Show Cue System

Hi,

I've been experimenting with running 2 video files that I'd like to start at exactly the same time. But it seems that no matter what I do, one of them always starts slightly before the other, even if they were set to start at the same time.

It seems that the video that is first in the cue list always starts slightly ahead of the video that is one cue below it, even if both are set to start from a note cue (for example).

I've even tried delaying the start of the first video by .01 sec, then .02 sec, .03 sec etc trying to get both videos to start at the same time. No luck with that either.

Other info: Initially I was trying to get the same video to play simultaneously on 2 screens and ran into all the issues described above. Thinking that perhaps the problem was caused by trying to use the same video file on 2 screens at the same time, I made a copy of it with a slightly different name, and then tried to program the now 2 video files to start at the same time, but it did not make any difference. One always starts before the other.

-David R

I found a way to get 2 videos to start at exactly the same time, though it wouldn't be possible to do this in every situation.

The video on both screens is coming out of black, otherwise this wouldn't work.

1. I added 1 sec of black to the beginning of each of my 2 movie files.

2. I used a note cue to start both videos playing at the same time, though they're not synced up.

3. I added a SFR cue for each movie, using an auto-start set for for 13.50 sec before the end of each cue. (I have more luck telling it to activate before the end of the cue, rather than using after start of cue. After start would be easier though) (note, each video has it's own SFR cue)

4. Each SFR cue tells it's playing video to PAUSE and hibernate. (This pauses the video while still showing black, though only a couple of frames away from an image being visible)

5. Add another SFR cue (just 1) that is manually activated and RESUMES both of the hibernating videos. Now they both start playing at exactly the same time.

This wouldn't work if there were already an image on the screens, the initial cue to start the videos before immediately pausing them would show the black video on the screen.

-David R

That's a good solution. I'm puzzled by the need to use 'before end' rather than 'after start'. But the concept is good and I'll see if there's some way I can start and immediately pause video playback, to a hidden window, when the files are opened. Hopefully that would then provide the same accuracy of playback that you have now achieved.

Getting a video to do a pre-roll in a hidden window would be excellent!

I'm puzzled by using before end as well.

Last year, when I first started using SCS, it was with a show that ended up using videos that might have 20 pause/resume cues per video to get the effect that was needed. I tried several times setting up cues using the 'time after start', but could never get it to work as I wanted. "time before end" did work, but no idea why.

Ultimately I ended up setting a copy of a completed video up in After Effects with a reverse time code displayed, and could just step through the video frame by frame, writing down where I needed it to pause. Once I had a list of times, it was fairly simple to just go through the video in SCS typing in numbers.

Course, after evey rehearsal, something in the video would have to be changed, which almost always changed the length of the video, which meant all my pause cues needed new times to start.

-David