hermandsen Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 Hi! I'm working for a gymnastic-group. They do jumping, dancing and all sorts of things.Now, when they're performing, I'm controlling both sound and lights. The sound part is fairly easy. We've got all their tracks in a prepared playlist, wich runs semi(almost full)-automatic.When I start the audio-playback, I also start the playback for our movingheads. Their program is currently stored in to the memories of a Fat Frog. For each track in the playlist, there are series of memory-steps for our movingheads. What we have now is two separate lists:1. Playlist with all our music.2. Lightning cues for each individual audio-track, stored in the Fat Frog. I'm looking for some kind of software that'll be able to manage an audio playlist, and playback a series of DMX-instructions associated with the played track. I'm willing to reprogram our entire show, based on a new software, if it is necessary.What I would like to end up with, is a simple playlist for audio and movingheads, and then I'd control our par64's by hand with the Fat Frog. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 If you had a Leap Frog or upwards, this would be simpler. Is that an option? If it is, you could get the SMTE/MIDI upgrade for the Frog and thus use MIDI to trigger cues from your playlist. There are various plugins for Winamp which will generate MIDI timecodes, which the Frogs will listen to. Failing that, what about using the Fat Frog to control the audio? A SandBox will allow you control Winamp on a PC from a DMX signal. Hope this helps. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny baby Posted January 30, 2005 Share Posted January 30, 2005 could you not utilise this? New Toy vince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmonk Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Show Control may work for you, if your lighting is programmed in a desk that can understand MIDI triggers properly. A peice of software by the name SAMSC ( written by Richard Bleasdale ) is something to have a look at, ( one of the influences to catalysts development ) Note it only runs on mac. Basically you build a master cuelist and it triggers all your other jizz like lighting cues, sounds cues, video, powerpants, etc... Maybe a bit too involved for your needs, but worth looking at... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermandsen Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 >>peterI really like the idea of Winamp sending midi-triggers (did I understand this correct). Actually that's just about exactly what I'm looking for! Unfortunately our budget isn't very high, so we'll have to do with our Fat Frog! :(Is it not possible to upgrade the Fat Frog?? >>vinnyI see your idea, but I don't really like having a two hour show on a CompactFlash. Also, I think I'd feel uncomfortable by not being able to actually see the playlist. >>colinmonkAgain, we (might) have a problem with the midi-triggers, and I'm not sure our budget would cover a mac. Any other ideas/workarounds? Jesper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Unfortunatly, the Fat Frog can't be fitted with the SMPTE/MIDI upgrade. It might be worth giving Zero88 a call or an email. The Sirrius desks had an option called ' ClicTrack' which would listen to the audio and when it recieved a signal between 100 and 150hz, triggered the next lighting cue. Using a multitracking program such as Cool Edit, you could easily add in a third channel to the audio, and send this down to the Frog via a jack lead. You'd need a second sound card in your machine, but these can be picked up for £20. ClicTrack isn't an option at the moment on the Fat Frog (or any of the Frog range) but if you make a suggestion at FrogSupport then they may be able to include it in a forthcoming software release (theres already an audio input so it would just be a case of implementing the software to perform the functions). What sort of timescale do you have for the project? Yes, you did understand me correctly. Most PC sound cards have a MIDI port (normally on some sort of D connector - I'm not very au-fait with MIDI) which Winamp (with plugins) can be configured to transmit a timecode down as it plays through the playlist. With this option, you'd have to set your cues on the Frog to trigger via Midi, and tell them the exact time you want them to trigger - 0:00:00 being the very start of the playlist, and incrementing throughout the show. This does cause problems if you need to re-order the show. Another option might be to download (or if it doesnt exist, ask your local friendly software engineer to have a go at) a remote trigger plugin for Winamp. The Frog range have an 8pin DIN socket on the rear of the unit which can be used to trigger cues. With some simple software coding, you could utilise the RS232 port on the back of your PC (serial) to trigger a +10v on the correct pins of an 8pin Din to give a 'remote go'. Incidentally, with both of these Plugin options you might have problems activating cues during the middle of a track. A solution would be to edit the track into several seperate audio files, and stack them together in the playlist. This would then allow you to send a +10v at any point in the song (where a new track starts). HTH Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olie Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Buy an Azure it does all you need and more. With an Azure you could either trigger the lights from the Midi or you can cue the audio from the desk using Winamp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermandsen Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 >>peterThe idea with the remote-switch sounds like a much better idea to me. Our show is changing for almost every performance, so the midi-idea might not be that good anyways. All our programs for the show has a "Playback start"-cue, and then the following has an auto trigger, so running the next memory in the middle of a track is not a problem! I've just written to Zero88 (hadn't seen your update on the post), so I'll wait to see if they've got any ideas. We don't really have a deadline, but ASAP would be great!! Now all I need is a crash course in Winamp-programming!! :) >>OlieUnfortunately we don't have 6000€ for this project. Jesper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmath Posted January 31, 2005 Share Posted January 31, 2005 Using win-amp, sandnet and Hog PC you could build a very nice solution! there may be another PC lighting controller that works but I'm not aware of any... Build a cuelist for each song in Hog PC, in the first cue you have a track, choose and play for winamp (sandnet will trigger this using DMX). then you time your subsequent cues using 'learn time' on the Hog and hey presto a fully automated solution... It may be beyond your budget but it's guaranteed to work! Regards Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hermandsen Posted January 31, 2005 Author Share Posted January 31, 2005 Let's just say that I'm not without interest!! :)My boss said that he would be willing to pay a little extra cash (about €1500 so far), so if we save this now, I'll build the analog trigger-control for Winamp, and then maybe your idea will be our choice for the future!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalmatthew Posted February 1, 2005 Share Posted February 1, 2005 I'm sure I remember reading that the fat frog could be upgraded with the midi kit, but the wasn't any space on the back panel. So it may be possible with a drill and saw ;). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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