Show Stops

[leofric]

Hi All

 

when working with a playback system for the music on a show, what policies do you have if there is a problem with the computer.

 

The context is of a dance orientated show with a good quality multi-track recording of the show being played with propriety software on a dedicated windows based machine with another running as a hot tracking backup. My worry is that the switch over procedure is not seamless. The system has already been purchased by the production company so the option of using a more stable Mac based system is not there.

 

How do you handle it if the track stops or skips?

[paulears]

To be honest, I've not noticed glitches causing dancers major problems. If the second machine runs in, or near sync, then it's the operator response time that causes noticeable gaps. Tracks fail, they always have going back to reel to reels snapping tapes! A hot backup is the best you have. Personally I run critical computers off a UPS which so far has worked pretty well.

[david.elsbury]

I would suggest that if the PC is set up with stable software, and kept off the internet, and not cluttered up with all manner of unneeded software, then crashes should be extremely unlikely?

 

I suppose you could get them to purchase an Alesis HD24 or one of the JoeCo recorders and sync them to the PC? You could probably get a box made up that listens to an additional audio track that is kind of like a 'heartbeat' and if that track stops it switches over straight away to the backup tracks (either relays that switch the audio) or MIDI mute?

 

I suppose it's down to likelyhood isn't it? What is the likelyhood that the PC crashes? What effect does it have on the show? In the same way, what is the likelyhood that the incoming power to the venue dies? :)

 

David

[top-cat]

The system has already been purchased by the production company so the option of using a more stable Mac based system is not there.

 

 

Having owned both and used them as show computers, I'm not sure I've got any evidence of Macs being inherently more stable than PCs.

 

As David says, it's more about how you set them up. There is nothing really wrong with PCs. Plenty of media servers, sound desks and lighting desks out there are windows based and if Windows could not be trusted to make it through a show without crashing, I'm not sure that would be the case.

 

Just keep it free of junk and off the internet, uninstall the stuff you don't want to use, and run only the software you really need. Using an SSD over an HDD can also improve reliability.

[Jivemaster]

The issue that causes glitches is usually multitasking. Keep the playout PC off the internet, close the anti-malware system, and ONLY run what you need.

 

In a touring environment yes the UPS may well be a help BUT get a huge one as they usually have a run time of less than a minute if loaded to the limit.

[timmeh2]

Hi

 

Absolutely the best you can do if it's a new PC is to disable auto-update, system restore and task scheduler completely, by going into the administrative tools section and turning off the services associated with them. Then do as others have said and keep it off the net and don't install any rubbish onto it.

 

Windows isn't inherently unstable, what makes it prone to falling over is the sheer amount of crap OEM's load their systems up with. IMO HP are the biggest culprits as they insist on disabling Windows' own instrumentation and using their own. eg. HP Wireless Assistant, HP Bluetooth Assistant etc. These utilities consume far more resources that the internal ones, and run slower. It is possible to remove this and go back to using the Microsoft ones.

 

As a system builder I still use XP Embedded for the great majority of my solutions. I've built media servers where the OS will sit inside 64Mb of RAM. That's what you'd call small.

 

And the thing about Macs being crash-proof is laughable. I've seen QLab go tits plenty of times. Although again, you could say this is the fault of the software rather than the OS.

 

As for UPSes, I have an APC 1500VA job protecting the critical parts of my setup. It can power my sound desk and PC for about 30-35 minutes on a full charge. The MA's battery lasts 12 minutes, to put it into perspective.

 

All the best

Timmeh

[paulears]

I remember so well delaying the start of quite a few shows when the MD suddenly announced, hang on, MainStage has crashed!

[dbuckley]

Absolutely. The key to reliable show performance is to keep the system clean, and keep other stuff off the machine. Don't connect it to the internet. And... work the same way every time. So don't do two shows today without a shutdown if all you have done previously is single shows.

 

Having a hot backup should be only required for catastrophic situations, there isn't (or, perhaps, shouldn't be) an expectation that you will ever actually need to use it. If one is failing over to backup then there is something systemically wrong, and that needs to be fixed, before one has a real show stop.

[GridGirl]

We used to run backing tracks for musicals off Show Cue System and never had any problems; it was a dedicated machine, not connected to the internet and with nothing extraneous on it (running a stripped-back version of XP). We did have two running in tandem - we built a trigger switch which cued both at once and there was a crash box for the operator to hit so if one fell over, the flick of a switch would make the backup go live. Never had to use it!

[Oldradiohand]

I use windows on my mac as the main playback but have everything backed up on a cheap netbook (with very little other software). Macbooks are great but the PSU leads are crap, hence the backup. Same playback software on both.