Show Cue System

Here's my scenario:

I have 4 weapons (3 machine guns and a pistol) set up to fire 4 individual MIDI notes, which trigger 4 hotkeys. These hotkeys trigger the gunshots, as well as an MSC string (per hotkey) to fire a lighting macro to recreate the muzzle flashes.

It works great, except when the actors "accidentally" hit their triggers backstage.

Is there any way I can toggle the MIDI input on/off via a hotkey? Essentially "safing" the weapons? Sadly, I can't use a cue confirmation because the gunshots happen rather freely in the cuelist.

Thoughts?

Question - by what means are they triggering the effects? Wireless, physical wires, or ?

If via a foot-switch controller such as a MIDI Solutions F8 then you would have physical wires available - and you could insert a Normally-open relay contact such as a MIDI Solutions R8 into each line. That way, until you close the proper contact, they can activate the trigger all day and nothing would happen.

On-the-other-hand, it does introduce a level of complexity that you might not want to have.

For Singin' in the Rain, I used a foot-switch controller (and foot-switch for the MD) to trigger the thunder cues.

Carl Underwood
Zanesville, Ohio USA

It's a combination of high-tech/low-tech: the weapons are wired with a momentary switch that is basically just shorting out the input (tip/sleeve) of a standard wireless belt pack (some old Sennheiser Evo 100s that were hanging around).

The outputs of their receivers are then plugged into an old Alesis D4 that I had collecting dust, which takes those incoming trigger "pulses" and translates them to 4 unique MIDI notes. The D4 then feeds MIDI data into an Echo Audiofire 12, which is set up as my primary MIDI device in SCS.

For rehearsals, I have just been turning off the power to the D4, but I think that's a rather inelegant solution. I was hoping to have an option available within the program that would allow my operator to stay focused on mixing the show and hitting his cues, rather than hunting in a rack for the right power button to hit or MIDI cable to unplug.

A hard relay is a good solution, and that may have to be the case. We'll see if anyone else comes up with a clever software-based idea. Thanks!

That's certainly a clever solution! - Perhaps a place to put in relay is in the line between the receiver and the Ext. trigger input of the D4. Unless that causes a false trigger.