Auto Activation on Playlist cues not working SCS10

[jonasgrumby]

Hi everyone,

I just programmed a show and I have three playlist cues that I want to have automatically play after another cue. None of them are working. The previous cue plays from a hot key, ends, and then I see the tracks of the playlist on the bottom of the screen but they do not play. I have activation set to automatic, I've tried making the playlist cues start both before and after the previous cue, I've tried leaving the time at 0.00 as well as 0.10, and I've made sure that the previous cue is selected correctly. It's a three act play and in each case I'm trying to have a sound cue play, followed by some music that will play during the scene break. Any ideas? Is this because they are all playlist cues that I'm trying to auto-start? We have an audience Sunday night, so I'd like to get this figured out.

Thanks

[jonasgrumby]

p.s. Could it be because I set the playlists up as cues rather than as sub-cues? If so, is there a way to convert a cue to a sub-cue so I don't have to set the whole list up again for each one?

Thanks

[Mike Daniell]

Could you email me your cue file (the .scs file) and tell me which cues are involved, ie the hot key cue and the 3 playlist cues? It's probably related to the fact the first cue is a hot key cue, but I'd like to check the details.

[Mike Daniell]

p.s. Could it be because I set the playlists up as cues rather than as sub-cues? If so, is there a way to convert a cue to a sub-cue so I don't have to set the whole list up again for each one?

More likely to do with the first cue being a hot key cue, but if you need to you can convert cues into sub-cues by selecting the cue and using the button on the left hand side of the Editor. This will merge the cue into the previous cue, as a new sub-cue. See the Help for more info ("Moving Cues and Sub-Cues, and Changing Sub-Cues to Cues or Vice Versa").

[jonasgrumby]

Thanks Mike. I can do that tomorrow when I get back to the theater.

[Mike Daniell]

I've reproduced the scenario you have mentioned, and it is definitely due to the first cue being a hot key cue. I haven't checked the code yet, but it is probably caused by the fact that a hot key cue never really "ends" in SCS terms, because when a hot key cue reaches the end point SCS immediately resets the cue and sets the state back to "ready".

Is there any reason why you are using a hot key for this cue?

[jonasgrumby]

Thanks Mike. We always use hot keys. That's the best way know that you're activating the right cue at the right time. In this show we have several cues that have to be used more than once (doorbell, door slam, etc.). We also have cues that have to overlap (radio is playing, doorbell rings, radio is shut off - which is a visual cue, doorbell rings again, door slams as someone enters/exits - another visual cue). Hot keys allow us to make sure it all happens at the right times.

What would you suggest?

[jonasgrumby]

p.s. this is a play within a play, so they "rehearse" the same scene 3 times and the above sequence is repeated. Hot keys make the sound scheme much simpler because we have to go back to an earlier sequence of cues.

[Mike Daniell]

I don't know what cue numbers, etc you use, but for the sake of example I'll use the following cues:
Q1 = Audio File cue that is currently activated by a hot key
Q2 = Playlist cue that is currently set to auto-start 0.00 seconds after the end of Q1.

Your problem is that Q2 does not start when Q1 ends. The reason for this is as explained in an earlier posting in this forum topic.

Three options you could consider:

1. Set Q2 to auto-start 0.1 seconds 'before end' of Q1. In your original posting you mentioned you had tried various combinations of 'after end' and 'before end', but "0.1 seconds before end" should work - I have tested it successfully here. If your Q1 audio file is an MP3 file there is a possibility that the estimated length of Q1 could be slightly inaccurate (mainly affects MP3 files), so try increasing the 'before end' time to 0.15 or 0.2.
2. The second option is to make Q1 a manual start (go button) cue, not a hot key cue, and when you want to go back to Q1 just click on Q1 in the cue list in the upper part of the main window. This will reposition your cue list at Q1 (or whatever cue you click on).
3. A third option also involves making Q1 a manual start (go button) cue, but after Q2 (or whatever your last cue is in the 'play within play', add a 'Go To' cue. This is a Note cue that has the description '$GoTo Q1' (or whatever cue you want to go to). See the Help for information about 'Go To' cues. In your case, this probably isn't much better than the second option given above, because if you have later cues that occur after the 3 rehearsals then you would still have to click on the first of those later cues to get to that cue - unless, of course, you are using hot keys for all those cues.

hth

[jonasgrumby]

Thanks Mike,

I've already tried .1 before end and it didn't work. I'll try a higher number. They are MP3s.

If I use Go Button manual activation, what will be the go button (i.e. what button would we press)? The three cues that are supposed to be followed by auto-start cues do not get repeated, so the go button technique would probably work. We've never done it that way. I assume they would all be activated by the same button (i.e. key). We never use the mouse because simpler is better. It's better to have all the cues activated by keys rather than some by keys and some by mouse.

Will this be addressed in a future release? We always use hot keys.

Thanks

[Mike Daniell]

The 'Go Button' is this:


Many users (including myself) map the 'Go Button' to the Space Bar, which can be done using General Options / Permanent Options / Key Mapping.

[jonasgrumby]

Thanks Mike. That should work for this show. Will this thing about auto-start cues not working after hot key cues be looked into? As you said, it may be because they are MP3 files. I'll try a larger value for "before end" first since hot keys are what our operators are used to, and hot keys make it easier to go back to a previous point (especially during rehearsals). The go button should work for this show since each of the cues in question only need to play once.

Thanks

[Mike Daniell]

Will this thing about auto-start cues not working after hot key cues be looked into?

Yes, it should be reasonably easy to fix, so I'll look into this for the next release.

[jonasgrumby]

Thanks. The go button isn't working out quite so well because we had the operator hit something at the wrong time and set off the first go button cue accidentally. Also, he managed to get both of the go button cues to play simultaneously twice in rehearsal. Luckily by showtime he had it figured out. Also, if there's going to be a "go" button, there should be a "back" button as well.

We appreciate how good you have been about responding to customer feedback and continually improving SCS.

Thank you

[Ian Beeby]

I wonder if that double hit is caused by key-repeat? We have occasionally had problems with inexperienced operators holding keys down for too long, so we always set the double click time to 0.8 (General options/General/Double click time) This is also a regular problem on my own system which has a cordless kb and mouse, especially when the battery is getting low in the KB . I definatly recommend a hard wired KB/mouse for 'production' use!