SCS 11.2.1 Available
Posted: Sat Jul 20, 2013 9:51 am
Registered users with current update plans (including users who purchased or upgraded their SCS license during the last 12 months) may now download SCS 11.2.1 from the Members' Download page. Details are given below.
New and Changed Features in SCS 11.2.1
We have now been able to provide Live Input Cues for SoundMan-Server (SM-S) users because SM-S provides extremely low latency. Although SCS is not designed as a replacement for a sound mixing board, Live Input Cues do enable you set up cues that effectively turn-on and turn-off mics or other live inputs, as well as set audio levels including fades and apply Level Change Cues. You can also group Live Input channels so a single Live Input Cue can be used to turn on or off a group of mic's, etc.
Even if you do not need Live Input Cues, you may find SM-S a valuable addition for your audio output processing. For example, if you have cues that start playing several files simultaneously then with SM-S the file syncing will be sample-accurate. Playing a file (or files) to multiple outputs will also be synced sample-accurate. For more information on SoundMan-Server, including special pricing available for SCS users, see SCS and SoundMan-Server.
Video Processing Enhancements
The key changes are as follows:
You can now set up MTC (MIDI Time Code) cues to send MTC to external equipment such as lighting boards. So if you have lighting cues in your lighting board that you want synced to an audio track then you can include an MTC sub-cue with your audio file cue. So when you activate the cue the audio and MTC will start (and end) together. For each MTC cue you can specify an MTC start time, frame rate, pre-roll time (if required), and duration. See the Help file for more details.
Gapless Playback
SCS 11.2.1 will automatically implement gapless playback for Audio File Cues set to auto-start 0.000 seconds after the end of the previous Audio File Cue, and for Playlist Cues where the transition between tracks is 'None'. Other conditions apply - see Miscellaneous / Gapless Playback in the Help file for details. SCS internally creates 'gapless streams' for cues that will be processed in this way. To help you see which cues are associated with gapless streams, the display of the cue number will be followed by //, eg Q1 //.
New and Changed Features in SCS 11.2.1
- Added Live Input cues. See below for more info.
- Enhancements to video processing. See below for more info.
- Added MTC (MIDI Time Code) cues. See below for more info.
- Implemented gapless playback for consecutive Audio File Cues and for Playlist Cues. See below for more info.
- Added a Production Timer. See 'Production Timer' under 'Miscellaneous' in the Help for details.
- SFR cues may now act on sub-cues.
- SFR cues may now restrict 'all earlier/playing cues' to audio files only or to video/image files only.
- Added Fade-In and Fade-Out markers and drag handles on the Audio File graph in the Editor.
- Implemented drag-and-drop of files from external applications.
- Ctrl/X, Ctrl/C and Ctrl/V now available in the Editor for cut, copy and paste of cues.
- Included a property to add LF (Line Feed) to Telnet and RS232 Control Send cues.
- Improvements to the user interface.
- Fixed a few errors.
We have now been able to provide Live Input Cues for SoundMan-Server (SM-S) users because SM-S provides extremely low latency. Although SCS is not designed as a replacement for a sound mixing board, Live Input Cues do enable you set up cues that effectively turn-on and turn-off mics or other live inputs, as well as set audio levels including fades and apply Level Change Cues. You can also group Live Input channels so a single Live Input Cue can be used to turn on or off a group of mic's, etc.
Even if you do not need Live Input Cues, you may find SM-S a valuable addition for your audio output processing. For example, if you have cues that start playing several files simultaneously then with SM-S the file syncing will be sample-accurate. Playing a file (or files) to multiple outputs will also be synced sample-accurate. For more information on SoundMan-Server, including special pricing available for SCS users, see SCS and SoundMan-Server.
Video Processing Enhancements
The key changes are as follows:
- In earlier versions of SCS 11 you could select a Video Playback library of either 'DirectShow' or 'Movie'. In 11.2.1 all video processing is implemented using the 'xVideo' library which supports video fades and a number of other useful features.
- In Video/Image cues, the 'Aspect' control has been changed from a slider to a drop-down list containing common aspect ratios, such as 16:9, 4:3, 'Keep original', 'Full Screen' and 'Custom'. Note that the Aspect control relates to how the video or image will be displayed on the target screen. You will probably find the most useful of these will be 'Full Screen'.
- If you have previously used the Aspect control then unfortunately your previous Aspect setting will not be used as the new control operates quite differently and it was not possible to convert the old values to the new system. Basically, the (new) Aspect control adjusts the display width in relation to the height. So if you have a 4:3 movie then initially this will be displayed in 4:3 aspect ratio with the video filling the available height. If you then select 16:9 or 'Full Screen' then the width will be adjusted but the height will remain constant. The only exception to this is if you select an aspect ratio (eg Custom) which would cause the image width to exceed the display width. However, if required you can still use the 'Size' control to effectively zoom in (or out).
- A new button labeled 'Other' is included in this part of the Video/Image cue properties. Clicking this button displays a pop-up menu from which you can choose to reset the default position, size and aspect, or copy these settings to a clipboard and then paste them into another item or cue.
- In Production Properties there is a new tab under 'Devices', labeled 'Video Audio Devices'. Initially this lists one device named 'Default' which is mapped to 'Default DirectSound Device' (ie the Windows default sound device). You can change this mapping to any available DirectSound device as shown in the drop-down list. Unfortunately it is not possible to select an ASIO device or a SoundMan-Server output channel. As with other device properties, you can change the name 'Default' to a more relevant name. You can also add other audio devices but please note you can only use one audio output device per video/image cue. Also note that the audio output is not currently shown in the SCS VU meters.
- If you have more than one Video Audio Device nominated in Production Properties then in Video/Image Cue Properties you can select which Video Audio Device to use for this cue.
- You can now fade-in and fade-out videos but currently you cannot cross-fade videos. (Cross-fading should be available soon, possibly in 11.2.2.)
- When your video/image cues are displayed on a secondary screen or video projector, you now have a 'monitor window' displayed over the main SCS window, similar to what you see if you have no secondary screen etc. As with the previous versions, you can drag the monitor window(s) to your preferred location on the screen. There is also a Display Option (under the 'Options' button) in which you can select the required size of the monitor windows (small, standard or large), or hide them altogether.
You can now set up MTC (MIDI Time Code) cues to send MTC to external equipment such as lighting boards. So if you have lighting cues in your lighting board that you want synced to an audio track then you can include an MTC sub-cue with your audio file cue. So when you activate the cue the audio and MTC will start (and end) together. For each MTC cue you can specify an MTC start time, frame rate, pre-roll time (if required), and duration. See the Help file for more details.
Gapless Playback
SCS 11.2.1 will automatically implement gapless playback for Audio File Cues set to auto-start 0.000 seconds after the end of the previous Audio File Cue, and for Playlist Cues where the transition between tracks is 'None'. Other conditions apply - see Miscellaneous / Gapless Playback in the Help file for details. SCS internally creates 'gapless streams' for cues that will be processed in this way. To help you see which cues are associated with gapless streams, the display of the cue number will be followed by //, eg Q1 //.