Which Software

[dbuckley]

Interesting, Rambo posted an identical question onto Lab, which I responded to there.

 

I recommended a product called PCStage, and I'd recommend here that anyone using anything for theatre sound playback (including all the products mentioned above) have a serious look at PCStage.

 

http://srforums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/t/6529/0

[noiseboy909]

If you can afford it, get hold of SFX pro audio from stage research. It'll give you unlimited wav playback and midi control with up to 16 channel output depending on your soundcard. Talk to Gary Giles @ cue one for a complete system to hire. The other system I used to use was G-type from Autograph but this is only a midi control system so you'll need an Akai S5000 to go with the PC.

[dbuckley]

If you can afford it, get hold of SFX pro audio from stage research.

 

But only buy it if you can find something you need to do that SFX can do and PCStage cant. Otherwise, thats several hundred dollars you've saved.

 

I used to recommend SFX to the well-heeled, and SCS to the less well heeled, but all that has changed now.

[noiseboy909]

Alright, I stand corrected. PC Stage does pretty much everything SFX does. I've not used it in anger yet so can't comment on how it fairs with directors breathing down my neck but by just having a little play with it, it seems cool.

My only thing with it would be that it's a little long winded if your playing multiple wav's to multiple outputs as you need to be quite cleaver with how you route things, and I couldn't assign a Q to hotkeys, (good for back up gun fire if the real one doesn't go off) But in all, if you've gotta pay for it, and the show isn't too complicated then go with PC Show. If your company has the money and your running 16 outputs and multiple Q lists in your show, I'd still stick to SFX.

Rich.

[dbuckley]

..I couldn't assign a Q to hotkeys

 

Assuming these are FX you only use for failure - stick 'em in a separate cuelist, and then use Production/Triggers... to make a key trigger a cue transition, eg FadeCue GUN SFXOOPS, assuming a cue named GUN in Desk SFXOOPS. For this kind of thing I tend to have a "resting" cue at the top, make the named cue do what its supposed to on the pre-event, and have the "next" flag ticked (same as SFX AutoFollow), and have the folowing cue issue a Desk command to FadeCue stright back to "resting", so the gun is ready to go again immediatly.

 

Its also handy if all the fadetimes are set to zero, which is easily done by first setting the resting cue, zeroing its timers, and clicking the button that makes it the desk default.

 

This technique alows you to build an "instant replay" type thing, if thats what you need. You can also have buttons casuiong playback to stop, or to pan or change level.

 

Like many of these sorts of things, its actually a lot quicker to do than explain...

 

There are other, probably better ways, for example having multiple resting states, a state appropriate for each possible missed cue, and use desk commands to keep the SFXOOPS cuelist in the right resting state as you move through the show. Then you can just have one key for the emergency effect (assuming that only one effect is going to be missed at once, but obvciously you can have more keys if necessary), with the key set up as FadeCue Next SFXOOPS. Advantage is just one key to find in a hurry :-)

 

Or you could do it with cuefilters.

 

Lots of ways to skin this particular pussy.

 

Theres a suggestion in your comment that SFX may have an advantage with multiple cuelists: best as I can remember, there is no real difference between the way the two products handle multiple cue lists (other than PCStage calling them "desks"), and they both support the same sort of inter-cuelist malarky that makes having multiple cuelists worthwhile.

 

As for directors, when you've got command over all aspects of a shows technical presentation, jumping around the show at rehersal becomes trivial and seamless (ie you run your lights from PCStage as well as sound and FX), and I can tell you, directors do like that :-)

 

Try the product in anger. When it doesnt do something, complain on the mailing list, and we'll all benefit from the new feature :-)))