"Current state" (?) I'll try to explain... Subcue related (?)

[MassiveMastering]

FIRST OFF - SUBCUES - I noticed that you can copy a cue and paste it before or after a cue. You can copy a SUBCUE and paste it as a new subcue. But you can't copy a CUE and paste it as a SUBCUE of a cue. Any particular reason that can't happen...? Anyway --

Long time user, got the performing arts facility I work with to switch over probably a dozen or more years ago. We use SCS for basically all audio & video playback. Some things are very simple - dance shows with 50 tracks playing in order. Other things are more complex - The Nutcracker for example - Video backgrounds, some changing mid-track, shutter open & close commands to the projectors, etc.

For the latter, [1] the cue list is visually "messy" - We have "less seasoned" techs on staff occasionally, so anything that can be simplified is a good thing. [2] I make sure the crew "practices failure" - because things fail. We run two discrete instances on two machines, etc. But I'm wondering if practicing failure could be more efficient. Allow me to explain a hypothetical (totally real) scenario which led me to my current situation:

Let's say cue 102 (second audio track in first act) starts. 102.1 (auto follow) opens the shutter. 102.2 (AF) fades in and starts a static image background. 102.3 (AF) *changes* that static background to an otherwise similar *video* background at around 3:00 in. That new video background loop stays up, repeating for the next 14 tracks (around 25 or 30 minutes). A new background (a "night" scene of the same visual) fades in over 35 seconds with audio cue 115.

That all works perfectly fine unless / until something goes wrong - or we need to stop for some unforeseen reason - or during tech week where we need to run out of order. To rehearse (or otherwise start at) cue 111, we first have to scroll back to 102.3 to get the video background up and then scroll to 111 and fire.

SO, I had the brilliant idea to add subcues that would put the cue I'm trying to start in the "current state" that it would be in if it had run through. I added a shutter open (in case the shutter was closed when we stopped) and the background that should be playing at the beginning of that cue (in case there was a different or no background at the stopping point).

For the most part, this does what I needed to do - But I needed to change some tactics - Opening the shutter isn't a problem - If you re-send a shutter open command, it does nothing (thank goodness it isn't a toggle). But auto-starting needed a tweak -- auto 0.0 [ae] previous didn't work (as the "new" background just started) so changing to auto [length of previous cue] [as] of previous would work - However, I noticed that it would literally re-start the video loop from the beginning for every subsequent cue (as opposed to just letting it continue, as if it was only started with 102.3).

That's not the end of the world *in this case* - but IS THERE an "if/then" type way to start a cue and have SCS look back and go "Hmmm... Normally, there would be the video or background from cue 102.3 running here, so I'm going to start that - UNLESS it's already running, where I will just let it continue to run" type thing...?

Am I even making any sense here?!?

Thanks for reading --

[Mike Daniell]

FIRST OFF - SUBCUES - I noticed that you can copy a cue and paste it before or after a cue. You can copy a SUBCUE and paste it as a new subcue. But you can't copy a CUE and paste it as a SUBCUE of a cue. Any particular reason that can't happen...? Anyway --

A good suggestion, but the current solution is that after copying the cue you then use the third arrow in the sidebar to 'Merge this cue into the previous cue'. See Editor Sidebar in the Help.

Do you have a cue file (.scs11 file) you can send us that contains cues like your example of 102 -111?