Q-SYS Corner

[Steve Guttag]

Let's get this started up on the new site. And with the new year there is a new Q-SYS Level-1 Training for Cinema. On my first glance, I noted that it is essentially the same course but they have edited in cinema specific information like the special "switch" on the command to start Designer for cinema, the inclusion of the DCIO(-H) as a peripheral and, most importantly, the "test" is now VERY cinema specific rather than have us cinema guys/gals worry about designed the next awesome Video Teleconferencing suite.

https://training.qsc.com/mod/book/view.php?id=871

[Bruce Cloutier]

I agree, really only the first video mentions Cinema and probably the only point it makes is the addition of the "/cinema" option to the command line. The remainder of the videos are not cinema-centric and there is no mention of integrating specific equipment from our industry be that a media server, projector, JNIOR or what have you. I need to find some resources to pull together training videos like this on our end (at INTEG).

Oh... there is a Cinema pink noise generator mentioned in the Testing videos.

[Steve Guttag]

Designer 8.2.1 has been released.

[Steve Guttag]

The DCIO (H) is one of the key elements in the Q-SYS Ecosystem that allows Q-SYS to fit into most any cinema sound application.



On the face, it has a "Fader" type level control as well as a mute button. Those are configurable in Designer to work with any part of the design. They could be for the main fader/mute or for the booth monitor or anything else desired. They could even be switched via the design to do multitasking.

There is also status via the screen but that is not configurable (at this time, at least)...it can show the status of the GPIO, signal activity...etc.

In a typical Q-SYS system one creates UCIs (User Control Interfaces) and these are often displayed/controlled via QSC proprietary touchpanels (available in several sizes). It is also possible to create UCIs that are targeted to iOS devices via a free download app but that does require, in a cinema, for the managers to have their phones or iPAD on the a network that both has access to the Q-SYS environment and the internet (presuming the user wants to still be connected to the internet) and this may present some security risks. There is a UCI-Viewer app for Windows machines that also can allow full control by merely being on the network. Starting in Designer 8, one can now create WEB-UCIs, which is where I think the future is heading since that removes the operating system and device itself as a condition of use. You'll still need to cater to the various size device as a layout for a Tablet may be crazy small on someone's phone.

While all of this flexibility is great, I suspect in a multiplex cinema environment, most people will not want to have touchscreens at each cinema as that can add quite a bit of $$$ to the system when, in most cases, there is nobody there to use/access the touchscreen.

However, if there IS a problem, it is natural for the theatre employee/manager to go to the theatre experiencing the problem and may want to verify that the sound system is in the correct format, select the correct format if the cue either was omitted or failed to take and check the sound. I'm thinking that it would be good if there was a minimalist "Control Panel" to mate up with the DCIO (H) to allow quick troubleshooting or control for use in multiplex cinemas or cinemas where little to no manual operation takes place.

The DCIO has six (6) GPIs and (4) Relay outputs. These are all completely user configurable. For instance you could have up to 6 momentary switches to select formats (e.g. 5.1 DCP, Non-Sync, Microphone...etc.) or you could be clever with some diodes and create a binary system so you have up to 2⁶ or 64 formats! Or any combination. I think for most typical cinemas, nothing too clever is needed as most shows can be broken down to 2-4 formats, leaving the remaining GPI for something like a booth monitor on/off and/or ramp volume though for quick troubleshooting, the volume could be preset to what is suitable. The relay outputs, if not used for controlling something like a dimmer, could drive status LEDs to determine what format is selected. Again, thinking for a quick troubleshooting device.

For those using Q-SYS (or thinking about using it), what interest would there be in having a basic panel that might have some switches and LEDs on it, perhaps build in a monitor speaker as well (The DCIO has a 10W monitor amplifier as well as a line output). I'm already talking to one manufacturer about coming up with such a thing but I'm wondering how much desire there is for it.

[Sean McKinnon]

I think it would be great. I've had a similar discussion with QSC about either creating a seperate device with buttons or adding a version of the DCIO-H with "format" buttons.

[Steve Guttag]

Yeah...buttons, another knob (booth monitor) and let us be able to issue status/text to the display.

[Steve Guttag]

QSC has added another set of training videos with the roll out of their Q-SYS Reflect cloud based monitoring. So, if you have your Q-SYS system connected as an automation and talking to your various devices (projectors, servers, lights...etc), you could use Q-SYS Reflect to monitor the status of those devices too.

https://training.qsc.com/course/view.php?id=75

[Steve Guttag]

Designer 8.2.2 is now available for download.
Q-SYS 8.2.2


This topic covers release information for Q-SYS 8.2 and any maintenance releases.

For a list of known issues affecting this release, see the Known Issues page. (Online only)

What's New in 8.2.2

Version 8.2.2 is a maintenance release of the Q-SYS platform. It primarily includes fixes to issues affecting version 8.2.1 and lower. Resolved Known Issues

• System: An issue that caused unnecessary system resource consumption through repeated design deployments has been resolved resulting in improved stability for large or complex systems.
• System: An issue where Core Manager could become unresponsive on systems with a very large number of inventory items has been resolved.
• System: An issue that could cause a design to stop running due to excessive event log writes has been resolved.
• Control: With redundant Q-SYS Core processors, scripted TCP socket connections now remain open only on the Active Core.
• Video: When powering off an NV-32-H (Decoder) that is receiving a multicast AV stream from an NV-32-H (Encoder), the Encoder now properly stops streaming to that Decoder.
• Q-SYS Designer: Performance is improved when copying multiple controls at once from the schematic into a User Control Interface.
• User Control Interfaces: If a design contains a very large number of User Control Interfaces or UCI Viewer instances, they now appear as expected in the iOS app and browser-based UCI viewer in Q-SYS Core Manager.

Other Updates


The DCIO-H (Digital Cinema Input/Output for Q-SYS) is now available to all users of Q-SYS Designer software. Formerly available only in Cinema-specific installations of Q-SYS Designer, the DCIO-H can be found in the Inventory menu within the Peripherals > Audio I/O category. For more information, see DCIO / DCIO-H.

[Steve Guttag]

Q-SYS 8.3.0 is out. The big new feature is software based Dante (at least in the CORE110) for those that may have a mixed A/V environment as well as bug fixes, particularly on the Web-UCI. Reflect-Enterprise got some work too.

8.3.0Improvements.JPG

[Leo Enticknap]

I've done a modification of Jay Wyatt's CP850 block control component (retrieves the selected format, fader level and mute status, then displays them in indicator fields that can be dropped into a UCI as desired) for the CP650, and (with Jay's permission), am happy to give it to anyone who might find it useful. I can't attach it here, as it won't let me upload .quc files, but if anyone would like it, please send me a PM with your email address.

Anyone using it will need to make some tweaks: because the CP650 will only return the front panel button number that is active or a Dolby format number, I've included blocks to create another string, containing a user friendly name for display (e.g. "05 - Dolby SR" instead of just a digit). Given that the front panel buttons can be user configured to recall different formats, these names will have to be edited to reflect the actual CP650 that the component is being used with. But other than that, it's good to go. It'll work with either an IP or serial connection, but if the latter, only a serial connection direct from the core (at least, I haven't been able to figure out how to get it to use a serial connection from an IOFrame or DCIO).

[Steve Guttag]

There shouldn't be a trick to using a DCIO's serial connection
Screen Shot 2020-04-15 at 8.54.41 PM.png

[Leo Enticknap]

From a command button component, no problem - you can pass the output to whatever serial component you like. From a block controller script, however, it only gives you one choice for a serial connection:

block_ctrl_serial.jpg
Which is the RS232 interface on the back of the core.

[Steve Guttag]

Something's not right there. Can you send me the user component?

I just tried it on one of mine (a "Cinema Fader" module done in the Block Editor). Once I added a serial connection, I got the normal Serial icon on the block controller component that I could "wire" to the DCIO's serial component
Screen Shot 2020-04-16 at 12.14.50 AM.png

[Elia Orselli]

Just received this email from QSC:

Our records show that you recently downloaded Q-SYS Designer Software v8.3.

We have discovered an issue with the recent release of Q-SYS Designer Software v8.3. We have determined that these issues need to be resolved and will release v8.3.1 in the coming days.

If you have already downloaded v8.3, we suggest that you refrain from using it on a system install.

And the website says:

IMPORTANT: QSC is aware of an issue affecting Q-SYS version 8.3.0 that can cause certain Core configuration parameters to reset when upgrading, including user access control and some network services settings. We anticipate releasing v8.3.1 to address these issues in the coming days.

[Steve Guttag]

Thanks for this important bit of information!