Creating Cue Sequences for live playback (BPM Synced)

Sol_Barnes

Sol_Barnes

Member
Hi,
Hoping some one might be able to help with this one.

I am trying to create some short sequences of cues that I can trigger during live playback, these must be set to the BPM.
Let say I have 4 cues that I want to play back as a sequence based on BPM.

Quick Capture Sequence lets me do this, but doesn't really give me the control I want.
I can create a sequence that changes cue every set number of beats. But I can't add transitions or change the amount of beats between cues within the sequence.

Time line allows me to create nice sequences with lots of effects, But I can't figure out a way to keep the playback speed in time with the BPM.
I can create a Sequence of bmp synced cue's, I can adjust duration of each cue and add transitions. But it appears that the 'duration' of each cue in the sequence is set to time not the BMP clock, meaning the playback only looks right if the current BPM is the same as the BPM that was used to create the sequence.

I think what I am looking for is a way to change the timeline so that duration is in Beats instead of seconds.
That way I could crate a sequence that is a total of 32 beats long with 4 cues. that would always play back in sync with the BPM clock.

Is this possible?
Or is there a different way of achieving this?

Many Thanks
Sol
 
Hi, Sol_Barnes!
In Grid mode, you can use the Transition section on the Dynamics tab.
Here you can select the type of transition and its duration.
upload_2020-6-8_1-12-11.png

In Timeline mode you can either set a specific BPM or "Follow System BPM" and measure time "in seconds" or "in BPM" (in Show properties).
upload_2020-6-8_1-17-2.png
 
Hi Igor,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my query.
Unfortunately this does not address what I am trying to achieve.

Re Dynamics tab.
If I use the 'Quick Capture' in sequence mode to create a short sequence of cues, transitions are not applied.

Re Timeline
If I create a sequence of cue's in the time line.
  • Say 4 beats Cue 1, 4 Beats Cue 2.
  • Then save this to the grid so I can trigger this playback on the fly.
  • When I change the system BPM the cue does not keep in sync with the BPM as desired.
So for example.
  • Lets say I have a cue with a simple zoom ping pong effect that set to the system BPM so that it completes 1 oscillation per beat.
  • I want this cue to play for 4 beats, before moving to the second cue.
  • I can create this in timeline mode and save it into the grid as a cue.
  • But if the BPM changes during the live show, when I trigger the timeline cue it will no longer play for 4 repetitions.
  • Lets take an extreme example of the BPM halving. in which case the zoom effect only plays 2 times (2 beats instead of 4).
It would appear that while the playback of the individual cues I put into my timeline sequence are matched to the system BPM, the duration that each cue plays for is not.


What I am looking for here is a way to tie together a group of cues so that I can then play back this sequence during a live set, I understand that this may not be the purpose of timeline feature.

Quick Capture allows me to do this, but seems to be limited in that I can't:
  • Change the duration between steps (example: Play first cue for 4 beats, second cue for 2 beats, third cue for 10 beats).
  • Transitions are not applied between steps (Example: Between cue 1 and 2 use transition 'x' between cue 2 and 3 use transition 'y').
  • It is not easy to add effects to individual cues in the sequence (it is possible by making a duplicate of the cue and adding the desired effect to the duplicate and putting that into the sequence).
Ideally I would like is to be able to use all the power of timeline but with playback speed set to BPM instead of Seconds (instead of saying "play this cue for 2 seconds", I am saying "play this cue for 4 beats" that way if the system BPM changes, the play back speed of the timeline sequence is sped up or slowed down to maintain sync with the system BPM)

This would allow me to make very in-depth sequences that I can trigger to playback on the fly during a live set.

Hoping there is a way to do this.
Thanks Again
Sol
 
Hi, Sol!
You can try the Synthesized Image.
Here you can set any number of bits for each shape, and transitions can be made with the effects on the Effects tab.
upload_2020-6-8_21-2-17.png
 
Oh cool

Beat based on/off sequence. I didn't' think of that.

I will give it a try see what I can come up with.

Thank you!
 
Hmm, ran into an issue.

My cues typically are made up using the Synthesized Image tool and typically have 3+ images and multiple layers of effects and routing (I am running 7 laser + 7 FB3 set up).
I am looking for a way to copy the entire Synthesized image so I use it in a new Synthesized image along with the rest of the cues that I want to form the sequence. (so say 4 synthesized image cues like in the attached image, that I can then use the Beat Based on/off sequence to control.)

If you see the attached image, you will see one of the cues that I want to sequence. This cue has separate images, each with an FX layer and a root container.
I have tried using the 'copy item' option but when I try to paste this I get message "Clipboard contains incompatible with Synth data"

Is there a way to copy this entire cue into a new synthesized image, along with other similar cues?
 

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Hmm,
Your suggestion is a great way of creating more complex cues, I just made some really nice displays.

However I don't think its an effective way of achieving what I am looking for.

I take it it is not possible to do what I want using timeline?

Is this something I might be able to do with Pangoscript? (will be upgrading from Essentials to advanced at some point in the near future).
 
Hi Igor,

I had an idea for possible workaround. But I have not yet started scripting so not sure what the limitations are.

I am wondering if it is possible to adjust the playback speed of the timeline?
I am thinking it might be possible to use Pangoscript to take the system BPM and calculate the required playback speed necessary to keep a timeline based cue in sync (assuming all my timeline based cues are designed with the same bpm it shouldn't be to hard a calculation).
This could be calculated on initiating the cue as a 'front action'?

Not sure if that is possible but would be a handy solution, so I can make some nice sequences that will always stay in time with the system BPM.
 
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