minor niceties

[terrein]

a couple of minor things that would lovely,
i've mentioned before that it would be nicer if when creating a new audio cue it didn't force you to give it a name/or assign it an audio file before you do anything else. i know this avoids having cues that do nothing, but i do find myself jumping around the editor a bit, and sometimes i won't have the audio file for that particular cue, but still want to be able to set fade times, etc without having to use a place holder file.

and another thing that could be potential quite handy is maybe having an option to solo running cues. sometimes when there is several things going on i'm not always sure which cue is making which sound, and it would be handy to be able to check (maybe an option that disappears when editing is locked to avoid accidents in show mode)

cheers!
t

[Boswell]

For your first point, I use a short placeholder file (in fact a L/R soundcheck). The default cue name is taken from the audiofile name and as I've used the L/R soundcheck, this name appears in the cue list.
It is then very easy to see which cues need to be worked on and avoids having incomplete cues.
I don't see any advantage in what you are suggesting, it does not save any work/time as you still have to revisit the cue to select the correct file when it becomes available.

2nd point, it may be me but I don't understand why you want to solo running cues in the editor or how you envisage doing it.

[terrein]

It just seems like such an awkward workaround, to have to create a place holder file that is silent, and have to search through the show folder each time to find it every time i want to create a new cue (without the actual audio file on hand). Even if i titled it "01 - silent" it wouldn't necessarily be at the top of the list of files, because i usually have the folder arranged by date modified, with most recent files first in the list. and if i did use just any old file as a place holder then i would have to remember to take the volume down for that cue so it doesn't play when running through in rehearsals. Also, having the name of a place holder file confuses the cue list. I am imagining something like an asterix at the beginning of the description field to indicate a blank cue (similar to the red X in Qlab)

the solo option would be in the main window not the editor, and would take the form of a solo button next to the play/pause/stop etc. buttons on each running cue

[Boswell]

Seems to be more the way you organise your files rather than a function of SCS. SCS has no influence over how your files are listed and no matter what you call your files, if you list them in date order then the files that still need to be worked on will not always be at the top.
Create a silent wav file called ' * Silent file' and use that as the placeholder in SCS. It will then appear in the cue list in the main window as * Silent File you can set fade times etc and it won't have any effect if you play it at rehearsals. The ' * ' will make it stand out in the cue list for easy location late for editing.

If you clicked on the solo button in a running cue, what effect would you want it to have?

[terrein]

...while windows won't allow a * in a file name, i see your point- BUT when I arrange the files by date modified a prefix such as "~" or "01" still isn't going to send it to the top of the list in the browser window. I arrange the files by date modified because I am regularly adding cues to scs over a period of time as I create the files, and its easier to see what the new cues I have to put into scs are when they are arranged in this fashion.

without sounding too facetious i would want the solo button to solo the running cue, ie. mute the other cues that are playing

[Boswell]

Forgot that Windows won't accept * in a file name but you can use something else 'SSSSilent would stand out in SCS cue list.
If you arrange your files by date, it does not matter what file name you use, they will still be in date order. the prefix will not affect the sort order
If you had a file 01xxx modified on 24/02/11 and another file 02xxx modified on 26/02/11, the 02xxx file will be at the top regardless. It's a function of the view sort order. which one would you like to come first?

When you first plot a show, go through putting all the SFX/music cues in (with a common dummy SSSSilent.wav if the files are not available) as I said before. Then obtain the actual master files you want to work on, edit the file titles to start with the cue number of the dummy SCS cue associated with it. you can then edit the files (normalise, mix etc) in any order and at any time. When you are happy with the files, list them in date order to get the latest at the top and copy the file names across into SCS into their respective cues.

Re Solo, I understand what you mean but in my opinion, it would be of very limited use, you can get the same effect by pulling the faders down on the other cues. Also, this should be happening in rehearsals or Tech when you should have more time. You don't want to be doing this in a performance.
I agree it would be easier with a Solo button but I've never found a desperate need for it. What might be better is if a Solo button would leave all outputs/cues running but just send the Solo'd cue to another 'Headphone?' output as well as its normal output so you could hear the Solo'd cue in isolation. I still think it's over complicating things and would be adding functions to SCS which would be rarely if ever used.

[terrein]

while plotting a show running at over 200 cues it gets very boring very quickly having to click around to find a placeholder each time I want to add a blank cue - and confusing for the thought process seeing a file name/description where there isn't a file even if it is something like "blank"!

looks like i'm fighting a losing battle here, still it would be nice to have the option

re: solo - if I have for example 6 cues running, I would prefer a more elegant solution than having to drag down 5 sliders to figure out which cue was playing (i'm thinking several similar sounding ambiences for eg) - and re: not wanting to be doing it in performance, that's why I suggested that when you lock the playlist that option disappears. and yes, its not a driving urgent request hence the title of the post, "minor niceties" !

[Mike Daniell]

Although it's fairly easy to setup placeholders using a dummy file, I do see some merit in getting SCS to support the concept natively, ie by allowing an Audio File cue or sub-cue to be saved without selecting a file. Having said that, if you do want several placeholders what you can do is after you've setup your first 'placeholder' cue with a silent or dummy file, just click the Copy button to place it in the SCS clipboard. You can then paste that as often as you wish when you want to create a new placeholder.

The 'solo' feature request may be implemented later with the SoundMan-Server enhancement, which will be released as SCS 10.8. It wont be in the first 10.8 release, but may come later.

[Peter Jackson]

HI terrein
I know I'm a bit late helping here with this topic, but the way I go is to create a blank file of the same nameas the file you are going to use (about 5"), then, when I have the file just over write the blank file with the new audio your using. This method seems to work everytime for me as SCS accepts the new file when it is reloaded.
Hope this is of help
PJ