Lock Workspace in Show Mode

[Jeremy Cox]

Is there a way to have the workspace locked in show mode, where they can't get to the edit portion? Qlab 4 or 5...

We use it in the theatre and the new operator adjusts the level of each track when they are playing and it's messing up the sound board op every cue. We have told her to stop and let the sound kid do his job, but apparently she thinks she still needs to.

[Sam Kusnetz]

On Feb 9, 2023 at 5:45:50 PM, Jeremy Cox <jc...@fhps.net> wrote:

Is there a way to have the workspace locked in show mode, where they can't get to the edit portion? Qlab 4 or 5...
We use it in the theatre and the new operator adjusts the level of each track when they are playing and it's messing up the sound board op every cue. We have told her to stop and let the sound kid do his job, but apparently she thinks she still needs to.

There is not, but you can make the workspace open in show mode by:

1. Making an edit of any kind,
2. Switching to show mode,
3. Saving.

The problem you have here is a person problem, not a technical problem. If an operator did this to me, I would without question insist that they be fired. A person who cannot be trusted, well, cannot be trusted.

If an actor refused to say the words in the script and instead made up their own words, they would be fired too.

Best

Sam

—

Sam Kusnetz (he/him) | Figure 53

s...@figure53.com

[Cox, Jeremy]

That's what I thought. I've worked with Qlab for years and had never seen that option before.

This is a high school musical with all student run with a few teachers helping. The teacher, her first theatre show and within first year of teaching, is the one running Qlab.

The sound board op is a 14 yet old freshman with a lots of gusto to want to do it. His first show as well. 36 wireless mics, 4 channels of track, with over 100 cues in the show. He's doing awesome, but gets flustered when the tracks are different volumes. Or when she taps his shoulder and points up or down, referring to track vol in the mix. He is learning fast, but needs to learn on his own really. We have the iPad nearby and can tweak the small stuff he hasn't learned yet.

We've had a talk with her (can't really fire her) and she now "gets it"

3 more shows to go in the next 2 days. 

We love using Qlab for all our shows!

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[Sam Kusnetz]

Ah, your first email didn’t mention that this was a school situation… I would have had a different answer!

I would have said that one of the most important things to teach a young stagehand is when NOT to intervene. Learning the difference between when to adjust and when to not adjust something is the whole ballgame, really.

I’d be talking to him about how his role is to learn what the sound designer wants, and then execute that. QLab never plays at the wrong level, so if a track needs to come up or down, that’s a design decision. If an actor is quiet, or a mic is not placed properly, then that’s when he should be making a change in order to hit the target level.

Good luck to all!

Sam

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[Jeremy Cox]

Thanks Sam, I totally get it. We do try to train them, especially the younger ones- so we can keep them around longer! We don't get that much interest any more. The more problem person was the Qlab op, a new teacher and new to helping in theatre. 

I know that some tracks need to be adjusted for balance between each other, but the main mix level is in the hands of the board op.

This was more of a vent for me I think. Opening night went fine. The young board op has a hard job already and I could tell at times he was getting frustrated and worried, almost to a panic level. I will see how tonight and tomorrow goes.

Thanks!

[lucky...@gmail.com]

Q-LAB SHOULD HAVE A LOCK IN SHOW MODE OPTION! I cannot tell you how devastating a rogue employee can be. ( rigger who dreams of being the lighting person ) So many of my woes and challenges could have been solved with an administrative password lock on show mode. To avoid outsiders and rogue employees making changes to my professional Las Vegas show,  I had to set a seperate master mac account ( admin ) and this disallow all permissions on the general operator account. This option only dis-allowed a rogue user from saving down any changes that were made. All edits had to be made upstream on the master admin account and then transferred over to the operator ( childrens ) account. All of this could have been solved with a lock on show mode. For such a feature rich, elegant, and lovely program, this basic SAFETY feature was sorely missing. As a lighting/show programmer, I dont hire and fire, Im not the boss, but I am responsible for people changing or even sabotaging the show. A lock feature would have solved this... It angers me to see this turned around on the person who asked about the features existance... Why not add this feature? It really SHOULD exist. Yours Truly, a professional Las Vegas show programmer.

Luckywrench

[Philip Perkins]

I would “vote up” this idea.  We sometimes have to hand off our QLAB laptop to a sound operator who is off in a sound booth, out of our sight and hard to communicate with.

When on tour this soundperson is someone we have not met until that day, may not understand English well and could possibly have an agenda re: their employer that we

know nothing about.  We give the local crew people we meet on tour the benefit of the doubt and generally have good experiences with them, but in not being able to lock out

edit mode we are really handing them a loaded gun that could destroy that night’s show pretty completely, by accident or on purpose if they wanted to.

phil p

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[Sam Kusnetz]

Things a “rogue employee” could do whether or not QLab had a lock for show mode:

• Change settings on the Mac.
• Unplug the audio interface.
• Delete or move media files.
• Play cues at the wrong time, or not play cues when they ought to.
• Create a new workspace from scratch and invent their own cues.
• Mess with the mixing console.
• Yell swear words at the audience from the tech booth.

A show mode lock would not provide real security, it would provide the illusion of security. As a rigger, I’m sure you’re well aware of the dangerous situations that can be created by having the illusion of security.

The only thing a show mode lock could do is raise the threshold that a person would have to cross in order to make trouble. That certainly would stop some troublemaking, and we certainly agree that it’s worth considering. However, since the idea was first raised (which was about fifteen seconds after we released the first version of QLab that included show mode) we have not found that putting developer time and energy into a show mode lock was more important than putting that same developer time and energy into other features of a similar level of complexity.

This not to say we’ll never do this! It’s only to say that it hasn’t yet proven to be the best thing to work on next.

On the other hand, a show mode lock could cause real trouble! If your show is locked and you forget the password, you could find yourself with a show-stopping problem that you cannot fix. If we built in a mechanism for us to remotely override the password, you would then become beholden to our work schedule in a way that you currently are not, and you would be required to connect your Mac to the internet in a way that allowed our override mechanism to connect.

Or what if you’re out of town when a fix is needed? The producer would call you and reasonably insist that you share the password. Then the password would most likely end up on a sticky note on the monitor of the Mac.

I’ve designed and programmed shows using QLab in middle schools, Broadway theaters, and almost every scale of production in between. Theater is a collaborative art which absolutely requires trust. Without trust, there is nothing that any manufacturer can do to help you.

Best
Sam

––

Sam Kusnetz [he/him/his] (what is this?)
Figure 53
https://qlab.app | https://figure53.com

[Cox, Jeremy]

A rogue employee will be hard to contain no matter what. 

I think the lock option would be great for instances like this. Simple password to edit the file. I get the issues faced with password lock and what it can all entail. There is no solid way around these issues without the trust of the operator. 

Another thought is to purchase the USB Go Box; made by a Control Booth member; and have no keyboard and mouse for show. Or at least out of the way for the most part.

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Jeremy R. Cox

jc...@fhps.net

FAC Manager

FH Technical Theatre Manager
Forest Hills Fine Arts Center

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