QLab3ShowControl

QLab3ShowControlProjectsforLivePerformances&Installations

JeromyHopgood

Firstpublished2014byFocalPress

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andbyFocalPress

2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN

FocalPressisanimprintoftheTaylor&FrancisGroup,aninformabusiness©2014Taylor&FrancisTherightofJeromyHopgoodtobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78oftheCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.

Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronic,mechanical,orothermeans,nowknownorhereafterinvented,includingphotocopyingandrecording,orinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystem,withoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers.

NoticesKnowledgeandbestpracticeinthisfieldareconstantlychanging.Asnewresearchandexperiencebroadenourunderstanding,changesinresearchmethods,professionalpractices,ormedicaltreatmentmaybecomenecessary.

Practitionersandresearchersmustalwaysrelyontheirownexperienceandknowledgeinevaluatingandusinganyinformation,methods,compounds,orexperimentsdescribedherein.Inusingsuchinformationormethodstheyshouldbemindfuloftheirownsafetyandthesafetyofothers,includingpartiesforwhomtheyhaveaprofessionalresponsibility.

Productorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregisteredtrademarks,andareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.

LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationDataHopgood,Jeromy.QLab3showcontrol:projectsforliveperformances&installations/JeromyHopgood.—1stedition.pagescmISBN978-0-415-85757-4(pbk.)—ISBN978-0-203-79726-6(ebook)1.QLab.2.Theaters—Stage-settingandscenery.3.Performingarts—Technologicalinnovations.4.Multimediasystems.I.Title.PN2091.S8H662013006.7—dc23

2013032998

ISBN:978-0-415-85757-4(pbk)ISBN:978-0-203-79726-6(ebk)TypesetinITCStoneSansProjectManagedandTypesetby:diacriTech

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Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Preface

Chapter1AudioSystems1.1Reinforcement/PlaybackSystemComponents

1.2UnderstandingBasicSignalFlow:Input/Output

1.3Reinforcement/PlaybackSystems

1.4TheQLabPlaybackSystem

1.5AudioDevices

1.6SystemConfigurations

BasicStereoPlaybackSystem

IntermediateStereoPlaybackSystemandMultipleSpeakers

IntermediateMultichannelPlaybackSystemwithExternalSignalProcessing

AdvancedMultichannelPlaybackSystemwithQLabSignalProcessing

Chapter2InstallationandPreferences2.1QLab3Specifications

RecommendedSystemRequirements

2.2UnderstandingQLabLicensing

2.3InstallingtheSoftware

2.4AddingaLicense

2.5Organization

2.6PhysicalConnection

2.7WorkspaceSettings

General

KeyMap

OSCControlsandMIDIControls

Audio:SignalFlow

Audio:Settings

Mic

Fade

Group

Wait

Chapter3SettingUpQLabwithYourSoundSystem3.1MultichannelSoundSystems

3.2ExternalAudioDevices

3.3SettingUpQLabwithanAudioDevice

3.4AudioPatches

3.5AudioDeviceVolumeLevels

3.6AudioEffectsandHowtoUseThem

AudioEffectsandCueOutputs

3.7MultichannelAudioFileUsage

Chapter4GettingtoKnowQLabSoundControl4.1UnderstandingCuesandtheCueStructure

WhatIsaCue?

CueLists

CueSequences

PlaybackPosition

4.2TheWorkspace

GO/Standby/NotesPanel/Flag

CueBar

TheCurrentCueList

InspectorPanel

Edit/Show

WorkspaceInformation

BrokenCuesandWarningsPanel

CueListsandActiveCuesPanel

4.3AddingCues

4.4SettingTargetsforCues

4.5NavigationandViewQuickKeys

4.6TheToolsMenu

LoadtoTime– T

RenumberSelectedCues– R

DeleteNumberofSelectedCues– D

JumptoCue– J

CopyorPasteLevels–Shift+ C/Shift+ V

CopyorPasteIntegratedFadeShape–Control+ C/Control+V

4.7TheWindowMenu

Chapter5AudioCues5.1InsertinganAudioCue

5.2InspectorPanel:Basics

CueInfo

Triggering

5.3InspectorPanel:Time&Loops

TheWaveformDisplay

WaveformZoom

PreviewCue

Times,Loops,andSlices

IntegratedVolumeLevelsandTempo

ControllingTempo

5.4InspectorPanel:Device&Levels

AudioOutputPatchandEditDevice

DefaultLevels

SetAlltoSilent

AssignGangs

VisibleChannels

LevelsandCrosspointMatrix

5.5InspectorPanel:Trim

5.6InspectorPanel:AudioEffects

Chapter6MicCues6.1UnderstandingtheMicCue

SignalFlow

Buffering

6.2SettingUpYourAudioDevice

Settings:Mic

DefaultLevelsforNewMicCues

MicPatch

DeviceRouting

6.3InsertingandEditingaMicCue

InspectorPanel:Basics

InspectorPanel:Device&Levels

AudioInput&OutputPatch

DefaultLevels

SetAlltoSilent

AssignGangs

VisibleChannels

Levels&CrosspointMatrix

InspectorPanel:Trim

InspectorPanel:Effects

6.4MicEffects

CueOutput

DeviceOutput

Chapter7FadeCues7.1AudioFadeCues

InspectorPanel:Basics

InspectorPanel:CurveShape

FadeCueDuration

StopTargetWhenDone

ResettoDefaultShape

InspectorPanel:Levels

FadeType:AbsoluteversusRelative

LevelsandCrosspointMatrix

SetfromTarget/SetAllSilent

AssignGangs

InspectorPanel:AudioEffects

FadeRate

StopTargetWhenDone

SetAudioEffectsfromTarget

Summary

7.2MicFadeCues

InsertingaMicFadeCue

BasicsandCurveShape

Levels

AudioEffects

7.3ManualFades

7.4AutomaticFades

7.5Panning

7.6DuckingAudio

7.7Copy/PasteFadeShapes

7.8ExploringTrim

Chapter8ControlCues8.1GroupCue

8.2Start,Stop,PauseCues

StartCue

StopCue

PauseCue

8.3LoadCue

8.4ResetCue

8.5DevampCue

8.6GoToandTargetCues

GoToCue

TargetCue

8.7ArmandDisarmCues

8.8WaitCue

8.9MemoCue

8.10ScriptCue

Chapter9GroupCues9.1UnderstandingGroupCues

9.2InsertingandEditingGroupCues

InspectorPanel:Basics

InspectorPanel:Mode

9.3WorkspaceFunction

CueName

Notes

HidingGroupCueContents

9.4GroupCueProjects

Chapter10VideoSystems10.1UnderstandingVideoSystems

EditingSystem

VideoPlaybackSystem

VideoReinforcementSystem

10.2VideoSystemComponents

TheDigitalVideoCamera

Computer

InterfaceConnections

OutputDevices

10.3UnderstandingVideoSignalFlow

Video/ImageFile/VideoFeed

VideoCue/CameraCue

VideoSurfacePatch

AssignedScreens

OutputDevice

Audio

Chapter11VideoandCameraPreferences11.1WorkspaceSettings:Video

DefaultMode

DefaultSurface

AvailableSurfaces

11.2EditingtheSurfacePatch

EditingSingle-ScreenSurfaces

CreatingandEditingSurfaces

11.3WorkspaceSettings:Camera

CameraPatchSettings

Chapter12SettingUpQLabwithYourVideoSystem12.1HardwareConsiderations

TheBottleneckDilemma

DataPath

TheHDD

TheSSD

ExternalStorage

TheNeedforMultipleDrives

Summary

Multi-CoreProcessors

ProcessorSpeed

QLabVideoCPUUsage

RegardingCodecsandCompression

vRAM

GPU

Output

12.2VideoCardConsiderations

NumberofOutputs

NumberofCards

12.3ConnectingtoaVideoDisplay

WhatTypesofConnector(s)AreNeeded?

CableRuns

SignalAmplifiersandBaluns

12.4GraphicsExpansionDevices

SettingUpaGraphicsExpansionDevicewithQLab

Plug-and-PlaySetup

Multi-DisplaySetup

MaskImage

BlendGamma

OriginControl

ProjectorOrientation

CornerPinControl

Chapter13VideoandCameraCues13.1InsertingaVideoCue

13.2InspectorPanel:Basics

CueInfo

Triggering

13.3InspectorPanel:Display&Geometry

TheVideoStage

VideoSurface

Mode:FullScreen

Mode:CustomGeometry

13.4InspectorPanel:Time&Loops

WaveformDisplay

PreviewCue

Times,Loops,andSlices

IntegratedFadeEnvelope&PlaybackRate

13.5InspectorPanel:AudioLevels,AudioTrim,andAudioEffects

13.6InspectorPanel:VideoEffects

13.7CameraCues

13.8InspectorPanel:Basics

13.9InspectorPanel:Display&Geometry

CameraPatch

VideoSurface

VideoDisplayModes:FullScreenandCustomGeometry

LayerandOpacity

13.10InspectorPanel:VideoEffects

QuartzComposerIntegration

Chapter14VideoEffects14.1VideoEffectsPresets:ColorandExposure

ColorControls

Exposure

Gamma

SepiaMonochrome

MinMaxInvert

WhitePoint

14.2VideoEffectsPresets:Titles

TitleContentandFont

FontSizeandPlacement

Color

ShowCueImage

BlendMode

14.3VideoEffectsPresets:Blur/Sharpen

Box/Disc/GaussianBlurs

MotionBlur

SharpenLuminance

UnsharpMask

ZoomBlur

14.4VideoEffectsPresets:TexturesandEdgeEffects

Pixelation

Screen

BloomandGloom

CMYKHalftone

ColorPosterize

CrystallizeandPointillize

EdgeWork

Kaleidoscope

MedianandComicEffect

NoiseReduction

14.5VideoEffectsPresets:DistortionEffects

CircleSplash/HoleDistortion

Pinch/BumpDistortion

Torus/LensDistortion

Twirl/CircularWrap/Vortex

GlassLozenge

14.6VideoEffectsPresets:Tiles

OpTile

PerspectiveTile

QuadTiles

ReflectedTiles

RotatedTiles

14.7VideoEffectsPresets:CustomCompositions

14.8VideoEffectsProjects

Chapter15ShowControlSystems15.1Terminology

EntertainmentControlSystems

Standards

ShowControl

Network

15.2EntertainmentControlSystems

SoundControlSystems

LightingControlSystems

Video/ProjectionsSystems

AdditionalControlSystems

15.3ShowControlSystems

SoundControlSystems

LightingControlSystems

Video/ProjectionsControlSystems

15.4ShowControlConsiderations

Chapter16QLabandMIDI16.1MIDIBasics

16.2WhatIsMIDIShowControl

16.3QLabandMIDI

WorkspaceSettings:MIDIControls

WorkspaceSettings:MIDI

WorkspaceSettings:MIDIFile

16.4MIDICues

InspectorPanel:Basics

InspectorPanel:Settings

MIDIDestination

MessageType

16.5MIDIVoiceMessage

16.6MIDIShowControl

GeneralCommands

SoundControlCommands

16.7MIDISysExCue

16.8MIDIFileCue

Chapter17QLabandOSC17.1WhatIsOSC?

17.2OSCSettings

Settings:OSCControls

Settings:OSC

17.3OSCCues

InspectorPanel:Basics

InspectorPanel:Settings

QLabMessages

PlaybackControlCommands

Parameter-ChangeCommands

Chapter18Timecode18.1HowTimecodeWorks

18.2TimecodeSettings

18.3TriggeringCuesfromTimecode

18.4TimecodeCues

Index

Acknowledgments

Aswithanyprojectofthissize,thereareanumberofpeoplewithoutwhosehelpthe ideawouldneverhavebecomea reality.Working in the theatremakesoneever cognizant of the sheer power of collaboration.Thosewho survive long inmostoftheareasoftheentertainmentdesignandtechnologyindustryrealizetheimportanceofacknowledgingallthepeoplewhohelpedthemalongthewayonaproject.So,heregoesmylaundrylistofpeoplewhohelpedturnthislaborofloveintoapossibility.

Many thanks to JohnHolloway for the inspiration to ever get offmy tail andwrite something in the first place. Check out his fantastic Illustrated TheatreProductionGuide,alsobyFocalPress(sooninitsThirdEdition).StaceyWalker,myacquisitionseditor,listenedtomyideasandbroughtsomanymorepositivecontributions to the project. Meagan White, my editorial project manager,answeredeveryquestionthrownherwaywithpoise.

Thereareanumberofpeoplewhoansweredquestions, explained things that Ididn’t understand, and generally kept the boat on the right course: DavidStoughtonofHamiltonCollege;JohnDalzielofRiponCollege;MichaelJ.RihaoftheUniversityofArkansas; and JakePinholsterofArizonaStateUniversity.ToChris Ashworth and the entire Figure 53 family, thanks for answering mycountlessemailsandservingas technicaleditorsof thisbook.ManythanksarealsoduetotheamazingcommunityofpeersattheFigure53DiscussionListwhoanswered so many questions and requests over the years and without whosesupportthistextwouldnothavehappened.

IthasbeenapleasuretoserveasaprofessoratEasternMichiganUniversityoverthepast6years.Thanksareduetomycolleaguesandstudentsfortheirinputandespecially toEMU for awardingmea FacultyResearchFellowship to completemyresearchandwriting.

Finally, thetwopeopletowhomIalwaysowethegreatestamountofgratitude(forthisoranyproject)aremywifeanddaughter.ThankstoKatieandKirafortheirunderstandingofthecountlesshoursIspenthuddledovermylaptopattheArborlandStarbucks.Nowthatit’salldone,let’sgotothebeach!

Introduction

Theentertainmentindustryisanever-expandingcombinationofseveraldifferentareas(scenery,costumes,lighting,sound,integratedmedia,automation,etc.).Alloftheseareasworktogetherforthesolepurposeofcreatingnewandinterestingways to tell stories and entertain our audiences. As technologies for all theseseparateareasexpand,though,itbecomesincreasinglyimportanttofindwaysofunifying control of these areas while keeping the flexibility for each area tofunction as a unique component of the whole. This need is the driving forcebehindprograms likeQLab,whichallowfor the integrationofseveraldifferentproductionsystemsintoonecentralizedcontrolinterface.

ENTERTAINMENTCONTROLSYSTEMS

In theearlydays, itwassimpleenough tohaveaboardoperator foreachareaandastagemanagercalling“go.”Astechnologyadvanced,increasinglycomplexelectronic devices became commonplace in live performance scenarios. Fortoday’s entertainment industry, a show might incorporate dozens of differentproduction specialties, such as lighting, sound, rigging, automated scenery,projections/media,pyrotechnics,ormanymore.Foreachofthesedifferentareasthere might be one or more different entertainment control systems, or thecombination of elements required to control one element of the productiondesign.

Oneshowmighthaveseveralentertainmentcontrolsystems,suchasa lightingsystem,soundsystem,fogsystem,orautomatedmachinerysystem.Eachofthesesystems include the entertainment equipment, necessary cabling (or wirelessinterfaces) for control signals, and some typeof controlmechanism.Almostallperformancesinclude,atminimum,systemsforlightingandsound,thoughmanymayincludevideo,automatedscenery,orspecialeffects(suchasfog,haze,andpyrotechnics).

WHATISSHOWCONTROL?

Show control is an often-misused term, but a simple concept to understand.Show control is simply a method of linking together multiple entertainmentcontrol systems into one master system. Typically speaking, show control iscategorized as one of two types: software operating on either a Mac or a PCplatform; or stand-alone systems developed in a proprietary fashion bymanufacturers. For either method, the concept remains the same – multiplecontrolsystemsarelinkedtogetherforthepurposeofunifying(andsimplifying)theircontrol.

QLAB:AVERSATILECONTROLSYSTEM

It isworthmentioningthatoneof thegreatestbenefitsofQLab is itsability tofunction as both an entertainment control system and a show control system.Used in itsmost basic applications, QLab functions as an excellentmethod ofsoundorvideoplayback. Infact,oneof itsbiggestsellingpoints is thatanyonecandownloadthebasicversionofQLab(forfree)anduseitforanystereosoundprojectwithouthavingtocommittotheProVersion.Thisisaperfectexampleofusingitasasoundcontrolsystem.Giventheneed,though,onecandownload(orrent) QLab Pro and configure the software to control a wide array ofentertainmentcontrollers,suchaslighting,sound,specialeffects,ormore.Onceyou connectQLab to your system and use it to communicatewith your othercontrollers, it has gone from the realm of entertainment control system andbecomeashowcontrolsystem.

SHOWCONTROL:HISTORICALBACKGROUND

As with so many of the advancements in the emerging technologies in theentertainment industry followingWorldWar 2, theWalt Disney Company (inparticular the Disney Land theme park) pioneered methods in show control.Thereexisthundreds,ifnotthousands,ofbookonthehistoryofWaltDisneyandhis entertainment company. For our purposes, we will focus specifically on arelatively short window of time in the company and specifically look at thecreationandadvancementofoneofDisney’s signatureattractions– theAudioAnimatronic(atrademarkedtermownedbytheWaltDisneyCompany).

In 1963, The Enchanted Tiki Room became the first Disney attraction to useAudioAnimatronic figures that combinedmovement and audio.The attractionwasoriginallyintendedtobearestaurantfeaturingAudioAnimatronicbirdsthat

entertained the guests while they ate and drank. Eventually, it adapted into aroughly 20-minute stage show featuring a cast of human performers alongsidedozensofAnimatronicsingingbirds,plants,andPolynesianmasks.Tocreatethemovements, programmers used a cumbersome harness system worn by acontroller.Thisdeviceallowedthemtorecordthousandsofdiscretemovementsto amagnetic film/tape.These filmswereplayedon reel-to-reel-typemachinesthat triggered different series of the film in the desired order. The machinesworked in tandem; one playing, then allowing another to take over the signalwhile thefirstrewoundtoapredetermined locationandbeganplayingalloveragain.ThesignalfromthesefilmswasbothaudiorecordingandcontrolsignalssenttotheAnimatronicdevicesontheshowfloor.Whenthetapesentasignalthroughthesystem,itwouldcloseanelectriccircuittherebytriggeringasolenoidthat opened a pneumatic valve, allowing air to flow through the system andtrigger a movement of the Audio Animatronic figure. While this system ismechanically simple, imagine the amount of time and effort necessary toorchestratea20-minuteshow!

Jump forward a few years and advances in computer systems enabled theImagineers tocontrol theseAnimatronicdevices inwaysneverbeforepossible.With the developments in computer technology, computer disks andcomputerized control stations replaced the old harness and tapemethod.Now,programmers could sit at a workstation and program the movements, savingthem to a computer disk. This allowed formore complexmovements and theability to add, delete, or edit control sequences to the show. This new system,calledDigitalAnimationControlSystemorDACS,becamethestandardmethodof controlling all Disney Audio Animatronic Attractions for years to come. Infact, the system is still inuse today,butnowcontrolsaudio,video,andspecialeffects in addition to the traditional Animatronics. Today’s DACS systemfunctionsasanelaboratemethodofshowcontrol,synchronizingnotonlyeventswithin one show, but combining together multiple events in different showsacross the themepark. In fact, allDACSsystemsacross theMagicKingdom inDisneyWorldarecontrolledfromasinglelocationinthepark.Quitealeapfromthedaysofharnessesandmagneticfilm!

SHOWCONTROLTODAY

Likeallotherareasofcomputertechnology,showcontrol isarapidlychangingfieldinwhichthereareanumberofcompetitorsonthemarket.Intheworldofshowcontrol systems, theproducts can typicallybe separated into twodistinctareas:softwarepackages thatrunonpersonalcomputers (eitherMacorPC);ordedicatedhardwarecreatedforthespecificpurposeofrunningashow.

Typically speaking, the theatre and live performance industry tends to favorsoftwarepackages,whereasvenuessuchasmuseums,casinos,themeparks,andretailestablishments tend to favoradedicatedhardware (thoughyoumaywellfind examples on both sides of the fence using the oppositemethod describedabove–orintegratingbothkindsintoahybridsystem).Bothtypesofsolutionsultimately provide the same function of controlling multiple entertainmentdeviceswithinasystem.Ifthereisabenefitofonetypeoveranother,itcouldbetheversatilityofthesoftwaresystem.Sincededicatedhardwaresystemstendtobe built for the specific purpose of controlling one specific show, it can be anexpensiveandtime-consumingprocesstogoaboutequippingmultipleshowsinthis fashion. On the other hand, with software control systems, the softwareremainsthesameforeachinstallation.Tosetupmultipleshows,theusersimplygoesabout theprocessofwritingcuesand settingupa communication systembetweencontroldevices.Inadditiontothecomparativeeaseofusingsoftwaretocontrol multiple shows, there is also the financial consideration. Dedicatedsystemstendtobemuchmoreexpensivethantheirsoftwarecounterpartsinbothpurchase and maintenance. It is likely for this reason we see so many smallprofessionaltheatresandliveperformancevenuesfavoringthesoftwaremethodtomeettheirshowcontrolneeds.

SOFTWARESOLUTIONSFORSHOWCONTROL

Likemanyothertypesofsoftware,showcontrolsoftwarecanbedividedintotwocategories: PC-andMacintosh-based. Like any software package, you will finddie-hardfansthat insistonthedominanceofoneoveranother. Intheworldofshow control, I find that the question tends to be “what are theneeds of yourproject?”QLabmightnotalwaysbe thebestchoice foryourparticularproject,butIfindthatformyneedsitfitsthebillmoreoftenthannot.

QLABBYFIGURE53

QLab’sorigins are in the theatre. InOctober 2005,ChrisAshworth (founderofFigure 53 and creator of theQLab software) received an email from a friend’snewly formed theatre company with a project for which they needed aMac-basedprogramthatcouldplaybackmultipleaudiofilessimultaneously.Within2month’s time, the first version of QLab was born. This early version, likesubsequentones,wasbuilt onApple’sCoreAudio framework toallow for lowlatencyaudioplaybackaccuratetoathousandthofasecond.AfoundationontheApple system is one reasonwhyQLab has always been aMac-only program,since it was built from the ground on Apple technology. This first versioncontainedbasicfunctionslikeaudioplayback,autocontinue,aGobutton,andaCueInspectorwithfileinformationandvolumecontrols.

Figure 53 releasedQLab beta inDecember 2005 in away thatwould come toepitomize their model of utilizing user input. Ashworth wrote a post on thetheatre-soundlistserv,askingsounddesignerstodownloadthesoftwareandtryitoutintheirownwork.Therequestwasforthosewithastrongbackgroundinsound design to put the software through the paces and give feedback todeterminehowtheprogramshouldevolvetohelptheend-users.ThisattitudehasdefinedtheFigure53modelofbuildingtheirsoftwareoncustomerfeedbackandfeature requests.EachnewreleaseofQLabhas strongly reliedon the feedbackfromaloyalnetworkofusersandaddedfeaturesbasedontheirresponses.

BySeptember2006,QLabversion1.0.0releasedwithbothafreeandProedition.Unlike its earliest iterations, Version 1 containedmany Show Control featuresthat would come to define the versatility of the software. Enhanced featuresincludedMIDI control, video and still animation functions, and 16 channels ofaudiooutput.Thisimprovedsoftwarepackagequicklybeganpoppingupinsmallprofessional theatres,autoshows,highschools, regional theatres,museumsandmore.Within a year of its introduction,QLabmade both Broadway andWestEnd debuts in the Broadway revival of Grease and the London revival of InCelebration.

In January2009,QLabVersion2.0released, featuringwhatamounted toa totalvisualmakeoveroftheuserinterfaceandtheintroductionofmanynewcontrolfeatures,suchasavisualwaveformeditor(allowinguserstodrawfadecurves),camera cues, vamping, video animation, scripting cues, and use ofMIDI TimeCode.Inaddition,itexpandedtheamountofaudiooutputsto48channels.Likely,

the greatest user-friendly change in Version 2 was combining all the controlscreensintoonecentralizeduserinterface.InVersion1,therewereanumberoffloating screens that had the tendency to get hidden behind one another andclutter up yourworkspace. By combining them all together, thismade for oneunified,sleek,workspace.

Theyear2013marked the releaseofVersion3, themost currentversionof thesoftwarefeaturinganumberofadvancesthatshouldprovetoestablish itasanindustry standard for years to come. The user interface was again totallyrevamped for a sleek, streamlined look in blacks and grays. In addition to thefunctions in previous versions, QLab 3 added a number of advances in audio,video, control, andworkflow. The changes inQLab 3make for a robust showcontrol solution that enables users to become less dependent on externalhardware and equipment. In the coming chapters, we will explore QLab 3together,focusingonhowtobestintegratetheshowcontrolsoftwareintoyourentertainmentcontrolsystem.

Preface

As a theatre educator and a freelance designer, every year I encounter awiderangeofartistsintheentertainmentindustry.Iamapeoplepersonwholovestoget to know those with whom I work (a trait common tomany of us in thisindustry). If you spend enough time talking to people and listening to theirexperiences,certainpatternsstarttoappear.OnesuchpatternInoticedearlyinmyteachingcareerwasthecomplaintthat,whilethereexistcountlesstextsformost mainstream software titles, these books are nonexistent for most of theapplicationsusedinliveperformance.Formanyoftheseapplications,techniciansmust learn on the job or through self-guided experimentation.As an educator,thisalwaysmademefeelthatsomeoneshouldbewritingthesebooks–bothforthestudentsintheclassroomandforthetechniciansinthefield.Somehow,afteralltheseyears,booksofthisnatureremainararity.

As a designer, I am always looking for new technologies that increaseproductivityandimprovemyproduct.In2006,Ibecameawareofanewprogramon themarket that changed theway Iworkedon soundandprojections.Whatwas more, this software was free. Likely, you have guessed by now that thesoftwareinquestionwasQLab.Thisrobustshowcontrolsoftwareenabledmetowork in a Macintosh environment (something relatively unheard of for showcontrol) and featured an easy-to-understand user interface. Perhaps mostimportant to me was that Figure 53, the makers of QLab, truly understoodcustomer service. I quickly introduced the free version of QLab into myclassroom and started training my students in its use. In addition to theclassroom,I implementedaQLabcontrolsysteminourtwotheatresatEasternMichigan University. The software was a huge jump from the old CompactDisc/MINIDiscsystemitreplaced,andagain,thestudentsraved!Itwasaroundthispoint,though,whenmystudentsbeganaskingwheretheycouldfindabookonQLab so that they could learnmore. They always seemed surprised to findthere was not one on the market. In 2012, as I began to hear rumors of theforthcomingthirdeditionofQLab,Idecidedtowritethistext.

WHOSHOULDUSETHISBOOK?

WhenIsetouttowritethistext,itoccurredtomethattherearetwogroupsofpeoplewhocouldmostbenefitfromsuchabook:studentsandteachers.Tome,students are not only young people enrolled in a class. No doubt, this groupmakesupalargepercentageofthepeoplewhowillreadthisbook,butIamalsoreferring to a group of people who are life-long learners and interested ineducating themselves aboutnewandexciting trends.This groupmight includeprofessional stagehands, technicians, community theatre enthusiasts, technicaldirectors, trade show/event designers, museum/installation designers, or more.Show Control has crept into a wide array of applications from theatre to livemusic, museums, trade shows, performance art, Halloween entertainment,casinos,andretail.Withsuchawidearrayoffieldsrepresented,itonlystandstoreasonthattheenduserswouldbeasvariedandeclectic!

Thesecondsubsetofusersforthistext,teachers,areagroupIstronglyassociatewith (as I amonemyself). I rememberhowquickly the excitement fadedaftergettingmy first teaching jobwhen I realized Iwould be the onewhohad theultimateresponsibilityofcreatinglessonplansandprojectsforhundredsofeagerundergraduates.Whenperusingmanyofthetextbooksformyclasses,itoccurredtomethatmostofthebookswerenotwrittenwiththeinstructorinmind.Itwasforthisreasonthatbymysecondsemesterofteaching,Itransitionedtohandoutsand projects ofmy own creation in favor ofworking strictly from a textbook.Booksshouldbeusefultobothinstructorandstudent!

ItiswiththisinmindthatIsetouttowriteapracticalbookthatwouldfunctionas both an instructional manual with hands-on projects and a useful quickreferenceguide.Thebookisintendedtoprimarilyservenoviceandintermediateusersalike,with thehope thatevenexpertusersmight findsome insight in itspages, as well. A key component of the book is in readers utilizing thesupplementary materials housed on the companion website. Whether you areusing this as part of a formal classroom experience or in your own home, thestructureof thebookallows for thereader to learnathisorherownpaceandtackleQLabprojectsonan individualbasis.Bydownloadingthe lessonpacketsfrom the companion website, my hope is that the learning experience will beenrichedbyworking along fromhome at your ownpace on the sameprojectsshown in the book. In my experience, learning by doing is always the mosteffectivewaytoensureretention.

1AudioSystems

Before one can truly understand the applications of a program likeQLab, it isfirstnecessarytounderstandthebasicsofsoundsystemsandhowtheyfunction.Formostdesignersor technicians in theentertainment industry, soundsystemsfall into three basic categories: recording systems, reinforcement systems, andplaybacksystems.

Recording systems tend to consist of a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), acomputer running sound-editing software in conjunction with audio interfacehardware.Thisaudiointerfaceallowstheusertoconverttheanalogsignalfromamicrophone into a digital signal for editing in the audio software.With thedecreaseincostofcomputersandtheproliferationofmass-marketsoftwaresuchas Apple’s Garage Band, most anyone can experiment on their own DAW.Recordingsystemsallowdesignerstocreatetheaudiothatwillbeplayedbackinliveperformancelater.

Typically speaking, a recording system will have a computer running (atminimum)onesound-editingprogram.Manydesignersutilizemultipleprogramsfor their varying strengths.Common applications for this areApple’s Logic orAvid’sProTools.ProToolsorProToolsExpresscomesbundledwithaconsumer-grade series of digital audio interfaces that allow users to input audio via anumberofdifferentconnectortypes.Inadditiontoanalogoutputsforspeakers,therearealsoheadphoneoutputsformonitoringpurposes.ThistypeofsetupisshownindetailinFigure1.1.

A reinforcement system exists to take live sound and amplify it for liveperformance.The traditional reinforcement systemutilizesmicrophones topickup live audio and send it through signal processors [like an audio mixer,equalization (EQ), effects processors, etc.], then through amplifiers, and finallyouttospeakers.Figure1.2illustratesthistypeofsetup.UntilQLab3,thesoftware

hadno integrated reinforcement controls.With the additionof theMicCue inVersion 3, though, QLab can now be truly seen as a reinforcement system, aswell.QLabMiccuescancontrolupto24inputsignals,activatingamicrophone,setting levels,assigningAudioUnit (AU)effects (suchas reverb,EQ,distortion,etc.),andmore.

Figure1.1Recordingsystem.

Figure1.2Reinforcementsystem.

Playback systems are a combination of equipment necessary to play backprerecordedaudio ina liveperformancesituation. In thepast, theaudiosourcefilesweresavedoneverythingfromreel-to-reel,compactdiscs(CDs),minidiscs,ormicrocomputers.Today,almostall liveperformancevenuesusesometypeofcomputer running a software system to play back audio files. Like thereinforcementsystem,theaudiosignalmightbesentoutthroughanaudiomixerand signal processors before being routed through amplifiers before ultimatelyoutputting through the speakers. Depending on the budget and needs of your

installation, QLab 3 can function almost totally independently of traditionalaudioequipmentlikeaudiomixers,EQs,andothersignalprocessors.Ofcourse,each setup has its own specific needs and rarely are any two systems exactlyalike.

As a rule of thumb, each playback system likely has a computer that outputsaudiothrougheitherastandard1/8″headphonecableoradigitalaudiointerface.The system outputting through the 1/8″ headphone jack will often be a basicstereosystem,withaudiosignalsplitintoleftandrightchannels(nomatterthenumberofspeakersitroutesinto).ThedigitalaudiointerfaceallowsQLabtosplittheaudiosignalintoindependentsignalstobesenttoindividualspeakersinthesystem (allowing for directional sound). To find examples of differing types ofplaybacksystems,referencetheendofthischapter.

1.1Reinforcement/PlaybackSystemComponentsTheworld of audio can seem a bit intimidating to the beginnerwith the vastamount of equipment and terminology. Although audio equipment is not themain focus of this book, there are some basic terms with which onemust befamiliarinordertounderstandhowtosetupasoundsystem.Thefollowinglistdetailstypicalreinforcement/playbacksystemcomponentsandtheirfunctions:

1. Microphone: A transducer that turns audio waves (sound) into electricalsignal. This signal is low voltage and not powerful enough to activate aspeaker on its own, so it is necessary to send the signal through otherhardwarecomponents.Typicallyspeaking,therearetwotypesofmicrophonesmost used in live performance situations: a dynamic microphone and acondensermicrophone.•Adynamicmicrophoneutilizesasmallmoveableinductioncoilattachedto

a diaphragm. The coil, positioned in the magnetic field of a stationarymagnet, moves when sound waves strike the diaphragm. This movementcreatessmallelectrical impulses.These impulsesarethesignal thatwillbelater translated through a speaker into sound. Dynamic microphones aresturdy, resistant to moisture, and require no external power source tooperate.Theseattributesmake thedynamicmicrophoneacommonchoiceforliveperformances,particularlyintheclubenvironment.

• A condenser microphone utilizes the same diaphragm concept as the

dynamicmic,but insteadof the inductioncoiluses small stationarymetalplates and another series of magnets attached to the diaphragm. As thediaphragm moves, the change in proximity of the magnets to the platescreates small electrical impulses thatbecome theaudio signal.Condensersare typically much more expensive than dynamic mics, but also have awiderfrequencyresponserange–meaningtheycancaptureawiderrangeof sounds and tend to be more sensitive to volume. Unlike the dynamicmicrophone, though, a condensermic requires external power in order topower themicrophone. This is typically supplied from the audiomixer inthe formof“phantompower”orasmall48-Vpowersupplysent fromthemixertothemic.

2.InputSource:Aspreviouslystated,theinputsourcecanbeanyofavarietyofdifferent devices. ProfessionalCDorminidisc playerswere once a commoncomponent for their ability to allow theuser to cueaCD track toa certaintime for playback. Although these still remain in some playback systems,computers have largely replaced them for their ability to run playbacksoftwarelikeQLab,whichfarsurpassesthefunctionofaCD.

3.MixingConsole:Hardwareusedtocombinemultipleaudiosignalsandallowthe user to create a mix of these signals to output in different ways. Theconsole(sometimescalledanaudiomixerorsoundboard)routessignals,setsvolume levels, and affects the qualities of the audio signal. Most consolesreceiveavarietyofdifferentsignalsinaliveperformance:audiosignalsfromtheplaybackcomputer,vocals fromsingers,multiplechannelsofaudiofromdifferent instruments in the band, boundary microphones on the stage,shotgunmicsabovethestage,andmore.Therewilltypicallybeaminimumofonechannelperaudiosignaldedicatedontheaudioconsole,althoughinsomecasesyoumightseetwochannels“ganged”togetherforoneaudiosource.

4. Signal Processors: Devices that affect the quality or timbre of the audiosignal.Most typical would be EQ, audio filters, reverb, delay, and dynamicprocessing. Some mixing consoles have built-in signal processors, whereassomesignalprocessorsarestand-alonedevices.Inadditiontodedicatedsignalprocessing units, computers also have the capability of running a plug-inprogramtoaffectthequalityofanaudiosignal.IntheMacarchitecture,theseplug-insare referred toasAUs.With theemergenceofQLab3,AUscanbeusedforliveperformanceinsideofyourplaybacksystem.

5. Amplifier: A device that increases the signal from the microphone orcomputer to power a speaker. Amplifiers must be plugged into an external

powersourceinordertoamplifytheaudiosignal.6.Speaker:Atransducerthatchangestheelectricalsignalfromtheaudiosource

intoaudiowaves(sound).Speakerscomeinmanydifferentvarietiesrelatedtowhatfrequencyofsoundtheybestproduce.Subwoofers,forinstance,producethelowestfrequencyoftheaudiospectrum(typicallybelow100Hz),whereastweeters produce the highest soundswithin the spectrum. In addition, somespeakers will have built-in amplifiers in the speaker cabinet. These “self-powered”speakersworkwellforon-locationeventsandhaveslightlybulkiercabinets,duetotheadditionalhardwareenclosed.Onedisadvantagetothesespeakersistheneedtobepluggedintoapowersourcenearwherethespeakerwillbepositioned.

1.2UnderstandingBasicSignalFlow:Input/OutputWiththepotentialofhavingsomanydifferentcomponentsinoneaudiosystem,it caneasilyconfuse thebeginner (andhas ledmanyanexpert to scratch theirheads).Oneconceptessentialtosettingupanytypeofasoundsystemissignalflow,orhowtheaudiogetsfromitssourcetothespeakersandwhathappenstoitalong theway.Thinkofaudioasa flowofwater that travelsalonga seriesofpipes (audio cables) and through several different faucets (mixers, amps, etc.)alongthewaytoitsfinaldestinationofthespeaker.

Formostaudiodevices,thereisbothaninputthatallowstheaudiosignalinandanoutputthatallowsforthesignaltobepassedontoanotherdevicedownthechain. The most basic sound system would include a microphone, an audioplaybackdevice,amixer,anamplifier,andaspeaker.WhenaddingQLabintothemix,thereisanotherlayerofroutingtoconsiderwithinthesoftwareitself.Thefollowing section breaks down the basics of signal flow and details a fewdifferentpossibilitiesforconfiguringyourownQLabplaybacksystem.

1.3Reinforcement/PlaybackSystemsFigure 1.3 presents a traditional reinforcement/playback system. In thiselementarysystem,themicrophonereceivesasignalfromthehumanvoiceandoutputs it intoaninputchannelof themixer.Forthisexample,wewillassumethat the singer is performing to a prerecorded song playing back from a CD

player.Thissongtravelsasanaudiosignal fromtheCDplayer intoanotherofthemixer’s input channels. Themixerwill be used to set the volume levels ofeachchannelinordertomakeanicebalancedmixandoutputintwochannels(leftandright)intotheamplifier.Inturn,theamplifierwilloutputtheleftsignalthrough its Channel A and the right signal through Channel B. Each of thesechannelswillfeedintotheinputofaspeakerandgiveusstereosound.

Looking to a slightlymore advanced system, let’s say that your venue neededmore than two speakers. Let’s also assume that these speakers need to have aslightly different timbre in their playback. Using the same configuration asbefore,onecould simplyadd twomoreoutputchannels tohavea totalof fourspeakers. In order to achieve a slightly different timbre for the front of housespeakersandtherearspeakers,onewouldneedtoaddanequalizertothesignalflowbetweenthemixerandamplifiers(seeFigure1.4).

Figure1.3Atraditionalreinforcement/playbacksystem.

Figure1.4Amultispeakersystemwithsignalprocessing.

1.4TheQLabPlaybackSystemIn each of the previous examples, the audio playback devicewas aCDplayer.Thissetupisperfectlyserviceableforexamplesliketheoneabovewhereasongplays from beginning to end and stops or pauses before the next use. For thefollowingexamples,wewill examinehowaddingQLabas theplaybackdevicechangesthewaythatonemustthinkofsignalflow.

Outsideoftherealmofthehardware,QLabhasitsownsoftwaresignalflowtoconsider.ThesignalbeginswiththeAudioFilesavedontothecomputer’sharddrive.This file isplayedback inQLabbyusinganAudioCue that targets theaudio file forplayback.EachAudioCuehasanaudiooutputpatchassociatedwith it thatassignstheaudiofile toaspecificaudiodevice.Asadefault,QLabwilluseyourcomputer’sbuilt-inaudiocardforoutput,butyoucanplug-inuptoeight different external audio interfaces and output to any of those.Along theway,QLab can assign anAU to anyAudioCue and change the quality of thesound, emulating a traditional equalizer, delay, compressor/limiter, reverb, ormore. In this way, QLab allows the user to decrease the amount of externalhardwarenecessarytoachievesignalprocessing.Finally,thefadersinsideQLaballowyoutoassignhowmuchoftheaudiosignalwillgotowhichoutputontheaudiodevice.ThisfeatureallowsQLabtobehaveexactlylikeatraditionalaudiomixer,allowingtheusertomanipulateaudiosignalsandroutethemtomultipleaudiodevices.AllofthesefunctionsabovecannowbemanagedthroughtheuseofaQLabcomputerandanaudiointerfacealone.Inshort,QLab3hasremovedtheneedforthousandsofdollarsofaudioequipment!

Oncethesignaloutputsfromthecomputer,itoperatesinmuchthesamefashionas the traditional playback system by travelling through a mixer, signalprocessors,amplifiers,andspeakers.Dependingon theneedsofyourparticularinstallation, the mixer and signal processors could be eliminated and handledexclusivelythroughQLab,leavingonlytherequisiteamplifiersandspeakers.

1.5AudioDevices

Ifyourbudgetdoesnotallowforanexternalaudiointerface,theremustbesometypeofadeviceusedinordertosendthesignaltotheamplifiers.Inthiscase,onewouldmostoftenoutputfromthecomputerusingthe1/8″headphonejackintoan audio mixer and from the mixer directly into the amplifiers. Oneconsideration for these types of rigs is that most computer headphone jackoutputsareunbalancedaudiolinesandverypronetopickingupadditionalnoisealong the audio line. If outputting directly from your computer’s 1/8″ jack,always use aDirect Input (DI) box to change the signal from unbalanced tobalanced.Basically,aDIisolatestheinputsignalfromtheoutputsignalinordertoreduceunwantednoisewhilestillpassingtheaudiosignalthrough.

1.6SystemConfigurationsThe following examples illustrate different system configuration possibilities.Thereareanumberofdifferentsystemsonecouldsetup,andonlythedesignertrulyknowswhichsystemisbestforthejob.

BasicStereoPlaybackSystem

TheplaybacksystemshowninFigure1.5isoneofthemostbasicconfigurationsonecanaccomplish.ThecomputerrunningQLabistheinputsource,supplyingaudio files for playback and allowing the designer to manipulate the file in anumberofwayssuchaschoosingstartand/orendtime,changingthetempoofthe original recording, adding fades, looping the file, and more. In thisconfiguration,theaudiooutputsthroughthecomputer’sbuilt-insoundcardviathe 1/8″ stereo headphone jack. This stereo signal passes into the DI box andoutputsfromthetwoseparateoutputchannels(leftandrightchannels)assuringa balanced signal from each channel. From here, the two signals pass into theamplifier,whichincreasestheelectricalimpulsetoalevelhighenoughtoactivatethespeakers.Abasicamplifierwilltypicallyhavetwoinputandoutputchannels(AandB).Inthiscase,therightchanneloftheaudiosignalisroutedtoChannelAwiththeleftchannelintheamplifier’sChannelB.Thissetupmeansthattheplaybackwillhavetheappropriatedirectionalsoundastheoriginalrecording.

Figure1.5BasicstereoplaybacksystemwithQLab,DI,amplifier,andtwospeakers.

It is worth noting that the industry practice of color-coding right and leftchannelssuggeststhattherightchannelberedwiththeleftchannelbeingwhite.This convention makes it easier to track stereo signal flow and guaranteeaccurate stereo reproduction. Many a designer has accidentally reversed tocablingonly to find that the rightchannelplays fromthe left speakerandviceversa!

IntermediateStereoPlaybackSystemandMultipleSpeakers

ThesystemshowninFigure1.6addsabitmoreflexibilityfromthefirst.Likethefirst example, QLab will be outputting from the 1/8″ stereo headphone jack.Becauseofthis,QLabcanonlyusetwochannelsofcontrol(rightandleft).Unlikethefirstexample,though,thesignalpassesfromtheDIboxintoanaudiomixer.With a little creative patching, the sound designerwould be able to route thissignaltomultiplespeakerscontrolledviatheaudiomixeriftheprojectcalledforsuch control. It would not be automated within QLab, but this method is afunctional solution when your budget doesn’t allow for purchasing an audiointerface.Fromtheaudiomixer,thesignalflowwouldremainthesameasbefore,travellingfromthemixerintotheamplifiersthenspeakers.

IntermediateMultichannelPlaybackSystemwithExternalSignalProcessing

Intheprevioussystems,theuseofstereooutputisadefinitelimitationofQLab’scapabilities.QLabhastheabilitytooutputitsaudiofeedtoupto48independentchannels.Thismeansthat,byplugginginanaudiointerface,youraudiocouldberoutedtoanyoneof48separatespeakers(providingthedevicehas48outputs).

There are a number of different types of audio interfaces available fromperipheral component interconnect devices built-in to your computer system(typically called a sound card) to external audio interfaces connected viaUSB,Firewire, or, most recently, Thunderbolt. Most mainstream external interfacescomeequippedwithanywherefrom4to12analogoutputs.ThesystemshowninFigure1.7aboveutilizessuchanexternaldeviceconnectedviaFirewire,sendingoutaudiosignalstosixdifferentspeakers.Inthisexample,thesixoutputsfromthe audio interface go into an audio mixer that allows the designer to applydifferenteffectsontheseparatechannels,suchasreverb,high-passfiltering,andcompression. The mixer then outputs the audio signal to three different EQs,allowingforequalizingofeachsignal.FromtheEQs, thesignalpasses throughthree separateamplifiersand thenout into the six speakers. In this system, theuse of the mixer and EQ gives a higher level of control to the designer withregardstosignalprocessing.

Figure1.6IntermediatestereosystemwithQLab,DI,mixer,amplifier,andfourspeakers.

Figure1.7IntermediatemultichannelsystemwithQLab,Firewireaudiointerface,audiomixer,EQ,amplifiers,andsixspeakers.

AdvancedMultichannelPlaybackSystemwithQLabSignalProcessing

The final system (Figure 1.8) utilizesmany of the new functions ofQLab 3 inorder to eliminate some of the additional external hardware. Like the systemabove,thecomputeroutputstoanexternalaudiointerfacethatoutputstheaudiosignalthroughsixindependentchannels.Inthisexample,though,usingthebuilt-in audio effects capabilities of QLab negates the use of an audio mixer andequalizers.ByassigningAUstoindividualcuesorassigningglobaleffectsbusses,the designer can achieve EQ, reverb, compression, filtering, andmore withoutinvesting inexpensivehardware.Perhapsmore importantly, this setupallowsagreatamountofflexibilityfornoadditionalcost.Allofthesignalprocessingcanbeadded,eliminated,orbalancedattheclickofabuttonwithinQLabratherthanhavingtophysicallychangesettingsonhardware.Fortheplaybacksysteminmyuniversity,wehavenowrelegatedthemixertouseinmusicalsonlyandalmosteliminatedphysicalsignalprocessingaltogether.

Figure1.8AdvancedmultichannelsystemwithQLab(usingAUs),Firewireaudiointerface,amplifiers,andspeakers.

Asyoucansee,thereareanumberofdifferentsystemstochoosefromandeachhasitsprosandcons.IthasbeenmyexperiencethattheversatilityofQLabisitsstrongest feature.HowIuse it isexactlythat;howIuse it.Asyouspendsometimegettingtoknowthesoftware,youwilllikelyfindotherconfigurationsthatworkbest foryour individualneeds.That’s the funofdesigning–eachdesignhasuniqueneedsandoffersupdifferentchallengesfromthelast!

2InstallationandPreferences

Nowthatwehavecoveredthebasicsofsoundsystemsandunderstandabitmoreabout different sound system configurations, thenext logical step is looking toQLab itself and addressing how one sets up the software to interact with thesoundsystem.ForthosewhohaveusedQLab1or2inthepast,itmightcomeasa bit of a surprise to see how much the software visibly changed betweenVersions2and3.Restassured, though,allof the same functions remain in thenewestversion–youjustmightaccesstheminadifferentfashionnow.Wewillwork from the assumption that this is your first time to useQLab 3 and startfromthebeginning.

2.1QLab3SpecificationsOne of the first thing thatmost peoplewill notice is thatQLab 3 requires theApple OS 10.8 (or later) operating system – more commonly referred to asMountain Lion.Many of the new functions inVersion 3 are dependent on thearchitectureofthisoperatingsystem,suchas64-bitintegration.Sinceitisa64-bitapplication,thesoftwareisnowcapableoftakingfulladvantageofthetotalamountofRAMonyourcomputer,amajoradvantageoverthe32-bitcodingofpastversions.SpeakingofRAM,theruleofthumbis,whenworkingwithaudioand video playback, always equip your system with enough to exceed yourcurrent needs. This is particularly true today, as themanufacturing techniquesarechanging for someApplecomputers tomake itmoredifficult (and in somecasesimpossible)toupgradethefactory-installedRAMonyourown.

ActualminimumsystemspecificationsforQLabaredifficulttoassess,sinceyouruseofthesoftwarewilldictatetheamountof“horsepower”necessarytoruntheapplication. The chart below lists some rules of thumb that will be useful inconfiguring hardware for different uses. As always, there are a number of

configurations thatwouldwork for any given situation. The recommendationsmadebelowaremychoicesforabaselinemodelthatwillremainusefulforthelongestwindowoftimebeforerequiringupgrade.

RECOMMENDEDSYSTEMREQUIREMENTS

SoundPlayback/Reinforcement

Suitablemodels:MacBookAir,MacBookPro,MacMini,MacMiniwithOSXServer,iMac,MacPro

MacOS10.8(MountainLion)orlater

2.5GHzdual-coreIntelcoreprocessor

4GBRAM(forbasicsoundplayback)

8GBRAM(formorecomplexcueingneeds–i.e.numeroussimultaneouscues)

256GBstorage(budgetallowing,flashmemoryispreferabletotraditionalharddrivesinbothspeedanddurability)

VideoPlayback

Suitablemodels:MacBookProMini,MacMiniwithOSXServer,iMac,MacPro

MacOS10.8(MountainLion)orlater

2.3GHzquad-coreIntelcoreprocessor

IntelGraphics4000(forbasicvideoplayback–onevideooutput)

ATIRadeonHD5870(foradvancedHDvideooutput–multiplevideooutputs)

8GBRAM(forbasicvideoplayback)

32GBRAM(formorecomplexcueingneeds–i.e.numeroussimultaneouscues)

1TBstorage(budgetallowing,flashmemoryispreferabletotraditionalharddrivesinbothspeedanddurability)

2.2UnderstandingQLabLicensing

As mentioned earlier in the book, one of the biggest reasons for QLab’spopularityovertheyearsisFigure53’scommitmenttohavingafreeversionofQLabavailableforbasicaudioplayback.ThisremainstrueforQLab3,wherethefreeversionallows for savingworkspaces forplaybackwith stereooutput (twochannelmaximum),unlimitedcuenumbers,groupcues,andfadecues.Inotherwords,formostbasicsounddesignsthatonlyneedstereooutput,youcouldgetbywithdownloadingthefreeversionandinstallingitonanunlimitednumberofcomputers! In addition,Version 3 offers some free video features, aswell. Thisfreesoftwarehasbeenparticularlysuccessfulforstudentsandsmallprofessionaltheatresthatcannotaffordalargeaudiosystem,butwanttohavecomputerizedaudioplayback.

For anything other than basic audio playback, though, one should look to thedifferentlicensesavailableforQLab.Asmentionedearlier,customerservicehasalwaysbeenabenchmarkoftheQLabname.Nowhereisthistruerthanintheirpricing and options for professional licensing. Understanding that no twoinstallations are alike, Figure 53 has broken down the QLab software intoseparate licensing packages so that the customer who only needs professionalaudiocapabilitiesdoesn’thavetopayforanentiresystemoffunctionstheywillneveruse.QLab3hasevenexpandedonthismodel,byaddingdifferentpro-tiersofbothaudioandvideofunctions.Licensingissplitintofivedifferentpackages:BasicAudio,ProAudio,BasicVideo,ProVideo,andProBundle(acombinationofalllicenses).

Thenamesofeachlicensedescribethetypesofcuesincluded,eachoneopeningupahigherrangeof functionto thesoftwarepackage.BasicAudioofferseightchannelsofaudio input/outputwitheightchannelsofaudioperfile.ProAudioallowsforupto48channelsofaudiooutput,with24inputchannelsandchannelsofaudioperfile.Inaddition,ProAudiointegratesaudioeffectsviaAUplug-insandallowsforTimecodecues.WiththeVideolicensing,BasicVideofeatureslessoftheversatilityoftheProversion(lackingunlimitedmultiscreensurfaces,edgeblending, keystone correction, making and shutters, video effects, Syphoninput/output, and Timecode cues). Unlike QLab 2, musical instrument digitalinterface (MIDI) cues no longer have their own license. Instead, they areintegrated intobothProAudioandProVideo licenses,with theability to sendMIDImessages,MIDIShowControl/OpenSoundControlcues,playbackMIDIfiles,andmore.

Offering up these different packages is only the first step, though. In addition,theyoffera substantialdiscount foracademic licensing (students, teachers, andinstitutions).Forthoseintheprofessionalsectorwhofindaneedforthesoftwarein limited runs, there is also the ability to rent at a modest price (currently$3/$5/$7perday,dependingonselected tier).Rentalsgive the full capabilityoftheprolicenseforapredeterminedamountoftimeprogrammeddirectlyintothelicense.Whenyou reach theendofyour timeperiod, the licensewill revert toFree. For a comparisonof the features in eachdifferent licensingpackage, visittheQLabwebsiteatfigure53.comqlab/buy2.3InstallingtheSoftware

Likemanyapplicationstoday,theQLabsoftwareisonlyaccessibleviadownloadthroughtheirbusinesswebsite:Figure53.com.WhetheryouwillbeusingthefreeortheProversionofQLab,thefirststepwillbedownloadingthesoftwarefromtheirwebsite.There isonlyoneprogram todownload– the freeversion is thesame platform as the Pro.Adding a license simply unlocks additional features.SomeoftheProfeaturescanalsobetestedinthefreeversion.

Whenyouclickonthedownloadicon,thesoftwarewillbegintodownloadasaZIP archive. Depending on how you have your computer set up, it will likelyappearinyourDownloadsfolderasaprogramiconcalledQLab.DragtheiconfromyourDownloadsfolderontoyourdesktoporintoyourApplicationsfolder.Onceyouhavedoneso,youaresetupandreadytogo!

2.4AddingaLicenseProvidedyouareinterestedinusingtheadvancedapplicationsintheProversionofQLab(manyofwhichwillberequiredfortheprojectsthroughoutthebook),youwillthenneedtovisittheFigure53websiteagaintodownloadyourlicense.As mentioned earlier in this chapter, there are a number of licensing optionsdependingonyourneeds.Whetheryougowitha licensepurchaseor a rental,bothtypesoflicensingareavailableforpurchasethroughtheQLabwebsite.Forpurchase, you simply selectwhich licensepackageyouprefer andpay throughtheirsecureserver.Fortherental,youindicatethetypeoflicense,startingdate,andthenumberofdaysrequiredforyourpurposes.Forbothmethods,youwillreceiveane-mailthatincludesbothyourreceiptandthelicenseforinstallation.Installingthelicenseisassimpleasdraggingtheinstallationfilefromthee-mailontotheQLabicon.

Whenyoustartupthesoftware,youwillbeaskedtoauthorizethelicense.Youmust be online in order to do this, or youwill have to go through an offlineauthorizationprocessthatgivesyouacodetosendtoFigure53viae-mailfromanothercomputer.Onceyouhavedoneso,theywillsendbackanauthorizationfile that youwill need to then install onto the computer. If you do not do sowithin a set period of time, the license will revert to basic functions untilauthorizationoccurs.

Tomake certain that your license was correctly installed, simply open up theQLabsoftwareandclickthewordQLabintheMenubaratthetopofthescreen.Inthedrop-downmenu,clickonManageLicenses.Thiswillopenaninterfacethat shows you the licenses installed on your computer (Figure 2.1). It willindicatethetypeoflicensebundle,licenseterms,nameoflicensee,andenddate(shoulditbearental).

Figure2.1QLablicensingwindow.

Inadditionto the license, itwill showabutton labeled“deauthorizeanddeletethis license.”Thisbutton is important toremembershouldyoube installingthesoftware onmultiple computers. Standard licensing allows that you can installthesoftwareontooneprogrammingcomputer,oneplaybackcomputer,andonebackupcomputer(foratotalofthreeauthorizedinstallations).Asaprofessionaldesigner, onemight install the software onto a number of different computers.

Should you forget to deauthorize, though, you will lose one of your potentiallicenses (there is no way to deauthorize other than through QLab on theauthorizedmachine).

2.5OrganizationNomatterhowyouplanonusingQLab,youwillquicklydiscoverthathavinganestablished organizational method will make the process of programming,trouble-shooting,andplaybackmucheasier.Unlessyouarecreatingyourcuelistfromthegroundupon thecomputer tobeused forplayback (and, really,eventhen),itisimportanttocreatealogicalfilestoragemethodandremainconsistentacross each computer you use. In order to aid in this, I always create a showfolder tobe savedonto thedesktopofmy computer. Iwill typicallyname thisfolderfortheshoworprojectthatIamworkingon.Dependingonthenumberand/or type of files associated with the project, I might add a number ofsubfoldersinsideofthemastershowfolder.

Let’slookatahypotheticalshowfeaturingmusic,still imagery,andvideos.Forthis show, calledTheDistantThunder, I create amaster folder onmy desktopcalled (you guessed it) “Distant Thunder.” Within this folder, I create threesubfolders called “Music,” “Stills,” and “Videos.” Thiswill helpme organize theprojectasIgoalongandsavealotoftimeduringtheprocessofcreatingacuelist,sinceeverythingwillbeinalogicallocation.Itypicallytrytotakeitonestepfurther andmake sure that I name (or re-name) any files associated with theprojectassomethingverydescriptive.

Forexample, thatdistant thunderwewere talkingaboutbefore; in thisproject,let’s assume that there will be numerous different sound cues of thunder. Foreach of the thunder cues, I might make certain that they are numberedchronologically(i.e.Thunder1.wav,Thunder2.wav,andsoon),sothatwhenthetime comes to program, I don’t spend allmy time listening to them to decidewhatordertheyshouldbeplacedinforplayback.Itcouldbeassimpleasthis,oras complex as naming one “John_is_shot_and_dies_painfully.wav.” Ultimately,thissystemshouldbeuniquetoyouandyourthoughtprocess,asitisultimatelyintendedtoexistonlyforyourbenefitorthoseworkingontheproject.

One thing to consider is thatoncea show is savedononecomputer, itwillbelookingforthesamepathsonanothercomputerforplayback.Inotherwords,if

youcreatedyourshowfolderonthedesktopofonecomputer,thenmovedittothe Downloads folder of another computer, your cue list would not functionproperly (since all of the file paths would have been listed as Desktop notDownloads).Likewise,overtimeyourshowfoldermightbecomeclutteredwithdeletedfiles,unusedchoices,ormultipletakes.Ifyouaretransportingthisovertoanother computer for playback, you likely will not want to bring along thoseunused files. Since QLab 2, there has been a useful function called BundleWorkspacethataidsinbothoftheseproblems.

Once you are finishedwith your project and ready to transfer theWorkspacefrom one computer to another, simply click File button on theMenu bar andselect the BundleWorkspace option in the drop-down menu. This functioncreates a brand new folder for your workspace and a copy of all the filesreferencewithin it.All cues inyour cue list(s)will thenbeupdated and savedwith the new media files in the bundled folder. This can then easily betransferred to the new computer for playback. I strongly recommend alwayssavingthesetothedesktop,asitistheeasiestlogicallocationtodropthefileforothercomputers.

2.6PhysicalConnectionChapter1 details themanydifferent types of configurations onemight use forQLabsoundsystems.Keepinmindthat,foranytypeofsystemyouwillhavetosetupaphysicalconnectionbetweenthecomputerand thespeakers.For thosewithacomputerhavinginternalspeakers,youwillonlybeabletolistentoyourfilesinstereo.Itisimportanttoalwayslistentoyourfilesinafashionthatmostcloselyapproximatestheconditionsofyourproject.Whetherthefileisusedforamuseuminstallation,atheatrepiece,orarockandrollshow,youcannottrustthesound made by onboard speakers or even headphones to replicate the actualsounds heard once in the space. If possible, it’s nice to work with the samephysical connections, amplifiers, and speakers. Most of us cannot afford thisluxury,though,somakecertainthatyouhavefactoredintimetobeinthespacewith theequipmentbeforehandsoeveryoneelseon theprojectdoesn’thave towaitforyoutosetlevelsonthefly.

Asareminder,thebasicmethodsofconnectingyourcomputertoasoundsystemwill be either through an 1/8″ headphone jack (stereo) or through an audio

interface via USB/Firewire/Thunderbolt/PCI connectors. If using the1/8″connectormethod,makesuretousesometypeofDirectInputtobalancethesignal(seeChapter1,Section1.5fordetails).

2.7WorkspaceSettingsTothispoint,wehavemostlydiscussedhardwareandthephysicalattributesofsound systems. One final area to look at before jumping headfirst intoprogramming, though, is how to establish software preferences for how QLabwillbehaveonceyoubegintouseit.Thefollowingsectiondetailshowtodojustthat by usingworkspace settings. It is always important to look at workspacesettingbeforestartingaproject,asthereareseveralfunctionsthat,whenenabled,willmakeyourprogrammingmucheasier!Keepinmind,though,thatyoumaywellfindyourselfreturningtotheworkspacesettingstomakeadjustments.

Toaccesstheworkspacesettings,clickonthegear-shapediconinthelowerright-handcorneroftheprogramwindow(seeFigure2.2).Onceyouclickontheicon,the program’s interfacewill flip to reveal a newwindow entitled Settings for:UntitledWorkspace1.Thepage is separated into twocolumns: the left columncontainsthemenuforselectingvariouspreferencesettings;andtherightcolumnfeaturescontentchangesforeachmenuitemclickedontheleft.Itisimportanttonotethat,onceestablished,settingswillremaininplaceforallfuturefilesaddedtoyourworkspace.Inthesectionbelow,wewillgothrougheachofthesettingspossibilitiestogetyoureadytostartworkingwithsoundinQLab.Weskipsomeof the settings tabs in this section,as theyarenot related to soundcontrol.Goaheadandopenupyourworkspacesettingstoreferencewhilereadingalong.

General

TheGeneral settings (Figure2.3) are just that – settings related to the generalfunctionofyourQLabworkspace.Thesearebasicfunctionsthatgenerallyallowyou to control thevisual appearanceof cue lists, controlplaybackpositions, orsaveyoufromthelegworkofcuenumbering.Mostoftheseareself-explanatory.

Figure2.2Workspacesettingsicon.

• The first checkbox allows you to fire a trigger when theworkspace is firstopened. This could be particularly useful if you want to automate the GOcommandforacertaincuenumberattheopeningofthedocument.

•ThesecondareaiswhatissometimesreferredtoasDoubleGOProtection.ThedefaultminimumtimesetbetweenGO(firingacue) is setas0.0 seconds. Insomesituations (providedyoudon’thaverapid-firecues),youmightwant tosetaslightbufferof0.5secondstodefuseanyaccidental“double-clicks”fromtheoperator.Thesecondcheckboxinthisareacantypicallybeignored,unlessyouknowthatyouwillbeusinganX-Keysprogrammablekeyboarddevice(oranyotherhardwarethatdoesnotproducea“key-up”event). Ifyouintendtousethistypeofperipheraldevice,simplydeactivatethe“key-up”checkboxandyouwillbereadytogo.

• The third settingcontrols the incrementsofauto-numbering.Whenchecked,you can establish a numbering increment for new cues. The default is 1,meaningthateachcueinsertedwillprogresschronologicallybyadding1tothe

previous number. Sometimes, it is wise to leave a numeric buffer betweeninsertedcues.

•ThegeneralpreferencesalsoallowyoutocontrolthebehavioroftheplaybackpositioninQLab.Theplaybackpositionisanindicatorthatshowswhatcueisselected for playback once the operator hits GO. By default, the playbackpositionchangestoanycueyoumightclick(forinstancetoeditthesettingsina subsequent cue). If you deselect this checkbox, though, you can keep theplaybackpositionindependentofanycueyouselect.

•Thefifthgeneralsettingallowsforsettingthepanicduration.InQLab3,whenyoupressESC, thepanic commandwill begin; fadingout cueplaybackoverdefaultdurationsoastonotabruptlystop(particularlyusefulinlivesettings).Thissettingallowsyoutochangethe timefromthedefaultof1.5seconds toanyduration.

•Finally,thelastofthegeneralpreferencessimplyallowsyoutochangethesizeofcuerowsfromsmall,tomedium,orlarge.

Figure2.3Generalsettingswindow.

Figure2.4Keymapwindow.

KeyMap

OneofthemostversatileofQLab’sfunctionsistheabilitytoprogramHotkeys,or a pre-programmedkeyonyour keyboardused for triggering certain controlfunctions.Inthehotkeyinterface,itshowsthefactorysettingsprogrammedintoQLab for these controls (Figure2.4). For instance, the standard buttonused forfiring GO is the computer’s space bar. You can reassign any of the playbackcontrols to any key on the keyboard (alphanumeric, space bar, or control +alphanumeric). In addition, the ESC button is pre-programmed to panic all(meaningfadeoutanycueplayingoverabrieftimespan)ortoimmediatelyHardStopAllifyoudouble-taptheescapebutton.

OSCControlsandMIDIControls

Open sound control (OSC) andmusical instrument digital interface (MIDI) aretwoprotocolsused forcommunicatingwithawide rangeofelectronicdevices.SincetheuseofOSC,MSC,andMIDIiscoveredindepthlater,itisbesttosimplysaythesetwotabsestablishhowQLabcommunicatesoveranOSCnetworkorbyusingMIDIprotocol.Essentially,allofthesefunctionsexisttoallowforQLabtocommunicatewith, control, orbe controlledbyOSCorMIDIdevices (orotherinstancesofQLabrunningonnetworkedcomputers).

Audio:SignalFlow

QLabSoftwareSignalFlow

In order to better understand the following settings, it might be wise to firstdiscuss indetail the ideaofQLabsoftwaresignal flow. Iuse the termsoftwaresignal flow because, asQLab is a program, there is no true signal flow in thetraditional sense. Instead, the audio signal is routed through many differentsoftware patches and control functions before outputting to the audio device.Figure2.5illustratesthekeyconceptsofQLab’ssignalflow.Referbacktoitoftenforthefollowingdescription.

Figure2.5QLabsoftwaresignalflow.

AudioCue

The Audio Cue is heart of the QLab audio playback system. The Audio Cuetargetsanaudiofileforplaybackandallowsanumberofcontrolfunctionsliketime and looping, volume levels, output patch control, trim, audio effects, andmore.

AudioFile

Theaudiofileisadigitalrecordingofanaudiosignalsavedontothecomputer’sharddrive.This file is targetedby theAudioCue forplaybackbutnot, strictlyspeaking,acomponentofQLab.Thenatureoftheaudiofile,beitmono,stereo,ormultichannel audio, affects howQLabutilizes itwithin theAudioCue.ThenumberofchannelsintheaudiofileequatetothenumberofinputsfortheAudioCue.

Inputs

Each channel of the targeted audio file is translated as an input for theAudioCue.Typicallyspeaking,mostaudiofilesareeithermono(onechannel)orstereo(two channels). This means that, unless you are dealing with a multichannelaudiofile,mostAudioCueswillhaveonlyoneortwoinputs.Itisworthnotingthat,eventhoughmostfilesonlyutilizetwoinputchannels,QLaballowsforupto24.

Crosspoints

Crosspointscanbethoughtofasawayofroutingtheaudiosignalfromaninputinto a CueOutput. Each input channel alignswith a row of crosspoints to itsright.Theinputsendsthesignaldowntherowtoeachofthe48crosspoints.Inaudioengineeringterms,thisisreferredtoasbussing.Althoughthebus,orsignalpath,sendstheaudiosignaltoeachofthecrosspoints,itisuptotheprogrammerto“activate”thecrosspoint.Bydoingso,theprogrammerassignstheamountofaudio signal to enter the crosspoint and thereby travel into one of the 48 cueoutputs.

LevelsFaders(CueOutputs)

Eachcue,beitAudioorMic,hasthepotentialofoutputting48channelsofcueoutput into one of eight audio patches. The levels faderswithin anAudioCuecontroltheamountoftheaudiosignaltransmittedintotheaudiopatch.

AudioPatch

The audio patch is another layer of abstraction between the audio file and itsultimatedestinationofthespeakers.Essentially,QLaballowsforconnectingyourcomputertooneormultipleaudiodevicesatonce(uptoeightaudiopatches,intotal). The patch is the software link between QLab and the audio device ordevices.

AudioDeviceOutputRouting

ThefinallayertothesignalflowwithinQLabistheDeviceRouting.ByselectingtheEditPatchfunctionwithinQLab,youcanopenaninterfacethatthenallowsyou to route the audio signal from the Audio Cue into the desired outputchannelsoftheaudiodevice.Forthisstep,theAudioCueOutputfromaboveisnow the audio device’s input. By using the crosspoints matrix of the DeviceRoutingwindow,youthenroutethecueoutputintooneormorelevelfadersfordevice outputs. Following this, the device outputs the audio signal into theremaining components of your sound system (mixer, signal processing,amplifiers,andspeakers).

Audio:Settings

This settings tab controls all of the audio patches, volume limits, and defaultlevelsfornewAudioCuesaddedtoyourworkspace(seeFigure2.6).Inaddition,it allows for the editing of external audio devices, routing signals, and audiobussing.Thecontrolstructurecanseemabitintimidatingatfirst,butonceyouunderstandafewkeyconcepts,youcanbeginnavigatingthesystemwithease.

When first looking at the screen, you will notice that it is divided into threedistinctareas:AudioPatchesintheupperleft,VolumeLimitsintheupperright,anddefaultlevelsinthelowerhalfofthescreen.Itisthislastareathatwewillfocusonfirst.

Figure2.6Audiosettingswindow.

DefaultLevelsforNewAudioCues

Thedefault levels control panel (Figure2.7) is the starting point for setting uphowQLabdealswithsignalflowforAudioCues.Notonlydoesthispanelallowforthecreationofdefaultvolumelevels,butitalsoisthemethodforestablishingthepaththattheaudiosignalfollowsonitswaytotheaudiodevice.

TheMatrixMixerTheMatrixMixerisanimportantconceptinQLabthatwillbeusedinmultipleapplications,soitisessentialforyoursuccesstounderstandhowitfunctions.Inshort,thematrixmixerisacombinationofcontrolsthatallowforsignalroutingandvolumecontrol.Thisinterfaceinitswholemighttakesomegettingusedtofor the beginner, as the graphic interface changes somewhat for its use indifferentscenarios.ThefollowingsectionbreaksdowntheMatrixMixerinterface

and its use. Refer to “Audio: Signal Flow” section to see how many of thefollowingcomponentsfitwithinthelargerpictureofthesoftwaresignalflow.

InputsThecolumnonthelowerleft-handsideofthescreen,numbered1–24,representsthecueinputs.Asdiscussedearlier,eachAudioCuehasthepotentialofupto24audioinputs.Inastandardaudiofile,therewilllikelybeoneortwoinputsonly.Foramultichannelaudiofile,youcouldhavemultipleinputchannels.Eachinputcorrespondstothecrosspointsrowdirectlytoitsright,listed1–48.

Figure2.7DefaultlevelsfornewAudioCues.

CrosspointsCrosspoints are a method of assigning an input signal to a Cue Output. Thecollection of all of the crosspoints is referred to as the crosspoints matrix. Asmentioned earlier, each audio input is bussed to every crosspoint to its right,

though they can be set tomute. In a two-speaker stereo configuration, input 1wouldbeassignedtocrosspoint1initsrow.Input2wouldthenbeassignedtothecrosspoint 2 in its row.Eachof these faders is connected to the cueoutputlistedatthetopofitscolumn.

CueOutputsEachAudioCuehasup to48possiblecueoutputs,as representedby the levelsfaders at the topof the columns.Each column, 1–48, receives anyaudio signalthat is turned on in the crosspoints matrix beneath it. Each cue output cantherebyreceiveanaudiosignalfromanyofthe24audioinputs.

By default, input 1 is assigned to cue output 1. This is repeated for eachsubsequent channel, with input 2 connected to cue output 2, and so on. Thistypicallymeans that the leftchannelofaudio is in fader1andfader2controlstheright.Foramultispeakersystem,though,itiscommontoreassignthesignalsothat inputonebusses intomultiplecrosspoints,allowingfortheaudiosignalfromchannelonetobepassedintomultiplespeakers.

SettingLevelsFadersThe sliders at the topof thewindoware referred toas the levels faders.Theselevelsfaderscontroltheamountofaudiosignalthatgoesthroughthecueoutputsandintotheaudiopatch.Thissliderisagraphicrepresentationofclassicfadersonasoundboard.

In audio, the term UNITY is an important concept to understand. On atraditionalsoundboard,thereisapointroughly2/3ofthewayupthesliderthatwillbe labeledas+0dBorUNITY.Essentially, thismeans thatyouareneitheraddingtonortakingawayfromtheoriginalaudiosignal.ThisiswhythefadersalwaysdefaulttothispositioninQLab.

Another key concept that can be confusing to the beginner is that 0does notmeannovolume.Totakethevolumeallthewaytosilence,pullthesliderdowntothebottomandnoticethatitnowhasnotextintheboxbelowit.Thismeanstherewillbenoaudiosignalpassingthroughthechannel–orthatitisMUTED.Aquickkeythatcanhelpyouinsettinglevelsisoption+clickontheslider.ThiswilltogglebetweenMUTEandUNITY.

MasterFaderYouwillnote that there isamasterfader on the left of the screen (positioned

abovetheinputscolumn),inadditiontothesub-fadersinarowtotheright.Themaster fader controls themix of all outputs, relative to their original levels. Inother words, the master controls the overall volume output of the combinedgroupoffaders,allowingfortheincreaseordecreaseofallcueoutputsfromonefader.

Pro-Tip

A goal of any audio project is to create a balanced sound mix, with theappropriateamountofaudiocomingoutofeachspeaker.Frequently,differentamplifiers (even thoseof the samemakeandmodel)will output atdifferingvolume levels.Outputtinganaudio filewith the sameoutput levelsoneachchannel will, in this situation, lead to an unbalanced mix – where somespeakers output at louder levels than others. To eliminate this problem, it isbest to set up default levels for each of your outputs, so that each speakeroutputsatanidealvolume(evenifthismeansthatitneedstoreceivemoreorlessofaninput).

The simplestway to setdefault levelswouldbe togo intoQLabandplayamonoaudiofile.Gotothe“Device&Levels”tabofyourAudioCueandseteachofyouroutputsliderstoMUTE.Slowlybringthemupuntilyougetyourdesiredmix.Onceyouhavedonethis,writedownthelevelsandgobackintotheAudioSettingsandsetthesliderstomatchthoseinyournotes.Thiswillguarantee thateachAudioCueyouaddtoyourworkspacewillbeginat theappropriatepresetaudiolevels.Ifyoufindaneedtochangetheindividualcue,youcandosowithinthe“Device&Levels”tabfortheAudioCueinquestion.

Keepinmind,youwillneedtohaveadifferenttypeofmixforeachspaceandshowyouworkon.Sometimes,itispreferabletohaveallspeakersoutputtingat the same volume. At other times, it might be advantageous to have thehousefrontspeakersatalouderlevel.Thedesignermustdeterminetheneedsforeachgivenproject.

Default,Silent,andGangsAnother set of tools for the defaultAudioCue levels are set all default, set allsilent, and assign gangs. The first two need little explanation. Set all defaultreturnseachinputto0dBandsetsthecrosspointsmatrixtoone-to-one.Setall

silenttoggleseachinputandcrosspointto–infinity,therebymutingalloutput.The final tool, assign gangs, allows you to pair faders or even crosspointstogetherintogroups,sothatanyactiontakenbyonewillaffecttheoneslinkedtogether.Forinstance,onceyouhavesetyourdefaultlevelsforAudioCues,youmightwant togang together all ofyour stereopairs so that the frontofhousespeakers are paired together andwill either increase or decrease together. Thismaynotworkforallinstallations,butmanytimesitwillsaveyoulotsofworktodoso,ifpossible.

AudioPatches

OnceyouhavesetthedefaultlevelsfornewAudioCuesandassignedthesignalrouting,thenextstepistolookattheaudiopatch.AnaudiopatchisthedigitalpaththatanaudiofiletakesbetweenanAudioCueandtheaudiodevice.Thereareeightaudiopatches,whichcaneachbeassignedtoadifferentaudiodevice(eitheryourinternalsoundcardorexternalaudiodevices).AnyAudioCuecanbeassignedtooutputtooneoftheeightdifferentpatches,meaningthatyoucanhave separate sounds running to up to eight different devices. A friendlyreminder,though–ifyouwanttooutputtothismanydevicesatonce,youwilldefinitelywanttomaximizeRAM,busspeed,andhardwaredrivespeed.

Allavailableaudiopatchesareshownat the topof theAudioSettings tab.Thedefault setting for Audio Patch 1 should be “Built-In Output.” This is yourcomputer’sbuilt-insoundcardandspeakers.Ifyouwanttouseanexternalaudiodevice,clickonthearrowattheendoftheBuilt-InOutputbuttonandselectyourdeviceinthedrop-downmenu(seeFigure2.8).Ifgoingwithanaudiodevice,youwillneedtounderstandtheprocessofassigningDeviceRoutingforyouraudiodevice. These controls are found by clicking on the “Edit Patch” button to therightofthechosenaudiopatch.

Figure2.8Assigninganaudiopatch.

EditPatch:DeviceRoutingUponclickingtheEditPatch1button,awindowwillappearshowingthreetabs.TheCueOutputsandDeviceOutputstabsareusedalmostexclusivelyforaddingglobalaudioeffects.Assuch,wewillexamine these in laterchapters.Fornow,clickontheDeviceRoutingtablocatedinthecenterofthescreen(Figure2.9).

ThesecondtaboftheEditPatch1windowiscalledDeviceRouting.Thisallowsforroutingyouraudiototheoutputoftheaudiodevice.Built-InOutputwillonlybestereo(meaningtherewillbeonlytwochannelsofoutput–oneforleftandone for right). Thewindow is similar to theMatrixMixer in default levels fornewAudioCues,althoughitfunctionsslightlydifferently.

InthecaseoftheDeviceRouting,someofthetermsareabitdifferent.First,lookto the left of the screen in theMatrixMixer. Youwill notice that there are 48inputs,ratherthanthe24seeninthedefaultaudiolevelsearlier.ThisisbecausetheCueOutputsserveasinputsfortheAudioDeviceRouting.Thecolumntothe left of the screen labeled inputs corresponds to each of the 48 cue outputs

from an Audio Cue and indicates how much of the audio signal will betransmittedintothecrosspointsmatrixtotheright.Again,iftheinputlevelissetto0 (which is thedefault), then thismeans thatchanneloneof thecrosspointswill receive the full signal strengthof the audio signal. If necessary, you coulddecreasetheamountofsignalsothatoneormoreofyourcrosspointsreceivedadiminishedsignal.Toset the levelonthis,simplyclicktheboxtohighlightthenumber 0, then slide your mouse down to decrease volume or up to increase(notingthat0dBisthemaximumamount).

Figure2.9Deviceroutingtab.

CrosspointsUsingthecrosspointsmatrix,youwillselectadeviceoutput(oroutputs)foreachoftheinputsandassignthelevelofsignalfrom0dBUNITYallthewaydownto–60dB.Themostcommonconfigurationwouldbetoassigninput1tooutput1,input 2 to channel 2, and so on. In this configuration, eachAudio Cue’s level

fader corresponds directly to the same number of device output. Since theintentionforthisexampleistocreateabasicstereooutput,theninput1willberoutedintooutput1at0dBandinput2intooutput2at0dB(seeFigure2.9).Inthisconfiguration,Fader1willcontroltheleftchannelandFader2willcontroltherightchannel.Chapter3dealswiththeprocessofsettingupamorecomplexmultichannelsoundsystem.

VolumeLimits

After setting default levels and editing your audio patch, there is one finalfunction of the Audio Settings window. This important control feature is theabilitytoestablishvolumelimits–ausefultoolwhenconsideringthedifferencesbetweenequipmentandspaces.ThisfeatureislocatedintheupperrightcorneroftheAudioSettingswindow(seeFigure2.10).

TheMAX limit is a simple concept – allowing the user to set a peak level forvolume output. This function is best suited to protect equipment and hearing.Beforethecueingprocessbegins, it isbest togointothespaceforyourprojectand test the extreme limits of volume. Startwith a good rock songand slowlyraisetheMASTERslideruntilthevolumereachesanuncomfortablelevel.ThisisyourMAXvolumesetting.Thissimplestepcansaveyourequipmentfrombeingdamagedbyaninadvertentvolumespike.

Figure2.10Volumelimits.

On the other end of the spectrum, it is important to tell QLab what level isperceivedassilenceinyoursystem.IfQLabthinks–60dB(thedefaultMINlevel)issilent,butyoursystemissilentat–45dB,thenallofyourfade-outswillsoundtooabrupt,astheywillreachsilencefasterthanexpected.Toeliminatethis,usethe same song as above and slowly pull down the MASTER fader until youcannothearanyvolumeoutput.Notethe–dBlevelsettingatwhichyoucannothear sound fromyour speakers.Thisnumber isyourMINvolumeoutput.Thissimplestepwillsaveyoualotoftimeduringtechifyoutakeafewminutesupfronttosetvolumelimits.

Mic

ThenextworkspacesettingdealswithMicCues,anewfeatureaddedtoVersion3 that truly add a level of versatility to the software that did not exist before.

Now QLab can function both as a sound playback system and as a soundreinforcement system. In order to take advantage of theMicCue, though, youwill have to have an external audio device with inputs for microphones andoutputstosendtheresultingmicrophonesignal.Duetoclockinginconsistenciesbetweenseparatedevices,MicCuesmustalwaysusethesamedeviceforinputand output. It is also worth noting that the audio device used for Mic Cuesshould ideally have phantom power capability so that you use condensermicrophones that require the 48 V power signal to operate. Figure 53 has anexhaustiveuser-created list of audiodevices thathavebeen tested in theQLabenvironmentatwiki.Figure53.com.

Essentially, aMicCue allows you to insert into your cue list a command thatactivates the input (or inputs) of an external audio device and/ormutes them.ThroughtheMicPatchsettings,youcanroutetheaudioinputsignalproducedbythemicrophoneoutthroughanyofthedevice’soutputs.

Figure2.11

Micsettingswindow.

ThesettingstabforMicCuesasseeninFigure2.11mirrorsthatofAudioCues,without avolume limits control (as themaxandminvolumesare the sameasthosesetintheAudioCuesettings).ThereareeightMicPatchesthatallowyouto edit the device in the same fashion as anAudioCue. Likewise, there is theability to set default levels for new Mic Cues and the ability to gang. ThesesettingswillbeaddressedindetailinChapter7,MicCues.

Fade

FadeCuescontrolhowAudioCueseitherfadeinorfadeoutvolume.TheFadeCueisanessentialparttoeverysoundprojectinQLab,assuchspecialattentionshould be paid to the fade settings to ensure consistency and ease inprogramming.Figure2.12showsthefadesettingswindow.

Thefadesettingsfallintotwobasiccategories:(1)fadelengthand(2)fadeshape.At the top of the window, you will see that the default fade time is set to 5seconds.This is a nice time for amediumpaced fade.Althoughyoumay findyourself going considerably shorter or longer for individual fades, 5 seconds isgenerallyagoodstartingpoint.Theshortestfadedurationpossibleis0seconds,whichrepresentsaninstantaneouschangeinlevels.

Thesecondaspecttoaddressisthefadecurveshape.Asadefault,the“S-Curve”appears in the curve shape dialog. You could also choose to create your owncustom fade curve, shouldyou sodesire.When lookingat thegraph, there aretwobasiccomponents–timeandvolume.The“x-plane”showstimeinseconds,whereasthe“y-plane”showsvolumeindB,withthebottombeing–infinityandthetopbeing0dB.Lookingatthesettingspanels,thegraphontheleftindicatescurves for fade-ins,whereas the graph on the right indicates fade-outs. The S-curve isanicestartingpoint formost fades,as it isasubtle fade. Ifyoufindaneedtochangethefadecurveforanindividualfadeinyourworkspace,youcandosointheEDITwindowforthatparticularFadeCue.

Figure2.12Fadesettingswindow.

Group

GroupCuesettings(Figure2.13)establishthedefaultmodeforhownewGroupCues behave when inserted into your Workspace. Group Cues allow you tocombine multiple cues into one common folder for playback in your cue list.There are four differentmodes for how the cues inside a group (referred to aschildren)fire.UseofdifferentmodesiscoveredindepthinChapter9.Fornow,Iwouldrecommendleavingthemodesetto“startfirstchildandenterintogroup”asthisisthemostcommonuseoftheGroupCue.

Wait

Thefinalaudio-relatedsettingisfortheWaitCue(Figure2.14).Thewaitsettingsallow you to establish the default duration for aWait Cue. AWaitCue doeswhat onemight expect – inserting a pause into playback for a predeterminedamountoftime.ThiscueisonecreatedforflexibleprogramminginQLab.Each

cue has the ability to add either a Pre-Wait or a Post-Wait adding apredeterminedamountoftimeeitherbeforeplaybackorafter.QLabalsoallowsfor the use of a Wait Cue in this same way, to insert fixed pauses in yourplayback. Whichever method you choose to employ is a matter of personalpreference.

Figure2.13Groupsettingswindow.

Figure2.14Waitsettingswindow.

3SettingUpQLabwithYourSoundSystem

Aswelearnedearlier,QLab’sdefaultsettingisstereooutputunlessconnectedtoanexternalaudiodevice.Forbasicsoundsystems,thiscouldbeallthatyouneedfor functional sound playback. In many situations, though, it is necessary tocreate directional sound, sending your audio signal to speakers positionedaroundyouraudiencesotheaudiohasarealisticfeeloriginatingfromthecorrectlocation.Nothingkillsthecredibilityofasounddesignlikehavingmusicfromanonstagerecordplayerringoutthroughthehousespeakers.Weallknowthatthesound should originate from the object that creates the sound. Luckily, withQLab,anaudiodevicewithmultipleoutputsandafewspeakers,youcanmakedirectionalsoundwithease.

3.1MultichannelSoundSystemsAmultichannel sound system is a type of sound system that incorporatesmultiplespeakersforsoundplayback,eachwithitsowncontrolchanneltherebyallowing for the maximum flexibility of volume and panning. This concept isoftenconfusedwithsurroundsound,becauseof itssimilarity. It is importanttonotethattheconceptswearediscussing,thoughsimilar,arenotthesameasthesurroundsoundfound inyour localmovie theatre.Surroundsoundmixing isacomplex process of assigning direction within the DAW (digital audioworkstation). The multichannel method used in this chapter can be a stereosignal routed to individual speakers within QLab or a multichannel WAV filewitheachchannelpre-assignedtoanindividualspeaker.Also,itisimportanttonote that for the purposes of this chapter,wewill discussmultichannel soundsystemsspecificallyforthelivetheatreenvironment.Althoughwewillfocusontheatre, these principles are applicable for any type of project from outdoorvenuestofoundspacesortrade-showfloors.

Figure3.1Amultichannelsoundsysteminstallation.

For thepurposesofdiscussingmultichannelsoundsystems,wewilluseabasicsystemlayout that iscommontomanytheatres (seeFigure3.1). In thissystem,thereareeightindividuallycontrolledspeakers–threearestereopairs,withthelasttwobeingusedontheirown.AsyoucanseeinFigure3.1,speakers1and2

arethestereopairs(meaningspeakeronegetstheleftchannelandtwogetstheright channel) located on the proscenium. Speakers 3 and 4 are stereo pairslocated in the front sides of the auditorium. Speakers 5 and 6 are stereo pairslocatedintherearsidesoftheauditorium.Speaker7 isasubwoofer locatedonthestage–inthiscaseintherearofthestage,pointedtowardthebackwallofthetheatretodiffusethesound.Finally,speaker8islocatedinsideofapropusedonstage during the show – that pesky record playerwementioned earlier. Allaudiofilesbeingusedarestereo,butwewillconfigureQLabtosendthosetwochannels to any of the eight independently controlled speakers to createdirectionalsound.

3.2ExternalAudioDevicesAs mentioned in earlier sections, an internal audio card or an external audiodeviceisnecessarytooutputaudiofromQLabtoyoursoundsystem.Likemostcomputerhardware,thereareanumberofdifferentbrandsandmodelsofaudiointerfacesthatonecanchoosefrom,buttheyallperformthesamebasicfunction– to serveasan input/outputdevice (I/O).This equipmentallowsyou to inputfrom an analog signal like a microphone or take a digital signal fromUSB/Firewire/PCI cable and send the signal out through different outputchannels.

Forthepurposesofbetterunderstandinghowsuchadeviceworks,let’sexaminea common interface used for theatrical applications: the Echo Audiofire 12(Figure3.2).EchoisaCalifornia-basedcompanythathasspecializedincomputeraudiosolutionsforover30years.TheAudiofire12isanIEEE-1394a(commonlyreferredtoasFirewire400)interface.IntermsofI/Ochannelsforthepricerange,the Audiofire packs quite a punch. In addition to signals received from theFirewire, there are 12 balanced ¼″ TRS analog I/O channels with MIDI I/O,digitalsyncingviawordclock,and24bit192kHzsamplerate.Oneof thebestfeaturesisthat,withtwoFirewireports,youcandaisychaintwounitstogethertoachieve24channelsofI/O.

ThestrengthoftheAudiofireunitincombinationwithQLabisthatyoursoundsystemautomaticallybecomescapableofbothmultichannelaudioplaybackandalsoup to12channelsofaudioreinforcement (microphonesplugged in toyoursystem). It is worth noting, though, that since the Audiofire 12 does not have

phantompower,microphoneswouldbe limitedtothedynamicvariety. Ifusingcondenser mics, either look for a different type of audio interface or use anexternalphantompowersupplier.Inthefollowingsection,wewilllookathowtosetupQLabtosendaudiothroughtheappropriatechannelsforoureight-channeltheatreconfiguration.

Figure3.2TheEchoAudiofire12Firewireinterface.Photocourtesy:EchoDigitalAudio.

3.3SettingUpQLabwithanAudioDeviceNow thatweunderstand the basics of how an audio interfaceworks, the nextlogical step is to seehow to setupQLab to “talk” to the interface inquestion.Thereareafewstepstogothroughinordertomakeitworkcorrectly,butonceyou have done so, programming for yourmultichannel sound system inQLabbecomesasnap.

Asmentionedinthebeginningofthischapter,wewillusetheAudiofire12forallofthefollowingexamplesandsetupQLabtosendouteightchannelsofaudiototheeight independent speakers inourmultichannel system.Sincemanyofyouwon’thavetheAudiofiredevice,Ihaveincludedanumberofphotographsinthissection tomake it easier to follownomatterwhat type of device you have athome.

If you are working with the free version of QLab and/or only using yourcomputer’sbuilt-inoutput,youwillonlybeable tosee twooutputchannels inQLab. This is because your basic computer sound card only has stereo output.Youcan,however,usethefreeversionofQLabwithanexternalaudiodeviceandexperimentwiththesesettings–justrememberthatyouwillbelimitedtoonly

twochannelsofoutputwhileusingthefreeversion.

3.4AudioPatchesInChapter2,weexaminedthebasicsoftheaudiopatchwithinSettings.Forthefollowingsections,wewillexplore theapplicationof theseconceptsandsetupour ownmultichannel sound systemwith QLab. The following project breaksdown how to configure the Audio Settings in order to have cue output onecommunicatingwithspeakerone,andsoon.

Project3.1

MultichannelAudioOutputStepOne:With QLab turned off, plug in your external audio device (follow theinstructionsprovidedbyyourmanufacturerfororderofoperations).

StepTwo:OpenanewQLabworkspaceandsaveit.I’vecalledmineAudiofireTemplate,withtheideathatIwillbeusingthissameconfigurationforotherprojectsinthefuture.

StepThree:ClickontheGearsymbolinthebottomrightcornertoopenupyourSettingswindow.First,selecttheAudioSettingswindow.Youraudiopatch1willlikelybeassigned toeither“nodevice”or“built-inoutput.”Clickon thearrowsatthe end of this button and change audio patch 1 to be assigned to yourexternalaudiodevice.Inmycase,itreads“Audiofire12.”SeeFigure3.3forascreenshotofthisstep.

Figure3.3Assigninganaudiopatch.

StepFour:

ThenextstepistosetupthesignalroutingdirectlyfromtheAudioCueintothe audio patch.To do this, look in theDefault Levels for newAudioCuespanelatthebottomofthewindow.

Figure3.4Defaultlevelssettings.

InFigure3.4,youcansee that thedefault setting for signals isaone-to-onerouting,meaning input 1 from the audio file goes to crosspoint 1,which isrouted to theoutputchannel1 levels faderof thedevice.Thezeroes lineupdiagonally, descending from the upper left corner down to the lower right.This setup would be ideal for a multichannel audio file with 24 differentchannels, each dedicated to an individual speaker. In our case, though, weonly have a two-channel signal (stereo) to route out to eight differentspeakers.Forthisreason,wewillonlybeusinginputs1and2.Channel1willtypicallybetheleftaudiosignal,withchannel2functioningastheright.

StepFive:Our goal is to set up the routing so that the cue output number (the levelsfadersatthetopofthescreen)correspondstotheappropriatespeakernumber,asseenback inFigure3.1. In this illustration,wecan see that speakers1, 3,and5are locatedon thehouse left,whereas speakers2, 4, and6areon thehouseright.Assuch,house-leftspeakersshouldreceivetheleftchanneloftheAudioCueandhouse-rightspeakersreceivetherightchannel.Speakers7and

8willreceivebothchannels.Understandingthis,input1shouldberoutedintocrosspoints1,3,5,7,and8,andinput2routedintocrosspoints2,4,6,7,and8(seeFigure3.5).

Figure3.5Thecrosspointsmatrix.

Thenextstepinthesignalflowistoedittheaudiopatch.SinceweassignedtheAudiofire12toAudioPatch1,itisthispatchwewillbeediting.LookintheAudioPatchportionoftheSettingsscreenandclickonthebuttonattheend of the row labeled “Edit Patch 1.” This will open up an interface forroutingsignalsandsettingthevolumelevelsforyourdevice(Figure3.6).Clickonthecentertab,labeled“DeviceRouting.”

Figure3.6Editingpatch.

StepSix:TheDeviceRoutingtabwilllookremarkablysimilartothedefaultlevelsfornewAudioCues(seeFigure3.7).Onedifferenceyouwillnote,though,isthatthereareonly12slidersatthetopofthescreen,whereastherewere48intheAudio Cue default settings. This is because there are only 12 channels ofoutputavailableontheAudiofire12.Thiswindowwillchangeitsappearancedependingonthenumberofoutputsavailabletoit.IfyouonlyusetheBuilt-InAudioasyourdevice,thentherewouldonlybetwoavailableoutputs.

Figure3.7Deviceroutingtab.

Anotherdifferenceisintheinputchannels.AlthoughtheAudioCuesettingshadonly24inputspossible,thereare48forthedevicerouting.Thisisbecausethe inputs for your audio device correspond to the cue outputs from yourAudioCue settings. In otherwords, the 48 possible channels of cue outputsdirectlyrouteinastheinputsforyouraudiodevice.

Bysettingupthecrosspointsinstepfive,eachcueoutputnumbermatchesthespeakernumberforoursetup.Sincethedefaultdeviceroutingissetatone-to-one, youwill not have tomake any changes to the device routing settings.Withthesesettings,cueoutput1willcontrolspeaker1andsoforthdowntheline,speakers1–7.

StepSeven:Onefinalstepthatcanhelpwithfuturetroubleshootingistheabilitytolabelyourcueoutputs through theEditPatchwindow.Clickon theCueOutputstab to open the window. These settings are typically used for assigning anAudio Effect to your cue outputs, but can be very useful in that each cue

outputcanberenamedfromtheiroriginalnumberingsystemtoanidentifier.In the case of our theatre setup, I thought it might be useful to label cueoutputs1–7bytheirindividualspeakerdescriptions(seeFigure3.8).Irenamedcueoutput1toPROL(prosceniumleft),andcueoutput2asPROR.Bygivingeach speaker its own name and number, this can assist in clearing up anyconfusion during the cueing or troubleshooting process. Click “Done”whenfinishedandallofyourdeviceeditingwillbesaved.

Figure3.8Namingcueoutputs.

StepEightSaveyourwork!Thiswillnowfunctionasatemplateforyourmultichannelsoundsystem.

3.5AudioDeviceVolumeLevelsAsasounddesigner,youmightfrequentlyfindyourselfworkingononetypeofaudiointerfaceforyourprogrammingandthengoingintoaperformancespacewith a different type of audio interface altogether. This can lead to someinteresting changes to the volume settings for your show, as different audiointerfaceswillinvariablyoutputatdifferentvolumesfromlocationtolocation.Ifyouwereunabletochangetheoutputlevelsonthenewaudiointerface,itwouldmean hours of re-programming to get the show set to the appropriate volumelevels. Luckily, QLab addresses these differences between audio devices byallowingfortheeditingofvolumesettingsofthedeviceinquestion.

LikesettingtheDefaultLevelsfornewAudioCuesinChapter2,thisprocessissimple, but will require some quiet time alone in the theatre to fine-tune thevolumesettingsforthatparticularlocation.Onemightaskwhyitisnecessarytoset the volume levels through the device, if there are default level settings foreachAudioCue?Thesimplestansweristhatthepurposeofsettingthevolumeoutput for your audio device should be tomake certain that there is an equalamount of audio coming from each speaker in the theatre. In this way, anysubsequent levelchangescanbedonewithinthe individualAudioCueandthebalance(orunbalance)occursthroughmanipulatingtheAudioCueinquestion.

Project3.2

BalancingAudioDeviceOutput

For the following project, you really will need to have some level ofequipmentbeyondthebasiconboardspeakersonyourcomputer.Theprojectwilltakeyouthroughtheprocessofbalancingtheoutputforyoursystem,sothat all speakers sound appropriate to your desired mix. Use the savedWorkspacefromProject3.1aboveforthisproject.

StepOne:Tomakechanges to theoutput settingsofanyaudiodevice,eitheropen theSettingswindowandclicktheEditPatchbuttoncorrespondingtoyourdeviceorclicktheEditDevicebutton(asmallbuttonwiththreedotsinsideit)intheDevice&LevelstabofyourAudioCue(seeFigure3.9).

Figure3.9Editdevicebutton.

StepTwo:On selecting the Edit Patch window, you will need to select the DeviceRoutingtab.Onceyouhavedoneso,youwillseethesameinterfaceusedinSection 3.4 earlier to assign routing. Instead of focusing on the crosspointsmatrix, though, this time,wewill lookat the levels faders at the topof thewindow.Thesesliderscontroltheoutputfromeachphysicalchannelonyour

audio device. As discussed in Chapter 2, these sliders are a graphicrepresentation of the classic faders on a soundboard. By default, themasterandsubsequentoutputchannelswillbesetto0dBorUNITY.Asareminder,thismeansthatthesignalcomingintotheaudiodevicewillbeoutputexactlyas received.There is thepotential, though, to eitheramplifyordecrease theamount of audio signal going out of each channel. It is by adjusting theseslidersyouovercomeanydifferencesinthedefaultspeakervolumelevelsandcreateabalancedmixinyourtheatre.

StepThree:Inordertogetabalancedmixonthespeakeroutput,firstpositionyourselfinthe center of auditoriumof the theatre so as to get a realistic perception ofwhatyouraudiencewillbehearing.Theprocesswilllikelyrequiregettingupandmovingaroundsome,butthecenterisagoodplacetostart.

StepFour:Pull a test song into yourworkspace as anAudioCue set to Infinite Loop.PressGO.Atthispoint,gobacktotheDeviceRoutingtabandpullallbuttheMASTERvolumeslidersdown tomute.For the followingsteps, it isbest toeither(1)setupanadhocnetworkbetweenalaptopandyourQLabcontrolcomputer so you can screen-share and control QLab live; (2) use the QLabiPad app to access QLab and control the Settings live; or (3) bring in anassistant to run QLab for you while you give them thumbs up or thumbsdown signals from the auditorium for setting levels. In either case, it isessentialtoactuallylistentothechangesbeingmadeinrealtimeratherthanrunningbackandforthandtryingtorememberwhatitsoundedlikebefore.

StepFive:Slowlybringupyourfaderforoutput1untilthevolumereachesalevelthatisalmostuncomfortable,butnottooloud.Thisprocessisfairlysubjective.Thepurposeofsettingitlouderthanthedesiredplaybacklevelfortheshowcomesfrom the fact that the theatre’s acoustics will change when you have anauditorium full of patrons. Each bodywill serve to absorb and dampen theoverallsound,therebydecreasingthevolume.Thisiswhyitisalwaysagoodideatomakeyourinitialsettingsabitlouderintheprogramming.

StepSix:Onceyouhaveachievedthedesiredvolumelevelforchannel1,repeatthesesteps for each of your auditorium speakers. This can be a timeconsuming

process,butit iswellworththewaittoensureyourdesignsoundsthesamefrom throughout the house. The ultimate mix is the designer’s preference.Somedesignersmight prefer the proscenium speakers to be louder than thehousespeakers in theirmix,but I find iteasier to setallof the levelsat thesameoutputvolume,and thenchange the standardmix through thedefaultaudiolevelssettings.LikemostthingsinQLab,thereareanumberofwaystoachievetheendgoal.Theprocessshouldultimatelybetheonethatmakesthemostsensetothedesignerandbestfitstheproject.

3.6AudioEffectsandHowtoUseThemAsdiscussedinearlierchapters,QLab3hastheabilitytouseAudioUnits(AUs)toaffecttheaudiosignalinsomeusefulways(i.e.equalization,pitch-bending,hi-pass filtering, reverb, delay, andmore). There are threemethods of usingAUs:eitherasanindividualeffectononeAudioCue;asaglobaleffectsendappliedtoaCueOutput;orasaneffectappliedtoadeviceoutput.Inthissection,wewilldiscuss the last two methods. Utilizing Audio Effects on Audio Cues will becoveredinChapter5:AudioCues.

AudioEffectsandCueOutputs

CueoutputsaresignalssentoutfromtheAudioCue.Theyroutedirectlyintooneoftheeightavailableaudiopatchesandthenintoaninputoftheaudiodevice.Asseeninprevioussections,thesecueoutputstypicallycontainanaudiosignal.Inthe case ofAudio Effects, though, a cue output can be created for the specificpurposeofapplyingaglobaleffecttoyourplayback.

ApplyingAUstoacueoutputiscomparabletotheuseofanAUX,orEFFECTSRUN,intraditionalrecordingterminology.Typicallyspeaking,anAUXisusedtocreate a sub-group controlled by one fader. This is often referred to as anEFFECTSRUN,sinceoneofthebestusesfortheAUXistoassigncertaineffects(likereverb)toagroupofsignals.

InQLab,assigninganeffecttoaCueOutputcreatesadigitalpathforyoursoundsystemthatroutesyoursignaldownapathwithoneormoreAUsassignedtoit.TheseAUsactassignalprocessors,changingthesoundof theaudiosignalandexporting this changed signal as a separate channel on your Audio Cue. By

raising the level on the CueOutput slider, you can control the amount of theaffected signalheard inyourmix.Thepossibilities arenearly limitlessonhowonemightusethisinalivetheatreenvironment.

Currently, only AUs that output in mono are available for applying to a CueOutput. Of the Apple AUs, this means that the AU Matrix Reverb cannot beappliedtoaCueOutput.

Project3.3

CreatinganIllusionofDistancethroughAudioEffects

Onecommoneffectfrequentlydesiredistheneedtomakeanaudiorecordingsound like it is coming from the distance.Certainly, you could justmake itsofter, but that doesn’t really emulate a distant sound. For sounds in thedistance, higher frequencies are eliminated and more of the low and midfrequencies persist. To achieve this effect throughQLab,wewill use a low-pass filter; an AU that allows frequencies lower than the set limit to passthrough, whereas anything higher will be eliminated. With QLab 3 AudioEffectscapabilities,youcanapplyeffectstoCueOutputs,sothattheseeffectsarealwaysatthereadyforanycueinyourcuelist.Bydoingso,youcanaddalow-passfiltertoanycuebysimplyraisingtheassignedCueOutputslider.Thefollowingprojecttakesyouthroughtheprocessofsettingthisup.

StepOne:DownloadProject3.3fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:TheCueOutput assignment is a componentof editingyouraudiopatch, sothefirststepistoclickonEditPatch1(orwhicheverpatchyouwillbeusingforaudiooutput).Onceyouhaveopened this interface, lookat the first tablabeled“CueOutputs”asseeninFigure3.8earlierinthechapter.

StepThree:InordertoassignanaudioeffecttoaCueOutputchannel,simplyclickonthebuttontotherightoftheCueOutputlabeled“Addeffect…”Byclickingonthisbutton,adrop-downmenuopenslabeled“Apple.”ByhoveringovertheApplelabel, you will see a list appear of all of the available AU plug-ins for use(Figure3.10).Clickon theeffect labeled“AULowpass.”Thisassigns the low-

passAUplug-intotheselectedcueoutput.

Figure3.10AvailableAUplug-ins.

StepFour:WhenyouselectAULowpass, thecontrolwindowfor thisAUwill instantlyopen(seeFigure3.11).ThiswindowisnotapartofQLab,ratherthecontrolwindowdesignedbyAppleforthisAU.Thisisthesamewindowyouwouldseeinanyapplicationusingtheplug-in.Youcanthinkofthecontrolwindowasanexternaldevicewithknobsandslidersonthefrontforyoutoadjust.Fornow,closethiswindow.Wewillreturntoitinamoment.

Figure3.11AULowpasscontrolinterface.

StepFive:OnegreatfeatureoftheCueOutputseditingwindowistheabilitytorenamea cue output. For this instance, we will look at Cue Output 3, the nextavailableunusedcueoutputinoursystem(sinceweareusingstereooutput).Clickon theblackbox to therightofCueOutput3and type in“LOPASS.”Whenyouclickenterorselectanareaoutsidethebox,thenumber3willbereplacedwiththewordLOPASS.Thiswillbeusefulinthecueingphase,asallyour sliders will now be labeled with their function. Leave the Settingswindowand return toAudioCue 1 in your cue list.Click on theDevice&Levels tab of the Inspector Panel of this cue andyouwill see that the levelfaderisnewlylabeledwithitspurpose(seeFigure3.12).

Figure3.12Labeledfaders.

StepSix:ClickontheDeviceRoutingtaboftheEditpatch1window.IntherowbesideCueOutput3(nowlabeledLOPASS),inserta0ineachofthetwoslots.

StepSeven:Theprocessdetailedinstepsone–sixassignsCueOutput3asalow-passfiltereffects send,meaning theaudio signalwillbe routed throughCueOutput3withtheeffectappliedtothesignal.Onefinalstepmustbedoneinordertoenablethisfunction.Currently,theaudioeffectisappliedtoCueOutput3,butthereisnoinputsignalroutedintothefader.Inordertoaccomplishthis,slidethe crosspoints up to 0 for both input 1 and input 2 in the column locatedbeneaththenewlylabeled“LOPASS”fader.Thisroutestheleftaudiochannel(input1)andtherightaudiochannel(input2)throughCueOutput3toapplythelow-passfiltereffect(Figure3.13).Now,thefadercanbeusedtoincreaseordecreasetheamountoffilteredaudiosignalsentoutintothemix.

Figure3.13Assigningsignalflow.

StepEight:SelectAudioCue1 andpress the spacebarorGObutton in theupper left-handcorner.Thisfileissetonaninfiniteloopforuseinsettingupappropriateeffects. Select Cue Outputs 1 and 2 and pull them both down to negativeinfinity(- INF).Thiswilleliminateallaudiothat isnotaffectedbythe low-passfilter.

StepSeven:To re-open your AULowpass control window, look to the left side of the“Devices& Levels” tab. Youwill see theAudioOutput Patch. Click on thebuttonwith threedotsand thisopens theEditDevicewindow.By selectingCueOutputs,youcan scrolldown thewindowuntilyou seeLOPASS (CueOutput3).Intherowtoitsright,youwillseeAULowpassshown.Toremovethis audio effect, youwould simply click the “x.” For our purposes, though,click the “Edit” button, which will re-open the control window (see Figure3.14).WithyourAudioCueplaying,youwillnowbeabletoaffecttheamountoflow-passfilteringinyourmix.

StepNine:When theAULowpasswindow first opens, youwill notice a grid. The gridrepresentsthefrequencyandvolumeoftheresultingfilter.Theyellowdotwillbeon theright-handsideat6,900Hzand0dB. Ifyouclickon thisdotandslideittotheleft,youwillnoticethesoundqualitychanging.Pullthedottotheleftandstopat555Hz.Nextpullthedotdownuntilitreads–10dB.This

combinationshouldcreateaneffectthatsoundslikethebandisplayinginthedistance.

Figure3.14Editingtheaudioeffect.

Figure3.15EditingtheLow-Passfiltersettings.

StepTen:Once having gone through all of these steps, the low-pass effect will beavailableforanysubsequentAudioCueadded.Thisprocesscanbereplicated

foranytypeofmono-outputaudioeffectdesired.SimplyaddanAUeffecttoanothercueoutput, rename it,and itwillalsobeavailable forall cues. It isworthnotingthatmultipleAUeffectscanbeappliedtoonegivencueoutput.Youcancombine togetheragraphicEQ,delay, andhi-pass filter toone cueoutput,ifdesired.

3.7MultichannelAudioFileUsageOne final thought to consider once you have set up QLab 3 as the playbackcomponentofyourAudioSystem is theuseofmultichannelaudio files. Ifyouhaveanaudiodevicewithmorethantwochannelsofoutput,youcanconfigureyour system for directional sound playback through the individual outputchannels(asseeninSection3.1).Inthistypeofsystem,youcaneitherrouteanindividualAudioCue throughthechosenoutputsonacue-by-cuebasisoryoucancreateamultichannelaudiofile,aspecifictypeofaudiofile(typicallyWAV)that contains a number of channels imbedded within it. In this case, QLabautomatically recognizes the number of channels present in the audio file andassigns them to the respective output channels of your device. Simply put, byusingamultichannelaudio file,youcancreateadirectionalmixatyourDAW,ratherthanspendingthetimeassigningmultiplefilestooutputswithinQLab.

Asforthecreationofthesefiles,thereareanumberofDAWsonthemarketthatcan output multichannel WAV files. Audacity is one such program –downloadable free for Windows, Mac, and Linux available under the GNUGeneral Public License (meaning the software is an open source, free softwarethatcanbechanged to suityourneedsand free to sharewithothers).Youcanrecord live audio or edit audio files in Audacity and save asmono, stereo, ormultichannel audio formats. In addition to DAWs, there are also programsavailable thatcan take individualmonosoundfilesandcombine themtogetherinto a multichannel audio file. One such program is SoundFilesMerger, whichcombinesmultipleaudiofilesandexportsthemaseitherAIForWAVformat.

Likeany system, thereareprosandcons tousingmultichannelaudio files.Onthe positive side, you can use one file that contains several outputs imbeddedwithinit.Thismeansthatonecouldcreatecomplexsoundeffectswithmultiplelayers,eachcomingfromadifferentdirection,withouttheneedtoinputmultipledifferentaudio files.Thismakes itmucheasier toorganize.Ontheotherhand,

let’ssayyoucreatedacomplexcarcrashsequenceinthisfashionandeverythingworksperfectly–exceptforthefactthatyourdirectorhatesthecarhorn.Inthiscase,youwouldhavetogobacktoyourDAWandredotheentirefiletocorrectthatonecomponent.HadyoucreatedaGroupCuewitheachsectionimbeddedasachildwithin,youcouldsimplyreplacethatonesoundeffectontheflyandplayitbackforthedirector.So,eventhoughprogrammingaGroupCuemightbemoreworkupfront,itallowsforflexibilityandhasthepotentialtosavetimeinthetechprocess.Anotherconsiderationmightbethecomputerusedforplayback.Multichannel audio files use a considerable amount of CPU than runningmultiplemonoorstereoaudiofilesconcurrently.Ifyoudon’thaveanabundanceofRAM,perhapsthemultichannelrouteisnotbestforyourgivensituation.AswithmanyoftheotherQLabfeatures,versatilityisthekey.Whatisrightinonesituationwillnotbetrueinanother.KnowingthatyouhavetheabilitytoachievethesamegoalsinmultiplewaysisacornerstoneoftheQLabplatform.

4GettingtoKnowQLabSoundControl

Sound control has always been a benchmark of QLab and remains one of thegreatest strengths of the QLab 3 system. The following chapters deal withunderstandingtheintricaciesofQLab3asrelatedtosoundcontrol.

4.1UnderstandingCuesandtheCueStructureCuesarethefoundationofmosttraditionalcontrolsystemsforliveperformance,be it lighting, sound,effects,orprojections. In theatre, the time-testedmodel isassigning specific cue numbers to each type of event to occur during the liveperformance and then allowing the stage manager to call them out and theoperators to hit a go button, thereby triggering the cue. Within QLab, thestructureisquitesimilarinthatanyQLabfilewillbecomposedofmultiplecueswith varying specific functions combined into a singleworkspace for playbackpurposes.Understanding this structureandhowcues functionwithin theQLabsystemisessentialtomasteringthesoftware.

WhatIsaCue?

Inthesimplestterms,acueisaQLabcommandwithanassignedfunction.Forinstance,anAudioCueisacommandassignedtoplaybackagivenaudiofile.AFadeCueraisesorlowersthevolumeofanAudioCueorchangestheattributesofothercuetypes.AMIDICuesendsaMIDImessage,andsoforth.Onceyouinsertacueintoyourworkspace,itautomaticallybecomespartofacuelist.TheCurrentCueListisshowninthemiddlerowofthepage,thelargestallocationofspaceintheworkspace.Inthiswindow,cuesareshownintheirplaybackorderfeaturing awealth of information about the individual cues in the cue list.AnindividualcueandallofitslistedinformationisreferredtoastheCueRow.

Visually,eachcuerowfeaturesallthenecessaryinformationaboutthegivencueandallitsproperties.Thecuerowcontains(inorderfromlefttoright):1.CueStatus:Thisisthefirstcolumntotheleftsideoftherow,listinginformationlikewhether the cue is on deck, active (running), broken, or flagged. There areparticulariconstoindicateeachofthesedifferentstatuses(seeFigure4.1).

The playback position icon, a large gray arrowhead pointing toward a cue,denotestheplaybackpositionofthecuelist.Thisiconindicateswhichcueinon-decktobeplayedwhentheGobuttonispressed.Itwillbealwayslocatedfirstinthecuerow.OnceyoupressGo,theplayheadwillmovetothenextcueinyourcuelist,andanactivecueiconwillappearbesidethecuebeingplayedback.Thisiconisasmallgreenarrowheadpointingtowardtheactivecue.Aredxiconindicatesabrokencue,oronewithsomeprogrammingerrorthatdisablesitsplayback.Wheneveryouseethisicon,thecuewillnotbeabletoperformitsintendedfunctionuntiltheerrorisaddressed.Finally, a cue can be flagged as a visual reminder. Flagging is addressed indetail in Section4.2. For now, know that flagging a cuewill not change itsintendedbehavior.

2.CueType:Eachcueperformsaspecificfunction,whetheritisaudioplayback,video, fading, or sendingMIDI signals. The second column in the cue rowindicatesthetypeofcuebyinsertinganiconasagraphicrepresentationofthetypeofcue.

3.CueNumber:Eachcuewillhaveauniquenumbertoidentifyitforplayback.Whenacueiscreated,QLabusesachronologicalnumberingsystembasedonyour preferences established in the Settings menu. Typically, cues will benumberedbya sequenceof 1.Youcan later change the cuenumber,butnotwocuescanhaveanidenticalnumber.Likewise,shouldyouchoosetoassignletters toyourcues, thiscanbedone. Justbeaware that there is nobuilt-insystemforassigningletters,andeachcuewouldhavetobenamedmanuallyorbyusingscripts.

Figure4.1Statusicons.

4.CueName:Thefourthcolumnliststhecuename.Manycueshaveadefaultname,suchas thenameof their target file. Ifyouchoose todoso,however,thecuenamecanbechangedtoanything.Simplydouble-clickthecuename,typeinanewone,andpressenter.

5.CueTarget:Thefifthcolumnindicatesthecuetarget–thefileorQLabcueaccessed upon playback. A target may be a file (such as an audio file) oranothercueintheworkspace.

6. CueTimingandDuration: The following three columns entitledPre-Wait,Action, and Post-Wait all relate to the cue timing and duration. Pre-Waitreferstotheamountoftimesettoinsertawaitbeforetheaction(i.e.addinga1-secondpausebeforeascreamisheard).TheActioncolumnliststhedurationofthecue(howlongitwillplay).Finally,thePost-Waitreferstotheamountoftimesettobeinsertedasawaitaftertheactionoccurs.

7.ContinueMode:Thefinalcolumninthecuerowindicatesthecue’scontinuestatus.Frequently,anumberofcuesneedtobearrangedinsuchafashionastohavemultiplecuesfiresimultaneouslyortohaveasubsequentcuestarttheexactmoment one ends.To address theseneeds,QLab allows three options:Do not continue, Auto-continue, and Auto-follow. Do not continue is thedefault setting, and as such, there is no icon to indicate this setting. Auto-continue (firing both cues simultaneously) is indicated by a down arrow,whereas auto-follow (firing the subsequent cue once the first is completed)usesadownarrowwithacircleatthetop.TheseiconsareillustratedinFigure4.2.

CueLists

Cue listsare thecollectionofcuesorganizedtogether forapurpose.WhenyouclickGo,thecuelistwillplaybackcuesintheordertheywereprogrammedfromthe topof the list to thebottom (unless special cuesare inserted to change theplayback order). The playback position icon shows which cue is “on-deck” orreadytofire.Onceyoureachtheendofyourcuelist,hittingGowillperformnoaction unless the playback position is reset to a cue within the cue list. Anyworkspacecanhaveoneormultiplenumbersofcuelistswithinit.

Figure4.2Continuemodeicons.

Pro-Tip

TimeDisplayModes

For Pre-Wait, Action, and Post-Wait columns, time information can bedisplayed in one of two differentmodes: Time Elapsed or Time Remaining.ThedefaultsettingforanynewcuesisTimeElapsed,showingtheamountoftime that has passed in the cue’s playback.The alternatemethod shows theamountof time remaining,more likea countdown.To togglebetween thesedifferentmodes,simplyclickontheangledbracketiconbesidethePre-Wait,Action,andPost-Waitheadings.Youcanassigndifferenttimedisplaymodesforeachof thethreecolumns.Personally, IprefersettingPre-WaitandPost-WaitasTimeRemainingandtheActionasTimeElapsed,asthismakesmoresense tome.Whatevermethodyou choose, consistency is recommended, sothatyoudon’tconfuseyouroperator.

CueSequences

Cuesequencesessentiallymeantheorderinwhichcuesprogressandhowtheyinteractwithsubsequentcues.Asdescribedinthecuepropertiesearlier,eachcuehasacontinuemode.Cuescanbesetuptohavenocontinue,auto-continue,orauto-follow.Forsomeprojects,youcouldlinktogethereverycueinthecuelisttoplay automatically after the first cue is fired. The image frequently used todiscussthisconceptisaseriesofdominoes:tippingthefirstdominowillcauseallthesubsequentdominoestofalluntilastoppingpointisinserted.

Inadditiontoplaybackcues,therearealsospecialtypesofcontrolcuesthatcanmanipulate the cue sequence. For instance, a go-to cue could redirect the cuesequencetoacueoutoftheregularorder.

PlaybackPosition

Thereisonlyoneplaybackpositionforacuelist.Youcanselectanycuewithinyourcuelistandmakethatasyourplaybackposition.Onceacuesequencehasbeenfired,thentheplaybackpositionwillmovetothebeginningofthenextcuesequence(skippingbrokencues).

4.2TheWorkspaceWithinQLab,eachnewdocumentyoucreateiscalledaworkspace.Aworkspaceis the collection of cue lists and cues that will be played back for your liveperformance.Understandingtheworkspacesystemis fundamental tomasteringQLab. In the following section, refer to Figure 4.3 to identify the variousworkspacecomponents.Theworkspaceisbrokenintofourseparaterowsinthateachcontainssubsetsofcontrolandinformation.

Figure4.3TheQLabworkspace.

GO/Standby/NotesPanel/Flag

For eachworkspace, the top rowwill contain a panel used to both control thecuesandviewinformationaboutthem.IntheleftcorneristheGObutton.Thisbutton,whenclicked,triggersanyselectedcue.Inadditiontoclickingthebuttonwiththemouse,theGObuttoncanbeactivatedbyclickingthespacebaronyourkeyboard.

Looking to the right of the GO button will reveal the StandbyWindow. Thiswindow displays the cue selected to play once the GO button is clicked. Bydefault,itwillshowboththecuenumberandthename.

Directly beneath the StandbyWindow is theNotes panel. The function of theNotespanelistoallowforcreatinganotespecifictoacue.Althoughdisplayedas

asmallrowintheEditview,onceQLabisplacedinShowmode,thewindowissubstantiallylargerandallowsfortheprogrammertoleavenotesthatmightbebeneficialorinformativefortheQLaboperator.

Finally, in the lower right-hand corner of the row, there is a flag iconwith acheckboxbesideit.Clickingthisbuttonwillflagtheselectedcue,placingaflagicon in the cue row and also activating a small icon in the bottom right-handcornerof thescreenofatrianglewithanexclamationpoint inside.Clickingonthisbuttonadds the selected cue to theBrokenCues andWarningswindow; alistingofanybrokencuesorwarningswithinyourworkspace.Flaggingacueisagreatwaytomarkacuethatyouwanttorevisitatalatertimetocorrectastheflagdoesnotchangeanythingabouttheplaybackofthecuebutsimplymarksitforeasyreference.

Toolbar

ThesecondrowoftheWorkspaceisagraphicinterfacecalledtheToolbar,usedforaddingcuestoyourcuelist.TheToolbarisvisuallydividedintofivedifferentsections:Audio,Video,Fades,MIDI/OSC,andControlCues.Wewilldelve intothefunctionofthesecuetypesinthefollowingchapters,butthebasicuseofeachcategoryshouldberelativelyself-explanatory.

By clicking on any of the icons in the Toolbar, a cue will be added to yourworkspacedirectlyaftertheselectedcue.Thismethodessentiallyleavesthecueasaplacekeeperuntilyouaccessthecueandlinkittoamediafileorassignitsspecificaction.Inaddition,youcouldalsodragnewcuesintoaspecificlocationdirectlyfromtheCueBar.

TheCurrentCueList

Thethirdrow,whichtakesupthemajorityoftheworkspace,istheCurrentCueList.Anycueaddedtoyourworkspacewillappearinthiscuelist.Eachcuewillbeorganizedina listfashion,withindividualcuesonseparaterowscontainingallthepertinentinformationaboutthecue(suchascuetype,number,filename,target, timing, and cue duration). The organization of all cues into a logicalplaybackorderisthefoundationofQLab.

Pro-Tip

ForthoseusersofQLab3whoaretransitioningfromVersion2,twonoticeablyabsent features in the graphic interface are the Toolbox and Load to TimePanel.ThoughtheyarenotconstantlypresentinVersion3,therearestillquickkeysthatcanbeusedtoaccessthesepopulartools.

CueToolboxThe Toolbox is a hidden interface very similar in function to the Tool Bar.Pressing K will open the Toolbox in the left-hand side of the Cue Listwindow (Figure 4.4). For beginners, I recommend leaving the Toolbox openwhileprogrammingforthesimplefactthateachiconhasthecuenametypedout beside it. This allows for ease in selecting cues while you areunaccustomedtotheicons’meanings.Ifyouareworkingwithasmallscreen,though,itcertainlydoeseatupalotofscreenspace.

Figure4.4Thetoolbox.

LoadtoTimePanel

Load to Time is a function that enables loading a cue to a particular time,rather than having to play from the beginning. T will open the panel,replacingtheToolbar(Figure4.5).Therearetwomethodsofloadingtoatime:eitherbytypinginthedesiredtimeontheleftsideofthepanelorbyusingthescrubbartoslidethecircleicontoaparticularpointinthecue.Onceyouhavethedesired time selected, pressing the spacebarwill play the cue from thatselected point. A useful, though little known, function of the Load to Timepanelistheabilitytoinputanegativetime.Byinsertinganegativetime(i.e.–10),thetoolbarwillautomaticallyloadupyourcueorcuesequencetoapointthat is 10 seconds from the endof playback.This comes inhandy for thosemomentswhereyoujustneedtogototheendofasequence.

Figure4.5TheLoadtoTimepanel.

It isworthnoting that,untilyoupress the “Done”buttonon the right-handcorneroftheLoadtoTimepanel,itwillstayupforallsubsequentcues.Thismeansthat,forthosewhopreferredtheoldorganizationalsystem,youcouldsimplyopentheToolboxandLoadtoTimepanelandleavethemopenforthedurationofyourcueingsession(thoughitdoescoveruptheToolbar).

InspectorPanel

TheInspectorPanel,locatedinthethirdrow,islikelythemostusedcomponentoftheQLabworkspace,asitdescribeseveryavailableparameterfortheselectedcueinthecuelist.Dependingonthecuetype,therewillbetwotosevendifferenttabs in the Inspector Panel, allowing the programmer to affect every aspect ofplayback related to the cue. Much of Chapter 5 is dedicated to exploring thefunctionoftheInspectorPanel.

Edit/Show

Thebottomrowof theworkspace isnoticeablydifferent inappearance,withalightgraybackgroundframinginthebottomportionoftheprogramwindow.Intheleft-handportionofthisrow,therearetwobuttons:onelabeledEditandtheother Show. This marks another new approach to function for QLab 3 overprevious versions. In the past, there was only one workspace, and uponcompletingtheprogramming, theworkspacecouldbe lockedtoensurethat theoperatordidnotaccidentallychangeanyaspectoftheshow.InVersion3,thereare actually two different modes dedicated to these different roles. EditModeallows the programmer to access all the control functions of any cue,whereasShowModeonlyallowsforplaybackandlocksouttheeditingofanycueintheworkspace.

WorkspaceInformation

Inthemiddleofthebottomrow,thereisashortinformationalsectiondetailingthenumberofcuesandcuelistsusedinyourworkspace.

BrokenCuesandWarningsPanel

Movingto theright-handcornerof thebottomrow, therewillbeeither twoorthree icons, depending on your programming. The first icon, BrokenCues andWarnings, is only present if your workspace has either broken cues or if theprogrammeraddedwarningflags,asmentionedearlier.Abrokencueisdisplayedasaredxinthecuerowoftheaffectedcue.ByclickingontheBrokenCuesandWarningsbutton,apanelwillopenreplacingtheInspectorPanel.Thispanellistseachcuethatisbrokenorflaggedanddetailsthewarningforthesaidcue.Thisisafastwaytolookoveracuelistanddeterminewhaterrorsneedcorrecting.

CueListsandActiveCuesPanel

Thenexticonshownonthebottomright-handcorneristheCueListsandActiveCuesPanel.Byclickingon thisbutton,a sub-panelwillopen in the right-handcornerofthecurrentcuelist(Figure4.6).Thispanelperformsthreefunctions:toshowavailablecuelists,toshowwhichcuesareactive(currentlyplaying),andtocontroltheplaybackstateofallactivecues.

Figure4.6Thecuelist/activecuespanel.

CueLists

Theprogrammerhasthepotentialforcreatinganunlimitednumberofcuelistsfor any QLab workspace. This function allows for a thorough organizationalstructure.Thinkofusingonecue list forpre-showmusic,onefordifferentactswithinaplay,intermission,etc.Althoughthisisnotnecessary,itcanreducetheworkspaceclutterforaparticularly largeproduction. Inadditiontousingacuelist for playback purposes, sometimes Iwill create a cue list as a quick palettefrom which I copy/paste into my current cue list and then delete it afterprogramming.

Intermsofcreatingcuelists,youcanselectanycueornumberofcuesfromyourcurrentcuelistandsimplyclickonthe+AddNewListbuttontomovethemfromyour current cue list into a new cue list. In addition, once a cue list has been

created,youcansimplydragcuesfromyourcurrentcuelistintothedesiredcuelist.Ifyouwanttoaddthecuestothenewcuelistwithoutremovingthemfromthecurrentlist,simplyselectthefilesandcopyandpastethemintothenewcuelist. If youneed todelete a cue list, select thedesired cue list and clickon theDeleteCueListbutton.ItshouldbenotedthatcuelistsaretreatedasanyothercuetypeinQLab–theyaresimplyacuethatholdsothercueswithinthem.Byclickingonacuelist,youwillnoticethatasetofoptionsappearsintheInspectorPanel called Basics and Sync. These preferences control the basic namingfunctionsaswellasallowforthetriggeringofacuelistthroughHotkey,MIDI,WallClock,orTimecode.

Cuelistsaretiedtogroupcuesinafundamentalway.IfyouhaveaGroupCuecreated in your workspace and drag it into the Cue Lists Panel, it willautomaticallycreateacue list.Likewise,draggingacue list fromtheCueListsPanelintothecurrentcuelistwillresultincreatingaGroupCuecontainingtheselectedcues.

ActiveCues

ClickingontheActiveCuestabopensapanelshowingthenumberofactivecues(orcuescurrently inplaybackonyourcue list).Dependingonyourworkspacestate,therewillbeavaryingnumberdisplayedontheActiveCuestab.Ifnothingiscurrentlyactive,itwillread0ActiveCues,andclickingonitwillonlyshowablankscreen.Whenthereareactivecues,though,clickingonthetabwillrevealalistofactivecuesandtheirtimeelapsed(howlongtheyhavebeenplaying)withanxbuttonlistedattheendofeachrow(Figure4.7).Thisxrepresentsapanicbutton that, when activated, will fade the selected cue out over a 5-secondduration.ThispanelcanbeincrediblyusefulwhenusingFadeCuesinacuelist.AFadeCue canmute thevolumeof an audio cue, butunless it is set to “stoptargetwhendone,”theaudiocuewillcontinuetoplay,thoughmuted.Ifyouhavea series of these cues playing in the background, theCPUusage goes up eventhoughtheyaremuted.UsingtheActiveCuesPanelisaquickwaytospotifyouhavecuesplayinglongerthantheirdesiredduration.

ActiveCueControl

AtthetopoftheCueListandActiveCuesPanel,youwillfindfourbuttonsusedtocontroltheplaybackofallactivecues.ThereisStopAll,whichstopsallcues.

TheResetAllbuttonstopsplaybackandresetsallcuestotheiroriginalstate(i.e.movingtheplaybackpositionbacktothebeginningofthecue,etc.).Finally,thePause All button pauses all currently running cues, whereas the Resume Allbuttonresumesplaybackofallpausedcue.

4.3AddingCuesNewcuesareaddedinoneoftwoways.Thefirst,mentionedearlier,istousetheToolbox or Toolbar to insert a cue place keeper and then assign a target andattributeswithinthecue.Thesecondwayisbysimplydraggingamediafileintothe cue list. Bydoing this, the appropriate cue typewill be generated, and thetargetwillbepre-established.

Figure4.7Theactivecuespanel.

4.4SettingTargetsforCuesFormostcuesintheworkspace,therewillbeatarget,andnocuecanhavemorethanone target.Asmentionedearlier,a target iseitheramedia fileoranothercuewithinthecuelisttobeaffectedbytheselectedcue.Ifinsertingcuesasplace

keepers,asmentionedearlier,youwilleventuallyneedtoassignatargetforyourcue.LikemostfunctionsinQLab,therearemultiplewaystodothis.

Forcuesthatplaymediafiles(sound,video,MIDI),themethodisdifferentthanfromcues that affectother cues (fades, control cues). Formediaplayback cues,youcanclickonthearrowiconintheTargetcolumn,andawindowwillappearinwhichyouselectthedesiredfileandclickopen(seeFigure4.8).Ifthismethodseems to be time consuming, another option is to simply drag and drop thedesiredmedia file into the cue row. This will automatically target the file. Becarefultoactuallydropitonthedesiredcue,though,andnotaboveorbelow,asthiswillhavetheundesiredeffectofcreatinganewcueratherthantargetingthecueinquestion.

Figure4.8Theopentargetwindow.

Figure4.9Thebluerectangleindicatesatargetablefiletype.

Forsettingthetargetonacuethataffectsothercues,youeitherdragthedesiredtargetcue(i.e.Fadecue)ontothereceivingcue(theAudioCuetobefadedupordowninvolume)ordouble-clickonthetargetcolumnanduseyourkeyboardtoinputthecuenumberofthedesiredtargetcue.Whenattemptingtosetatargetthroughthedraganddropmethod,thecuewillshowyouifthetargetedfileisofa type that can affect. If you drag your cue to another and a blue rectangleappearssurroundingthepotentialtargetcue,thismeansthatitcanbesetasthetarget(seeFigure4.9).Ifthisdoesnotoccur,thecueisnotanacceptabletypeforyourcue.ExamplesforthiswouldbetryingtoassignaFadeCuetoanotherFadeCue.Inthiscase,oneFadeCuecannottargetanother,sothebluerectanglewouldnotappear.

4.5NavigationandViewQuickKeysAs with most programs, there are a number of quick keys to increaseproductivity. Someof themostuseful shortcuts fornavigatingyourWorkspacearelistedbelow.

Shortcut Description

↓Selectthenextcue(whencuelistisselected)

↑Selectthepreviouscue(whencuelistisselected)

+Movetothetopofthenextcuesequence

-Movetothetopofthelastcuesequence

→ ExpandtheselectedGroupCue

←CollapsetheselectedGroupCue

< ExpandallGroupCuesinthecuelist

> CollapseallGroupCuesinthecuelist

Selectthenextcue

Selectthepreviouscue

SelectthenextInspectortab

SelectthepreviousInspectortab

MovethePlaybackpositionup

MovethePlaybackpositiondown

Open/HideInspectorpanel

Open/HideToolBox

Open/HideCueLists/ActiveCuespanel

TogglebetweenCueLists/ActiveCues

ToggleBrokenCuesandWarningspanel

OpenSettings

Pro-Tip

SearchingtheWorkspace

One great productivity function in QLab 3 is the ability to search for textwithinyourcuelist.Simplyclick F,andasearchtoolwillopenintheplaceof theToolbar. Insert the text youwant to search for, andQLabwill searchthroughthecuenumbers,cuenames,filenames,andnotestofindthetextyouinputted. Itwillhighlightall theresults featuringthe text,andthenyoucanusethearrowkeycontrolsinthesearchtooltojumpfromresulttoresultuntilyoufindthedesiredreference.

4.6TheToolsMenuInadditiontothenumberoffunctionsavailablethroughquickkeysorbuttons,therearealsoanumberofproductivitytoolslocatedundertheToolsheadinginthecontrolwindowatthetopofthescreen.ThesetoolscaneitherbeactivatedthroughtheToolsmenu,orbyselectingthequickkeylistedbelow.

LoadtoTime– T

UsingthecommandTfunctiontogglestheLoadtoTimeMenuwiththeToolbar.

RenumberSelectedCues– R

This toolallows theprogrammer toselectagroupofcuesandrenumber them.Upon pressing command R, a pop-upwindowwill appear asking for the startnumberandincrementofchangeforsubsequentcues.

DeleteNumberofSelectedCues– D

Similartothelasttool,thisoneselectsthecuenumbersofaselectedsequenceofcues.Themaindifferenceisthat,insteadofrenumbering,thistoolsimplydeletesthecuenumbersaltogether.

JumptoCue– J

This tool allows for quicklymoving to a cuewithin the cue list. Simply clickcommand J and a pop-upwindowwill appear, askingwhich cue number youwouldliketojumpto.

CopyorPasteLevels–Shift+ C/Shift+ V

Manycueshavelevelssettingsthatindicatetheplaybackvolumeoftheselectedcue.Ifyouwishtocopylevelsfromonecueandapplythemtoanother,youmaydosousingthistool.

CopyorPasteIntegratedFadeShape–Control+ C/Control+ V

Likethetoolabove,thisoneallowsforthecopyingandpasting,butofintegratedfade shapes.An integrated fade isan increaseordecreaseofvolumewithinan

AudioCueseparatefromanactualFadeCue.Usingthistool,youcancopyandpasteanintegratedfadeshapefromoneAudioCuetoanother.

4.7TheWindowMenuTherearetwotoolsnotimmediatelyapparentinlookingattheworkspace,bothhidden away in theWindowmenu at the top of the screen. The first of thesetools, theAuditionWindow is a new component inQLab 3 that dramaticallychangesthewayinwhichyoucanviewyourcueswhileediting(Figure4.10).Toopentheauditionwindow,eitherclickWindow>Auditionwindowortype +shift+A.Thepurposeof theAuditionWindow is to allow the editingof cueswhile they playback. Once opened, the audition window serves as a newdestinationinwhichaudioandvideocueswillplayback(insteadofthenormalpatch towhich it is assigned). The benefit of this is the ability to edit and seeyourresultsinrealtime–especiallybeneficialforVideoCues.

Thesecondwindowtool is theTimecodeWindow,a specialwindowthatwillopen todisplay incoming timecode foryourworkspace.By clickingWindow>Timecode, youwill open thewindow as amoveable screen (Figure 4.11). Thiswindowwilldisplaythemessage“waiting…”untilthetimecodeisreceived;oncea transmitted timecode isdetected, thecounterwillbegin tickingaway.This isparticularlyusefulinsituationsforwhichtimecodeisusedasatrigger.

Figure4.10Theauditionwindowallowsforlivepreviewingofcueplaybackwithoutleavingyourworkspace.

Figure4.11

Thetimecodewindow.

5AudioCues

AudioCuesarethefoundationuponwhichQLabwasbuilt.Thefirstversionsofthe software dealt specifically with audio playback, though soon thereafterincorporatedanumberofnewfeatures.ThepurposeofanAudioCueissimple,to play back an audio file. Though the function of it is simple, the complexitywithwhichtheAudioCuecanbemanipulatedisquiteimpressive.ThefollowingchapterdelvesintotheAudioCueindetailandexploresitsuseandexecution.

5.1InsertinganAudioCueLikeanyothercue,anAudioCuecanbeinsertedthroughtheToolbar,ToolBox,orbydragginganaudiofiledirectlyintothecuelist.QLab3supportswiderangeofaudio file types includingWAV,AIF,MP3,andMP4.Likewise, theaudio filecanbemono,stereo,ormultichannelaudio.

5.2InspectorPanel:BasicsOnceanAudioCueisinsertedintoyourcuelist,theInspectorPanelcanbeusedtoaccessawiderangeofcontrolfunctionsrelatedtothecue.TherearefivetabswithintheInspectorPanelthathouseanumberofthesefunctions:Basics,Time&Loops,Device&Levels,Trim,andEffects.EachofthesetabscontainsspecificcontrolfunctionsthataffecttheplaybackofthegivenAudioCue.Thefirsttab,Basics,allowsformanipulatingthebaselineinformationabouttheaudiocue.Thetabisdividedintotwosections:cueinfoandtriggering(Figure5.1).

Figure5.1TheBasicstabcontainscueinformationandtriggeringoptions.

CueInfo

Alignedtothelefthalfofthescreen,cuebasicsdealswithinformationrelatedtocuenumbering,naming, targeting,andplayback.The following list includesallthecontrolparameters.

•Number:Assignacuenumber.•Color:Assignaspecificcolortothecuerow.Eachgivencuerowcanhaveone

of five colors. This allows for ease in assigning a visual representation forcertain cue types (i.e. red for sound, yellow for projections, green forMIDI,etc.).

• Name: This input allows for the naming of the cue. In addition, beside thenamewindow,therewillbeaniconthatcommunicateswhattypeofcueitis.

•Target:Assignaspecifictargetfiletoyourcue.•Pre-Wait/Post-Wait:Assignapre-orpost-waittotheselectedcue.• Continue: Establish the continue status of the cue as do not continue, auto-

continue,orauto-follow.•Armed:Thisbuttonallowsforyoutoarmthegivencue.Armingacuemeans

thatitwillperformitsassignedactionandpre-/post-waits.Thedefaultisforacuetobearmed.Shouldyouchosetodisarmacue,itwillstillperformpre-andpost-waits,butnotexecutethecueaction.

Triggering

QLaballowsforversatilityincontrol,offeringanabilitytopersonalizeplaybackcontrolfordifferentinstallations.ThetriggeringwindowallowstheprogrammertoexpandthecontrolpossibilitiesfromsimplypressingaGobuttontoallowingtheversatilityofMIDI,hotkey,wallclock,orTimecodetriggering.

•MIDITrigger:ThisbuttonallowsfortheprogrammertocontrolQLabactionsthroughMIDI,usingeitheraMIDIkeyboardorananotherdevice thatsendsMIDIcontrolsignals.Byselectingthisfunction,youcouldgivetotalcontroltoaperformerwhocouldtriggereffectsfromthestagesimultaneouslywiththeirmusicalperformance.

Pro-Tip

AssigningaMIDITrigger

OneofthemostcommonfunctionsofusingtheMIDItriggeringistoassignakeyonaMIDIkeyboardasatriggerforthecue.Byclickingon“Noteon”intheMIDI Triggerwindow, this sets the cue to be triggered by a note beingpressedonaMIDIkeyboardattachedtothesystem.YoucaninputthenumericvalueforthatnoteintheNoteinputandassignavelocitytoit(meaningthenotemust be keptwith certain intensity in order to trigger the cue) in theVelocityinput.Onetimesaverisclickingthe“Capture”button.Afterdoingso,amessagewillappearreading“waitingforMIDI”besidethecapturebutton.IfyoupressaMIDIkey,itwillassignthenoteandvelocitytomatchthisaction.

Sometimesvelocitycanbeasensitiveissueinassigningtriggers,andyoumaywanttoavoidassigningavelocityatall.Inthiscase,simplyinsertthewords“any”or “all” in thevelocity input.Thiswillmake the cue trigger any timethatMIDInoteisplayedonthekeyboard.Youcanalsoenter“greaterthan”or“lessthan”amountsformoreprecisecontrol(i.e.<10or>10).

•HotkeyTrigger:Thiswindowallowsyoutosetanykeyonthekeyboardasthetrigger for a specific cue.Once assigned, either the spacebar or the assignedhotkeywilltriggertheaction.Tosetahotkey,simplyclickintheinputwindowbeside Hotkey Trigger and then click the button you want to assign to theaction hotkey. Once you do so, this will automatically place a check in thecheckbox,notingthatthehotkeyisactive.Todeactivate,youcanuncheckthecheckbox.Toremoveitaltogether,simplyclickonthe“x”buttontotherightoftheinputwindow.

Notethat,whenassigningHotkeys,therearecertainkeysalreadyusedbytheworkspace.Inthiscase,awarningmessagewillappearreading,“Hotkeyusedbyworkspace.”ThesekeyscannotbeassignedastheactionhotkeyunlessyoufirstgototheSettingswindowandremovethemfromtheKeyMap.Ingeneral,you can use any key or key combination on your keyboard excluding theCommandkey,asitisreservedforotherfunctions.

•WallClockTrigger:Thewallclocktriggerallowsyoutoassignanactionataparticulartimeonthecomputer’sclock.Todoso,simplyinputatimeineither24-hourmode(militarytime)orstandardtime(selectingeitherAMorPM).For

instance, if youwere creating an installation to play amovie at 6 PMeveryday,youcouldsimplyinput18:00:00or06:00:00withPMselectedinthedrop-downmenu.Oncechecked,QLabwouldexecutetheactionatthattimeeveryday. Should you need to change the event to only occur on a certain day,simplyclickonthe“EveryDay”buttonandselectthedesiredday(s).

• Timecode Trigger: Every cue in aQLabworkspace can be triggered by anincomingtimecode–eitherMIDI(MTC)orLinear(SMTPE).Thelastsettinginthetriggersportionallowsforassigningatimecodeforwhenyourcueshouldfire.Likewise,onecouldinputtherealtimeinsecondsforwhenthecueshouldfire. For either method, it is essential to make sure your selected cue list isconfiguredtoacceptincomingtimecode.

Todo this, open theCueList panel ( L) and select the desired cue list. TheInspectorPanelwillnowfeaturetwotabs:BasicsandSync.ClickontheSynctab and select the checkbox reading “Trigger cues in this list from incomingtimecode.”Select theappropriatesettings (mode,syncsource,SMTPEformat)tomatchyourtimecode(seeFigure5.2).Whencompleted,thiswillallowyourcuelisttobetriggeredfromanexternaltimecode.

Figure5.2TheSynctabforacuelistcontainsoptionsfortriggeringthecuelistthroughtimecode.

5.3InspectorPanel:Time&LoopsThe Time & Loops panel contains a number of different functions formanipulating the playback of an Audio Cue (see Figure 5.3). In short, thesefunctionscontrol start/end timeofanAudioCue,numberof times it isplayed,integratedvolumelevels(dynamics),andrateofplayback(tempo).

Figure5.3TheTime&Loopspanel.

TheWaveformDisplay

ThewaveformdisplayvisuallytakesupthemajorityoftheTime&Loopspanel.Infact,alltheothercontrolfunctionsintheTime&Loopspaneldirectlyaffectthewaveform;soitiswisetoaddressthewaveformdisplaybeforemovingontotheothertoolsintheTime&Loopspanel.

Forthoseunfamiliarwiththeconcept,awaveformisagraphthatillustratesthechange of amplitude (volume) of a sound over a certain period of time. In anaudiowaveform,thex-axis(horizontal)representselapsedtime,whereasthey-axis (vertical)representsvolume.Waveformshavebeenanessentialcomponentofaudioeditingsoftwareforyears.Awaveformcangivealotofinformationtothe use without having to even listen to the recording. For instance, look atFigure5.4toseethecomparisonoftwowaveforms.

Figure5.4

Thetwowaveformsofferupalotofinformationabouttheiraudiofiles.

The firstwaveform shows a sound file recorded at a very low level. There areveryfewpeaksthatcrestabovethebaseline.Withoutever listeningtothis file,theexperiencedoperatorcouldtell thatthelevelsforthisfilewouldneedtobeboosted.Likewise, looking at the secondwaveform,one can see that thepeakstake up themajority of thewindow. In this case, the recorded levelswere toohighmakingfora“hot”recording.Inthiscase,youwouldwanttodiminishtheoutputlevelsbeforeplayingthetrackandputtingunduestressonyourspeakers.

LookingattheQLabwaveformdisplay,youwillnoticethattheelapsedtimeofan Audio Cue is listed at the top of the display. This in a handy tool fordeterminingexacttimingonfadesandcutswithinthetrack.OnehandyfunctionofthewaveformdisplayistheabilitytomodifytheAudioCue’sstarttimeorendtime.WhenanewAudioCueisinserted,thewaveformwillshowafaintyellowline with a downward-pointing arrowhead at the beginning and end of thewaveform(seeFigure5.5).Thisindicatesthestarttimeandendtimeofthecue.

Figure5.5Waveformstart/end.

AllAudioCuesdefaulttothestarttimeandendtimeoftheinsertedaudiofile,thoughyoumightfinditusefultochangethisforyourplaybackpurposes.Oneofthe best examples of this function comes when importing sound files fromcompactdisc.Theremightbeabriefpauserecordedatthebeginningofthefile,which would cause the Audio Cue to appear late, even if triggered at theappropriatetime.Bysettingthestarttimeatthetruestartoftheaudiofile,thisproblem can be averted. To achieve this, simply slide the start icon to theappropriatelocationonthewaveform,andthiswillbecomeyournewstarttime.This process is quite simple, given the ability to visually see where the audiobeginsonthewaveform.Itmighttakesomeslightadjustmenttogetyourtimingprecise,butitisinfinitelysimplerthantheoldmethodofeditingthefile,burning

it to disc, and then trying again. As you might have guessed, the process isidenticalifyouwanttochangetheendtimeofacue.Simplyslidetheendtimeicontothedesiredstoppingpointinyourwaveform.

Pro-Tip

The process of changing the start/end time of an Audio Cue (and all otherchangesmadetoanAudioCuewithinQLab, for thatmatter)areconsiderednon-destructive.Eventhoughtheunwantedaudiooccurringbeforethestarttimeoraftertheendtimeistrimmedaway,thedatastillremainaspartoftheoriginalaudiofile.Thisprocessisreferredtoasnon-destructive,meaningtheoriginalfileisnotchangedinanywaybutonlythemannerofitsplayback.

WaveformZoom

Oneoftheimportantcontrolfunctionsofthewaveformisthezoominandzoomout buttons. By clicking on the zoom in button, the waveform is magnified,givingtheprogrammertheabilitytoviewitwithmoreprecision.Youwillnotethat,asthewaveformismagnified,itnolongerfitsinthewindowinitsentirety.To view the entire timeline of thewaveform, simply grab the scrub bar at thebottomofthewaveformwindowandslideittotherightorleft.Whenmagnified,you might notice that what seemed like a millisecond of time may be moresubstantial thanoriginally thought.This iswhy thezoomcontrolsareessentialforaccurateeditingortrimming,especiallyiftheintentionistocreateaseamlessloopablefile.

Pro-Tip

Like many other Macintosh-based programs, QLab incorporates the use ofMulti-Touchgestures formany functions. If youhavea trackpad, eitheronyour laptop or the external Bluetooth variety, you can use Multi-Touchgestures to accomplish thewaveform zoomwithout clicking themagnify orreduce buttons. Simply position your cursor in the waveform display andperformatwo-fingeredscrolltozoom.Slidetwofingeruptomagnifyortwofingersdowntoreduce.Inaddition,amousescroll-wheelwillfunctioninthesamefashion.

PreviewCue

ThePreviewCuebutton(showninFigure5.3)isatoolthatisusedfortestingtheplaybackofanAudioCuewithouthavingtopresstheGobuttonandadvancetothe next playback position. The preview button, when inactive, displays thestandard play icon.Once activated, youwill notice it changes to a pause icon,enablingyoutopauseplayback.

Times,Loops,andSlices

To the left third of theTime&Loops panel, there is a columnwith five rows(Figure5.6).These five rowscontrol thebasic functionsof start time,end time,and number of times the Audio Cue might loop. The use of each function isdescribedinthefollowingtext.

Figure5.6Controlfunctions:Time,loops,andslices.

•StartTime:ThispanelallowstheprogrammertotypeintheexactstarttimeoftheAudioCue,downtothousandthsofasecond.Thisallowsfortrimmingoffunwantedaudioatthebeginningofasoundfile.

• EndTime:Thispaneloffers the same typeof control functionas start time,exceptitallowsfortrimmingoffanyunwantedaudioattheendofafile.Theinput process is the same, and anything after the inputted timecodewill not

play back (once again, in a non-destructive fashion). This function isparticularlyusefulwhenyouneedtohaveonecueauto-followanother,butthefirst cue has “dead air” at the end. By manipulating the end time, you cancreateaseamlessauto-followscenario.

• PlayCount:Theplaycountestablishes thenumberof timesa cuewillplayback.Bydefault,allcuesdefaulttoone,meaningthattheywillplayonlyonce.One can easily set the play count to loop two ormore times. Note that theactionofthecuewillincreaseforeachloopcycle,meaningtheactionofa1-secondaudiocueloopedfourtimeswouldbecome4seconds.

•InfiniteLoop:Sometimes,youwillfindyourselfinasituationinwhichacuemustbeloopedendlesslyuntilfadedout.Toaccomplishthis,simplyclicktheInfinite Loop button. This function is particularly useful for special effectsloops like crickets (something everydesigner shouldhave in their collection)withoutactuallyusinga30-minuteaudiorecording.Specialattentionmustbepaidtooriginalaudiofile, though, tomakesure it is truly“loopable.”Havingevenatenthofasecondofsilenceordifferenceintheendofthefileversusthebeginningwilldrawattentiontotheloopanddestroytheintendedeffect.

•Slices:SlicingisanewfunctionwithinQLab3thatallowsfortheloopingofinternalsectionsofanAudioorVideoCue.Thissimpleadditionaddsmultiplelayers of flexibility to sound playback, particularly in the tech situation.Frequently,sounddesignersarecalledontocreatemusicoreffectstoplayoverscenictransitionsinaplay.Onecommonproblemisinthetimingofhowlongittakesfortheshiftfromonescenetoanother.Often,thesounddesignermustlengthenaparticularpieceofmusictomatchthecomplexityofthescenicshift.Inthepast,thisalwaysmeantgoingbacktotheDAWtorecordanew,longersectionofmusic.Withslices, though,adesignercan feasibly locatea sectionwithinthemusictorepeat,therebylengtheningthemusic.

Toinsertaloopintoacue,simplyclickthelocationinthewaveformtoplacethe end of your slice. Likewise, if you created the file in an audio editingsoftwarewithmarkers, thosemarkerswill translate into slices automaticallywhen imported toQLab. If youwant the first 3 secondsof anAudioCue torepeat,placeyourcursoratthe3-secondpositioninthewaveformviewerandclick the “addSlice”button.Onceyouhavedone this, youwillnotice that ahandle appears at the top of the waveform timeline similar to the playbackpositioniconinyourcuelist.This indicatestheendoftheslice.Tofine-tunetheendingposition,simplygrabtheslicepositioniconinthetimelineandslideittothedesiredlocation.

Once a slice is inserted, two numbers will appear at the bottom of thewaveform,bothreading1.This indicates thenumberof timesyourslicewillloopbeforeproceedingtothenextslice.Clickonthefirstnumberandchangeitto2.ThiswillcreateaslicethatplaysbacktwicebeforeprogressingtothenextsectionintheAudioCue.Likewise, ifyouwanttomakethelooprepeatan infinitenumberof times, simply insert “inf” insteadofanumber,and theinfinitysymbol(∞)willreplaceit.

Ifyouwishtoremoveasingleslice,simplychangethenumberbackto1,anditwillfunctionlikeitisnotthere.Likewise,youcangrabthehandleandpullitoutoftheworkspacetodeleteit.Ifyouwishtodeletealltheslices,clickonthebuttonlabeled“DeleteAll.”Becarefulaboutsimplytryingtodeletethenumberfrom the slice, though. Ifyoudelete thenumber, an infinity symbol (∞)willreplaceit,givingyouaninfiniteloopcyclewithinyourcue.

To end an infinite loop cycle, youmustuse theDeVampCue in conjunctionwith your Audio Cue. Once triggered, a DeVamp Cue tells a cue to stoprepeatingandprogresstothenextsliceoncethenextloopcyclehascompleted.ThisisaddressedindepthinChapter8,ControlCues.

Onefinaluseofslicesissimplytoinsertvisualmarkersinyourwaveformthatmakeiteasiertoidentifykeyspotsduringtech.If,forinstance,thereisaspotinthemiddleofasongwhereacertaininstrumententersandyouwanttonotethatlocation,simplyinsertasliceandkeeptheloopnumbersetto1.Therewillbenofunctiontotheslice,otherthanservingasavisualmarkerforyourownuseatalatertime.

Pro-Tip

There isnoquickmethod for the loopingofa file thathasslices (infiniteorotherwise). Youwill notice that once a slice is inserted, the play count andinfiniteloopbuttonsdisappear.Tocreateafixedloopsequenceofanyfilethathas slices, the best option is to copy andpaste the cue thenumber of loopsdesiredandsetanauto-followat theendofeachcueexcept the final in thesequence.Ifyouneedtocreateaninfiniteloop,copyandpastethecuetwicewithanauto-followattheendofthecues.Asafinalstep,insertaPlayCueasthe third cue in the sequence and target it back up to the first cue of thesequence.Thiswillcreateaninfiniteloop.Ifallthethreecuesareinsertedinto

aGroupCue,thenyoucanassignaFadeCuetothisgroup,allowingfortheterminationoftheloop’splayback.

IntegratedVolumeLevelsandTempo

The last twofunctionsof theTime&Loopspaneloffer furthernon-destructiveediting options for your audio file. The first of these functions allows theprogrammer to insert volume changeswithin the audio cue. Inmusical terms,thisisreferredtoasdynamics.InQLab,itisreferredtoastheIntegratedFadeEnvelope.When you click on the “toggle integrated fade envelope” button, ayellowlinewillappearplacedhorizontallyacrossthetopofyourwaveformwithacircleat thebeginningandendof the line (seeFigure5.7). Forusers familiarwiththevolumeautomationinprogramssuchasApple’sGaragebandorLogic,the same basic principles apply to the integrated fade envelope. Like thewaveform, the fade envelopeworks in anx-/y-axis fashion; thehorizontal linerepresentselapsedtime,whereastheverticalrepresentsthemastervolumeoftheselectedAudioCue.Thestraightlineatthetopofthewaveformrepresents0dB(unity) with no changes to the output of the audio file. The bottom of thewaveformwindowrepresents-INFdB,orsilence.Toaddintegratedfadestothesoundcue, just clickon theyellow lineat thepoint in the timelinewhereyouwantthevolumetochange.Thiswillinsertacontrolpoint,representedbyasolidyellowdotontheyellowline.Youcannowpullthiscontrolpointdownandtoeitherthe leftortheright inordertocreateafadecurve.Byinsertingmultiplecontrol points, it is possible to create various different fade curve options. Thebestwaytolearnhowtoshapeafadecurveisbyexperimentation.

ControllingTempo

ThefinalcontrolfunctionoftheTime&LoopspaneliscalledRate.Thisbuttonallowstheprogrammertochangetherateatwhichtheaudiofileplaysback.Inessence, this allows for control of the tempo of an audio file. This function isquiteusefulgiven itsability tocontrolpitchshift.Traditionallyspeaking,whenanaudiofileisspedup,thepitchofallnoteswithinthefilewouldalsoincreaseorviceversaifsloweddown(thinkoftheeffectofplayingbychangingtherpmsettings on a record player). Today, most sophisticated audio editing softwareallows for the increase or decrease in playback speed without this pitch shiftoccurring. In QLab, by using the check box beneath the Rate button, one can

choose whether to have the pitch shift occur or not. This function allows forversatility.

Figure5.7Integratedfadeenvelope.

As discussed earlier in this chapter,manyplays featuremusic or sound effectsplayingoverscenicchanges.Considerthatyouneedtocovera15-secondscenicshift,butonlyhave12secondsofmusic.Byusing therate function,youcouldsimplyinsertarateof.8,andwhatoncetook12secondstoplaywouldnowtake15 seconds.Make sure to deselect the pitch shift button, though, otherwise thepitchofyour audio recordingwill bequitedifferent from theoriginal.Alwayskeep inmind that there is a limit to the amount of rate changeone can applywithout sounding too fake.Dependingon the typeof instrumentation, itmightnotworkatallforsomemusic,butitisagreattoolforcertaineffects.

Project5.1

ManipulatingStart/EndTimes

Thefollowingprojectdetailstheprocessofsettingstarttimeandendtimeofafile,insertingslices,andchangingtheplaybackrate.

StepOne:DownloadProject5.1fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:Cue1 isanAudioCuethatcontainsmusicwith“deadair”at thebeginningand end of the file. SelectCue 1 and click on theTime&Loops tab in theInspectorPanel.Notethewaveformthatshowsaflatlineatthebeginningandendoftheaudiofile.

StepThree:

Usingthewaveformzoomtool,zoomintolookatthebeginningoftheAudioCue.Youwillseethattheaudiosignaldoesnotbeginuntilalmost2secondsintotherecording.

StepFour:Slide your cursor to the top left corner of thewaveform timeline (where itreads0.00).Youwillnoticeatriangularpointatthebeginningofthetimelinepointingdown.Thereshouldbeayellowlinedirectlybeneathitspoint.Whenyou hover over this icon, your cursorwill change into a new icon: a blackvertical line with arrows pointing to the right and left. This controls theplacement of theAudio Cue’s start time. Slide it to the right, stopping justbeforeyouraudiosignalbeginsinthewaveform.Youwillnoticethattheareabeforetheyellowlinewillnowturnblue,indicatingthatitwillnotbeplayedbackaspartoftheAudioCue.Releasingtheiconwillmovethestarttimetothispoint.

StepFive:Movetotheendofthewaveform.Thereisroughly5secondsofsilenceattheendofthiscue.Slidethearrowiconattheendofthewaveformbacktotheendof theaudiosignal.Again,youwillnotice theareapast theyellow linewillbehighlightedinblue.Releasingtheiconherewillmovetheendtimetothispoint.

StepSix:NoticethattheStartTimeandEndTimelistedtotheleftoftheTime&Loopstabwillnowlisttheexacttimeintheaudiofilethatplaybackbeginsandends.

Project5.2

AddingSlicesStepOne:DownloadProject5.2fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:SelectCue1andclick the spacebar.Thiswill fire the cue forplayback.Themusic beginswith an introductory phrase that is easily repeatable. For thisportionoftheproject,letusassumethatweneedtoaddafewmoresecondstothelengthoftheAudioCue.Inthiscase,itcanbeeasilyaccomplishedbyaddingaslicethatwillcreatealoopwithintheAudioCue.

StepThree:Zoomintothewaveform.Thefirstmusicalphraseisidealforcreatingaloop.If you zoom in to around the 6-secondmark, youwill see the phrase endsaround5.95seconds.Thiswouldbeanideallocationtoaddaslice.Todoso,simplyclickatthispointonthewaveformtoplaceyourmarker.Ayellowlinewillappearwhereyouclicked.

StepFour:Clickonthe“AddSlice”buttonontheleftcornerofthewindow.Thiswilladdasliceatthelocationmarker.Youwillseeawhitenumber1atthecenterofthe slice.This indicates the loopcountof the slice; thenumberof times theslicewillrepeat.Clickonthenumberandchangeitto2.

StepFive:Select the Audio Cue and click the spacebar. You will hear that the slicerepeatstwicenow.Sliceplacementmustbepreciseoryoumighthearaslight“hiccup”at thepointof repeatwhere theendof the slicedoesnotcorrectlyalignwiththebeginning.Ifthisoccurs,simplygobacktothewaveformandslidetheyellowlineatthesliceenduntilitalignsappropriatelytoaccomplishseamlesslooping.

Project5.3

ManipulatingPlaybackRateSometimesyoumightfindthattheAudioCueplaybackisslightlytooshortorlong. In the past, thismeant going back to yourDAW to create a new file.WithQLab3,thereisnowthepossibilityofchangingtheplaybackrateoftheAudioCue tomake it either faster or slower.The following steps detail theprocessofmakinganaudiofileplaybackatafastertempo.

StepOne:DownloadProject5.3fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:SelectCue1andclickthespacebar.Thiswill firethecueforplaybackinitsunchangedstate.IntheTime&Loopswindow,clickonthe“Rate”paneltotherightofthewindow.Itshouldread1.Thisindicatesthatthefilewillplaybackatitsrecordedrate.Changingthisnumberwillmaketheplaybackrateeitherfasterorslower.Forinstance,insert.9intotheratepanel.ClickGoagain,andyouwillnoticetheAudioCueplaysbackataslowerrate.Byinputting1.1,thesamefilewillplaybackfaster.

StepThree:In these instances, above you will notice that the checkbox labeled “pitchshift”wasselected.Thisiswhytheaudiofilesoundedverydifferentfromtheoriginal when fired. If you uncheck the checkbox, you will notice that thepitch remains unchanged from the originalwhen played back at a differentrate.

StepFour:Byinputting1.05anduncheckingthepitchshiftbox,theresultingAudioCuewillbeslightly faster than theoriginalbutwithanunchangedpitch.Noticethat the Start Time and End Time remain the same in the Time & Loopswindow,buttheActionTimeintheCueRowwillchangetomatchthetrueplaybacktimeoftheAudioCue.

5.4InspectorPanel:Device&Levels

Chapters2and3coveredindetail thesetupinvolvedforsettingupandeditingaudiodevices,audiopatching,gangingchannels,andcreatingdefault levels fornewcues.Assuch,youshouldbefamiliarwitheveryfunctionintheDevice&Levels panel. Figure5.8 and the following information should serve as a quickrefresher.

Figure5.8Device&Levelstab.

AudioOutputPatchandEditDevice

NotethattheAudioOutputPatchallowsyoutoassignwhichaudiodeviceyouwanttouseforthisparticularAudioCue.ThebuttontotherightofthisallowsfortheeditingoftheAudioDevice.

DefaultLevels

Byclickingonthisbutton,youcansetthelevelstothepre-assigneddefaultlevelssetintheSettingswindow.

SetAlltoSilent

Clickingonthisbuttonwillmuteallchannels.

AssignGangs

Gangingisafunctionthatallowsthelinkingofcontrolofmultiplecueoutputsorcrosspoints.SimplyclickontheAssignGangsbuttonandinserteitheranumberor a letter in theopen spacebeneath any slider (in thewindowwherevolumelevelsnormallyreside).Forinstance,placean“A”inthespacebeneathcueoutputchannels1and2,thenclicktheAssignGangsbuttonagain.Thiswillnowhavepaired output channels 1 and 2, making them move in unison. You will also

notice that the two channels have a similar color. Additional gangs will haveuniquecolors,aswell.

VisibleChannels

Thiswindowallows for thechange invisiblechannels. If, for instance,youareonlyusingstereooutput,thereisnoreasontoseechannels3–48.Instead,type2intotheVisibleChannelswindow,andonlyoutputchannels1and2willremainvisible.

LevelsandCrosspointMatrix

This area of the window is identical to the levels settings seen in the AudioSettingsearlierinthebook.TheMasterandallaudioinputsareshowninthelefthandcolumn.Thecueoutputsare situated to the rightof theMaster,with thecrosspoint matrix shown beneath for assigning an input channel to theappropriatecueoutput.Oncepatched,thesliderscontrolvolume,andtheMastercontrolsthevolumeofallotheroutputs.

HadanAudioEffectsbeenassignedtoacueoutput,asdetailedinChapter3,theslider (orsliders) for thiseffectwouldbe listed (ifyougavetheeffectauniquename).

ThetrueabilitytoestablishdirectionalsoundresidesintheLevelscontrolpanel.Referring to the soundsystemshown inFigure5.6, letus imagine thatyouaredesigningsoundforaplayinwhichagunshotringsoutthroughtheauditorium.The purpose of this should be twofold: to startle the audience and direct theirattention to the location in which the actor will enter. If the sound rings outthroughtherearHouseRightspeaker,thenyouwouldwanttobringthesliderupforChannel6andmutealltheothersliders.Letusassume,then,thatduringthetech rehearsal period, the director changes the blocking to have the actor nowenteringfromHouseLeft.Obviously,thegunshotcannotstillcomefromHouseRight,ortheeffectwouldonlyleadtoconfusionastheaudiencelooksbackandtheactorentersontheoppositeside.Toremedythis,simplymuteChannel6,andbringupChannel5instead.NowthegunshotwillappeartocomefromtherearHouseLeftposition.

5.5InspectorPanel:TrimTrimallowsfortheadjustmentofthevolumelevelsofallcuesandfadeswithinagivenFadeCueseries(Figure5.9).WewillcoverthisconceptindetailinChapter7.Fornow,simplyimaginethetrimsettingasawaytoincreaseordecreasethevolumesettingofthetargetAudioCue,therebyaffectingthevolumelevelsofallthesubsequentFadeCues.

5.6InspectorPanel:AudioEffectsLikeotheraudioeffectsexploredearlier (applyingthemgloballytoeitheracueoutputoradeviceoutput),theAudioEffectspanelallowsforassigninganAudioUnit (AU) as an effect.Unlike the global effects, though, theAudio Effects tabwillonlyaffecttheselectedAudioCue(Figure5.10).Thisisparticularlyusefulinanumberofsituations.

Figure5.9Trimtab.

Figure5.10Audioeffectstab.

As a sound designer, the sound of a church bell is one that often pops up inproductions. Without fail, though, the number of bell peals provided by the

designer never seems to be exactly what the director had in mind. For thisexample,letuslookatarecordingofachurchbellwiththreepeals.Onceintech,thedirectordecidesthattwowouldbemoreappropriate.Theonlyproblemwiththisscenarioisthat,incuttingoffthelastpeal,youloseallthereverberationofthebellasitfadesouttosilence.Inthisscenario,theAudioEffectwouldbeanidealchoice.Thefollowingprojectwillexaminehowtoeasilycutthisaudiofileandstillmaintainthereverberationneeded.

Project5.4

EditingwithAudioEffects

ThefollowingprojectdetailstheprocessofeditingtheendtimeofafilewhileusingAudioEffectstodisguisetheedit.

StepOne:DownloadProject5.4fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:PlayCue1.Youwillnoticethatithasthreebellpeals.Forthisproject,wewillbechangingtheendtimeofthefilebacksoastocutoffthefinalpeal.

StepThree:SelecttheTime&LoopstabintheInspectorPanel. IntheWaveformEditor,youwillseethethreedistinctpealsofthebell.Grabthesliderattheendofthewaveformandpullittotheleftuntiltheyellowlineisplacedjustprevioustothethirdpeal.

StepFour:Play Cue 1 again. You will notice that the sound file ends quite abruptly,withoutthereverberationofthebellleftringing.

StepFive:ClickontheAudioEffectstabintheInspectorPanel.Ontheleftsideofthescreen, click the “add effect” button. A drop-down menu will appear. Thisshould display anyAUs installed on your computer. In this case, select theApplebutton,andthenselecttheAUMatrixReverbbutton.Thiswillopenthecontrolinterfacefortheplug-in.

StepSix:Clickonthe“Presets”buttonintheupperleftcorneroftheAUMatrixReverbcontrol interface.Thedrop-downmenuwill reveal several options.Clickonthe button labeled “Factory.” Therewill be several options that appear in adrop-downmenutotherightofthebutton.Selectoneofthem.

StepSeven:GobacktotheworkspaceandclickgotoactivateplaybackofCue1.Listentotheeffect.GobacktothecontrolinterfacefortheAUMatrixReverbpluginandchange it toadifferent factorypreset.Keepexperimentinguntilyouget the

rightsound.

MicCues

Two of the most important functions of any sound system are playback andreinforcement.Historicallyspeaking,QLabhasalwaysbeenparticularlystrongintheplaybackarea,butnoticeablylackingintheabilitytoaddreinforcementtoasystem.QLab3integratedthenewMicCuetoaddressthisdeficiencyandallowfor adding livemicrophone control, routing, and signal processing effects. Thefollowing chapter deals with the use and control of Mic Cues in the QLabworkspace.

6.1UnderstandingtheMicCueAt its core, theMicCue functions inmuch the sameway as anAudioCue. Itreceives an audio signal, outputs the signal through an audio patch, allows forapplicationofaudioeffectstothesignal,andthenroutesthesignaltothepatchedoutputsofanaudiodevice.ThemaindifferencebetweenaMicCueandanAudioCueisthat,withtheMicCue,thepatchisanaudioinputandoutput(I/O)patchincontrasttobeingoutputonly.BysettinguptheI/Opatch,youcanassigninputchannelsofyouraudiodevicetobethesignalsourceandthenroutethemtotheappropriate output path. If you plug a microphone into the assigned inputchannelsofyouraudiodevice,oncetheMicCueistriggered,theaudiofromthismicrophonewillbetheaudiosignalforthecue.Thereareafewmorestepsforsetupbut,onceaccomplished,thefunctionoftheMicCueisremarkablysimilartowhatyouhavealreadylearnedinAudioCues.

SignalFlow

SignalflowfortheMicCueissimilartothatofanAudioCue,withtheexceptionbeingthereisnowanexternaldevice(amicrophone)inputtingsignal,ratherthansimply targeting an audio file as the input. Refer to the descriptions below inconjunctionwithFigure6.1toseethesignalflowpathfromtheMicCuethroughspeakeroutput.

Figure6.1MicCuesignalflowchart.

1. Mic Cue: When triggered, the Mic Cue sends a signal that activates theassignedinputchannelsoftheaudiodevice.

2.AudioDevice:Theaudiodevice,once triggered, receives inputsignals fromone ormoremicrophones connected to its input channels. The device thensamples these signals and sends them back to the computer via the digitalconnection (FireWire, USB, Thunderbolt, etc.) 3. Cue Input: The digitaloutputfromtheaudiodevicebecomesthecueinputfortheMicCue.

4.CrosspointsMatrix:Thecueinputsignalisbussedintoall48channelsofthecrosspointsmatrix.Itisuptotheoperatortoassigntheamountofsignalthatwillbe routed into thecorresponding levels fader.Onceassigned, this signalbecomesthecueoutputfortheMicCue.

5.MicPatch:Thecueoutputsarethenroutedthroughoneofeightpossiblemicpatches,whichareeachassignedtoanindividualaudiodevice.

6.DeviceRouting:Thefinallayerofroutingistheaudiodeviceoutputrouting.This is a signal routingwithinQLab that assigns the cue outputs to one or

morespecificdeviceoutputsonyouraudiodevice.7.Speakers:Finally,thesignalleavestheoutputdeviceandtravelsoutofyour

QLabsystemintoexternaldevices(i.e.mixer,signalprocessing,amplifier,andspeaker)Buffering

A buffer is a region of memory storage on your computer that is used totemporarily hold data while it is beingmoved from one place to another. Allexternalaudiodevicesusesomelevelofbufferingbecausethedevicemustholdatleastonesampleoftheaudiogoingintoitinordertoplayitback.Essentially,the buffer is howmany of these samples the device holds at one time beforeasking the computer to provide more for playback. For this reason, bufferingaffectshowmuchofyourCPUisutilizedwheninterfacingwithanaudiodevice.The lower the buffer number, the more frequently the device has to ask thecomputerforsampling,thusthehigherdrainonCPUresources.Thehigherthebuffer,thelessfrequentlyitasks,thereforelesstaxingontheCPU.

Whileitmightseemadvantageousatfirsttouseahighbuffersetting,thedownsidetobufferingisthatitcauseslatencyordelayintheaudiosignalfrominputsource (microphone) tooutput source (speakers). Ina live setting, it is essentialthat a lower buffer be used in order to reduce latency.While zero buffering isimpossible,youideallywanttogetasclosetozeroaspossible.QLabaccessesthebuffer sizes specific to your audio device and allows for adjusting the bufferwithin that range of possibilities. To access these settings, click on QLab >Preferences and a windowwill open showing buffer size preferences for anyaudiodeviceconnectedtoyoursystem(seeFigure6.2).

Typical range for buffer settings would be 16–1,024. This unit refers to thenumber of samples held as the buffer before asking the CPU another set. Theprocessofdeterminingwhichbuffer size touse is simple–gowith the lowestbuffersettingpossiblethatdoesnoteithercreateascratchysoundorcauseyourdevice to “clip.” Keep in mind, though, that for ultra-low buffer settings, it isalwaysagoodideatousearigwithmultiplecoreprocessorsandlotsofRAM.

Figure6.2Thepreferenceswindowincludesdevicepreferencesanddebugloggingsettings.

6.2SettingUpYourAudioDeviceIt is worth mentioning at this point that all audio interfaces, though built toperformthesamefunctions,donotoperateinthesamefashionorwiththesamelevelofdependability.TherearesomedevicesthatsimplydonotfunctionwellintheQLabenvironment.Othersmightworkperfectlywell forplayback,butwillnotbetheidealchoiceformicrophonereinforcementpurposes.Thisbookisnotintendedtoserveasatoolforequipmentselection.MybestadviceforpurchasinganyequipmentforusewithyourQLabsystem(beitaudio,video,ornetworking)is to go to the QLab-Tested Hardware page at wiki.figure53.com to see user-submitted informationaboutQLab-testedhardwareandsoftware.Also,visitingtheQLabdiscussionlistontheFigure53websiteisagreatwaytointeractwiththeQLab community, both users and developers. Ask a question and, inmost

instances,youwillgetlotsoffeedbackquickly.

For thepurposes ofmicrophone control, youwill needanaudio interfacewithinput/output capabilitiesandphantompower (ifyou intend tousea condensermicrophone).Inaddition,youwillobviouslyneedamicrophoneandatleastonespeaker connected toanoutputonyouraudiodevice.The reason for inputtingand outputting from the same device is that audio input/output must use thesameclocksothataudioflowscleanlybetweenthetwo.Youcan,however,createanaggregatedevice–thecombinationofmultipleaudiointerfacesthroughonecontrol–inyourAudioMIDISetupapplication.Bydoingthis,youcanusemorethanoneaudiointerfaceinthesameapplication,allsharingthesameclock.

Pro-Tip

GettingtoKnowYourEquipment

Thereisnooverstatingtheimportanceofgettingtoknowyourequipmentandunderstanding how its use differs from other pieces of hardware. Asmentionedearlier,eachaudiointerfacetendstofunctioninasimilarway.Theone aspect of each interface that tends to drastically differ is their softwareinterfaces.Everyaudiointerfacewillhavesoftwarethatmustbeinstalledontoyourcomputerinordertousetheinterfaceproperly.Typically,theseinterfacesmirrorclassicalaudiomixersinsomewayandallowsforthecontroloflevels,routingsignals,creatingsub-mixes,andaddingeffects.Ifyouraudiointerfaceis not set up to route the audio signal to the correct outputs, then youwillnever getQLab to communicate properlywith the interface. Since there arehundredsofdifferentinterfacesonthemarket,thereisnowaytocoverallofthe possible software interfaces in this text. Make sure to read all of theappropriate documentation that comes with your equipment and visit themanufacturer website, as well. Frequently, the manufacturer will haveFrequentlyAskedQuestions,userforums,andhowtovideosontheirwebsite.These resources can be invaluable to understanding how best to use theirequipment.

Settings:Mic

Like the Audio Cue, the Mic Cue has a number of settings that should beestablishedbeforeinsertingacueintotheworkspace.Therearethreebasicareasof concern to get up and running withMic Cues: Default levels for newMicCues,MicPatchassignment,andDeviceRouting.Toaccessthesesettings,clickon the gear-shaped Settings icon at the bottom right-hand corner of theworkspace.ThiswillopentheSettingswindow.ClickontheMiciconlocatedinthe left-hand column to access Mic Settings. The window will look almostidenticaltotheAudioSettingswindowexploredinearlierchapters.

DefaultLevelsforNewMicCues

ThoughthelookoftheDefaultLevelswindowlookssimilartothatoftheAudioCue(seeFigure6.3),thesignalflowisabitdifferent,asdiscussedearlier.Thereare a possible 24 inputs shown on the left side of the screen, which are the

amount ofmicrophone inputs possible for theMicCue. In otherwords, if youhadanaudiodevicewith24availableinputs,youcouldconnect24separatemicsto thedevice and control themall via aMicCue.Like theAudioCue, eachofthesesignalsisthenbusseddowntheentirerowofcrosspointstoitsright.It isthen up to the programmer to assign which crosspoints should receive whichsignal.ThesesignalsthenbecometheCueOutputthatwillbesentintotheMicPatch.

Figure6.3DefaultlevelsfornewMicCues.

ForasimpleMicCuesetup,withonlyonemicrophonethatneedstobesentouttoallofthespeakersinyoursystem,aDefaultLevelssettingwouldlooklikethatshown in Figure 6.4. For this configuration, the mic input is assigned tocrosspoints1–8.Thismeansthat, forthisMicCue,cueoutputs1–8willreceivethefullaudiosignalsentfromthemicrophonepluggedintothefirstchanneloftheaudiointerface.Thesesignalswillthenleavethecueandgotothenextstepofthesignalflow:theMicPatch.

MicPatch

LiketheAudioCuebefore, theMicCuemustbepatchedintoaMicPatchthatsendsthesignalbacktotheaudiodevice.UnliketheAudioCue,though,theMicPatchmust interfacewith thesameaudiodevice foroutputas input.Select thedesired audio interface by clicking on the drop-downmenu shown besideMicPatch 1.Once selected, you are ready tomove on the next step: assigning theoutputpatchforyouraudiodevice.

DeviceRouting

DeviceRoutingisthefinalstepoftheMicCuesignalflow,allowingtheusertoassign a path from the Mic Cue’s cue outputs to one or more given deviceoutputs.Toaccess this interface, simplyclickon theEditPatch1button to theendof theMicPatch1 row.This screenwill look similar to thedevice routinginterfaceforAudioCuesandbecontrolledinasimilarfashion.Therewillbe48possible cue outputs shown in the left-hand column, representing the 48 cueoutputsof theMicCue.For thisexample,weareonlyconcernedwith the firsteight,sinceweonlyassignedthesignalfrominput1intocrosspoints1–8intheDefault Levels forNewAudioCues interface.As there are only eight speakersused in this configuration, the easiest thing is to set the patch in a one-to-oneconfiguration(meaningthatcueoutput1isassignedtocrosspoint1,cueoutput2tocrosspoint2,andsoon)asseeninFigure6.5.Inthisfashion,thesliders1–8intheMicCue’sDevice&Levels tabwill control speakers 1–8, respectively.Thiswill allow for the operator to choose towhich of the eight speakers the signalshouldbeassigned.

Figure6.4SettingforMicCueassignedtocueoutputs1–8.

Figure6.5

One-to-onedevicerouting.

6.3InsertingandEditingaMicCueAfterfollowingthestepsmentionedearlier,yoursoundsystemshouldbesetupto allow for aMic Cue to be inserted and all basic volume controls achievedthroughtheDevice&LevelstaboftheMicCue.ToinsertanewMicCue,clickon theMicCue icon or drag it into theworkspace. Thiswill place aMicCueplacekeeper intoyour cue list inkeepingwith theDefaultLevels fornewMicCues,established in theMicSettingswindow.The followingsectionsdetail thespecificsofusingtheInspectorPanelwithaMicCue.

InspectorPanel:Basics

TheBasicstabisalmostidenticalfortheMicCueastothatseenfortheAudioCue. The tab is split into two halves of the screen: Cue Info and Triggering.Again, the cue info side dealswith cue numbering, assigning color to theMicCue, cue name, pre-and post-wait, continue status, and arm state. The onlydifferenceis thatthetarget isnotapplicabletotheMicCue,asMicCuesdon’ttargetanotherfiletype–rathertaketheirsignaldirectlyfromaliveaudioinput.The Triggering half of the page allows for triggering the Mic Cue via MIDI,hotkey,wallclock,ortimecode.

InspectorPanel:Device&Levels

TheDevice&Levelstab(Figure6.6)allowsforthecontrolofvolumeoutputfromtheaudiodevice.

As the Device & Levels tab forMic Cues is almost identical to that of AudioCues,youshouldbefamiliarwitheveryfunctionintheDevice&Levelspanel.Thefollowingshouldfunctionasaquickoverview:AudioInput&OutputPatch

For theMic Cue, the patch is referred to as theAudio Input&Output Patch,unliketheAudioCueforwhichitwasoutputonly.Theidearemainsthesame,though,asthispatchallowsyoutoassignwhichaudiodeviceyouwanttouseforthisparticularMicCue.Thebutton to the rightof the InputandOutputPatchallowsfortheeditingoftheAudioInput&OutputDevice.

Figure6.6TheMicCueDevice&Levelstab.

DefaultLevels

Byclickingonthisbutton,youcansetthelevelstothepre-assigneddefaultlevelssetintheSettingswindow.

SetAlltoSilent

Clickingonthisbuttonwillmuteallchannels.

AssignGangs

Gangingisafunctionthatallowsthelinkingofcontrolofmultiplecueoutputs.SimplyclickontheAssignGangsbuttonandinserteitheranumberoraletterintheopenspacebeneathanyslider(inthewindowwherevolumelevelsnormallyreside).Forinstance,placean“A”inthespacebeneathcueoutputchannels1and2, then click theAssignGangsbuttonagain.Thiswill nowhavepairedoutputchannels1and2,makingthemmoveinunison.Youwillalsonoticethatthetwochannelshaveasimilarcolor.Additionalgangswillhaveuniquecolors,aswell.

VisibleChannels

Thiswindowallowsforthechangeinvisiblechannels.Thisisanimportanttoolfor Mic Cues, as you typically only ever need to see the number of outputsavailabletoyouraudiodevice(unlessassigninganaudioeffecttoacueoutput).If, for instance, your device only has eight outputs, there is no reason to seechannels 9–48. Instead, type 8 into the “Visible Channels” window and onlyoutputchannels1–8willremainvisible.

LevelsandCrosspointMatrix

ThisareaofthewindowisidenticaltothelevelssettingsseenintheAudioCueearlier in thebook.TheMasterandallaudio inputsareshownin the lefthandcolumn. The cue outputs are situated to the right of the Master, with thecrosspoints matrix shown beneath for assigning an input channel to theappropriatecueoutput.Oncepatched,thesliderscontrolvolumeandtheMastercontrolsthevolumeofallotheroutputs.

HadanAudioEffectbeenassignedtoacueoutputasaglobaleffect,asdetailedinChapter3,theslider(orsliders)forthiseffectwouldbelisted(ifyougavetheeffectauniquename).

ThetrueabilitytocontrolmicrophoneoutputresidesintheLevelscontrolpanel.Ifyouhavesetuptheroutingasdescribedearlierinthechapter,theLevelsfaderswillalignwiththecontrolofthenumberedoutputofyouraudiodevice(meaningfader1controlsoutput1,andsoon).

InspectorPanel:Trim

TrimfortheMicCuebehavesinthesamefashionasthatoftheAudioCue.MicCuescanbeaffectedbyFadeCuesinthesamewaythatAudioCuescan.UsingtheTrimslidersintheMicCuewillaffectvolumesettingsforallsubsequentFadeCuestargetingtherootMicCue.

InspectorPanel:Effects

MicCuescanuseAudioEffectsinthesamewayasAudioCues:eitherwithinthecueitselforgloballythroughacueoutputordeviceoutput.ToassignanAudioEffecttoaparticularMicCue,simplyclickthe“Addeffect”buttonintheEffects

tab.Thechoseneffectwillbeappliedtoonlytheselectedcue.CommonusesofthisfunctionmightbetheadditionofEQ,reverb,orcompressiontoaparticularMicCue. Like volume settings,Mic effects can also be changed by subsequentFadeCues.

6.4MicEffectsAsmentionedearlier,thereareanumberofmethodsforapplyinganAUeffecttoaMicCue.TheeasiestwayisbyaddingtheeffectdirectlytothecuebyusingtheEffectstabintheInspectorPaneloftheMicCueitself.ThisonlyworksonthatspecificcueanddoesnotaffecttheplaybackofanyotherMicCue.Whilethisisparticularlyeffective,therearetwoothermethodstogloballyapplyAUeffectstoMic Cues: by assigning it to the Cue Output or by assigning it to a DeviceOutput.

CueOutput

Cue outputs are the signals sent out from theAudioCue orMicCue that getroutedintotheaudiopatchbeforefinallyoutputtingfromthedevice.Thesignalfrom an audio or mic input is routed directly into the cue output via thecrosspointsmatrix.Forthepurposesofapplyingaglobalaudioeffect,though,anunusedcueoutputcanhaveaneffectassignedtoit.ThisprocessofassigninganAudioEffecttoacueoutputwasdiscussedindepthinChapter3–Section3.6.AssigninganaudioeffecttoacueoutputforaMicCueisnearlyidenticaltothatofassigningittoanAudioCue.Thecompleteprocessisdescribedindetailinthefollowingproject.

Project6.1

CreatingaGlobalEQSendinQLab

An equalizer (EQ) is used to adjust the individual frequencies of an audiosignalinordertoaffecttheresultingsound.ThereisanynumberofreasonstouseanEQonanaudiosignal.Onemightbetocreateagenericequalizationforamalevoiceoroneforthefemalevoice.Inthefollowingproject,wewillexamine how to use a cue output to create a global EQ send in yourworkspace.Pleasenote that thisproject cannotbedonewithoutanexternal

audiodevicethatsupportsmicrophoneinput.Assuch,thereisnoprojectfileon thecompanionwebsite.Simplyopenanuntitledworkspace tobegin thisproject.

StepOne:Make sure your audio device is properly connected to your system beforestarting QLab. Once in the workspace, there are two ways to access yourdevice:IfinEditmode,clickonEditDeviceintheDevice&Levelstab;ifintheMic Settingswindow, click onMicPatch 1 (orwhateverdeviceyou areusingforMicCues).Onceyouhaveopenedthisinterface,lookatthefirsttablabeled“CueOutputs.”

StepTwo:Selectanunusedcueoutput.Inthiscase, itwouldlikelybethefirstnumberpast the number of useable outputs on your device, so I have selected cueoutput9.Inordertoassignanaudioeffecttoacueoutputchannel,clickAddEffect>Apple>AUGraphicEQ(seeFigure6.7).

Figure6.7

AddingagraphicEQthroughaudioeffects.

StepThree:WhenyouselectAUGraphicEQbutton, thecontrolwindowfor thisAUwillinstantlyopen(seeFigure6.8).ThiswindowisnotapartofQLab,ratherthecontrolwindowdesignedbyAppleforthisAU.Thisisthesamewindowyouwould see in any application using the plug-in. If you are familiar withtraditionalgraphicEQs,thiswindowwilllookquitefamiliartoyou.Thereare32 sliders, each representing a section of frequency that can be eitherincreasedor decreasedby thedevice.The sliders to the left represent lowerfrequencies (bass),whereas thesliders to the right represent thehigherones(treble).

Figure6.8AUgraphicEQcontrolwindow.

StepFour:OnegreatfeatureoftheCueOutputseditingwindowistheabilitytorenameacueoutput.ClickontheblackboxtotherightofCueoutput9andtypeintheword “EQ.”Whenyou click enter or select an area outside the box, the

number9willbereplacedwiththewordEQ.Thiswillbeusefulinthecueingphase,asallyoursliderswillnowbelabeledwiththeirfunction.KeepinmindthatanamedcueoutputforMicsettingswillnotappearforAudioCues,asthissettingisdedicatedtoMicCuesonly.Inthisway,youcanhavedistinctlydifferentglobaleffectssendsforMicCuesandAudioCues.

LeavethesettingswindowandreturntotheMicCueinyourcuelist.ClickontheDevice&LevelstaboftheInspectorPanelofthiscueandyouwillseethatCueOutput9hasbeenrenamed“EQ”(seeFigure6.9).

Figure6.9Theresultinglabeledcueoutputfader.

StepFive:Theprocessaboveeffectivelysetupcueoutput9asanEQeffectssend.Onefinalstepmustbedoneinordertoenablethisfunction.Currently,theaudioeffect isapplied tocueoutput9,but there isno input signal routed into thefader.Inordertoaccomplishthis,slidethecrosspointupto0forinput1inthecolumnlocatedbeneaththenewlylabeled“EQ”fader.ThisroutestheMicCuesignalthroughtheEQeffectssend(Figure6.10).Now,thefadercanbeusedtoincreaseordecreasetheamountofequalizedaudiosentoutintothemix.

Figure6.10Assigningsignalrouting.

StepSix:Oncehavinggonethroughallofthesesteps,theEQeffectwillbeavailableforanysubsequentMicCueadded.Thisprocesscanbereplicatedforanytypeofaudioeffectdesired.SimplyaddanAUeffecttoanothercueoutput,renameit,and itwillalsobeavailable forallcues. It isworthnotingthatmultipleAUeffects canbe applied to onegiven cueoutput.You can combine together agraphicEQ,reverb,andhi-passfiltertoonecueoutput,ifdesired.

DeviceOutput

Assigning an audio effect to a device output is the secondmethodof applyingeffects in a global sense. The process of assigning the audio effect to a deviceoutputisquitesimilartothatofacueoutput.

Project6.2

AssigninganAudioEffecttoaDeviceOutputOnegreatexampleofanaudioeffectthatmightbeusedonadeviceoutputisa delay. In audio terms, a delay is a type of device that records an inputsampleandwaitsapredeterminedperiodof timebeforeplayingitback.For

many sound installations, digital delays are used to compensate for thepassage of sound through air. The use of straight delays in a soundreinforcementsystemallowformultiplespeakerstobeusedina largespaceandmakeitappearasthesoundisoriginatingfromthestage.Thisallowsforadding speakers in the back of the space that provide sufficient volumewithoutoverloading thevolume from the front of thehall. In the followingproject,wewillexaminehowtouseadeviceoutputtocreateadelaysendforcertainspeakersinyoursoundsystem.

StepOne:IfinEditmode,clickonEditDeviceintheDevice&Levelstab.IfintheMicSettingswindow,clickonMicPatch1(orwhateverdeviceyouareusingforMicCues).Onceyouhaveopenedthis interface, lookat thefirst tab labeled“DeviceOutputs.”

StepTwo:Forthepurposesofareinforcementsystem,thegoalwouldbetoaddadelayto speakers in the back of the theatre, so that the signal is perceived to beoriginating fromthestage.For thesepurposes, letusassume that thedeviceoutputs7and8aretherearspeakersofthetheatre.Inordertoassignanaudioeffect to these two channels, simply scroll down to the rows labeledDeviceOutput7andDeviceOutput8.Clickonthebuttontotherightofthedeviceoutputslabeled“Addeffect…”SelecttheAUDelaybutton.

StepThree:When you select AUDelay button, the control window for this AU willinstantly open (see Figure 6.11). This window controls the functions of theAUDelayplug-in.Adelayworks inoneof twoways:byeitherdelayingthesignalandreplayingitoveritself,therebycreatinganechoeffect,orcreatinga“straightdelay”bysamplingtheaudiosignalandsimplywaitingaperiodoftime before playing it back. For reinforcement purposes, a straight delay ispreferable. To achieve this, click on the yellow line in the grid. The linerepresents delay time and feedback. Delay time means how long it waitsbefore playing back the sample. Feedback means the amount of time thesampleisaddedontoitself.Inordertoachieveastraightdelay,theyellowdotmust be pulled all theway to the bottomof the grid, thereby changing thefeedback to 0%. Thiswill create the desired straight delay (see Figure 6.12).Playaroundwiththeactualdelaytime,butkeepinmindthatanythingabove

0.03secondswillstarttohaveanunearthlyqualitytoit.Repeatthisprocessidenticallyforbothdeviceoutputs7and8.

Figure6.11AUDelaycontrolinterface.

Figure6.12AUDelaystraightdelaysettings.

StepFour:The process above effectively sets up a delay on anyMic signal outputtingthroughDeviceOutputs7and8.Oncehavinggonethroughallofthesesteps,the delay effect will be available for any subsequent Mic Cue added. Thisprocesscanbereplicatedforanytypeofaudioeffectdesired.SimplyaddanAUeffecttoanotherdeviceoutputanditwillalsobeavailableforallcues.Itis worth noting that multiple AU effects can be applied to one given cueoutput.Youcancombine togetheragraphicEQ, reverb,andhi-pass filter toonecueoutput,ifdesired.

7FadeCues

TheFadeCueisacorecomponentofcontrollingcueswithintheQLabsystem.Afade is generally understood to be a change in the attributes of a cue over apredeterminedperiodoftime.Initially,thepurposeoftheFadeCuewithinQLabwassimple;tochangethevolumesettingsortostopanAudioCue.QLab3vastlyexpandsthefunctionofFadeCuesoverpreviousversionsinthatFadeCuesnowhave the ability to control a number of different cue types –MicCues, VideoCues,CameraCues, and evenAudioEffectswithinanAudioorVideoCue. Ingeneral,foraudio-relatedcuesaFadeCuewillaffectvolumelevels,whereaswithvideo-relatedcuesaFadeCuewillaffectattributes likeopacity, imageposition,andobjectgeometry.ThisversatilitymeansthattheavailableoptionsforaFadeCuewillchangedependingonthetypeofacueittargets.Sincewearefocusingonaudiointhissectionofthebook,thischapterwilldetailthedifferingfunctionsoftheFadeCueforaudiopurposesonly.

7.1AudioFadeCuesAudioFadeCuesareusedforanumberofdifferentfunctions:toeitherincreaseordecreasethevolumelevelofanAudioCue;tochangetheoutputoftheaudiosignalfromonespeakertoanother(panning);ortochangehowaudioeffectsareappliedtoanAudioCue.Fadesthemselvesworkwithinanumberofcuetypes,predominately including Audio, Mic, Video, and Camera. Once you learn thebasics of how to use a Fade Cue, though, its application is similar across thedifferentcuevarieties.

AnAudioFadeCuemusthaveanAudioCueassignedasitstargetoritwillnotfunction.InordertohaveaFadeCueacceptanAudioCueasitstarget,simplydrag the Audio Cue into the Fade Cue’s line on the workspace. This willautomaticallyassignthetarget.Oncethetargethasbeenassigned,thentheFade

Cueisactive.Foritsmostbasicuse,simplyopentheLevelstabinanAudioFadeCueandeitherincreaseordecreasethevolumefromthatsetonthetargetedcue.Thiswilleither increaseordecrease thevolumeof thecueover theFadeCue’sduration.

One important feature of note regarding the Fade Cue is that, regardless ofcreatinga fade-inor fade-out, theFadeCuemustalwaysbeplacedafter thetargeted Audio Cue! This feature often confuses first time QLab users. ThereasonforthisisthatanAudioCuemustbeplayingforaFadeCuetoaffectitsoutput.Ithasbeenmyexperiencethatmostpeopleintrinsicallyunderstandfade-outs,butare confusedby theprocessof creatinga fade-in.Tocreatea fade-in,first insert anAudioCue and set its levels at -INF (orwhatever initial volumedesired). Next, insert a Fade Cue and assign the Audio Cue as its target. Thevolume set in the Levels tab of this FadeCuewill be the final volume for theAudioCueoncefadedin.

Pro-Tip

OneimportantthingtorememberabouttheuseofFadeCuesisthat,withoutlookingatthedetailsintheInspectorPanel,itissometimesdifficulttodiscerntheactionofsaidcue.IfinditisgoodtoalwaysbeinthehabitofnamingmyFade Cues according to their function as soon as I input them into theworkspace.For instance, if IhaveaFadeCuethat increases thevolumeofapolicesiren, Imightcall it“Fadeupsiren.”Usingdescriptivenamesupfrontcansaveyoulotsoftimelateroninthetechprocess.

Thereareanumberof controllable functions foraFadeCue inaddition to thebasic levels setting. To change the parameters of the Fade Cue, look into theInspector Panel. Therewill be four tabs shown for theAudio FadeCue in theInspectorPanel.SimilartotheAudioCueitself,thesetabsareusedforchangingtheattributesoftheFadeCue.TheattributesforeachoftheInspectorPaneltabsareshownlater.

InspectorPanel:Basics

TheBasicstabremainsessentiallyunchangedfromitslayoutforanAudioCue.The functions are still split into cue informationand triggering, listingpre-and

post-waits, continue status, and triggering options. The only substantivedifferencebetweentheBasicspanelforfadesisthatthefilenameshownintheNamerowisthatofthefilebeingtargetedbytheFadeCue(seeFigure7.1).

Figure7.1TheAudioCueBasicstab.

OneofthemostusedfunctionsoftheBasicswindowissettingaprewaittimefora Fade Cue. By using this function, the programmer can effectively create acrescendo (volume increase)ordecrescendo (volumedecrease)withinanAudioCue.Theadditionofdynamicchangessuchasthesecanadddepthtoanaudiorecordingandmakecannedmusicsoundabitmorerealistic.

InspectorPanel:CurveShapeTheCurveShapeistheprimarywayofcontrollingyourlevelsoverthedurationof the Fade Cue. For an Audio Fade Cue, the fade curve is a graphicrepresentationofaudiolevelsandcueduration.Ifperceivedasabasicgraph,cuedurationisrepresentedinthex-axiswithaudiolevels(volume)representedinthey-axis. The default cue duration for a Fade Cue is 5 seconds. This duration islabeledalongthetopedgeofthefade-curvewindow.Understandingthis,onecanseethateachverticallinewithinthegraphrepresents0.5seconds.

ThedefaultcurveshapeistheS-curve,aparabolicshapethatresemblesan“S”onitsside(seeFigure7.2).TheS-curvehasaslower“attack,”meaningthatittakeslongertoperceivetheincreaseordecreaseinvolume.ThisattributemakestheS-curvesuitableformostfade-insorfade-outsofmusic.Lookingatthecurveoverthe5-secondduration,youcanseethatthevolumeremainsfairlyconsistentfor0.5seconds,and thengraduallybegins to increase.Once ithits1.5seconds, therate of increase remains constant until around 3 seconds, then begins to slowuntilthe5-secondmarkisreached.SlidingyourmousealongtheS-curveshapewill indicate thepercentageof changeversuselapsed timeover thedurationof

theFadeCue.YouwillnoticethatintheS-curve,bothlevelsanddurationalignat the halfway mark (meaning at 2.5 seconds into the Fade Cue, increases inlevels should be at 50% of their established change). Though itworks formostgradualfadesquitewell,youwillfindyourselfinneedoffadecurvesthathaveanevenfasterorslowerattack.Inthesecases,simplyclickonthebuttonlabeledS-CurveandselecttheCustomCurvesetting.

Figure7.2Curveshapesettings.

SelectingtheCustomCurveestablishesastraightcurvewithaconsistentrateofincreaseordecreaseinlevelsovertime.LiketheS-curve,thelevelwillreachthe50%changemarkhalfwaythroughtheFadeCueduration.Ifleftuntouched,thisstraightcurvecanbeusedonitsownasafade.ThetruefunctionoftheCustomCurve, though, is itsability tobemanipulated intoanewfade-curveshape.Byusingthecustomcurve,thedesignercancreateanynumberofuniquefadecurveshapestomeettheneedsofthedesign.

Tochangetheconsistentcurveintoacustomizedshape,simplyclickonthecurveanditwillinsertacontrolpointatthatlocation.Thecontrolpointisrepresentedasayellowdotonthefadecurve.Bygrabbingthecontrolpoint,theoperatorcanaddeitheran inclineordecline to the fadecurvebysimplypulling thecontrolhandles in anydirection.Multiple control points canbe inserted intooneFadeCue to create interesting fade curves. Figure 7.3 shows three different customfadecurveshapesthateachbehaveinradicallydifferentways.

Thefirstfadecurveillustratesafadewithaquickattack,havingthesoundfadeto50%by0.25secondsandatfullby2seconds.Thisfadeeffectwouldbeusedtoaddaslight fade-in to thebeginningofanaudiofile,making its triggering less

abrupt. Sometimes this technique is useful when working from music with aslightaberrationatthebeginningofthetrack.

The second fade curve is an example of a particularly slow fade curve. In thisexample,theaudiolevelswillbegintoincreasefromthemomenttheFadeCueistriggered,butataslowrate.Therateofincreaseremainsconstantuntilabout3seconds into the fade, then begins amore rapid increase, going from 12% at 3secondsto100%at5seconds.Thistypeoffadecurvemightbeusefulforcreatingasoundeffect inwhichsomethingapproachesfromthedistancemakingsound(likeapolicesiren).

The final example illustrates the potential for adding multiple control pointswithinonefadecurvetooscillatethevolumechangesfromincreasetodecrease.Inthisexample,theaudiofile’svolumerapidlyincreasesto75%over0.5seconds.Thereafter, the volume cycles between 75% and 25% every 0.5 second.With aconsistencysuchasthis,onecouldtakeaconstantsoundlikeahornandmakeitsoundmorelikeasirenusedforanalarm.

FadeCueDuration

Tothispoint,allof theFadeCuesdiscussedhavehadthedefaultdurationof5seconds.Shouldtherebeaninstanceforwhichlongerorshorterfadedurationsare needed, simply use theDuration input on the left side of theCurve Shapepanel. Input thedesired timeandpress enter.The cueduration and fade-curvewindowwillthenbechangedtomatchtheinputtedtime.

Figure7.3Threefadecurvetypes:Fastfade-in,slowfade-in,andanoscillatingfadecurve.

StopTargetWhenDone

It is important to understand that Fade Cues only work to affect the overall

output levels of the cue. Unless explicitly stopped, an Audio Cue will remainrunning in the background of your workspace until it reaches the end of itsduration. This is true, even if a Fade Cue has lowered the levels to 0%. ThisfunctionallowsfortheabilitytokeepanAudioCuerunninginthebackgroundand faded back up at a later time, thus allowing for the elapsed time to beperceived.If,uponfadingoutanAudioCue,youwillnotbeusingthesamecueagain, it is always best to select the Stop Target When Done checkbox. Thisfunction stops the targeted cue from playing in the background after the fadeduration. Keep inmind that every cue running in the background (even thosewhichcannotbeseenorheard)willcontinuetoengageyourcomputer’sCPU.If,overthecourseofashow,therearemultiplecuesrunningatthesametimethenyourcomputer’sresourceswillbetaxedandnegativelyaffectitsplaybackability.

TheStopTargetWhenDonecheckboxappears in theCurveShape,Levels,andAudioEffectsInspectorPaneltabs.Notethatactivatingitinanyoneofthesetabswillactivateitinallthreeandviceversa.

ResettoDefaultShape

TheReset toDefaultShapebutton returns the fadecurve to thedefault settingdetermined in the Workspace Settings. This will replace any previous customsettingsyoumighthavecreated.

InspectorPanel:Levels

The Levels settings in an Audio Fade Cue control the amount of increase ordecrease inoutputvolumeandmirrors theDevice&Levels tab fromanAudioCueinmanyways.Thereisnodevicerouting,though,sincetheFadeCueusesthepre-assigneddeviceroutingofthetargetedAudioCue.ThefollowingsectiondetailsthemanycontrolfunctionsandsettingspresentintheLevelstab.

FadeType:AbsoluteversusRelative

LookingatFigure7.4,youcanseethebasiclayoutoftheLevelstab.ThefirstrowontheleftcolumnoftheLevelstaballowstheprogrammertosettheFadetypetothatofabsoluteorrelative.ThesetwotermsareimportanttounderstandforthewayinwhichtheyaffectAudioCues.

Figure7.4TheFadeCueLevelstab.

Anabsolutefade adjusts thevolumeof the targetedAudioCue toaparticularvolume level. When triggered, the absolute cue will increase or decrease thevolumeof the targetedcue to thevolumeset in theLevels tabof theFadeCueInspector.Therecanonlybeoneabsolutefadeassignedtoonegivenchannelatatime.IntheinstanceoftwoFadeCuestargetingthesamechannelofaudio,thesecond cue fired would control the volume of that channel (latest takesprecedence).

Arelativefade,incontrast,fadesthevolumeupordownrelativetothevolumeof the Audio Cue when triggered. In other words, whereas an absolute fadeadjuststhevolumetoaparticularlevel,therelativefadeadjuststhevolumebyaparticular level.Unlike theabsolute fade,anunlimitednumberofrelative fadesmaybeappliedtoagivenchannelofaudio.

Thegraphicinterfaceforthelevelssettingsofarelativefadedifferfromthatoftheabsolutefade.Whentherelativefadeisselectedfromthedrop-downmenu,the levels faders in the right column will change from their standard look tohourglass-shapedslidericons(seeFigure7.5).

One great function of the relative Fade Cue is the ability to control multipleAudio Cues at the same time. If you have created a Group Cue containingmultiple Audio Cues, a relative Fade Cue can be applied to this Group Cue,thereby raising or lowering the volume of all AudioCueswithin the group atonce.ThisisparticularlyusefulinasituationwhereyoumighthaveextractedanumberoftracksfromthesameCDandthelevelsoftheaudiofilesareeithertooloud or soft for playback. In this case, you could simply target theGroupCuewithaFadeCuesettorelativeandincreaseordecreaselevels,asnecessary.

LevelsandCrosspointMatrix

The right column of the Levels tab is identical to the control functions for anAudioCue.Bythispoint,youshouldbeexceedinglyfamiliarwiththelayoutandfunctionofthelevelsandcrosspointsmatrix.TheMasterandallaudioinputsareshown to the left, with output channels to the right of the Master and thecrosspointsmatrixshownbeneatheachcorrespondingcueoutputchannel.Oncepatched, the sliders control volume and theMaster controls the volume of allotheroutputs.ThiswindowisusedforsettingthedesiredchangeinlevelsforaFadeCueforbothabsoluteandrelativeFadeCuetypes. It isworthmentioningthatFadeswillonlyaffectthelevelsthatareactivated–notnecessarilyalllevels.

Figure7.5TheappearanceofthefadesliderschangesforarelativeFadeCue.

SetfromTarget/SetAllSilent

ThemiddlerowoftheleftcolumnallowsforrapidsettingsoftheoutputlevelsfortheFadeCue.TheSetfromTargetbuttonsetsthelevelstobeidenticaltothatof the targetedAudioCue.This is particularlyuseful to set as a startingpoint,especially if you are working with multiple channels of audio set at differentvolumelevels.AquickwaytosetaconsistentfadeofanAudioCueistoclickSetto Target, then either increase or decrease theMaster output level as desired.Likewise, if thegoal is tocompletelyfadethevolumeout, thenclickontheSetAllSilentbutton,whichwillsetallofthelevelsfadersto-INFINITY.

AssignGangs

Fade Cue sliders can be grouped together for ease of control using the Gangfunction. This function is identical to the method shown in Section 5.4 forgangingchannelsinAudioCues.

InspectorPanel:AudioEffects

TheAudioEffectstabfeaturestwofunctions:changingtheaudioeffectattributesof a targetedAudioCue and changing theplayback rate of the targetedAudioCue.Audioeffects,asdiscussedinChapter5,allowfortheuseofAUstoaffectanAudio Cue. Fade Cues can also be used in conjunction with audio effects tochangetheeffectssettingsorremoveanaudioeffectfromanAudioCue.AudioEffectsFadeCuesarealwaysabsolutefades.

TochangetheattributesoftheAudioEffects,simplyaddaFadeCueandtargetthedesiredAudioCue.The targetedAudioCuemusthave some typeof audioeffectsappliedtoitalready.YoucannotaddanaudioeffectonitsownsimplybyaddingaFadeCueandaddinganaudioeffect.OpentheAudioEffectstaboftheFadeCue and check the box beside the desired audio effect and click the Editbutton(seeFigure7.6).ThiswillopenthecontrolwindowfortheAU.MakethedesiredchangestotheAU,andthenclosethewindow.Now,whentheFadeCueis activated, it will change the playback attributes to those you just set. TheEffectsFadeallowsforeitheranincreaseordecreaseofeffectsoutputsandcanbeusedforcountlessdifferentpurposes.

Figure7.6Fadeaudioeffectswindow.

FadeRate

OneinterestingfunctionoftheAudioEffectsFadeistheabilitytochangetherateof playback of an Audio Cue. By selecting the Fade Rate to checkbox, theprogrammercanchangetheassignedrateofacue.ByapplyingaplaybackratechangetoaFadeCue,youcanaddtempovariationstoanAudioCue.Currently,theFadeRatefunctiondoesnotaffectthepitchoftheAudioCue,onlytherateofplayback.

To achieve this, click on the Fade rate button (see Figure7.7) and set it to thedesired playback rate. Increasing to a number value above 1will speed up the

playback, whereas those number values below 1 will slow playback. To makeminor changes, simply click in the input window. While holding the mouseclickeddown,slideyourcursoruptoincreasethenumberordowntodecreaseit.Oncethecorrectrateisinputted,click“enter”tofinalizethenumber.

StopTargetWhenDone

LikeallotherFadeCues,theAudioEffectsFadecanbesettostopplaybackofthetargetedAudioCuewhenthefadeactioniscomplete.Todoso,clickontheStopTargetWhenDonecheckboxontheleftsideoftheAudioEffectstab.

SetAudioEffectsfromTarget

ThisbuttonautomaticallyassignstheAudioEffectsofthetargetedAudioCuetotheselectedFadeCue.WhenaFadeCuetargetsanAudioCue,theAudioEffectsshouldbeautomaticallyassignedtothatfade.Sometimes,duringtheprocessofexperimentationyoumightfindthatyoudislikethechangesmadeandwanttoreturntotheoriginalstateofthecue.ThiscanbeeasilyachievedbyclickingtheSetAudioEffectsfromTargetbutton.

Summary

A Fade Cue has many different uses other than simply raising or loweringvolume levels. Keep inmind that, even if you are only using the FadeCue toaffectAudioEffects,otherattributesof theFadeCuecanbecontrolledthroughtheFadeCueInspectorWindow.CurveShape,duration,waits,andcontinuesallapplytotheAudioEffectsFade,likeanyothercuetype.

The followingprojectdetails theprocessof addinganaudio effect through theFadeCue inorder toadjustaudioeffectsapplied toanAudioCue.TheprojectrequiresthedownloadofProject7.1fromthecompanionwebsite.

Figure7.7Thefaderatebuttoncanbeusedtochangetherateofaudioplayback.

Project7.1

PitchBendtoReplicateaReel-To-ReelMalfunction

StepOne:OpenCue1intheProject7.1workspace.Thisfileisarecordinginthestyleofold1940sradioannouncers.InordertoaffectthisAudioCuewithaFadeCue,youmustfirstaddanAudioEffecttothecuewithnochangesapplied.

StepTwo:ClickontheAudioEffectstabintheInspectorPanel.Ontheleftsideofthescreen click the “add effect” button. A drop-down menu will appear. Thisshould display anyAUs installed on your computer. In this case, select theApplebutton,andthenselecttheAUPitchbutton.Thiswillopenthecontrolinterface for the plug-in.Do not change any attributes! This will simplyapplytheAUtotheAudioCuesothataFadeCuecanlateraffectit.

StepThree:AddaFadeCuetotheworkspace.TargetCue1withthisFadeCue.

StepFour:SelecttheFadeCueandclickontheAudioEffectstabintheInspectorPanel.Click thecheckboxbeside theAUPitcheffect.Thiswill activate theAU foryourFadeCue.

StepFive:Clickon theEditbutton to the leftof theAUPitch label.Thiswillopen theAUPitchcontrolinterface.Slidethepitchknobtotherightuntilitreads“1,800Cents”(seeFigure7.8).

Figure7.8TheAUPitchcontrolinterfaceallowsforpitchbendingandfine-tuningtheeffect.

StepSix:Select theFadeCueagainandchange the fadeduration to4 seconds in theCurveShapetaboftheInspectorPanel.

StepSeven:Gobacktotheworkspace.TriggerplaybackforCue1.Afteramoment,clickgoforCue2(theFadeCue).Youshouldheararapidincreaseofpitchovera4-secondduration.

StepSix–Bonus:Asanaddedeffect,youcouldfindascratchsoundeffecttoindicatethepointofmalfunction. Insert this as your secondAudioCue and set it as an auto-continuewith theFadeCuenext inyour cue sequence.Thiswouldadd thesoundofamalfunctiondirectlyfollowedupwithanincreaseintapespeed.

7.2MicFadeCuesAsaddressedearlier,theMicCueisagreattoolforaddingreinforcementtoyourQLab sound system. In essence, the Mic Cue sends a signal to your audiointerface and activates an input channel. The audio signal thenpasses throughtheMicPatchandintotheassigneddeviceoutputsonyouraudiointerface.Oncethe Mic Cue has been activated, it will remain so until either a Fade Cue oranother control cue such as a StopCue or PauseCue affects its playback. ThefollowingsectiondetailstheuseofFadeCuesforaffectingtheplaybackofaMicCue.

InsertingaMicFadeCue

LikeallotherFadeCuefunctions,theprocessofcreatingaMicCuefadebeginswith insertingaFadeCue into thecue list.Thesecondstep is then todrag theintendedMicCuetobeaffectedontotheFadeCue.ThiswillsettheMicCueasthetargetoftheFadeCue.Onceyouhavedonethis,theprocessisallcontrolledfromtheInspectorPaneloftheFadeCue.

BasicsandCurveShape

The first two tabs in the InspectorPanel remain consistentwithother typesofFadeCues. Basics offers up the basic information about the FadeCue, prewaitand post-wait, continue modes, and triggering options. The Curve Shape tabdefaults to the standard S-curve, but also allows for adjusting the curve to acustom shape.One important element to note in this tab, though, is the “StopTargetWhenDone”checkbox.LikeothervarietiesofFadeswehaveexplored,itisessentialtonotethataMicCuewillcontinuetoruninthebackgrounduntilstopped.Simplymutingallofthechannelswillnotstopthecuebyitself.

Levels

TheLevelstabisoneofthemostusefulwhenapplyingafadetoaMicCue.Likeapplyinga fade toanAudioCue, fadingaMicCuewillmost frequentlyentailincreasing or decreasing volume output. The process for doing so is relativelyeasy. First, click on the “Set from Target” button in the left column. This willmatch the levels settingsof theFadeCue to thatof the targetedMicCue.Thisassures that youwill begin at the pre-set level of theMicCue. To increase ordecreasethevolume,selectthelevelsfaderassociatedwiththeMicyouwanttochange and slide it up or down. If there are changes to be applied tomultiplemics, then use each of their individual sliders. Should you want to keep thebalancebetweenmultiplemiclevelsconsistentasyouchangethevolumeoftheentiremix,usethemasterlevelfaderandallwillbeaffectedequally.

AudioEffects

Like Audio Cues, Mic Cues can have audio effects applied to them as signalprocessing.Assuch,theFadeCuecanbeusedinasimilarfashiontochangetheaudioeffectsappliedtoaMicCue.Thisprocessisidenticaltotheonedescribed

inSection7.1earlierforfadingaudioeffectsonanAudioCue.Itisimportanttonote, once again, that audio effects cannot be added to a FadeCue, they onlydisplaytheaudioeffectsofthetargetedcue.

7.3ManualFadesBydefault,aFadeCueinsertedintoaworkspaceissetasamanualfade,meaningthat the QLab operator will trigger it. Manual Fade Cues make up a greatpercentageofthefadesusedinatypicalliveperformance.Personally,IprefertogivethemaximumamountofcontroltothestagemanagerandQLaboperatorinaliveperformance,asthereisnoguaranteethataperformerwillbehaveinthesamefashionfromnighttonightonstage.Anynumberoffactorscanchangethetimingofaperformance.Forme, thismeans that I try to limit the instances inwhich cues are automatically triggered to those for which are absolutelynecessary.

Oneexamplethatfrequentlypopsupinliveperformanceisanactoransweringatelephoneonstage.Forthistypeofsoundeffect,youalwayswanttohavemoreringsavailablethanwhatyouthinkisnecessary.Whathappensifyouhaveonlyfour rings in your audio file when the actor gets caught backstage in a quickchange?Foraninstancelikethis,IalwayssettheAudioCueonaninfiniteloopsothatthephonecanringuntiltheactorpicksitup.Itistheactionofpickingupthephone, though, that requiresamanual fadeset toazerocount. Ihaveseeninstancesofsounddesignersprovidingthreeringtones,buttheactoraccidentallypicksupafter two.Thiscreatesanembarrassingsituation for theactoronstagewhen the audience invariably laughs at being forcibly reminded that they arewatchinglivetheatre.

The following project takes you through the process of creating an infinitelyloopedtelephoneringwithamanualzero-countfadetoendtheringing.

Project7.2

CreatingaZero-CountFadeCueStepOne:Download Project 7.2 from the companion website and open the QLab

workspace.LookatCue1.Thisisarecordingofatelephoneringing.

StepTwo:SelecttheTime&LoopstabintheInspectorPanel.Clickonthebuttonlabeled“Infinite Loop.” Thiswill set up the telephone sound to ring infinitely untilstoppedbyQLab.

StepThree:UsingtheToolbarorToolbox,insertaFadeCueasCue2.TargetCue1withthisFadeCuebydraggingCue1overCue2untilithighlightsthecuewithabluebox.

StepFour:Click on the Curve Shape tab of the Inspector Panel in Cue 2. Using yourkeypad,insertthenumber0intotheDurationwindow.Pressenter.ThiswillmaketheFadeinstantaneousuponpressingGo.Youwillnoticethatthewords“instantfade”shouldbeprintedinthecornerofyourFade-curvewindow(seeFigure7.9).

Figure7.9Creatinganinstantfadebychangingthefadeduration.

StepFive:SelecttheLevelstabintheInspectorPanelforCue2.Pullthemasterfaderallthewaytothebottomoftheslider.Noticethattherectanglebeneathitwillnowread-INFandhaveahighlightedbackgroundcolor.Thiswillmakethetelephone cue fade to -INF (or mute) when the Fade Cue is triggered (seeFigure7.10).

Figure7.10Setthemasterlevelto-INFtomutetheaudiolevels.

StepSix:Intheareatotheleftofyourscreen,beneaththeabsolutefadebutton,selectthecheckboxreading“StopTargetWhenDone.”Thiswill stop thecue fromplayinginthebackgroundoncetheFadeCuehasbeenfired.

StepSeven:Testyourworkspace.FireCue1andthen,afteramoment,fireCue2.Itshouldinstantlystopthetelephonefromringing.

7.4AutomaticFadesAnautomaticfade isonepre-programmedtofireatapredeterminedtimeor istriggeredbyanothercuewithintheworkspace.Thesetypesoffadescanbequiteuseful to automate changes of volume levelswithin anAudioCue.While it istruethattheintegratedfadeenvelopeonanAudioCuecancontrolinternallevelchanges, it is sometimespreferable to combine together a sequenceofmultiplecues to accomplish an effect. The following project details how to use anautomaticFadeCuetofade-inbeginningofanAudioCueandfade-outatitsend.

Project7.3

AutomatedFade-InandFade-OutofanAudioCueStepOne:Download Project 7.4 from the companion website and open the QLab

workspace.LookatCue1.Thisisarecordingofapieceofmusicforwhichwewanttocreateanautomatedfade-inatthebeginningofthesongandafade-outatsomeintervalwithintheAudioCue’splayback.IntheDevice&Levelstab of the InspectorPanel, pull themaster fader down to the bottomof theslider tomute the audio. This is essential since the sound needs to start atsilentinordertofade-in.

StepTwo:UsingtheToobarorToolbox, insertaFadeCueasCue2.TargetCue1withthisFadeCuebydraggingCue1overCue2untilithighlightsthecuewithabluebox.

StepThree:Click on the Curve Shape tab of the Inspector Panel in Cue 2. Using yourkeypad,insertthenumber4intotheDurationwindow.Pressenter.ThiswillmaketheFade’sactionoccuroveraperiodof4secondsuponpressingGo.

StepFour:ClickonthebuttonlabeledS-curve,andselectthedrop-downoptionlabeled“Custom curve.” Thiswill enable you to create your own curve shape. Thegraphon the left represents thecurve fora fade-in,whereas theoneon therightisafade-out.Inthefirstgraphbox,clickontheyellowlineatthefirstline,labeled0.4secondsandpullyourcursorallthewayuptotheupperleftcorner labeled0.0 (seeFigure7.11).Thiswillcreatea fadecurve thatcurvesupwardfairlyquicklyoverthecourseof4seconds.

Figure7.11Thisfadecurvewillrisequicklyoverthe4-secondduration.

StepFive:

IntheLevelstabofCue2,settheavailableslidersto0(sinceweareworkinginstereo,thiswillbethemasterandfaders1and2).Whentriggered,thisFadeCuewilladjusttheplaybackvolumeofCue1to0,orunity,meaningitwillplaybackattheoriginalleveloftherecording.Youshouldnoticethattheredx listed inthe leftcornerof thecuerowforCue2willnowdisappear,onceyouhavesetalevelfortheFadeCue.

StepSix:Ascurrentlyset,Cue1willplaywhentriggeredbutcannotbeheardsinceitsvolumeissettomute.ThepurposeoftheFadeCueistobringthevolumeuptothedesiredlevel.Inordertoautomatethisfunction,youmustgotoCue1andsetthecontinuestatetoauto-continue.Thiscanbedoneattheendofthecuerowbyclickinginthelastcolumn(beneaththearrowicon).Blankmeansnocontinue,thearrowiconmeansauto-continue(thefollowingcuefiringinunisonwith the first),and thearrowwithacircle indicatesauto-follow(thecuefiringoncethefirstcue’sactioniscompleted).Alternately,youcouldclickontheBasicstabofCue1andselectauto-continueinthecontinuedrop-downmenu (located in thebottom left corner).ExamineFigure7.12 tosee ifyourcueingmatches.

StepSeven:Testthecuesequence.Ifproperlyprogrammed,clickingGoforCue1shouldtrigger both Cue 1 and 2 simultaneously, and the audio signal will fade-infromsilentovera6-secondinterval.

Figure7.12Checktoseeifyourcueingmatches.

StepEight:Pressescapetoendtheplaybackofthecuesequence.Thefinaldesiredeffectis to add an automated cue that will fade-out the Audio Cue at apredetermined playback point. To do this, insert a new FadeCue asCue 3.Target Cue 1 with this Fade Cue by dragging Cue 1 over Cue 3 until ithighlightsthecuewithabluebox.

StepNine:SetthecontinuestateofCue2asauto-continue.Thiswillautomaticallyfireallthreecuessimultaneously.

StepTen:SincethedesiredoutcomeofthefinalFadeCueistofade-outthevolumeofCue1,clickontheLevelstabofCue3andpullthemasterfaderdownto-INF.Inaddition,selecttheStopTargetWhenDonecheckboxinthelefthalfofthe

Levelstab.ThiswillstopplaybackofCue1onceitisfadedout.

StepEleven:SelecttheCurveShapetabofCue3.ClickonthebuttonlabeledS-curve,andselect thedrop-downoptionlabeled“Customcurve.”Thiswillenableyoutocreateyourowncurveshape.Thistime,youwillusethesecondgrid,asthedesiredoutcome is a fade-out. In the secondgraphbox, click on theyellowline at the last vertical graph line (4.5 seconds) and pull your cursor all theway up to the upper right corner (see Figure 7.13). This will create a fadecurvethatcurvesdownwardoverthecourseof5seconds.

Figure7.13Slowfade-out.

StepTwelve:Ifleftinitscurrentconfiguration,Cue3wouldautomaticallytriggerresultinginaudiosignalalmostinstantlyfadingout.Toachievetheautomatedfade-out,wemustsetaprewaitforCue3.Toaccomplishthis,eitherentertheprewaittimeintheprewaitcolumnofthecuerow,orinsertitintheBasicstabforCue3.Set theprewaitas13seconds (00:13.00)by typing in13andthenpressingenter.

StepThirteen:Testthecuesequence.Ifproperlyprogrammed,clickingGoforCue1shouldtriggerCues1–3simultaneously,andtheaudiosignalwillfade-infromsilentover a 6-second interval. After 13 seconds of audio playback, the fade-outprogrammedbyCue3 should trigger, fadingdowntosilentovera5-secondduration. This will ensure that the song will fade-out on its own beforeenteringintothesecondmusicalphrase.Figure7.14showshowyourfinishedworkspaceshouldappear.

Figure7.14Thefinishedworkspace.

7.5PanningPanning,theabilityto“move”anAudioCuefromonesetofspeakerstoanother(right to left, front to back, diagonally, etc.) is one of the benchmarks of aconvincing sounddesign.Historically,panningwaseither created in the studioand saved into the audio file or performed live through the audiomixer.WithQLab,panningcanbeautomatedviaFadeCuesandsavedforplaybackthroughyourworkspace.Thefollowingprojectillustratestheprocessofdoingso.

Project7.4

PanningviaFadeCueOneofthebestusesofpanningisforthecreationof“Dopplereffect”soundcues, like that of a police siren approaching then passing away into thedistance.Thefollowingstepsdetailthecreationofsuchaneffect.

StepOne:Download Project 7.5 from the companion website and open the QLabworkspace. Look atCue 1. This is a recording of a police sirenwithout theDopplereffectadded.IntheDevice&LevelstaboftheInspectorPanel,pullthemasterfaderdowntothebottomoftheslidertomutetheaudio.This isessentialsincethesoundneedstostartatsilentinordertofade-in.

StepTwo:UsingtheToolbarorToolbox,insertfourFadeCues(Cues2–5).UseCue1asthetargetforallfourFadeCues.Inaddition,setthecontinuestateforCues1–4asauto-continue.Thisisthefoundationofthepanningeffect.

StepThree:Click on the Curve Shape tab of the Inspector Panel in Cue 2. Using yourkeypad,insertthenumber3intotheDurationwindow.Pressenter.Thiswillmake the Fade’s action occur over a period of 3 seconds upon pressingGo.MakethisthecuedurationforCues2and3.Finally,setthecuedurationforCues4and5to5seconds.Thiswillmakeforamorerealisticprogressionofsound,ratherthanmakingeachoneidentical.

StepFour:ClickonthebuttonlabeledS-curve,andselectthedrop-downoptionlabeled“Customcurve.”Thiswillenableyoutocreateyourowncurveshape.Insteadofchangingthecurve,though,thistimeleaveitasastraightline(seeFigure7.15).Thiswillcreateafadecurvethatfadesinevenlyoverthecourseofthecueduration.MakethisthefadecurveforallofyourFadeCues(Cues2–5).

Figure7.15Thestraightcurveisthedefaultsettingforallcustomcurves.

StepFive:IntheLevelstabofCue2,setthemasterfaderandfader1to0.Fader2shouldbe set to -INF,asweonlywant the sound tocome from the left channelatfirst.

StepSix:SetvolumeforCue3as follows:master fader+10, fader1at0, fader2at0.Thiswillmakethesoundcomefrombothrightandleftchannelsandincreasethevolumeto+10dB.

StepSeven:SetvolumeforCue4asfollows:masterfaderat0,fader1at-INF,fader2at0.Thiswillmakethesoundcomefromtherightchannelonlyanddecreasethevolumefromthepreviouscue.

StepEight:SetvolumeforCue5asfollows:masterfader-INF.Thiswillmuteallaudiooutput.WhileintheLevelstab,selecttheStopTargetWhenDonecheckboxtoendplaybackattheendoftheFadeCuesequence.

StepNine:Currently,allvolumeandpanningiscorrect,butsincetheyareallsettoauto-continue,aprewaitmustbesetforeachFadeCueinordertomakesurethe“domino sequence” works correctly and doesn’t automatically progress tosilence.Forcorrectplayback,settheprewaitsinthefollowingsequence:Cue3and4at 3 seconds;Cue5at 5 seconds.Youwillnotice that theprewait foreachof these cuesmatches the cuedurationof thepreviousFadeCue.Thiscreatesaseamlessfadesequence.

StepTen:Test the playback sequence. If properly programmed, clickingGo forCue 1shouldtriggerCues1–5,andtheaudiosignalwillpaninfromtheleftandexitto the right over a 16-second interval. See Figure7.16 to double-check yourcueing.

Figure7.16CompletedworkspaceforProject7.5.

7.6DuckingAudioDuckingisanaudioeffectusedinmusicandaudioproduction,mostfrequentlyinvolving the addition of voiceover. With ducking, the output volume of oneaudiosignalisreducedinthepresenceofanother.Inmostmusicalapplications,themusicwill be decreasedwhen the voiceover is added, then returned to itsnormal levels when the voiceover ends. In radio or television applications,

duckingfrequentlyoccursforforeignlanguagetranslations.Theforeignlanguagespeakeroftenbeginsatnormalvolume.OncetheEnglishtranslationisheard,theoriginalspeaker’svoiceis“duckeddown”tokeepthetranslationcomprehensibleand the foreign language speaker softly in the background. This technique iseasilyaccomplishedviaQLabbyinsertingFadeCuesthatduckaudiolevelsdownand then return them to their original state. The following project details thisveryprocess.

Project7.5

DuckingAudioStepOne:Download Project 7.6 from the companion website and open the QLabworkspace. Look at Cue 1. This is a Group Cue containing recordings of athunderstormwith wind and rain effects to set the mood for a scene. Thecontinue state is set to auto-continue. This will ensure that the next cueautomaticallytriggerswhenCue1isfired.

StepTwo:Cue4isavoiceoverthatshouldplayoverthethunderstormeffects.Inordertobetterhearthisvoiceover,though,wewillneedto“duck”theaudioofCue1downwhilethemanspeaks.Inordertodoso,wewillneedtoinsertFadeCuestotheworkspace.SelectCue1andinsertaFadeCue.ThisshouldaddacuebetweenCues1and4(2and3arehiddeninsidethecollapsedGroupCue).NamethisCue1.5andassignCue1asitstarget(seeFigure7.17).

Figure7.17InsertingaFadeCuewithagroupcuetarget.

StepThree:SelecttheLevelstabofCue1.5andsetthevolumeinthemasterto–14dB.Inaddition,settheprewaitto6secondsandthecuedurationto1second.Finally,set the continue state ofCue 1.5 to auto-continue.Thiswill ensure that thesoundwillduckdownatthesametimethattheaudiofromCue2begins(SeeFigure7.18).Testthecueprogression.

Figure7.18DecreasingtheoutputlevelsfortheGroupCue.

StepFour:InsertaFadeCuefollowingCue4(Cue5).SetCue1asthetargetforthiscue.ThisFadeCuewillservethepurposeofbringingthevolumelevelsofCue1backtotheirnormallevelafterthevoiceoverends.Todoso,selecttheLevelstab ofCue 3 and set the volume in themaster to +9. Set the duration as 1second(seeFigure7.19).

Figure7.19ResettingtheoutputlevelsfortheGroupCue.

StepFive:InordertoautomatetheendoftheduckingwithCue3,setthecontinuestateofCue4toauto-follow.ThiswilltriggerCue5uponthecompletionofCue4.

StepSix:Test the cue sequence. If all of the steps were done correctly, the entiresequenceshouldbeautomatedtobeginwiththestormsoundeffectsandduckdownforthevoiceover.

7.7Copy/PasteFadeShapesAs mentioned earlier in the book, the Tools drop-down offers a number ofoptionsfor interfacingwiththeworkspace.Oneof themoreuseful functions is

theabilitytocopyand/orpastefadeshapesfromoneFadeCuetoanother.Itcanbe a cumbersome process to manually set the fade shape for a number ofdifferentFadeCues.OnewaytosimplifythisprocessisbytheuseoftheCopyFade Shape button found in theTools drop-downmenu. In addition, the quickkeyforthisiscontrol+ c(tocopythefadeshape),orcontrol+ v(topaste).

7.8ExploringTrimAs we have already seen in the last several projects, one Audio Cue willfrequentlyhaveanumberofFadeCuesaffectingitsoutputlevels.Thisinstance,whereaseriesofFadeCuestargetthesameAudioCue,isreferredtoasafadeseries.Trim isQLab’s tool for affecting thevolumeof that fade serieswithouthavingtoindividuallychangelevelsforeachFadeCueinthesequence.

Unlike the other functions explored in this chapter, Trim is located in theInspectorPanelforthetargetedAudioCue.Trimisalwaysamanualadjustmentand cannot be changed by Fade Cues. In short, the Trim settings override thelevelssetinthefadeseriesandallowforanincreaseordecreaseofvolumefromoneconvenientlocation.

ThebestexampleforwhyonemightusetrimisthecreationofalongsequencetiedtoasingleAudioCue.Perhapstheplayhasamomentinwhichtwopeopleargueoverthevolumesettingsonaradio,turningitupthendownanumberoftimes in a row. Imagine then, the director wants the overall volume for thesequence to be increased. You could go through and individually change thelevelsoftheoriginalAudioCueandeachofthesubsequentFadeCuesinthefadeseries.Thisprocess,though,isquitelaboriousandtimeconsuming.AnothermucheasieroptionistosimplyopentheTrimtabintheInspectorPaneloftheAudioCueandslide themastervolumeupby20%. In thisway,eachFadeCue in thefadeserieswouldbeincreasedby20%relativetotheiroriginalsettings.

8ControlCues

Thusfar,wehaveexaminedtheuseoftheAudioCueandhowFadeCuesaffecttheplaybackoftheAudioCue.ControlCuesareaspecialcollectionofcuesthatareusedtoaffecthowothercuesareusedandinteractwithoneanotherintheworkspace.WhenlookingattheToolbar,theControlCuesarelistedinthefifthgroupinglocatedtotherightofthescreen.Thefollowingsectionsdetailtheuseandfunctionofeachofthecontrolcues.

8.1GroupCueTheGroupCue is an important toolwithin theQLab system that holds othercueswithin it. In short, theGroupCue allows you to create one cue that is acomposite of multiple different cues and cue types. This is why the cue hashistorically been representedwith an icon resembling a folder (see Figure 8.1).ThesolepurposeoftheGroupCueistocontainandorganizeothercues.Withintheworkspace,theGroupCue’scontentscanbehiddenorexpandedtoshowthecomponentcues.Assuch,theGroupCueisfrequentlyusedtoeliminateclutterfromtheworkspaceandstreamlinetheappearancefor theoperator.TheGroupCue is such an essential component to QLab that the next chapter is devotedentirelytoitsuse.

8.2Start,Stop,PauseCuesNo sound system would be considered functional without the ability to start,stop,orpauseanaudiofile.InthecaseofQLab,thesefunctionsareprovidedintheformofthreedifferentControlCues.WhenlookingattheToolbar,theiconsshould be easily spotted, as they are the universal symbols for start, stop, andpausefoundonallaudio/videoequipmentsincethe1960s.

Figure8.1TheGroupCueicon.

StartCue

The Start Cue is used to start playback on another cue. Like the Fade Cue, itaccepts another cue as its target. Once triggered, the Start Cue will fire thetargetedcue.ThinkoftheStartCueasanothermethodoftriggeringacuebesidestheGO button. It is important to note that the StartCuewillnot relocate theplayback position to the targeted cue. If you need to relocate the playbackpositiontothetargetedcue, insertaGoToCuefollowingtheStartCuewithanauto-continuesetontheStartCue.

StopCue

TheStopCuebehavesinthesamefashionastheStartCue,acceptinganothercueasitstarget,exceptthatwhenfireditwillstoptheplaybackofthetargetedcueratherthanstartingit.StoppingaGroupCuewillendplaybackofallcueswithinthegroup.Likewise,targetingaCueListwithaStopCuewillstopplaybackofallcuesinthatparticularcuelist.Oncestopped,acueisnolongeractiveandreturnstoitsoriginalstateforsubsequentplayback.

PauseCue

ThePauseCuecanbeusedtopausetheplaybackofacue,aGroupCue,orevenacue list.WhenaPauseCueactivates, itsimplyhalts theplaybackofacueorcue sequence, leaving all affected cues in their current state. It is important tonotethatifacueispaused,youwillstillfinditlocatedintheActiveCuespanel.

ToendaPauseCue,aStartCuemustbeinsertedintothecuelist.ItisimportanttonotethattheStartCueshouldtargetthepausedAudioCue,notthePauseCueitself. If you target the Pause Cue, then nothing will occur, as the action willessentiallycreatealoopinwhichpauseispressedoverandoveragain.OncetheStartCueisfired, itwillbeginplaybackofthepausedcueintheexact locationandstateinwhichitwaspaused.ItisimportanttonotethattheseControlCuescanbeusedonallcuetypes–Audio,Mic,Video,andCamera.

8.3LoadCueThe Load Cue (seen in Figure 8.2) can serve multiple functions in the QLabworkspace.TheuseoftheLoadCuecanbebothsubtleandcomplex.Itsprimaryfunctionenablestheprogrammertoloadacueorcuesequencetoacertaintimeforplayback.To insert theLoadCue, simplyclickon theLoadCue icon in theToolbarthusinsertingtheLoadCueplacekeeperinyourcuelist.Oncethishasbeenaccomplished,anothercuetypemustbetargeted.Justdragthedesiredcueonto theLoadCue’s cue rowand itwill automatically target it.Now,once theLoad Cue is fired, it loads the targeted cue to the computer’s memory. The“loadedcue”statusisindicatedbyayellowdotplacedtotheleftofthecue’sicon(Figure8.3a).Inthiscase,thecuewillbeloadedtoitsstarttime.

Figure8.2LoadCueicon.

Inadditiontosimplyloadingacuetoitsstarttime,theLoadCuecanspecifyanexact start point in the targeted cue’sAction time. This is incredibly useful increating dynamic cue sequences forwhich youmightwant to start a cue at acertain pointwithin the audio recording. In order to accomplish this function,open theLoadTime tab in theLoadCue’s InspectorPanel.Type in thedesiredload time of the Loaded Cue and, when fired, the cue will be loaded to thepredeterminedtime.WhenaLoadCueisfiredwithanestablishedloadtime,thecue row features theyellowdot asbefore, but also includes ayellow rectanglearoundthecue’sActiontime(seeFigure8.3b).

Another function of the Load Cue is simply loading the chosen cue into thecomputer’smemorytoensureseamlessplayback.Inolderversions,thisfunctionwasessentialincreatinglongcuesequences,essentiallyloadingthecuesintothecomputer’s memory to enable rapid playback. One would frequently insert aLoadCueintosuchlongersequencestoensureproperplayback.Asthesoftwarehasadvanced, though, this function seems lessessential inmost instances.Onegoodexampleoftheuseofthistypeofcue,though,isifyourcomputersitsforalongperiodofinactivityduringtheshow.Ihavenoticedthat,dependingonthehardwareandconfigurationofsomecomputers,itmaytakeamomentto“wake

up”thecomputerforplaybackinthisinstance.IwillsometimesprogramaLoadCue into the cue list for just this function. Just remember to inform the stagemanageroroperatorthatthecuewillperformnofunctionthattheycanhear.

Figure8.3(a)AloadedcuewithnoLoadTime.(b)AloadedcuewithaspecificLoadTime.

Figure8.4TheResetCueicon.

Pro-Tip

One important thing to note is that a Load Cue does not change theplaybackpositionofthecuelist.Ifyoutargetapreviouscueinyourcuelist,

thattargetwillbeloadedandremainsountilfired,buttheplaybackpositionwillcontinuetothenextcueinthecuelist.IfyouwanttouseaLoadCuetopre-load a previous cue and then return to it for playback, youmust eithermanuallymovetheplaybackpositionbyclickingonthedesiredcueorinsertaGoToCue.Essentially,aGoToCueisusedtoredirecttheplaybackpositiontoadifferentpointinthecuelist.TheGoToCueiscoveredindetailinSection8.6.

8.4ResetCueTheResetCue(seeninFigure8.4)isaninterestingcueinthatitfunctionsslightlydifferentlyfordifferentcuetypes.Forexample,whenlookingatAudioCues,theReset Cue will change the targeted cue back to its original, unchanged state(resetting volume changes, trim, audio effects, etc.).When applied to an activecue(oneplaying),itactsasaStopCueandresetsthetargetedcuetoitsoriginalstate.Like theLoadCue, though, theplaybackpositionwill remainunchangedandcontinuetothenextcueinthecuelist.

Some cues have what we might call “sticky” parameters – meaning that juststoppingthemwillnotresettheirstatus.Forthesecuetypes,aResetCuemustbeused.Whenapplied toaCueList,aResetCueresets thecue list to itsoriginalplaybackpositionatthetopofthelist.Inaddition,whenappliedtoaGoToCuethathasbeenchangedbyaTargetCue(addressedlater),theResetCuewillresettheGoToCuetoitsoriginaltarget.

8.5DevampCueTheadditionof theDevampCue (Figure8.5) toQLab2wasadefining featureallowingforcomplexcompositionaloptionsincontrasttosimpleaudioplayback.Inmusicalterms,vampingreferstoanimprovisationalmusicalaccompanimenttothesolo.Inmusicaltheatre,therearefrequentlysectionsofthescorewrittenin for themusicaldirectorwith thenotationvampincluded.Thesesectionsareeasilyrepeatable,offeringtheopportunitytohavemusicalaccompanimentundersectionsoftheshowwhosetimingmightvaryfromperformancetoperformance.Within QLab, vamping is accomplished through looping or slices (covered in

Chapter5).WhenlookingattheTime&LoopstabintheInspectorPanelforanAudio Cue, you have the option of looping an Audio Cue based on apredeterminedplaycountorasaninfinite loop. Inaddition,youcouldcreatealoop cycle based on slices in the Audio Cue. The Devamp Cue is used inconjunction with a looped Audio Cue to end a loop cycle. When fired, thetargetedAudioCuewillplaythroughitsfinalloopandthencontinuetoplaytheaudiofile.

Figure8.5TheDevampCueicon.

The Devamp Cue allows for complex musical composition that matches theactiononstage.As an example, I recentlydesigned scenery for a productionofRichardIIIattheMichiganShakespeareFestival.Inthisproduction,manyofthecomplexbattlesequencesneededmusicalunderscoring.Sincethesounddesignerforthisproductionwasalsowritingoriginalcompositions,shewantedtomatchthe pacing of the music to that of the battle onstage. The score was heavilypercussive and featured many sequences in which the drums had to alignsimultaneouslywithswordscollidingoronstagedeaths. Inorder toaccomplishthis feat, shecreated the score inhundredsof short, loopable sectionsofmusicandusedDevampCues to allow for themusic toorganicallymatch the actiononstage. The effect was stunning and truly made the actors interactivecollaborators to the sound design. With QLab 3, the use of slices allows forcomplexvampingpossibilitieswithevenlessincorporatedaudiotracks.Awordofwarning:Thisprocess is exceptionally time-consumingand requiresdetailedplanning to pull it off. Each loopmust be seamless with no “dead air” at thebeginningorend,or thetimingwillvarymakingforafakesound.Whendonewell, though, the process is exceptionally rewarding. The project below detailstheprocessforsettingupashortcompositionwithinternalvampingsequences.

Project8.1

VampinganAudioCuewithLoops

InpreviousversionsofQLab,vampingofcueswasaccomplishedviatheuse

of loops. This process relied on creating an audio file and setting the playcount to infinite loop. This creates a cycle thatwill continuously play untilstoppedoractedonbyanothercue.Thefollowingprojectdetailsthecreationof a loop sequence for these purposes. Download Project 8.1 from thecompanionwebsite.

StepOne:OpentheProject8.1workspaceandselectCue1.

StepTwo:Select theTime&Loops tab from the InspectorPanel.Clickon the InfiniteLoopbutton.Thiswillcreatetheloopsequence.ClickGOtoheartheAudioCueplay.

StepThree:Nowthattheinfiniteloopisestablished,theAudioCuewillcontinueplayinguntilstoppedoractedonbyanothercuetype.Forourpurposes,wewillusetheDevampCue.When fired, the targetedAudioCuewill play through itsfinalloopandthencontinuetoplaytotheendofthesequence.

StepFour:InsertaDevampCueintotheworkspacebetweenCue1and2.SetCue1asthetargetfortheDevampCue.ClickontheSettingtabfortheDevampCueandselectthecheckboxlabeled“Startnextcuewhentargetreachestheendofthe current slice.”Thiswill automaticallyactivateplayback forCue2 at theendoftheloop.ItisworthnotingthattheDevampCuecanbefiredatanypointduringtheloop cycle. In addition, you could set the Devamp Cue to simply stop thetargetoncethe loopreaches theendof itscyclewithout firingasubsequentcue.

StepFive:Totestthesequence,triggerplaybackforCue1andthenfiretheDevampCueafterthefirstloopcycle.

Project8.2

VampinganAudioCuewithSlices

Inadditiontocreatingloops,QLab3offerstheopportunitytocreateinternalvampingwithinAudioCues.Thisprocessallowsthesounddesignertocreatealoopablesectionofafilethatcanvamp(usefulforscenechanges)untilactedonbyaDevampCue,whichwillendtheloopandlettheAudioCueplayonuntiltheendofthefile.Thefollowingprojectdetailsthesetupofthisprocess,utilizingProject8.2downloadedfromthecompanionwebsite.

StepOne:SelectCue1fromtheProject8.2workspace.

StepTwo:SelecttheTime&LoopstabintheInspectorPanel.Inthewaveformdisplay,clickonthetimelineatapproximatelythe5.95secondmark.Clickonthe“AddSlice”buttontotheleftofthescreen.Youwillnoticeayellowlinewillappearwithadownwardpointingarrow,indicatingthesliceposition.Inadditionthenumber“1”willappearintheslice.Thisindicatestheloopcountoftheslice.Selectthisnumberandtypein“inf.”Thiswillcreateaninfiniteloopcycle.

StepThree:Insert a Devamp Cue following the cue and set Cue 1 as the target. UponfiringtheDevampCue,theloopwillendallowingtheAudioCuetoplayontoitsend.

Itisimportanttonotethatthisprocesscanberepeatedanynumberoftimes.Any Audio Cue can have multiple slices within it set to infinite loop andnumerousDevampCuesmaybeusedtoexittheloopcycles.

8.6GoToandTargetCues

GoToCue

TheGoToCue(Figure8.6)isasimpletoolthatallowsforchangingtheorderofplaybackinasequence.Likeothercontrolcues,itacceptsanothercueasatarget.OncetheGoToCueisfired,theplaybackpositionismovedtothetargetedcue.UnlikeVersion2,inQLab3aGoToCuecannotbeusedtoactivateplaybackofacue.Toachievethis inVersion3,aStartCuemustbeusedinconjunctionwiththeGoToCue.

TargetCue

TheTargetCueisaversatilecuethatcanmanipulateanyothercuethatusesacue target (i.e. Start, Stop, Pause, GoTo Cues, etc.). It is intended to work inconjunctionwithanothercuetochangethecuetarget,therebyallowingforevenmoreversatilityinchangingtheorderofplaybackinacuesequence.TheuseofaTarget Cue can provide some confusion, if you are not fully versed in itsapplication.

Liketheothercontrolcueswehavelookat,aTargetCueacceptsanothercueasits target.Once theTargetCuehasbeen triggered, itwilloverride theprevioustargetof thecueandestablishanewone.Thisnewtargetwillappear listed inbracketsonthetargetrowoftheaffectedcue(seeFigure8.7a&b).ItisimportanttonotethatthetargetforthiscuewillremainchangeduntilusingaResetCuetorestorethecuetoitsoriginalstatus.

Figure8.6GoToandTargetCueicons.

Figure8.7(a)GoToCue.(b).GoToCueafterTargetCueisfired.

8.7ArmandDisarmCuesTheArmCue andDisarmCue (Figure8.8) are used for the simple purpose ofenablingorlimitingacue’sabilitytoperformitsactionwhenfired.Whenacueis armed, it will perform all of its assigned actions when fired. When it isdisarmed,itwillstillusepre-waitandpost-waitfunctions,butwillnotperformits assigned action. Like other control cues, the Arm and Disarm Cues bothrequireanothercueasatarget.Althoughthepurposeofthecueisasimpleone,itisapowerfultoolthatallowsfororganiccontrolincomplexplaybacksituations.

ArmandDisarmCuesarefrequentlyusedasacomponentofthecueingandtechprocess.Onepossibleuseisinprogrammingmultiplecueoptionsintothecuelistbeforetech.Youmighthavealternateversionsofsoundcuespreprogrammedinto

your cue list that are disabled. If the director does not like your first choice,simply disable it and enable one of the other choices. This requires additionalprogrammingtimeupfront,butmakesthetechprocessgosmoothly.

Anotherpossibilityistheuseofpre-recordedmaterialsthatmightneedtochangefromnighttonight.Saythatthereisapre-recordedvoiceoverfortheleadrole,but theunderstudyhas to goon for oneperformance. In this case, the cue listcould have two sets of voiceover programmed into it, with the unused filesdisarmed. To change from the lead role to the understudy, simply arm theunderstudyvoiceoveranddisarmtheleadrole.

Figure8.8ArmandDisarmCueicons.

Inadditiontoindividualcues,theArmandDisarmCuescantargetaGroupCue.Thisisparticularlyusefulforelaborateloopingsituations–suchasabattleorathunderstorm.Inbothsituations,itiscommontocreateagroupofdiscreteAudioCues often equipped with Auto-continues and a randomized playback order.OncetheGroupCueisplaying,theindependentcuesmergetocreatearealisticsound effect: explosions, bullets, screams, and so on. Fading out a Group Cuesuch as thiswouldmake all of those independent cues fade out over the sameduration. This effectwould stick out like a sore thumb after the ultra-realisticapproachof theprevioussoundeffect.Amuchmoreeffective techniquewouldbetheuseofaDisarmCuetargetingtheGroupCue.Eachinactivecuewouldbedisarmed,whereas theActiveCueswould complete their playback. This effectwouldcreateamuchmorerealisticfadingofthefightsequence.

One important thing to note in this situation is how theDisarm orArmCuesinteractwithaGroupCue.Thecueswilleitherarmordisarmeverycuewithinthe Group Cue. In some cases, you might have previously disarmed one cuewithin the group. If you disarm this group then arm it again, all cueswill bearmedregardlessofthefactthatoneofthecueswaspreviouslydisarmed.

8.8WaitCue

TheWaitCue (Figure8.9) isused to insertdelaysbetween cues in the cue list.Thiscueperformstheexactsamefunctionastheintegratedpre-waitorpost-waitof an individual cue. It is amatter of preference as towhichmethod you use.Unlike other control cues, theWait Cue does not target another cue type – itsimplyinsertsawaitperiodintothecuesequence.Thedefaultwaittimeissetas5 seconds (unless changed inGeneral Settings).Notice that, upon inserting theWaitCue,thecuewillbenamed“wait5seconds.”Thisisahandyfunctionthatlets the operator see the action of theWaitCue. To change thewait duration,simply input the desiredwait time in theAction columnof the cue row.Notethat,uponchangingtheactionthenameofthecuewillautomaticallybechangedtomatch.

8.9MemoCueTheMemoCue(Figure8.10)servesthesingularfunctionofinsertinganoteintoyour cue list without being attached to another type of cue. This cue has noaction associatedwith it. To use theMemoCue, insert it into the cue list andwriteyourmemo into thenotespanel at the topof the screen.When inShowMode,theMemoCuewilldisplaytheinputtednotesinthenotespanel.

Figure8.9TheWaitCueicon.

Figure8.10TheMemoCueicon.

Figure8.11TheScriptCueicon.

8.10ScriptCueTheScriptCueisafunctiontypicallyreservedforadvancedusers,orthosewithpreviousexperienceintheAppleScriptscriptinglanguage.AppleScriptisanend-userscriptinglanguagethatenablesuserstocontrolapplications,exchangedatabetween applications, and automate the control of some repetitive tasks.AppleScripts can be run internally, as a Script Cue, or externally through anapplication such as AppleScript Editor.Within the QLab system, scripting hasalwaysbeenleftasanoptionforthoseindustriousdesignerswhowanttocreatesomeelementsofcustomizedcontrol.

Tousethescripting,insertaScriptCueintoyourcuelist(Figure8.11).Clickonthe Script tab in the Inspector Panel and it will open a Script window. ThiswindowiswhereyoucaninsertanAppleScriptwrittentoperformagiventask.AppleScriptcanbeusedforanumberofdifferentpurposesfromfiringacueinQLabtoopeninganAudioCue’stargetfileforeditinginyourDAW.Oneofthegreat thingsabout theScriptCues is thatyoucaninsertaScriptCueintoyourcue listandassignaHotkeyTrigger for it, therebygivingyourselfaccess to itsfunction at any point. For instance, you could create a Script Cue thatautomatically muted all active cues and assign it the Hotkey of “M.” Aftercreatingthiscue,pressingtheMkeywouldmuteallactivecues.

TheFigure53websitefeaturesawikilibraryofuser-generatedAppleScriptsthathavebeentestedforuseintheQLabenvironmentatwiki.figure53.com.Manyofthesescriptsaresimpletointerpretandcanbechangedtosuitvaryingpurposes.For thenextproject,wewill lookatabasicbutextremelyusefulscriptusedtoincrease or decrease volume levels of a selected Audio,Mic, Video, Group, orFade Cue. Download Project 8.3 from the companion website to examine thisAppleScriptatwork.

Project8.3

CreatingaHotkeyActivatedScriptCue

StepOne:OpenProject8.3andselectCue2,theScriptCue.

StepTwo:

SelecttheScripttabintheInspectorPaneloftheScriptCue.Youwillseeinthis dialog anAppleScript. This script effectively increases or decreases theMastervolumesettingsofaselectedcue,whentriggered.

StepThree:SelecttheBasicstaboftheScriptCue.Intherightsideofthewindow,clickontheHotkeyTriggercheckbox.Once thishasbeenclicked, thenextkeystrokehitonyourkeyboardwillbesetastheHotkeytotriggertheScriptCue.(Formine,Iuseshift+1.)StepFour:Select Cue 1 and then click the assigned Hotkey. This will open a dialogwindowreading“Insert+or–VolumeChange.”Toincreasethevolumeinserta+followedbyanumericvalue(suchas+5toincreasetheMasterby5dB).Afterclickingok,selectCue1andnotethattheMastervolumewillmatchtheincrementinsertedinthewindow.

It is worth noting that the use of such AppleScript Cues with Hotkeyassignmentsmightbebeststoredinaseparatecuelistsoastonotaddcluttertoyourworkspace.EvenwhentheScriptCueishiddeninasecondcuelist,though,itcanstillbetriggeredviaHotkey.

9GroupCues

OtherthantheFadeCue,theGroupCueis likelythemostcommonlyusedcuetypeinanycuelist.Onereasonfortheprevalenceofthiscueisitsversatility.AstheGroupCue is such an essential component to dynamic cueingpossibilities,the following chapter both details its use and offers up practical projects forlearninghowtobestutilizetheGroupCueinyourownprojects.

9.1UnderstandingGroupCuesGroupCuesaresimpletounderstand,yethavetheabilitytobeutilizedtocreatesubtle andcomplexeffects.Onekey featureof theGroupCue is thatgroupingcuestogetherdoesnotchangethewayinwhichtheyfunction,itjustenablestheability to control the cues by grouping them together. Though the only truefunction of the Group Cue is to contain other cues within it, there are manycreative uses for creating a group rather than leaving cues independentlyorganized.

1.Organization:OneofthemainreasonsforusingaGroupCueistheabilityto“hide” someofyourmorecomplexcues.Thismethodhides thosenumerouscuesinsideonefolderonthedesktop,savingtheoperatorfromhavingtolookatalargenumberofcuesclutteringtheworkspace.

2.ComplexCueControl:GroupCuesallowformorecomplexcueing,enablingmultiple sub-cues of differing cue types to be fired simultaneously or insequence. For example, special effects cues are often composed of multipledifferent cue types with varying continue states, fades, and control cuescombinedtocreateonesingleeffectintheshow.Agoodexampleofthisisarainstorm. The stage manager might simply call one cue to trigger “gorainstorm,” but the programming for that cue might entail 10–12 differentcombinationsofAudioCues,FadeCues,GoToCues,StartCue,ormore.One

greatuseof theGroupCue is to simplydrag all of thenecessary rainstormcuesintotheonegroupandlabelit“rainstorm.”

3. Consolidating Control: Fade Cues and many control cues can affect all“children” within a Group Cue (play, pause, stop). This means a simplifiedmethodofcontrollingoneormultiplecues.Keepinmind,though,thatsomeGroupCueswillsoundfakeiffadedoutasagroup.

4. RandomizedPlayback:GroupCues can be programmed to play back theirinternal cues in a random order.One of themost versatile functions of theGroup Cue is the ability to program it to fire a random internal cue thenproceed to the next cue in the workspace. By randomizing playback andadding a Play Cue to the group, an intelligent programmer can use thisfunctiontogetaroundrepetitiousloopsoundsforthingslikecitystreetsoundsorenvironmentalsoundeffects.

9.2InsertingandEditingGroupCuesGroupCues,likeallothercuetypes,areinsertedviatheToolboxorToolbar.ClickontheGroupCue icon to insertaGroupCueplacekeeper. Ifusing thedefaulthotkey configuration, pressing 0will also insert aGroupCue. Once insertedintoyourcuelist,simplydragoneormoreselectedcuesintothecuelineoftheGroup Cue. You will notice that the cue line for the Group Cue will behighlightedwithabluerectanglewhenyouhavepositionedyourcursor in thecorrectlocation.Careshouldalwaysbetakenwhendragginganddroppingfilesin yourworkspace. If you accidentally drag a cue onto another cue (besides aGroupCue), itcanreplacethecueor, inthecaseofaFadeCue,reset thecue’starget.

Once inserted, the Group Cue has a limited number of control functionscompared to other cue types. The following section details GroupCue controlfunctionsfoundintheInspectorPanel.

InspectorPanel:Basics

TheBasicspanelissimilartothatseenonalloftheothercuetypes.Itissplitintotwo columns: basic information and triggering information (Figure 9.1). Basicinformationincludescuenumber,name,waittimes,andcontinuemodes.Unlikesome other cue types, the target function is not applicable to the Group Cue.

Triggering functions are shown in the second column. Like other cue types,GroupCuescanbetriggeredbyMIDIcontrol,hotkey,wallclock,ortimecode.

Figure9.1TheGroupCuebasicstab.

InspectorPanel:Mode

ThemodeofaGroupCuedetermineshowthecuewillbehaveonceitistriggeredfor playback. Figure 9.2 shows the layout of the Mode tab. One key term indiscussingGroupCuemodesischild.InGroupCues,individualcuescontainedwithintheGroupCuefolderarereferredtoasachild.ThistermisfundamentaltounderstandingGroupCuefunction.ThefourdifferentGroupCuemodesarelistedbelow.

• Thefirstmodeis labeled,Start firstchildandenter intogroup.ThismodeestablishesthatwhenyouclickGOonthegroup,itwillstartplayingthefirstchildofthegroup,thensettheplaybackpositiontothenextchild.Thisisthemodemostoftenusedandisusefulforcreatingthingslikeapre-showplaylist.Tocreateaplaylist,simplyinsertanumberofcuesintoaGroupCueandseteachaudiofileasAuto-Follow.

•Thenextmode,Startfirstchildandgotonextcue,allowsfortheplaybackposition tomove to thenext cue in the cue list after theGroupCue.This isparticularlyuseful forcreatingaGroupCuewith lotsof internalautomationwhenyouhaveasubsequentcuetobefiredbeforetheGroupCuecompletesits action.For instance,youcancreateaGroupCue sequenceendingwithaGoTo and Play Cue that would trigger the first child once the last one hadfinished,therebycreatinganinfiniteloop.Inordertostopthisloop,youwouldhaveaFadeCueasthenextcueinthecuelist. Ifyousetthegroupmodeasstartfirstchildandgotonextcue,theplaybackpositionwouldbesetontheFadeCue,waitingforyourtriggertofadeouttheinfinitelyloopingGroupCue.

•Thethirdmode,Startallchildrensimultaneouslymeansthat,uponpressingGO,allof thechildren in thatgroupwillplaybackat thesametime.This isparticularly useful for special effects, such as a car crash or an offstageexplosion.Fortheexplosioneffect,createaGroupCueanddragthemultipleexplosion sound files into the group with the mode set to start all childrensimultaneously.Thiswillenableyoutoplaybackmultipleaudiofilesatoncewithouthaving theoperatorpressGOnumerous times.Ofcourse,eachchildcan have its own pre-wait settings, if desired. This can give amore realisticeffect,ratherthaneverythingbeginningatexactlythesamemoment.

•Thefinalmodeislikelyusedwiththeleastfrequency,butoffersflexibilityforcreating nuanced designs.Start randomchild andgo to thenext cue doesjustwhatitsays–itwillpickarandomchildwithinthegroup,activateitforplayback, and thenprogress theplaybackposition to thenext cue in the cuelist. This mode is useful in creating sound loops that need to have a morerandom/organic feel to them. One great example, as mentioned earlier, iscreating street sounds for an urban environment. Street sounds are bothmonotonous and randomat the same time. Should you choose to use a pre-recorded soundeffect for anurbanbackground loop,you run the riskof theaudiencehearingthesameeffectsloopingback.Nothingkillsthegravitasofasound recording like your audience noticing the same car driving by everyminute.Shortofusinga30-minutelongrecording,therandomplaybackGroupCueisthebestwaytoaccomplishamorerealisticsoundingurbanlandscape.

Figure9.2TheGroupCueModetab.

In order to accomplish this, set up a Group Cue with lots of different soundeffects housedwithin:motorcycles, bikes, peoplewalking, car horns, etc.Makesurethatyouhavetheserecordingssetuptopanfrombothdifferentdirectionssoyougetarealisticinterpretationofstandingonastreetcorner.SetupaloopbyaddingaPlayCueattheendofthesequenceandsetthemodetostartrandom

childandgotonextcue.Thiswillcreatearandomizedloopofsoundeffectsforyoururbanlandscape.

9.3WorkspaceFunctionOneofthelastareasof importancetounderstandingtheGroupCue’suseis itsfunctionwithinthecuerow.TherearetwopracticalfunctionsoftheGroupCuewithinthecuerow:notesandhidingcontents.Botharesimpletounderstand,yetessentialtocreatinganefficientworkspace.

CueName

Likeallcuetypes,thecuenameofGroupCuescanbechangedtosuittheneedsof the show. I find it useful to namemyGroupCues in a descriptive fashion,since the Group Cue hides a number of cues within its folder. For instance,namingtheGroupCue“Pre-showmusic”isausefulwayfortheoperatortokeeptrack of the group function without having the folder expanded to see itscontents.

Notes

Likeallother cue types, theGroupCueallows for inserting information in theNotespanelatthetopofthescreen(Figure9.3a).TheNotespanelallowsforthecreationofanotespecifictothegivencuethatmightbebeneficialorinformativefortheQLaboperator.WhenQLabisplacedinShowMode,thewindowtakesupa largeportionof the interfacedirectlybeneath thecuename(seeFigure9.3b).UnlikepreviousversionsofQLab,theabilitytoaddimageshasbeenremovedinVersion3.Thenotes fieldhasbeenrelegated toplain text formattingonly. It isworthmentioningthattheShowModewindowdoesallowforviewingmoretextthantheEditModenotespanel,duetoitslargersize.

Figure9.3(a)ThenotespanelinEditMode.(b)ThenotespanelinShowMode.

Figure9.4NotetherectangularboxaroundtheGroupCuecontents.

HidingGroupCueContents

AnotherusefulfunctionoftheGroupCueistheabilitytohidethecontentsofaGroupCue.Asmentionedearlier,thisisgreatforreducingworkspaceclutter.Bydefault,anychildrenaddedtoaGroupCuewillbeshowninacascadingformatbeneath the parent cue. The expanded Group Cue features a blue roundedrectangleboxhighlightingitschildren(seeFigure9.4).Tohidetheinternalcues,simplyclickonthedownwardfacingarrowbesidetheGroupCuenameintheQ

column. Thiswill change the arrow from downward facing to pointing to theright.ToexpandtheGroupCueata latertime,simplyclickontherightarrowicontore-openthefolder.

9.4GroupCueProjectsThe following projects detail two common uses of the Group Cue in action:creating a playlist and using a Fade Cue to end playback; and simultaneousplaybackofchildrenforcreatingeffectscues.

Project9.1

UsingtheGroupCuetoCreateaPlaylistOneofthemostcommonusesoftheGroupCueisincreatingasequenceofaudio files that need to loop. Many shows have pre-show, intermission, orpost-showmusic. Though there is no function of QLab that simply entailsdroppingaudiofilesintoaplaylist,thecombineduseoftheGroupCuewithmultipleAudioCues and a StartCue allows for the creation of a loop-ablecollectionofmusic,whichcanplayindefinitelyuntilfadedout.Theprocessisquite simple and one that should be mastered, as it is used in most everyproduction.The followingprojectwalks you through the creation of such aplaylist.

StepOne:DownloadProject9.1 from the companionwebsite. Thisworkspace featuresthreeshortmusicalsnippetsthatcanbeusedfortheplaylist.

StepTwo:ClickontheGroupCueicontoaddaGroupCuetotheplaylist.

StepThree:Drag the firstAudioCue into theGroupCue.Set the followstatusasauto-follow.

StepFive:RepeatstepfourforeachoftheadditionalAudioCues.

StepFive:InsertaStartCueintotheworkspaceandthendragitintotheGroupCueasthelastcueinthesequence.

StepSix:SetCue1asthetargetfortheStartCue.Thiswillcreatealoopthatwillplaythegroupindefinitelyuntilfadedout.

StepSeven:InsertaFadeCueoutsideoftheGroupCue.SettheGroupCueasthetargetfile of the FadeCue.Under theLevels tab of the FadeCue, pull theMasterfader down to -INF and select the “StopTargetWhenDone” checkbox (seeFigure9.5).

Figure9.5Masterfaderlevelssetto-INF.

StepEight:Testyourplaylist.WhentheGroupCueistriggered,youwillnoticethattheplaybackpositionwillautomaticallyjumpdowntotheFadeCuesoyoucanfadeouttheGroupCueatanypointdesired.

Project9.2

SimultaneousPlaybackofChildrenAnothercommonuseoftheGroupCueisthecreationofeffectscuesinwhichmultiplesoundsplaybackconcurrently.ThebenefitofusingtheGroupCueisunifying control wherein all cues are fired by clicking the Go button onlyonce. Another benefit is removing clutter from your workspace, given theGroupCue’s ability to collapse and hide its children. The following projectdetailsthestepsnecessarytocreateacarcrashsoundeffect.ThisfilecontainsseveraldifferentAudioCueseachwithitsowndifferentattributes.

StepOne:DownloadProject9.2fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:Youwill notice that there are several cues in the workspace. The first is aGroupCuethatcurrentlycontainsnointernalcues.PulltheAudioCuesintotheGroupCue,keepingtheminchronologicalorder.

StepThree:Select theMode tab in the InspectorPanelofCue1andclickon thebuttonlabeled“StartAllChildrenSimultaneously.”Thiswillmakeallthecuesfireatthesametime.

StepFour:Select various cues and experiment with how the car crash might sounddifferentlywithpre-waitsadded.Forinstance,addapre-waitof1.5secondstoCue3.

StepFive:Testtheplaybackofthecuesequence.

10VideoSystems

Like the sound systems mentioned earlier in the text, a video system is acollection of components: media storage unit (computer), cameras,cabling/network,andoutputdevices(monitors,projectors,televisions,andlight-emittingdiode[LED]/liquidcrystallinedisplay[LCD]panels).Thevideosystemdeals with both audio and video combined together for the playback of stillimages,prerecordedvideo,or livevideo inputted fromacamera.Asyoumightassume, thereareanumberofdifferentconfigurationsonecouldchoose,basedontheneedsoftheproject.Thefollowingchapterdetailsthepurposeofdifferentvideosystemsandtheircomponents.

10.1UnderstandingVideoSystemsAs mentioned earlier in the text, QLab is a remarkable tool for a number ofdifferentproductionenvironments.Inadditiontolivetheatre,thereisdance,livemusic, theme parks, museums, trade shows, and more. The use of the videosystem will invariably change, depending on the environment for which it isdesigned.Ultimately, therewillbe threebasic typesofvideosystemssetupforuse with QLab: an editing system, a playback system, and a reinforcementsystem. After reading the chapter on sound systems, these terms should befamiliartoyouastheyaresimilarlyusedforaudioandvideosystemsalike.ThefollowingsectiondetailsthetypesofvideosystemsandtheirusewithQLab.

EditingSystem

ThoughnotspecificallyusedinconjunctionwithQLab,thefirststepnecessarytocreatingand/oreditingcontentforplaybackwithQLabistheeditingsystem.Aswithaudio,almostallcontentcreationandeditingisdonethroughsoftwareonyourcomputer.Youcouldspendstensofthousandsofdollarstocreateahigh-end

editing stationwithdigitalvideocameras, editing software, interfaces,graphicssoftware,andmore.Likewise,ifyouownanyMacintoshcomputer,youalreadyhave the beginnings of a digital video workstation in the onboard Face TimecameraandiMovie.

One important thing to remember is that QLab refers to the playback of anyimageasvideo,whetherit isamovingpictureorastill image.Thismeansthatgraphicseditingprogramsareveryhandyforcontentcreation,aswellas thoseforvideoeditingandsound.GraphicsprogramssuchasAdobePhotoshop,AdobeIllustrator,andAdobeAfterEffectshavebecomestaples incontentcreation forvideo systems. Digital video editing programs such as Final Cut Pro, AdobePremiere, Avid Media Composer, and Sony Vegas Pro have all carved out acorner of the market, as well. Finally, no editing system would be completewithoutsoundeditingsoftware,aswell.BothLogicProandProToolsoffertheability to integratevideo into the editingworkspace and sync audiowithyourvideo.

For video editing considerations, the most important hardware aspects toconsiderareprocessor speed (CPU),RAM,andgraphics card (GPU).Wheneverpossible, try to purchase a system that is upgradable like the Mac Pro tower.Hardwareeventuallybecomesobsolete,anditismuchcheaperinthelongruntoupgrade components of your system rather than buying a new computer(althoughitappearsthatcurrenttrendsaremovingawayfromeasilyupgradablesystems).Another important consideration is storage. Video files are large andtakeupalotofspace.Makesuretohaveadedicateddriveforvideostoragewithaminimumof1terabytestoragecapacitythatisseparatefromyourstartupdisk.Redundantarrayofindependentdisks(RAIDs)orsolidstatedrivedrives(SSDs)are preferable,whenever possible, as they can increase both dependability andspeed.

VideoPlaybackSystem

Videoplaybacksystemsareacombinationofequipmentnecessarytoplaybackprerecordedvideoorstillimagesinaliveperformance/installationenvironment.

Likeaudiosystems,thevideoplaybacksystemisacombinationofoneormorecomputersconnectedeitherdirectlytoanoutputdevice(s)orintoanetwork.Itismuchmorecommoninthevideosystem,however,tofindanumberofdifferentcomputers each running their ownQLabworkspace networked into a “master

computer” running its own QLab workspace as a controller for all of thecomponentcomputersanddevices.

Again,thereareanumberofdifferenthardwareoptionsforaplaybacksystem.Onemajorconsiderationisthenumberofvideooutputsavailable.Somegraphicscardshaveonlyonevideooutput,thoughtherearemanyGPUsthatoffermorethan one output. A playback computer might be specially built with multiplegraphics cards to offer numerous video outputs. In addition, there are otherhardware options, such as graphics expansion devices that use the processingpowerofyourGPU,but spread itoutacross twoor threeoutputs.TheMatroxDualHead2GoorTripleHead2Goare twosuchoptions thateffectivelyallowforthevideosignalfromyourcomputertobesplitacrossmultipleoutputs, thoughthereareotherproductsonthemarketthatperformthetaskaswell.

VideoReinforcementSystem

Avideoreinforcementsystem is thecombinationofoneormorecameraswithQLab and its system of output devices in order to capture and play back livefootage fromthecamera.Thereinforcementsystemis identical to theplaybacksystem except in two key features: first, the input video signal comes from acamera,ratherthanfromavideoorgraphicsfilesavedonthecomputer’sharddrive;second,CameraCuesdonotincludeanaudiosignal.

TheQLabvideoreinforcementsystemworkswithanyFireWireDV,Blackmagic(a high-end cinema-quality digital video input source), or Face-Time cameraattached to the system. In addition, it can accept input signals via Syphon, anopen-sourceMacOSXtechnologythatallowsapplicationstoshareframes—bothstill or full frame rate video. One main consideration in camera playback islatency.Latencywillvarydrasticallybetweendifferentcameramodels.Assuch,itisbesttoexperimentwithdifferentcamerasuntilyoufindtherightdeviceforyourproductionneeds.

10.2VideoSystemComponentsSimilartotheworldofaudio,thesheeramountoftechnologyneededforvideoandgraphicsystemsisamazinglyhigh.Factorintothatthefrequencywithwhichnewproductsorupgradestooldproductsenterthemarketanditcanmakeyour

headspin.Thoughourmainfocusofthetextisnotequipment,itisimpossibletodiscussmanyoftheusesofQLabwithoutatleasttakingarudimentarylookatthe equipment necessary to set up a video system. The following sectionexaminessomeofthebasicequipmentneededforavideosystem.Whileitisbynomeansanexhaustivelist, itshouldbeagoodstartingpointforthosenewtotheworldofvideosystems.

TheDigitalVideoCamera

Videocamerashavebeenaround foravery long time.The firstvideocamerasfunctioned in an analog sense, using a lens to capturemoving light, store theimpulsesonsometypeoffilmortape,andthentranslateitintoamovingimage.Digital video camera hardware functions is much the same way as analogtechnology to capture imagery. Where they vary from their older analogcounterparts is theway inwhich the data is stored.Digital video cameras aremadeupoftwomaincomponents:thecameraandtherecorder.Theyusealenstocapturethemovinglightliketraditionalvideocameras,andthensendthelightthrough one or more sensors to translate this captured light into images. Thecapturedvideoimageisthentranslatedintocomputerpixels.

Apixel is short for the term“pictureelement.”These tinydotsofcolorare thesmallest element making up a digital image. Typically, thousands of pixelscombine together to make an image viewed on a digital monitor. Anotherimportantterm,resolutioncanbeassociatedwithpixels.Resolution,invideoorgraphics terms, refers to thenumberofpixelsused tomakeupadigital image.Thehigherthepixelcount,thehighertheresolution,resultinginahigher-qualitydigitalimage.

These pixels are sampled by the camera at a predetermined rate and compiledintoone set, representinga single stillmoment in time, referred toasa frame.Each video is made up of multiple frames, typically anywhere from 24 to 72frames per second (fps). Playing back these still frames in rapid s uccessioncreatestheillusionofmovementtothehumaneye.Theseframesareeitherstoredonthecamera’smemoryunitordirectlyoutputtedtoanexternaldevice.

Computer

ForthepurposesofaQLabVideoSystem,thereareonlytwotypicaluses:videoplaybackandlivevideoreinforcement.Ineitheroftheseconfigurations,thenext

logicalstepinthesystemisthecomputer. Ifrecordingvideofor laterplayback,the computer will be used in conjunction with video editing software to editaudioandvideocomponentsofthedigitalvideofile.Softwareallowsforeditingthedigitalvideosignaldowntosingleframesandaddingmultipleeffectstotheimageand/oraudio.

If using QLab as a video reinforcement system, the camera is activated by aCamera Cue and streams live video signal directly into QLab to be outputtedthrough the video patch anddirectly to one ormore output devices (monitors,projectors,etc.)InterfaceConnections

Foranytypeofaudio/videosystem,physicalconnections(bothhardwaredevicesandcabling) comprisea substantialamountof thenecessarycomponents.Eachdevice in your systemwill require some type of cabling for input and output.Typically, this is one of the commonly overlooked costs of setting up a videosystem,aswell.Keepinmindthateachprojectcanhaveconsiderablydifferentneeds,basedonthenumberofinputdevices,computers,outputdevices,andthedistancebetweeneachcomponentinthesystem.Itisoftenagoodideatosketchor draft out a plan that takes into consideration the distances between eachcomponent and the required physical connections between each device. Thisrequires a thorough knowledge of all equipment and the necessary connectors,cabling, and/or adapters. Listed below are several common types of interfaceconnections.

InterfaceConnection

Audio/Video Digital/AnalogConnectorType

VideoGraphicsArray(VGA) Video Analog D-subminiature15pin

Composite(CVBS) Video Analog RCAjack

S-Video Video Analog Mini-DIN4pin

Component Video Analog 3RCAjacks

DigitalVisualInterface(DVI) Video Analog/Digital)** DVIconnector**

High-DefinitionMultimediaInterface(HDMI)

A/V Digital HDMIconnector

DisplayPort A/V Digital DisplayPortconnector

MiniDisplayPort/Thunderbolt A/V* Digital MiniDisplayPortconnector

IEEE1394(FireWire) A/V* Digital FireWireconnector

UniversalSerialBus(USB) A/V* Digital USBconnector

Category5/6(CAT5/CAT6) A/V Digital 8P8Cconnector

*IndicatesBUSpowercapability.

**Dependingoncabletype,theallowablesignalmayvary:DVI-A(analogonly),DVI-D(digitalonly),orDVI-I(digitalandanalog).

VideoOnly–Analog

VideoGraphicsArrayIBMfirst introducedVideoGraphicsArray(VGA)tothemarket in1987,anditquicklybecameanindustrystandardforvideotransmission.Typically,VGAusestheDE-15varietyofD-subconnecter,with15connectorpinsorientedinthreerows(seeFigure10.1).

CompositeVideoCompositevideooftenreferredtoasCVBSfor“color,video,blanking,andsync”isananalogvideotransmissionacrossanRCAconnector. It isasinglechanneltransmissionofstandarddefinitionvideoateither480ior576iresolution.

Figure10.1AmaleVGAconnector.

Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

Figure10.2RCAplugsforcompositevideo(yellow)andstereoaudio(whiteandred).Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

The standard color coding for a composite video cable is yellow. For homeapplications, you will frequently see this accompanied with a red and whitecable,aswell,forrightandleftaudiosignals,respectively(asseeninFigure10.2).

SeparateVideo

Separate video (S-Video) as it is most commonly referred, is a two-channelanalog video transmission of standard definition typically at 480i or 576iresolution.S-Videousesthefour-pinmini-DINconnector,seenin Figure10.3. Itisaslightlyhigherqualitythanthatofcompositevideo,duetoitstwo-channelseparationofthevideoinformation.

ComponentVideo

Component video a common term used to refer to the YP B P R method of

transmittinganalogvideoacrosscomponentvideocables (seeFigure10.4).ThismethodtransmitsananalogvideosignalthathasbeensplitintothreechannelsY(which carries luminance, or brightness, information), P B (which carries the

difference between blue and luminance), andPR (which carries the difference

betweenredandluminance).Thecomponentvideocable,sometimesreferredtoasa“yipper”cable,utilizethreeRCAjacksingreen,blue,andred(Figure10.4).ThegreencablecarriestheYchannel,thebluecarriesPB,andtheredcarriesPR.

Thoughananalogsignal,componentvideoiscapableofsupportinganumberofresolutionsupto1080p.

Figure10.3AmaleMini-DINS-Videoconnector.Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

Figure10.4RCAplugsusedforYPBPRanalogcomponentvideo.

Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

VideoOnly–Analog/Digital

DigitalVisualInterface

Digital Visual Interface (DVI) was developed in 1999 as an industry standardinterfaceforthetransferofdigitalvideocontent.Thecableisusedtoconnectavideo source with an output device, such as a monitor or projector. DVI cansupport analog or digital signals, meaning that it is a particularly versatile

interfacewhenworkingwithavarietyofsources.MaximumresolutionforDVIvideosignalisWUXGA(1920×1200).

Figure10.5AmaleDVIcableandvariousconnectortypes.Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

There are different varieties of DVI cables for differing signal needs: DVI-A(analog only), DVI-D (digital only), and DVI-I (integrated: either analog ordigital). In addition, there is another type of cable for higher video resolutionbandwidth, called Dual Link DVI. The Dual Link DVI doubles the amount ofTMDS pairs, effectively doubling the video bandwidth. Dual Link is onlyavailable forDVI-DandDVI-I.All of the connector typesare shown inFigure10.5.

VideoandAudio–Digital

High-DefinitionMultimediaInterface

High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI) 1.0 was developed in 2002 as areversecompatibleinterfaceforDVIthatsupportedbothaudioandvideosignals.Since a consortium of electronics and motion pictures producers developedHDMI,itwasquicklyadoptedasanindustrystandardinhi-definitiontelevisionsandprojectionequipment.Thecablewasdesigned tobeelectricallycompatiblewithDVIsignals,sonosignalconversionisrequirednoristherealossofvideo

qualityfortheuseofaDVI-HDMIadapter.Asof2013,developmentbeganforanewHDMI2.0specificationwiththehopeofsupporting4kresolutionat60fps,improved 3d capability, and increased audio channels. There are five differenttypes ofHDMI connectors: TypeA–TypeE. TypeA (Full sizeHDMI), TypeC(Mini), and Type D (Micro) are the most common connectors currently used.ManyMacintosh computers now feature anHDMIoutput as part of the videocard.TheHDMITypeAconnectorcanbeseeninFigure10.6.

DisplayPort

DisplayPortwasyetanothergraphics interfacespecificationdesignedtoreplaceVGA and DVI interfaces. DisplayPort was conceived by a consortium ofelectronicsmanufacturersin2006anddesignedtobebackwardscompatiblewithbothVGAandDVI.Thisisparticularlyusefulinthatadapterdevicesarereadilyavailableforusewitholderinterfacetypes.DisplayPortcantransmitbothaudioandvideosimultaneouslyoralone.IncomparingDisplayPorttoHDMI,theyarequitesimilarinresolution,withDisplayPorthavingslightlymorethantwicethebandwidth capabilities of HDMI, enabling it to share this bandwidth withmultiple streams of audio and video to separate devices. Unlike HDMI,DisplayPortwascreatedwithasaroyalty-freeinterface,somanufacturersdonothave to pay a fee to use the technology. This meant a quick industry-wideadoption across a number of computer and A/V platforms. The DisplayPortutilizesaproprietaryDisplayPortconnector(seeFigure10.7).

Figure10.6AnHDMITypeAmaleconnector.Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

Figure10.7ADisplayPortconnector.

MiniDisplayPort/Thunderbolt

In2008,AppleInc.begandevelopmentofanewMiniDisplayPortinterface,builton theDisplayPort framework,but ina smaller sizeandwithhigherpossible resolution(ShowninFigure10.8).LiketheDisplayPortbeforeit,MiniDisplayPortwasdevelopedtoberoyalty-freetoensureawidespreadindustryadoption.Onecomplication of earlyMiniDisplayPort use inApple computers (pre-2010)wasthe inability to transmitbothaudioandvideosignals.For theseearliermodels,audiohad tobe t ransmittedviaUniversalSerialBus (USB),FireWire,oraudioline out. Later editions of Apple computers addressed this issue. Since 2011,thoughApple computershave introducedanewvarietyof interface, stillusingtheMiniDisplayPortconnector,calledThunderbolt.

Figure10.8AMiniDisplayPortconnector.

Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt is an interface developed between Intel and Apple Inc. It iselectrically identical to theMiniDisplayPort, but combines the function of thePCIExpress(PCIe)high-speedserialbusstandardwiththeMiniDisplayPorttocreateanultra-high-speedinterface(withadatabitrateof10Gbit/s)capableofpoweringuptosixexternaldevicesthroughoneconnection(viahubsor“daisychaining”devices).Since theThunderboltwas released in2011, thereare stillalimitednumberofperipheraldevicesonthemarket, thoughadoption israpidlyincreasing.TheThunderboltconnectoralsosuppliesaDCpowersignalforbus-poweringdevices.

IEEE1394(FireWire)

IEEE 1394 (most commonly referred to as FireWire) is a serial bus interfacedevelopedover aperiod from1986 to 1995byApple Inc. anda small groupofotherengineersfromothertechnologycompanies.SimilartoUSB,FireWireisatypeofbustechnologyforinputtingandoutputtingdigitalsignalsandpowerandtheHigh-DefinitionAudio-VideoAlliance(HANA)standardforcommunicationbetweenA/Vequipment.Becauseof this,mostdigital cameras (bothvideoandstill)utilizethisconnector.Itcanbedaisychainedtoaremarkablyhighnumberofdevices(upto63)andusedwithotherconnectortypes,suchaswireless,fiberoptic, Ethernet, or coaxial. Themost common industry connectors, though, areknownasFireWire400orFireWire800.

FireWire400(technicallyknownasIEEE1394-1995)wastheoriginalinterfacereleasedin1995(Figure10.9a). Itcantransferdataatratesof100,200,or400Mbit/sandcarrypowersignals,aswell.

Figure10.9(a)FireWire400cable.(b)FireWire800cable.

FireWire800(technicallyknownasIEEE1394b-2002)wasintroducedin2002asaspecificationthatallowedfordatatransferofupto786.432Mbit/s,whilestill remaining backwards compatible with FireWire 400 devices. Thoughcompatible,theFireWire800utilizesadifferentconnectortypes(Figure10.9b),necessitatingtheuseofanadaptertoworkbetweenthetwospecifications.

UniversalSerialBus

LiketheFireWire, theUSBisaserialcableusedforconnectingawidearrayofdevices and peripherals, both for communication and power supply (Figure10.10). Introduced in 1996, USB quickly became the industry standard forcomputing devices and has since become prevalent in cellular phones, videogamingconsoles,audiointerfaces,andmore.Overtheyears,USBhasintroducedvarious versions:USB 1 (Full Speed) at 12Mbit/s,USB 2.0 (HighSpeed) at 480Mbit/s,and,mostrecently,USB3.0(SuperSpeed)at5Gbit/s.Therearenumerousconnectors, aswell (TypeA, Type B,Mini-B,Micro-A, andMicro-B)with theMini andMicro connectors being usedmost often for smaller devices such ascameras,tablets,andtelephones.

Category5/6

Thefinalinterfacetypethatisbecomingincreasinglyprevalentinentertainmentapplications is thatof theCategory5/6 (CAT5/CAT6) (Figure10.11).Asmorecontrol systems become network capable, the use of Ethernet style LocalAreaNetworks(LANs)orWideAreaNetworksiscommonplace.ThisdevelopmenthasledtotheproliferationofCAT5and/orCAT6cableasaninterface.Onereasonfortheuseofnetworkingistheabilitytosendsignalsoverlongercablerunsthantraditionallypossiblewiththetypeslistedabove.

CAT5, frequentlyreferred toasEthernetcable, isa twistedpaircableused forcarryingsignals(data,telephony,andvideo)athigh-speedrates(100MHz).CAT6usesthesimilarEthernetconnectorasCAT5,butisdesignedtoprovideafasterdatatransferrate(250MHz)andreducescrosstalkandsystemnoise.

Figure10.10AstandardUSBType-Aconnector.Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

Figure10.11ACAT5connector.

Though both CAT 5/6 can be used for transmitting audio, they were notoriginally used for this application in the entertainment industry. With newdevelopments, though, there are signs of this becoming more commonplace.Therearedevicesknownasbaluns,whichfunctionasconverterstoallowfortheinputandoutputofaudioandvideosignalsacrossCAT5/6.Thebalunisatypeof transceiver that converts the unbalanced signal from the network cable andoutputsabalancedsignal,suitableforaudioandvideoapplications.Inaddition,therearevarietiesofaudiobaluns thatprovidePhantompowerandoutputviatraditionalaudiointerfaces,suchasXLR.

AnothercommonuseofCAT5/6cable is for thecreationofaLANforcontrolpurposes.QLab3 isdesigned toworkacrossanetworkandcommunicatewithmultiple computers running QLab on the network. This function is highly

desirablewhenusingQLabasaShowControlsystemtointeractwithanaudiosystem, video system, lighting control system, and so on. Today most digitalcontroldevicesareequippedwithsometypeofnetworkportallowingthemtobeconnectedtoandcontrolledacrossanetwork.

OutputDevices

Videooutputdevicescanbeanyofanumberoftypesfromcomputermonitors,to televisions, projectors, or flat panel displays such as LCD or LEDmonitors.Essentially,anoutputdeviceisatransducerthatreceivestheinputvideosignaland translates it into light impulses. The video monitor television projectorindustryisinastateofconstantandrapidchange,utilizingnewtechnologiestocreatehigh-definitionand3Dcapableoutputdevices.Themostcommondevicesfor entertainment industry applications are digital projectors and flat paneldisplays.Listedbelowaresomebasicconsiderationstokeepinmindwithusingthesetypesofoutputdevices.

DigitalProjectors

Digital projectors, sometimes called video projectors, are digital outputs thataccept audio and video signals from a number of different source types fromcomputers, toDVD/Blu-ray, or live input from a video camera. Thoughdigitalprojectors have been used in movie theatres for a number of years, it is stillsomewhatofaluxuryformanylivevenuesacrossthecountry.Thecostofdigitalprojectorshasdecreasedatan incrediblerateover theyears, though,making itincreasingly common in both professional and academic theatre programs,housesofworship,conventioncenters,andmusicvenues.

Digital projectors work by receiving a video signal, transmitting it through abrightlightsource(i.e.alamporLEDcluster)andthroughalenstoenlargetheimageandproject it across adistance,knownas its throw.Commonprojectortypes are LCD, Digital Light Processing (DLP), and LED. The first two typesutilizeahigh-intensity lamp,whereas the latterusesanLEDcluster, creatingacooler system with less energy consumption and negating the need for lampreplacement.

Considerations for digital projectors tend to fall into two categories: brightness(lumens) and operating distance (throw ratio). Projectors are, at their heart,lighting instruments that transmit moving light. As such, using a projector in

conjunctionwithotherlightinginstrumentscanleadtotheimagebeing“washedout” or dim, depending on the spill of other lighting instruments in use at thetime. The amount of light in a given space, outside of that created by theprojector, iscommonlyreferredtoasambientlight.Thegreater theamountofambient light, the greater the need for a digital projectorwith high brightnessoutput, typically referred to as “high-lumens.” For most entertainmentapplications,therearethreesuitablecategoriesoflumens:midrange(2,000–3,000lumens), high-performance range (3,000–4,500 lumens), and ultra-bright range(4,500–12,000 lumens). For many theatrical applications, the high-performancerange is the suitable and not cost-prohibitive. As throw distance and ambientlight increases, though, theultra-bright range isamust.Ofcourse, thepriceofthisrangeisincrediblyhighascomparedtothelowerrangemodels.

Throw distance is the second consideration that will influence the type ofprojectornecessaryforagivenproject.Alldigitalprojectorshaveagiventhrowratiothatdescribestheratioofthedistancetothescreen(throw)totheresultingimagewidth.Forinstance,ifaprojectorhasathrowratioor2:1andtheprojectorisplaced10feetawayfromthescreen,thentheresultingimagewidthwouldbe5feet.Itisworthnotingthat,sincemostprojectorshavezoomlenses,mostratioswill be variable in nature (i.e. 2–2.4 : 1). All decisions for projector selectionshouldtakeintoconsiderationboththeneedforlumensandthrowdistance.

FlatPanelDisplays

Flat panel displays have been around for some time and now represent asignificantlyhighershareofthemarketthanclassicaltelevisionsorcathoderaytube (CRT)models.Most flat panel displays todayareLCD technology,with athin layer of liquid crystal sandwiched between two conducting layers. MostLCDpanelsarebacklittomakethemeasiertoseeunderambientlight.Anothervarietyofflatpanelistheplasmadisplay.Aplasmadisplayissonamedforbeingcomposedofmillionsoftinycompartmentalizedcellshousedbetweentwolayersofglass.Thesecellseachcontainelectricallycharged ionizedgas,making themglow like miniature fluorescent lamps when electrified. The plasma displayproduces vivid colors and deeper blacks, enabling a high contrast ratio fordisplayedvideo.Likewise,itcanbemanufacturedinlargepanelsandisquitethin–typicallyaround4″.

Oneoftheemergenttrendsinallareasrelatedtolightingandmediaistheuseof

LEDtechnology.LEDdisplaysarequitepopulardue to theirability toproduceincredibly bright, vivid colors while using a smaller amount of electricity andhaving a longer life than traditional lighting fixtures or projectors. Oneinteresting aspect of LED displays is that, depending on the project, they canfunctionasacomponentof the lightingdesign, theprojection/mediadesign,orboth. LED displays all utilize clusters of red, green, and blue diodes combinedtogether tomakewhat is known as a color pixel. The technology varies fromconventional signagemodelsutilizingdiscreteLEDclusters to surfacemounteddevices (SMDs) that feature LEDs mounted directly to printed circuit boardpanelsthatcanbereadilyconnectedtooneanother.OnegreatadvantagetotheSMDLEDdisplay is theability tocurve thedisplay into interestingcurvilinearforms.

Onefinalconsiderationwithvideodisplaysistheabilitytolinkmultipledisplaystogethertocreateavideowall.Thetermvideowallreferstotheuseofmultipleoutputsources,eithercontiguouslyoroverlapped,insuchafashionastocreateonelargescreen.ThisconceptisimportanttoQLab3,asthisversionreplacestheoldmodel of outputting to individual screenswith a newmodel of creating asurfacecomposedofoneormultipleoutputsdevicesandtransferringthedatatothose individual devices directly fromQLab, itself. This newmodelmakes thecreationofvideowallsfromQLabmucheasierthanthatinearlierversions.

10.3UnderstandingVideoSignalFlowLikeothercuetypesseenbefore,theideaofsignalflowisabitofanabstraction,considering much of the signal path is contained within QLab itself. It isimportant,though,tounderstandthepaththatavideosignaltakesfromsourcetooutput. For the following examples,wewill lookat the signalpath forbothVideoCuesandCameraCues.

Video/ImageFile/VideoFeed

The first step of any type of signal flow is always the source. In this case, thesourcewillbeaprerecordedvideo,astillimagefile,oralivevideofeedfromacamera.Inthecaseofthefirsttwo,aVideoCuetargetsthefiles.Forthelatter,aCameraCueactivatesthecameraforplaybackpurposes.

VideoCue/CameraCue

VideoandCameraCuesare theplacekeeperswithin theworkspace thateitheractivateplaybackof theexistingvideoorgraphic fileor trigger livevideo feedfromavideocamera.Ineithercase,thesignalproceedsfromthecuedirectlyintothevideosurfacepatch.

VideoSurfacePatch

Thevideosurfacepatchcontrolsanumberoffeaturesrelatedtohowyououtputyourvideoorcamerasignals.ThereareanumberofdifferencesonthevideosideofQLab3comparedtopreviousversions.IfyouusedQLab2,nodoubtoneofthefirstthingsyouwillnoticeistheuseofsurfacesratherthanscreens.

ThenewvideoengineinQLabisbasedaroundtheconceptofavideosurface.Avideosurfaceisanoutputmadeupofoneormorescreens(videooutputs).Thisnewconceptgivesmuchmoreversatility.Videosurfaces letyoufocusonwhatyou see on the stage, rather than the signal going to each individual projector.Each“screen”attachedtoyourQLabcomputerwillreceiveitsownsingle-screensurfacebydefault,soifyouonlyneedsimpleoutput,thesesurfacesareplugandplay. The versatility comes in by understanding that you can create a customsurfacemadeupofoneormorescreens.Intheworkspacesettings,youcancreatea master surface made up of multiple screens (i.e. projectors, or flat paneldisplays)andletQLabdothehardworkofbreakingupyoursignaltosenditouttothescreensthatmakeupyoursurface!

Pro-Tip

Itisimportanttounderstandthedistinctionbetweenthedefaultsingle-screensurfacesandnewsurfacesmadethatoutputtothesamescreen(videooutput).Changesmadetosingle-screensurfaces(suchascornerpinningorshuttering)areuniquetothatsurface.Theydonotcarryovertoothersurfacesthatmightusethesamescreenforoutput.

Inaddition toparsingupdigital signals intocomponentpackages, surfacesalsohavetheabilitytoapplynumerouspowerfuleffectstoanyVideoorCameraCueoutputtedthroughasurfacepatch:•Built-inEdgeBlending:Eachsurfacepatchcan automatically calculate edge blending (a decrease in the intensity of light

transmittedontheedgesofaprojectedimage)foreachoverlappingprojectoronyour surface. This reduces the noticeable appearance of “bright spots” whereprojectorsoverlap.• GlobalMasking:Masking is the process of adding an image file as a frame

around a video or image file. With a transparent center, the video passesthroughthecenter,butitismaskedbytheimageonthesurfaceedges.Thisisparticularly beneficial for removing the look of “rectangles of light” withprojections. In QLab 3, instead of taking the time to create a transparentbackgroundimage,youcansimplyuploadagraphicfilewithawhitefillwhereyouwant video to be visible. It can be then attached to a video surface andQLabdoesthehardworkofsendingtheappropriatesectionoftheimageouttothecomponentpartsofyoursurface.Inaddition,QLabwatchesthemaskfilefor changes, so all youhave todo is edit and save inyour image editor andQLab will make sure to display themost current version. Though this mayseemlikeasmallfeature,itisquiteatimesaverwheneditingmultiplefiles.

• Built-in Adjustment for Ceiling and Rear Projection: One aspect ofprojection thathasalwaysbeen troublesome isdetermining theplacementofprojectorsandtheirconfiguration(rear,front,ceiling,table).Foreachofthesechanges,therequiredimagemustbedifferentoritwillbereversedorflipped.QLab3builds in these changes to the image file at the touchof abuttonbyceilingandrearcheckboxesinthesurface-editingmenu.

• KeystoneCorrection:When a projector is not aligned perpendicularly to aprojectionsurface,evenbyafewdegrees, itskewstheimagetobesmalleratthetoporbottom.Mostprojectorshavebuilt-inkeystonecorrectiontocorrectthis anomaly.QLab surfaces have the built-incornerpins, a common videoeditingtoolthatallowsforgrabbingapinlocatedineachofthefourcornersofthe surface andmoving them to create a new shape (see Figure 10.12). Thisresultingshapewillthenbeimposedonthevideooutput,skewingittomatchtheshape.

•ProjectionMapping:Projectionmapping,alsoreferredtoasvideomapping,isthe powerful process of editing a projected image to match the surfacedimensionsof objects (even those that are irregularly shapedwithnumerousdimensionalplanes).Throughtheuseofmathematicalequationstodeterminethe relationship of a three-dimensional object to the exact placement of aprojector, you can skew the image in such away that the resulting image isperceived without distortion. By using the corner pinning and video gridcapabilitiesofthesurfacepatch,projectionmappingismucheasierinQLab3

thanitspredecessors.Insimpleterms,youcanshapeasinglesurfacetomatchthe shape of the projection surface (i.e. a door). For more complex three-dimensionalshapes,thecombinationofmultiplesurfacepatchesdesignedtofittheshapeofvariousplanesallowsforprojectionmappingoncomplexsurfaces.

•SupportforGraphicsExpansionHardware:Usingthesurfacepatch,youcanaddress individual outputs of graphics expansion hardware, like theaforementionedMatroxTripleHeadorDoubleHead2Go.

Figure10.12Cornerpinning.

AssignedScreens

Leaving the surface patch, the next step in signal flow is to output the videosignal to the screens assigned to the surface patch.Asmentioned earlier, eachdisplay device is automatically assigned as a single-screen surface whoseattributescanbeindividuallyedited.Inaddition,newsurfacescanbecreatedforyourdisplayneeds.Sincetheyarealltechnicallyreferredtoassurfaces,thiscan

getabitconfusing,butwithabitofpractice,itwillbecomesecondnature.

OutputDevice

The final component of the signal flow chain is the device output (i.e. theprojectors,monitors,orflatpaneldisplaysconnectedtothesurfacepatch).

Audio

SinceVideoCuestargetvideofiles,itisquitecommonthatthefilemightcontainan audio signal in addition to the video. Audio signals attached to video aretreatedinthesamewayasthoseinAudioCues.WithintheInspectorPanel,thereare tabs for Audio Levels, Audio Trim, and Audio Effects. An audio patch isassignedintheAudioLevelstab.Thesignalthenfollowsthesamepathasthatdiscussedinaudiosignalflowearlierinthetext.

11VideoandCameraPreferences

InChapter2,wediscussed audio preferences in detail. Similarly,whendealingwithvideo,therearepreferencesthatshouldbesetbeforeeverinputtingaVideoorCameraCueintoyourworkspace.ThoughtherearemanypowerfulfunctionsrelatedtovideoinQLab,thesetuptendstobequickerthanthatofaudiobecausetherearesignificantlylesspreferencestoaddress.Tobegintheprocess,clickontheSettingsbuttoninthelowerright-handcornerofyourscreen.

11.1WorkspaceSettings:VideoTheSettingswindowforvideoisasimpleinterfacewithcomplexpossibilitiesforconfiguration (Figure11.1).At the topof thescreenare twodrop-downmenus:defaultmodeanddefaultsurface.

DefaultMode

Thedefaultmodesettingallows for thedeterminationofhownewVideoCueswill be inputted, as either full screen or custom geometry mode. Full screensimplymeans the imagewill fill the entirety of the surface. Custom geometrymeansthattheVideoCuewillbeinsertedwiththeabilitytocustomizetheimageproportionsandscale,rotate,ortranslatetheimage.

DefaultSurface

The default surface allows you to determine which surface in the availablesurfaces listwill be thedefault output fornewly createdVideoCues. It canbeanyavailablesurface,eithersingle-screenorcomposite.

Figure11.1Thevideosettingsscreen.

AvailableSurfaces

Theavailablesurfaceswindowwilldisplayallpossibilities forvideooutput.Asmentioned earlier, QLab will create a single-screen surface automatically foreverydisplayconnectedtoyoursystem.ThesewillbetheonlysurfacesdisplayedwhenyoufirstopentheSettingswindow.Eachsurfacewillhaveadistinctnameandlistitsdisplayresolution.Youwillnoticethatsingle-screensurfaceswilllistanasteriskbesidea“single-screensurface”label.Thisindicatesthatsingle-screensurfaces are created automatically for all attached displays and cannot beremovedfromthelistwithoutdisconnectingthem.

11.2EditingtheSurfacePatch

EachsurfaceinthelistcanbeeditedbyclickingontheEditbutton.Thisisthetruepowerofthesurface-basedvideomodel.Thereisnolimittothenumberofsurfacepatches thatcanbecreated.With theability toediteachpatch tohaveuniqueattributes,youcanchangetheoutputfromasingleprojectorincomplexwaysfromcuetocue.Likewise,youcouldoutputmultipleVideoCuesthroughseparatesurfacepatchesthroughthesameprojectorsimultaneously.Inthisway,bysimplychangingtheopacityofeachVideoCue,youcouldaccomplishsomeinterestinglayeringeffects.

EditingSingle-ScreenSurfaces

ClickingontheEditbuttonwillopentheeditsurfaceinterfaceassignedtoyoursingle-screen surface. There are a number of control attributes shown in thisinterface(seeFigure11.2).

Figure11.2Theeditsurfaceinterface.

• SurfaceName:Therewill be agenericnameassigned to anydisplaydeviceconnected to your computer, such as color LCD. If you have a number ofdifferentscreensattachedtoyoursystem,itcanbeadvantageoustogiveeachsurfaceauniquename.Todoso,simplytypeinthenameinthisslotandpressenter.

• VideoGrid:Thevideogrid is anumberedgrid that correlates to theoutput

dimensionsofyoursurface.Thevideogridisanimportantaspectofprojectionmapping and aids in correct projector placement.There is a checkbox to theright of the screen labeled “Grid.”Clickingon this checkboxwill display thevideo grid on your output device. In thisway, you canmove your projectorintocorrectplacementandknowthattheresultingprojectedimageswillalignproperlywithprojectionscreens,scenery,orprojectionsurfaces.

•FacetWindow:TheFacetwindowis theblue-highlightedboxsuperimposedover thevideogrid. Ithasan“x” running fromthe fourcornerswitha labelboxinthecentercontainingthenameandresolutionoftherepresentedscreen.Inaddition,thereareyellowcirclesknownascornerpins ineachofthefourcorners. In short, the facet window illustrates the dimensions of a namedsurfaceandallows for skewing the resultingvideooutput for thesurface.Bymoving the corner pins, you will change the shape of the facet window –thereby changing the resulting shapeof theprojected image for that surface.Holdingdownshiftallowsforfineadjustments.Experimentwithmovingthecorner pins and see how the surface shape can change. For single-screensurfaces, there is only one facet window, which fills the entire area of thesurface.Figure11.3illustratestheuseofcornerpinningonthevideogrid.

•Shutters:Oneaspectofthesurfacewindowthatisexceptionallyusefulistheabilityto“shutteroff”sectionsofthesurfacethatyoudon’twanttouse.Ifyouhover your cursor over the extreme edges of the surfacewindow, the cursorwill change to a vertical line with arrows protruding from each side. Thisallows you to shutter in the edges of the surface, creating amasked section(Figure11.4).Theseshutteredareaswillappearasdarkerthantheotherareasofthesurfacewindow.InFigure11.4,thetopandsideshavebeenshutteredin,whilethebottomwasleftuntouched.

Figure11.3Thevideogridandfacetwindow.

Figure11.4Theshutteredareaisrepresentedbythe“grayed-out”selection.

•MaskImage:AsmentionedintheChapter10,maskingistheprocessofaddinganimagefilewithopaqueedgesandatransparentcentertoserveasa“pictureframe”ofsortsaroundavideoorgraphicfile.Onepossibleuseforthisistheabilityto“feather”theedgesofanimagewithsometypeofgradation,soasto

avoid “rectangles of light”with projections. In addition, you couldmask outany area of the projected imagery (such as in an open doorway,where youdon’twantthe imagerytoappear).TheMaskimageboxinthesurfacepatchallowsyoutoimportanimagetobeusedasamask.Toachievethis,simplyusea black and white file: black will be the masking solid and white will betransparent (with video showing through it). As a bonus, QLabwatches themask file for changes, so all you have to do is edit and save in your imageeditorandQLabwillmakesuretodisplaythemostcurrentversion.

•SaveGridImage:Thisbuttonsavesapictureofthevideogridtoyourdesktop.The image is saved in the PNG format. This image is particularly useful tocreatingmask images. Simplyopen the image inyour favorite image editingsoftwareandcreatenewimagemasksaslayersontopofthevideogrid.Thiswillensuretheappropriatesizeandproportionofmaskimages.

• MountPosition:Oneparticularlyuseful functionof the surfacepatch is themountpositioncontrols.ThedefaultsettinginQLabassumesthatyouare

• projecting from the front and that the projector is in the hanging positioncommonly referred to as desktop. Traditionally speaking, there have beenmanyhoopstojumpthroughifyouhungaprojectorinadifferentorientation(eitherusingthebuiltincontrolsofyourprojectortochangetheprojection,orto reverseor flip the image inyourgraphicseditingprogram).WithQLab3,there are two checkboxes that control the image output to accommodate forrear and/or ceiling mounted projection. By clicking one or both of thecheckboxes,“rear”or“ceiling,”youcanadjustimageorientationandavoidthetroublesomefixeslistedearlier.

•ResetCornerPins:Theresetcornerpinsbutton isaquickmethodtoreturnthecornerpinstotheiroriginalplacementatthecornersofthenativescreenresolution.

•ResetShutters:Theresetshuttersbuttonquicklyreturnstheshutterstotheiroriginalplacementattheedgeofthesurface.

CreatingandEditingSurfaces

Tothispoint,wehaveexaminedtheprocessofeditingsingle-screensurfaces.Thebackboneoftheentiresurfacessystem,though,isthecreationofnewanduniquesurfacesaspatchesforVideoandCameraCueoutput.Asmentionedearlier,youcancreateanunlimitednumberofsurfaces,eachwithuniquedisplayattributesassigned to them. The following section addresses the process of creating and

editingthesesurfaces.

Tocreateanewsurface,open theVideoSettings tabandclickon theplussigniconatthebottomleftcornerofthescreen.Thiswillopenaninterfaceforeditingthenewsurface,“UntitledSurface1.”Thiswindowwill lookalmostidenticaltothe edit surface interface for single-screen surfaces. There are a few keydifferencesintheoperationofthesetwointerfaces,though:

• ScreensAssigned: In the column to the left of the screen,youwill find the“screens assigned” panel. Upon creation, there are no screens assigned to asurface.Thisiswhyyouwillseetheyellowwarningsignappeartotheleftofallnewlycreatedsurfaces.Itwilldisappearonceascreenhasbeenassignedtothesurface.Toassignascreentoasurface,clickontheplussigniconatthebottomofthe“screensassigned”panel.Upondoingso,amenuwillappearlistingalloftheoptionsforscreensattachedtoyoursystem.Simplyaddthescreensyouwanttoaddtoyoursurfaceandtheirfacetwindowswillappearsuperimposedoverthevideogridforyoursurface.Arrangethefacetwindowsintheappropriatepositions and any Video Cue assigned to the surface patch will thenautomatically have its signal split across the screens and outputted to theappropriate projectors. To delete a screen, select the desired screen in thescreensassignedpanelandclickontheminusiconatthebottomofthescreen.

Pro-Tip

SyphonOutputSyphon is an open-sourceMacOSX technology that allows applications toshareeitherfull-framevideosorimagestillswithoneanotherinrealtime.Itisimportant to note that Syphon works on your computer’s graphics card tosharevideoandimagesbetweenapplicationsonthesamecomputer.Syphonisnotintendedforuseacrossanetworkorbetweenseparatecomputers.

QLab 3 offers Syphon integration in two key ways. One, which we havealready covered, is the ability to use a Syphon video feed in the place of acameraforaCameraCue.ThesecondmethodistoallowtheassignmentofaSyphonoutputasascreenassignedtoasurface. Inotherwords,anysurfacecan output its signal to a display device, as a Syphon output, or as bothsimultaneously.TheseSyphonoutputscanthenberoutedintootherSyphon-capable programs, such as Madmapper, a program designed to video mapimages. Visit http://syphon.v002.info for more information about Syphon-supportedsoftware.

ToassignaSyphonoutputasa screen, clickon theplusbutton in the samewayyouwouldaddanyotherscreen.Atthebottomofthedrop-downmenu,though,youwillseeabuttonlabeled“Syphon.”ClickingonthiswillcreateascreenthatmirrorstheentiresurfaceandoutputsitasaSyphonsignal.NotethattherewillbenodiscernableactiontotriggertheVideoCuewithonlyaSyphonpatch(unlessyouhaveaSyphonclientrunning).Itwillsimplyoutputthecueandthenproceedtothenextcueinthecuesequence.

• Dimensions: The dimensions settings in the upper right-hand corner of thescreenallows for changing theoutputdimensionsof the surface.Thedefaultresolutionisthatofyournativescreen.Youcanchangethedimensionalformatof the patch, though, by simply inputting the new resolution size in thedimensions input. This is important if you want to create a surface largeenoughtohousemultiplescreenswithoutlargeamountsofoverlapping.Notethatthefirstslotindicateswidth,whilethesecondisheight.Ifyouchangethedimensionsofyoursurface,youwillnoticethatthevideogridsizewillchange,butthefacetwindowwithcornerpinswillremainthesamesizeandneedtobemovedtotheappropriatesectionofthevideogridyouwishtobedisplayed.

Thevideogridandfacetwindowareimportantaspectsofunderstandinghowsurfaceoutputworks.

•BlendGamma:Whenusingmultipleprojectors, it isacceptedthat therewillhavetobesomeimageoverlap,soastonothavegapsof“black”betweentheimagery.Where twoprojectorsoverlap,however, the resulting imageWillbeconsiderablybrighterthantheareasaroundit,sincetwoprojectorsproducetheimagesimultaneously.QLabcompensatesforthisbyaddinginedgeblendingby default. The software will automatically decrease the intensity of anyoverlap between multiple projector surfaces. Blend Gamma refers to theamountofedgeblendingthatoccursfortheseoverlappingscreens.Thehigherthenumber, thebrighterthebrightnessatthecenteroftheblendregion,andviceversaforlowernumbers.Ideallyspeaking,youshouldmatchthisnumberto the native gamma value of your projector, though it might be useful toactually adjust these numberswhile viewing the changes on your projectionsurface. It isworth noting that this function does not apply to single-screensurfaces–onlyforcreatedsurfacesinwhichimagerymightoverlap.

•Origin:Theorigincontrolssetsthefacetwindoworigininrelationtothevideogrid.Ifyougrabthefacetwindowandpullitaroundacrossthevideogrid,youwillnotice thatnumbersappearwithin the twooriginboxes.Thesenumbersareastandardgridformat:thefirstoneisfortheX-plane,whilethesecondisfortheY-plane.Anythingtotheleftoftheverticalaxisorbelowthehorizontalaxis is anegativenumber,while anything to the right of thevertical axis orabovethehorizontalaxisarepositivenumbers.Youcaneithermovethefacetwindowbyhandorinputthenumbersdirectlyintotheorigininterface.Notethatthereisnobuttontoresettheoriginto0,0sothismustbedonemanually.

11.3WorkspaceSettings:CameraAsmentionedinChapter10,oneofthestrengthstoQLabvideoistheabilitytouseCameraCuesforvideoreinforcement.TheQLabvideoreinforcementsystemworkswith any FireWireDV, Blackmagic (usingDeckLinkAPI), or Face-Timecamera attached to the system. In addition, it can accept input signals viaSyphon.Thesectionbelowdetailstheprocessforsettingcamerapreferences.

Figure11.5Camerasettingswindow.

CameraPatchSettings

To access the camera patchwindow, click on the Settings icon and then selectCameraintheleftcolumn.Thewindowshowsalistofeightcamerapatches(seeFigure11.5).Eachoneshouldautomaticallyhaveacameraassignedtothemfromthelistofavailablesupportedcamerasattachedtoyoursystem.Ifyoudonotseethecamerayouare looking for, clickon thedrop-downmenu toviewa listofavailable cameras. You canmove camera assignment between patches tomeetyourprogrammingneeds.Thepurposeof thecamerapatchis tohaveareadilyavailable list of cameras that can later be assigned to aCameraCue for inputpurposes.

Asmentionedearlierinthetext,aCameraCuecanoutputalivecamerafeed,aSyphonfeed,orbothsimultaneously.Syphonallowsacomputer toshareeitherimages or live video stream from one application to another. In this case, aSyphon-capableprogramonyourcomputercouldfunctionasacamerainputforaCameraCue.IfyouarerunningaSyphonserveronyoursystem,youwillseethisavailableinthedrop-downmenu,inadditiontostandardcameras.

12SettingUpQLabwithYourVideoSystem

There are a number of considerations regarding setting up a video system.Asseen in Chapter 10, to have a successful video system, you must considerhardware, cabling, output devices, and QLab configurations. The followingchapter detailsmany of these considerations and addresses the basic processesinvolvedwithsettingupbothsingleandmultiscreenoutputforvideoplayback.

12.1HardwareConsiderationsThough QLab has relativelymodest minimum specifications to function, mostpeoplewillfindthatlargervideofilesorsimultaneousfileplaybackwillquicklybegintotaxasystem.Oneofthefirstquestionsmanypeopleaskis“whatkindofhardwaredo I need for videoplayback?” In short, the answer is: it depends. Itdepends on the type of system you want to set up. For a single screen,PowerPoint-style system you will likely be fine with the minimum systemrequirements.Foranythingbeyondthat,though,thereareanumberoffactorstoconsider:howlargeofvideofileswillyoubeplayingback;howmanyfilesatonetimewill yoube playing; doyou intend to include live video feedviaCameraCues;what other operationswill your computer be running? If the answers tothese questions indicate that you will be asking your computer to completeseveraloperationsatonceandplaybackmultiplevideofilessimultaneously,thengetreadytoeitherdropsomemoneyonperformancehardwareorbefrustratedwithyourproductivity.

Aswithanysystem,thestrengthofyourvideoperformancewillbeonlyasgoodasyourweakestlink.Whilethereisnocatchallanswerforhardwareneeds,thereare some thingsyou canunderstand tohelpdemystify the process of selectinghardwareforyourQLabsystem.Thefollowingsectionwilladdresssomeoftheseconcerns.

TheBottleneckDilemma

Themain problem in workingwith video is simple: Video files are incrediblycumbersome for your computer. The amount of data that must be transferredacross computer hardware to play back even standard resolution video files islarge. Add hi-definition video into the mix and change that from large toenormous.Anytimeyouhavethatsheeramountofdigitaltrafficmovingacrossyour system, there is going to be the potential for traffic jams. Nomatter thespeedofmostcomputerhardware,itstilltendstooperateinanorderlyfashionfromoneoperationtothenext.Whenaharddrive,forinstance,isaskedtoaccessmultiplefilessimultaneously,itstillonlyhasaccesstoonepointofdataatatime.While it spins away, rotating todifferent physical points of its drive, the otherprocessrequestsstarttopileup–thusthebottleneckterm.Thequestionishowcan we configure hardware for your system in such a way as to limit thatbottleneck? To answer that, let’s look at the hardware components for yoursystemandhowtheyareused.

DataPath

Unlikeotherfiletypes,videoisprocessedandtravelsalongauniquedatapath,utilizing specialty hardware designed to maximize video playback. Figure 12.1illustratesthetypicaldatapathforavideofile,startingwiththeharddriveandendingwiththedisplaydevice.Eachstepalongthedatapathhasitsownuniquepurposeandaffectstheplaybackpotentialoftheentiresystem.

•HardDrive/DataStorage:Thethreemostimportantquestionsrelatedtodatastorage forvideoare: (1)Howfast isyourharddrive? (2)Howfastcanyourhard drive communicate information (i.e. bandwidth)? (3) What other datatraffic iscompetingwithyourvideo file?The first twoquestionsaredirectlytiedtoyourchoiceofharddrive.Theanswertothefinalquestionleadstothenextlogicalquestion–isoneharddriveenough?

Figure12.1Thestandarddatapathforvideo.

TheHDD

Everycomputercomesequippedwithaharddrive(sometimesreferredtoasthehard disk). There are multiple types of hard drives on the market, but mostcomputersstillcomeequippedwiththetraditional“platter”diskdrive,featuringaspinningdiskuponwhichdataisrecordedandthenaccessedlaterbyareadinghead (see Figure 12.2). This type of drive is referred to as a hard drive disk(HDD).Oneof theproblemswith this typeofharddrive is durability.Movingpartsaremucheasiertobreakthannon-movingones.ThefastestHDDrevolvesitsdiscat15,000rpmandtransfersdataatabout140Mbit/s.HDDscomeinverylarge capacity storage sizes.When equipping a playback system, itwould be agoodideatogetatleast1TB.

TheSSD

The secondvariety of harddrive commonlyused in video systems is the solidstate drive (SSD). An internal SSD with a Serial ATA (SATA) connection ispreferable,wheneverpossible,foryourvideosystem.TherearenomovingpartstotheSSD,andalldataiselectronicallytransferred(seeFigure12.3).Whiletheyvaryfrommanufacturertomanufacturer,themaximumtypicaltransferrateforSSDisintherangeof100–600Mbit/s,upto4.25×fasterthantheHDD.

Figure12.2TheinnerviewofastandardHDD.Photocourtesy:EricGaba.

Figure12.3Asolidstatedrive.

ExternalStorage

Today, there are a number of options for external storage that can be used inconjunctionwith your computer from flash drives to Firewire orUSB externaldrives.Anexternaldrivecanbeagreatadditiontoanysystem,butkeepinmindthatitdoespresentsomeconcerns.Thefirstconcernisspeed.Thereareanumberof connector types for external storage, and the data transfer rate can varydrastically.Asmentionedearlier,therateformostharddrive,whetherHDDor

SSD,isintherangeof100–600Mbit/s.Olderconnectortypes(FireWire400/800andUSB1/2)willclock inmuchslower thanthis.Newerconnector types,USB3.0andThunderbolt,clockinmuchfaster(upto10Gbit/s).Obviously,wheneverpossibleyouwouldwanttochoosethefastervariety.Onepotentialproblemwithexternal drives, though, is their dependence on an external computer port. Inshort, theycanbeunpluggedwith relativeease.Onemethodofgettingaroundthisisconfiguringa“roadbox”orrackmountwithallexternaldevicesmountedinside, but ultimately there is no guarantee that someonewill not accidentallydislodgetheconnector.

TheNeedforMultipleDrives

Onequestionmanypeopleaskisifthereisaneedformorethanoneharddriveintheirsystem.Theshortanswerisyes.Themorestorageoptionsinyoursystemmeansyouarereducingthepotentialforbottleneck.Onemainconsiderationforthis is the number of video files playing back concurrently within QLab. Thethirdquestionposedaboveaskedwhatotherdatamightbecompetingwiththetransmission of your video file. If you store your video files on the sameharddriveasyourOS,QLabsoftware,andanyothersoftwarethatmightberunning(whichshouldincidentally,alwaysbekepttotheminimumnecessary),thenyourharddrivewillhavelotsofreadingandwritingconstantlyoccurringwhiletryingtotransmittheenormousdataofyourvideofile.Addingaseparateharddrive(ormore) enables storage of your media in a separate location from your systemfiles. In thecaseofbuildinga systemwithmultiple internaldrives, itmightbepreferabletochooseasmallcapacityharddriveforyoursystemfilesandaddononeortwolarge-capacitydrivesformediastorage.

Summary

Takingintoaccountallofthesevariables,abestcasescenarioforvideoplaybackwouldbeacomputerwithmultipleSSDharddrives,andsegregatingyourmediafiles onto a separate physical drive from your system drive. More data pathsmeanlesspotentialbottlenecks.

•RAM:RAM,orRandom-AccessMemory,isanothertypeofdatastorage.RAMallows for data to be accessed in any random order, rather than thepredeterminedmethodusedintraditionalharddisksandopticalmedia.RAMisatemporarystoragemethod,meaningthatwhenpowerisremovedfromthe

system,alldataisremovedfromtheRAM.Forourpurposes,itissufficienttosaythatRAMisusedtoserveasatemporarystorageandworkspacefortheOSandapplications.Forvideopurposes,themoreRAMthebetter.QLab3isa64-bit program, meaning that it processes data in 64-bit (rather than 32-bit)packets. The main benefit of a 64-bit program is the ability to use a 64-bitaddressspace,andthususeasignificantlygreateramountofRAMthan32-bitprograms. In thepast,QLabwasa32-bitprogram,meaning that it couldnotaddressmorethan4GBofRAM.WithQLab3,the64-bitarchitectureensuresthatyoucanutilizeanyRAMavailabletoyoursystem.

Thebigquestion,then,ishowmuchRAMdoIneedforvideoplayback?Theshort answer I always give is buy as much as you can afford and yourcomputercanhold.RAMhasbecomehardertoupgradeinnewergenerationsof laptopsandsome iMacs.Ofcourse, thebestoption formaximumupgradepossibilitiesistopurchasetheMacProtower.ThistowerisaclassiccomputerhousingthatallowsforupgradingmanyoftheinternalcomponentswithmuchmoreeasethantheiMacorMacBooklines.Asofthepublicationofthisbook,most iMacs start with 8 GB RAM and go up to 32 GB. It is a good rule ofthumbtonotpurchaselessthan16GBifdoingvideoplayback.

• CPU: The central processing unit (CPU) is essentially the brain of yourcomputer (see Figure 12.4). The purpose of the CPU is to carry out theinstructions of computer programs by performingmathematical, logical, andinput/outputoperationsofthesystem.WhenconsideringaCPUforyourvideosystem, there are twomain factors to consider: thenumber of cores and theprocessorspeed.

MultiCoreProcessors

Amulticoreprocessor is a typeof processor that essentially combinesmultipleindependent CPUs into one single computing component. Originally, all CPUsstood alone as a single core processor.As time progressed, the combination ofCPUsintomulticoreconfigurationsbecameprevalent.Today,therearemulticoreprocessorswithuptotenindependentCPUsfunctioningintandem(thoughnotinthecurrentMaclineup).

Figure12.4Acentralprocessingunit.

ProcessorSpeed

Thespeedoftheprocessorreferstothequicknesswithwhichitcanoperatethosemathematicalandlogicalproblemsmentionedearlier.Highprocessorspeedsarenot always the most important factor in optimizing performance. For videoediting,itistypicallyagoodideatogetthecombinationofthefastestprocessorwiththehighestamountofRAMtoensure idealvideoplayback.Typical iMacstodayfeature2.7–3.2GHzIntelQuadCoreprocessors.TheMacProfeatures2.4–3.2GHzIntelprocessorswithupto12cores(two6-coreprocessors).

QLabVideoCPUUsage

Unlikesomeotherapplications,QLabperformsmuchof its imageprocessingofvideo in real time on your graphics processing unit (GPU). Compositing,Geometry,andedgeblendingareperformedontheGPU,thoughmostcodecsaredecoded on the CPU andmany video effects use the CPU, aswell.What thismeansisthatforvideopurposes,theCPUspeedisnotthemostimportantlinkinthechain.Ifyouareinthepositionofdecidingwhichismoreimportantforyourvideo system, CPU, or graphics card, you can spend a little less and get amedium-speedCPUinfavorofgettingthebestgraphicscardavailable.

RegardingCodecsandCompression

Acodec(derivedfromthetermscoder-decoder) isacomputerprogramcapableofencodingordecodingadatastream,inthiscaseavideofile.Compressedvideo

files require decompression in order to be played back. This decompressingprocess is generally performed in theCPU. Themore theCPUhas towork todecompress files, the greater a possibility for bottlenecking. Keep this inmindwhencreatingvideofilesforplayback.

•VideoCard:Thevideocardisanexpansioncardusedtogenerateavideofeedtooutput toadisplay.Themodernvideocard isaprintedcircuitboardwithmountedcomponentsincluding:vRAM,GPU,randomaccessmemorydigital-to-analogconverter(RAMDAC),andvideooutputhardware(seeFigure12.5).Allofthesecomponentsareaddressedinthefollowingsections.

vRAM

Video RAM,more commonly called vRAM, is a dual-port variety of dynamicRAM(DRAM)housedonthevideocardandusedspecificallytoimprovevideoplayback speeds and reduce latency. vRAM essentially functions as a bufferbetweentheCPUandthevideocard.Forvideotobeoutputtedtoadisplay,itisfirstreadbytheCPUandthenwrittentothevRAM.ThisdataisconvertedfromadigitalsignaltoananalogonebymeansofaRAMDAChousedonthegraphicscard,beforeoutputtingtothedisplay.UnliketypicalRAM,vRAMchipscontaintwoports.Thismeansthattwodifferentdevicescanaccessitsimultaneously.Inthis way, it can receive new video data from the CPU while simultaneouslyoutputtingscreenupdates.

As youmight have guessed, vRAM is another example ofmore is better. ThegreatertheamountofvRAM,thebettertheprocessingabilityofyourvideocard,thereforethebetteryourvideooutput.Currenthigh-endvideocards(suchastheATIHD5870Eyefinity6)feature2GBvRAMfromfastvideoRAMcapabilities(capableofrenderingupto1billionpixelspersecond).

GPU

The GPU is a programmable logic chip that renders images, animations, andvideo foroutput toadisplay.TheGPU isanessential component fordecodingandrenderingboth2Dand3Danimationsandvideo.ForQLabpurposes,muchoftheimageprocessingisperformedontheGPUinrealtime.TheGPUhandlesall imageadjustmentsmadebyyourVideoCue(resizing,opacity,rotation,etc.)andsendstheframestothedisplay.

Figure12.5AvideocardwithVGA,component,andDVIconnections.Photocourtesy:EvanAmos.

Output

Allvideocardscontainsometypeofoutputhardware,suchasVGA,DVI,HDMI,DisplayPort,etc.Thisisthefinalchainbeforeconnectingtothedisplaydevice.

12.2VideoCardConsiderationsThevideocard,sometimesalsoreferredtoasthegraphicscard,isanimportantcomponent to utilizing QLab for video. There are a number of considerationswhenconsideringtheappropriatevideocardforyourrig.Theultimatequestionforwhat video card is best for you is howwill youbeusing it? If youdonotintend to be outputting to a number of different displays, then likely amainstream consumer-level videowill suffice. Should you need to incorporatemultiscreenprojections,ordiscretevideosignalsgoingtomultiplesurfaces,youmightneedtoconsiderahigher-endvideocard.Again,itisbecomingsomewhatdifficulttoupgradethevideocardbeyondtheoriginalspecsformanycomputersthesedays, somake sure todoyour researchbefore investing in too little of acomputer.Thefollowingsectiondetailssomenecessaryconsiderationsforvideocardselection.

NumberofOutputs

Manyvideocardshave theoptionofoutputtingvideo signal tomore thanonedisplay device. Currently, the ATI Radeon HD 5870 Eyefinity six features themost output possibilities for one video card. It features six Mini DisplayPort

outputs,fortheabilitytooutputyourvideosignaluptosixindependentdisplays,each with independent resolutions, refresh rates, color controls, and videooverlays. Other possibilities, such as the “non-Eyefinity”ATI RadeonHD 5870feature twoDVI outputs,HDMI, andMiniDisplayPort for a potential of threeindependent displays, each with independent resolutions, refresh rates, colorcontrols,andvideooverlays.TheMacMinioffersthepotentialofoutputtingtotwo displays, HDMI and Mini DisplayPort. Many other Mac computers,particularlytheMacBook,offeronlyonevideoout.Asyoumightexpect,thelesstheoutputoptions,thelessexpensivethevideocardandviceversa.

NumberofCards

Oneoptiontoconsiderifconfiguringyourownsystemistoaddmultiplevideocardstoonecomputer.ThisisonlypossiblefortheMacProtower,asotherMacunitshaveadoptedan“allinone”approach.Thissystem,inwhicheverythingiscontained in one convenient housing, makes adding additional video cardsimpossible.TheMacPro, though,doesoffer thepotentialofaddingupto threevideocards(dependingonthecardsize).The2013MacPropromisestooffertwoGPUs as a standard component of its build for support of up to three high-resolution4kdisplays.

12.3ConnectingtoaVideoDisplayOne major consideration for setting up your video system will be how tophysically connect your output devices to the computer or computers in yoursystem.Whattypesofconnectorsareneeded?Howlongcanyourunthecable?Willyouneedasignalbooster?Withsomanyquestionstoconsider,theplanningofyourvideosystemwilltypicallyprovetobethemostimportanttask.

WhatTypesofConnector(s)AreNeeded?

The question of what types of connectors and cables are needed will greatlydependonthetypeofequipmentinyoursystem.Whatoutputsareonyourvideocard?Whattypesofinputsareincludedontheprojectorormonitoryouwanttouse?Istronglysuggestdoingasurveyofallofyourequipmentanddetailingthetypes of connectors and creating an inventory sheet. This will help you laterwhendecidingoncablesandadapters.

Typical connectors forMac computerswill beHDMI,DVI-D,DisplayPort, andMiniDisplayPort.Most projectors andmonitorswill feature at least VGA andDVI connectivity, though many newer projectors will feature a wide array ofinputs.

CableRuns

As you saw earlier in the text, when discussing video, there are a number ofdifferent cable and connector types. The main consideration when comparingcable types is the question of analog vs. digital signal type. The differencebetween an analog and digital signal is how the data is transmitted. Analogsignals are mechanical representations of the sampled information, whereasdigital signals are a series of number sequences of “1” and “0.” Thanks toimprovedmanufacturingtechniquesofanalogcabling,thereislittledifferenceintheabilityofanaloganddigitalcabletotransferhi-definitionvideosignals.Theresulting difference between the two signal types is the amount of signaldegradationthatoccursoverarunofcable.

HDMI, DVI, DisplayPort, and Mini DisplayPort are all digital video signals,capableofcarryingHDsignals.Sincetheyaredigital,theycancarrytheirsignalsforaslightlylongerdistancewithoutpickingupinterference.VGAisananalogcabletypethatcanalsotransmitananalogHDsignal.Thequalityisslightlylessthan thatof thedigital cabling, but it is slight and likelynotnoticeableby thelayperson. The ultimate question of what types of cabling to use will likelydepend on a few variables:How long is the required cable run?What is yourbudget?

Cable length isalwaysabigconcernwhentalkingaboutvideo.Longerrunsofcable can lead to interference and signal degradation, or even signal dropout.Attenuation is a term frequently discussed in video and/or networkingconditions. It refers to the gradual loss in intensity of any signal transferringacrossamedium.Inthiscase,wearetypicallyreferringtoeithercoppercablingor fiber.Different typesof cablenaturallyhavedifferent attributes that lead tovaryingmaximum cable lengths. The problem in estimating this is that signaltransmissionisdirectlyrelatedtooutputresolution.

The smaller the output resolution, the longer the signal can run withoutdebilitating attenuation.The larger the resolutionof a video signal, the greaterbandwidth utilized. Because of this, larger resolutions will encounter signal

degradationatasignificantlyshorterspan.Thisvariablemakesitdifficultforamanufacturer to list firm rules for the maximum lengths of cable, since it isgreatlydependent on the resolutionof your signal andotherhardware factors.Listedinthetablebelowareafewreferencesforcablelength,butkeepinmindevery situationhas variables thatnoquick-reference can account for like cablequality,environmentalinterference,andhardwarequality.Thefollowingshouldbeviewedasmoreofastartingpoint.Alwaysrigorouslytestyoursystembeforegoingintoatechsetting!Alsonotethatthetypesofcables listedbelowarethestandardconsumervariety.

CableType Digital/Analog Distance(LowRes*)

Distance(HighRes*)

VideoGraphicsArray(VGA) Analog 65′ 25′

Composite(CVBS) Analog 50′ N/A

S-Video Analog 65′ N/A

Component Analog 25′ 10′

DigitalVisualInterface(DVI) Digital 50′ 20′

High-DefinitionMultimediaInterface(HDMI)

Digital 50′ 25′

DisplayPort/MiniDisplayPort Digital 50′ 10′

Thunderbolt Digital 10′ 10′

IEEE1394(FireWire) Digital 15′ 15′

UniversalSerialBus(USB1) Digital 10′ 10′

UniversalSerialBus(USB2) Digital 15′ 15′

UniversalSerialBus(USB3) Digital 10′ 10′

*Lowresolutionisdefinedas480i/VGA(640×480).

**Highresolutionis1,080p(1,920×1,080).

Use of cable runs greater than these might work, given the environment, butwould not be recommended. It should be noted that the single greatestdetermining factor for cable length recommendations is the quality of themanufacturedcable.Thereareanumberofprofessionalgradecableoptionsthatcanbemadeusingcoax,categorycable,orfiber-opticcablewithanynumberofconnectortypesattached.Usingthesecabletypeswillexpandyouroptionsfromthe tens of feet to the hundreds of feet range. For specs on these, see theindividual manufacturer and always request to see a specifications sheet,whenever possible. For ultra-long cable run requirements, fiber-optic cablesmight be a good consideration since they can transmit data over thousands offeet.

SignalAmplifiersandBaluns

Sometimesyoumightfindyourselfinasituationwhereyouhavetoexceedthemaximumcable run length foravideosystem. In thesecases,youwillneed torelyon certaindevicesdesigned toboost thevideo signal to travel over longer

distances.Onesuchdevice,adistributionamplifier takes thevideo signalandamplifiesittotraveloveralongerrun.Thesedevicesareconstructedforalltypesof cabling listed earlier. In all cases, the amplifier requires an external powersupply.

Abalun,asmentionedinearlierchapters,servestochangethedatatransmissionfromone typeof cabling to another andbalanceunbalanced signals.Themostcommon use of a balun in a video setting would be to convert VGA signaltransmission to travel over category cable (5e, 6, 6a). The benefit of this is adramatically increased capability for cable run lengths. As always, thetransmitted video resolution affects the distance a signal can travel beforedebilitatingattenuation.Cat5cancarryVGA(640×480)for400–450′,SVGA(800×600)for300–350′,XGA(1,024×768)for100–250′,andSXGA(1,280×1,024)for50–200′.Withrunsof this lengthcapable,youcanseewhythis isanattractiveoptionforsomevideosystems.

12.4GraphicsExpansionDevicesFormany installations,youwill findyourself inneedofoutputting tomultipledisplaydevices.Asmentionedearlier,youcouldoutfitarigwithmultiplevideocards, or a single card with multiple outputs. If buying a new computer orupgrading is not in your budget, though, one option remains for multiscreenoutput:agraphicsexpansiondevice.Thegraphicsexpansiondeviceisanexternalelectronicdevicethatsplits thevideooutputfromyourcomputeracrosstwoormoreoutputs.Thereareanumberofdevicesonthemarketthataccomplishthisgoal, though thebrand that seems tobe themostprevalent at thispoint is theDualHead2Go or TripleHead2Go graphics expansionmodulesmanufactured byMatrox. The following section details the process of setting up a graphicsexpansiondeviceforvideooutput.

SettingUpaGraphicsExpansionDevicewithQLab

Thephysicalattributesofexpansiondevicestendtobequitesimple. Ituses thestandard video output of your computer as its input source. It might be DVI,VGA,DisplayPort,MiniDisplayPort,orevenHDMI.Inadditiontoconnectingtoyourcomputer’svideooutput,manyexpansiondevicesuseaUSBcabletopowerthedeviceandconnecttosoftwarerunningonyourcomputer.Forolderanalog

models,itmightneedtoconnecttoanACpowersourceinadditiontothesetwoconnections.

Thegraphicsexpansiondevicecreatesavirtualdisplaythatistwoorthreetimeswiderthantheresolutionofyourdisplay.InthecaseoftheTripleHead2Go,theoutputdimensionsarethreetimeswiderthantheresolutionofyourmonitor.Forinstance, if yourmonitorwere set to SXGAresolution (1,280× 1,024), then thedevice outputwould be three timeswider for a resulting resolution of 3,840 ×1,024.Animageorvideodesignedtofitthesedimensionswouldbeequallysplitoverallofthethreeseparateoutputs;theleftthirdgoingtooutput1,thecentertooutput2,andtherightthirdtooutput3(seeFigure12.6).AsseeninFigure12.6,all images will not necessarily fit within this triple-wide aspect ratio withouthavingsomecroppingoccurorshrinkingtheimagedowntofit.Thisisthebasic“plug-and-play” method covered below. This method is best used whencombiningmultipleprojectorsoroutputdevicestocreateasingleunifiedsurface(i.e.avideowall).

Plug-and-PlaySetup

1. WithQLabclosed,connect thegraphicsexpansiondevice toyourcomputer.Make sure to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for installation. Someoutputsare“hotpluggable,”whileotherswillnotfunctioninthisprocess.

2. Afteryourdeviceisconnected,openQLab.ClickontheWorkspaceSettingsicon in the lower rightcornerandselect theVideoSettingsbutton.Youwillsee a list on the right side of the screen labeled “available surfaces.” Yourgraphics expansiondevice shouldbe listedhere in addition to anymonitorsconnected to your system. This will likely be labeled as “display.” It isimportanttonotethatQLabwillnotrecognizeanydisplaysconnectedtoyourexpansiondeviceasindividualsurfaces,astheyaresimplyoutputsfromyourexpansiondevice.

Figure12.6Multiscreenoutput.

3. You will notice that the dimensions of your expansion device will beproportionate to your computer’s built-in display resolution. As mentionedabove,ifyourdisplayresolutionwere1,280×1,024,thentheresultingoutputfor a triple-wide expansion device would be 3,840 × 1,024 (Figure 12.7).Likewise, if you have used and named this surface before, QLab willremember the established name. In my case, I named my laptop’s monitor“LCDDisplay”andmyexpansiondevice“Triple-wide.”

4. Click on the “edit” button beside your display. This will open the settingspanelfortheexpansiondevice.Thefirstattributetoeditshouldbethesurfacename. I find it is a good idea to re-name the surface name as somethingdescriptive,like“triple-wide.”Aftertypinginthenewname,click“enter”andchangeswillbeassigned.

5.Onceyouhavechangedthename,youarereadytousethissurfaceasavideosurfacepatch.AnyVideoCuesenttothisvideosurfacewillbeoutputtedtoallthreedisplaysasiftheywereonebigscreen.Imagescanbedisplayedonanyoneoralloftheoutputdisplays.

The process described earlier is ideal if you only ever want to use the threeoutputs as one large display. There are, however, many functions such asindividualkeystonecontrolfordisplays,edge-blending,andprojectororientationthat cannot be used through this single-screen surface method. For maximumcontrolofeachindividualdisplayoutput,followtheprocesslistedbelow.

Figure12.7Theavailablesurfacesmenu.

Multi-DisplaySetup

1.Afterhavingfollowedthestepsabove,gobacktotheVideosettingsandclickthe+buttonatthebottomofthescreentocreateanewsurface.

2.The“EditSurface”windowwillappearforcreatinganewsurface.Namethenewsurface“multi-display.”Pressenteranditwillsavethename.Thiswillbethe new surface patch used to output to the three outputs of your graphicsexpansiondevice.

3.Intheupperrightcorner,therewillbetwoslotsforinputtingthedimensionsof your surface. In this area, input dimensions that match that of yourexpansion device’s output (for this example, 3,840 × 1,024). Inputting thesedimensionswillcreateanewsurfacecalled“multi-display”thatmatches theoutputdimensionsofyourexpansiondevice(Figure12.8).

4. Theprocess to thispointessentiallycreatedanewsurface thatmatches the

output of your threeprojectors combined, butwithout the ability to controleachprojectorindividually.Thatiswherethescreenfunctioncomesin.

Intheleftcolumnofthescreen,youwillseeaboxlabeled“screensassigned.”Clickonthe+buttonatthebottomofthiscolumntoaddascreen.Insteadofusingoneofthesingle-screensurfaceslisted,clickonthelinelabeled“partialscreens.” There will be a dropdown line that features the name of yourgraphicsexpansiondevicecreatedabove“Triple-wide.”Clickonthatandthenselectthenumberofoutputsyourdevicefeatures.Inmycase,thatis“3wide.”

Therewill be three choices following this: virtual screen 1, virtual screen 2,and virtual screen 3. Click on virtual screen 1 and a blue facet screenwillappear superimposed over your “multi-display” surface (see Figure 12.9). Itwill be labeled “Triple-wide (1/3)” indicating that this is the first of threevirtual screens derived from the screen called “Triple-wide.” The blue facetscreenisthevisualrepresentationoftheprojectorconnectedtooutputoneofyourexpansiondevice.Itwillautomaticallybeplacedintheleftthirdofyoursurface.Thismeansthatoutput1ofyourexpansiondevicewilldisplaytheleftportionofthevideooutput.

5. Repeat theprocess above and insert virtual screen 2.Thiswill thenplace anew partial screen called “Triple-wide (2/3)” superimposed over the firstvirtualscreen.Thisvirtualscreenwillhaveagreenfacetscreen.Grabitandmoveitoveruntilitisalignedinthecenterofthe“multi-display”surface.Thismeansthatoutput2ofyourexpansiondevicewilldisplaythecenterportionofthevideooutput.Tomakesurethefacetwindowisalignedproperly,inputanoriginof1,281and0atthebottomofthescreen.

Figure12.8The“multi-display”surfaceisthreetimesthewidthofourstandardoutputresolution.

Figure12.9Thefacetscreenissuperimposedoverthesurfacewindow.

6. Finally, repeat this process a third time for the final virtual screen, “Triple-wide(3/3).”Movethefacetscreen,aredonethistime,allthewaytotherightthirdofthe“multi-display”surface.Theoriginsettingsforthisscreenshouldbe2,561and0.Thismeansthatoutput3ofyourexpansiondevicewilldisplaytherightportionofthevideooutput.Atthispoint,yoursurfaceoutputshouldlooklikethatseeninFigure12.10.

7. By following the process detailed in the steps above, you will have threeindividualscreensthatcanbecontrolledbyyoursurfacepatch.Selectanyofthe three screenson the left of the screenandyou can controlmanyof theattributes foreachscreen suchasorigin,projectororientation,or cornerpincontrol.Pleasenotethatmasking,gamma,andshuttersaffectonlytheoverallsurfacenottheindividualscreens.Specificdetailsarelistedbelowforeachofthesecontrols.

MaskImage

AsdiscussedinChapter10,masking is theprocessofaddingan imagefileasaframearoundavideoorimagefileorblockingoutotherpartsoftheimage.Withawhitearea,thevideopassesthroughthewhitecolorfill,butismaskedbythenon-whitepixels.To assignamask image to the surface, simplydoubleclick in

themask image inputwindow. Thiswill open a finder screen to allow you toselect the desired image. In past versions ofQLab, amaskhad to be an actualVideoCuecreatedwithatransparentbackgroundthatalwaysstayedonthetoplayerofthevideooutput.Inversion3,though,thereisanewfeaturethatallowsinputting image as amask attached to the specific surface. In addition, ratherthanrequiringatransparentbackground,anyblackandwhiteimagecanbeusedas a mask – with a white fill set as the desired transparent area. QLab willautomatically multiply the cue pixels by the mask pixels value to remove thewhitefillandcreatethisasatransparentareathroughwhichtheVideoCuecanbeseen.QLabtracksanychangesmadetothefilesothatyoucanedititwithouthavingtoremembertoreinsertthesourcefileintoyourworkspace.

Figure12.10Allthreefacetscreensarenowappropriatelyplaced.

BlendGamma

Ifanyofyourscreensdooverlap,QLabautomaticallyfactorsinedge-blendingtoreducethebrightnessoftheoverlappingareasonbothprojectorssotheresultingimagedoesnothaveabrightspot.

OriginControl

Eachvirtualscreenhas itsownpreciseorigincontrolsettings thataffectwherethescreengetsplacedonthesurface.Usingthex,ycoordinatesystem,youcanplacethescreenspreciselywithoutanyguesswork.Inthiscase,thefirstscreenshouldhaveanoriginof0,0.Thesecondoneshouldbeplacedat1,280,0andthe

thirdscreenat2,560,0.Thisintervalusesaspacingof1,280pixels,thewidthofeachscreen.

ProjectorOrientation

One big benefit of using virtual screens is the ability to assign projectororientationtoeachscreenseparately.Ifusingtheexpansiondeviceasoneplug-and-play output, each projector must be oriented in exactly the same fashion(either frontorrearandceilingor table).Bycontrollingeachscreenseparately,you have the potential to have each projector oriented in different ways andsimplychange theorientationon the screen tomatch thatof theprojector.Forinstance,whatifyourfirstprojectorisfrontprojectionfromtheceilingandyoursecond is rear projection from a tablemount?With thismethod, simply selectscreen one and click the “ceiling” checkbox. For screen two, select the “rear”checkbox. This simple process will guarantee that QLab does all of the videoprocessingforyouandyoudon’thavetochangeitaheadoftimeinyourimageprocessingsoftware.

CornerPinControl

Finally,oneofthegreateststrengthsofthevirtualdisplaysystemistheabilitytousecornerpinstore-shapethevideooutputofeachseparatescreen.Thecornerpins are the yellow circles in each of the four corners of the facet screen. Bymovingthesepins,theresultingimagewillbeskewedtomatchthenewlycreatedshape.Thisprocesscompensatesforthekeystoneeffectthatoccursduetoplacingthe projector at an angle less or greater than perpendicular to the projectionsurface. This is also particularly useful for reshaping images for projectionmappingapplications.Toadjustcornerpinsinrealtime,Isuggestclickingonthe“grid” checkbox located to the right of your screen in the “screens assigned”window.Thiswillsendthegridasavideoimagefromyourprojector,sothatyoucanre-shapethescreeninrealtimeandseetheeffectsofmovingthecornerpins.Holding down the shift key during this process allows for finer adjustments.Shouldyouwanttoresetthecornerpins,simplyclickonthe“resetcornerpins”button at the bottom of the screen. Just make sure that you have the correctscreenselected.

13VideoandCameraCues

VideoCuesarethefoundationforQLab’svideoplaybackcapabilities.Theyallowyou to display either movies or still images on any display attached to yoursystem.Overtheyears,manychangeshavebeenmadetothevideocomponentof the software. Version 1 featured Video Cues. Version 2 expanded thepossibilitiesofVideoCuesbyaddingthevideostageandacustomgraphicuserinterface(GUI)formanipulatingtheoutputacrossmultiplescreens.Inaddition,AnimationCueswere introduced tochange theoutputoptionsofaVideoCue.Version3hasreinventedthewayinwhichQLabinteractswithVideoCuesandexpandedonmanyofthefunctionsintroducedinpastversions.

Thoughyoucanexperimentwithallofthevideotoolsinthefreeversion,avideolicense is required to access all of the functions available. Full screen video,however,canbeplayedtothedefaultsingle-screensurfacefromthefreeversion.A final note before jumping into Video Cues: video editing and playback is ataxingprocessformostcomputers.AnumberofthevideofunctionsofQLabwillrequire a lot of processing power. Look over the hardware concerns listed inpreviouschaptersifyourcomputerishavingdifficultykeepingpace.

13.1InsertingaVideoCueVideoCuesareQLabcuesspeciallydesignedtoplayvideoorimagefilesthrougha video patch. QLab 3 usesAVFoundation to render video,which is a distinctchange from previous versions. In addition to simple playback, there are anumber of built-in filters and video effects that can be applied to the video orimagefilestoaffecttheirappearanceandbehavior.Likeanyothercue,aVideoCuecanbeinsertedviatheToolbar,ToolBox,orviadraggingavideofiledirectlyinto thecue list.Sincevideofiles frequentlyhave imbeddedaudio, thecuewillfeatureanumberofsettingsforaudioinadditiontovideo.Thefollowingsection

detailsthenumeroustabsfoundintheVideoCue’sInspectorPanel.

BeforedelvingintothefinerdetailsoftheVideoCue,though,itiswisetolookatone final setting.QLab outputs video atop of the desktop of attached displays,meaningthatifthereisnovideooutputthedefaultimageshownwouldbeyourcomputer’sdesktop.Todisablethis,youwanttouseausefulbuilt-infeaturethatblacks out the desktop background. Click on Tools > Black out DesktopBackgrounds. After activating this function, your desktop backgroundwill bereplacedwithaplainblackbackground, thusensuring thatwhenallvideosaredonetherewillbenovisibledesktopimage.

13.2InspectorPanel:BasicsOnceaVideoCueisinsertedintoyourcuelist,theInspectorPanelcanbeusedtoaccessawiderangeofcontrolfunctionsrelatedtothecue.Thereareseventabswithin the Inspector Panel that house a number of these functions: Basics,Display&Geometry, Time&Loops,Audio Levels,AudioTrim,Audio Effects,and Video Effects. Each of these tabs contains specific control functions thataffecttheplaybackofthegivenVideoCue.Thefirsttab,Basics,allowsthesamebasicfunctionseeninexaminingtheAudioCue.LiketheAudioCue,VideoCueBasicsdealswithcueinfoandtriggering.

CueInfo

Alignedtothelefthalfofthescreen,cuebasicsdealswithinformationrelatedtocue numbering, naming, targeting, and playback. The inputs in this area areidenticaltothatoftheAudioCue.

Triggering

Again, the triggering functionsof theVideoCuematch thatof theAudioCue.The triggeringwindow allows the programmer to establishMIDI, hotkey,wallclock,orTimecodetriggering.

13.3InspectorPanel:Display&GeometryDisplay & Geometry deals specifically with video surface assignment and

affectingthedisplaygeometryofthevideooutput.Atfirstglance,muchofthistabvisuallyresemblesthelayoutofQLab2.Diggingbeneaththesurface,though,youwillfindthatthenewvideoengineforQLab3featuresanumberofpowerfulnewtoolsforrealizingyourartisticvision.LookingatFigure13.1,youwillnoticethat the tab is divided into two columns. The left column contains the videosurface assignment and videomode,whereas the right side contains the videostage,agraphicrepresentationofyourassignedvideosurface.

Figure13.1TheDisplay&Geometrytab.

TheVideoStage

TheVideo Stage is a great tool for seeing your image placement on the videosurface in real time. The translucent blue shape on the Video Stage representsyour assigned Video Surface. Even though the surface might be composed ofseveralindividualscreens,thesescreenswillnotbeshown,onlythesurface.ThetranslucentyellowareaonthestagerepresentsyourVideoCueandshouldshowthe assigned image inside its boundary box. This Video Cue can be movedanywhere inside, or evenoutsideof theassigned surfaceby simplygrabbing itandmovingitwithyourmouse.Thereareafewinterestingmultitouchgesturesimbeddedintothevideostage,aswell.Forinstance,thescalecanbezoomedinoroutbydoinga“two-fingerscroll”upordown.Byusingthetwo-fingerscrollfromrighttoleft,thezrotationcanbeeasilytoggled.

VideoSurface

As addressed inChapter11, the new video engine allows for the use of videosurfaces,ratherthansimplescreenpatches.Asurfaceisauser-definedareaofapredeterminedsizethatcanhaveoneormorescreensassignedtoit.Theideaofthe video surface is that it frees you up to think about your design in amoreartistic andholistic sense, rather than focusing on thenuts andbolts of screenoutput.

Whenanoutputdevice is attached toyour system, a single-screen surfacewillautomaticallybecreatedandaddedtoyourlistofavailablevideosurfaces(intheVideoSettingswindow).Dependingonyourdesignneeds,youcaneitheroutputa Video Cue to a single screen or create a multi-screen surface composed ofmultiple screens and send the signal to that surface. If you choose to do this,QLab will do all of the necessary calculations behind the scenes to route thevideocomponentsouttheappropriatedisplaydevices.Eithermethod,theoutputpatchisselectedintheVideoSurfacedrop-downmenu.

Ifyouwanttoedittheassignedvideosurface,justclickontheeditsurfacebutton(thebuttonwiththreedotstotherightofthevideosurface)anditwillopenuptheEditSurfacewindow.Thiswindowallowsfornamingthesurface,changingitsdimensions,assigningscreens,masks,edgeblending,andmore.Allthedetailsfor this are covered in depth inChapter11,Section 11.2 – Editing the SurfacePatch.

Mode:FullScreen

The “Mode” control, located beneath the video surface controls, addresses thegeometryforcontrollingimageoutput.WhenaVideoCueisassignedtoavideosurface,itcaneitherbefullscreenorcustomgeometry.Fullscreendoesexactlywhatyoumightsuspect–itenlargesorreducestheimageorvideofiletofilltheentire width of your surface. In choosing full screen, you can either select“preserve the aspect ratio” (to keep the original proportion of the image uponenlarging or reducing) or deselect this checkbox (to disregard the originalproportionoftheimageandstretchittofilltheentiretyofthesurface).

Mode:CustomGeometry

Upon selecting the Custom Geometry button in the drop-down menu of the

Modecontrol,anewsetofinputwindowswillappear(seeFigure13.2)thatallowforadjusting theplacement, size, and rotationof thevideoor image file in thesurface output. These controls offer a wide range of tools to affect the imageoutputinanumberofways.

•Translation:Translationrefers totheplacementof the imageorvideofile inthesurface.Itisimportanttothinkoftheconceptofagraphforvideocontrols.In translation, the first inputrepresentsplacement in thehorizontalplane (orthex-axis).Thesecondinputrepresentsplacementintheverticalplane(orthey-axis).Thecenterofyoursurfacerepresentsthe0,0position.Movementuportotherightofthisisapositivenumber,whereasmovementdownortotheleftisanegativenumber.Therearetwomethodsforchangingtranslation.Youcaneitherinputthenumbersmanually,orsimplygrabtheimageinthevideostageandmoveittothedesiredposition.

•Scale:Scalereferstothesizeoftheimage.Thedefaultscaleis1foranyimage.Toenlargetheimage,changethescaletoanumbergreaterthan1.Toreducethe image, change the scale to a number less than 1. Again, the first inputrepresents the x-plane (width), while the second one represents the y-plane(height).Youwillnoticethatchangingonewillalsochangetheother.This isbecause the lock icon is set to lock,meaning the aspect ratio is set so that achange in width affects a change in height and vice versa. To disable thisfunction,simplyclickonthepadlockicon,unlockingthefixedaspectratio.Asmentionedearlier,aquickmethodforzoominginandoutofscaleisthetwo-fingerscrolluptoenlargeordowntoreducescale.

Figure13.2Thecustomgeometrywindowisusedforresizingtheoutputimage.

•Rotation:Rotationreferstotheimageplacementinrelationtothex,y,andzcoordinatesofthesurface.Untilthispoint,wehaveonlydiscussedthexandy-

axes.Ina2-dimensionaldrawing,xandycoordinatesrefertorightandleftorupanddown.Ina3-dimensionaldrawing,athirdaxis,thez-axis,referstotheverticalcoordinatesliftedabovethesurface.ForQLab,thesecoordinatesreferspecificallytothewayinwhichanimagecanberotatedonthesurface.

Byclickingonanyofthethreeinputs(x,y,orz),adialogwindowwillpopupasking for rotationcoordinates.Thex-rotation tool rotates the imageon thex-axis(“flipping”theimageheadoverfoot).They-rotationtoolrotatestheimageonthey-axis(“spinning”theimagelikeatop).Finally,thez-rotationtoolrotatestheimageonthez-axis(turningitinaclockwiseorcounter-clockwisefashion).Toinputrotationchanges,click intheinputboxandslideyourmouseupforapositivenumberordownforanegativeone.Asyoudoso,looktotheimageinyourvideostagetotherightandyouwillseehowthenumbersaffecttheimageoutput.ToreturntheVideoCuetoitsoriginalrotationstate,simplyclickontheresetbuttonandallaxisrotationswillbesetbackto0.

Pro-Tip

RotationOptionsThe Rotation settings for a Video Cue refer specifically to the originalplacementofanimage.Rotationdoesnotindicateananimatedmovement.Inordertoaccomplishthis,aFadeCuemustbeusedinconjunctionwithaVideoCue in order to allow for 3D rotation around theX,Y, orZ-axes. Formoreinformationonusingtheseoptions,lookatProject13.2.

•Layer:Thisfunctionallowsforthe“stacking”ofmultipleVideoCuesatoponeanother.The lowernumbersremainon thebottomof thestack,whilehighernumbersarearrangedabove.Thereare999numberedlayerstochoosefrom.Inaddition,youcanassignanyVideoCue tobe “bottom”or “top”by selectingthisintheLayerdrop-downmenu.

• Opacity:Finally,opacity is thesettingthatallowstheprogrammertochangethevideo image fromopaque to translucent.Hundredpercentopacitymeansthat the image isperceivedas “solid.”As thenumbersdecrease, the resultingimagebecomesmoretranslucent,allowingthelayersorbackgroundbehindittobevisible through the image.This setting isuseful forcreating interestinglayered imageryseen in tandem.Likewise, combiningopacity settingswithaFadeCuecreatesafade-inorfade-outofaVideoCue.

Project13.1

FadeControlsforVideoCuesOneofthemostcommonrequestsforVideoCuesistheabilitytofadeinatthe beginning or fade to black at the end of the cue. With QLab 3, thesefunctions are accomplished via Fade Cues. The following project takes youthroughtheprocessofcreatingafade-inandfade-outforaVideoCue.

StepOne:DownloadProject13.1fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:Select Cue 1 from theworkspace. Click Shift +Command +A to open theAuditionWindow.ClickGOtofiretheVideoCuefeaturingayounggirlonthebeach.Pressescapetoendtheplayback.

StepThree:InserttwoFadeCuesfollowingtheVideoCueandassignCue1asthetargetforboth.

StepFour:SelectCue1andopentheDisplay&GeometrytabintheInspectorPanel.Setthe opacity to 0.0%. This will make the Video Cue invisible when fired,showingonlytheblackbackground.

StepFive:SelectCue2andopentheGeometrytabintheInspectorPanel.Clickontheopacitycheckboxandset theopacity to100%.Youwillnotice that theredxwilldisappearfromthisFadeCue’sstatus.

StepSix:Set theopacityforCue3to0.0%inthesamefashionasStepFive.Likewise,theredxshoulddisappearfromthecuerow.

StepSeven:Testyourprogramming.ClickingCue1shouldactivatetheVideoCue(thoughyouwillnotseeit).FiringCue2willfade-intheimage,andfiringCue3willfadetoblack.

StepEight:

Inorder toautomate thiscuesequenceandeliminate theneedforextraGOclicks, set thecontinuestatusofCue1 toAuto-continue.Thiswillmake theimagefade-inwhenthefirstcueisfired.Tofurthercleanupyourworkspaceyou could even place both of these cues into one group so as to hide theunnecessaryprogramming.

StepNine:ThefinalstepistomakesuretheVideoCuewillstopplayingoncefadedtoblack. Remember, likeAudio Cues, a Video Cuewill continue to play untilstopped. In order to free up system resources, remember to click the “stoptargetwhendone”checkboxonCue3.Thiswillassurethatthecuewillstopplayingoncefadedout.

Project13.2

AnimatingImageRotationthroughFadeCuesInQLab2, therewasonlyoneoptionforrotatingthe image–thez-axis. InQLab 3, there aremanydifferent options for rotation. The firstmethod, 3Drotation, allows for rotation of one image along the X, Y, and Z-axessimultaneously.Thismethodisexcellentfordoingbasic3Dchangesofimagerotation,solongasyoudonotneedmultiplespinsaroundanygivenaxis.Itisimportanttonotethatthereiscurrentlynomethodforcreatinga3Drotationthatrevolvesaroundanaxismorethanonerotation.

For instances inwhichmultiple spins around one axis is required, you canchooseeitherX,Y,orZ-axesforindividualaxisrotation.Thisiseffectiveforrotation effects that revolve numerous times around one axis (like thespinningnewspapereffectsofclassicblack-and-whitefilms).

TheSpinningHeadlinesNewspaperStepOne:DownloadProject13.2fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:Select Cue 1 from the workspace. This is an image of a classic newspaperheadline.ClickShift+Command+AtoopentheAuditionWindow.

StepThree:

Tocreatethedesiredeffectofthenewspaperzoominginfromthedistance,wemustfirststartwiththeDisplay&Geometrytab.Selectthedrop-downmenulabeled “FullScreen”andchange it to “CustomGeometry.”Afterdoing this,changethescalefrom1to0.Thiswillshrinktheimagesomuchastomaketheimagedisappear.YoursettingsshouldmirrorthoseseeninFigure13.3.

Figure13.3TheDisplay&Geometrytabsettings.

StepFour:SetthecontinuestatusofCue1toAuto-continue,sothatitwillautomaticallyfireCue2.

StepFive:InsertaFadeCueandsetCue1as itstarget.SelecttheGeometrytabintheInspectorPanel.First,clickontheScalebuttonandslowlyslidethescaleupuntiltheimagealmostfillsthescreenofyourvideostage(seeFigure13.4)

Figure13.4Scalingtheimage.

StepSix:Test the sequence by firing Cue 1. The resulting effect should be thenewspaperzoominginfromthedistance.

StepSeven:

In order to get the newspaper to spin, you must once more select theGeometry tab of Cue 2. This time click on the drop-down menu besiderotation and select “Z rotation.” Type in -1080 in the box andmake sure toremembertoselectthecheckboxtotheleftof“rotation.”Figure13.5illustrateshowyourscreenshouldlook.

Figure13.5Inputtingimagerotation.

StepEight:Testyourcuesequence.Itshouldnowsuccessfullyspininfromthedistance.Onelastoptiontotinkerwithmightbecustomizingyourfadecurvesettings.Todothis,selectCurveShapefromtheFadeCue’sInspectorPanelandclickon“customcurve”inthedrop-downmenuinsteadof“S-curve.”Playaroundwith different curve shapes until you feel comfortable that you understandtheiruse.

13.4InspectorPanel:Time&LoopsTheTime&LoopspanelforVideoCuesisidenticaltothatinAudioCuesinallbutoneway.VideoCuesincludesanadditionalcontroltoholdthefinalframeuponthescreenwhenthevideocycleiscomplete.Beyondthat,thelayoutofTime&LoopsmirrorstheoneseeninChapter5(Figure13.6).

WaveformDisplay

Thewaveformdisplay is blank forVideoCueswith image files or silent videotargets.Whenusingavideofilewithanaudiotrack,thewaveformwilldisplayinthesamefashionasthatforanAudioCue.Likewise, thestarttime/endtimeoftheVideoCue canbe changedby simplygrabbing eitherof thehandles at the

beginningorendoftheVideoCueandscrubbingthemtothedesiredstartorendpoint.Again,thisisanon-destructiveprocessthatcanbechangedasfrequentlyasnecessarywithoutdamagingthetargetfile.

PreviewCue

For theVideoCue, it isespecially important tomaster theuseof theAuditionWindow for previewing cues. Click on + shift + A to open the auditionwindow,aspecialwindowthatservesasatemporarysurfaceforviewingVideoCues or listening to Audio Cues.While you can press the preview button forVideo Cues, the problem arises when the computer is not connected to youradditionaloutputdevices.Ifyourcomputerdoesnothaveanexternaldisplay,theVideo Cue will play in full screen mode and cover up your workspace. Thismakesitimpossibletoeditthecue,asyoucannotseethecontrols.ByusingtheAudition Window, the Video Cue preview will be exported to the AuditionWindow and can be resized or moved anywhere on the desktop for previewpurposes.

Figure13.6

TheTime&LoopstabforVideoCues.

Times,Loops,andSlices

Again, thecolumnto the leftof theTime&Loops tabmirrors thatseen in theAudioCue.Thereisastartandendtimedialogforinsertingthetimesmanually.Inaddition, there isaplaycountdialogfor theamountof timestheVideoCuewill play (looping). Likewise, the infinite loop enables an infinite number ofplaybackloops.

Slicesareenabledforvideoplayback,aswellasaudio.LiketheAudioCue,slicesallowfor the loopingof internal sectionsofaVideoCue. Inmanyways,videoloopingismuchmorecomplicatedtoachievethanaudio,duetothevisualnatureof videos.The videomust be created in such away that it can loopback to apointwithoutanoticeable“hiccup.”

Inordertoinsertaloopintoacue,simplyclickthelocationinthewaveformtoplace the end of your slice. Likewise, if you created the file in a video editingsoftware with markers, those markers will translate into slices automaticallywhen imported toQLab. Ifyouwant the first three secondsof aVideoCue torepeat, placeyour cursor at the 3-secondposition in thewaveformviewer andclick the“addSlice”button.Onceyouhavedone this,youwillnoticeahandleappearsatthetopofthewaveformtimelinesimilartotheplaybackpositioniconin your cue list. This indicates the end of the slice. To fine-tune the endingposition, simply grab the slice position icon in the timeline and slide it to thedesiredlocation.

Onceasliceisinserted,twonumberswillappearatthebottomofthewaveform,both reading 1. This indicates the number of times your slicewill loop beforeproceeding to thenext slice.Clickon the firstnumberandchange it to2.ThiswillcreateaslicethatplaysbacktwicebeforeprogressingtothenextsectionintheAudioCue.Likewise,ifyouwanttomakethelooprepeataninfinitenumberoftimes,simplyinsert“inf”insteadofanumberandtheinfinitysymbol∞willreplaceit.

Ifyouwishtoremoveasingleslice,simplychangethenumberbackto1anditwillfunctionlikeitisnotthere.Likewise,youcangrabthehandleandpullitoutoftheworkspacetodeleteit.Ifyouwishtodeleteallslices,clickonthebuttonlabeled“DeleteAll.”

Toendaninfiniteloopcycle,youmustusetheDeVampCueinconjunctionwithyourVideoCue.Oncetriggered,aDeVampCuetellsacuetostoprepeatingandprogress to the next slice once the next loop cycle has completed. This isaddressedindepthinChapter8,ControlCues.

Like in Audio Cues, the slices can also function as a visual marker in yourwaveformthatmakesiteasiertoidentifykeyspotsduringtech.If,forinstance,thereisaspotinthemiddleofasongwhereacertaineffectoccursandyouwantto note that location simply insert a slice and keep the loop number set to 1.Therewillbenofunctiontotheslice,otherthanservingasavisualmarkerforyourownuseatalatertime.

IntegratedFadeEnvelope&PlaybackRate

The integrated fade envelope allows for inserting fade curves attached to theaudiocomponentofyourVideoCue.Whenyouclickon the“toggle integratedfade envelope” button, a yellow linewill appear placed horizontally across thetopofyourwaveformwithacircleatthebeginningandendoftheline.Thisisthe fade line that allows for inserting level increases or decreases to automatevolumechanges.

The rate control changes the rate of playback for the Video Cue in the samemanneras theAudioCue.Likewise, thepitch shiftbuttoncanbedeselected tokeepthepitchunchangedastherateincreases.

13.5InspectorPanel:AudioLevels,AudioTrim,andAudioEffectsThe following three tabs in the Video Cue Inspector Panel are identical infunction to thoseseen in theAudioCue InspectorPanel, thoughthe tabnamesareslightlydifferent.

AudioLevelsfortheVideoCuefunctionsintheexactsamefashionasDevice&LevelstabintheAudioCueInspectorPanel.Thepurposeofthistabremainstheassignmentoftheaudiooutputpatch,settingvolumelevels,andgangingoutputs.

AudioTrimmirrorstheTrimtabintheAudioCue.AswiththeAudioCue,thetrimcontrolsallowfortheincreaseordecreaseofvolumeacrossaseriesofFade

Cuesthattargetthesamecue.Inthiscase, it isspecificallyrelatedtotheaudiotrackofaVideoCue,though,ratherthananAudioCue.

Finally,theAudioEffectstabsharesboththenameandfunctionofthatseenintheAudioCue InspectorPanel.Again, this taballows for theadditionofaudioeffects to change the audio output of a Video Cue. All of the same AUs areavailableforaVideoCueasthatfortheAudioCue.

AllthreeofthesecontroltabsofferagreatamountofflexibilitytohowaVideoCue can be used in yourworkspace. By using these in conjunctionwith FadeCues, you can truly create dynamic playback effects and offer awide array ofnon-destructiveeditingeffectsbuilt-intoyourVideoCue.

13.6InspectorPanel:VideoEffectsOneofthebiggestchangestotheVideoCuestructureforQLab3comesintheintroduction of awide array of built-in video effects available in the InspectorPanel. For those used to working with graphics and video editing programs,many of these effects will already be a part of your working vocabulary.Currently,eachVideoCuecanapplyonlyonevideoeffecttoitsoutputandtheseeffectscannotbechangedviaFadeCuesinthesamewaythataudioeffectscan.Nonetheless, the addition of these video effects adds great versatility to VideoCueoptions.

Toaccessthevideoeffects,clickontheVideoEffectstabintheInspectorPaneland click on the drop-downmenu beside the “Apply effects” button. Youwillnoticethatthedrop-downmenufeaturesanumberofeffects,eachseparatedintoseven different groups (see Figure 13.7). Listed below are the video effectscategories and basic descriptions of their use. Video effects are such a largecomponent of the Video Cue structure that Chapter 14 is dedicated to fullyexploringtheirfunctions.

• Color andExposureEffects: The first category of video effects offers up anumber of options in changing the video output related to color, gamma,exposure,andmore.Includedinthisgrouparefeatureslikecreatingasepiaormonochromaticimage.

• Titles:The title effect allows for the insertionof text as anoverlayonyourVideoCue.Thereareanumberofoptions suchas font type, font color, size,

andblendmodethataffectthelookofinsertedtitles.• Blur/SharpenEffects:This categoryof video effects allows for anumberof

blurring effects (box, disc, Gaussian, motion, and zoom), and sharpeningeffects.

• Texture & Edge Effects: Texture effects such as pixelation, halftones,pointillize,andcomiceffectallowforadrasticchangetotheappearanceofthevideoorimagefile.

• DistortionEffects: This category of effects all dealwithwarping the imageoutput in some fashion to make the image appear to be wrapped in athreedimensionalform.

Figure13.7Thevideoeffectsdrop-downmenufeaturesmanyoptionsforaffectingvideooutput.

•TileEffects:Tilingistheduplicationofyourimagefeedacrossmultipleareasor “tiles” within your video surface. There are five tile effects, each withnumerousoutputvariablesforcreatinginterestingtiles.

•CustomCompositions:QuartzComposerisvisualprogrammingenvironmentcreatedbyApple that allows for sophisticatedmotiongraphics compositions.QLab has long allowed the use of custom Quartz Compositions for imageoutput. InQLab 3, this function is included as part of theVideo Effects tab.Quartzcompositionsareusedasimagefilters,asQLabisactuallyincontrolofthe final rendering of images.QuartzComposition renderers such as sprites,

billboards,andmesheswillnotwork(adifferencefromearlierversions).

13.7CameraCuesIn addition to playing back prerecorded video,QLab also has the capability toinsert a live video feed directly into the workspace via the Camera Cue. ACameraCuefunctionsinexactlythesamefashionasaVideoCue,exceptitdoesnot have an audio feed. TheQLab video systemworkswith any FireWireDVcamera, Blackmagic devices that use the DeckLink API, or Face-Time cameraattachedtothesystem.Inaddition,itcanacceptinputsignalsviaSyphon.Oncethecamerapatchissetup,pressinggowillactivatethecamera,sendingavideofeedouttotheassignedvideosurface.ThefollowingsectiondetailsthesetupandapplicationoftheCameraCue.

Camera Cues areQLab cues specially designed to activate an external cameraconnected to the video system and send its signal out through a video surfacepatch. Inadditiontosimpleplayback, therearealsoanumberofbuilt-infiltersand effects that can be applied to the video feed to affect its appearance andbehavior.Likeanyothercue,aCameraCuecanbe insertedvia theCuebarorToolBox.UnlikeVideoCues,though,aCameraCuedoesnotfeatureaudiofeed.Since thevideo feeddoesnot featureaudio, theCameraCuehas feweroptionswithintheInspectorPanelthantheAudioorVideoCues.ItispossibletorunaCameraCueinconjunctionwithaMicCuetohavebothaudioandvideofeed,though thereareanumberofdifficulties inmaking theaudio lineupcorrectlywith the video feed due to latency and clocking issues between separateinterfaces. The following section details the functions of the tabs found in theCameraCue’sInspectorPanel.

13.8InspectorPanel:BasicsOnceaCameraCue is inserted into the cue list, the InspectorPanel isused toexamine the control functionsand settings related to the cue.Unlike theVideoCue, the Inspector Panel for the Camera Cue features only three tabs: Basics,Display&Geometry,andVideoEffects.TheCameraCueBasicstabisidenticalinappearanceandfunctiontothatoftheVideoCue.Thefirsttab,Basics,allowsthesamebasicfunctionseeninexaminingtheAudioandVideoCue.Likethose

othercuetypes,CameraCueBasicsdealswithcuenumbering,naming,targeting,andplaybackoptions.Inaddition,triggeringoptionssuchasMIDI,hotkey,wallclock,andTimecodetriggeringarealsocontrolledinthistab.

13.9InspectorPanel:Display&GeometryLiketheVideoCue,DisplayandGeometryfortheCameraCuedealswithinputassignment(camerapatch)andoutputassignment(videosurfacepatch).Asseenin Figure 13.8 the Display &Geometry tab contains both patch and geometryfunctions(ontheleftsideofthescreen)andthevideostageontherightsideofthescreen.

CameraPatch

Thecamerapatchisthefirstmenulocatedontheleftcolumnofthescreen.Byclicking on the drop-down menu, you will see all of the available camerasattachedtoyourvideosystem.SelectthedesiredcameraanditwillautomaticallybeassignedastheinputsourceforyourCameraCue.

VideoSurface

ThevideosurfacepatchislocateddirectlybeneaththecamerapatchandisusedtoassignthedisplayoutputforyourCameraCue.LiketheVideoCue,youcaneitheroutputthevideofeedtoasinglescreen,ortoamulti-screensurface.Ifyouchoosetodothis,QLabwilldoallofthenecessarycalculationsbehindthescenestoroutethevideofeedouttheappropriatedisplaydevices.Witheithermethod,theoutputpatchisselectedintheVideoSurfacedrop-downmenu.

VideoDisplayModes:FullScreenandCustomGeometry

The “Mode” control, located beneath the video surface controls, addresses thegeometry for controlling image output. When a Camera Cue is assigned to avideosurface,itcaneitherbefullscreenorcustomgeometry.Forfullscreen,theimageiseitherreducedorenlargedtothecorrectsizetofilltheentirewidthorheightoftheassignedsurface.Byselectingordeselecting“preserveaspectratio”you can keep the original proportion in mind or disregard it, giving you theabilitytostretchtheimage’sheightorwidthdisproportionatelytocompletelyfill

thesurface.Customgeometryallowsforchangingthesize,shape,andgeometricrotationof the imagearound thex,y, andzplanes.Fordetailedexplorationofthisprocess,lookatSection13.3.

Figure13.8TheDisplay&Geometrytabforcameracues.

LayerandOpacity

Again, the layersettings foraCameraCuedeterminetheorder inwhichvideoframesget stacked.Acuewithahighernumberwill alwaysbe stackedatopalayerwithalowernumber(0–999).Assigning“Top”meansthatthiscuewillbelayeredaboveanypreviousVideoorCameraCues.Themostrecentcuelabeledtopwillalwaysbedisplayedontop.

Finally, opacity is the setting that allows the programmer to change the videofeedfromopaquetotranslucent.Hundredpercentopacitymeansthattheimageis perceived as “solid.” As the numbers decrease, the resulting image becomesmore translucent, allowing the layers or background behind it to be visiblethrough the image. This setting is useful when combined with the layersfunction. Imagine the possibility of overlaying a Camera Cue atop a secondCamera or Video Cue. This would be particularly useful in the creation of a“ghostlyapparition”effect.The followingprojectdetails theprocessof tacklingthiseffect.

Project13.3

CreatingaGhostlyEffectAs a reminder,CameraCuesmust use a camera connected to your system.Without a FireWire, Blackmagic, or Face-Time camera you cannot do thisproject.

StepOne:DownloadProject13.3fromthecompanionwebsite.

StepTwo:Youwill notice theworkspace containsonlyone cue.Cue 1 is aVideoCuefeaturing a crinkled paper background. This will be the background image.OpentheAuditionwindow(Command+Shift+A)soyoucanpreviewthecueslive.

StepThree:InsertaCameraCueintotheworkspaceasCue2.Checkyourcamerapatchunder the Display & Geometry tab to ensure the appropriate camera ispatchedtoyourcue.Also,whileinthistab,setyouropacityto48%.Finally,ensurethattheCameraCueissettotheToplayer(seeFigure13.9).

Figure13.9Thecamerapatchisusedtoassignthecamerainput.

StepFour:As currently programmed, the Camera Cue will play atop the paperbackground,but itwillhardlylookghostly. Inordertoaccomplishthisgoal,therewillbesomerequirementsofbothlightingandVideoEffectssettings.Asforlighting,makecertaintodarkentheroomtoblackanduseabrightlightataharshangleonyouractor(ifsittingatyourlaptop,thiswillbeparticularlyeasy to experiment with – simply turn off the lights and use a flashlightbeneaththechin).

StepFive:OpentheVideoEffectstabinCue2andselect“BloomandGloom”fromthedrop-downmenu. Click on the checkbox beside apply effects to ensure theeffectwillbeapplied.Finally,setBloomastheeffectwithRadiusat17.500andIntensityat1.000(seeFigure13.10).

Figure13.10Bloomandgloomsettings.

StepSix:Testthecuesequence.Ifprogrammedproperly,aghostlyfaceshouldappearsuperimposedatopthepapertexture(seeFigure13.11).

Figure13.11Theresultingghostlyfigure.

13.10InspectorPanel:VideoEffectsThefinaltabintheCameraCueInspectorPaneliscalledvideoeffects.Thevideoeffects forCameraCues function inexactly the same fashionas that forVideoCues.Toaccessthevideoeffects,clickonthedrop-downmenubesidethe“Applyeffects”button.Youwillnotice that thedrop-downmenu featuresanumberofeffects, each separated into sevendifferent groups as seen in Figure 13.3. Onceyouare familiarwith theuseof video effects inVideoCues, the execution forCameraCuesisidentical.

QuartzComposerIntegration

QLab3allowsfortheuseofacustomQuartzComposerfileasanimagefilterforthe camera feed. An original composition can apply Core Image filters, applycomplex animations, andmore to your live video feed. QLab provides QuartzCompositionframestoyourvideofeedinrealtimetoaffecttheimageoutput.

14VideoEffects

Asmentionedinpreviouschapters,oneofthebiggestadvancesinQLabvideoisthe additionof video effects to bothVideo andCameraCues. Essentially, eachVideoorCameraCuehasa libraryofvideoeffects tochoose fromthatcanbeapplied to the image/video file or camera feed. There are a number of built-ineffectstochoosefrom,allassimpleasselectingtheeffects,applyingittothecue,andchangingthevideoeffectcontrolsettings.Withsomanydifferenteffectstochoose from, the process can be a bit overwhelming for a first-time user. Thischapter details the purpose and process of the seven groups of video effectspresets.

For the following sections, downloadProject 14.1 from the companionwebsite.Open your Audition Window, so that you can preview the effects withoutcovering up your workspace. Select the first cue and then click on the VideoeffectstabintheInspectorPanel.Wewillusethiscuelisttoexaminethevariousvideoeffectspresets.

14.1VideoEffectsPresets:ColorandExposureThe first set of video effects presets deal primarily with changing the color,exposure,gamma,orcontrastofthecueoutput.Therearesixvideoeffectsinthecolor and exposure grouping. For all effects, youmust both select the desiredvideoeffectinthedrop-downmenuandclickonthe“ApplyEffects”button.Thiswillthenlisttheeffectcontrolsintheeffectinputswindowatthebottomofthescreen.

ColorControls

The first option listed in the drop-down menu is called color controls. Color

controls offers basic video/image editing options of saturation, brightness,contrast,andhueangle(seeFigure14.1).SelectCue1fromProject14.1andpressthespacebar.ThiswillplayyourVideoCue in theAuditionwindow.Clickonthe“ApplyEffects”buttontoactivatethecolorcontrols,ifyouhavenotalreadydoneso.Youshouldnoticean immediate, if slight, change toyour image.Let’snowexaminetheslidersintheeffectinputspanel.

Saturation refers to the amount of color present in the image. Increasing thesaturation will make the image have much more vibrant colors, whereasdecreasingitwillmakeitlooklikeablackandwhitephoto.Brightnessreferstotheamountoflightorshadowpresentintheimage.Increasingitwillmaketheimage go to a completely white screen. Decreasing it will move toward acompletelyblackscreen.Contrastreferstothedifferenceperceivedbetweenthedarks and lights in your image. By increasing the contrast, you will get deepblacksandvivid,glowinghighlights.Bydecreasingit,youwillgetawashed-out,gray imagewith littledifferencebetweenhighlights and shadows.Finally,HueAngleallowsyoutoenhancethecolorspresentinyourimageinonerangeofthecolor spectrum.Slidingacross the scale from–180 to 180will change the coloroutputfromblue(-180)tomorecyantones(180).

Exposure

Selecting exposure in the drop-down menu will activate the exposure videoeffectspreset.Exposureisaphotographytermthatrelatestotheamountoflightthatisallowedtotransferontothefilm.Exposureislinkedtotheshutterspeedofacamera–thelongertheshutterstaysopen,themorelightthatisallowedontothefilmandviceversa.InQLabterms,exposurereferstothemethodofusingadigitaleffecttosimulatefilmexposure.

Figure14.1Thecolorcontrolssubsetofvideoeffects.

ExperimentbyadjustingtheexposureofCue1.TheExposureValueslidesfrom–10 to 10,with values below zero being underexposed (overly dark) and thoseabove zero being overexposed (overly bright white). Figure 14.2 shows theexposurevalueslider.

Gamma

Moving one step down the list in the drop-downmenu, youwill arrive at thethird effect in the color and exposure grouping, Gamma.Gamma refers to adigital method of coding and decoding the brightness values of both still andmoving images. In terms of output, each pixel of a digital image is assigned agamma value. QLab allows for the adjustment of the gamma value from thepower of 0.100–3.000. In this case, sliding the gammapower slider down to its

lowestsettingwillbrightentheimageoutput,whereasraisingitwilldarkentheimage(seeFigure14.3).Goaheadandadjustthegammapowersliderandseethewaysinwhichtheimageisaffected.

Figure14.2TheExposureValueslider.

Figure14.3(a)TheGammaPowerslideratalowsetting.(b)TheGammaPowerslideratahighsetting.

SepiaMonochrome

ThisfourtheffectgivestheoptiontochangetheimageoutputforyourVideoorCameraCuetobeeithersepiaormonochromatic.WhenyoufirstselecttheSepiaMonochrome effect, the default setting will be sepia. To change to themonochromeeffect,selectthedrop-downmenuandyouwillseemonochromeastheotherchoice(Figure14.4).

Sepia refers to the reddish-brown color of antique photographs.To control theamountofsepiatonesaddedtotheimage,usetheIntensityslider.Theintensityscale(0.000–1.000)representstheamountoforiginalcolorthatwillreadaftertheeffect is applied. 0.000–0.500 will have some of the original color remaining,whereas anythingabove thiswill gradually replace all originalhueswith sepiacolors.

Monochrome, or “one chroma,” refers to an image in which everything ispresentedindifferentvaluesofonecolor.Tousethemonochromeeffect,simplyclickon thedrop-downmenu to selectmonochrome.Afterdoing this, clickonthecolorblockatthebottomofthescreen.ThiswillopenuptheMacOSXColorPicker thatgivesyouseveraldifferentoptionsfromwhichtochooseyourcolor(seeFigures14.5–14.9).Theintensitysliderwillfunctioninthesamefashionformonochromeasitdidforsepia–meaningthelowerhalfofthesliderwillallowsomeoftheoriginalcolorstobleedthrough,whereanythingabovethe50%markwillbegintoreplacealloriginalcolorswithyourselectedhue.

MinMaxInvert

TheMinMaxInverteffectspresetisactuallyacollectionofthreeseparatevideoeffects:MinimumComponent,MaximumComponent,andColorInvert.

Minimum Component creates a gray scale version of your image thatemphasizesthedarkertonesbyexaminingtheminimumRGBvalues.MaximumComponentalsocreatesagrayscaleversionbutfocusesinsteadonthebrightertonesoftheimagebyexaminingthemaximumRGBvalues.Color Invertdoesexactlywhatthenameimplies;itcreatesaninvertedimageinwhichthecolorsarereversedfromthoseintheoriginalfile.Therearenovariablestothesethreeeffects, simply on or off. Click through these three different presets to see thewayinwhichthevideooutputforCue1isaffected.

Figure14.4Thesepiamonochromedrop-downmenu.

Pro-Tip

TheMacOSXColorPickerisahandytoolthatwasintroducedwiththefirstversion ofMacOSX. There are a number of different options, but they allserve the same basic purpose of helping you select a color within anapplication. Along the top of the interface, youwill see five icons. Each ofthese icons represents a differentmethod of selecting colors. The first icon,ColorWheel, allows you to select the hue and saturation with the colorwheel,and thevalue (orrelative lightnessordarknessof thecolor)byusingthe slider on the right side of thewindow (Figure14.5). In the colorwheel,movingtowardthecenterofthecirclewillde-saturateyourhueselection.

ThesecondiconrepresentstheSliderspaneloftheColorPicker(Figure14.6),wherethereisaseriesofslidersusefulforcreatingyourowncolorschemes:GrayScale,Red-Green-Blue(RGB),Cyan-Magenta-Yellow-Black(CMYK),andHue-Saturation-Brightness(HSB).Oneveryusefulfunctioninthiswindowisthemagnifyingglasstoolintheleftcorner.Thistoolallowsyoutoselectthecolorfromanypixelonyourscreen,nomatterwhatprogramisrunningit.Byclicking on a color, it will be selected and placed into your color selectionwindow.

Thenexticon,thePalettepicker,isaselectiontoolforusingpre-existingcolorpalettes and creating palettes of your own (Figure 14.7). The palette pickerfeatures four palettes: Web Safe Colors, Crayons, Developer, and Apple. Inaddition to this, you can use this menu to create your own palettes for aproject that needs to use a consistent set of colors. To add a color to your

originalcolorpalette,simplydragthatcolordownintotherowofsquaresat

thebottomofthescreen

Figure14.5Thecolorwheelcolor-pickingtab.

Figure14.6Thesliderscolor-pickingtab.

Figure14.7Thepalettecolor-pickingtab.

Thefourthiconis theImagePalette.Bydefault,whenyouselect the imagepalette, it will open a spectrum showing all the colors within the visiblespectrum.Thisisusefulbyitself,butatrulyusefulfunctionwithinthispickerisitsabilitytoaddanyimagefromyourharddriveasacolorpalette.ClickonthePalettedrop-downmenu, and then selectNew fromFile (Figure14.8). Ifyouhaveanimageonyourclipboard,youcanalsopasteitinbyusingNewfromClipboard.Toselectacolorwithintheimage,simplyclickonthedesiredcolorwithintheimage,anditwillbeaddedtothecolorbox.Dragthatcolordownintotherowofsquaresatthebottomofthescreentocreateyourowncustompalette.

ThefifthandfinaliconistheCrayonBox.Itisasimplisticrepresentationofcolorswith easy to remember color names (Figure 14.9). It hasmuch fewerfunctionsthantheotherpickersyetisaquickandeasyreferenceattimes.

One final thing to keep inmind is thatColorPicker is expandablewith the

additionofplug-ins–somefreewareorshareware.ManyoftheseadditionalColor Pickers can be added on to use with QLab and allow for a trulycustomizedapproachtohowyouselectyourcolorswithinthesoftware. Justdoaquicksearchfor“maccolorselectorplug-ins”andyouwillfindanumberofoptions!

Figure14.8SelectingNewfromfile.

Figure14.9TheCrayonBoxcolor-pickingtab.

WhitePoint

Thefinaleffectspresetinthecolorandexposuresectionofthedrop-downmenuis calledwhitepoint. Inphotography terms, thewhitepoint is the color valuewithinthephotothatisdeterminedtobeneutral.Thisisakeyfactorthatplaysinto lighting modes on cameras, like incandescent, outdoors, fluorescent, etc.Each of these light sources produces a drastically different color temperature;therefore,shootinganindoorscenewithanoutdoorcamerasettingwillresultinanoddlydiscoloredphoto.Whitepointconversionshavebeenaround inphotoeditingsoftwareforyears.Essentially,itallowsyoutoselectahuethatshouldbesubstitutedforwhite. InQLab,onceyouhaveselectedwhitepoint,acolortoolwillappearintheeffectsinput,allowingyoutoopentheOSXColorPickerandselectyourwhitepointcolor.Doingsowill createacoloroverlay thatchangesyour light areas to various values of the chosen hue. Try out this effect byselectinganumberofdifferenthues,saturations,andvaluestoseehowitaffectstheimageoutput.

14.2VideoEffectsPresets:TitlesThenextsectionofvideoeffectspresetshasonlyoneeffectincluded:titles.Thetitlesvideoeffectisasimple,yetpowerfulinterfaceforaddingtexttoaVideoorCameraCue.Inthepast,anytexthadtobeinsertedintotheimageorvideofileuponcreation,orbyusinga customQuartzComposition.With theadditionofthetitleseffect,theintegrationoftextintoanyVideoorCameraCueisasnap.

Oncemore,selectCue1andtriggeritforplayback.Toinserttitles,clickonthe“Titles”buttonintheeffectsdrop-downmenu.Aninterfacewillappearfeaturinganumberofoptions(seeFigure14.10).Unlikeinthecolorsettings,QLabdoesnotintegrateanOSXtextselectionbox;ratheritprovidesitsownmenuofoptionsintheeffectinputspanel.Thefollowingsectiondetailsthecontroloptionsfortitles.

TitleContentandFont

The“text”windowisusedexclusivelyforinsertingtextfortitledisplay.InCue1,click on the text window and insert anyword or words youwant to display.Next,youneedtoindicatethedesiredfont.Typeinthenameofthedesiredfontin the “Font_Name” window. QLab will allow you to input any font in yourcomputer’s font library.At thispoint, there isnotypeof interface that lists thefonts available on your system, so it might be useful to experiment in a FontBook (a standardOSXapplication)beforehand todetermine thedesired font. Irecommend Font Book, as it not only will let you preview fonts but, moreimportantly, also tells you the PostScript name of the font. QLab requires thePostScript name in the “Font_Name” window. Once you have inputted thecontentandselectedthefontname,eitherpress“stopall”orclickescapetoendplaybackoftheVideoCue,thenselectitoncemoreandpressthespacebar.Yourtitleshouldnowbedisplayed.

FontSizeandPlacement

The three sliders shown in the effect inputswindowcontrols the font size andplacement.Fontsizeisonaslidingscalefrom1(almostinvisible)to600(solargethatitwilllikelyextendoffthebordersofyourvideosurface).InputXandInputYrefertotheplacementofthetextwithinyourvideosurface.Onethingyouwillnotice is that titles do not appear in the video stage under the Display &Geometrytab.Becauseofthis,thereisnowaytosimplygrabandmovethetext.

InputX and Y controls are the onlyway to reposition the text placement. Goaheadandadjust thevaluesofeachslider to seehowtheymanipulate the sizeandplacementofyourtitle.

Figure14.10TheTitlesmenuinQLab.

Color

Textcolorisasimplematterofclickingonthetextcolorbox.ThiswillthenopentheOSXColorPickerforyouruseinselectingafontcolor.

ShowCueImage

Oneoftheinterestingfunctionsofthetitleeffectisthatyoucanchoosetoeithershoworhidethecue’simageoutput.Thiscouldbeparticularlyusefulifyouhada reason to project only textwith no image for a background.Of course, youcouldcreateaneutralbackgroundimagetobeusedforthispurpose,butanotheroption is to simplyunclick the “Show_Cue_Image” checkbox,whichwillmakethecueimagedisappear,leavingonlythetitlebehind.

BlendMode

Thefinaltextcontrolislikelytheonethatwillbethegreatestsourceofconfusionforthoseunfamiliarwithgraphicseditingprograms.BlendMode simplyrefers

tohowoneobject interactsor “blends”with thebackgroundwhenplacedatopanother layer. There are a number of different options available in the BlendModedrop-downmenuandeachslightlyvariesfromtheother(Figure14.11).

Figure14.11Blendmodes.

Onethingthatcanleadtoabitofconfusionforthebeginneristhattheblendingmodes are listed in alphabetical order, rather than being grouped by theirfunction.Belowisalistofthemodesgroupedintotheirfunctions.Itisimportantto note that working with blending modes is almost always an experimentalprocess.Theyare,attheircore,mathematicalprocessesthatchangethepixelsofyour image.The following listwill,bynomeans,makeyouanexpertatblend

modes. Rather, it is intended to be a springboard that enables you to betterunderstandwheretobeginyourownexperimentation.

DarkenModesaresonamedbecausetheyhavetheeffectofdarkeningthetext.Thoseblendingmodes in theLightenModes category lighten the text overlay.EachblendmodeintheDarkencategoryhasanoppositeintheLightencategory.Theseoppositesperformthereversefunctionoftheirpairintheothercategory.Forinstance,intheDarkenBlendMode,ifpixelsofyourtextaredarkerthantheonesinthelayerbelowit,theyarekeptinthetext.ForLightenBlendMode,itistheoppositeinthatthelighterpixelsofthetextwillremain.

ContrastModes work by lightening the lightest pixels, darkening the darkestpixels,andeliminatingthemid-tonesoftheoverlaidtextaltogether.Theseblendmodes will create a text overlay that is translucent, showing the base imagethroughit.

DarkenModes DarkenBlendModeMultiplyColorBurnBlendMode

LightenModes LightenBlendModeScreenBlendModeColorDodgeBlendMode

ContrastModes OverlayBlendModeSoftLightBlendModeHardLightBlendMode

InversionModes DifferenceBlendModeExclusionBlendMode

ComponentModes HueBlendModeSaturationBlendModeColorBlendModeLuminosityBlendMode

MinMaxModes MinimumMaximum

SourceModes SourceAtopSourceInSourceOutSourceOver

Inversion Modes are named so for the way in which overlapping colors of

multiplelayersaretreated.ForDifferenceBlendMode,similarcolorsthatoverlapare processed, so that the matching colors in the top layer (the text) will bechangedtoaninvertedcolor. InExclusionBlendingMode,similarcolorscanceleachotheroutandtheresultingcoloronthetoplayerwillbegray.

Component Modes (sometimes called HSL Mode for Hue, Saturation, andLuminance)areblendingmodesthataddressthehue,saturation,andluminosityoftheoverlappinglayers.

TheMinMaxModesareaninterestingsetofblendingmodesthatallowfortheuseoftextasamask.WhenusingtheMinimumfunction, thecolorofthefontbecomes a cutout and the areaoutside the text functions as a blackmask.TheresultingeffectisthattheVideoorCameraCuewillbeseenthroughthemaskofwhatevertextisonthescreen.

Finally,thelastcategoryofblendingmodesistheSourceMode.Therearefourtypes of sourcemodes, each ofwhich performing a slightly different function.Source Atop places the text over the background image and then uses theluminance of the background to determine what to show. Source In uses thebackgroundimagetodefinewhattoleaveofthetextandsometimescroppingoffareasofthetext.SourceOutusesthebackgroundimagetodefinewhattotakeoutof the text.SourceOver places the textover thebackground image.Thesefourmodescanbesomewhatconfusingatfirst,soIrecommendexperimentationtoseehowtobestutilizetheminyourQLabworkspace.

14.3VideoEffectsPresets:Blur/SharpenBlurs are specific types of image filters that create a blurry image, whereassharpen does the opposite. Unlike an actual camera, QLab uses a series ofalgorithmstorecreateatraditionalblurredlook.Thefollowingvideoeffectsareallusedtoeitherblurorsharpenthevideooutput.

Box/Disc/GaussianBlurs

Thefirstchoiceinthelistofblur/sharpeneffectsisaseriesofthreebasicblurs:theboxblur,discblur,andGaussianblur.UsingCue1inProject14.1,selecttheBox/Disc/GaussianBlurspresetfromthedrop-downmenu.Youwillseethattheeffectinputspanelfeaturesaseconddrop-downmenutoselectwhichblurtype

you want to utilize and a “radius” slider (see Figure 14.12). The radius slidercontrols theamountofblurrinessforeachof thethreeblurtypes. Ineachcase,the setting of 0.000 (all the way to the left) indicates no blur, and sliding itupwardsbeginstoaddmoreblureffect.

Figure14.12TheBox/Disc/GaussianBlurcontrols.

TheBoxBlur creates ahazyquality thatdoesnotdistort the image shape toogreatly.TheDiscBlurdistortstheimagequalitymorethantheboxblurbutmayalso add a level of latency to moving image output as the effect is increased;slowingtheresultingimagefeedandaddinga“jumpy”qualitytoit.CPUloadisafactorhere;fastermachinesmaynotexperiencethisissue,butslowermachineslikelywill.Finally,theGaussianBluraddsthegreatestlevelof“haziness”totheimage,resultinginanincrediblyblurredimagethatlacksindefinition.

MotionBlur

Simplyput,themotionbluraddsablurtoyourVideoorCameraCueinagivendirectionandradius.When themotionblur is selected, thereare twosliders intheeffect inputspanel:AngleandRadius.Theeasiestwaytoperceivehowthemotionblurworksistoincreasetheradiusallthewayto100.000andthenslowlystartslidingyourAngleslidertohowthisaffectsthedirectionofthemotionblur.

SharpenLuminance

In video terminology, luma is the signal that represents the brightness of animage,whereaschroma refers to thesignal thatconveys thecolor information.The sharpen luminance effect increases the image detail of the luma without

affectingthechrominance.There isonlyonesliderusedtooperate thesharpenluminance effect, labeled “Sharpness.” Sliding the sharpness to the right willincrease imagedetail,whereas sliding it to the leftwilldecrease it.Thedefaultlevelis1.000,inthecenteroftheslider(Figure14.13).

Figure14.13TheSharpnessslider.

UnsharpMask

The name unsharp mask has confused many beginners into thinking that thepurposeoftheeffectisto“unsharpen”animage.Infact,theoppositeistrue.Thepurposeoftheunsharpmaskistoincreaseanewimagethatislessblurrythantheoneyoustartedwith.Theeffecttakesanegativecopyoftheblurryimageandsuperimposes itatoptheoriginal,creatingaresultingclearer image.Toactivatetheunsharpmask,selectitinthedrop-downmenu.Youwillnoticethattherearetwosliders forcontrollingunsharpmasking:radiusandintensity (Figure14.14).Thefirstslider,radius,affects thesizeof theedges tobeenhanced; thesmallertheradius,thegreateristhedetail.Highradiicanleadtohalosaroundtheedgesofyourimage.Theintensityslidercontrolshowmuchcontrastisaddedtoimageedges.Radiusandintensityareinverselyconnected,asdecreasingoneallowsforincreasing the other. Increasing both to high intensities will create a darkerimage.

ZoomBlur

Inphotographyterms,azoomblurisaneffectachievedbyactivatingthezoomon your lenswhile the shutter is open. The resulting image tends to have one

central point of focus, around which the surrounding imagery seems to bemoving somewhat. InQLab, the zoom blur video effect recreates this look foryou.SelectingZoomBlurfromthedrop-downmenuwillrevealthreeslidersintheeffectinputspanel:InputX,InputY,andAmount(seeFigure14.15).InputXand Input Y control the direction of the blur on the x, y planes. Amountrepresentstheamountofzoomblurdesiredintheresultingimage.Thiseffectcanbeusedwithsomesuccesstocreateinterestingmovementeffects.

Figure14.14Unsharpmaskcontrols.

Figure14.15ZoomBlurcontrols.

14.4VideoEffectsPresets:TexturesandEdgeEffectsFormostusers,thetexturesandedgeeffectswillbeoneofthemostusefuleffects

sets and will require the least amount of explanation to use. Essentially, thisgroupofeffectstakestheimagefeedandeitherappliesatexturetoitoremulatesaclassiclook(likeacomputermonitor,comicbook,orkaleidoscope).Thisgroupofeffectsisthethirdgroupinginthedrop-downmenuandstartswithpixelation.

Pixelation

Pixelationisaneffectthatbreaksdowntheimagefeedintoaseriesofsquareorhexagonsforoutput.Therearefoursetsofcontrols:effect,inputx,inputy,andscale.Effectallowsyoutochooseeitherasquareorahexagonalpixelshapefromitsdrop-downmenu.Figure14.16showsthesameimagepresentedinbothpixeltypes. The scale slider changes the overall size of pixels. Smaller pixels giveincreasedimagedetail,whereaslargerpixelsaddmoreimagedistortion.

Screen

The next video effects preset, screen, imitates the look of various half toningmethodsusedinprinting.Thiseffectfeaturesanumberofcontrolslidersintheeffectinputs(Figure14.17).Thefirstcontrolfunctionisadrop-downmenuthatallows for the selection between the different screen types: Dot Screen, LineScreen,HatchedScreen,orCircularScreen.UsingCue1,cyclethroughthefouroptionstogetafeeloftheirdifferentlooks.TheDotScreen,whenfirstactivated,resembles a classic pixelated black andwhitemonitor. Line Screen features aseriesoflinesrunninginonedirection,whereasHatchedScreenhastwosetsoflinescross-hatchingoneanotherforthecreationofamoirépattern.TheCircleScreenfeaturesaseriesofconcentriccirclesoriginatingfromacentralpointonthescreen.

Figure14.16Bothsquare(left)andhexagonal(right)pixeltypes.

Figure14.17Screencontrolsliders.

Foreachoftheseeffects,thefivesliderschangetheappearanceofthepatterntosomedegree.Thefirsttwosliders(inputxandinputy)havelittlefunctionforanyoftheeffectsexceptforcirclescreen.Incirclescreen,thesesliderswillmovethe point of origin for the circles aroundon the screen.Conversely, theAngleslider has no visible effect on the circle screen, but it will rotate the patternsaroundthez-axisfortheotherthreepresets.Thefinaltwoslidersareapplicableforallfourpresets.Widthcontrolsthesizeofthepatternanddrasticallychangesthe appearance of the effect. For example, the dots screen resembles an oldercomputermonitorinasmallscale,butwhenenlargedtalesonmoreofapopartlook. Finally, theSharpness slider controls the sharpness/softnessof the screentextures.UsingCue1,again,takesometimetonavigatethroughthesedifferenteffectsandhowthecontrolsliderschangetheirappearance.

BloomandGloom

ThethirdsetoftextureandedgeeffectspresetsiscalledBloomandGloom.Thiseffectpresetismadeupoftwodifferenteffects:BloomandGloom.Bloomisaneffectthatcreatesaglowemanatingfromlightobjectsinyourimagefeed.Thisglowwillbleedover tootheraspectsof the image.Gloom creates theoppositeeffectofhavingadarknessinvadefromtheouteredgesoftheimageand“gray

out” the luminance in your image, thus creating a gloomy look. The only twocontrolslidersforbotheffectsareradiusandintensity.

CMYKHalftone

Halftone is a reprographic technique used to simulate variations in shade andcolorintheprintedimage.Theideaisthatseveralhalftonesareprinted,eachinasinglecolor.These tonesarecomposedof thousandsofcirculardots invaryingsizes.Whencombinedtogether,thiscreatestheillusionofacontinuousrangeofcolors.TheCMYKHalftoneeffect inQLabbreaksdownyourVideoorCameraCueandimposesaCMYK(Cyan,Magenta,Yellow,andBlack)halftoneprocesstothe imageoutput.Likemanyof theothereffects in this category, thereare theinputx, inputy,width,angle,andsharpnesssliders.Bythispoint,youhavenodoubtfamiliarwiththeiruse.Thefinaltwosliders,GreyComponentRemovalandUnderColorRemoval,affect theamountofblackdotsversuscolor in thecomposition. Sliding both to the right will create an image that is mostlycomposedofblackdotsandlessCMYK(seeFigure14.18).

ColorPosterize

Posterization is a classic photographic process used to distill a complex imagedowntoaseriesofseveralsmallregionsofcolorwithabruptchangesfromonetoanother.This techniquewasoriginallyused for thecreationofcolorposters.TheColorPosterizeeffectinQLabisasimpleinterface,featuringonlyoneslidercalled “Levels.”The levels sliderdetermineshowcomplex theposterizationwillbe for your video feed. The slider works on a scale from 2.000 to 30.000. Thelowerendofthescalewillfeaturefewerlayersoftones,whereasslidingittotheupperendwillresultinthousandsoflayersoftones(seeFigure14.19).

CrystallizeandPointillize

ThesixthvideoeffectisacombinationoftwoeffectsquitesimilartothoseseeninPixelation.Again,youchoosetheeffectbetweentwochoicesonadrop-downmenu.Crystallizetakesyourimagefeedandimposesacrystallinestructuretoit,similartothehexagonalpixelationexceptthateachcrystallinepixelisadifferentshapefromitsneighbors.Pointillizedoesthesamewithaseriesofoverlappingcirculardotsonawhitebackground.Bothoftheseeffectshavea“shimmering”looktothemasindividualrandompixelshaveaslightcolorflickeringtothem.

Again,theradiusslidercontrolsthesizeoftheindividualpixels,withasmallervalueindicatingmoredetailtotheimageoutput.

Figure14.18UsinghighGreyComponentRemovalandUnderColorRemovalsettings.

Figure14.19Lowposterizationlevels

EdgeWork

The next effect preset has two options: one called Edge Work and the otherEdges.EdgeWorkcreatesasimpleblackandwhiteoutlinedimageofyourvideooutput.Darktonesareoutputtedasblackandlighttonesaswhitewiththeedgesofeveryobjectfeaturingawhiteoutline.Oneinterestingaspectofthiseffect isthat, formoving images, there isaconstant flickeringonwhitedots (similar tothe “snow” seen on old television screens without a signal). This creates aninterestingvisualeffect.Inthiseffectpreset,theradiusslidercontrolsthelevelofdetailandcolor.Theradiusslideroperatesonascale from0.000 to20.000.Thelowerendsofthescaleproducequitedetailedimageswithan“x-ray”appearanceto them.As you slide further up the scale, edges become less defined, and theresultingimageismoreofaseriesofblackandwhiteblobs.

The second option, Edges creates highly complex images in dark blacks andblues, with the outlines done in various shades of light colors. It also has the“flickery”qualitytotheimageoutputandresemblesasomewhatcolorfulversionof an x-ray. Figure 14.20 shows the same image seen in both EdgeWork andEdges.

Kaleidoscope

A real kaleidoscope uses a series ofmirrors placed at angles fromone anotherinsideacylinder tocreateabizarre fracturedandcolorfulrepresentationof theworld.ForthekaleidoscopeeffectinQLab,theimageismirroredonthex-andy-axes without the addition of colorful reflections. This effect preset uses threecontrolsliders:inputx,inputy,andcount.Thecountslidercontrolsthenumberofplanesuponwhichtheimageismirrored.Slidingitallthewaydownto1.000would result in the image being mirrored across one plane; the x-axis only.Sliding it to 2.000mirrors the image across two planes: the x-axis and y-axis.Increasing the number begins to create the more recognizable circularkaleidoscopepattern.Theinputxandinputyslidersaffectthedistanceofspreadfromtheiraxes.Thisisoneofthoseeffectsthatwilltrulyrequirespendingsometimeexperimentingtofindtheexactdesiredlook,buttheresultingimagescanbequitestunning.

Figure14.20ThetopimageillustratesEdgeWorks,whilethebottomisEdges.

MedianandComicEffect

The Median and Comic effects are both simple on/off effects that create apredeterminedlookforyourimage.Median isaneffectthatreplaceseachpixelwithanewpixelhaving themedianvalueofneighboringpixels.This tends tosomewhatdarken the imageandreducesome levelsofnoise.TheComiceffectappliesahalftoneeffecttotheimageinlimitedcolorrangesomewhatsimilartoclassiccomicbookprint,butwithsignificantlyfewerdetails(seeFigure14.21).

NoiseReduction

Imagenoise is the appearance of tiny spots of variant color in a digital image,similar to film grain that appeared in pre-digital cameras. Typically speaking,noiseisanundesiredeffect,asitdetractsfromtheimageanddegradestheoverallimage quality. TheNoise Reduction effect allows for manipulating the noiselevelsandsharpnessofanimageinordertoboostorreducenoiseinacue.Thereareonlytwoslidersforthiseffect:noiselevelandsharpness.

Figure14.21Animagewithcomiceffectapplied.

14.5VideoEffectsPresets:DistortionEffectsAsthenameimplies,distortioneffectsareasetofeffectsthatdistorttheimageoutput in a number of different ways. These effects are particularly useful increatingdynamicvideoapplicationsforQLab.

CircleSplash/HoleDistortion

Boththecirclesplashandholedistortionservethesamebasicpurpose,tocreateacircularselectionaroundwhichtheimagewillbedistorted.Forcirclesplash,the image inside circular selection remains unchanged, whereas the imageryoutside it gets an effect similar to the motion blur applied to it. The holedistortion,ontheotherhand,removesanyimageinformationinsidethecircularselectionandcreatesa“blackhole”initsplace.Theimageryoutsidethisholeiswarped in a cylindrical fashion. The three controls for both effects presets areinputx,inputy,andradius.

Pinch/BumpDistortion

Thepinch/bumpdistortioneffectpresetshavethreeeffectsoptions:pinch,bump,

and bump linear. Essentially, these three effects create the appearance that theimage is being either pushed down upon to create a depression or pushed upagainstfromthebackside,bulgingthesurfaceout.Pinchistheeffectofpushingdown on the center of the image to make a depression.Bump is the circularappearanceofsomethingpushingeitherupordownontotheimage,whilebumplinear creates an effect that resembles the ripple of a flag in the wind. As inothers, input x and input ymove the point of incident around on the surface.Radius and scale relate to the overall size of the effect. This effect preset alsofeatures a slider called “angle_bump_linear” that controls the placement of thelinearbumpeffect.

Torus/LensDistortion

Atorusisbestdescribedasathree-dimensionalformshapedlikeadonut(withaholeor,insomecases,aconcavedimpleinthecenter).Thepurposeofthisvideoeffect is tosimulatethelookoftherefractivequalityof lightpassingthroughatorus-shaped lens (Figure 14.22). There are numerous control sliders for thiseffect, but the only new one is the refraction slider. This slider controls therefractedqualityoftheimageviewedthroughthetorus.Theeffectsarenoteasilydescribed, and this is another of the features best understood throughexperimentation.

Twirl/CircularWrap/Vortex

Thiseffecttabactuallyhasthreeseparateeffectpresetsimbeddedwithinit:twirl,circularwrap,andvortex.All the threeeffects feature the samecontrol sliders;input x and y for moving the effect placement, and radius and angle forcontrolling the size and direction of the effect. Essentially, they are all similareffectsinthattheyalldealwithdistortingtheimageinacircularorcylindricalfashion.Twirlcreatesacircularselectionoftheimageandspinsthecontentsineither a clockwise or a counterclockwise direction, creating a hurricaneappearance. Circular Wrap creates the appearance of wrapping the imagearound itself, like rolling a drawing into a tube shape.Vortex places a smallcircularselectionatsomepointonthescreenandcreatesavortexreachingoutfromthatpointtoalledgesoftheimage.Thiscreatesastrongswirlpatternattheplacementandaslightwarpingofimageryasitreachestheperimeter.

Figure14.22Thetoruseffectappliedtoanimage.

Figure14.23Thelozengeshapeisaninterestingeffectforcreatingrefractedlooks.

GlassLozenge

Theglass lozengeeffect isoneof thestrangerpresets inwhichitcreatesapill-

shaped lens throughwhich the image is refracted (seeFigure14.23).Whenfirstselectingtheeffect,youwill likelynoticeasmallblacksemi-circle intheupperrightcornerofyourimage.Thisisoneedgeofthelozenge.Bymanipulatingtheplacement of four independent x/y sliders, you can create the desired size andplacementofthelozenge.Notethattherearetwoslidersforthex-planeandtwoforthey-plane.Experimentbymovingtheseslidersaroundtoseewhatkindofuniquesizesandanglesyoucancreate.Forthiseffect,theradiusslidercontrolshow thick or thin the lozenge becomes. The refraction slider controls theappearanceoftherefractedimage,asseeninthetorus/lensdistortioneffect.

14.6VideoEffectsPresets:TilesOf all the effects presets, tiles are the hardest to explain. The best way toexperiencethemis toexperimentwiththeiruseandseeyourselfwhatkindsofinterestingeffectsemerge.Forthisreason,thefollowingsectionwillentailonlyabrief description of each effect and its use. I strongly encourage you to openProject14.1andgothrougheachoftheeffectstoseefirsthandhowtheyrespond.All the followingeffectsare tilesbecause they take samplesofyour imageandreconstruct it into some type of tiled fashion. The biggest difference betweenmostofthemistheshapeormathematicalrearrangementofthetilesforoutput.

OpTile

Theoptileeffectsegmentsthecueimage,appliesscalingandrotationasinputtedin the control sliders, and then reassembles the image to give it an op artappearance.

PerspectiveTile

Theperspectivetileeffectappliesatransformationtothecue imagetogivetheillusion of perspective and then tiles the result. This effect requires a greatnumber of control sliders, as there are eight interfaces to control the x/yplacement.

QuadTiles

The quad tiles category contains three effects presets bundled into it: fourfold

translated tile, fourfold reflected tile, and parallelogram tile. The fourfoldtranslatedtile effect produces a tiled image from the source by applying fourtranslation operations (x/y placement, angle, acute angle, and width). Thefourfold reflected tile produces a tiled image from the source by applying afour-way reflected symmetry. Finally, the parallelogram tile effect warps animagebyreflectingitonaparallelogram,thentilingtheresultingimage.

ReflectedTiles

TheReflectedtilescategorycontainsfoursubcategories:glide,sixfold,eightfold,andtwelvefoldreflectedtile.Eachofthemdiffersonlyintheplanesofsymmetryacrosswhich the image is reflected. For instance, eightfold reflected symmetryproduces a tiled image from the cue source by applying four-way reflectedsymmetry to the image. Depending on the original image, the resulting imagetiles might resemble square tiles, snowflakes, or complex mosaic tilearrangements.

RotatedTiles

Therotatingtileeffectlookssomewhatsimilartothereflectedtileeffect,butthemathematics to produce it is different. The rotated tile effect is achieved byreproducing a source imagemultiple times at increments of a commondegree.For instance, the sixfold-rotated tile reproduces the image in increments of 60degrees,therebycreatingaresultinghexagonalimageoutput.Withintherotatedtiles category, there are three effects: triangle tile, fourfold-rotated tile, andsixfold-rotatedtile.

14.7VideoEffectsPresets:CustomCompositionsOneofthegreateststrengthsofQLabisitsinclusionoftheOSXnativegraphicandaudio frameworks that enable it tohandlegraphics, animations, andvideoeffects.QuartzComposer isoneof theseOSXtechnologies thatworkhand-in-handwithQLab. Quartz Composer is a visual programming environment thatallows for sophisticatedmotiongraphics compositionswithout actuallywritingcode.Thesoftware includespre-installedbuildingblocksofgraphicsprocessingthatcanbecombinedtogethertocreatedynamicvisualizationsandeffects.Oncecompleted, these compositions can be inserted into your QLab workspace to

renderthevideofromaVideoorCameraCue.

The customcompositions tabundervideo effects is the location to insert thesecompositions.Simplycopyandpastethecompositionintotheeffectinputspanelatthebottomofthepageandthat’sit.QLabwillprovidetheQuartzComposerframesfromthevideofileasitplays.

Althoughaddressingprogrammingisnotthecentralaimofthistext,itshouldbenotedthatQuartzComposerisafantastictoolsetforanyoneseriouslyinterestedin projection design throughQLab. The software is part of a download calledGraphicsToolsforXcode.ItisnotontheAppStorebutcanbedownloadedfromdeveloper.apple.com/downloads(freeAppledeveloperaccountrequired).XcodeisatoolkitofapplicationsneededtocreatesoftwarefortheMac,iPhone,andiPad.To learn more about Quartz Composer and its uses, check outwww.quartzcomposer.com. It isan independentwebsiteunaffiliatedwithAppleInc.featuringanumberofcompositions,patches,andplug-insthatcanbeusedintheQLabenvironment.

14.8VideoEffectsProjectsVideoEffectspresentawiderangeofnewopportunitiesforthoseusingQLabforprojectiondesign/integratedmedia.Althoughtherearenumerousapplicationsforthisaspectofthesoftware,thereareonlytwoareaswhichIwouldliketocoverin projects, asmuch of the other functions you discover will be based on thefoundation of these two techniques. This first technique is using FadeCues tofadeinoroutfromaVideo/CameraCuewithanappliedeffect.Thesecondistheability to stack two ormore Video/Camera Cues atop one another to create auniqueneweffect.

Project14.2

VideoEffectsandFadeCuesOne important feature to recognize is the inability to control video effectsthroughFadeCues.UnlikeAudioEffects,VideoEffectscannotbefadedinoroutwhiletheVideoCuecontinuestoplay.Thatdoesnotmean,however,thataVideoCuewithvideo effects applied to it cannot be faded in or out.Thefollowing project details how to fade in a CameraCue featuring the ZoomBlur effect. This effect is particularly useful for creating hazy, dream-likeeffects. Imagine a production in which you needed a live feed of an actorportraying a ghost speaking from the spiritual plane. The following projecttakesyouthroughthestepsnecessarytosetupsuchaneffect.

StepOne:DownloadProject14.2fromthecompanionwebsite.Oncetheprojectisopen,activatetheAuditionWindowtopreviewyoureffects.

StepTwo:This project includes one Camera Cue. You will need to have a cameraattachedtoyoursystemto test itsapplication.SelectCue1andclickontheVideoEffectstabintheInspectorPanel.SelectZoomBlurandclicktheApplyEffectscheckbox.

StepThree:ClickGOtopreviewtheCameraCuefeedwiththeappliedeffect.ManipulatetheInputX,InputY,andAmountslidersuntilyouachievethedesiredghostlyeffectonyourvideofeed.

StepFour:SelecttheDisplay&GeometrytabintheInspectorPanelandsettheopacityto0.0%.ThiswillensuretheCameraCuestartswithnoopacity,soastocreateafade-in.

StepFive:InsertaFadeCueafterCue1andassignCue1asitstarget.IntheGeometrytab,inputanopacityof100%.Thiswillcreatethefade-in.

StepSix:SelectCue 1 and change the continue status to auto-continue.Thiswill fire

Cue1andCue2concurrently.IfyoutestCue1,youshouldnowseethevideofeedslowlyfade-infromablackscreentoaghostlyfigure.

Project14.3

CombiningVideoEffectsOne interesting feature of Video and Camera Cues is the ability to layermultiple cues atop one another. In the case of the Camera Cue, the feed isidenticaltherebyenablingthecreationofafeedthatappearstohavemultiplevideo effects applied to one video stream. For the project below, imagine aproductionwithastylizedcomicbookdesignaestheticinwhichacharacterisvisited by a vision from God. For this production, it might be useful tocombinetogethermorethanonevideoeffecttoachievetheappropriatecomicbookdeity.

StepOne:DownloadProject14.3fromthecompanionwebsite.Oncetheprojectisopen,activatetheAuditionWindowtopreviewyoureffects.

StepTwo:This project includes two Camera Cues. You will need to have a cameraattachedtoyoursystemto test itsapplication.SelectCue1andclickontheVideoEffectstabintheInspectorPanel.SelectZoomBlurandclicktheApplyEffectscheckbox.

StepThree:ClickGOtopreviewtheCameraCuefeedwiththeappliedeffect.ManipulatetheInputX,InputY,andAmountslidersuntilyouachievethedesiredghostlyeffectonyourvideofeed.

StepFour:SelecttheDisplay&GeometrytabintheInspectorPanelandsettheopacityto0.0%.ThiswillensuretheCameraCuestartswithnoopacity,soastocreateafade-in.Inaddition,settheLayerto1.Thiswillplacethecamerafeedonalowerlayer.

StepFive:InsertaFadeCue(Cue1.5)afterCue1andassignCue1asitstarget.IntheGeometrytab, inputanopacityof100%.Thiswillcreate thefade in.Set thecontinuestatetoauto-continue.

StepSix:

SelectCue 1 and change the continue status to auto-continue.Thiswill fireCue1and2concurrently.IfyoutestCue1,youshouldnowseethevideofeedslowlyfadeinfromablackscreentoaghostlyfigure.

StepSeven:SelectCue2andactivate theMedianandComicEffect setting in theVideoEffectstab.IntheChooseEffectdrop-downmenu,selectComicEffect.

StepEight:IntheDisplay&GeometrytabofCue2,settheopacityto0%.Inaddition,setitsLayerto2.ThiswillplacethecomiceffectCameraCueonalayerabovethefirstcamerafeed.Finally,setthecontinuestatetoauto-continue.

StepNine:InsertaFadeCue(Cue2.5)afterCue2andassignCue2asitstarget.IntheGeometrytab,inputanopacityof20%.ThiswillcreatethefadeinforCue2andsettheopacitytoalowlevelsoitissemi-transparent.

StepTen:Test the cue sequence.Your programming shouldmatch that seen in Figure14.24.

Figure14.24Aworkspaceutilizingcameracuesandvideoeffects.

15ShowControlSystems

Theentertainmentdesignandtechnologyindustryhasevolvedovertheyearstoinclude practices from a number of different fields. Each area brings its ownunique equipment and control systems into the mix, requiring today’spractitioners to have a working vocabulary of many disparate fields and theability to collaborate with more production members than ever before. Asproduction technologyhasevolved, sohas theneed for simplifyingmethodsofcontrolacrossthiswiderangeofproductionelements.Thisisthenatureofshowcontrol,themethodofcentralizingcontrolforanumberofdifferentproductionelements.

15.1TerminologyThe discussion of show control can be a confusing endeavor without a basicintroduction to terminology. The following section covers some of thefundamentaltermsinunderstandingshowcontrol.

EntertainmentControlSystems

Foreveryproduction, thereareanumberofdifferentelements thatmustworktogetherseamlessly: sound, lighting,projections, specialeffects,etc. For eachofthese different areas, there will be one ormore systems, or a set of elementsworking together as parts of an interconnecting network. An entertainmentcontrol system is the combination of all the necessary equipment required tocontrol a live production area. For instance, a lighting control system is thecombination of a lighting console, dimmers, circuits, and cabling necessary topower conventional lighting equipment and send control signals to intelligentlightingandaccessories.

Standards

When talkingaboutentertainmentcontrol systems,weare referring to literallythousands of unique proprietary systems created to work with specializedequipment. This equipment can be anything from sound mixers to lightingconsoles, moving lights, confetti cannons, projectors, foggers, automatedscenery/rigging control, or more. Each of these areas also has numerousmanufacturerscreatingequipmentthathasitsownindividualizedcontrolsystemarchitecture.

The one thing that enables all of these systems towork together is standards.Regardingcontrol systems, astandard refers to a commonlyacceptedworkingpracticeorprotocolthatgovernshowdifferentmanufacturerscancreateproductsthat interact well with one another. The most important type of standardconcerningshowcontrolistheopenstandard,astandardcommonlycreatedbybringingtogetheragroupofindustryprofessionalstocreateamutuallybeneficialstandardpracticepubliclyavailable for themarket.Thisstandardmayrelate tohowhardwareiscreatedor,inthecaseofacommunicationstandard,whattypeoflanguageisusedtocommunicatebetweenvaryingpiecesofhardware.Intheearly days of entertainment control, there were many proprietary standardscreated by and for individual manufacturers that did not work well withequipmentfromothermanufacturers.Thispracticebecamecostlyandfrustratingfortheend-user,asyouwouldneverbeguaranteedthatequipmentwouldworktogetheratdifferentvenues (orsometimesevenat thesamevenue).This led tothecreationofentertainmentindustrystandardssuchasMIDI,MSC,DMX512-A, and OSC. In addition to standards created for our industry, we obviouslybenefit from industry standards in the telecommunications and computerindustryregardingnetworking,datatransmission,andmore.Thefollowingtablelists someof themost commonstandards for theentertainment industry, allofwhichyoushouldfamiliarizeyourselfwith.

MIDI MusicalInstrumentDigitalInterface.Oneofthemostwidelyutilizedstandardsforcommunicationwithinentertainmentcontrolsystems.StandardmaintainedbytheMIDIManufacturersAssociation.www.midi.org.

MSC MIDIShowControl.AsubsetoftheMIDIprotocoldealingspecificallywithtriggeringandcontrollingentertainmentcontrolsystemsfromaremotesource.www.midi.org.

DMX512-A DigitalMultipleX.DevelopedbytheUnitedStatesInstituteforTheatreTechnology(USITT),thisstandarddescribesamethodofdigitaltransmissionbetweenlightingconsolesandequipment.Thoughoriginallyintendedaslightingexclusive,thestandardhasbeenadoptedforuseinspecialeffects(smoke,fog,andhaze),videosystems,animatronics,andmore(www.usitt.org).

OSC OpenSoundControl.OSCisaprotocolforcommunicationbetweencomputers,soundsynthesizers,andmultimediadevicesthatisoptimizedforreal-timecontrolovernetworks(www.opensoundcontrol.org).

ShowControl

Inshort, showcontrol is themethodof linking togethermultipleentertainmentcontrolsystemsintoamastersystem.Itisbasicallyasystemthatcontrolsothersystems.Itcanbesoftware-basedordedicatedhardware.

Network

Inbasicterms,anetworkreferstoasystemof interconnectedpeopleorobjectsthatshareresourcesinsomeway.Fortechnologypurposes,weusuallyrefertoanetwork as a connection of one ormore computers that are linked together inordertosharefiles,resources,andallowcommunication/commandsignalstobetransferredinbothdirections. Inthemostbasictypeofconnection,apoint-to-point interface, each device would be physically connected to any device itneededtoshareinformationwith.Thisobviouslycreatesawiringnightmareandiscost-prohibitive.Amorecommonapproachwouldbetocreateatruenetwork,inwhicheachsystemdeviceornodeconnectstoacentralizeddatapathwaytocommunicatewiththehost,anetworkedcomputerthatcommunicatesdataoutthenodes.

There are a number of terms you have likely heard like LAN (Local AreaNetworks) or WLAN (Wireless Local Area Networks) referring to networks.Thesearecommon inentertainmentnetworks,aswell.Mostofourday-to-dayexperience with networking comes from the Internet. Whether you use anEthernetcableorawirelessroutertoconnecttheInternet,youareconnectingtoanetworkinordertodoso.Withtheworldofentertainmentcontrolsystems,itis equally common to see our equipment networked through DMX andMIDIcables inaddition toEthernet cable runs.This leads toournextbig concept to

understandingshowcontrol:entertainmentcontrolsystems.

15.2EntertainmentControlSystemsSincetherearesomanydifferentcategoriesofentertainmentcontrolsystems,itmightbebeneficialtoexamineafewofthemostcommontypesthatcanbeusedin conjunction with QLab. The following section covers three such areas andoffersabasicintroductiontoterminologyassociatedwitheachsystem.Thisisbynomeansanexhaustivestudyoftheseareasbutshouldserveasusefulplatformtodiscusscontrolsystemarchitecturebeforedelvingintoshowcontrol.

SoundControlSystems

Sincemuch of the first half of the bookwas dedicated to sound systems, youshouldalreadybefamiliarwithmanyofthebasicconceptsofthesoundsystem.As we have already seen, QLab serves as a powerful controller for bothreinforcement and playback systems. In addition to QLab and a digital audiointerface,theremightbeanumberofdifferentpiecesofequipmentconnectedtoyoursoundsystemlikeamixer,microphones,signalprocessing,amplifiers,andspeakers.ListedbelowissomeofthemostcommonequipmentwithwhichQLabmightcommunicate.

MIDIKeyboards/Sequencers

QLab can both receive and send MIDI signals from various sources. In thisfashion, QLab can either trigger an effect on an external MIDI device or betriggeredbyaMIDIsignalsentfromthedevice.

SoundMixers

Most digital soundmixers can both send and receiveMIDI signals. One greatmethodofutilizingthisfunctionistosendaMIDIsignalfromQLabtochangeapre-programmedattributeofyourmixer.Forinstance,youcansendasignalfromQLab to your mixer to recall a scene from its memory with presets like EQ,reverb,compressions,etc.

Timecode

Timecode is amethod of ensuringmultiple devices syncwith one another forplayback.QLaballows forallcues tobe triggeredbyan incomingtimecode. Inaddition,theTimecodeCueallowsforQLabtosendatimecodeouttoanyMIDIdevice.

LightingControlSystems

Lighting control systems can vary in a number of ways, but all share manycommonattributes.Foreverysystem,therewillbealightingcontroller,dimmers,circuits,andlightinginstruments.LightingcontrolsystemsutilizetheDMX-512standard practice for communication. In addition, most lighting consoles alsohavetheabilitytosendandreceiveMIDIsignals.

LightingController

Thelightingcontrollercanbeadedicatedconsoleorapieceofsoftwarerunningonacomputer.ThecontrollersendsDMXcontrolsignalsthatinterfacewiththedimmersand,insomeinstances,lightingfixturesandaccessories.

Dimmers

Dimmersarespecializeddevicesthatregulatetheflowofvoltageouttoacircuit.Thecontrolsignalfromthelightingcontrollertellsthedimmerswhatpercentageofvoltagetooutputtothecircuits.

Circuits

Acircuitisthephysicalconnectionthroughwhichalightinginstrumentreceiveselectricity.ThereareanumberofdifferentconnectortypesfromEdisontostagepin,ortwistlock.

LightingInstruments

Lighting instruments can be either conventional or intelligent in nature.Conventionallightingfixturesallowforcontrolofintensity(brightness).Theselighting instruments only need electricity to operate. Intelligent LightingFixtures feature a wide range of control features such as angle, rotation,intensity, color, strobe, textures, and beam shaping. These intelligent fixturesrequirebothelectricityandaDMXcontrolsignalfromthelightingcontrollertooperate. In addition to lighting instruments, there may also be lightingaccessories, such as color scrollers, gobo spinners, or irises that are alsocontrolledbyDMXsignals.

Video/ProjectionsSystems

Mostvideosystemsarecomprisedofoneormorecomputersworkingintandemto output a video signal to one or more displays or projectors. Video systemstypicallyutilizeIP/Ethernetconnectionsforcontrol.

VideoPlaybackSoftware

Control software likeQLab is often used for video playback in video systems.Whenusedasastand-alonemethod,thesoftwaretriggersplaybackandoutputsitthroughthecomputer’svideocard(s).

VideoServers

Videoserversarecomputer-basedhardwarededicatedtoprovidingvideosignals.Unlikea typical computer, thevideo server isutilized foronlyone function.Ahigh-end video server can play back multiple simultaneous video streamssynchronizedwithoneanother.

Timecode

Sincemost video systemsmust offer synchronized playback with audio feeds,timecodeisanessentialcomponent.Ifusinganexternaltimeclock,QLabaudioplaybackcanbetriggeredviatimecodetosyncwithexternalvideoplayback.

AdditionalControlSystems

Though the three entertainment control systems listed earlier are most commonlyassociatedwithQLab,thereareanumberofothercontrolsystemsthatcould be controlled by QLab. For example, a number of additional controlsystems (automated scenery, fog, haze, pyrotechnics, confetti cannons, etc.) arereadilycontrolledbyDMX-512.WhileQLabdoesnotnativelysendDMXsignals,itcaninterfacewithanothercomputerorconsoleonthenetworkviaMIDIandtriggeritscontrol,whichwouldthenactivatethecontrolsystem.OneexampleofthismightbesendingaMIDIsignaltoalightingconsolethatwouldcontrolbothlightsandspecialeffectsviaDMXsignaltransmission.Anotherpossibilitymightbe networking to a second computer running a DMX emulator program andusingaUSBtoDMXoutputtotriggerthecontrolsystem.

15.3ShowControlSystemsQLab showcontrol covers awidearrayofpossibilities and, as such, features anumber of variables regarding how a show control network might be set up.Depending on the nature of your show control needs, youmight have one ormoreadditionalsystemsconnectedtoyouQLabcontrolcomputer.AttheheartofQLab’sshowcontrolabilitiesaretwomaincuetypes:theOSCCueandtheMIDICue.Throughtheuseofthesetwocuetypes,QLabcancontrolawidearrayofdevices.Listedbelowaresomeofthecommonconfigurationsthatmightbeusedto set up a QLab show control network for various entertainment controlsystems.

SoundControlSystems

Regardingsound,QLabhasthepotentialtofunctionasitsownsoundsystemortointerfacewithothersoundequipmentorcomputers.Thetwomainmethodsof

controlareOSCandMIDI.TocontrolanothercomputerrunningQLab,networkthe two computers together via Ethernet and send an OSC cue to trigger aspecificcuenumberandcommandtype.TointerfacewithotherMIDIhardware,youcansendaMIDImessageacrosseitherMIDIcableorEthernet.ManyUSBorFirewireaudiodevicesalsohavebuilt-inMIDIportsforsendingMIDImessages.ForbothOSCandMIDI,adestinationmustbeestablishedinthecuesettingstoassignwhichdevicethesignalwillberoutedto.

LightingControlSystems

As shown earlier, most lighting control systems have the ability to input andoutputMIDImessages.ThismeansthattheselightingconsoleshavetheabilitytobothbetriggeredbyQLabandsendMIDImessagestoQLabfortriggeringcueswithintheworkspace.MostlightingconsolesfeatureastandardMIDIconnectorfor both input and output. In addition, some lighting manufacturers like ETC(Electronic Theatre Controls) have created specialized network gateways tointerface with their lighting consoles. ETC’s NET3 Show Control Gateway(Figure15.1) isanEthernetdevice thatallows forbi-directionalcommunication(unlike standard MIDI cabling which only communicates in one direction) ofMIDI and timecode over a lighting network. In this case, QLab could benetworked to an EOS family lighting console to send and receive MIDI andtimecodecontrolsignals.

Figure15.1TheNET3showcontrolgatewayfromETC.Photocourtesy:ETC(ElectronicTheatreControlsInc.).

Video/ProjectionsControlSystems

VideocontrolsystemscouldbeanumberofdifferentconfigurationsfromusingQLab to control displays to networking several computers running QLabtogether,orevensendingacontrolsignaltoavideoserver.Forallbutthemostbasicneeds,yourvideocontrolsystemwillsendandreceivemessagesacrossanEthernetnetworkbetweencomputers.

15.4ShowControlConsiderationsAs seen earlier, there are a number of differentways thatQLab can i nterfacewith various entertainment control systems. The bottom line is assessing theneeds for your individual project and considering all the variables: equipmentowned by the producing entity, budget to acquire necessary e quipment,personnel available for running the show, amount of space available at theperformancespaceforsaidpersonnel,andunioncontractsstipulatingpersonnelnumbers.Noteveryprojectisthesame,andjustbecauseyoucancentralizeshowcontroltoonecomputer,itdoesnotalwaysmeanthatyoushould.

Foreducationaltheatre,thereareoftennumerouscrewmembersavailabletomancontrol systems, and though it might be tempting to streamline control, it isbeneficial for students to learn how to operate the equipment. For the smallstorefront theatre, there isoftenno space formultipleboardoperatorsandyouwillfindonestagemanagercontrollingallcontrolsystemsfromonesmallbooth.In this case, usingQLab to controlmultiple aspectsmight be desirable. Shouldyoudecidethatashowcontrolsetupistherightchoiceforyourproduction,therewillbeanumberofstepsnecessarytointegratecontrolintoonenetwork.

Themostimportantsteptocreateasuccessfullyintegratedshowcontrolsystemisplanning.Ideally,alldesignerswillmeetwithstagemanagementandcreateathoroughlistofallcuesintheappropriateorder.Onceallofthesecueshavebeenorganized,thiswillbethefoundationforcreatingamasterQLabworkspacethatsends control signals out to various entertainment control systems across thenetwork.As changes occur during the tech process, theymust bemeticulouslynoted and changed in the workspace, else one change might throw off thesequencefortheentiresystem.Awordofcautionisthatacompletelyautomatedshowcontrol systems seem toworkbest in rigidly choreographedproductions

likedanceconcerts.Inmoreorganicorimprovisationalproductions,thismethodmaynotworkaswell.Therearemanychallengesincreatingasuccessfulshowcontrolsystem,buttherewardsarewellworthitinthelongrun.

16QLabandMIDI

MIDI is one of the most versatile and enduring forms of communicationlanguageswrittenoverthepast30years.Likely,youhaveheardthetermMIDIbeforebutperhapsnotunderstoodexactlywhat it isorhow it isutilized.ThischapterdetailsboththebasicsofMIDIandhowQLabutilizesitasanimportantcomponentofitsshowcontrolengine.

16.1MIDIBasicsIn the early 1980s, a teamof engineers and synthesizer designers fromvariousmanufacturers devised a method of direct communication between electronickeyboardscalledMusicalInstrumentDigitalInterface,orMIDI.Overthetime,manufacturersadoptedthismethodasastandard,makingitacomponentofmostelectronic keyboards. In short, MIDI is a digital language that allows musicalinstrumentstocommunicatewitheachother,therebyallowingoneinstrumenttocontrol another. Instead of being a musical recording, the MIDI signal is anumeric setof codesarranged to send instructions fromonedevice to another.MIDIsignals,amazinglycompactinsize,travelinonedirectionfromonedevicetoanother.Withinashorttimeofitsintroductiontothemarket,digitalmusiciansquickly branched out to using MIDI with other types of digital devices likepersonal computers. By themid-1980s,MIDIwas utilized inmusic productionacrossseveralcomputerplatforms.

16.2WhatIsMIDIShowControlIn1986,CharlieRichmonddebutedoneof the firstcomputerizedsoundcontrolsystemsforlivetheatrecalledCommand/Cue.InadditiontorunningRichmondSoundDesigns Ltd, a company dedicated to producing a range of commercial

theatresoundconsoles,Mr.RichmondalsoservedasthesounddesigneditorforTD& T, the quarterly publication of The United States Institute for TheatreTechnology (USITT). It was during this time that he started a MIDI forumthrough USITT’s Callboard network, which used the resources of the earlyInternet to allow people around the world to communicate. After these earlycommunications,Richmondandroughlytwo-dozenotherindividualsfromacrosstheworld (mostly from the lightingmanufacturing sector) took on the task ofcreating a show control standard andwhat emergedwasMIDIShowControl(MSC).TheintroductiontotheMSC1.0StandarddefinedthepurposeofMSCas“toallowMIDIsystemstocommunicatewithandtocontroldedicatedintelligentcontrolequipmentintheatrical,liveperformance,multi-media,audio-visualandsimilarenvironments.”Inshort,aMIDIinterfacecouldsendcommandmessagestooneormultipledevices inasystem,allowingforsynchronization incontrol.Thebenefits to sucha systemwere reliableand repeatable controls that lackedthe errors and inconsistent timing of human controllers. In addition to theimmediate application for live performance, MSC quickly became a logicalsolution for playback and automation in museum installations and audioanimatronicshows.

In1991,boththeMIDIManufacturersAssociationandtheJapanMIDIStandardsCommittee ratifiedMSC as an international standard.According toRichmond,this was one of the first international standards created without themembershaving a single physicalmeeting, since all communicationwas done virtually.Thiswascertainlyasignofthingstocome.

16.3QLabandMIDIMIDIhasalwaysbeenanessentialcomponentofQLab,bothforitsuseinsoundsystemsandforitsshowcontrolcapabilities.InQLab3,thereareonlytwoMIDIcuetypes:aMIDICueandaMIDIFileCue.EmbeddedwithintheMIDICuearea number of different message types from “musical MIDI,” to MSC, or MIDISystemExclusive (MIDISysEx).Thefirststeptoharnessingtheabilityof theseMIDICues is inMIDI setupwithin theQLabWorkspaceSettingswindow.ThebasicinformationonMIDIsetupislistedbelow.

WorkspaceSettings:MIDIControls

YouwillfindthreetabsintheWorkspaceSettingswindowrelatedtoMIDI,thefirstofwhichiscalledMIDIControls.ByclickingontheMIDIControlstab,youwillopenawindowtotherightofthepagethatisusedtoactivateMIDIcontrolpreferences(seeFigure16.1).Therearetworows:oneforMSCandtheotherfor“Musical”MIDIcontrols.Thefunctionsforbotharequitesimilar.Byclickingthecheckbox to the left of the control, you are allowing your workspace to becontrolledbyoneorbothoftheMIDIcontrolcategories.

The first row,MIDI ShowControl, explains that by checking the box, you areenabling QLab to respond to the MSC commands: Go, Stop, Resume, Load,All_Off,Standby+/-,Sequence+/-,andReset.To theright sideof therow isamenuforestablishingtheDeviceIDforyourindividualQLabcomputer.InMSC,thereisapossiblerangeofDeviceIDsfrom0to126.EachdeviceinyourshowcontrolsystemwillhaveitsownuniqueDeviceID.Insomecases,youcangivetwodevices the sameDevice ID,butyouwould lose theability to individuallycontroleitherwithoutcontrollingtheother.IfanMSCcontrolmessagewithanIDof127issentalongtheshowcontrolnetwork,alldeviceswillrespondtothemessage(iftheysupportthecommandformat).Thisisanice“fireall”option.

Figure16.1MIDIcontrolspreferences.

Thesecondrowofcontrolsettingsisdedicatedto“Musical”MIDIControls.Thisrefers to the type of signal sent out by a MIDI keyboard or device called amessage.Byclicking thecheckbox to the left,youenable thecontrolofcertainQLab commands to assignedMIDImessages. Like the KeyMap, you can pre-programQLabtorespondtocertainmessagesreceivedacrossthenetwork.Todothis, simply click on the drop-down menu to the right of the desired QLabcommand.Afterclickingonthedrop-downmenu,youwillseea listofchoicesfeaturing:NoteOn,NoteOff,ProgramChange,andControlChange.ThesearethefourtypesofMIDImessagesthatcanbesentbyaMIDIdeviceoremulator.NoteOnreferstothemessagesentwhenanote(key)isdepressed.NoteOffisthemessagesentwhenanoteisreleased(ended).ControlChangeisthemessagesent

when a controller (such as a foot pedal) changes its value. Finally, a ProgramChangeisthemessagesentwhenthepatchnumberchangesontheMIDIdevice.

Themiddlewindows, labeledByte 1 andByte 2, allow for the insertionof theeight-digit binary code that represents the pertinent data of the note beingtriggeredontheMIDIdevice.Anothermethodisclickingonthe“capture”buttontotherightoftherow.Oncedepressed,themessage“waiting”willappearinthewindows for Byte 1 andByte 2.Once a note is triggered on aMIDI keyboardattachedtothesystem,QLabwillrecorditsvaluesandinsertthemintotherow.Thereafter, once that note is triggered under the same conditions, the QLabcommandwillbetriggered.

WorkspaceSettings:MIDI

TheMIDI tab for workspace settings serves two functions: setting the defaultMIDImessage type and establishing theMIDI patch forMIDI output throughQLab. The top row of the screen establishes the default type ofMIDImessagesentthroughQLab’sMIDICueasaMIDIVoicemessage,MSCmessage,orMIDISysExmessage.

The second row in theMIDIworkspace settings tab allows for assigningMIDIdevices tooneof eightdifferent patches.AnyMIDI capabledevice attached toyoursystemwillautomaticallyappearonthis list.Youcanchangetheorderofdevicestore-orderthearrangementasdesired.

Pro-Tip

MIDIAcrossNetworkOneofthegreatbenefitsoftheApplecomputerhaslongbeenitsnativeabilityto sendMIDI across Internet Protocol (IP). ForQLab, this is a p articularlyuseful application. MIDI interconnect cables are, by their nature, one-waycommunication. If youwant two-way communication between devices, youwillhavetoruntwosetsofcablingtoallowthis.InthecaseofMIDIoverIP,though, signals can travel in both directions making the network an idealsolutionforinstancesofMSC.Forthisapplication,aprogramcalledipMIDIisindispensible.

ipMIDI is a freewareprogram forMac computers that allows the routingofMIDIacrossanEthernetnetwork,usingipMIDIportstosendandreceivedatabetween computers connected to your network. The driver for the softwareproduces resultswith less latency than traditionalMIDI interconnect cablesandeliminatestheneedforadditionalcablingbetweendevices.Todownloadthe software, visitwww.nerds.de/en/ipmidi_osx.html.Once installed, ipMIDIwillbeavailableasaMIDIpatchforQLab.

WorkspaceSettings:MIDIFile

Standard MIDI files (SMF) are digital codes that contain all the necessaryinstructions for notes, volume, voice assignment, and effects.Unlike aWAVorAIF file, MIDI files do not contain an audio recording – only the numericinformation necessary for a software or hardware player to play back the filewith the appropriate voicing and effects. QLab can send MIDI File Cues butcannotsynthesizethem.Inordertoactuallyhearthesongfile,youmustsendtheMIDIfiletoaplayerofsomesortwithasoundengineconnectedtoit.

In theWorkspace Settings, there is a tab for assigningMIDI file output. ThisMIDIFilesettingstabisidenticaltotheMIDIpatchineveryway,exceptthatthepurpose for thissetting is toassign thedevicepatch foroutputtingaMIDIFileCue.

16.4MIDICues

OncetheworkspacesettingshavebeenestablishedforMIDIcontrol,youarenowready toutilizeMIDICues.AMIDICue canbeused in anumber of differentways.ItcouldsendacontrolsignaltoaMIDIdevicetotriggerplayback.ItcouldbeusedasforMSCtotriggerotherentertainmentcontrolsystems,likelighting.Therearemanyoptions.ThefollowingsectionsdetailtheprocessofutilizingtheMIDICueforsuchpurposes.ToinsertaMIDICue,simplyclickontheMIDICueiconinthetoolbarordragitintoyourworkspace.Fromthere,youcanexamineallthevariousfunctionsofthecueintheInspectorPanel.

InspectorPanel:Basics

TheBasicstabforaMIDICueisidenticaltothatseeninmanyoftheotherQLabCuetypes.Thescreenisdividedintobasiccueinformationontheleftsideofthescreenwithtriggeringinformationontherighthalfofthescreen.Thesefunctionsdonotdifferinanywayfromthoseseeninothercuetypes.

InspectorPanel:Settings

TheSettingstabistheheartofthecontrolsystemforMIDICues.ItisimportanttorecognizethattheMIDICuefunctioncontainsthreedifferentMIDIMessagetypes imbedded within its control architecture. The look and functions of thesettingstabwilldifferbetweenthesethreemessagetypes.Foreachofthethreemessagetypes,theSettingstabisdividedintotworows.Thetoprowwillalwaysremainthesameforeverymessagetype(seeFigure16.2).

MIDIDestination

The first buttonon the top row is labeled “MIDIDestination.”This drop-downmenuallowsyoutoselectoneofeightdifferentMIDIpatchesfromtheMIDItabinWorkspace Settings. This allows you to determine which MIDI device willreceivetheMIDICue.

Figure16.2TheMIDIsettingstabintheInspectorPanel.

MessageType

Thisdrop-downmenuallowsfortheselectionbetweenthethreedifferentMIDIMessage types: MIDI VoiceMessage (“Musical”MIDI), MSC, andMIDI SysExMessage. Depending on theworkspace settings established forMIDI, allMIDICuesinsertedintotheworkspacearedefaulttooneofthesethree:

•MIDIVoiceMessages(alsoreferredtoaschannelvoicemessages)areusedtocarry musical performance data, such a triggering or stopping a sound,selectingaparticular instrument,bending thepitch, sustaininganote,etc. InadditiontosendinginformationtoMIDIinstruments,thistypeofmessagecanalsobeusedtocontrolcertainsounddevices,suchasadigitalmixer.

•MIDIShowControlMessagesareaspecificsubsetofMIDImessagingusedtointeract with a wide array of devices in the entertainment industry. Thesemessagesincludecommandformatsforequipment(lighting,sound,machinery,video, projection, process control, and pyro) paired with specific commandslike go, stop, resume, etc. The purpose of these controls is to decrease thelikelihoodoferrorsincueingandgivemoreprecisetimingforplayback.

• MIDI SysExMessages are one of the biggest reasons forMIDI’s longevity.SysEx messages are a subset of MIDI messaging that give versatility tomanufacturers ofMIDI devices.Mostmanufacturers have created their ownproprietarymessagingsystemthat ismorethoroughthanstandardMIDIandwrittenspecificallyforonepieceofequipment.SysExmessagesareaddressedtoaspecificdeviceinthesystemandareignoredbyotherdevicesinthesamesystem.

Each of the three message types listed above is contained within the cuearchitectureforaMIDICue.Nowthatwehaveexploredthedifferencebetweenthesethreemessagetypes, it isuseful toexaminehoweachof thethreecanbeused.ThefollowingsectionsaddressthecontrolsfeaturedintheSettingstabforeachmessagetype.

16.5MIDIVoiceMessageTheMIDIVoiceMessage,sometimesreferredtoas“Musical”MIDI,canbeusedforanumberofdifferentcontrolfunctionsinteractingwithMIDIdevicesinyoursystem.SinceMIDIissuchanexhaustivecategoryuntoitself,itisperhapsbesttoaddressafewofthebasicsinthisarea.TheMIDIVoicemessageisinacategoryofMIDIcalled“channelmessages”orMIDImessagesthatapplyonlytoaspecificchannel.MIDI has a possibility of 16 channels, so in aMIDI voicemessage, achannel number is included with the status byte for the message to indicatewhichchannel should receive the command. InQLab, theMIDIVoiceMessagehas seven commands that can be sent. Each one has its own attributes listedbelow.

•NoteOn:TheNoteOncommandisthedatasentwhenakeyispressedonaMIDIkeyboard. It contains the informationofwhichkey ispushedandwithwhat velocity (how hard the key was hit). The QLab parameters includechannel,notenumber,andvelocity(Figure16.3).Byassigninganotenumberandvelocity,QLabcansendaMIDIcommandacross thesystemto triggeranoteonanattachedMIDIkeyboard.

• NoteOff:TheNoteOffcommandserves the same functionas theNoteOn,exceptthatitsendsthemessagetoreleaseakeyonthekeyboard.TheNoteOffinterfaceisidenticaltotheNoteOn.

•ProgramChange:MostMIDIdeviceshaveanumberofdifferent instrumentsoundsprogrammedforplayback.TheProgramChangeisaMIDImessagethattells thedevicewhich instrument touse forplayback.Thereare 128possibleprogram numbers (0–127). In some cases, someMIDI devicesmay not haveinstrument sounds, but use program change to shift between functions. Oneexampleofthismightbeadrummachinethatwillchangethedrumbeatwhenit receives a program change command. In QLab, the Program ChangecommandwindowincludesparametersforChannelandProgramNumber(see

Figure16.4).

Figure16.3TheNoteOncommandwindow.

Figure16.4TheProgramChangecommandwindow.• ControlChange:Acontroller is a typeofmusicaldevice that implementsa

function other than starting or stopping notes, such as a sustain pedal,modulationwheel,volumepedal,etc.AControlChangecommandistheMIDIcommandassociatedwiththechangescreatedbythatdevice.AswithallMIDIcommands, the details are strictly defined in the MIDI Specification. For aControl Change, QLab can send a Channel, Control Number, and ControlValue. The control number references 128 different possible controller types,whereas the control value is the level (0–127) at which the controller isoperating.OneinterestingfunctionoftheControlChangecommandinQLabistheabilitytofadeoverduration(Figure16.5).Intherightcornerofthecontrolwindow,youwill see a fade curvewindowwitha timeand “fade to controlvalue”setting.Thisallowsformoregradualcontrolchanges.

•KeyPressure(AfterTouch):TheKeyPressurecommanddealswiththeabilityofMIDItocommunicateinformationregardingtheamountofpressureappliedtoanindividualkeyonthekeyboardafterithasbeendepressed,leadingtothetermAfterTouch.Thesemessagescanbeusedtovarythepressureonagivenkey to create a vibrato effect. For the Key Pressure command in QLab, thecontrolwindowfeaturesChannel,NoteNumber,andPressureValue.LiketheControlChangecommand,thiscommandcanbefadedovertime(Figure16.6).

• Channel Pressure: Unlike Key Pressure, which generates AfterTouchinformationforeachindividualkey,theChannelPressurecommandgeneratesAfterTouchinformationforeverykeyonthekeyboardsimultaneously.Assuch,theonlydifferencebetweentheKeyPressureandChannelPressureinterfacesforQLabisthatChannelPressuredoesnotlistanotenumber.

Figure16.5TheControlChangecommandwindow.

Figure16.6TheKeyPressurecommandwindow.

•PitchBendChange:OnaMIDIkeyboard,thePitchBendChangecommandisnormallysentbytheinstrument’spitchbendwheel.Asthenameimplies,thiscommandwill bend the pitch either higher or lower, depending on the bytevalue entered in the MIDI command. For QLab, the Pitch Bend Changecommand features two control attributes: Channel and Velocity (see Figure16.7).Thevelocitycanbeviewedasabinaryrepresentationofslidingthepitchbendwheel up or down. Pitch bend data have a possible 16,383 valueswith-8,192beingthelowestbend,0beingnopitchbend,and8,192beingthehighestbend.

EachoftheMIDIVoiceMessagesabovecanbeusedinanumberofcreativewaysto interact with otherMIDI equipment in your sound system. I recommend athoroughexaminationoftheuser’smanualsofyourequipment,aseachdifferentmanufacturerusesslightlydifferentsystemsforMIDIcommunication.

16.6MIDIShowControlThe MSC is a useful subset of MIDI dedicated to communication betweenentertainment controllers and devices in a system. Like MIDI itself, thedocumentation for MSC is thorough and recommended reading for anyoneinterested in pursuing show control. The complete document can be obtainedfrom the MIDI Manufacturers Association at www.midi.org. For general understanding,wewilllookatsomeofthebasicsbelow.TospecifyyourMIDICueasMSC,simplyclickontheMessageTypedrop-downmenuandselectMSC.Youwillnoticethat,uponchangingthemessagetype,thebottomrowwillchangetofeaturenewoptions(Figure16.8).Theseoptionsareaddressedbelow.

Figure16.7

ThePitchBendChangecommandwindow.

Figure16.8TheMIDIShowControlmessagewindow.

ThoughthetoprowoftheSettingstabremainsunchangedbetweenMIDIVoiceMessageandMSC,thereareafewkeydifferencestothebottomrowfordifferentmessage types. The first item listed is Command Format. In MSC, there arecategories to commands specified for different types of equipment. CommandFormatsfall intothreecategories:General,Specific,andAll-types.Forexample,indealingwithlightingcommandsthegeneralcommandformatsentoutwouldbecalled“Lighting.”Withinthecategoryoflighting,thereareanumberofotherspecific command formats likemoving lights, color changers, strobes, lasers, orchasers. The command format “All-types” is reserved for a system-widebroadcastofcommandstoalldevicesinthesystem.

AllMSC-capabledevicescanbeassignedaDeviceID,anumberspecifictothatdevice so that each can be individually controlledwithout fear of accidentallytriggeringthewrongdevice.ThatiswhyeachMSCmessagehasadeviceiddrop-downmenuforassigningitspatch.Likewise,eachcuehastheabilitytospecifyQnumber, Q List, and Q Path for detailed interaction with other entertainmentcontrolsystems.

ThelasttermofimportanceintheSettingtabisCommand,whichindicatesthetypeofcontrolsignaltobesentouttoadevice(suchasGo,Stop,Resume,etc.).LiketheMIDIVoiceMessage,MSCfeaturesanumberofdifferentcommands(26inall)forcommunicatingwithdevices.Thefirst11commandsarecategorizedasgeneral commands that can be used with a range of different entertainmentcontrol systems. The final 15 commands are specific to sound control. The

followinglistbrieflyexplainseachcommandtypeanditsuse.

GeneralCommands

• Go: This command starts a cue. Once triggered, the cue will play untilcompleteoruntilactedupontostopwithanothercommand.Ifthecontrolleddevicehasmultiplecuenumbersorcuelists,thisinformationcanbestipulatedinthecommand.Ifnocuenumberisindicated,thenthenextcueinsequencewillplayback.

•Stop:Haltstheplaybackoftherunningcue.Ifnospecificcueisspecified,thenallrunningcueswillbestopped.Ifaspecificcuenumberisgiven,onlythatcuewillstop.

•Resume:Beginstheplaybackofahaltedcueatthestoppoint.Ifnospecificcueisspecified,thenallstoppedcueswillresume.Ifaspecificcuenumberisgiven,onlythatcuewillresume.

• Timed-Go: Starts a cue at a specific point in time, using the standard timespecification with subframes (Timecode). Once triggered, the cue will playuntil complete or until acted upon to stop with another command. If thecontrolleddevicehasmultiplecuenumbersorcuelists,thisinformationcanbestipulatedinthecommand.Ifnocuenumberisindicated,thenthenextcueinsequencewillplayback.WhentheTimed-Gocommandisselected,aTimecodewindowwillpopupintherighthalfofthescreenforinputtingstarttime.

•Load:Placesaspecifiedcueintoastandbyposition.Ifthecontrolleddevicehasmultiple cue lists, a specific cue list must be specified or all similar cuenumberswillbeloadedtostandby.

• Set: This command defines the value of a Generic Control on a controlleddevice and the time inwhich these changes should occur.Dependingon themanufacturer, almost any attributes can be established as a Generic Control(levels,subs,channels,rates,etc.).WhenusingtheSetcommandinQLab,thevariablesarecontrolnumber,controlvalue,andsendTimecode.

• Fire:TheFire command triggersapre-programmedMacroon thecontrolleddevice.QLabfeaturesaMacromenuforselectingthedesiredMacrototrigger.

• All-Off: This command disables all functions and outputs of the controlleddevicewithoutchangingcontrolsettings.

• Restore: Restores the operating status of controlled device to that as itwasbeforetheAll-Offcommand.

• Reset: This command terminates all running cues and resets them to their

original state. The cue order will also be reset, loading the first cue in thesequence.

•Go-Off:Startsacueandimmediatelyplacesthecueintotheoffstate.Ifnocuenumber is indicated, then the next cue in sequencewill go. If the controlleddevicehasmultiplecuelists,aspecificcuelistmustbespecifiedorallsimilarcuenumberswillgooff.

SoundControlCommands

• Go/Jam-Clock: Starts a cue and simultaneously forces the clock to the “GoTime”ifthatcueissetasauto-follow.Ifthecueismanual,thenJam-Clockisignored.Ifnocuenumberisindicated,thenthenextcueinsequencewillgo.Ifacuenumberisspecified,thatcuegoesandtheclockoftheappropriatecuelistis“jammed”tothat“GoTime.”

• Standby_+: Places the next cue in the cue list into standby. If no cue list isnoted,thecurrentcuelistwillbeused.Ifmorethanonecuelistcontainsthesamenumber,thenthesematchingcuenumberswillbeplacedonstandbyforeachcuelist.

•Standby_-:Placesthepreviouscueinthecuelistintostandby.Ifnocuelistisnoted,thecurrentcuelistwillbeused.Ifmorethanonecuelistcontainsthesamenumber,thenthesematchingcuenumberswillbeplacedonstandbyforeachcuelist.

•Sequence_+:Placesthenextparentcueinthecuelistintostandby.Ifnocuelistisnoted,thecurrentcuelistwillbeused.Ifmorethanonecuelistcontainsthesamenumber,thenthesematchingcuenumberswillbeplacedonstandbyforeachcuelist.

• Sequence_-: Places the lowest numbered parent cue in the previous parentsequenceintostandby.Ifnocuelistisnoted,thecurrentcuelistwillbeused.Ifmore than one cue list contains the same number, then thesematching cuenumberswillbeplacedonstandbyforeachcuelist.

•Start_Clock:Startsthe“auto-follow”clocktimer.Theclockwillstartfromanypreviousvaluefromwhichitwasstopped.Ifnocuelistisnoted,theclocksforallcuelistswillstart.

•Stop_Clock:Stopsthe“auto-follow”clocktimer.Whenstopped,theclockwillretainitsvalue.Ifnocuelistisnoted,theclocksforallcuelistswillstop.

• Zero_Clock: Sets the clock to a value of 00:00:00:00:00whether or not it isrunning.Zeroing the clockwill not affect its running status. If no cue list is

noted,theclocksforallcuelistswillbezero.•Set_Clock:SetstheclocktoavaluesentbyQLabwhetherornotitisrunning.

Zeroingtheclockwillnotaffectitsrunningstatus.Ifnocuelistisnoted,theclocksforallcuelistswillbesettothevaluesentbyQLab.

• MTC_Chase_On: Causes the clock to be set identically to incoming MIDITimecode.Ifnocuelistisnoted,theclocksforallcuelistswillchase.

• MTC_Chase_Off: Causes the clock to stop receiving theMIDI Timecode. Itdoesnotresettheclockvalue.Ifnocuelistisnoted,theclocksforallcuelistswillstopchasing.

• Open_Cue_List: Opens a stipulated cue list andmakes it active so that thecontrolleddevicecanaccessit.

•Close_Cue_List:Closesastipulatedcuelistandmakesitinactivesothatthecontrolleddevicecannotaccessit.

•Open_Cue_Path:Opensastipulatedcuepathandmakesitactivesothatthecontrolleddevicecanaccessit.

•Close_Cue_Path:Closesastipulatedcuepathandmakesitinactivesothatthecontrolleddevicecannotaccessit.

16.7MIDISysExCueMIDISysExcommands,shortforSystemExclusive,areatypeofcommandusedspecifically to communicate proprietary information tooneparticularmodel ofequipment. No two devices use the same SysEx commands,meaning that youneed to have access to the owner’smanual for your p articular device to bestunderstand how to send it commands. The only common factor between allmanufacturersSysExcommandsisthattheymustbeginwitha0xF0statusandendwitha0xF7status.ThisistheonlytypeofMIDIcommandthathasbothabeginningandendstatusbyte.WhensendingSysExcommandsinQLab,thereisonlyaninputwindowfortypingintherawMIDIcode(seeFigure16.9).

Figure16.9TheMIDISysExcommandwindow.

16.8MIDIFileCueOnefinalaspectofQLab’sMIDIcontrol is theability toplaybackaMIDI file.MIDI files area collectionofbinarycode that communicatesavast amountofinformation including instrument voice, note duration, velocity, volume, andmore. Though QLab does not have a built-in synthesizer for hearing MIDIplayback,itcansendtheMIDIfileinformationacrossitssystemtoanotherMIDIsynthesizerforplayback.WhentheMIDIfileisinsertedasaMIDIFileCue,youcan see the file information in the Settings tab of the Inspector Panel (Figure16.10).TherearenocontrolparametersfortheMIDIFileCueotherthanplaybackrate.

Figure16.10AMIDIfiledisplayedintheSettingstaboftheInspectorPanel.

17QLabandOSC

OneofQLab’sgreateststrengthsisitsabilitytocontroland/orbecontrolledbyother instancesofQLabrunningonmultiplecomputers.BycreatinganetworkbetweenmultipleQLabcomputers,theyeachcancommunicatewithoneanotherand share information. Before Version 3, MSC was the common method ofcontrollingoneQLabworkspacebyanother.IfcontrollingQLaboveranetwork,this meant the use of the ipMIDI software mentioned earlier in the text forsendingMIDIacrossEthernet.With the introductionofQLab3, there isanewstand-alone method of communicating between QLab workspaces over anetwork,theOSCCue.

17.1WhatIsOSC?OpenSoundControl(OSC)isaprotocolforcommunicatingbetweencomputers,sound synthesizers, and other multimedia devices across a network. ThoughsomewhatsimilartoMIDIinfunction,OSCisahigh-resolutioncontentformatwith a dynamic,URL-style naming convention for versatile control.One of itsgreatest advantages is the ability to enact real-time sound andmedia c ontroloverboth local areaandwideareanetworks (LAN/WAN).OSCwascreatedatthe University of California, Berkley’s Center for New Music and AudioTechnologies(CNMAT)andhadsincebranchedoutasacontentformatusedinnumerous applications outside of digital music. To read more about the OSCSpecification,visitopensoundcontrol.org.

17.2OSCSettings

Settings:OSCControls

Likemanyother cue typesexaminedearlier in the text,OSCCuesSettingsarefoundbyclickingontheWorkspaceSettingsiconinthelowerrighthandcornerofthescreen.Onceyouhaveopenedthis,selecttheOSCControlsbuttontotheleft of the screen.Whenyou clickon theOSCControlsbutton, awindowwillopentotherightthatfeaturesanumberofcontrolparameters(seeFigure17.1).

LikeHotkeys andMIDI controls, yourQLabworkspace canbeprogrammed torespond to certain OSC commands. To enable this function, click on the checkboxlabeled“UseOSCControls.”Withoutselectingthisbox,yourworkspacewill not respond to incoming OSC commands. You can assign an optionalpasscodebyclickingonthe“UsePasscode”checkbox.Whenselected,allclientswishingtoaccessyourworkspacewillberequiredtogivethefour-digitpasscode.Inaddition,byclickingthe“new”button,QLabwillgeneratearandomcode.

One important aspect of the OSC Controls window is the display of yourcomputer’s current Internet Protocol (IP) address. Knowing this address isessential tosettingupOSCpatches. InadditiontotheIPaddress, thisareaalsotells some important informationaboutports.WhenusingQLabOSCControls,QLab will listen to Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User DatagramProtocol(UDP)port53000.IfusingUDP,QLabwillrespondusingport53001.

At thebottomof theOSCControlswindow,youwill seea listofcontrols thatcanallbesettorespondtoOSCcommands.InordertoassignthedesiredOSCcommand,eitherthecodecanbewrittendirectlyintotheslottotherightofthecontroloryoucanclickthe“Capture”buttonandthensendthedesiredcommandfromtheOSChostrunningonyoursystem.OnceQLab“hears”thecommand,itwillberecordedandtheQLabcommandwillbetriggeredifthemessageissentagain.

Figure17.1TheOSCcontrolssettings.

Settings:OSC

ThesecondOSCsetting is locatedroughlyhalfwaydownthe liston the leftofthescreenandissimplycalled“OSC.”TheOSCsettingstabcontrolstheoutputpatch forOSCCues inyourworkspace. Inorder to sendOSCcommands fromone QLab computer to another, you must set up an OSC patch in the OSCsettingswindow(Figure17.2).YourlocalcomputerrunningQLabwillbelistedas“localhost” by default with a port of 53000. In order to set up the patch tocommunicate with other QLab computers, you will need to open the OSCControlspanelinQLabforeachadditionalcomputerandnotetheIPaddress.Inaddition, note whether the computer has a passcode assigned. Input the IP

addresses into the OSC patch row with the port of 53000. If a passcode isrequired,inputthisintothepasscodecolumn.Onceyouhavemanagedyourlistofnetworkedcomputers,clickonthedonebuttonandreturntoyourworkspace.

17.3OSCCuesWehavelookedathowQLabcanbeconfiguredtorespondtoOSCcommands,but one of the greatest strengths ofQLab 3 is its ability to natively sendOSCCues fromone computer to another.TheOSCCue allowsQLab to send eitherQLabOSCmessagesorrawOSCmessages.ThisfundamentallyreplacestheneedforsendingMSCCuesacrossanipMIDInetworktocontroloneQLabworkspacewithanother.ClickontheOSCCuebuttontoinsertthecueintoyourworkspace.

Figure17.2TheOSCsettingswindow.

Pro-Tip

NetworkingOptions

EthernetConnectionThere are a number of options for networking together different QLabcomputers.Whenusing just twocomputers, theeasiestmethod is tos implyconnectthemwithanEthernetcable.AninterconnectcableisunnecessaryfornewerMacs.Inordertonetworkthetwocomputerstogether,youshouldturnoff theWi-Fi on both computers to limit interference. After connecting thetwo computers with the Ethernet cable and inputting the appropriate IPaddresses in theOSC Settings patch, youwill be able to sendOSC controlsfromoneQLabcomputertoanother.

NetworkingviaRouterForinstancesofmultiplecomputersthatneedtointeractwithoneanother,thebestmethodtoconnectthecomputersisviaarouter.Arouterisasmalldevicethat joins togethermultiple networks together, typically using awireless orwired IP. Essentially, a router works as a gateway device to link togethermultiple computers in order to communicatewith one another on the samesystem.

OneimportantaspecttorememberaboutroutersisthatmanyutilizeDynamicHostConfigurationProtocol(DHCP),anetworkprotocolthatcanchangetheIPaddressofdevicesloggedintoitfromtimetotime.SinceQLabdependsonthecomputersalwaysutilizingthesameIPaddress,itisagoodideatodisableDHCP settings on your router, or to use manually assigned IP addressesoutside of the router’s DHCP range. This will guarantee that each QLabmachinewillhaveaconsistentIPaddresseachtimeitisbooted.

WirelessNetworkingAnothermethodfornetworkingistocreateawirelesscomputer-to-computernetwork(oftenreferredtoasanAd-hocwirelessnetwork).Inordertodoso,clickontheAirportstatusiconinyourMac’sMenuBar(upperrightcorner).Click on the Create Network button. A pop-up menu will appear reading,“Createacomputer-to-computernetwork.”Thenetworknamewilldefaulttoyourcomputer’snameorserialnumber.Irecommendcreatingaspecificnamefor your purposes, like “QLab.” If youwant to add a password, click on thesecurity button and select either 40-bitWired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) or128-bitWEP. Input apassword that fits theparameters listedand then clickthe button labeled “create.” This will create a wireless network that can belogged onto from other computers. After all computers are logged into thesamewirelessnetworkyouwillbeabletosendOSCcontrolsfromoneQLabcomputertoanother.

InspectorPanel:Basics

Like most other cue types, the Basics tab in the Inspector Panel features thecommon naming, pre/post-wait, continue status, and triggering information.Thesecontrolsdonotdifferfromtheoneswecoveredinearlierchapters.

InspectorPanel:Settings

TheSettingstabforOSCCuesisthemainmethodforeditingyourOSCCue.ThefirstinterfacelistedintheSettingstabis“OSCDestination.”Byclickingonthisdrop-downmenu,youcanchoosetheroutingofyourOSCsignalfromtheentirelist of network devices running on your system. Each one will be listed as auniquename,coincidingwiththenamegiventotheQLabworkspaceintheOSCSettingswindow.

The second interface, message type, is a drop-downmenu that allows for theselection of two message types: QLab message or Custom OSC message.Depending on the message type chosen, the bottom row of the window willchange.ForQLabmessage,therewillbeacuenumberslotandcommandtype.IfCustommessageischosen,thenablankinputwindowwillappearinwhichtheOSCaddressandargumentsshouldbeinserted.Finally,thereisa“sendmessage”

button that can be clicked to send a test signal outwithout actually firing theOSCCue.

QLabMessages

QLab3hasdone theheavy lifting foryou in creatinga control architectureofpre-programmed OSC commands for communicating with other computersrunningQLab. Instead of having to research on howOSCworks and learninghow to code it, you can simply click on a drop-downmenu, select the desiredmessagetype,andQLabdoestherest.ThefollowingsectiondetailstheuseoftheQLabmessagewithinOSCCues.

PlaybackControlCommands

WhenyouclickontheCommanddrop-downmenu,youwill findtwotypesofcommandsseparatedbyadivider(Figure17.3).AtthetopofthemenuiswhatIrefertoasplaybackcontrolcommands,astheyareusedtocontrolsomeaspectofQLab playback. The list of commands includes Start, Stop, Hard Stop, Pause,Resume, Toggle Pause, Load, Preview, Reset, and Panic. These commands aresimple to use. Simply select the command type and input the cuenumber youwant to control.Once theOSCCue is fired, itwill automatically find the cuenumberinthepatchedworkspaceandtriggerthecommand.

Figure17.3TheOSCcommanddrop-downmenu.

Parameter-ChangeCommands

The second section of commands listed in the drop-down menu functions tochangesomeparameterofanothercue.Byinputtingthedesiredcuenumberandcommand,youcantheninputaparametertochangesomeaspectsofacuesuchasCueNumber,CueName,Notes,CueTargetNumber,Pre-wait,Duration,Post-wait, ContinueMode, Flagged, Armed, and Color Name. This is an incrediblyuseful method for changing aspects of a remote workspace without having toactuallyaccessitinperson.

18Timecode

Timecode has origins tied to the earliest video recorders in the 1960s. Therecording of moving images on magnetic tape created a number of problemsrelatedtoeditingvideoandaligningaudiowithvideo.Infilm-basedrecordings,each picture on the film was aligned with guide holes that could be countedexactlytoclearlydefinethe locationofframes.Withmagnetictape, therewereno such guide holes, creating a difficulty in clearly tracking the alignment offrames.By1967,theSocietyofMotionPictureandTelevisionEngineers(SMPTE)had created a standardized system for sending audio impulses for recording apicturenumberparalleltoeveryvideopicture,thuscreatingan“electronicguidehole”system.ThismethodwasthefirstTimecode.IntheyearssincethecreationofTimecode,anumberofinterestinguseshaveemergedincludingaligningvideoand audio signals and triggering cues fromaTimecode signal.QLab 3 has theabilitytobothtransmitandreceiveTimecodesignalsacrossanaudiooutputoraMIDIsystem.

18.1HowTimecodeWorksTraditionally,Timecodeisadatasignalthatrunsparalleltoimagedatainavideosignal. Each picture is clearly labeled with Timecode data containing clearinformationofhours,minutes,seconds,andframes.Thenumberofframesusedin each specific Timecode is determined by the original video formatwith thesendingandreceivingendssettothesameframeratetobeeffectiveforsyncing.Inmodernusage,Timecodemaybeusedindependentofavideosignal.Therearea number of different Timecode frame rates available throughQLab to fit anyapplication.

TheadvantageofusingTimecodeisthecreationofareferencepointforplaybackof separate systems.Onegreatexampleof thiswouldbe runningaudio froma

QLab computer that needs to be syncedwith a video signal sent froma videoserver remote to theQLab system.Timecodewill ensure that thevideowillbetriggeredtofollowtheaudioexactly.Thisisespeciallyimportantininstancesofdialogue lip-syncing to a video. Likewise, it is beneficial to use Timecode totriggeracueataveryspecificpointintheTimecodestream.ConsidertheuseofTimecode to send cues to trigger lighting effects inperfect syncwith an audiotrack.Effects like this areparticularlyuseful in themeparks,museumdisplays,anddanceconcerts(allsituationsinwhichthecueingisparticularlylinearwithaveryrigidandinflexibletimeline).

One importantconcept tounderstandregardingTimecode isdropframe.NTSCcolorvideousesaframerateof29.97framespersecond(fps),whichmeansthattheframerateis.03secondsslowerthanthenearestwholenumberTimecodeof30 fps. In order to compensate for this, drop frame timing is used to dropTimecodenumbersperiodicallytoassurethattheTimecodealignswiththetrueframerateofthevideo.Dropframetimingisusedrelativelyinfrequently–onlyforNTSCvideo.

IntermsofQLab,Timecodeistypicallyusedinoneoftwoways:asanincomingsignal to trigger QLab cues or as a Timecode Cue that generates a Timecodesignaltobesenttoothercomputersordevices.

18.2TimecodeSettingsTimecode Settings are located in the Workspace Settings window under the“Timecode”heading.Afterselectingthisbutton,awindowwillopentotherightfeaturingtwooptions.Thefirstoptionistheselectionofadefaultframeratefornew Timecode Cues. Choices are 24 fps, 25 fps, 30 fps non-drop, 30 fps drop,23.976fps,24.975fps,29.97fpsnon-drop,and29.97fpsdrop.

The second option is the selection of the default output type, either MIDITimecode(MTC)orLinearTimecode(LTC).TheLTC(sometimesreferredtoasSMPTE) is the aforementioned audio signal typically recorded to tape anddecoded by a synchronizer originally used to synchronize audio and videoequipment.With theproliferationofMIDIdevices in the 1980s, anewmethodwasrequired forsyncinganalogdeviceswithcomputerMIDIsequencers.MTCwasdevelopedforthisreason.Forallpracticalpurposes,MTCcanbethoughtofasSMPTEinMIDIform.QLab3cangeneratebothLTCandMTC.

18.3TriggeringCuesfromTimecodeOne of the strengths of QLab is its ability to allow cues to be triggered byincoming Timecode signals. There are a few steps necessary to enable thisprocess.ThefirststepistoenablethecuelisttobetriggeredbyTimecode.Todoso,firstclickonthe“CueListsandActiveCues”buttoninthelowerrighthandcorneroftheQLabscreen.Thiswillopenupallavailablecuelists intheupperrighthandcornerofthescreen.Clickonthedesiredcuelistandthenselectthe“Sync”tabintheInspectorPanel.Clickonthecheckboxlabeled“triggercuesinthislistfromincomingTimecode.”ThiswillenablecueswithinthecuelisttobetriggeredbyincomingTimecode.

InordertotriggeranindividualcuewithTimecode,thereisoneremainingstep.First,clickonthedesiredcueandopentheBasicstabintheInspectorPanel.Thelastrowontherightsideofthescreenisacheckboxlabeled“Timecodetrigger.”Byclickingthischeckbox,youcaninserttheappropriateTimecodesignatureatwhichpointyouwantthecuetobetriggered.OnceaTimecodesignalispresent,QLabwilllistenfortheappropriatetimetotriggerthecue.ItisimportanttonotethatQLabdoesnot“chase”Timecode.Itonlytriggerscuesfromthestartofthecueanddoesnot try tocomputeapositionmid-streambasedon theTimecodestream.

18.4TimecodeCuesToinsertaTimecodeCueintoyourcuelist,clickontheTimecodeCueiconintheToolbarordragitintoyourworkspace.Oncethecuehasbeeninserted,clickontheSettingstabintheInspectorPanel.TheSettingsarerelativelysimpleandstraightforward.First, there is theTimecode type tool thatallowsyou to selectbetweenMTC and LTC.After selecting the type, the next step is to select thedestination,oroutputpatch,fortheTimecodesignal.MTCistransmittedacrossaMIDIpatch,whereasLTCissentoutthroughanaudiopatch.

Frame rate is the next variable for TimecodeCues.As discussed earlier, framerate must match the frame rate of the receiving end’s frame rate setting,otherwisenothingwillhappen.

Finally, the last variable for Timecode Cues is the start time of the Timecode.Insert into thewindow thedesired start timeof anyTimecode tobeoutputted

throughthesystem.

Index

Note:Boldfacepagenumbersrefertofiguresandtables.

A

absolutefade97–8Actioncolumn49,50ActiveCues123ActiveCuesPanel54,55,56,56,116AdobePremiere136AfterTouch240All-Offcommand243ambientlight147amplifier:functionsof4;signalflowbetweenmixerand5analogsignals169Angleslider209,212AppleScriptEditor124AppleScriptscriptinglanguage124Apple’sGarageBand1,70ArmCue122,122–3assignedscreens151assigngangs25AssignGangsbutton74,84ATIRadeonHD5870Eyefinity6168attenuation170,171AUDelay90;controlinterface90;straightdelaysettings91audio:devicesetting80–3;settings21–6;signalflow19–21AudioCues6,20,47,118,151,180,188,189;defaultlevelsfor22,23,25;insertion61;InspectorPanelsee

InspectorPanelofAudioCues;levelsfaderswithin21;withloops,vamping119–20;manipulatingstart/endtimes65–6,66,71;MicCuesvs.77;Outputs23;playbackratemanipulation72–3;purposeof61;withslices,vamping120–1

AudioDevice74AudioDeviceOutputRouting21,26audiodevices7;external33;settingupQLabwith34;volumelevels38–41AudioEffects45,99,99,103,189;assigningtodeviceoutput89–91,90,91;ofAudioCues75,75–6;creating

anillusionofdistancethrough42–5;andcueoutputs41;MicCues85audioeffects,graphicEQadditionthrough87AudioFadeCues93audiofile6,20;usage45–6Audiofire1233,33,37AudiofireTemplate34

AudioInput&OutputPatch,MicCue83–4audiointerface1audiolevels189audiomixer2,4audiooutputpatch6,44,74audiopatch21;assigning25,25–6,35;multichannelsoundsystem34–8AudioTrim189AudioUnits(AUs)1,41,42,75;effectstoMicCues85–91AuditionWindow60,60,187AUgraphicEQcontrolwindow87AULowpasscontrolinterface43,43,44AUPitchcontrolinterface101,101AUsseeAudioUnitsauto-continue106automaticfades105–8availablesurfaceswindowforvideo154AvidMediaComposer136

Bbalancingaudiodeviceoutput39–41baluns146,171basicaudio13basicstab94,94–5,102;AudioCues61–4,62;GroupCue128,128;forMicCue83;MIDICues237basicvideo13blendgamma158–9,176blendmode206,206–8Bloom194,212blureffect190blur/sharpen,videoeffects208–10,209,210bottleneckdilemma162boxblur208–9,209brightness198brokencues54buffering,MicCues79built-inadjustmentforceilingandrearprojection150built-inedgeblending150bump217bumpdistortioneffect216–17bumplinear217BundleWorkspace16

C

cablesforrecording1

Callboardnetwork,USITT234CameraCues149,158,160,161,191–3,195camerapatch192,194;settings160camerapreference,workspacesettings159,159–60CAT5/6cable145–6CAT5connector146cathoderaytube(CRT)models148CenterforNewMusicandAudioTechnologies(CNMAT)249centralprocessingunit(CPU)165,166,166channelmessages239ChannelPressurecommand240channelvoicemessagesseemusicalinstrumentdigitalinterface(MIDI),voicemessageschroma209circlescreen211–12circlesplash216,217circuits229circularwrap217–18Close_Cue_Listcommand244Close_Cue_Pathcommand244CMYKHalftoneeffect212–13,213CNMATseeCenterforNewMusicandAudioTechnologiescodecs166color:controls197–8,198;effects190;text206;wheel201,201ColorInvert200ColorPickers201–3,201–4ColorPosterizeeffect213,214combiningvideoeffectsproject222–3,223comiceffect215,216Command242Command/Cue233commandformat242communicationstandard226compactdiscs(CDs)3–4complexcuecontrol127ComponentModes207,208componentvideo140–1compositevideo139–40,140computer138condensermicrophone3continuemodeicons49,49contrast198ContrastModes207ControlChange:command240,240;messages235ControlCues:ArmandDisarmCues122,122–3;defined115;DevampCue118–21,119;GoToandTarget

Cues121,121,122;GroupCue115,115;LoadCue116–17,117;ResetCue118,118;ScriptCue124,124–5;Start,Stop,PauseCues115–16;WaitandMemoCues123,123

controlsoftware229conventionallightingfixtures229CopyFadeShapebutton113

CopyIntegratedFadeShape59copylevels59cornerpincontrol177corner-pinning150,151cornerpins155CPUseecentralprocessingunitCrayonBox203,204crosspointmatrix23,36,74,85,98–9crosspoints21,23,27CRTmodelsseecathoderaytubemodelsCrystallize213CueBar52,56cuelist49,55,118;draggingmediafile56“CueListsandActiveCues”button254CueListsPanel54,55cuename49;ofGroupCues130cueoutputs23;AudioEffectsand41;forMicCue86–9cues:adding56;Camera191–3,195;defining47;image,show/hide206;info180;information62,62;number

48–9;preview187;row47;sequences50;status48,48;andstructure47–50;targets49,57,57–8;timingandduration49;type48;VideoseeVideoCues

CueToolbox52–3,53currentcuelist47,52curveshape95–6,96,102customcompositions,videoeffects220customcurve95–6;defaultsettingfor110customgeometrymode153;inCameraCue192–3;inVideoCue182,182–3

DDarkenModes207datapath162,162–3defaultAudioCuelevels22,23,25,35DefaultLevelswindow,MicCues81,81–2defaultmodesettingforvideo153defaultsingle-screensurfaces149defaultsurface,VideoCue153deletenumberofselectedcues59DevampCue69,118–21,119,188DeviceID242Device&Levelstab:AudioCues73,73–5;forMicCues83,84deviceoutput:assigningaudioeffectto89–91,90,91devicerouting21,26,26,37,37,78,82,82–3DHCPseeDynamicHostConfigurationProtocoldigitalaudiointerfaces1,2digitalaudioworkstation(DAW)1DigitalLightProcessing(DLP)147DigitalMultipleX(DMX)226

digitalprojectors147digitalsignals169digitalsoundmixers228digitalvideocamera137–8digitalvideoeditingprograms136DigitalVisualInterface(DVI)141–2;cableandconnectortypes141dimensionssettings158dimmers228DirectInput(DI)box7directionalsound31DisarmCue122,122–3discblur208–9,209Display&Geometry:inCameraCues192,192–3;inVideoCues180–3,181DisplayPortconnector142–3,143distortioneffects190;videoeffects216–18distributionamplifier171DLPseeDigitalLightProcessingDMXseeDigitalMultipleXDMX-512230DMX512-A226Dopplereffect109dotscreen211,212DoubleGOProtection17DoubleHead2Go151DRAMseedynamicRAMDualHead2Go,graphicsexpansionmodules171duckingaudio111–13DVIseedigitalvisualinterfaceDynamicHostConfigurationProtocol(DHCP)252dynamicmicrophone3dynamicRAM(DRAM)167dynamics69

EEchoAudiofire1233,33Edges214,215edgeseffect190;texturesand211–16EdgeWork214,215Editbutton54Editdevicebutton39,39Editingpatch36editingsystem135–6electronicguideholesystem253ElectronicTheatreControls(ETC)230–1endtimepanel68entertainmentcontrolsystems225,227–30

EQseeequalizerequalizer(EQ)86–9,87,88ETCseeElectronicTheatreControlsEthernetcable145Ethernetconnection252Ethernetconnector145exploringtrim114exposure198–9,199;effects190;value199exposurevalueslider199,199externalaudiodevices33externalsignalprocessing:multichannelplaybacksystemwith8–9,9externalstorage164

Ffacetscreens174–5,175facetwindow155,156FadeCues47,58,59,116,128,129;animatingimagerotationthrough185–6;Audio93–100;automaticfades

105–8;copy/pastefadeshapes113;defining93;duckingaudio111–13;duration96;ExploringTrim114;Levelstab97,97,102–3;manualfades103–5;MicFadeCues102–3;panningvia109–11;settings29,29

FadeCuesproject221Fade-InofAudioCue,Automated105–8Fade-OutofAudioCue,Automated105–8faderatebutton100,100fades105–8;curve106,106;length29;series114;shape29fiber-opticcables171FinalCutPro136Firecommand243FireWire144FireWire400144,144–5FireWire800145flagging48flagicon51–2flatpaneldisplays148fourfoldreflectedtile219fourfoldtranslatedtileeffect219fpsseeframespersecondframe138framespersecond(fps)138fullscreenmode153;inCameraCue192–3;inVideoCue182

G

gamma199,199gammapowerslider199,199

Gangfunction99ganging74,84Gaussianblur208–9,209generalsettingsforQLabworkspace17–18,18ghostlyeffect193–5,195glasslozengeeffect218,218globalequalizer(EQ)86–9,87,88globalmasking150Gloom212GObutton51Gocommand242Go/Jam-Clockcommand243Go-Offcommand243GoToCue116,118,121,121,122GPUseegraphicsprocessingunitgraphicEQthroughaudioeffects87graphicsexpansiondevices171;cornerpincontrol176;maskimage175–6;multi-displaysetup174–5;origin

controlsettings176;plug-and-playmethod172–3;settingwithQLab172graphicsexpansionhardware151graphicsprocessingunit(GPU)166,167–8GraphicsToolsforXcode220GreyComponentRemoval212–13,213GroupCues112,113,115,115,116,123;insertingandediting128–30;project131–3;settings30,30;

understanding127–8;workspacefunction130–1

Hhalftone212–13,213HANAstandardseeHigh-DefinitionAudio-VideoAlliancestandardharddrive/datastorage162–3harddrivedisk(HDD)163,163hardwareconsiderations161;bottleneckdilemma162;codecsandcompression166–7;datapath162,162–3;

externalstorage164;GPU166,167–8;HDD163,163;multi-coreprocessors165–6;multipleinternaldrives164–5;output168;processorspeed166;QLabvideoCPUusage166;SSD163,164;vRAM167

HatchedScreen211HDDseeharddrivediskHDMIseeHigh-DefinitionMultimediaInterfaceheadphonejack2,7hi-definitiontelevisions142hi-definitionvideo162hidingGroupCuecontents131,131High-DefinitionAudio-VideoAlliance(HANA)standard145High-DefinitionMultimediaInterface(HDMI)142,142high-lumens147holedistortion216,217horsepower11host227

hotkeys19HotkeyTrigger62–3,124HSLMode208hueangle198

IIEEE1394144–5iMac165ImagePalette203infiniteloopbutton68inputandoutput(I/O)patch77inputs:forAudioCue20,22;signalflow4–5;source3–4InspectorPanel54,128–30;AudioEffectstab99,99;AudioLevels,AudioTrim,andAudioEffects189;Basics

180,191–2;Basicstab94–5,94,102;CurveShape95–6,102;Display&Geometry180–3,181,192,192–3;Levelssettings97;ofMicCue83–5;MIDICues237,238;OSC253;Time&Loops187,187–9;videoeffects189–91,190,195

InspectorPanelofAudioCues:AudioEffects75,75–6;Basics61–4,62;Device&Levelspanel73,73–5;Time&LoopspanelseeTime&Loopspanel;Trim75,75

installation:multichannelsoundsystem32;software13–14instantfade104,104integratedfadeenvelope69–70,70,189intelligentlightingfixtures229IntelQuadCoreprocessors166intensityslidercontrols210interfaceconnections138,139;CAT5/CAT6145–6,146;componentvideo140–1,141;compositevideo

139–40,140;DisplayPort142–3,143;DVI141,141–2;HDMI142,142;IEEE1394144–5;MiniDisplayPortconnector143,143–4;separatevideo140,140;Thunderbolt144;USB145;VGA139,139

intermediatemultichannelsystemwithQLab8–9,9intermediatestereosystemwithQLab8,8internalaudiocard33InternetProtocol(IP)address250InversionModes208I/OpatchseeinputandoutputpatchIPaddressseeInternetProtocoladdressipMIDI236

J

JumptoCue59

K

kaleidoscope214–15keymap,workspacesettings19,19KeyPressurecommand240,240keystonecorrection150

LLANseeLocalAreaNetworksLAN/WANseelocalareaandwideareanetworkslatency79layer:inAudioCues193;inVideoCues183LCDseeLiquidCrystallineDisplayLEDseeLightEmittingDiodelevelfader,labeled43Levelscontrolpanel74,85levelsfaders21,23–4levelsmatrix98–9levelssettings97levelsslider213Levelstab97,97,102–3licenseforQLab12–13,14;adding14LightEmittingDiode(LED)147,148LightenModes207lighting:accessories229;controller228;controlsystems228,230–1,231;instruments229LinearTimecode(LTC)254LineScreen211LiquidCrystallineDisplay(LCD)147,148Loadcommand243LoadCue116–17,117,118LoadCue’sInspectorPanel117“loadedcue”status117,117LoadtoTimeMenu59LoadtoTimePanel53,53localareaandwideareanetworks(LAN/WAN)249LocalAreaNetworks(LAN)145,146,227localhost251loops:vampinganAudioCuewith119–20;VideoCue187,188low-passfiltersettingsediting45LTCseeLinearTimecodeluma209

M

Maccomputers168MacOSXColorPicker201–3,201–4

MacPro169;features166;tower165,168magnifyingglasstool201ManualFades103–5maskimage156,175–6masterfadercontrol24MatrixMixer22,26MatroxTripleHead151MaximumComponent200mediafile:dragging56Medianeffect215,216mediaplaybackcues57MemoCue123,123messages:MIDI235,238;QLab253MicCues28,28–9,83;vs.AudioCue77;AUeffectsto85–91;buffersettings79;DefaultLevelsfor81,81–2,

84;Device&Levelstab83,84;insertingandediting83–5;settings81,82;signalflowfor77–8,78;Trimfor85;understanding77–9;inVersion31

Miceffects85–91MicFadeCues102–3MicPatch78,82Microconnectors145microphone:functionsof3MIDIseemusicalinstrumentdigitalinterfaceMIDICue47,230,234,237–8MIDIDestination237MIDIFileCue234,245,245MIDIShowControl(MSC)226,233–4,241,241–4;generalcommands242–3;messages238;soundcontrol

commands243–4MIDISysExCue244,245MIDISysExmessages238MIDISystemExclusive(MIDISysEx)234MIDITimecode(MTC)254Miniconnectors145Mini-DINS-Videoconnector140MiniDisplayPortconnector143,143–4MiniDisplayPortoutputs168MinimumComponent200MinMaxInverteffects200MinMaxModes208mixingconsole:functionsof4modeofGroupCue129,129monochromeeffect200–3,201–4motionblur209MountainLion11mountpositioncontrols156–7MSCseeMIDIShowControlMTCseeMIDITimecodeMTC_Chase_Offcommand244MTC_Chase_Oncommand244multichannelaudiofile:usage45–6

multichannelplaybacksystem:withexternalsignalprocessing8–9,9;withQLabsignalprocessing9–10,10multichannelsoundsystem31–3,32;audiopatch34–8multi-coreprocessors165–6multi-displaysetup174,174–5multipleinternaldrives164–5multi-screenoutput172multispeakersystem:withsignalprocessing6;stereoplaybacksystemand8,8Multi-Touchgestures67musicalinstrumentdigitalinterface(MIDI)13,226,234,250;basics233;controls19,234,234;

keyboards/sequencers228;QLaband234–7;trigger62,63;voicemessages238–41“Musical”MIDIControls235

Nnamingcueoutputs38navigationkeys58NET3ShowControlGateway231,231network227;options252node227NoiseReductioneffect215–16non-destructiveprocess66NoteOffcommand239NoteOncommand239,239Notespanel51;GroupCue130–1,131NTSCcolorvideo254

O

1/8"connectormethod161/8"headphonejack16opacity:inAudioCues193;inVideoCues183Open_Cue_Listcommand244Open_Cue_Pathcommand244OpenSoundControl(OSC)226;commanddrop-downmenu251–2,252;cues249,251–2;definition249;and

MIDIcontrols19;parameter-changecommands252;settings247–9,248,249;tabcontrols251openstandard226optileeffect219organization15–16;GroupCue127origincontrol159;settings176OSCseeOpenSoundControlOSCCue230OSXtechnologies220outputdevices146;digitalprojectors147;flatpaneldisplays148;signalflow4–5

P

Palettepicker201–2,202panicduration:setting18panning:viaFadeCue109–11parallelogramtileeffect219pastefadeshapebutton113pasteintegratedfadeshape59pastelevels59PauseCue115–16perspectivetileeffect219physicalconnection16pincheffect216–17PitchBendChangecommand241,241pixel138pixelationeffect211,211“platter”diskdrive163playbackposition:icon48–50;inQLab18playbackrate189;manipulating72–3playbacksystems2–3,5;advancedmultichannel9–10,10;components3–4;configurations7–8;multichannel

8–9,9;QLab6;signalflow5,6playcount68plug-and-playmethod172–3Pointillizeeffect213point-to-pointinterface227posterizationeffect213,214Post-Wait30;column49,50preferenceswindow79,79“Pre-showmusic,”GroupCue130PreviewCue67,187Pre-Wait30;column49,50,108ProAudio13ProBundle13processorspeed166ProgramChange:commandwindow239,239;messages235projectionmapping150projectionscontrolsystems229,231projectororientation176projects,GroupCue131–3ProVideo13

Q

QLab3specifications11–12QLabcommands47,235QLablicensing12–13,14

QLabparameters239QLabplaybacksystem6QLabsoftwaresignalflow19,20QLabvideoCPUusage166QLabworkspace50–6,51quadtiles219QuartzComposer191,220;integration195

Rradius,slider210RAIDsseeredundantarrayofindependentdisksRAMseerandom-accessmemoryRAMDACseerandomaccessmemorydigital-to-analogconverterrandom-accessmemory(RAM)165randomaccessmemorydigital-to-analogconverter(RAMDAC)167Ratebutton70RCAplugs140,141recommendedsystemrequirements12recordingsystems1,2redundantarrayofindependentdisks(RAIDs)136redxicon48Reel-To-ReelMalfunction101–2reflectedtiles219reinforcementsystem1,2,5;components3–4;signalflow5,6relativefade97–8,98RenumberSelectedCues59Resetcommand243resetcornerpinsbutton157ResetCue118,118resetshuttersbutton157ResettoDefaultShapebutton97resolution,video138Restorecommand243Resumecommand242rotatedtiles219–20rotation183router:networkingvia252ruleofthumb2

S

SATAconnectionseeserialATAconnectionsaturation198scale182–3

screen211–12,212screensassignedpanel157ScriptCue124,124–5scriptinglanguage:AppleScript124S-curve95“self-powered”speakers4SeparateVideo(S-Video)140sepiaeffect200SepiaMonochromeeffect200–3,200–4Sequencecommand243–4serialATA(SATA)connection163SetAllSilentbutton99SetAudioEffectsfromTargetbutton100Set_Clockcommand244Setcommand243SetfromTargetbutton99,103settingsscreen:forcamera159,160;forvideo154settingstab,MIDICues237,238sharpeneffects190sharpenluminanceeffect209,209sharpnessslider209,212Showbutton54showcontrolsystems146;considerations231–2;description225,227;entertainmentcontrolsystems227–30;

lightingcontrolsystems230–1,231;standards225–6ShowMode123shutters155,156signalflow:assigning44;audio19–21;input/output4–5;forMicCues77–8,78signalprocessing:advancedmultichannelplaybacksystemwith9–10,10;multichannelplaybacksystem

with8–9,9;multispeakersystemwith6signalprocessors:functionsof4silenttoggles25single-screensurfaces:creating157–9;editing154–9slices67,68–9;adding72;VideoCue188sliders201,202SMDseeSurfaceMountedDevicesSocietyofMotionPictureandTelevisionEngineers(SMPTE)253software:installing13–14solidstatedrive(SSD)163,164SonyVegasPro136soundboardseemixingconsolesoundcard9soundcontrolsystems,QLab227–8,230;addingcues56;cuesandcuestructure47–50;navigationandview

quickkeys58;targetsforcues57–8;Toolsmenu59;Windowmenu60;workspace50–6soundmixers31,228soundsystems:audiopatches34–8;categories1;externalaudiodevices33;multichannel31–3;volumelevels

38–41SourceAtop208SourceMode208SourceOut208

SourceOver208speaker:functionsof4SSDseesolidstatedrivestandardMIDIfiles(SMF)236–7standards225–6standardUSBType-Aconnector145Standbycommand243StandbyWindow51Start_Clockcommand244StartCue115–16starttimepanel67stereoplaybacksystem:configurations7,7–8;andmultiplespeakers8,8“sticky”parameters118Stop_Clockcommand244Stopcommand242StopCue115–16StopTargetWhenDonecheckbox97,100,102subwoofers4SurfaceMountedDevices(SMD)148surfacepatch,editing154–7,155S-VideoseeSeparateVideoS-Videoconnector140,140SXGAresolution172Synctab64,64Syphonoutput158SysExmessages,MIDI238systemconfigurations7–10

TTargetCue121,121,122textcolor206textureeffects190,211–16throw147Thunderbolt144tiles:videoeffects218–20Timecode228,229,253–4;triggeringcuesfrom254–5TimecodeCue228,255TimecodeSettings254Timecodetrigger63–4,64,255TimecodeWindow60,60Timed-Gocommand242–3timedisplaymodes50TimeElapsed50Time&Loopspanel64,64;controlfunctionof70–1;PreviewCuebutton67;times,loops,andslices67,67–9;

forVideoCues187,187–9;waveformdisplay65,65–6,66;waveformzoom66–7TimeRemaining50

times,VideoCue187,188time-testedmodel47titleeffect190,191;videoeffects204–8,205“toggleintegratedfadeenvelope”button70Toolbox56;Cue52–3,53Toolsmenu59torus/lensdistortion217,217transducer4translation182triggering,VideoCue180Trim114;AudioCues75,75;forMicCue85TripleHead2Go:graphicsexpansionmodules171Triple-wide(2/3)screen174,175tweeters4twirl217–18

UUnderColorRemoval212–13,213UnitedStatesInstituteforTheatreTechnology(USITT)233–4UniversalSerialBus(USB)145;Type-Aconnector145unsharpmask210,210USBseeUniversalSerialBus“UsePasscode”checkbox250

V

vamping118;anAudioCuewithloops119–20;anAudioCuewithslices120–1VGAseeVideoGraphicsArrayvideocard167,168–9videocontrolsystems231VideoCues149;fadecontrolsfor184–5;inserting179–80;InspectorPanelseeInspectorPanelvideo-editingtool150videoeffects:BlendMode206,206–8;blur/sharpen208–10,209,210;inCameraCue195;colorcontrols

197–8,198;description197;distortioneffects216–18;exposure198–9,199;fontsizeandplacement205–6;MinMaxInverteffects200;projects220–3,223;texturesandedgeeffects211–16;tiles218–20;titlecontentandfont205;inVideoCues189–91,190;whitepoint204

videofiles162;compression166–7VideoGraphicsArray(VGA)140,140,169videogrid155,156videomappingseeprojectionmappingvideooutputdevices146videoplaybacksoftware229videoplaybacksystem136

videopreference:surfacepatch,editing154–7,155;workspacesettings153–4,154videoprojectorsseedigitalprojectorsvideoRAM(vRAM)167videoreinforcementsystem137videoservers229videosignalflow:assignedscreens151;audio151;outputdevice151;video/imagefile/videofeed149;video

surfacepatch149–51videostage181videosurface:inCameraCue192;conceptof149;inVideoCue181–2videosurfacepatch149videosystems229;cableruns169–71;components137–49;editing135–6;graphicsexpansiondevicessee

graphicsexpansiondevices;hardwareconsiderationsseehardwareconsiderations;interfaceconnectionsseeinterfaceconnections;playbacksystem136;reinforcementsystem137;signalamplifiersandbaluns171;typesofconnectors169;videocardconsiderations167,168–9

videowall148viewquickkeys58virtualscreen175VisibleChannelswindow:AudioCues74;MicCues84–5voicemessages,MIDI238–41volumelimits21,27–8,27vortex217–18vRAMseevideoRAM

WWaitCue123,123;setting30,30wallclocktrigger63WANseeWideAreaNetworksWarningspanel54waveformdisplay65,65–6,66,187waveformzoom66–7whitepoint204WideAreaNetworks(WAN)145width212Windowmenu60wireless:networking252wirelesscomputer-to-computernetwork252WirelessLocalAreaNetworks(WLAN)227workspace50–6,51;completed108,111;function,GroupCue130–1;searching58workspacesettings16,17;audiosettings21–6;audiosignalflow19–21;EditPatch26;FadeCues29,29;

generalsettings17–18,18;keymap19,19;MicCues28,28–9;MIDI234–7;volumelimits27,27–8;WaitCue30,30

X

Xcode220

Y“yipper”cable140–1

Z

Zero_Clockcommand244Zero-countFadeCue104–5zoomblur210,210