Taking automation to new heights!

Drop Zone Ops

A client-side M3U playlist builder for DIY broadcasters.

Drop Zone Ops is a single-file web app that makes building .m3u playlists accessible to anyone — no server, no installation, no command line. Open the file in a browser and start building.

It was created to support the DIY broadcast workflows behind schwwaaa and subcarrier.tv — two community-run streaming channels that needed a simple way to assemble custom playlists with interstitial breaks, commercial bumpers, and mixed local/remote content, then hand them off to OBS with VLC as a source.

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Why does this exist?

Building an .m3u playlist by hand in a text editor is confusing, error-prone, and inaccessible to collaborators who aren't comfortable with file paths and formatting. At the same time, most playlist tools are either bloated, server-dependent, or don't support the mixed local + remote file workflows that DIY streaming actually requires.

Drop Zone Ops solves that. It's a drag-and-drop playlist builder that outputs a clean, correctly formatted .m3u file that works in both VLC and OBS's VLC source plugin — no trailing newline issues, no path headaches.

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How it works

1. Open the app

Just open index.html in any modern browser. No server needed. No install. Works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.

2. Set your local base path

If you're using local video files, set your Base Path at the top of the left panel before adding files.

This is the folder where your video files live on your machine:

• Mac / Linux: /Users/yourname/Videos/content/
• Windows: C:\Users\yourname\Videos\content\

Every local file you drop in will automatically be prefixed with this path in the exported .m3u. If you add files before setting the path, hit APPLY ALL to apply it retroactively.

Remote URLs (Dropbox, S3, HTTP links) are never affected by the base path — they pass through exactly as-is.

3. Add files to your playlist

Three ways to add content:

Drop files — Drag video files directly from your file manager into the drop zone. They'll appear in the playlist list immediately.

Browse — Click Browse Local Files to open a file picker.

Paste a URL — For remote files, paste any HTTP/HTTPS URL into the URL field, give it a display name, and click + ADD or hit Enter.

4. Arrange your playlist

Drag items up and down by the ⠿ handle on the left side of each row. This is where Drop Zone Ops earns its keep — you can build a custom broadcast block with interstitials, ad breaks, and bumpers exactly where you want them.

5. Tag your content

Each item has a tag that categorizes its role in the playlist:

Tag	Use case
content	Main programming — episodes, films, features
commercial	Ad spots
bumper	Short intro/outro clips, station IDs
interstitial	Transitions, filler, between-segment content

Click the colored tag badge on any item to cycle through tags. Use Sort by Tag to group your playlist by type when needed.

6. Edit item details

Click any item's title to open the edit modal. From there you can update:

• Display name — what appears in the #EXTINF line of the .m3u
• File path / URL — the actual path or link to the file
• Duration — enter in MM:SS or H:MM:SS format (e.g. 22:30, 1:04:15)
• Tag — content type
• Group / Block — optional label for grouping (e.g. block-1, ad-break-2)

7. Import from CSV or JSON

If you have a list of files already organized in a spreadsheet or data file, click Import CSV / JSON to load them in bulk.

CSV format:

path,name,duration,tag,group
/Users/yourname/Videos/episode-01.mp4,Episode 01,22:30,content,block-1
https://your-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/ad.mp4,Soda Ad,0:30,commercial,ad-break-1

JSON format:

[
  {
    "path": "/Users/yourname/Videos/episode-01.mp4",
    "name": "Episode 01",
    "duration": "22:30",
    "tag": "content",
    "group": "block-1"
  },
  {
    "path": "https://your-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/ad.mp4",
    "name": "Soda Ad",
    "duration": "0:30",
    "tag": "commercial",
    "group": "ad-break-1"
  }
]

Template files for both formats are included in the repo: playlist-template.csv and playlist-template.json.

8. Name and export your playlist

Type a name for your playlist in the Playlist Name field (e.g. saturday-night-block). Then click Export .M3U Playlist — the file downloads directly to your machine as saturday-night-block.m3u.

The exported file is compatible with both VLC and OBS VLC Source.

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Commercial Injection

The 💉 Commercial Injection panel lets you automatically weave commercials, bumpers, and breaks into your content playlist using a reusable JSON template — no manual rearranging required.

Click the 💉 Commercial Injection button at the bottom of the Operations panel. It slides in from the right over the existing UI.

How it works

The injector takes your content playlist and a set of rules, then outputs a fully merged playlist back into Drop Zone Ops — ready to export as a single .m3u.

The panel has three columns:

1. Commercial Library — your pool of ad clips. Add clips by filename (combined with the library base path) or full remote URL.

Each clip gets a display name and optional duration. Any clip in the library can also be assigned as a pre or post break bumper.

2. Injection Rules — where you define when and how breaks fire:

• Default Rule — fires automatically every N content items. Set the interval, min/max ads per break, and selection mode
• Position Overrides — fire a different rule at a specific item number, overriding the default for that break only
• Bumpers — optionally assign a pre-break and/or post-break clip per rule (e.g. "After these messages..." / "And we're back...")

Selection modes:

Mode	Behavior
random	Picks ads randomly from the library each time
sequential	Cycles through the library in order across all breaks
specific	Uses exact clips you name in the template

3. JSON Template + Preview — the live template JSON updates as you configure.

You can:

• Edit the JSON directly (click Edit to unlock, Lock to validate and snap back)
• ↓ Save the template as a .json file to reuse across sessions
• Import Template JSON to load a previously saved template
• See a Merged Preview of the final injected playlist in real time, color-coded by type

Content source

The injector auto-reads your current Drop Zone playlist. You can also import a separate .m3u or .json file as the content source if you want to work independently of the live playlist.

Generating the output

Click 💉 INJECT & UPDATE PLAYLIST — the injector merges your content and commercials according to the rules and replaces the Drop Zone playlist in place. Then export your .m3u as normal.

Template format reference

The injection template is a plain JSON file you can save, share, and reuse:

{
  "name": "saturday-night-block",
  "commercial_library": {
    "source": "/Users/yourname/Videos/commercials/",
    "files": [
      { "name": "Soda Ad", "path": "soda-ad.mp4", "duration": "0:30" },
      { "name": "Car Ad", "path": "car-ad.mp4", "duration": "0:30" },
      { "name": "And We're Back", "path": "back-bumper.mp4", "duration": "0:08" }
    ]
  },
  "breaks": {
    "default_interval": 2,
    "min_ads": 1,
    "max_ads": 2,
    "selection": "random",
    "default_bumpers": {
      "post": "/Users/yourname/Videos/commercials/back-bumper.mp4"
    },
    "overrides": [
      {
        "after_item": 1,
        "min_ads": 2,
        "max_ads": 2,
        "selection": "sequential",
        "bumpers": {
          "pre": "/Users/yourname/Videos/commercials/into-break.mp4",
          "post": "/Users/yourname/Videos/commercials/back-bumper.mp4"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

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Using the playlist in OBS

1. In OBS, add a new source → VLC Video Source
2. Click the + button under the playlist and select Add Path/URL
3. Point it at your exported .m3u file
4. OBS will load and play through the playlist in order

Note: OBS's VLC source is strict about file formatting. Drop Zone Ops handles this automatically — paths are written correctly and the file ends without a trailing newline, which is required for OBS compatibility.

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The M3U format

An exported playlist looks like this:

#EXTM3U
#EXTINF:1350 group-title="block-1" tvg-type="content",Episode 01
/Users/yourname/Videos/episode-01.mp4
#EXTINF:30 group-title="ad-break-1" tvg-type="commercial",Soda Ad
https://your-bucket.s3.amazonaws.com/ad.mp4
#EXTINF:8 group-title="ad-break-1" tvg-type="bumper",And We're Back
/Users/yourname/Videos/back-bumper.mp4

Each entry is two lines: a #EXTINF metadata line followed by the file path or URL.

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Playlist stats

The right panel shows a live count of items by tag and a Total Time display. Total time calculates automatically from any duration values you've entered on your items.

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Tested on

• macOS (Apple Silicon)
• Windows 10 / 11
• Linux (Ubuntu 24.04)

Works in Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge.

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Attributions

• Influenced by obs_scheduler by cyberboy666
• Built for schwwaaa & subcarrier.tv