Solo Performer Show Controller® Version 4 User’s Guide
Copyright ©2009 Alien Apparatus Company, Inc. 2018 Marina Court San Leandro, CA 94577 All Rights Reserved http://www.alienapparatus.com Information is subject to change without notice. No material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose without the express written permission of Alien Apparatus Company, Inc. Solo Performer Show Controller® and Alien Apparatus® are registered trademarks of Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Contents 1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................9 OVERVIEW - HOW SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER WORKS.. 9 NEW FEATURES IN VERSION 4......................................................... 12 2 IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS ................................. 15 3 UNPACKING AND REGISTERING..........................................17 UNPACKING..................................................................................... 17 PRODUCT REGISTRATION............
THE LIGHTSHOW EDITOR WINDOW................................................. 55 THE MIDI EFFECTS EDITOR WINDOW.............................................56 THE HOTKEY EDITOR WINDOW.......................................................57 THE INFORMATION WINDOW........................................................... 58 9 STARTING THE SOFTWARE................................................... 60 LAUNCHING SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER...................... 60 SYSTEM REGISTRATION........................
12 TUNING....................................................................................... 97 TUNING YOUR INSTRUMENT........................................................... 97 TUNING THE PLAYLIST AUDIO......................................................... 98 ADJUSTING THE GLOBAL TUNING................................................. 100 13 EVENT SEQUENCES OVERVIEW...................................... 103 THE THREE-STEP PROCESS............................................................
DELETING A LIGHT SCENE............................................................. 161 ADDING A SCENE TO A LIGHTSHOW............................................... 162 DELETING A SCENE FROM A LIGHTSHOW....................................... 166 PREVIEWING A LIGHTSHOW........................................................... 166 MAKING A LIGHTSHOW USING CHASES.........................................167 SAVING A LIGHTSHOW ...................................................................
CONTROLLING THE PLAYLIST........................................................ 210 CHANGING THE VOLUME...............................................................211 CHANGING THE COMPUTER SYSTEM VOLUME.............................. 212 FULL SCREEN LYRICS.................................................................... 212 SECONDARY LYRIC DISPLAY WINDOW..........................................214 FOG MACHINE CONTROL...............................................................
Introduction 1 Overview - How Solo Performer Show Controller Works The Solo Performer Show Controller is a system for solo musicians to control their shows when performing live. It consists of a software program that manages playlists, plays the backing music, displays lyrics on screen, controls light shows, controls MIDI effects units, and is controllable by a six-button foot pedal for hands-free operation onstage. Playlists are defined by adding audio files to the list.
events, hotkey events, and a lightshow. When the playlist is run, the audio plays item by item through the computer. This audio can be routed to a PA system for higher performance. While the audio plays, the lyric events are displayed on-screen, MIDI events are sent to effect units through the computer’s MIDI interface, and lighting events are output to either DMX512 or MIDI lights to create light scenes in synchronization with the audio. The system supports 32 channels of DMX512 or MIDI lighting control.
Play / Stop Plays the playlist if it is not running or stops it if it is running. Playlist Changes the currently selected song on the playlist Volume Down Lowers the volume of the current playlist item Volume Up Raises the volume of the current playlist item Lyric Window Toggles the lyric display area from a windowed view to full-screen Fog Toggles the fog machine on and off Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
New Features in Version 4 Version 4 includes several new features that have been requested by users. New features include: Improved Window Layout for Better Workflow One of the most obvious new changes in version 4 is that the windows are layed out significantly differently. The Playlist Editor now has three panes - the playlist library, the playlist, and the lyrics display and a header with transport controls.
If you perform without fixed set lists, you can use button view to show all of your songs as buttons that fill the screen. You can choose songs by simply picking a button. Buttons can be color-coded and moved around for easy organizing. Button View can be configured for different button sizes and column layouts as well.
go to the next songs that match. This is a very handy feature to use when you have very long set lists or are using Button View with your entire library. Improved Authorization Method Previously, Solo Performer Show Controller had to be authorized by connecting the foot controller. Authorization was maintained by connecting the foot controller every 45 days. Now, authorization is done only once by a license key code so you will never be bothered by this procedure again.
Important Safety Precautions 2 Warning! To prevent or reduce the risk of electrical shock or fire, do not expose this unit to rain or moisture. Caution! There are no user serviceable parts inside these units. Do not attempt any repairs yourself. Doing so will void your manufacturers warranty. In the unlikely event that any of our units require service please contact your nearest Alien Apparatus customer support representative. See Appendix A3 for more information.
To reduce the risk of electrical shock or fire, do not expose the unit to rain or moisture. The unit is intended for indoor use only. The use of this product outdoors voids all warranties. Never attempt to operate the unit if it has become damaged in any way. Ensure that all cabling in the system is free from frays or other damage. Do not operate the unit with damaged cables. The unit should only be cleaned as recommended by the manufacturer. It is recommended that cleaning be done with only a soft cloth.
Unpacking And Registering 3 Unpacking Every Solo Performer Show Controller system has been thoroughly tested and has been shipped in perfect operating condition. Carefully check the shipping carton for damage that may have occurred during shipping. If the carton appears to be damaged, carefully inspect your units for any damage and be sure all accessories necessary to operate the system have arrived intact.
validate your purchase and activate your warranty. Registering also ensures that you will receive all software updates that you are entitled to receive.
4 Quick Start Guide This section explains in brief the steps that must be performed to get Solo Performer Show Controller up and running. Chapter references are given for a more detailed explanation. 1. Install Software Macintosh users, refer to Chapter 5 Windows users, refer to Chapter 6 2. Connect the Foot Controller to the USB port 3. Install Foot Pedal Driver (for Windows users) Refer to Chapter 6 4. Launch Solo Performer Show Controller Refer to Chapter 9 Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
5. Fill out and submit registration form Refer to Chapter 9 6. Specify Location of Audio Files Refer to Chapter 9 7. Configure the Lights A. Add an audio file to the playlist Refer to Chapter 10 B. Press Build Lightshow button C. Set channel numbers, light devices, and type in channel names Refer to Chapter 16 D. Save configuration file Refer to Chapter 16 8. Set Preferences A.
The Solo Performer Show Controller system should now be ready to use! Refer to the rest of this User’s Guide for more detailed information on specific functions. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
22 Installation on Macintosh Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
5 Installation on Macintosh System Requirements • System 10.3.9 or later • 1 GB of RAM Minimum • 120 Megabytes of Hard Drive Space Minimum • Apple QuickTime 6.0 or later (Installed with Software) • G4 1 GHz or Faster Microprocessor • USB Port • Audio Output Connector Jack • 1200x800 Minimum Screen Resolution Upgrading from a Previous Version If you are upgrading from a previous version of the software, follow the installation instructions as if you were doing a new installation.
To begin installation, insert the software CD into the CD drive of the computer. Double-click on the CD icon that appears on the desktop to view the contents of the CD. Double-click on the Install SP Show Controller.app icon to launch the installer. When the installer launches, a dialog appears asking for your user password for your computer. Type in your password and then click the OK button.
The Welcome screen appears. Read the text, and then click the Continue button. The License Agreement screen appears. Read this agreement carefully and print a copy for your records by clicking on the Print button. When you are done reading the license agreement, click the Install button to go on. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
You will then be asked whether you agree or disagree with the license agreement. If you agree with the terms of the agreement, click the Agree button. If you click Disagree, the installer will quit without installing the software and you may return the product for a refund. After agreeing to the terms of the license agreement, the files will then be copied to your hard disk. When complete the Installation Complete screen appears.
When complete, click the Quit button to exit the software installer. Next, the foot controller driver installation begins. After clicking Quit from the software installer, the foot controller driver installer launches automatically. Click the Continue button to install the foot controller driver. The Read Me screen appears next and shows the Revision History for the driver. Click Continue to go on. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
At the Installation Type screen, you may choose a new install location, or simply click the Install button to continue with the installation. The driver installer requires that you type your password to install the driver. A notice appears informing that your computer must be restarted when complete. Click the Continue Installation button to continue.
The necessary files are now installed When complete, the following window is presented. Click the Restart button to restart your computer. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The application Show Controller.app is now located in your Applications folder on your hard disk. A folder called Solo Performer Show Controller has been created in your Documents folder. This will be where all of your playlists and sequence files will be saved.
6 Installation on Windows System Requirements • Windows XP • 1 GB of RAM Minimum • 150 Megabytes of Hard Drive Space Minimum • Apple QuickTime 6.
Software installation is a two-part step. First, the setup.exe installer must be run to install the main application program and QuickTime. Secondly, the foot controller driver must be installed. To begin installation, insert the software CD into the CD drive of the computer. The installer program is called setup.exe. This program should launch automatically when the CD is inserted in the drive. Some computer systems have this auto-start feature disabled.
The Welcome screen appears. Read the text, and then click the Next button. The License Agreement screen appears. Read this agreement carefully. If you agree with the terms of the agreement, click the button next to I accept the agreement. Then Next button will then become activated. Click the Next button to continue with the installation. If you leave the button next to I do not accept the agreement selected, the Next button will stay inactive and you cannot install the software.
The Information screen appears. This text explains what software will be installed and how to do a customized installation to install only selected components, if desired. Read the text, and then click the Next button.
Next, select a destination to install the software by typing in a path in the edit box or by clicking the Browse button. In most cases, the default path is appropriate and simply pressing the Next button is the most appropriate course of action. Click the Next button to continue once the destination path is entered. The Select Start Menu Folder screen appears. Here, you may choose the folder in which that the installed software will reside in the Windows Start Menu.
The opportunity to create a desktop icon for the installed software now appears. By default, a desktop icon is created. A desktop icon will allow the software to be launched very quickly by double-clicking on it. If you do not wish to have a desktop icon installed, simply uncheck the checkbox by clicking on it. Click the Next button to continue.
The Ready to Install screen now appears. Here you will see a summary of the choices that were made leading up to this point. If you wish to make changes, simply click the Back button several times until you are presented with the opportunity to change the item in question. If everything is fine, click the Install button to begin copying files to your computer. The necessary files will now be copied to your computer. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
If QuickTime 6.0 or later is not installed on your computer, QuickTime will be installed. If you already have QuickTime 6.0 or later, the QuickTime installer will be skipped.
Click Next to continue on with the installation. Apple Computer’s QuickTime license agreement is displayed. Read it, and if you agree with the terms, click the Yes button to continue. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The following screen appears where a destination location for the QuickTime installation can be chosen. Most people choose the default location. Click Install to continue. The QuickTime files are now copied to your hard disk.
When the QuickTime Installer is finished writing its files to your hard disk, the following window appears where you can click Finish to exit the installer. You will next be asked if you would like to upgrade to QuickTime Pro. This is not necessary so you click the No Thanks button to continue on. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
QuickTime is now installed, and the Solo Performer Show Controller software installation is complete. Click the Finish button to exit the installer.
Foot Controller Driver Installation In order for the Solo Performer Show Controller software to communicate with the foot controller, a driver needs to be installed. To do this, simply connect the foot controller to the computer’s USB port using the cable provided. In a few seconds, Windows will auto-detect the foot controller and present the following dialog box: Select the No, not this time then click the Next button to begin the Found New Hardware Wizard. The following dialog box will be displayed.
If for some reason the version of Windows that you are using is not able to locate the driver files, choose the Install from a list or specific location option and click Next. Fill in the path “D:\Drivers” in the search box then click Next.
Depending on the Windows version you are using, the following screen, or one similar to it, may appear: Click Continue Anyway to go on. The foot controller driver files will now be copied to your hard disk. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
When finished, the following dialog box will be displayed: Click Finish to exit the Found New Hardware Wizard. Note that on some versions of Windows, the foot controller driver needs an additional component installed, so the Found New Hardware Wizard may launch again and you will have to repeat this process one more time. Once finished, the necessary software to communicate with the Solo Performer Show Controller foot controller is now installed.
Wiring the System 7 The Solo Performer Show Controller system may be wired in a variety of ways, depending on the complexity and impact desired. In its simplest configuration, nothing needs to be wired! Simply run the software and play backing music on your computer! To add more functionality to the system, use the 6button foot pedal to control the starting and stopping of the show with volume control. The foot pedal is wired to the computer by the included USB cable.
Note that the ground pin, pin 1, is connected to the cable's shielding, but never to the connector's housing or a chassis ground in any way. Doing so could cause erratic behavior. DMX512 signal cables must be daisy chained from light to light and never split without using a specially designed splitter unit. Line Termination All DMX512 chains should be terminated with a 120-ohm resistor terminator to eliminate data transmission errors due to signal reflection.
The Conversion from 3 pin DMX512 signals to 5 pin signals is done very often in the lighting industry. Adapter cables can be found for this purpose in most lighting supply stores. High-Performance Audio Most people will not be satisfied with the audio merely coming through their computer speakers. It is recommended that a cable be inserted in the computer's audio-out jack (headphone jack), and be routed to an amplified system, or to a mixing board.
50 Wiring the System Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
The important thing to note in the above diagram is that all of the audio, both from the computer and the stage microphones, gets routed to a mixer. The combined audio signal is then amplified and sent to the PA speakers. For additional convenience, there are many PA systems that have the mixer and amplifier combined into one integrated package. MIDI Cabling Solo Performer Show Controller is capable of sending MIDI files, program changes, and control messages to external MIDI devices.
your specific device’s manual to find out how to do this, as all devices differ. This channel number is what needs to be used in the MIDI events that can be programmed in Solo Performer Show Controller.
8 Overview of the Software The Playlist Editor Window The software is primarily composed of five editor windows. The Playlist Editor is the main window from which all of the other editors are opened. The Playlist Editor looks like this: The playlist is a list of audio files, settings, and associated event sequences that stream with them, collectively defining a show. To the left of the playlist is Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
a listing of all saved playlists. The currently active playlist has an orange arrow icon to the right of its name. There are four built-in playlists that are represented by colored rows in the Playlist Library: All Songs in Library, All Audio in Library, All MIDI in Library, and Top 25 Most Played. When performing a show, the Playlist Editor window is generally in the forefront. Chapter 10 describes the Playlist Editor in greater detail.
Chapter 14 describes the Lyrics Editor in greater detail. The Lightshow Editor Window The Lightshow Editor is where light sequences are defined that stream back with the audio. To open the Lightshow Editor, a song must first be selected on the playlist. Clicking the Open Lightshow Editor button will then open the Lightshow Editor. The Lightshow Editor looks like this: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Details on the creation of lightshows using the Lightshow Editor are given in Chapter 16. The MIDI Effects Editor Window Sequences of MIDI effects changes can be created on the MIDI Editor that will playback in time with the audio on the playlist. To open the MIDI Editor, first select a song on the playlist and then click the Open MIDI Editor button.
Chapter 15 covers the creation of MIDI event sequences. The Hotkey Editor Window Sequences of key commands can be put together in order to send key presses to other running programs. This is done with the Hotkey Editor. With a song selected on the playlist, clicking the Open Hotkey setup button will open the Hotkey Editor. The Hotkey Editor looks like this: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Chapter 18 describes how to create hotkey sequences using the Hotkey Editor. The Information Window Another very important window is the information window. The information window displays details about a selected song and can be opened by double-clicking on a playlist row.
Details about the Information Window are given in Chapter 10. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Starting the Software 9 Launching Solo Performer Show Controller On Macintosh OS X systems, the Solo Performer Show Controller application may be launched by double clicking on the Show Controller icon found in the Applications folder. On Windows operating systems, the Solo Performer Show Controller application may be launched by either double clicking on the Show Controller desktop icon, or by selecting Show Controller from the Solo Performer Show Controller group in the Windows Start menu.
Enter the license key supplied with the software and click the Register the Software button. The license key can be found on the CD sleeve that came with the software. After supplying a valid license key, you will be asked to register the software by supplying some additional information. Fill out the information on the form, including the serial number found on the rear of the foot controller. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
You may submit the registration in one of two ways. Registration can either be emailed by clicking the Send Registration by Email button, or it may be printed and mailed by clicking the Print Registration to Mail button. To email the form, make sure that you are connected to the internet, then click the Send Registration by Email button. A status box will open that will show the connection status.
If you click the Register Later button, you may continue on, but bear in mind that you will be asked to register the program the next time that it is launched. Joint the eList When registration is complete, you will be asked if you would like to join the Solo Performer Show Controller eList. The eList is a mailing list to help you stay on top of the current Solo Performer Show Controller news such as software updates and special offers.
Locate Your Audio Files You will next be asked to locate your audio files. Click the Choose Folder… button to show Solo Performer Show Controller what folder you would like to use as your audio library folder. You may also create a new folder by choosing the Create Folder… button or simply go on without specifying a folder by clicking the Choose Later button. The audio library folder can be set at any time in the Preferences window.
Playlists And Audio 10 Playlist Editor Screen Layout The Playlist Editor window can be configured in several way to suit the needs of the task that is being perfomed. The playlist itself can be set up to show a varitey of different infomation. The default settings show the song number, the song title, the attached sequences, the song ending, the volume, and the tuning. Clicking the "Expand Playlist" shows all of the columns of information that are available in a horizontally scrolling list.
Pressing the same button returns the playlist to its normal view. Adding or removing columns from the normal view can be done in the program's Preferences window as described in Chapter 20. Button View is a different way of looking at the playlist and will be discussed in greater detail later. Button View shows all songs on the playlist as an array of buttons rather than as a single-column list.
A click on “Switch to Playlist View” returns the view back to the playlist. The Playlist Editor is divided into three panes - the Playlist Library, the Playlist, and the Lyrics Display. Two splitter bars are located below the panes that allow the panes to be resized by dragging or collapsed by doubleclicking. Once collapsed, a pane may be expanded again by another double-click. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Playlists Playlists are the lists of songs to be played, along with their associated settings. Settings include song order, volume setting, tuning setting, lightshow/MIDI/hotkey associations, and ending conditions. The Playlist Library is displayed on the left side of the screen, and the playlist is right next to it, as shown below.
When Solo Performer Show Controller is first launched, the last used playlist will open automatically. If the program has never been used before, the “All Songs in Library” built-in playlist will be active. Sorting Playlists Playlists can be sorted by any column, either ascending or descending. To sort a playlist, simply click the column heading of the column that you wish to sort by. To reverse the sort direction, simply click the heading again.
Four default playlists appear in the playlist library: All Songs in Library, All Audio in Library, All MIDI in Library, and Top 25 Most Played. These playlists list the appropriate songs from the folder that is set up as the “Audio File Folder” in the preferences. Besides providing quick access to all of the songs in the library, the default playlists also have another significance. All settings applied to songs on the default playlists become the default settings for that song when creating new playlists.
Adding Audio to the Playlist Audio is added to a playlist in one of many way. Audio may be added by choosing Add to Playlist or Add Folder Playlist under the Audio menu. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Alternatively, audio may be added by choosing “Add Song…” under the playlist “Action” menu, right-clicking or control-clicking the playlist and choosing “Add Song…” from the menu that pops up, or by dragging and dropping a song from one playlist to another.
A dialog box will appear where the audio file may be selected for adding to the playlist. The default starting folder is the audio folder that is set in the Preferences. See Chapter 20 for details about changing the program preferences. Another way to add audio to a playlist is by dragging and dropping. To do this, first open a playlist that has a song or group of songs in it that is to be added to the new playlist.
ending. If the Stop icon is clicked on, it will turn into a green arrow. This signifies that after the song is done being played, the next item on the list will start immediately without any user intervention. Subsequent clicking on the ending icon will step through the various ending options. See the section on Ending Options further in this chapter.
be pressed before resuming with the song “Roswell or Bust”. Observe that most songs have an effects icon in the FX column, indicating that some kind of event will be streamed along with the audio. The type of icon indicates what type(s) of events are being streamed with the playback. The following is a list of effects icon types: Lightshow Indicator MIDI Indicator Hotkey Indicator MIDI & Lightshow Indicator Hotkey & Lightshow Indicator Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
MIDI & Hotkey Indicator MIDI, Lightshow, and Hotkey Indicator Supported Audio File Formats Solo Performer Show Controller is capable of playing a variety of audio file formats in a playlist. Essentially, the software supports any audio format supported by the installed version of QuickTime. Supported audio formats are shown in the following table: File Type MP3 M4A Audio Interchange File Format Wave MIDI MIDI Karaoke File Extension .mp3 .m4a .aif, .aiff .wav .mid, .midi .
type is set correctly. Setting the file type is not usually done by the user, but by the program that created the file. If the file was not made on a Macintosh, it might not be recognized as an audio file if it’s file name does not end in the extension shown on the chart above. Therefore, using file name extensions is recommended.
In the above example, “Alien Song” is the currently playing song, while “Roswell or Bust” is the song to be played next. Reordering Playlist Items The order of playlist items can be changed by clicking on an item and dragging it to a new position. When dragging a playlist item, a black line will appear between the rows where the song will be inserted.
In the picture above, “Roswell or Bust” is selected (its row is highlighted in yellow) and is being dragged up the list between “Alien Song” and “Amongst Us”. Note that the mouse button is still being held down in this picture. After the mouse button has been released, “Roswell or Bust” takes its new position, right after “Alien Song”.
In this example, the song in the selected row, “Roswell or Bust”, will be removed from the playlist. Ending Options Each song on the playlist has several ending options. The ending can be set by clicking on the icon in the “End” column of the playlist. Every time the ending icon is clicked, it will toggle to the next setting.
Continue The next song on the playlist will start playing automatically when the previous one ends. Full Loop and Continue The audio will loop continuously. When the stop button is pressed, the audio will keep going until it reaches the end of the loop, then the next song will start automatically. Partial Loop and Continue The audio will loop continuously. When the stop button is pressed, the audio will stop immediately and the next song will start automatically.
The audio will loop continuously. When the stop button is pressed, the audio will stop immediately and wait for the play button to be pressed before resuming the next song. Volume Adjustment The playback volume of a playlist item may be set by first selecting the item on the playlist by clicking on it so that it is highlighted in yellow, then move the volume slider to adjust the volume. The volume level is indicated on the playlist row as a percentage.
Time Remaining in Playlist A display of how much time is remaining in the playlist is presented immediately below the playlist. This countdown updates in real-time as the playlist is being played. Audio File Tuning Setting The tuning of an audio file on a playlist may be adjusted by first selecting the item on the playlist so that it is highlighted in blue, then move the tuning slider to adjust the tuning. What happens is that the audio will be played back slower or quicker, thus changing the pitch.
See Chapter 12 for more detailed information about how to use the tuning options available. Information Window Double-clicking on a playlist row brings up the Information Window for that song. The Information Window is organized into several tabs– General, Events, Lyrics, and MIDI. All of the settings in the Information Window apply only to the song that is selected on the playlist. The General tab displays information about the song, such as how long it is and how many times it has been played.
The Events tab displays the event sequences that have been chosen to play along with the song playback. By using the buttons provided, these settings may be changed. Also in the Events tab is a setting for ending events. These events will display after the song is done being played. This can be very useful for setting a reverb effect to the off position, for example, in order to talk to the audience between songs.
Playlist Locking Sometimes temporary changes need to be made to a playlist, but these changes are not to be saved. For example, while performing a playlist on stage, it may be desirable to change a song’s volume. To do this without saving these changes, simply click the “Unlock” icon so that it toggles to the “Lock” icon. When the “Lock” is active, no changes to the playlist will be saved. Opening Playlists To open an existing playlist, simply click its title in the playlist library.
Preferences panel. See Chapter 20 for details about customizing Solo Performer Show Controller. Button View Button view can be used to show all of the songs in the currently active playlist as an array of buttons. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, button view may be shown by clicking the “Switch to Button View” button at the bottom of the playlist window. Alternatively, the Toggle View menu choice in the File menu will switch back and forth between the two views.
Once dropped, the button will snap to the closest position on its grid the other buttons will re-order themselves. The size of the buttons may be changed by choosing a new size from the Action button menu.
Also from the Action button menu, button colors may be changed. By choosing Match Playlist Order, the buttons will reposition themselves to take on the order of the playlist. Incidentally, back in playlist view, there is a menu option in the Action button menu called “Match Button View Order” that conversely arranges the playlist to match the button ordering. The number of columns that are displayed can be chosen from the Action button’s menu as shown: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
If the currently selected playlist has so many songs on it that there is not enough room for all of the buttons, the remaining buttons will go to another page. The Page Up and Page Down buttons can be used to flip between the button view pages. Button view may be navigated in several ways. Pressing the arrow keys on the keyboard will move the selection up, down, right or left. Using the foot controller, button view selections may be scrolled through as well.
name, button view will jump to the first song having those characters. Pressing tab will advance to the next match. Audio File Tips Audio files used for backing tracks can be obtained from a variety of sources. Here are a few examples of how backing audio may be obtained: • From a compact disc recording. Note that on Windows systems, compact disc audio must first be converted to another format such as .mp3 or .
commonly distributed for practicing musicians and quality can be very good. Using Click Tracks Click tracks may be incorporated in a variety of ways. One way is to mix down the audio files as mono files and then construct stereo files containing the mono mix on one channel and a click track on the other. Most musicians underestimate how a mono audio track sounds when performing live, but once they realize that stereo tracks are optimized for listening at one location only, it may make more sense.
MIDI File Options 11 Removing Instruments from a MIDI File Track suppression is used to remove instruments from a MIDI file that are unwanted. Suppose that you have a MIDI file that has 12 tracks, and one of the tracks is a vocal melody track played by a piano. Suppose further that another track is a lead guitar track. If you were a singing guitar player, for example, you would not want these two tracks to be played back. You would probably only want the rhythm tracks to be included.
A new window will open that displays all of the General MIDI instruments. All instruments that are checked will be played back. Simply uncheck every instrument that you don’t want to have playing. After the instrument selections and de-selections have been made, click either the button labeled “Apply to Entire Playlist” or “Apply to Selected Song”. Another way to remove unwanted instruments is to double-click a playlist selection to open up the Information window.
by clicking the check box. Tracks without a check in the Enabled column will not play back. Changing MIDI Instruments The instrument that is played back on a MIDI track can be changed to any one of the General MIDI instruments. Double-click on a song on the playlist to bring up the Information Window. The MIDI tab displays a listing of all of the tracks and instruments that are being used in the MIDI file.
Transposing MIDI Notes There are two ways to transpose notes of a midi file. The first way is to use the tuner slider on the Playlist Editor window. Changing the tuning of a song that is a MIDI file actually transposes it. Transposition can be done up to a whole octave either up or down this way. Note that this affects all tracks in the MIDI file. To change the transposition of only specific tracks, double-click the playlist selection to bring up the Information Window.
Tuning 12 Tuning Your Instrument Pressing the tuner button plays a tone that can be used for tuning your instrument. The instrument that is played back for tuning can be chosen from a wide variety of instruments in the Preferences panel. The note that is played can also be set in the Preferences panel as well. See Chapter 20 for details on setting the preferences. The default tuning note is A 440Hz. To stop the tuner, simply press the tuner button a second time.
Tuning the Playlist Audio Once your instrument is in tune with the tuner, the tuning of the playlist audio must be set. The tuning level can be set as described in Chapter 12, however, to assist in tuning, a tuning loop can be set up. A tuning loop is a section of the audio file that will be repeated continuously so that proper tuning can be obtained. To set up a tuning loop, follow these steps: 1. First identify a clean note in the audio file that you wish to have repeated indefinitely. 2.
4. Move the playback position so that it is just after the note. 5. Select Set Right Locator from the Tuning button’s popup menu. This will change the tuning loop right position readout to the current position. 6. Select Play Tuning Loop from the Tuning button’s popup menu to loop-play the audio contained between the two positions that have been set. 7. Select Stop Tuning Loop from the Tuning button’s popup menu to stop the loop playback. 8.
the playback position and selecting Set Right Locator from the Tuning button’s menu again. The Go to Left Locator and Go to Right Locator menu options on the Tuning button’s menu snap the current playing position to the left of the tuning loop or to the right, respectively. With a well-chosen tuning loop, the playback of the loop may be compared to the playback of your instrument.
A slider is available to provide “global tuning”. When this slider is moved, all playlist audio will be tuned up or down an equivalent amount. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
102 Event Sequences Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
13 Event Sequences Overview The Three-Step Process To add events to songs, such as lyrics, lightshows, MIDI effects changes, and hotkeys, three steps must be taken. First, each individual event needs to be defined. Secondly, each event needs to be positioned in a timesequence. And thirdly, each sequence must be attached to the song itself on the playlist. In this manner, multiple lightshows could, for example, be created in for a single song by making two or more lightshow sequences.
1. Create the individual events 2. Arrange the events into a time-sequence 3. Attach the sequence to the song on the playlist The first two steps are done in one of the editor windows, such as the Lyrics Editor, the Lightshow Editor, the MIDI Editor, or the Hotkeys Editor. This can be done by selecting a song on the playlist and then choosing either Edit Lyrics, Build Lightshow, Build MIDI Sequence, or Build Hotkey Sequence from the Action button's menu on the Playlist Editor window.
Lyrics 14 Adding Lyric Text Displays to a Song Lyrics may be added to any song on the playlist so that they appear onscreen at the appropriate time during song playback. To add lyrics: 1. Select a song on the playlist by clicking it so that it highlights in yellow. 2. Select the Edit Lyrics item from the Lyrics menu or select the Action button’s Edit Lyrics menu option as shown. 3. The Lyrics Editor window opens up with a lyrics display window and a table to the right. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
4. Move the song’s playing position to where a lyric text display event is to be inserted by clicking into the waveform display. The playback position, represented by the green line, will move to the position of the mouse click.
Use the zoom button to help locate the exact point where the lyric event is to be inserted. 5. Type the lyrics to be displayed at this song position by clicking in the black rectangle and typing the lyrics. It may be desirable to add a few blank lines at the beginning to space the lyrics so that they are centered vertically. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
6. Click the Marker Color button to select a color for the marker to be used for the new lyric event.
7. Press the Add Lyrics to Timecode button to add the lyrics to the lyric list on the right. The lyrics will now be inserted in the time code list. Notice that a row has been added to the timecode list and that a marker has been added to the event track. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
7. Move the song’s playback position to another place and add additional lyrics. Make sure that the lock icon is in the unlocked position (See further in this chapter for information about the lock icon). Note that the black screen still retains the previous lyrics, so long as the playback position is ahead of the previous location. The display will always show the lyrics that will be displayed on-screen at the proper moment.
8. The display of the lyric may be tested at any time by moving the song’s position slider so that the playback position is before the lyric event, then start the song’s playback by clicking on the play button. The song will be heard and the lyric text will appear when the song reaches the time that was set. If the lyrics do not appear at the correct time, the time may be tweaked by dragging the event marker on the event track to a new location.
Deleting a Lyric Text Event Lyrics may be deleted from the playback list by doing the following: 1. Select the lyric event to be deleted from the timecode list by clicking it, or by clicking on the marker 2. The song’s playback position jumps to the timecode of the selected row 3. Select Delete from the Action button’s popup menu. Alternatively, right-click or control-click on the marker itself or the timecode entry and choose Delete from the contextual menu. 4.
The Lock Button When the lock button is unlocked, the lyrics display will update the screen as the song position is moved. When in the locked position, the lyrics display will not change automatically with the song. The locked position is very useful while editing, but the unlocked position is generally what is used for song playback.
3. Choose Paste from the Edit menu. At this point, all of the lyrics for the entire song should be in the lyrics display. 4. Click on the Lock button so that when the song position is moved, the lyrics will not change. 5. Add some blank lines at the top to space the text down a bit. Then move the text insertion point to the end of the first lyric event to be saved to the timecode by clicking the mouse in the lyric text.
6. Click the Marker Color button to select a color for the marker to be used for the new lyric event. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
7. Click the Slice button. All of the lyrics that were before the text insertion point have been saved to the timecode list at this position and a new event marker has been added. Additionally, the first lyrics have been deleted from the current screen full of text so that the rest of the lyrics can be worked with. The Lyrics Editor should now look like this: 8. Move the song position to the location of the next part of the lyrics. Note that the lyric display should not have changed.
active, and you will have to go back to the word processor to copy the lyrics again. 9. Move the text insertion point to the end of the next group of lyrics to save 10. Click the slice button to place the lyrics. 11. Repeat this process until all of the lyrics have been placed in the timecode list. 12. Click the Lock button to unlock the changing of the lyrics display. 13. Play back the song from the beginning to verify that the lyrics are saved correctly.
button and the current display will overwrite the previous one. Exiting the Lyric Editor When finished entering lyrics, simply close the window. This can be done on a Macintosh computer by clicking the red dot in the title bar. On Windows Computers, to exit out of the Lyrics Editor, click the red close box as shown: When the playlist is run in the Playlist Editor, the lyrics will now display onscreen.
After choosing which tracks to use a source of lyrics and chords, the sample lyric display window shows the result. Dragging the slider that is under the sample lyrics display changes the lyrics pages. Upon leaving the Information window, the lyric display in the Playlist Editor will be updated to match the selections. If using embedded lyrics, and a change or addition is desired, the lyrics must first be converted to the normal Solo Performer Show Controller lyrics format.
Using LRC Lyric Files LRC lyric files are text files that contain lyrics and associated time code and have a filename that ends with “.lrc”. LRC files are fairly common and can be found at various web sites on the internet. To use an LRC lyric file with Solo Performer Show Controller, first select a song on the playlist. Then choose Import LRC File from the Lyrics menu. A dialog box will appear that prompts for the LRC file. Select the file that is to be used with the selected song and click Open.
one could put a lyric display that reads “(Guitar Solo)” so that the performer knows what needs to be done. Whatever such informational text needs to be displayed can be displayed. Use lyric text as your information billboard. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
122 MIDI Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
MIDI 15 Introduction Sequences of MIDI program changes and control messages can be applied to items on the playlist. While this functionality was initially intended to change presets and individual settings on effects units automatically as the show runs, there is enough versatility to allow artists to be very creative. MIDI event sequences are composed of one or more MIDI events, each of which can contain up to six sub-events.
The MIDI events editor now open and looks like this: The song that was selected in the playlist is now available for playback, and when it plays, its lyrics, if any have been defined, will show in the black rectangular lyrics 124 MIDI Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
display area. To the bottom right of the screen is a listing of all previously saved MIDI events. Above this list is a listing of the MIDI sequence that will be built. The controls under the lyric display area are used to create new MIDI events. Action buttons under the timecode list and event library list are used to create and manage the events. Creating a MIDI Event To begin creating a MIDI event, first select the event type that is desired in the drop down list as shown.
In this example, Solo Performer Show Controller found that there are two MIDI devices connected to the computer’s MIDI system: a TC Halion VoiceLive effect unit and a Digitech GNX3 guitar processor. If you don’t see your MIDI devices showing up, choose the Launch MIDI Control Panel… menu option on the MIDI pull down menu. This will open up your computer system’s MIDI control panel so that you can debug your setup. Now select the channel that the device will receive the commands on.
signals on channel 1 unless they are specifically setup to look at another channel. Finally, choose the program number to send to the effects unit in the P1 popup menu. In this example, we would like to change the guitar to preset number 55 during the chorus of our song. Program change events do not require a Parameter 2 value, thus the P2 popup menu is inactive. This P2 value is only needed for Control Message and Note-On events.
After pressing the send button, the Digitech GNX3 unit changed its preset, but it changed to preset number 56! Many MIDI effects units display their preset numbers starting with one, even though they start with zero internally. This means that on some effects units, in order to change to a displayed preset number, we would have to subtract one from the displayed number and use that as our program number.
instructions to our MIDI event. The second line will be a program change to the VoiceLive processor to change its reverb setting to 85. First, choose the event type Program Change in the drop down list. Now choose the device to receive the Control Message and the channel that the device will be reading from. Now type in the Control number for the parameter that is to be controlled followed by the value that that control is to receive.
tells us that control number 91 sets the effect level and can accept a value between 0 and 127. After testing the control message by pressing the Send button, the group of two MIDI messages can be saved as a MIDI event by clicking the Plus button located under the Saved MIDI Events list. Note that before saving, you may change the color of the event’s marker by choosing a color from the popup menu under the Saved MIDI Events list.
After pressing the Plus, you will be prompted for a file name for the new MIDI event. By default, the MIDI events will be saved in the location chosen as the default MIDI event files location that is set in the Preferences panel. Most users simply choose the default location. Refer to Chapter 20 for details on changing this setting. After saving the MIDI event, it will appear in the MIDI events list in the lower right of the screen.
Events list Action button. This gives the opportunity to make changes to previously saved MIDI events. An even easier way to open a saved MIDI event for editing is to simply double-click it in the Saved MIDI Events list. MIDI events may be deleted by first selecting the MIDI event from the MIDI event list and selecting Delete Event from the Saved MIDI Events list Action button. This action permanently erases the MIDI event file from your hard disk, so use this with caution.
Creating a MIDI Events Sequence To arrange MIDI events into MIDI event sequences for use on playlists, follow the following steps: 1. Move the song position indicator approximately to where the event is to occur in the song by clicking in the waveform display. Playing back the song a few times helps to get the position figured out. Also, use the waveform display and the lyric display as a guide. Accuracy is not very important at the moment, as the exact position will be tweaked later. 2.
timecode list. Be careful to select the correct Plus button. Refer to the following picture if necessary. The name of the MIDI event will now appear in the MIDI sequence listing. Alternatively, MIDI events may be dragged and dropped from the MIDI event list to the sequence list. Users will find the drag and drop method to be quicker. Tip! You can drag an event straight to the event track to place a marker at the spot where you let go of the mouse button.
3. Move the song position indicator to a place before the newly inserted event. Play the song and the MIDI event will stream along with the playback. Tweak the event’s position by dragging its event marker to a new location. or by editing the time in the sequence listing by clicking on the time displayed and typing. All times must be entered in the following format: XX:XX:XX:XXX where the first two X’s are the hour, followed by minutes, seconds, and finally milliseconds.
location. See Chapter 20, Customizing, for more information on setting default file locations. 7. Saved MIDI event sequences may be opened by choosing Open MIDI Sequence from the File menu. This allows previously saved sequences to be edited.
Exiting the MIDI Event Editor To exit the MIDI event editor, either close its window using the window’s close box, or choose Exit MIDI Event Editor from the File menu. In either case, you will be prompted to save any MIDI sequence that has not been saved. Adding MIDI Event Sequences to a Playlist Every Item in the playlist may have a MIDI Event Sequence associated with it.
that a MIDI events sequence is part of that playlist item. Because the FX column is used to indicate the presence of other items such as lightshows and hokey sequences as well, the icon could be combined with the icon of other event types. For a complete list of icon types, see Chapter 10, Playlists and Audio. When a song on the playlist is played, and it has a MIDI event sequence associated with it, the MIDI events will stream, using the timing of the song as a guide.
Adding an Ending MIDI Event An “ending MIDI event” may be added to each playlist item. An ending event is simply a MIDI event from the MIDI event library that gets sent whenever a song ends. This could be useful to reset MIDI effects after the end of a song, for example. To add an ending MIDI event, double-click a playlist item to open the Information window. The Events tab shows what ending MIDI event will be sent. Click Change to change it or click Remove to remove an existing event.
140 Lights Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
Lights 16 Overall Approach There are five steps to getting lights up and going with Solo Perfomer Show Controller - two system configuration steps and three sequencing steps. The system configuration steps are: 1. Create light device files for lights that are to be used that do not already have device files defined for them. 2. Setup the lightboard configuration The sequencing steps are: 1. Define individual light events 2. Arrange the light events (or scenes) into time sequences 3.
Overview of Light Device Files It is worth mentioning at the outset that light-specific device files never really NEEDED. They are supplied and can be created as a convenience to make working with lights easier. All DMX512 lights may be controlled using the included “Generic” device file. The “Generic” device file will make all values from 0 to 255 available for use.
Defining New DMX512 Devices The first step in creating a lightshow is to define your light devices so that Solo Performer Show Controller knows what lights you have. Solo Performer Show Controller treats each DMX512 address as a separate device, thus if a light requires 3 DMX512 addresses, 3 Solo Performer Show Controller devices will need to be defined to fully control this one light.
To create a new DMX512 device, first make sure that DMX512 is selected in the Device Type drop down 144 Lights Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
menu. Next, enter a description next to the DMX512 values. Consult the documentation that was supplied with your device to find the DMX512 table. Note that all DMX512 values need not have a description next to them; only the values that are actually used by the device will be filled in. The contents of the description that are typed are not really important. The description needs to be typed for a couple of reasons. First, it signifies that the DMX value in that row is important to your device.
Before saving the new device file, choose a graphic icon from the list on the right by clicking the button beside the icon of your choice. The text descriptions are present only to serve as a suggested use for the icon. The text will not appear anywhere, only the icon will. The icon will show up in the lightshow editor screen above the slider to represent the type of device that the slider controls.
To abandon the work in the Device Editor, choose the Cancel button to exit from the Device Editor without saving a device file. Defining New MIDI Devices MIDI light devices are defined using the Device Editor window, much like DMX512 devices. MIDI light devices can be configured in several ways: 1. Change settings based on Note-On command velocities. 2. Change settings based on Poly Aftertouch command amounts. 3. Change settings based on a Control Message command’s value. 4.
When the device editor opens up by choosing Define New Device File… from the Lights menu, first choose the device type from the popup menu. For example, to make a light device that responds to MIDI Note-On commands, choose MIDI Note. Now enter a description for the light values that you want to use.
51 64 76 89 102 114 127 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Such a device would then have a Device Editor table that looks something like this: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Using the Range Tool The Range Creator Tool makes it easy to automatically generate values across a range of DMX or MIDI values. For example, if a light’s channel controlled the dimming of the light and it used the full range of values from 0 to 255, you could simplify the device file by only providing 20 setting throughout this range. You could calculate what each value needs to be in order to have equal spacing between the numbers... or you can use the Range Creator Tool.
values evenly spaced across the range of 0 to 255, the Range Creator Tool’s fields would be filled out like this: After pressing the Generate Range button, DMX table shown in the following picture is automatically generated. Scrolling through the list reveals that there are indeed 20 values present and they appear to be equally spaced. Note that a prefix of “D” was specified, thus the descriptions are “D1”, “D2”, “D3”, etc. There is also a checkbox if having the first number be zero is preferable to a one.
Editing Existing Devices The description table of existing light devices may be edited by choosing the menu item Edit Existing Device under the Lights menu. Upon choosing this command, a dialog is presented in which the existing device file is chosen to open. After choosing a device file, the Device Editor window will open, allowing changes to be made to the description table.
Alternatively, the same name may be entered as the original device file, and the option to overwrite the existing file is presented. If the goal is to update the existing device file, choosing to overwrite the existing file will accomplish this. Lightshow Editor Overview To begin building a lightshow for a playlist item, first select the playlist item by clicking on it, and then press the Build Lightshow button. The lightshow editor window opens up.
Configuring the Channels There are 32 channels of lighting control available. Each channel can be set up to control a device that has been defined in the device editor. To choose the device to be controlled by a channel, click the device button and a menu will pop up that will list all of the devices that are available in your device library. The folder of the device library is chosen in the preference panel. See Chapter 20 for details on changing user preferences.
After choosing a device for the channel, the device’s icon will appear in the button. The address that will be used for the channel is selected by the popup menu as shown below. If the device used for this channel is a DMX device, this address must match the address set on the lighting device. Also, the address must be in the range of 1 to 32. Refer to your lighting device’s manual for information on setting up its address. This is usually accomplished by setting DIP switches on the device.
channel number should be set to the MIDI control number that will control the light. If the light device uses MIDI program changes for control, then the channel number is unimportant. A short designation for the light device may be entered in the name box. This is there for information purposes only so that the 32 channels of lights may be differentiated from one another. When all of your channels are configured, the configuration can be saved by selecting Save Configuration from the Lights menu.
Saved configurations may be opened by choosing Open Configuration from the Lights menu. The most often used configuration should also be set to be the default configuration, that is, the one that opens automatically when you enter the lightshow editor. See Chapter 20 for details on saving user preferences. Making a Light Scene The 32 lower sliders are used to select the values to send to the light devices.
The first item in each slider’s list is “Previous”. Using this setting for a light scene causes this light to merely keep on doing what it was previously doing in the last light scene displayed. Using this setting, a scene could be added where only one light does something and all of the other lights are set to “Previous”. This would allow this scene to be inserted into a lightshow in various places to make the one light change without affecting other lights.
Saving a Light Scene When all channels are set, the slider states may be saved as a scene. Before saving, select a color for the marker to be used for this scene by choosing from the color menu below the Saved Scenes list. Finally, press the Plus button as shown below: A dialog box will appear to enter a name for the scene. After saving, the scene will appear in the scene listing. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Opening a Light Scene A saved scene may be opened to the slider controls for viewing and/or editing by simply double-clicking on the scene name on the Saved Scenes list or by selecting Open Scene from the Action button’s menu under the Saved Scenes list.
Deleting a Light Scene Scenes may be deleted from the scene listing by selecting the scene in the listing and clicking the Delete Scene button as shown below. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Adding a Scene to a Lightshow To make a lightshow, scenes are added to the timecode listing. To do this: 1. Move the playback position to where the scene is to be placed by clicking in the waveform display. Use zoom button if necessary to get accurate placement.
2. Select a scene from the Saved Scenes list by clicking on it 3. Press the Plus button under the timecode list Alternatively, the scene may be dragged from the scene listing and dropped in the timecode listing. To do this, click on the scene and hold the mouse button down. Then drag the mouse pointer to the timecode listing and release the mouse. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Once a scene is placed in the timecode, a new marker is added to represent the scene’s placement on the event track. Another way to put a selected scene into the timecode list is to simply press the Enter or Return key. Yet another way to put a scene into the timecode list is to drag the scene from the Saved Scenes list and drop it onto the event track. When dragging the scene over the event track, a black line appears in the waveform display to give a visual reference of where the scene will be placed.
dragging, a black guideline appears in the waveform display to aid with the positioning. The timecode may be edited by clicking in a cell in the timecode column. This is useful for fine adjustment of the scene’s playback time. Remember that the format entered must be valid timecode format or else it will be rejected. Timecode format is in the form XX:XX:XX:XXX where the X’s are numbers.
Deleting a Scene from a Lightshow To delete a scene from a lightshow, first select the scene to be deleted from the timecode listing then press the delete key. Alternative, select Delete from the Timecode list’s Action button menu as shown below: Previewing a Lightshow To preview a lightshow, press the play button. The audio will play and the sliders will move to create the light scenes at the appropriate time. If the light devices are connected properly, the lights will change as well.
Making a Lightshow Using Chases Making lightshows using chase sequences is a fast way of making lightshows that appear to react to the beat of the audio. This entails creating an “ordering” of light scenes to define a “chase” sequence. The chase sequence has no time associated with it; it is merely an ordered list of light scenes. Once the chase sequence is defined, the audio can be played back, and light scenes are inserted into the timecode list by tapping the spacebar to the beat of the music.
All of the saved light scenes from the light Scene Library appear in a listing on the left. The right-side listing is empty and will be used to build the Chase List. Scenes can be added to the right-side Chase List by first selecting a scene on the left, and then clicking the Add button.
Alternatively, scenes may also be “dragged” from Scene Library and “dropped” to the Chase List with the mouse like this: Once a sequence of light scenes is defined on the Chase List, the chase may be saved for future recall by clicking the Save button. Saved chases may also be recalled by clicking the Open button. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
If there are mistakes in the chase sequence, a scene may be taken out of the list by selecting it, followed by a click on the Remove button. Clicking on the Clear All button will reset the entire Chase List. Clicking Done will exit the Chase Editor. Note that a chase sequence does not need to be saved to be used. Simply arranging the scenes on the list then clicking Done will suffice to put the chase in memory for use.
In the above example, a chase sequence with three scenes was used to create a simple lightshow that moves to the beat of the music. As the spacebar on the keyboard was tapped, the scenes were inserted into the timecode list. After the third scene was inserted, the next spacebar tap caused the first chase scene to be inserted once again. The Delete Chase menu option from the Lights menu removes the chase from memory.
Saving a Lightshow A lightshow may be saved by choosing Save Lightshow from the File menu. Alternatively, the Save As… menu item may be chosen from the File menu to save a copy of the lightshow as a different file name.
Opening a Lightshow A lightshow may be opened by choosing Open Lightshow from the File menu. By opening a previously saved lightshow, edits can be made and the lightshow may be re-saved. Exiting the Lightshow Editor When finished in the Lightshow Editor, simply close the window. This can be done on a Macintosh computer by clicking the red dot in the title bar. On Windows Computers, to exit out of the Lightshow Editor, click the red close box as shown: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Adding a Lightshow to a Playlist The lightshow now needs to be added to the selected playlist item. This is done by first selecting the playlist item to receive a lightshow, and then selecting Add Light Sequence… from the Action button’s menu at the bottom of the playlist. A dialog will appear prompting for the lightshow to be added.
Adding an Ending Light Scene An “ending light scene” may be added to each playlist item. An ending scene is simply a light scene from the scene library that gets sent whenever a song ends. This could be useful to bring up the lights at the end of a song, for example. To add an ending light scene, double-click a playlist item to open the Information Window. The Events tab shows what ending light scene will be sent. Click Change to change it or click Remove to remove an existing scene.
Light Scene Tips When making a light scene, never change more lights than are necessary from the value “Previous”. This will allow the scene to be inserted in other places in the show without changing the other lights as well. Consider carefully how lighting will behave at the beginning and end of each song. If the next song on the playlist does not have a lightshow, you will have to end your current lightshow in such a way so as to keep "appropriate" lighting in place through the song without a lightshow.
you can be assured that the previous song's lightshow will not still be in effect. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
178 Example Lighting Setups Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
17 Example Lighting Setups Introduction The light setups that are possible are limited only by ones imagination and budget. The following examples show some minimalist setups for those who want a quick show assembly and disassembly or are on a tight budget, and also some advanced setups for those who wish to give maximum impact to their show. The Setup/Tear-Down Minimalist Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
This setup consists of: • 1 T-type Light Stand • 2 DMX512 Color Changing Lights • 1 Small DMX512 Controlled Fog Machine The intent of this light setup is to make equipment setup and tear-down as quick as possible, while still yielding a high-impact visual show. The two color changing lights allow for a multitude of different light scenes to be produced, as each light may, depending on the exact model of the lights chosen, have 16 or more possible colors.
The Budget Setup This setup consists of: •1 •4 •1 •1 •4 T-type Light Stand Par 38 Lights Six-Channel DMX512 Relay Switch Box Fog Machine Color Gels Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The purpose of this setup is to create a light show without spending a great deal of money. To accomplish this, non-DMX512 lights are used. Standard par 38 lighting is used in conjunction with a relay box to turn the lights on and off when appropriate. The color gels can be chosen so that each of the lights has its own color, or so that two lights have one color and two have another. The second method is probably the better, as it would give greater color fill at the expense of versatility.
The Dimmer Setup This setup consists of: •2 •8 •2 •1 •8 T-type Light Stands Par 38 Lights Four-Channel DMX512 Dimmer Packs DMX512 Fog Machine Color Gels Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
This setup allows for the light brightness to be controlled, as well as some scene switching. Note that the lights used are inexpensive non-DMX512 lights.
An Advanced Setup Example This setup consists of: •1 •8 •2 •1 •1 •4 •2 Truss Beam Light Stand DMX512 Color Changing Lights DMX512 Gobo Projector Lights DMX512 Effect Light Four-Channel DMX512 Relay Switch Box Non-DMX512 Moonflower Effect Lights DMX512 Fog Machines Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
This setup squeezes a lot of capability out of 21 of the DMX512 channels of Solo Performer Show Controller as an example of how to run big lightshows with only 32 channels! In fact, in this example, we still have eleven of the light channels still available to use for other things! Notice how the channel sharing is done. The eight color changers have their addresses shared so that they are divided into four pairs. Each group of two has its own set of addresses.
A three-channel DMX effect light was chosen, so three channels will be allocated to this light. Finally, the fog machines share four common addresses so that when a fog command is given, more fog is spread out over the stage by virtue of two fog machines working in synchronization. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
188 Hotkeys Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
Hotkeys 18 Introduction Hotkeys are simulated key presses that can be sent to other running programs in order to control them from Solo Performer Show Controller. Hotkeys are sometimes referred to as keyboard shortcuts. Often, hotkeys are keys that use a modifier, such as control, alt (on Windows), or command (on Macintosh) in addition to the main key.
The hotkey event editor will now open and will look like this: The song that was selected in the playlist is now available for playback, and when it plays, its lyrics, if any have been defined, will show in the black rectangular lyric display area. To the bottom right of the window is a listing of all previously saved hotkey events. Above this list is a listing of the hotkey sequence that will be built. Immediately under the lyrics display is the waveform display and the event track.
events by doing such things as saving and deleting them, and placing them in the sequence listing. Creating a Hotkey Event To begin creating a hotkey event, first enter the keys that are to be sent in the Hotkey Event to Send box. To include special non-printable keys, simply type the key name enclosed in greater-than and less-than signs .
In addition, the command may be used to pause the sending of keys for .1 seconds. As an example, on Windows, to tell Notepad to make a new document and type the letters “ABC” in it, you would use the following hotkey event: nABC The n portion is Notepad’s keyboard shortcut for making a new document. The portion helps to ensure that the new window is open and available before sending the “ABC” keys.
In Windows, it is particularly important to be able to specify which window is to receive the hotkey because in Windows, document windows often have their own menus. Therefore, on the Windows version of Solo Performer Show Controller, an edit field is provided in which the name of the receiving window may be optionally included. To make Solo Performer Show Controller be the frontmost window again, after sending the hotkey event, make sure that the check box in the lower left corner is checked.
To save the hotkey event, press the Plus button located under the Saved Hotkeys list. You will be prompted for a filename for the hotkey event. After saving, the hotkey will appear in the Saved Hotkeys listing.
To delete a hotkey event, first select the hotkey event to be deleted from the listing by clicking on it so that it highlighted. Then, select Delete from the Action button’s menu located under the Saved Hotkey list. Note that this will permanently delete the hotkey event file from your hard disk, so use this with caution. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Creating Hotkey Event Sequences To arrange hotkey events into hotkey event sequences for use on playlists, follow the following steps: 1. Move the song position indicator approximately to where the event is to occur in the song by clicking in the waveform display. Playing back the song a few times helps to get the position figured out. Use the waveform display and the lyric display as a guide. Use the Zoom button if necessary.
timecode listing. The name of the hotkey event will now appear in the hotkey sequence listing. Alternatively, hotkey events may be dragged and dropped from the Saved Hotkeys list to the timecode list or straight to the Event Track. Users will find the drag and drop method to be quicker. 3. Move the song position indicator to a place before the newly inserted event. Play the song and the hotkey event will stream along with the playback.
two X’s are the hour, followed by minutes, seconds, and finally milliseconds. Don’t forget to use colons as separators. Invalid timecodes will not be accepted to the sequence listing. 4. Repeat steps 1 through 3 as necessary to build up a listing of hotkey events that make up a sequence. 5. Hotkey events can be removed from the sequence by selecting the row on the sequence list by clicking it so that it is highlighted, then hit the Delete key on the keyboard.
6. Save the hotkey event sequence by choosing Save Hotkey Sequence from the File menu. You will be prompted to supply a file name and the file will be saved in the directory indicated in the Preferences panel. Most users simply choose the default location. See Chapter 20, Customizing, for more information on setting default file locations. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
7. Saved hotkey event sequences may be opened by choosing Open Hotkey Sequence from the File menu. This allows previously saved sequences to be edited. Exiting the Hotkey Event Editor When finished in the Hotkey Editor, simply close the window. This can be done on a Macintosh computer by clicking the red dot in the title bar.
On Windows Computers, to exit out of the Lightshow Editor, click the red close box as shown: Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
Adding Hotkey Event Sequences to a Playlist Every Item in the playlist may have a hotkey event sequence associated with it. To add a hotkey event sequence to a playlist item, first select the playlist item by clicking on it so that it is highlighted, and then select Add Hotkey Sequence… from the Action button menu under the playlist. Alternatively, the Add Hotkey Events menu item on the Hotkeys menu performs the same action.
When a song on the playlist is played, and it has a hotkey event sequence associated with it, the hotkey events will stream, using the timing of the song as a guide. Removing Hotkey Event Sequences from a Playlist Hotkey event sequences may be removed from playlist items by first selecting the playlist item by clicking on it so that it is highlighted, and then select Delete Hotkey Sequence… from the Action button menu under the playlist.
Ending Hotkey Events An “ending hotkey event” may be added to each playlist item. An ending event is simply a hotkey event from the hotkey event library that gets sent whenever a song ends. This could be useful to trigger another program after the end of a song, for example. Another example would be to automatically make the lyrics display go from full screen to normal at the completion of a song. To add an ending hotkey event, double-click a playlist item to open the Information window.
Running a Show 19 The Audio Transport The audio transport is a series of five buttons that are used to control the playback of the show. The buttons, from left to right are Rewind All, Rewind, Play, Stop, and Fast Forward.
Setting Up the View When performing live onstage, it may be desirable to arrange the Playlist Editor view a bit differently than the standard view that is used for editing playlists. For example, the horizontal splitter bar can be clicked in order to hide all of the setup buttons at the bottom of the window. This will give more room to display more playlist rows. The Clock Window One important task for all performers is the management of time.
The Next Song Window A window may be opened that displays the next song to be played in large type so that it can be seen from across the stage. To the right of the displayed song title is the ending icon of the currently playing song so that you can clearly see what will happen when the song ends. Like the clock window, this window may be resized and repositioned anywhere on the screen. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The Foot Controller The six-button foot controller is used as an alternative to the software controls to control the Solo Performer Show Controller software while performing live.
The Foot Controller Button Status Window A window may be opened to show the status of the foot controller buttons. This window shows what the current functions of the foot controller are. This is particularly important when defining new behaviors for the buttons. Clicking on the icons on the Foot Controller Button Status Window will perform the foot controller function.
selected playlist item or, if no row is selected, from the beginning of the playlist. Stopping a Show Pressing the Play/Stop button on the foot controller or pressing the Stop button in the software or pressing the space bar on the keyboard will stop the playback of a running show. Controlling the Playlist The playlist row selection may be changed by pressing the Playlist button on the foot controller. By pressing this button, the playlist will go to the next row.
song selection may be changed while the show is running. Changing the Volume The volume of a playlist item may be adjusted while the show is playing either by moving the volume slider in the software or by pressing one of the two volume buttons on the foot controller. Two buttons are provided: one to decrease the volume and one to increase the volume. To change the volume by the volume slider in the software, first click on the volume button under the playlist and a volume adjustment slider will appear.
Changing the Computer System Volume For convenience, a slider is provided onscreen to set the overall volume of the computer system’s sound. Full Screen Lyrics The lyric display may be made to occupy the entire space below the transport header by either clicking on the lyric display area with the mouse, or by choosing Full Screen Lyrics from the Lyrics menu, or by pressing the Lyrics Window button on the foot controller.
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Secondary Lyric Display Window Lyrics may also be displayed in their own separate window. Select Lyric Window from the Lyrics menu to display the secondary lyrics window.
This secondary lyrics display window can be moved to a second monitor if desired, or even be moved to an attached projector. Fog Machine Control A DMX512 compatible fog machine may be triggered to send out fog by pressing the Fog button on the foot controller. To turn off the fog, simply press the Fog button a second time. To configure a fog machine to respond to the Fog button presses, the fog machine address and commands are set in the preferences panel. See Chapter 20 for details on setting this up.
11. 12. 13. Send MIDI Event Send Light Scene Send Hotkey Command Suppose, for example, that you don’t have a fog machine, you don’t need to display full screen lyrics, and the two volume buttons are not used because you did a good job in setting up the playback volumes of each song in the playlist ahead of time. That means that you have four buttons that you don’t really use.
when you are not performing solo and do not need backing accompaniment. To learn more about how to set up alternate button mappings, refer to Chapter 20. Reconnecting the Foot Controller If, during a show, the USB cable becomes unplugged or the connection with the host computer becomes lost somehow, reconnect the foot controller USB cable, then choose Reconnect Foot Controller from the File menu.
There is little that can ruin a live show worse than prerecorded playback of a show that does not behave as expected. To minimize the threat of such a disaster, it is highly recommended that the following be done before a show is performed before an audience: Run through the entire playlist prior to performing it. Verify that all MIDI devices are receiving MIDI commands properly by sending MIDI commands to it by using the Send button in the MIDI event editor.
Lightshows are present for every song that should have one Hotkeys are being sent for every song that has hotkey events Selecting each song and playing a few seconds of it will be enough to verify these issues. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
220 Customizing Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
Customizing 20 Opening the Preferences Panel The preferences panel may be opened by choosing Preferences… under the Show Controller menu on a Macintosh, or by choosing Preferences… under the Edit menu on a Windows computer. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The Preferences Panel is divided into six sections: General, Files & Folders, Fonts & Colors, MIDI, Tuning & Fog, and Button Mapping. Clicking on a toolbar item at the top of the window will change the contents of the Preferences Panel to give access to the settings indicated by the toolbar item. Setting the General Preferences The General preference pane is the initial view of the preferences window.
In the General preferences pane, the option to check the validity of each song added to the playlist is given. If this option is checked, each song will be checked to see if it is a valid audio file before opening it to the playlist. The down-side of having this option enabled is that it will take longer to open playlists due to this checking. For very long set lists on slower computers, it may be desirable to have this option turned off. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The time-remaining indicator can also be enabled or disabled in this preference pane. Disabling the timeremaining may be desirable if, for example, the software is being used in a situation where a fixed set list is not being followed. The third option in the Playlist group allows for event sequences to automatically load to the playlist when a song is added, provided that the event sequence is named the same as the song. For example, if this option is checked, and the song “Crazy Alien.
beginning of the scrolling. If the Final Pause Duration set to a different number, the speed will change as the scrolling progresses. The Acceleration setting regulates how fast the “ramp-up” to the final speed is achieved. The Displayed Columns in Playlist buttons allow the customization of the playlist. If the slide buttons are moved to the right, the item indicated next to the button will be shown on the playlist. Note that the first two items, Row Number and Song Title must always be shown.
The MIDI events folder is the default location for saving and opening MIDI events. It is also the place where Solo Performer Show Controller looks for MIDI events to set up the event listing in the MIDI event editor screen. Only those MIDI event files that are in the folder indicated in this preference item will show up in the MIDI editor events list. Similarly, the MIDI sequences folder is the default location for saving and opening MIDI event sequences.
The Device folder and Scene folder are the places that Solo Performer Show Controller looks in for setting up the Lightshow Editor window. The Device folder should be set to where your light device files are located. If this is not set up correctly, there will be no light devices showing up in the device menus of the Lightshow Editor window. Similarly, the Scene folder should be the set to the folder containing the light scene files that you wish to use in the Lightshow Editor.
Setting Default Configuration File The default configuration file may be set in the Files & Folders preferences settings. This file contains the information about how the light devices are set up in the lightshow editor window and what addresses are assigned to the 32 channels of light control during the run of a show. By choosing a default configuration file, these settings will be the ones that will be set automatically every time Solo Performer Show Controller starts up.
Font And Color Settings Various colors used in Solo Performer Show Controller may be set up in this tab of the Preferences window. Most notably, the lyric display background and default text color can be set here. If you prefer to use black text on a white background, you can set that up right here. Colors may be changed by clicking on the color square next to the text description. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
After clicking one of the color squares, a color picker window will open up allowing a new color to be chosen. The size of the text on the playlist may be set with the Play List Font Settings. Additionally, you may choose to put all song names in italics if they do not have lyrics entered for them. This may aid in setup by alerting you as to what songs still need to be completed.
The default text font used to display lyrics may be changed by selecting a font in the pop-up menu. The font size of the lyrics display may be changed by selecting a size in the pop-up menu. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
A scale factor may be chosen for the lyrics display when Full Screen is chosen from the Lyrics menu. The default settings for Button View can be set here as well. The default color, size, and column layout can all be chosen here. These settings are how Button View will look when opened for the first time for a playlist. If changes are made, the changes will take precedence and will be saved with the playlist.
MIDI Settings The MIDI file playback options may be set by clicking on the MIDI toolbar item in the Preferences window. By clicking on the arrow next to the label MIDI Playback Device, the destination for MIDI files may be set. Note that the first item on the list is QuickTime Audio on Mac OS X and Microsoft GS WaveTable SW Synth on Windows computer systems. With this option selected, the MIDI file will be rendered to audio by the computer and will be played back much like an audio file.
chosen device and no audio will be played on the computer. The Reset Channels Before Each Song Play option sends reset commands to all of the controllers on each channel to ensure that the playing will start from a fresh start. By checking the Send MIDI Pre-Events check-box, all non-note MIDI events in the MIDI file, such as tempo changes, program changes, and control messages, that occur before the playback position of the MIDI file will be sent before the MIDI notes are sent.
MIDI unit displays. This is a bit of a confusing concept, but typically this option is set. Under the MIDI Light Control Options group box, a MIDI device and channel number may be set to receive lighting command changes. If using MIDI lighting, set up these two parameters to correspond with the lighting device. Tuning Settings The tuning settings may be set by clicking on the Tuning & Fog toolbar item in the Preferences window. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The tuning note playback instrument may be changed by choosing a different instrument from the Tuner Instrument pop-up menu. The pitch of the note that is played back for tuning may be changed by choosing a different note from the Tuner Pitch pop-up menu.
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Fog Machine Settings The fog machine settings can be changed by clicking on the Tuning & Fog toolbar item of the Preferences window. The first setting, Fog Machine Action Address, is where the DMX512 address of the on/off action of the fog machine is set. It is this address that is changed during the show to start and stop the flow of fog. The Fog On Value setting is the value that is sent to the fog machine action address to turn the fog on.
Now suppose that we want to control these four items using addresses 24 through 27 with Solo Performer Show Controller to put out fog whenever the fog button is pressed. The first step is to set the DIP switches on the fog machine to address 24. We will control the fog machine’s flow of fog by using the volume channel, which by setting the DIP switches, is now address 27. When the volume channel’s data value is set to zero, there is no fog and when it is set to 255, there is maximum fog output.
Alternatively, since this fog machine is capable of putting out fog on a time schedule, we could have set address 24 to 128 to enable the timer. Then, to put out fog every two minutes, set the interval address, 25, to 128. When the fog machine does release a burst of fog, by setting address 26, the duration channel, to 85, we will get a 10 second burst of fog.
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Button Mapping Settings The function performed by each of the foot controller buttons can be changed by the settings provided on the Button Mapping toolbar item. Each of the six buttons can be set to perform one of thirteen actions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
9. 10. 11. 12. 13. Fog On Fog Off Send MIDI Event Send Light Scene Send Hotkey Command Each button has two states. When a button is pressed the first time, Action 1 will occur. Pressing the button again will cause Action 2 to happen. A third press repeats the cycle by sending Action 1. If no toggling is wanted for a button, simply use the same setting for both Action 1 and Action 2. To choose an action for a button, simply click on the button next to the action desired.
244 Glossary Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
Glossary 21 Address The communication designation given to a DMX512 device. A DMX512 device has one or more addresses that are usually settable by changing DIP switches. The DMX512 device then “listens” for commands sent through the control line, and responds to commands sent to its addresses. AIFF Audio Interchange File Format. AIFF is a file format for computer audio files. Files saved in this format usually have filenames that end in “.aif” or “.aiff”. Channel A communication link to a DMX512 device.
Dimmer Pack A light intensity controller. They come in several varieties. DMX512 controllable dimmer packs may be used with Solo Performer Show Controller. DMX512 A lighting industry standard for light control that was published by the U.S. Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT). In this light control method, the control cables for lights are wired by daisy-chaining them together. Each light has a separate address and responds only to commands sent to that address over the control line.
gobos have colored glass to fill in the cutouts. The bat signal from Batman was very likely a gobo! Hotkey Sometimes referred to as a keyboard shortcut; a hotkey is a key sequence that is typed that performs an action in a program. Most hotkeys are listed in the pull-down menus of most programs. Usually hotkeys have a modifier key with them such as “control”, “alt” (in Windows), or “command” (in Macintosh). Hotkey Event A series of keys to send to another running application.
MIDI Control Message A command sent to a MIDI device to change a setting. For example, a reverb effect unit might have six different settings to affect how the reverb sounds. A control message could be sent to change one of them. Control messages have two parts to them: the control number and the value that the control is to receive. Control messages are often abbreviated as CC numbers in MIDI device manuals. MIDI Event A collection of up to six MIDI program changes or control messages.
MIDI Program Change A command that is sent to a MIDI device to change its preset, also called program, to a different number. MP3 A compressed audio file format. An MP3 file may be compressed (or “encoded”) in many ways. Solo Performer Show Controller works with all mp3 formats supported by your installed version of QuickTime. MP3 filenames typically end with “.mp3” or “.mpeg” Playlist A sequence of audio files with attached lightshows and lyrics.
XLR Connector A three-pin connector that is used to connect DMX512 devices. Note that the DMX512 standard calls for using 5-pin connectors. In practice, only three pins are commonly used, and just about all lighting device manufacturers have switched to three-pin connectors. The foot controller used in the Solo Performer Show Controller uses a three-pin arrangement that is of the most common configuration and wiring.
Frequently Asked Questions 22 The software is not seeing my foot controller. What should I look for? If you’ve installed the software from a web-site download, and not from the CD, the problem is most likely that the foot controller driver is not installed. The driver is not included in the download installer; it is only on the CD. Put the CD in and follow the instructions in the installation Chapters 5 and 6 to install the driver.
output volume to make sure that the sound is not turned off. Verify that QuickTime is installed. If using Windows, a re-installation of QuickTime may help. Can I use Solo Performer Show Controller to control other software programs? Yes! This can be done through the use of hotkeys. Hotkeys have been used successfully to control video programs, slideshows, and PowerPoint presentations, for example. See Chapter 18 for details. I have a DMX512 compatible light, but I do not know its DMX Description Table.
and DMX value 20 would have a description of “20”. Save this device and go to the lightshow editor screen. Set the device on one of your channels to be your newly created device. Attach your light fixture and make sure its address matches the address on Solo Performer Show Controller’s channel. Now move the slider and record what the light does for each number.
Audio files can be played directly from a compact disc on the Macintosh version of Solo Performer Show Controller. On Macintosh systems, CD audio files show up as .aiff files. In Windows operating systems, things are a bit different. CD audio contents show up as .cda files that are not audio files at all, but are only very small “information” files. In Windows operating systems, CD audio is not currently supported directly in QuickTime, thus Solo Performer Show Controller cannot read CD audio directly.
choose what instrument will be used for each track in the song. I have an expensive high-quality MIDI sound module. How can I use it with Solo Performer Show Controller? One of two things can be done. The sound module could be attached to the MIDI system of your computer, and you can setup Solo Performer Show Controller to play MIDI files to it by selecting the sound module as the MIDI file destination in the MIDI preferences.
How do I make my lights change in time with the music? There are a couple of ways to do this. The easiest way is to active a “sound activated” setting on your lights, if your lights have this feature. This can be done by sending a DMX512 command to the lights. See your lights’ DMX512 description table to see if your lights support this. Another way is to use a DMX512 controllable chase controller. Another way is to program the lights scene by scene in the lightshow editor.
I saved a light scene from the lightshow editor window, but it does not show up in my scene list? How can I make it appear? Only those scenes that are in your scene library folder will show up in the menu, and then only if their filename ends with “.scn”. You many change the location of the scene library folder in the preferences pane. See Chapter 20. My fog machine does not initialize correctly.
258 Getting Help Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
Getting Help 23 The Users Manual If you run into problems with the Solo Performer Show Controller system, we first encourage you to read the user’s guide section or help section that covers your area of concern. Also, the Common Problems page contains many answers to common problems. Online Help From within the Solo Performer Show Controller software, choosing Show Controller Help under the Help menu brings up the online help system. Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
The online help may be browsed by clicking on topics to the left, or may be searched by entering keywords in the search box. Website Users Forum A users forum is available online at: http://www.alienapparatus.com/forum Here, messages may be posted and searched through to find answers to questions that have been posted in the past. Customer Support Customer support is available by sending an email to: support@alienapparatus.com Customer support is also available by telephone at: 888-533-6012.
DMX512 Lighting Introduction A1 DMX512 Background DMX512 is a standard of lighting control that was developed by the US Institute of Theater Technology (USITT). This standard was originally developed to control light dimmers, but is currently being used to control just about every aspect of lighting, from color changes, to light motion, to fog machines, and even lasers.
generally very complicated and expensive, and beyond the scope of solo act lighting. When the address of the light is set by DIP switches, the first address of the light is being set and the other addresses of the same light will be offset from the first. For example, if a light has three addresses and the DIP switches are set to address 15, the light will be using addresses 15, 16, and 17. When a command is sent to its address, the light will respond to that command.
make a “Y” cable, as the signal levels will not be correct and the reliability of the lights will be compromised. Lights on the DMX512 signal chain can be different types and from different manufactures, so long as they are DMX512 compliant. Additionally, the order of light addresses on the signal chain is unimportant. For example, a light fixture that is set to address 1 could be placed at the beginning, middle, or end of the signal chain. No special ordering of addresses is necessary.
several channels of control would then require several “Light Device” files to control all of the channels – one Light Device file for each channel. Reduced DMX Modes To maximize the amount of lights that may be controlled with Solo Performer Show Controller, it may be worthwhile to consider the use of “reduced DMX” modes that are available on some light fixtures. Reduced DMX modes, on lights that support this, are usually enabled by a DIP switch setting on the light fixture.
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272 Declaration of Conformity Solo Performer Show Controller User’s Guide
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