Problems with Bitfocus Companion and QLab 5

[tcgass]

For a new show, I installed Companion in a theatre I manage to make it easier to adjust cue volumes during final rehearsals. I used the setup from the ‘Cookbook’ for this. It works great!

However, during rehearsals, I noticed that cues often got stuck (Beach Ball of Death). This happened especially when changing the playback cursor during a running cue.

To ensure smooth operation, I turned Companion off again. At the same time, I noticed that the theatre was still using QLab version 5.5.3. I updated to version 5.5.8.

The show now runs flawlessly without any problems.

My question: could the problems have been caused by Companion, or is it due to version 5.5.3? Has anyone had similar experiences?

Thank you for your input.

Thomas

[micpool]

Although using Companion and the included QLab with feedback Companion module can enable features that can be enormously useful for QLab remote control operations, there are two potential problems. First,  especially when using TCP connections there is a huge amount of network traffic generated between Companion and QLab, which has the potential to cause problems, particularly when there are any other underlying problems with a set up.

More significantly it’s important to realise that using  Companion reliably  with a module (connection) for any software or hardware device, is complicated by the fact that you are using 3 pieces of software with completely different development time frames with very loose coordination between them

 Bitfocus Companion issues new versions as both stable and beta releases very frequently. Each of these releases, may  contain updated versions of  modules, but these modules are generally developed by completely different programmers  from those who develop the main Companion app and completely different programmers from those that develop the  software or hardware the module controls. The QLab with feedback Companion module, which is included in Companion, is not developed or maintained by Figure 53. Support and documentation for the module are only available via its Github page.

The fact that you have three entirely uncoordinated  and independent development timelines to consider means that it is occasionally possible to arrive at combinations of the Companion.app, an included module , and the software the module controls which are wildly incompatible.

This complication makes it essential to test any mission critical show systems very thoroughly before deployment, and to take especially care to ensure that you are aware of the versions of QLab, Companion, and the specific connection module you are using and to keep these consistent, and retest thoroughly if you change any one of the these versions (remembering that module versions may change or not change with new versions of the companion app).

It’s also important to realise that you as the person who is integrating these three systems are pretty much going to be on your own in terms of troubleshooting, as although there are support systems for each of these individual components, there is no source of formal support for the  particular combination deployed in your specific circumstance!

Mic

[tcgass]

Thank you very much for your detailed statement, Mic – as always, it is thorough and well-founded, and I really appreciate it! As I said, I only used Companion to set up the show, and the problems disappeared after I deactivated Companion, so I will continue to use this combination for setup purposes only in the future. Best regards, Thomas

[Chris Ashworth]

Hi Thomas,

It’s also possible you were running into a different bug unrelated to Companion. For example, in 5.5.6 we discovered and fixed a bug that could sometimes cause QLab to freeze when rendering audio through device audio effects.

To find out more it would be necessary to try to repeat the freeze and isolate which factor (QLab version number, Companion, etc) was correlated with the freeze.

Best,

Chris

[tcgass]

Hi Chris

Thank you for your input! Yes, I also think it could have been due to the rendering of audio effects, as the show uses plugins in the output channels. As I said, the problem was solved by installing the latest version of QLab. Unfortunately, I am unable to restore the original configuration due to ongoing shows, but if something like this happens again, I will create a detailed list of the versions of QLab, Companion, etc. used in order to track down the problem.

For the next production, I will reactivate Companion during the rehearsal phase and am curious to see if it will run without any problems.

Many thanks for all your input – and for QLab! ;-)