You can optionally download an SCS setup file that includes the installer for LAVFilters (included with permission). If you do not already have the latest LAVFilters installed then we strongly recommend using the download with LAVFilters if you want to play any video file cues.
IMPORTANT
Please note that if you use Lighting Cues then there is a major change in SCS 11.7.0 to the way in which you set up these cues. The change is NOT backward-compatible, so if you save with SCS 11.7.0 a cue file that contains Lighting Cues then earlier versions of SCS (eg 11.6.2.1) will not handle these Lighting Cues correctly. This applies not only to the cue file (the .scs11 file) but also to the associated device map file (the .scsd file).
New and Changed Features in SCS 11.7.0
- Video/Image Cues may now display their output on multiple screens (some conditions apply).
- When editing Video/Image Cues you can now more accurately set the xPos, yPos and Size properties as text fields have been added in which you can enter precise values.
- Audio File Cues may now include multiple loops. To support multiple loops per cue, the layout of the Audio File Cue Properties frame in the editor has been changed. Please read the updated Help on Audio File Cue Properties if you need to include loops in your cues, even if you are just adding one loop.
- Playlist Cues now have an 'Other Actions' button in the editing screen, which provides options to trim silence or low audio levels from files in the playlist (by auto-setting start and end times), and options to apply 'peak normalization' to the files, which auto-sets relative levels.
- In Bulk Edit it is now possible to apply peak normalization across multiple selected Audio File Cues. This can be useful for music tracks - it is not expected to be used for sound effects.
- The ability to preview audio files before including them in your production has been reinstated and improved. This feature was removed from some earlier versions of SCS as the Windows API used was not 64-bit compatible. The code for this feature no longer directly calls any Windows APIs and is now 32-bit and 64-bit compatible. However, if you wish to revert to the standard Windows File Selector then you can do so by selecting this Audio File Selector in Editing Options.
- Setting the Start At, End At, Loop Start and Loop End times for Audio File Cues may now be done by right-clicking on the audio graph at the required position and selecting the appropriate menu entry from the pop-up menu.
- SFR Cues that use the 'Release from Loop' action will need to specify the loop number for specific target cues that have more than one loop. If the target cue is specified as 'Previous Cue' or one of the other generic cue types, then the release will be applied to the current loop. See the updated Help on SFR Cue Properties for more information.
- SFR Cues now also support 'FADE ALL (= Shift/Esc)' to emulate the fade available with the Stop All (Esc) button when holding down a shift key.
- With Level Change Cues (LCQ's), if in the Editor you change the selected target cue or sub-cue then SCS now retains the original LCQ's device settings where possible and feasible. Previously, SCS would always reset the device settings.
- You can now disable individual sub-cues. NB, the cue type Enable/Disable Cues still operates only at the cue level, but you can now manually disable sub-cues in the Editor.
- Lighting Devices now support fixtures. There's no support for 'fixture types' as such, but for a Lighting Device you can now specify fixtures with their dimmable channel number(s) and DMX start channel. The DMX start channel is device-map-specific so supports different start channels in different venues, etc. (Also known as 'soft patching'.)
- Lighting Cues should preferably now use fixture codes in the DMX Items. SCS will continue to support items that do not use fixture codes, except for dimming control. Any dimming of a lighting channel's intensity (whether by an 'intensity' channel or, say, an RGB channel) will now be actioned via a fixture's dimmable channel number(s).
- Lighting Cues now support a special DMX Item for DBO (Dead Blackout).
- Lighting Cues using Chase can now monitor a tap delay. By default, tap delay is set by the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+. (. in the main keyboard, not in the numeric pad). The active chase speed (as determined by the cue's chase speed (BPM) or by the current tap delay) is shown in the bottom right corner of the VU display. It is displayed as a number, eg 120 for 120 BPM, and also as a flashing indicator. As well as using the keyboard shortcut, the tap delay procedure also responds to specified MIDI messages or X32 network commands.
- In Renumber Cues, SCS now remembers, during the current session, the values entered in the two text fields (new cue number for first cue, and renumbering increment).
- The Main Window now shows the Last Playing Cue as well as the Next Manual Cue. The Last Playing Cue is displayed for cues where the first or only sub-cue type is Audio File, Video/Image, Playlist, Lighting or Control Send.
- In the Main Window you can now adjust the width of the Hotkey List by dragging the vertical splitter bar on the left of the list.
- Access to the Faders Window from the Main Window is now provided by a 'Show Faders' button which is displayed below the VU meters.
- The Faders Window now includes a DMX Master fader, which is displayed if at least one Lighting Device has been specified. This DMX Master fader can also be controlled via a Behringer BCF2000 or BCR2000 control surface.
- For Network Control Send devices you can now set your own inter-message delay time. The inter-message delay time was added in SCS 11.6.2.1 but in that version it was fixed at 100ms.
- The Meters button in the Main window's toolbar has been replaced by a View button.
- In 32-bit versions, the Default Video Playback Library has been changed from xVideo to TVG. (TVG is already the default in 64-bit versions.) This default setting only affects new installations of SCS.
- The Default Chase Speed (BPM) for Lighting Cues has been added to Production Properties / Run Time Settings.
- A new version of the BASS audio library has been included which will use Windows Audio Session API (WASAPI) instead of DirectSound, unless WASAPI is not available (ie pre-Vista).
- You can now drag-and-drop cues in the Editor's cue list.
- The Call Cue cue type now has an Action Required field and can now also be used to select a Hotkey Bank.
- In Playlist Cues you can now save the current play order and position in the play order, so that the next time you start SCS the Playlist Cue can resume from the track following the last one played. See Playlist Cues in the Help for more information.
- Fixed an error in 11.6 versions that prevented Playlist Cues from being started if they are set to Random Play and the activation is Time-Based, ie to be activated at a specified time-of-day.
- Audio File Cues with a 'log' fade-in were being processed with a 'standard' fade-in.
- MIDI messages sent to SCS to control Output Gains in the Faders Window were not being processed correctly.
- The 'visual warning' production property was originally designed for displaying a count-down near the end of a cue, and was subsequently enhanced to include the option to display a count-up time for a whole cue. With count-down times, the time remaining for a cue cannot be calculated for cues that contain one or more loops until all loops have been released. There was a bug in earlier versions of SCS (ie pre-11.7) in that count-up times for audio file cues with a loop were also not being calculated until the loop had been released. For count-up times, SCS now uses the elapsed time for audio file cues containing one or more loops.
- The Dummy MIDI Port was not being handled correctly for Control Send Cues. In particular, playing a MIDI File to a Dummy Port would cause MCI Error Number 263 (device not open), and then SCS would close down.
- Repeatedly Pausing and Resuming certain sub-cue types could cause those sub-cues to end early.
- Linked Audio File Cues or Sub-Cues with cross-fade loops would fail to loop the secondary audio files, ie audio file cues or sub-cues linked to the primary audio file cue or sub-cue.
- If a fader control in the Faders Window has a maximum setting of 0.0dB then adjusting the fader using the mouse or keyboard would stop at the fader at -0.02dB.
- If you have video/image or memo cues that use screen numbers higher than 2 but you currently only have your primary screen available, then SCS would crash on trying to clear monitor outputs.
- Lighting Cues set up as Hotkey Note or Toggle cues would previously blackout the nominated channels at the end of the action (eg when a Hotkey Note key is released or a Hotkey Toggle key is pressed a second time). SCS now saves the relevant DMX Channel Values at the start of the action and then reinstates these values at the end of the action. The same applies to Lighting Cues with External Note and External Toggle activation methods.
- When SoundMan-Server is selected as the Audio Driver then in some earlier versions of SCS the audio graph was not being displayed in the Editor for Audio File Cues.
- If SoundMan-Server is selected and there are fewer ASIO channels currently available than are required by Audio Device definitions in your Production Properties, then on opening an Audio File Cue in SCS you may have encountered an error message like "Playback Crosspoint 4.1002 channel does not exist".
- When using DirectSound and the BASS Mixer, if an audio file cue was 'stopped' by an SFR cue before ever being played during that SCS session, then when the cue was subsequently played it would not actually play even though the status was displayed as 'playing'.
- When using the TVG video playback library, videos could be displayed offset to the right on the secondary screen or projector if the Windows display scaling of the primary display was greater than 100%.
- Some OSC cue control messages were not being processed correctly.
- Resizing the Editor window would not always correctly resize the audio graph for an Audio File Cue.
- Changing a Lighting Fixture's DMX Start Channel in the Editor would not take effect until the cue file had been closed and re-opened.
- Collect Production Files did not correctly handle name clashes, ie collecting different files that have the same base name and extension but different paths. The procedure has been modified to detect and exclude such files
- In Renumber Cues the Cue Descriptions were not been updated by new cue numbers where applicable.
- Changing the selected Hotkey Bank using shortcut keys would fail if several uses of these 'Hotkey Bank' shortcut keys occurred fairly rapidly.
- A cue with the activation method 'Hotkey (Note)' and with a fade-out time would stop immediately when the 'Note Off' MIDI message was received, instead of fading out.
- In MIDI Control Send Cues, MSC 'Set' commands were not being sent correctly.
SCSremote is an application to remotely control SCS with an Android Smartphone or tablet. SCSremote can control basic SCS functions such as playing cues, navigating between cues, adjusting master level, and display?ing? cue times and progress. It is available to download from Google Play. SCSremote has been developed by Simone Guisti and any queries on this should be directed to simone@rockopera.it
Help File in Italian
A PDF Help File in Italian is now available on the Member Download page (translation by Marco D. Bellucci).
Some SCS features may not be available in all license levels. Please check the 'Feature Comparison' section of the Help for details.Some features may not be available in all license levels. Please check the 'Feature Comparison' section of the Help for details.
