Natural Log Overview

Natural Log is a third party software that generates your daily logs based on a series of rules you define. These rules can dictate from how many times a spot can play during a given time frame and which spots cannot run one right after the other (maybe to car dealerships).  Once your rules and templates are created, the program will push out text based files for every day of the year. Those text files are then imported into Simian and logs are created for daily use (you will want to use a CHAIN macro at the end of the day).

Natural Log allows for billing of underwriters as well. You create an “order” in the Natural Log for the underwriter. At the end of the week or month, you can reconcile the logs that have played and generate a billing, or proof of play, document. The billing features integrate with QuickBooks.

When running the program, you do not want it on the Simian machine. It needs to run on another computer that is running Win 7 or higher. The cost starts at $1,295.

Natural Grid Overview

Natural Grid will create your log templates for daily play, minus the detailed client billing and scheduling. This is the biggest difference.

When running the program, you do not want it on the Simian machine. It needs to run on another computer that is running Win 7 or higher. The cost starts at $99.

Should we get it?

I will be honest, I have taken several stations OFF Natural Log and Grid. It was too much, the learning curve was to high, and they couldn’t keep up with generating daily logs. If you have a station that runs pretty much the same thing M-F, with a little variety Saturday and Sunday, you don’t need more that 7 logs. EWTN and Relevant keep on a hard break schedule. Meaning, they ditched the triggers a long time ago, and the breaks start and stop at a certain time. Are they always perfect? No, but they try their best.

If your station has underwriters that pay you every month to run, they are donating to your cause. If they are not particular about when they play and how often, put them in a rotating cart and the plug the cart into the log during your local avail time.

If you have an underwriter that would like “proof of play”, use the Simian (2.0 or later) affidavit generator. Log>View Event Logs> Affidavit generator. Here you can plug in the data you want to collect and build a report for all played spots during a certain time frame.

If you are still wanting to use Natural Log for managing logs and underwriters, you need to know it will take months to get your data, rules, and templates ready. Your audio needs to be coded a certain way, under a character limit, so you will go through a come up with a number system. For example, is the 100-199 are 30 second PSA’s, it will be P101. Somewhere you will need to identify, most likely on an Excel spreadsheet, that P101 is Divine Mercy Celebrations at the JP2 Center.

You will have to generate rules for every customer “order”. Every audio piece related to the customer is it’s own order.

You will have to generate the logs daily for a awhile, until you work out the template bugs. Then you can move to weekly. If there are any changes in those logs, you will regenerate them in Nautral Log and re-import into Simian.

Then question comes down to, do you have the need for this robust program and the time to make it happen? If so, then do it. It is not a weekend project, it will take months, if your audio database is large enough. Luckily, the purchase comes with a year support from Natural Software.

Now to Natural Grid. One thing that threw me off about the description is the program “allows you to build complex automation log command templates with userdefined clocks. This is very useful for those automation systems that may not provide a convenient method of building and editing templates of automation commands.” Simian allows a convenient method of building and editing templates. The reason Simian is good is that the programming that you re-transmit is not complicated.

I hope this helps!

Marissa