Show Cue System

Dear Mike,

Thank you so much for your work on this SCS. For years, I've been a user of another cue playback program.

At the price, I would not have been able to update even one of the several licenses I must hold for the other program, so it seemed like a very good choice to give SCS a try.

So, first, let me express gratitude for a realistic licensing program that takes a composer/designer's pay scale into account. It is actually more than generous, and I applaud you. It's not only a great service to designers, but to theaters in general, many of whom could never justify computer playback.

But beyond that, I am very impressed with the feature set, and the pragmatic choices available when programming a show. It shows a good understanding of the design process, particularly the pressures of problem-solving in tech rehearsal. I find that complex cues which would have scrolled a couple of screens in the software I previously used can now be designed within a single nested series of sub-cues, greatly simplifying the troubleshooting process when "in the clinch."

I am excited to be working with SCS, and after this first "trial run," I suspect that I will not be looking back. The show is running well.

Best regards,
Bruce

Thanks, Bruce. I keep working on SCS because I love developing software for theatre, and because we have such a great community here.

I'll second that for sure! I have been an SCS user now for almost a year, always loved the power flexibility and stability of SCS for firing off soundbites. What used to be a hassle, shuffling CD's around, trying to anticipate the spin-up delay, fighting with varying levels, and hoping and praying they don't skip, is now about an hour or so of programming, and by show time it's a simple one-button operation. For sound cues alone, this program is solid gold.

I have had a similar struggle with video cues, and if you thought CD's were finicky, well running video cues from homemade burnable DVD's made working with CD's look like a walk in the park! I was excited a while ago when I got word that SCS would be adding video cues. Since I never take chances on a show with "version 1" of anything, I have patiently waited for a couple rounds of bug fixes after video was added.

Last night, my biggest customer opened the run of their "Classic Country" show. It is a small Dinner theatre in De Pere, WI, and they write all of their own original shows. This show, like most of them, uses multiple video clips. It is also the first show in which I retired the DVD players and used the video function of SCS.

The way this program worked was, in a word, SOLID! I simply connected an S-Video cable from the output of my laptop to the video switcher, enabled desktop spanning, started up SCS and added the video cues. The program instantly did what I needed it to. No hassles, no crashes, and the video looks good.

Thank you, Mike and a special thanks to the early adopters and beta-testers for making this now-indispensable asset what it is.

Keep up the good work.

Daniel Collins, Proprietor
Sonic M.D. "The Cure for your Sound Headaches"