This page last modified: 19 Jan 2009 01:45:55 PM.
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SoundMan Cue
The SoundMan Cue allows you to issue commands to a SoundMan-Server (SM-S). The SoundMan-Server is a separate product from Richmond Sound Design.
Using the SoundMan Cue allows you to build and execute a series of SM-S commands quickly and reliably. The SM-S commands in a QLab workspace are sent via a TCP/IP connection to a network connected SoundMan-Server.
The goal of the SoundMan Cue is to make it easy for you to build and trigger SoundMan-Server commands. As such, the cue is intended to correlate very directly to the SoundMan-Server command protocol. You are expected to have a basic understanding of the SoundMan-Server protocol. The SoundMan Cue provides extensive shortcuts for crafting SM-S commands, and integrated documentation to remind you of the many powerful SM-S options, but if you are completely unfamiliar with the underlying SM-S protocol it will be difficult to use the cue effectively.
SoundMan Cue Subtopics:
A SoundMan Cue in "normal" mode.
The SoundMan Cue provides two modes: "Normal" and "Raw". Normal mode guides you in quickly constructing SM-S commands. Raw mode allows you to enter a raw line of text to send to the server.
A SoundMan Cue in "raw" mode.
The command menus allow you to select SM-S commands. The command is split into a general type (e.g. SET, GET, etc) and an additional sub-type (e.g. SET GAIN, SET EQ, etc.)
Many commands allow (or require) you to specify more parameters than just the type and sub-type. These parameters may be entered in the "Parameters" text box.
Because the SoundMan-Server provides an extensive set of commands, QLab provides an integrated help system to provide reminders about all the possible parameters for a given command. You can display this reference material by pressing the Help Button next to the parameters text box.
Integrated reference material for all supported SoundMan commands.
The channels interface varies depending on the command type. Some commands accept no channels, some accept only playback channels, and some accept a full matrix of both playback and input channels.
When using the full matrix interface you simply click on each channel you wish to use for the command. Selected channels are shown in yellow. The matrix interface expands with the size of the inspector, so you can enlarge the workspace window to access more channels.
A command that uses only playback channels.
A command that uses a full matrix of either playback or input channels.
The SoundMan Server Log is a console log for all SM-S activity. Every message sent to the SoundMan-Server and every response received are displayed in this log.
The log window is accessible by pressing the "Show Server Log" button in the Settings tab of the inspector. It is also accessible by selecting a SoundMan cue in your workspace and going to "Tools" → "SoundMan Server Log".
The server log window includes a text field labeled "Send Raw Command". You can manually send commands to the SoundMan-Server by entering text into this field and pressing "return". This is a shortcut for experimenting with commands without constructing actual cues.
To use a SoundMan Cue you must first set up your network connection information in the SoundMan preferences. Enter the network address of the SoundMan-Server and the port on which it listens.
Take a few minutes to review the SoundMan-Server protocol, available here:
The SoundMan Cue is designed to make it easy to build SM-S commands, but assumes that you have a basic understanding of how those commands work. In particular, reviewing the SM-S protocol documentation will allow you to understand how to provide channel lists and command values in the SoundMan Cue settings tab.
Each cue is intended to represent one SoundMan-Server command.
This means, for example, that you may only assign one file track per cue. Trying to enter multiple file paths into a single cue will produce an invalid SoundMan-Server command.
One of the most helpful tips for using the SoundMan Cue is to remember to use the SET TRACK PATH command.
The TRACK PATH is intended to let you tell a playback channel where to expect playback files. Once a TRACK PATH has been set on a SoundMan-Server channel, you only have to specify a file name without any leading path.
If you set a TRACK PATH but then still provide a full path in your cue, it will override the TRACK PATH variable for that channel; that is, the TRACK PATH will be ignored and unchanged, and the file will be accessed using the full path you have provided. But if you provide a relative path, the TRACK PATH you previously set will be prepended with an intervening \ character.
For example, using raw SoundMan-Server commands to illustrate:
SET CHAN P0-P15 TRACK PATH "C:\AUDIO FILES\MY SHOW";
SET CHAN P0 TRACK FILE "SOUND 1.WAV";
SET CHAN P2 TRACK FILE "SOUND 2.WAV"
SET CHAN P5 TRACK FILE "C:\OTHER DIRECTORY\SPECIAL FILE.WAV";
All channels 0-15 are set to a common place to look for sound files.
Channels P0 and P2 will open files that are in the common "
C:\AUDIO FILES\MY SHOW" directory. Specifically, P0 will open "C:\AUDIO FILES\MY SHOW\SOUND 1.WAV". Channel P5 will ignore the TRACK PATH setting and open a file from some other directory. After doing this you could then do
SET CHAN P5 TRACK FILE "TRACK 5.WAV";
and it would open the file in the common directory, since the path is remembered even though it wasn't used in the previous usage.
Note that you can also use subdirectories. The following are valid relative paths:
"sound 1.wav"
"act 1\sound 1.wav"
"Wrath Of Grapes\Act One\Road Noises.wav"
All of those relative paths would be appended to a setting of the TRACK PATH variable for a given playback channel.
What is a relative path and what is an absolute path? If the first character of the file name is "\" it is an absolute path. If the second character of the file name is ":" (as in "C:") it is also an absolute path. Otherwise it is a relative path. Generally relative paths will start with an alphabetic character, and won't have a colon as the second character.
QLab does not currently perform a "sanity check" to determine whether your commands make sense with the output device connected to SoundMan-Server. If you create cues that refer to invalid channels the SoundMan-Server will ignore the entire command. Although the SoundMan Server Log will show an error response, the SoundMan-Server will not be in the state you intended, and subsequent commands may produce unexpected results.
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This documentation is also available as a PDF document or within QLab under the Help menu.