Run Screen Ribbon Bar

Cue Control

Go!

The Go button is used to start the next cue. Alternatively you can right-click the mouse to start the next cue, or use a keyboard key such as the space bar to start the cue. To disable or change keyboard activation see Key Mapping. The "next cue" is the "next manual-start cue" because auto-start cues do not need to started by the Go button. The label of the cue to be started is displayed in the button caption.

Pause All
Resume All

This can be regarded as an alternative to Stop All (described below). The difference is that whereas Stop All stops and resets running cues, Pause All will just pause all running cues and countdowns, and Resume All may then be used to resume those cues and countdowns. A single button is used, initially labelled Pause All. If the button is clicked the label is changed to Resume All. Note that in either mode the button can be keyboard-activated by Alt/u.

Stop All

This is the panic button, although you will usually use the keyboard equivalent, which is the Esc (Escape) key. Stop All causes all currently running cues to be stopped immediately (not faded out), and if any cue is currently counting down to a start that count down is stopped. The cue list is then repositioned at the start of the first cue that was stopped by Stop All. The usual situation where you would use this is where you accidentally start a cue before time. If you then hit Esc the cue will stop immediately and the cue list will be reset ready for you to play the cue at the right time!

Navigate

Navigate can be used to navigate around the cue list. The button has a drop-down menu which contains Go To Top (go to the top of the cue list), Go Back (go back to the previous manual-start cue), Go To Next (go to the next manual-start cue), and Go To End (go to the end of the cue list). Note that instead of using the Navigate button you can just click in the cue list on the cue you want to go to.

Standby

The Standby button is only displayed if at least one cue in your current cue file has a 'Set Standby' property. When that cue has completed it is reset to 'Ready' and the Standby button is enabled and the cue number is shown in the button caption. That cue may then be replayed by clicking on the Standby button, regardless of how much further thru the cue list you have progressed. See Standby Cues for details.

Select Time Profile

TheSelect Time Profile button is only displayed if at least one cue in your current cue file is a time-based cue, ie it is set up to be started at a nominated time of day. For time-based cues you may have different Time Profiles, such as 'Evening' and 'Matinee'. One of these Time Profiles will be set as the default Time Profile, ie the one initially selected when the cue file is opened. However, using the Select Time Profile button you can switch to a different Time Profile. See Time-Based Cues for details.

File

New

The New button is for creating a new cue file. If there are unsaved changes in your current cue file then you will be asked if you want to save those changes. After selecting New you should then click the Editor button so you can build your new cue file.

Open

The Open button is for opening an existing cue file. Note that the button has a small down-arrow displayed, so shows a drop-down menu which includes recent files. If there are unsaved changes in your current cue file then you will be asked if you want to save those changes.

Save

The Save button shows a drop-down menu enabling you to Save current changes or Save As a new cue file.

The Print button opens the SCS Print dialog to enable you to print a hard copy of your cue list. See Printing the Cue List for details.

Options

Display Options

Display Options allow you to select what you want displayed, and how you want it displayed, within the scope of the options provided. Your Display Options are saved in the Windows Registry (current user) and are therefore remembered between sessions They are global - ie they are not specific to any cue file. This also means that Display Options are not saved in the cue file and will therefore not be transferred to another computer if you copy your cue file to another computer.

The Display Options button has the following items on a drop-down menu:

Colors displays a drop-down menu from which you can open the Color Scheme Designer window or choose an existing color scheme. In the Color Scheme Designer you can set up your own colors for different cue types and various other attributes. There are two supplied schemes: SCS Default and SCS Dark. The Default scheme is what you see if you do not select any other scheme. The Dark scheme is designed for use in live productions when you want to effectively dim the output from your monitor. (Dark scheme designed by Dee Ireland.)

Cue List Font Size provides several font sizes so you can select a font size that suits your display and environment.

Cue List Columns enables you to select which columns you want to display in the cue list. You can change the order of the columns by clicking and dragging a column header in the cue list itself. To change the width of an individual column, click and drag the column header divider between the column and the next column to the right. Other column width options are available in this Cue List Columns drop-down menu,

Cue Panel Height: If you have a large screen (eg 22") you may want to reduce the height of the cue panels. You can select sizes between 75% and 120% of the default height.

VU / Frequency / Wave Display enables you to select what you want displayed in the "VU" meters area to the right of the ribbon bar.

Show Sub-Cues in Cue Panels is an option menu item, ie it will display a check mark to the left if the option is 'selected'. By default, this option is 'selected', which means that for cues with multiple sub-cues, each sub-cue will be displayed in the cue panels in the lower part of the Run Screen. If you de-select this option then only one sub-cue (the first sub-cue) will be displayed for each cue.

Show Hidden Auto-Start Cues in Cue Panels is 'clear' by default. If 'clear' then auto-start cues you have chosen to be hidden in the Main Window will not be displayed in the cue panels either. If you select this option then these cues will be displayed in the cue panels.

Show Hot Key List is 'selected' by default, which means that if your current cue file has at least one hot key cue, then a list of the hot keys will be displayed to the right of the cue panels in the Run Screen.

Show Hot Key Cues in Cue Panels is 'selected' by default, which means that when a Hot Key cue is playing then it will be displayed in the cue panels. If you de-select this option then Hot Key cues will never be displayed in the cue panels.

Show Ribbon Bar is 'selected' by default. The purpose of this option is to enable you to hide the ribbon bar, replacing it with menu options. This could be useful if you have an operator who just needs to run the cues using the keyboard and possibly the mouse. All the functionality of the ribbon bar buttons is provided through the menu items, but they are not so visible and obvious, which makes for safer usage during production runs. As well as hiding the ribbon bar buttons, this option also hides the meter display. However, the Next Manual Cue and Master Fader control remain displayed.

To reinstate the Ribbon Bar when not displayed, select the menu item Options / Display Options / Show Ribbon Bar.

Show Next Manual Cue is 'selected' by default. If 'selected', the Next Manual Cue is displayed below the Ribbon Bar. If you de-select this option then the Next Manual Cue information is hidden.

Show Master Fader is 'selected' by default. If 'selected', the Master Fader is displayed. If you de-select this option then the Master Fader is hidden, and the keyboard commands for Master Fader Up, Down, Reset and Mute are also disabled. The reason for disabling the keyboard commands is that the purpose of hiding the Master Fader is to prevent the operator making changes to the Master Fader, so the corresponding keyboard commands should also be prevented.

General Options

There are two items in the General Options drop-down menu: Permanent Options and Session Options.

Permanent Options will open an options window - see Permanent Options for details. These options are saved in the Windows Registry, just like the Display Options.

Session Options are not saved anywhere - they only apply to the current session. Individual session options are only enabled if applicable, and include:

Display the ASIO Control Panel: This will display your ASIO driver's control panel.

MIDI Control / MIDI Send Enabled: This enables you to temporarily disable MIDI In and MIDI Out. If you have MIDI In, Out or Thru ports assigned then this menu item will by default be displayed with a check mark, indicating that MIDI Control and MIDI Send are enabled. If you are using MIDI control of cues or Control Send cues then there may be occasions during rehearsals or cue design that you want to disable those MIDI features This can be done by clicking this menu item to turn off the check mark, which then indicates that MIDI Control and MIDI Send are disabled. Click the menu item again to re-enable MIDI Control and MIDI Send.

When MIDI is disabled then any MIDI messages received by SCS will be ignored. Control Send Cues will briefly display the message "MIDI message NOT SENT - MIDI currently disabled" on the status line at the bottom of the screen, and the cue will 'complete' as normal, even though no MIDI message was sent.

If you have selected both a MIDI In port and a MIDI Thru port then incoming MIDI messages will be passed to the MIDI Thru port whether or not MIDI is enabled. This ensures that other devices expecting MIDI messages on a connection daisy chained through your SCS computer will not be affected if you disable MIDI in SCS.

Tip: There is a key difference between Display Options and General Options. Display Options affects how the SCS Run Screen is displayed; General Options affects how SCS behaves, eg what MIDI port to use for MIDI control of cues. The Lock Editing button (described later) can be used to lock not just the Editor but also General Options, so if you hand over the running of cues to another operator then you can lock them out of General Options as well as the Editor.

Editing

Editor

Click the Editor button to open the SCS Editor Window. This is for setting up or changing cue details, production details, importing or exporting cues, etc. You can switch back to the Run Screen any time you wish - you do not have to close the Editor to do this. Note that the Editor can be locked, which is useful when you have finalized your cue file and want to prevent operators making changes.

Device Mapper

The Device Mapper is where you 'map' physical devices to logical devices, ie it is where you select the physical outputs to be used for the devices you have defined in your Production Properties. For example, you may want front and rear speakers for your production, with the ability to send different sounds to front and rear. To achieve this you could set up two devices in your Production Properties, named 'Front' and 'Rear', or whatever you want to call them. In the Device Mapper you will select the actual output(s) to be mapped to the 'Front' device, eg UA101 Outputs 1-2, and the output(s) to be mapped to the 'Rear' device, eg UA101 Output 3.

Device Maps are kept on each computer, so if your cue design computer has different audio hardware to your production computer, that is not a problem. On your design computer you will map 'Front' and 'Rear' to the outputs you have available on the design computer, and on your production computer you will map 'Front' and 'Rear' to outputs available on the production computer.

Save Settings

Save Settings is enabled if you manually change the level or pan of a cue, or if you adjust the Master Fader. A drop-down menu is displayed. The first two entries refer to the Master Fader, and are:
Reset Master Fader Setting
Save Master Fader Setting

If you have manually change the level or pan of any cues, you will see a menu item for each one, eg:
Save Level/Pan Q1
Save Level/Pan Q4

Clicking one of the above menu items immediately applies that change in the cue file. This list will handle saves to the level and pan settings for up to 20 cues - after that the oldest one gets rolled off the list.

If there are two or more cues in the Save Settings list then you can save all the Level/Pan settings by clicking on:
Save Level/Pan for all above Cues.

Please note that if a Level Change cue has affected an Audio or Video cue, then 'Save Settings' will not be available for manual changes to that Audio or Video cue.

Lock Editing

This button opens a dialog window that enables you to lock the Editor, Device Mapper, Save Settings and General Options. The facility is password-controlled, using a 'Sound Designer Password'. If you have not yet specified a 'Sound Designer Password', or if you have forgotten the password, then you can click on a link to open a window to enter a new password. That window requires you to enter your SCS Authorization String to confirm the authenticity of the request.

When the lock is in place, the caption on the button is changed to Unlock Editing. This action is also, of course, password-controlled.

Help

This button displays the following menu items:

Help Contents displays this file.

Clear "Don't tell me this again..." indicators: Certain operations give you a warning or information message that you do not want to see every time you perform that operation. Such messages have a "Don't tell me this again" checkbox. Clearing the indicators means these warning and information messages will again be displayed when appropriate.

Registration (not available in the demo version) opens the SCS Registration window. If you have upgraded your license (eg from Standard to Professional) this is where you will enter your new Authorization String.

About... displays version and copyright info, as well as who this version of SCS is licensed to.