Magic Ad Copy Timer- Who made this? How does it work?

The Magic Ad Copy Timer application was put together by Bob Holiday
with technical help from ace coder Deepak Vishwakarma at Galaxy Web Links, India.

With this application it is now possible to accurately plan your commercial BEFORE it's produced!
Eliminating the usual guesswork when it comes to writing and producting your radio commercial!

What's wrong with relying on WORD COUNT?
Example "THE" is one word.. and so is "Antidisestablishmentarianism"!

Copy written using those templates with NUMBERED LINES relying on font size is only SLIGHTLY better but STILL problematic.

And what about telephone numbers or symbols like "#" or "%"? ... I think you get the point...

The ONLY truly ACCURATE way to measure length is with SYLLABLE COUNT.

Bottom line?
With this aplication you can now get the answer to the following question...
"Will it fit?"


About the USER INTERFACE...

Body Copy

This window nay be the only one you'll need much of the time unless you have other elements that add complexity such as disclaimers, sound effects, jingles etc.

Simply copy your script text and paste it into the text window. The main "Body Copy" text window is meant for the usual ad copy text. When no disclaimer or jingle are needed this is the ONLY area you'll use.
The output for this main window appears just below it with a readout indicating how many seconds it takes to read it at a dramatic, normal, or fast announcer pace. It will even calculate length for Spanish language!
The output result displayed in each of four windows is based on a syllable counting engine the output of which is displayed after the appropriate math is applied. Simply pay attention to the appropriate output window depending on your desired result.
PLEASE NOTE!! DO NOT USE "X's" IN PLACE OF DIGITS FOR THE PHONE NUMBERS!! This will not be properly analyzed!

Disclaimer Copy

This window is for any disclaimer language you may need for your commercial. Simply copy your disclaimer text and paste it into the disclaimer copy window.
The output for this window appears just below it with a readout indicating how many seconds it takes up.
The oputput is generated by the same syllable counting engine BUT The output of this window is devided by 10
Which means it is the length AFTER TIME COMPRESSION so that it's at "disclaimer speed". The resulting time is 50% faster than normal speech.
The resulting length is automatically applied to the OVERALL length of the commercial, the total being displayed in the small output windows above.

Jingle/SFX INPUT

Jumping down to the very bottom of the page is a small input window. Simply type in the numerical length in seconds of other elements that
should NOT be time compressed or expanded. How long is your jingle? How many seconds will be used up with other elements like sound effects or stingers, zingers, zappers or transitions?
Simply add it all up and type it in here. This number will be added to the total output after everything else. This material is NOT TIME COMPRESSIBLE.
NOTE; it's much easier to just insert single words in your BODY COPY for sound effects like (Zip)...(ZAP)...(BANG) or for a really BIG explosion insert (KA BLAMMO!)
the inserted material is then counted by the application and has the added benefit of telling your producer what you want where :)

Center Console - Outputs

This collection of small windows comprise the business end of this powerful application!
The four output windows from left to right are described as follows...

"DRAMATIC Inflection" This is speech that is slower than the typical DJ voiceover. Imagine a heart felt emotional style. Experienced announcers will often land in this zone naturally.

"NORMAL Inflection" This is speech that is about where typical radio commercials wind up. This is for the typical voiceover actor doing a typical commercial.

"NO Inflection" This is for hard sell very fast paced productions and will not sound "Natural" I'd strongly suggest yu avoid this speed when you can.

"Spanish Language" This window displays the normal pace of spanish language text which - not surprisingly - is about 20% faster than spoken english.

When mixed performance styles are needed - In the case of very involved creations with multiple characters - you can time each actor individually and then ad all the times up to get your overall length.

With just a few projects you'll quickly come to understand how to effectively use this tool.

 

Have Questions? Email Bob Holiday... Bob@855MagicAd.com ...Enjoy!