Mac Apps Poll

Jay Ashworth

Well-Known Member
Commissioning a new Mac Mini (my first Mac since my Macbook went Tango Uniform a few years back).

Other than QLab, what Mac apps do you like for theatre and staging, hive mind? Show control, but other stuff too...

I'm running Catalina (10.15), but I may roll back a few releases; QLab 2, frex, won't run on Catalina and I have a bunch of old shows in 2 that 4.x won't read.
 
Don't look up the coast, but Monterey is out...
 
I like backwards compatibility; I suppose at some point one must move forward and not look back. Even on the Winders side things are aging out faster.
 
As a hardcore mac user, most of my Macs are running High Sierra or Mojave, even though they are all capable of running Big Sur. They still issue Security patches so no worries on that front.

In answer to Jay's question, Keyboard Maestro is one app that I just started using and see the potential. It looks super complicated (useful once you figure it out) until you find the "record" button, allowing you to create a recallable macro of your mouse and keyboard movement. Even better, the app can create a webpage so you can trigger that macro remotely on a phone or other networked computer.
 
The old forked version approach … if your systems are air gapped from the dangerous inter webs… but sooner or later your skis get so far apart that something goes riiiip in your groin (metaphorically speaking). Been there … had to do the work rebuilding / format converting a few times, usually not when I had slack time available, either…

good luck
 
Any video projection mapping work in your future? I found having a copy of madmapper on my Mac to be handy. audacity for last minute audio editing / remixing, and reaper with a stack of vst plugins for when the house system is sorely out of tune. QLab of course.

question on going back to older os revs — will you be able to run say 10.13 on an m1 based machine?
 
I'm using
- MicsBigInfo/MicsTimer/QDisplay as helper-apps for QLab.
- Simple Client from the Syphon Simple Apps-package to examin QLab's video-output.
- MIDI Monitor to examin MIDI.
- ocenaudio as replacement for Audacity, for last minutes edits or marker changes.
- AudioFinder for last minutes edits and as sample/sounds/audio database.
- FastScripts as replacement for AppleScript editor's menu item.
- Bonjeff/Discovery/Flame for zeroconfig.
And lot's of small helpers, I constantly forget or don't even need anymore.
 
In answer to Jay's question, Keyboard Maestro is one app that I just started using and see the potential. It looks super complicated (useful once you figure it out) until you find the "record" button, allowing you to create a recallable macro of your mouse and keyboard movement. Even better, the app can create a webpage so you can trigger that macro remotely on a phone or other networked computer.
That sounds like (at least a spiritual) descendant of CE QuicKeys, to me; I'll check it out. Thanks.
 
Any video projection mapping work in your future? I found having a copy of madmapper on my Mac to be handy. audacity for last minute audio editing / remixing, and reaper with a stack of vst plugins for when the house system is sorely out of tune. QLab of course.

question on going back to older os revs — will you be able to run say 10.13 on an m1 based machine?
Probably not. Apple *officially* does not give a good goddamn if they abandon small software vendors. Excuse me: *the Apple-buying customers of small software vendors*.

(Where "small" is defined as "I can't afford the labor to bring this forwards because *you* can't be bothered to maintain old APIs, Apple".)
 
I suggest wireshark as well, just to monitor network traffic.

For video work, I like Isadora. As a node based program, it takes a bit more learning to set it up than something like Qlab (some really great YouTube tutorials), but I think that it is ultimately more versatile if you are looking to have any interactivity or creative projection. I like being able to create my own control surfaces. I wish that I had a Mac to run it on as it is more powerful on Mac than PC.
 
I hadn't thought about Isadora.

We had a dance company in last year (the year before) who used that, and it worked out pretty well, but my quick glance at it at the time seemed pretty boggling; I'm apparently not as young as I used to be.

And 'shark's a great idea, yeah.
 
I hadn't thought about Isadora.

We had a dance company in last year (the year before) who used that, and it worked out pretty well, but my quick glance at it at the time seemed pretty boggling; I'm apparently not as young as I used to be.

And 'shark's a great idea, yeah.

Isadora was *written* by a dancer. He codes, too. It's a node-based program and some of the terminology he used, like "projector" for a signal output, seems a bit odd but was based on what his anticipated early users were familiar with. We tech-types can miss those things.

Isadora also works well with other programs like ZoomOSC, can be used to trigger things over WAN via Streamweaver, etc. It's a very powerful.

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Isadora was *written* by a dancer. He codes, too. It's a node-based program and some of the terminology he used, like "projector" for a signal output, seems a bit odd but was based on what his anticipated early users were familiar with. We tech-types can miss those things.

Isadora also works well with other programs like ZoomOSC, can be used to trigger things over WAN via Streamweaver, etc. It's a very powerful.

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Yes, the terminology can be a bit odd. It takes some getting used to. The blank slate of the program can be intimidating. Fortunately, there have been some improvements in quick start over the years (dragging a video clip into the programming window will automatically set up everything for it to immediately begin playback). Since its so versatile with communication protocols (MIDI, etc.), it can be used just as a control surface for other connected items even if you don't have any video to play back.
 
Probably not. Apple *officially* does not give a good goddamn if they abandon small software vendors. Excuse me: *the Apple-buying customers of small software vendors*.

(Where "small" is defined as "I can't afford the labor to bring this forwards because *you* can't be bothered to maintain old APIs, Apple".)
Not that I want to sound like a complete Mac fanboy, but the possibility of Mac os from 2017 working on an M1 mac with completely different architecture is kind of a stretch request. You can still buy any new Intel Mac if you want to run older software. Even an older mac used. Heck, my computer I'm typing on right now is running 10.13.
I understand that even Windows 11 can run on a 1Ghz celeron with 4GB of ram but come on. Shouldn't we be excited about technology advances?
 
Actually, people are finding that their two and three year old PCs won't run windows 11 because the hardware doesn't meet the requirements and they're going to have to upgrade some or all of the hardware if they want to upgrade the OS. Windows 10 just about manages on old hardware, but with (some) reduced functionality.
 
Actually, people are finding that their two and three year old PCs won't run windows 11 because the hardware doesn't meet the requirements and they're going to have to upgrade some or all of the hardware if they want to upgrade the OS. Windows 10 just about manages on old hardware, but with (some) reduced functionality.

Most of the issues are with the requirement for a TPM, which is common in laptops and business PCs but rare in home PCs. Sometimes one can be enabled with a BIOS setting. Sometimes it can be fixed by adding a $15 aftermarket part. Sometimes you’re pooched.

The bigger issue for me is Micro$oft’s insistence on a network login account. They have tried this before and it always gets pushback. Here is hoping this time around it meets a similar demise.
 
I saw a few comments on code project about other issues, too. Just like with Apple, it appears the OS won't load if your graphics card isn't up to snuff. One guy found his two year old surface (not sure of model - pro 2?) failed.

Also, surprise, surprise, seeing reports of scalpers buying up stock of aftermarket TPM chips.
 
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A must-have piece of software is Bitfocus Companion. This software lets most any device or software talk with any other piece of software! It's made for the Elgato Stream Deck to create macros for triggering multiple devices.
 

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