SCS 10 State not changing to Ready

[gbzrce]

Can anyone tell me why my cue status is not set to ready. When the show starts, the first two video's are preloaded and ready. When the second video is started, the third one is not loaded with a status of ready. In the image you will notice that Q2 is playing, but the "Q3 Go" button is grey and the Q3 vidio status is not ready.

I am trialling this software currently, so would like to resolve this before I have to make a final decision.

Thanks all.

Rob

[runawaymartin]

Hi Rob . . .
I can see your concern here but you should find that when Q2 has completed, Q3 buffers, and is then 'Ready' for activation. I recently put together a show that is all still images and video and the display behaves in the same way as you've described but it all runs smoothly with all buffering occurring in plenty of time.

However, I think you'll find that if you go to 'General Options/Permanent Options/General' and set the "Maximum no. of Video Files to Pre-Open" to say 4, you should overcome this issue.

Hope that helps . . . .

Cheers . . Martin

[Mike Daniell]

That's right, but with the demo you will be limited to setting Max. No. of Video Files to Pre-Open to 2. For more information see the SCS Help, and go to Permanent Options / General Options. Note also the 'tip' on this page which points out that SCS will not buffer a new video cue while an existing video cue is playing, because doing so would noticably interrupt the playback of the existing video cue.

[gbzrce]

Thanks for your help guys. As Mike pointed out, in the demo version I cannot set the max pre-open files to more than 2. But that should be fine. At the beginning of the run, Q1 and Q2 are loaded. I press play and Q1 plays while Q2 waits ready. When I click go again, Q2 plays and I would expect Q3 to load ready.

From reading the help I understand that this is not the case. The next round of video reload requires a still image to be loaded. However, for my show all background displays are dynamic and so are videos. I expect there to be in the region of 20 video's of between 5 and 30 seconds that will simply bee looping. I can probably accept the small delay between videos, but the "Go" button is disabled if the next video is not in a status of ready, so I have no way of moving the cue forward.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Rob

[Mike Daniell]

At the beginning of the run, Q1 and Q2 are loaded. I press play and Q1 plays while Q2 waits ready. When I click go again, Q2 plays and I would expect Q3 to load ready.

Does the state of Q1 change to 'Completed' before you start Q2, or are you starting Q2 before Q1 has completed?

[gbzrce]

Q1 is on a continuous loop, so never reaches the complete state on its own. Q1 only becomes complete when I click the go button and Q2 starts. At that point you get the condition shown above in the image.

[Mike Daniell]

OK, that's why Q3 didn't load. When Q1 'completed', SCS would normally have loaded (buffered) Q3 but didn't do so because Q2 was playing. So you would need a to set Max. No. of Video Files to Pre-Open to 3 or higher, which you cannot do in the demo version, and would need an SCS Professional license. This limit of 2 in the demo and in SCS Standard will not stop your cues from playing - it's just that Q2 will need to 'complete' before you can start Q3, and there may be a small pause before Q3 is playable due to the buffering.

Hope that makes sense.

[gbzrce]

Thanks for your swift responses. Considering your time zone (which I just noticed), I very much appreciate it.

I am happy to work with it as it sits for the time being prior to licensing and prior to the show. Last question, and for the purposes of testing. When I get in the situation displayed above in the image, how do I play the next file as the go button is disabled?

Thanks

[Mike Daniell]

Last question, and for the purposes of testing. When I get in the situation displayed above in the image, how do I play the next file as the go button is disabled?

Either wait for Q2 to finish, or hit the stop button in the transport controls for Q2. Only when Q2 has 'completed' (and no other audio or video cues are playing) will Q3 load.

[gbzrce]

That will be my biggest problem then. All my videos are very short and designed to loop. So there is no end. Two steps required to move on. I guess my mistake was in making the video's short so they don't overload the machine by designing them to loop.

I am beginning to think I will still encounter this problem with the full version and video's to lead set to 5. After the 5th one I will still have to stop it's loop and start the next one manually. Can you confirm?

[Mike Daniell]

I am beginning to think I will still encounter this problem with the full version and video's to lead set to 5. After the 5th one I will still have to stop it's loop and start the next one manually. Can you confirm?

Yes, that's correct, but it's a limitation imposed by SCS to avoid a performance issue in Windows Media Player (WMP). SCS currently uses the WMP API to play videos.

If you like, I could send you a special test version of SCS with this restriction lifted, so that when Q1 ends, Q3 will be buffered even though Q2 has started playing, and you could let me know if that works OK in your environment and with your video files. My concern is that when Q3 is being buffered, Q2 will break up. Let me know if you want to try this special test version. I should be able to get it ready for you early next week (Monday or Tuesday).

[gbzrce]

I would be happy to try it out. Please email me when you would like me to have a go.

Thanks again for all your help.

[Mike Daniell]

A new version is almost ready which will not need to wait for buffering, so will 'ready' the video cues much earlier. Just have a few more mods to make.

[gbzrce]

How are you getting on with this update?

[Mike Daniell]

Rob, I've just emailed you details of a 10.7.0 pre-release that you can try.