Avid (Digidesign) VENUE SC48 with Qlab

[thomasfedb]

Hi All,

My theater company has booked into a venue that has a VENUE SC48 desk. We like to use Qlab to run all our audio, video, and (in this case) lights via midi.

Out plan is to run all technical aspects of they show (bar flies), including 4 projects and a live feed camera from Qlab.

I have to queries you may be able to help me with:

1) Can "Snapshots" be triggered by MSC signals? Or only MTC?

2) Can the firewire interface (advertised as compatible with protools LE) be used directly from Qlab, or should be get a ProFire 2626?

3) What video capture device should I use to allow our camera to be fed to one of the projectors? preferably this would be handled without any video mixing systems, to keep costs in control.

Also, any general tips when dealing with this new desk?

Thanks,
Thomas,
Head Tech,
Midnite Youth Theater

 

[metti]

1) Can "Snapshots" be triggered by MSC signals? Or only MTC?

Yes.

2) Can the firewire interface (advertised as compatible with protools LE) be used directly from Qlab, or should be get a ProFire 2626?

Yes. All ProTools LE interfaces can interface with QLab and most other non-PT applications if you download the correct drivers from Avid.

3) What video capture device should I use to allow our camera to be fed to one of the projectors? preferably this would be handled without any video mixing systems, to keep costs in control.

You might get more answers to this question if you post it in the Multimedia, Projection, and Show Control section but the short answer is that it depends on what kind of camera you have. If you are using QLab, it makes sense to route the live camera feed through QLab as this will mean you don't need a video mixer/switcher. Some cameras will let you connect them directly to the computer via firewire or USB. Otherwise, I would expect that it would either have an S-Video or component output. I have one of these (Amazon.com: Studio Movieboard 14 HD: Software) installed in one of my video computers and I have used it to feed Isadora live video. I don't use QLab on that computer so I'm not sure if it would work with it. What computer are you using? Whether or not you have PCI as an available interface (Mac Pro) or only FW/USB will be something to keep in mind.

I'm not sure if you have used QLab to drive three separate video outputs before, but it is relatively processor intensive. Make sure you don't assume that whatever computer you are using will be up to the task without testing before you load in. Are you using a single video output into a TripleHead2Go or are you using a Mac Pro with dual graphics cards? Just to provide a frame of reference, the computer I use for most of my projection work, which runs Isadora, has a 3.2gHz quad core processor, 8gb of ram, a 256gb SSD for applications, dual 2TB 7200RPM drives for media, and dual GTX570 1.5GB graphics cards, and I can still make it choke when I am running complicated projection sequences with more than a couple projectors (my setup technically supports up to 8 outputs). QLab is a little less demanding than Isadora but I would still want to make sure that I had a pretty powerful computer, especially since the whole show is riding on it, not just video. For most live theatre work, I would want to have a second identical computer synced to your primary in case the main one goes down since, without any redundancy, you are going to lose not just sound or video but both of those plus lighting.

 

[thomasfedb]

Hi metti,

Thanks for that.

We will be running the projection machine on a Mac Pro, the best I can convince IT to give us. I plan to use a computer with many separate outputs.

We will also be running video & sound/lighting from different computers, one in the box, and the video machine local to the projects.

I have previously used Qlab to run 2 projectors, so we'll see how 4 goes. Luckily I don't believe they will all be used at the same time, though it would be wise to make sure we can do this, as we all know what directors are like. =P

I would love to run a redundant system, however, in our case, that's just not going to happen.

A few more questions that your reply has made me think about:

1) Can "Snapshots" fade in/out? or do they only snap?

2) If the video machine is used to run 4 displays, is there a way to use all of the outputs, or do i need an extra one for Qlab, I'll be controlling the box via MIDI over Ethernet, so it will probably run headless.

3) What would be the best way to get MIDI from a Mac into the SC48? I would have thought a USB MIDI box.

Thanks,
Thomas

 

[metti]

1) Can "Snapshots" fade in/out? or do they only snap?

Yes. As with any half-decent digital board, you can set individual fade time for each cue or, I believe, global fade times that effect all of them.

2) If the video machine is used to run 4 displays, is there a way to use all of the outputs, or do i need an extra one for Qlab, I'll be controlling the box via MIDI over Ethernet, so it will probably run headless.

If you don't need to see an operator's display, then there is nothing stopping you from using all four outputs for projectors. How are you going to handle the programming process or any troubleshooting you need to do though?

3) What would be the best way to get MIDI from a Mac into the SC48? I would have thought a USB MIDI box.

That is always how I have handled things. I have audio interfaces with MIDI I/O built in but if you don't a USB-MIDI interface is pretty inexpensive. As a mostly unrelated aside, with Yamaha's digital boards you don't need to do this since they have a MIDI interface built in.

 

[thomasfedb]

Thanks for your helpful advice.

The production of this show is shaping up to be very challenging and exiting.

 

[stagecrew]

Hi. I see that you said MSC can trigger snapshots. Can you assist me on setting that up? I can only see how to do that via footswitches and GPI. I am using MIDI. Thanks!

Yes.



Yes. All ProTools LE interfaces can interface with QLab and most other non-PT applications if you download the correct drivers from Avid.



You might get more answers to this question if you post it in the Multimedia, Projection, and Show Control section but the short answer is that it depends on what kind of camera you have. If you are using QLab, it makes sense to route the live camera feed through QLab as this will mean you don't need a video mixer/switcher. Some cameras will let you connect them directly to the computer via firewire or USB. Otherwise, I would expect that it would either have an S-Video or component output. I have one of these (Amazon.com: Studio Movieboard 14 HD: Software) installed in one of my video computers and I have used it to feed Isadora live video. I don't use QLab on that computer so I'm not sure if it would work with it. What computer are you using? Whether or not you have PCI as an available interface (Mac Pro) or only FW/USB will be something to keep in mind.

I'm not sure if you have used QLab to drive three separate video outputs before, but it is relatively processor intensive. Make sure you don't assume that whatever computer you are using will be up to the task without testing before you load in. Are you using a single video output into a TripleHead2Go or are you using a Mac Pro with dual graphics cards? Just to provide a frame of reference, the computer I use for most of my projection work, which runs Isadora, has a 3.2gHz quad core processor, 8gb of ram, a 256gb SSD for applications, dual 2TB 7200RPM drives for media, and dual GTX570 1.5GB graphics cards, and I can still make it choke when I am running complicated projection sequences with more than a couple projectors (my setup technically supports up to 8 outputs). QLab is a little less demanding than Isadora but I would still want to make sure that I had a pretty powerful computer, especially since the whole show is riding on it, not just video. For most live theatre work, I would want to have a second identical computer synced to your primary in case the main one goes down since, without any redundancy, you are going to lose not just sound or video but both of those plus lighting.