Changes in SCS 11.4.0
- A new video playback library has been added: TVideoGrabber (referred to as TVG) from Datastead Software. TVG enables SCS to support cross-fades between cues as well as within cues; cross-fades between videos and still-images; audio device selection; and more efficient handling of the video monitor display. There are other features available in TVG that may be added later, including live feeds from video cameras. However, there's currently one significant issue and that is that to support MP4 and MPEG files (and possibly certain other formats as well) you may need to install a separate CODEC. See the 'Video Driver' section of the Help for details. Due to this limitation, xVideo is still the default Video Driver. But apart from this CODEC issue, TVG is a far better video playback library.
- You can now select a logo or other image to be displayed whenever a video/image screen is inactive, ie when no other video/image cue is playing. A logo image can be set using a new property for still images in Video/Image Cues.
- Callable Cues are now available. A Callable Cue is similar to a Hot Key (Trigger) Cue except that the cue is not activated by a keyboard action but by other cues, which will have a Cue Type of Call Cue. Callable Cues are a simpler implementation of the request for 'subroutine cues'. An SCS cue may contain several sub-cues of different types with different relative start times, so the concept of a 'subroutine cue' can be handled using a single cue.
- Many of the Production Properties associated with Control Send Devices and Cue Control Devices are now held in the Cue File instead of in the Device Map File. What this means is that these properties (eg MIDI Control Methods, MIDI Channel Numbers, DMX Channel assignments, etc) will now be included when you transfer your production between computers, such as from your home computer to your theatre computer. The only properties now saved in the Device Map File are those that are genuinely machine-specific, such as physical device names and port numbers. To make it clear which properties are machine-specific (and therefore not transferred with the Cue File), these properties are shown in the Production Properties tab with a distinctive background color.
- 'Telnet' devices have been renamed 'Network' devices as SCS now supports both Telnet and UDP. A new property Network Protocol is used to nominate Telnet or UDP. The default is Telnet.
- For Network Devices (either Control Send or Cue Control) you can now optionally select the type of Remote Device or Product. For Control Send network devices this list includes PJ-Net Controlled Projector (eg Sanyo, Sony, Eiki, Christie), Behringer X32 Digital Mixer, LightFactory, and SCS on another computer. For Cue Control network devices the list includes LightFactory and SCS on another computer. Selecting a Remote Device or Product pre-populates certain fields, such as the Network Protocol, Network Role and Port Number. Note that the IP address of a remote device is not and cannot be pre-populated. One other change here is that you can now enter the Telnet/UDP server name instead of the IP address.
- Control Send Cues that send commands to a Behringer X32 Digital Mixer may use commands like 'Go Scene xxx', 'Go Snippet xxx', 'Mute Channel xxx', etc.
- Control Send Network Out devices may now monitor incoming messages and send a preset reply. This has been added primarily to handle a password request that PJ-Net controlled projectors may send before accepting commands via Telnet.
- The performance of MTC (MIDI Time Code) Cues has been significantly improved.
- The Enable/Disable Cues cue type is now a fully formatted cue type in the Editor instead of the temporary implementation that used a Note cue. (The temporary 'Note' implementation is still supported for existing cue files.)
- The Color Scheme Designer has been enhanced to include colors for all cue types, more color control options, and the ability to export and import user-defined color schemes.
- Many more Keyboard Shortcuts have been added. Under Options / Shortcuts there are now two lists - one for the Main Window and one for the Editor. For example, from the Main Window you can now open the Editor by Ctrl+E (default shortcut). In the Editor you can add an Audio File Cue by Alt+F, or an Audio File Sub-Cue by Alt+Shift+F. The shortcuts are also displayed in popup menus where applicable. (Please note that the Main Window default shortcut for Pause/Resume has been changed from Alt+U to Ctrl+U to more closely correspond to other new shortcuts for the Main Window.)
- When editing Audio File Cues you can now use keyboard left and right arrow keys to navigate through Level Points; up and down arrow keys to navigate through audio devices; and the mouse wheel to adjust the zoom.
- Added Page Up and Page Down to the list of available MIDI Cue Control Commands (defined under Production Properties / Devices / Cue Control Devices / MIDI In).
- In Renumber Cues you can now select the range of cues to be renumbered by multi-selecting the cues in the preview list.
- In Copy, Move or Delete a Range of Cues you can now select the range of cues to be copied/moved/deleted by multi-selecting the cues in the preview list.
- In Bulk Edit, new Audio Levels may now be entered either as 'Change in dB Level' or as 'New dB Level'. Previously only 'Change in dB Level' was provided.
- In Production Properties / Time Profiles you may now enter different Default Time Profiles for each day of the week.
- Added a Spanish translation (thanks to Lluís Vilarrasa).
- Fixed a few errors.
Many thanks for all who have assisted in testing the release candidates, especially Christian Peters, Lluís Vilarrasa, Brian O'Connor, Richard Borsey, Michel Winogradoff and Martin Stansfield.
11.4.0.3 includes an undocumented pre-release of a feature that is scheduled for 11.4.1! If you have a Behringer X32 Digital Mixer then you will be aware (I hope) that 11.4.0 provided Control Send support for the X32, specifically to enable you to send 'go scene', 'go snippet' and a few other commands. In 11.4.0.3 you can now also set up an SCS Cue Control network device to receive commands from the X32 user-assignable buttons. Commands currently supported include 'Go Button', 'Stop Everything', 'Pause/Resume All', 'Go To Top', 'Go Back' and 'Go To Next'. This 11.4.1 feature is not yet documented but if you'd like to try this out then please email me and I will send you details on how to set up your X32 and SCS to implement the feature.