Sound f/x Show Cue Systems - feedback?

[wolf825]

Hello - any one used this software live? Its from an aussie company ( I have some great software from aussie companies) called Show Cue Systems...http://www.showcuesystems.com/cms/ I have messed around with the demo and like it but and like that it also does video. I have a new windows laptop I am adding some audio/video playback software to (already have Qlab on the macbook pro - but sometimes need a windows laptop). So--Has anyone used this in a live professional setting and any results/issues you have run into? I am tired of dealing with SFX on user brought in laptops and it crashing mid show. Any thoughts or comments?

TIA
-w

 

[MRW Lights]

We used it some at a school when doing a study of playback systems particularly for PC in comparison to QLab. What I would say is that it's not QLab... but we found it to be a pretty great solution for PC and the video integration was nice. Overall the interface felt clean, the learning curve wasn't steep and you get a lot of value out of what you put into it.

 

[jkowtko]

I used it pretty solidly several years ago for a couple of years, running on a Windows desktop PC. Conversed a lot over email with Mike Daniell -- (author) on feedback and enhancements, he implemented many of my requests, and I installed maybe a dozen versions of the product., the author of the product. Mike was great to work with and I was pretty happy with the software. I haven't used playback software for several years now, and I also switched to a Macbook in the last couple of years so haven't been keeping updated on the SCS software. But I would definitely recommend you give it a trial run.

-- John

 

[jtweigandt]

used it at 2 theaters.. pretty solid stuff. Best bang for the buck you will find.

 

[TheaterEd]

I have been using it here at the high school / community theater level for the past four or five years or so. It works great for sound, but I have found some quirks to using it for projections.

I too was sick of using media players to play songs and cd players for shows, so it works great for me and is a very solid platform. I've never gotten the program to crash (knocks on wood).
It's also very quick to get a show put together (aka assembly, talent show, pep rally, etc...) and I've been able to put completely untrained students in front of it and have them loading files and running a show in less than 15 minutes.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Techadvisor]

I have been using it for the last 3-4 years with all my shows. i found it to work very well and easy to get a show up. am currently using it for Les Mis in a high school production and have the projections working great just where they need to be. I have a student that has had no experience with tech running the program and have had no complaints.

I would recommend this to anyone that using pc to playback.

 

[seanandkate]

I too have used it for the past 6 years or so switching from SFX6. I've had SCS crash, but that was with a fair bit of video (still not entirely happy with the video integration). For stills and audio though, it's bug free. +1 for @jkowtko 's praise of Mike Daniell. His customer service is top notch. It also has some nice audio editing features so you don't have to keep going back and forth between SCS and an editing program. As said, QLab is still the gold standard, but until they make it for PC, SCS is a solid go-to.

 

[wolf825]

Awesome info - thanks to all who have replied! Will keep wary of the video aspect to try not to overload it.

 

[Robert F Jarvis]

Hello - any one used this software live? Its from an aussie company ( I have some great software from aussie companies) called Show Cue Systems...http://www.showcuesystems.com/cms/ I have messed around with the demo and like it but and like that it also does video. I have a new windows laptop I am adding some audio/video playback software to (already have Qlab on the macbook pro - but sometimes need a windows laptop). So--Has anyone used this in a live professional setting and any results/issues you have run into? I am tired of dealing with SFX on user brought in laptops and it crashing mid show. Any thoughts or comments?

TIA
-w

I used it for Music Man - to show the video scenery. We had some problems when editing but the show went off OK. I have tried a number of software DMX suites - some free -some $$. But to tell you the truth the one that has really impressed me is QCPlus. It does DMX, Audio and Video. You can make regular cue lists, put synch shows together or my favorite; put functions into shapes on a "Virtual Panel" (Like "Thunder" and "Lightning") and merely touch them when Needed (touch screen computer of course). I would recommend anyone to give it a try. Oh I forgot there is also a companion "Profile" builder program for it.

 

[joe2you]

Yep, I've used it for several years now and it's been rock solid. Beats the heck out of a couple CD players.

 

[dumaisaudio]

Our theatre used it for many years before transitioning fully to Macs and Qlab. It was fairly bug free, but I did sometimes struggle with getting audio settings correctly setup depending on the computer and sound card. Mike is very good about responding to emails and helping track down issues. If you're using PC's exclusively, then it's definitely worth a try.

 

[dbaxter]

Just curious why you switched, dumaisaudio? Was it just the changes in equipment?

 

[dumaisaudio]

Just curious why you switched, dumaisaudio? Was it just the changes in equipment?

When I first started at this theatre, they had a PC and had already purchased SCS. I became very fluent with it, and I do think it's easy to use and works well. Personally, I use Macs. Once we got a Mac Mini at the theatre, we started using Qlab because someone had a license, and I just liked it more, so we've transitioned all of our show computers to Macs and Qlab. I do think Qlab is a better product, and it's my preference if I had to choose between the two. It depends on your preferences and budget; SCS is less expensive, as are Windows PC's, so you can get into that type of playback setup for less money if that's a concern.

 

[soundtech193746]

Hello - any one used this software live? Its from an aussie company ( I have some great software from aussie companies) called Show Cue Systems...http://www.showcuesystems.com/cms/ I have messed around with the demo and like it but and like that it also does video. I have a new windows laptop I am adding some audio/video playback software to (already have Qlab on the macbook pro - but sometimes need a windows laptop). So--Has anyone used this in a live professional setting and any results/issues you have run into? I am tired of dealing with SFX on user brought in laptops and it crashing mid show. Any thoughts or comments?

TIA
-w

Since our school has an only windows environment, I faced the problem of not being able to use Qlab on our shows. (Drama departments at schools don't get much cash let alone a mac ) I searched this forum and found SCS. (Show Cue Systems). It's a great program that we incorporated in to the video, audio and lighting system. We have a USB to MIDI dongle to interface with our light system and cat 5 going to our digital mixer for multi track recording. Definitely would recommend it! 10/10!

 

[jonliles]

I've been using SCS for 8+years. Multiple versions. Works well. The only time I had video issues occurred when my laptop ran out of memory with too much other stuff running in the background. Since then, I slicked the laptop to bare bones. It only has SCS and necessary codecs to incorporate MP4's and other non-native Windows codecs.

I have the professional license. I love the 8 discrete channels of isolated audio - makes for some pretty cool and immersive effects when using it . Hooked up to a home 7.1 stereo in a 50' X 50' black box space. Granted, in a larger space I would need either a bunch of borrowed speakers or several amps for the same effect. We created a THX racetrack sound cue for a show and had it follow all the way around the room.

Ran Avenue Q, full tracks and Videos. Ran Young Frankenstein full tracks. Ran Funny...Forum full tracks. and countless shows with just sound FX.