John In Brum Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Hi I have suggested that in our theatre they use SCS (currently sound only) to trigger the lighting desk via relays. This would probably only be for small shows, or where specific cues need to be synched. I have found this USB relay board and am wondering;-A Will it work with SCS?B Any other options that people have tried?C Any tips before I find myself flat on my face if it goes pear shaped?? :( N.B. Cost is critical as we are an amateur theatre.All comment welcome. TIA John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shez Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 What lighting desk are you using? Could you use MIDI? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Which lighting desk are you using? Does it support midi show contro l(MSC)?We use SCS to trigger our lighting desk (currently an Ion, but previously a strand 300) via midi show control. Midi adapter for the PC is cheap enough, and midi cables are too. Doesn't require any relays, and means you can run cues out of order if you need to. We've also used MSC to directly set the level of a submaster without having to run a cue, and MSC an also fire macroes if need be. In point of fact we can run it either way, the lighting desk can trigger SCS via midi and SCS can trigger the desk. It depends on the show which way works best, and on some shows we've used both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patrick_keys Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Hi I have suggested that in our theatre they use SCS (currently sound only) to trigger the lighting desk via relays. This would probably only be for small shows, or where specific cues need to be synched. I have found this USB relay board and am wondering;-A Will it work with SCS?B Any other options that people have tried?C Any tips before I find myself flat on my face if it goes pear shaped?? :( N.B. Cost is critical as we are an amateur theatre.All comment welcome. TIA John Which lighting board are you using? It's been a while since I've used SCS, but I would suggest that you're approaching this backwards - it would be better to use the lighting board to trigger cues in SCS. The latest version appears to support trigger via DMX (although you'd need a compatible DMX dongle for this), and also MIDI. I can't see any options to have SCS set outputs specifically, but others may know more. Depending on your technical prowess, there are many other ways to solve this problem - am happy to have a conversation via private messages if you need some more ideas... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 SCS can send non specific data strings directly to the network as telnet, or to a serial port, which is how the product the OP linked to appears in the system and is addressed, but as Shez says, if the board supports it, sending MIDI is going to be a lot less hassle. EDIT to Add: Adding a midi port to the PC needn't be expensive - this from Thomann may well be all that is needed. I'm assuming that the intention is to allow the SCS operator to trigger "next" or "goto cue" on the lighting desk remotely? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John In Brum Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Wow great responses... Thanks SCS can send non specific data strings directly to the network as telnet, or to a serial port, which is how the product the OP linked to appears in the system and is addressed, but as Shez says, if the board supports it, sending MIDI is going to be a lot less hassle. Adding a midi port to the PC needn't be expensive - this from Thomann may well be all that is needed. Unfortunately the lighting desk is WAY pre-MIDI! :(It has been modified (before my time) to bring out the cue step button to an external connection.Did I mention we were skint?? http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif If I understand you correctly then you are saying it will work (Good)But is not very elegant (Understood, but better than nowt) I am really trying to get them to move forward, and small steps are only option at first. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Assuming the licence level of your copy of SCS allows you to send serial data (the capabilities vary by licence - you'll need professional, pro-plus or platinum to send RS232 control cues), I don't see why it shouldn't work. If you have no alternative but to mimic the next key by closing a relay, then it's as elegant a solution as you're likely to get. I guess you'd have a pair of cues for each "next" - one which sends the code to the serial port to close the relay, and another auto follow on which sends the code to reopen it a few tens of millisends (or maybe a tenth of a second) later. You might like to have the second pair of contacts wired to the stop/back key (if you have one) and have the control cue to operate that on a single key in SCS so if you accidentally jump a cue you can hit the panic key to make it stop or go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart91 Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Unfortunately the lighting desk is WAY pre-MIDI! :( MIDI is older than you think… ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John In Brum Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Assuming the licence level of your copy of SCS allows you to send serial data (the capabilities vary by licence - you'll need professional, pro-plus or platinum to send RS232 control cues), I don't see why it shouldn't work. If you have no alternative but to mimic the next key by closing a relay, then it's as elegant a solution as you're likely to get. I guess you'd have a pair of cues for each "next" - one which sends the code to the serial port to close the relay, and another auto follow on which sends the code to reopen it a few tens of millisends (or maybe a tenth of a second) later. You might like to have the second pair of contacts wired to the stop/back key (if you have one) and have the control cue to operate that on a single key in SCS so if you accidentally jump a cue you can hit the panic key to make it stop or go back. Its a Pro licence, thats OK (Sorry - Had checked but forgot to mention)Hot key for the second contact to "go back" is a great idea. I think the mod I mentioned already has this coming out. Many thanksJust got to get the commitee to aprove spending £24 now. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonhole Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Adding a midi port to the PC needn't be expensive - this from Thomann may well be all that is needed. Be wary of these cheaper sort of USB to Midi devices... we've found they often don't work very well / don't work at all with Midi Show Control (they usually work fine with Midi Notes or Midi Timecode) Edit to add: More info here: http://hackaday.com/2013/07/11/the-perils-of-cheap-midi-adapters/http://www.frank-buss.de/midi/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Pearce Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I've had a few of those usb midi all in one cable things, and never persuaded any of them to speak MSC, which is based on sysex messages. Switching to a proper interface made it work first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Worth knowing - thanks, Jon and Jon. EDIT It did occur to me, when I found that device on Thomann, that someone would come along later and say it probably wasn't up to the job. Should have listened to my inner voice. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted September 13, 2014 Share Posted September 13, 2014 A solution that I have used before (that isn't very elegant but is very very simple) was to use a spare audio output to drive a relay via an audio detection circuit. Then all you need is a half second cue of tone, which you direct down the correct audio output. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John In Brum Posted September 13, 2014 Author Share Posted September 13, 2014 A solution that I have used before (that isn't very elegant but is very very simple) was to use a spare audio output to drive a relay via an audio detection circuit. Then all you need is a half second cue of tone, which you direct down the correct audio output. Very cunning! I might actualy have tried that were it not for the fact that when I recently proposed re-routing a spare channel to feed anouncements to the bar everybody had an aporplexy!:(Still got a few hurdles to jump!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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