Show Cue System

I have a play with the following issue:

3 restaurant scenes going on at the same time. Each restaurant has different music playing in the restaurant. The scenes alternate from one to the other quickly and we want the music to alternate with them. BUT the time in the restaurant freezes while the others are playing. So I want to be able to PAUSE a cue while I play another and pick up where I paused later. Action will play differently each night so length of music will change each night as well. Thus the need for PAUSE. Can this be done and if so how .....

I am now running 9.3.7 so how do i upgrade to current version as well and will the new version solve problem above?

You can download the latest version (9.4.6) from the Members' Area, but that wont 'solve' your problem. To do what you want you will really need to use the cue transport controls, assuming the music for the three restaurant scenes are set up as three consecutive Audio File cues. For example, if these are Q1, Q2 and Q3 then to freeze Q1 and start Q2 you will need to use the pause button on Q1 followed by the play button on Q2. There is no facility to link these two operations, so you will not be able to get an instant cross from Q1 to Q2, which I guess is what you are wanting.

However, if MIDI control of cues is an option then 9.4.7 may be able to help as you will be able to send a MIDI command to pause or resume a cue. So if you had a facility to easily send SCS two consecutive MIDI commands, one to pause Q1 and another to play or resume Q2 then this could provide a tighter cross.

So have you added this feature to the desired list in the future ?

If I can use the midi option - which I am pretty sure that I can't. Will the order of the switch be an issue?

I will go 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3.

Also will manually pausing and playing the cues be an issue if the order changes like above as well?

We actually had to split the trackes into multiple files/queues to deal with these types of dramatic pauses in our productions.

The only other choice I know of is to be very fast with the mouse whereby you could pause and un-pause the tracks on the play panel.

Mike, if you could add pause/resume to the capabilities of a Level Change or Stop cue (or a new pause/resume cue type) that would be a very useful feature to have.

Might not be possible but what about using a touch screen monitor and using the transport controls? Then its just a matter of how quickly the operator can move his/her fingers.

kharney wrote:Will the order of the switch be an issue?

I will go 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3.

No, the order will not be an issue as you are only pausing the cues, not stopping the cues. Stopping a cue in SCS marks the cue as 'completed', but pausing just sets the state to 'paused'.

jkowtko wrote:if you could add pause/resume to the capabilities of a Level Change or Stop cue (or a new pause/resume cue type) that would be a very useful feature to have.

I'll look into this - it seems a good idea.

SimnaWeb wrote:what about using a touch screen monitor and using the transport controls?

I've often thought about touch screen facilities, and this does seem like a good use for them other than just the 'Go' button.

Since there is apparently quite a bit of interest in being able to pause and resume cues during a production, I'll see what can be done for 9.4.7.

SimnaWeb wrote:what about using a touch screen monitor and using the transport controls?

Fyi, one the news someone just announced a touch-screen laptop ... sounds like old news to me but evidently there aren't any out there (are pen tablets inherantly different?) In any case, the ability to use a touch screen should come from the OS and not require any intelligence from SCS ... right?

Thanks for your willingness to look into a Pause/Resume capability Mike. If you are going to implement something, if possible please add fade out/in times for the cue as it is being paused, to soften the "blow" to the audience should this cue be fired in the middle of an active audio clip. The CD player in my car does this when I pause the music ... definitely noticable and much softer on the ears!

Thanks. John

jkowtko wrote:... the ability to use a touch screen should come from the OS and not require any intelligence from SCS ... right?

Don't know as I haven't looked into this yet. My guess is that a touch screen API may raise an event providing X and Y coordinates of where the touch occurred. Just how universal such an API would be is an important question. But this is all just guesswork at the moment.

jkowtko wrote:... if possible please add fade out/in times for the cue as it is being paused, ...

Should be possible.

If you can get pause in 9.4.7 that would be great !!! What is the anticpated release for that version?

kharney wrote:If you can get pause in 9.4.7 that would be great !!!

I hadn't planned to include this in 9.4.7, but I'll see if I can bring it forward.

kharney wrote:What is the anticipated release for that version?

Shouldn't be long now. Mainly working on some changes related to MIDI Control.

Great my show opens in a month so hopefully I can use this right away And just in case I haven't told you recently you are the BEST Mike.

Mike Daniell wrote:

jkowtko wrote:... the ability to use a touch screen should come from the OS and not require any intelligence from SCS ... right?

Don't know as I haven't looked into this yet. My guess is that a touch screen API may raise an event providing X and Y coordinates of where the touch occurred. Just how universal such an API would be is an important question. But this is all just guesswork at the moment.

As far as I understand, a touch-screen is absolutely no different to any other screen and mouse as far as programming goes - you shouldn't need to do any programming for it.

Pressing somewhere on a touchscreen monitor purely moves the mouse to that location and clicks it's <left/primary> mouse button just as though you'd moved the mouse there and clicked yourself. This interaction is done transparently by the OS / drivers, so you have nothing to worry about Mike.

(At least, that's what happens visibly when I've used our touchscreen at work on the odd occasion...)

Peter