way to use an exported log is to merge it with a music log to produce a combined log for use with local automation. two logs merged produce a continuous stream of audio carts recorded on hard drives. This includes both spots and music. You can even produce Voice Track carts of announcers and merge those into the final log. The result is a seamless, pre-produced program full of announcers, music, and spot breaks.
NOTE - Although VT is able to schedule Log Directives as close together as one second, many automation systems will not recognize more than one Log Directive per minute. This means it is important to properly space the times where Log Directives are placed on the log.