Clock/stopwatch function in QLab?
Ola Stenstrom
clock. This clock could be addressed to view either the actual time -
with a stop function to indicate show start and/or end. But it could
also be used as a stopwatch, more like a MTC clock running from
00:00:00. I've downloaded the Timecode Display-app, but it seems I
can't make it show what I want. Is there a script or in any way a
solution to this in QLab?
Regards,
Ola
Ola Stenstrom
answer. ^_^)
To sum up: I looking for a way to display a large clock on the QLab
computer, showing what time the show started and ended. If this
clockdisplay also could double as an ordinary MTC clock, i.e. a
stopwatch, that would be great for those times when you have to time
certain cues/scenes/etc. In SFX this was solved with the commands
called "start clock" & "stop clock", but I haven't found a similar
function in OLab. Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
Best,
O.S.
Rich Walsh
> To sum up: I looking for a way to display a large clock on the QLab
> computer, showing what time the show started and ended. If this
> clockdisplay also could double as an ordinary MTC clock, i.e. a
> stopwatch, that would be great for those times when you have to time
> certain cues/scenes/etc. In SFX this was solved with the commands
> called "start clock" & "stop clock", but I haven't found a similar
> function in OLab. Any help in this matter is greatly appreciated.
There are two Figure 53 applications out there that might help you: QDisplay & Timecode Display.
You can have lots of fun starting and stopping MTC cues; for example, this will cause TimeCode Display to show the current "wall clock time" (more or less) if you have an MTC cue numbered "1" in your workspace:
set userCue to cue "1" of front workspace
tell application "System Events" to set {rightNow, startHours, startMinutes, startSeconds} to {time, hours, minutes, seconds} of (current date)
tell front workspace
stop userCue
set start time offset of userCue to rightNow + 2
set wall clock hours of userCue to startHours
set wall clock minutes of userCue to startMinutes
set wall clock seconds of userCue to startSeconds + 2
end tell
This will of course give you a countdown:
tell application "QDisplay" to set timeRemaining to 10
I've also found something like this to be useful when starting up QDisplay:
tell application "QDisplay" to activate
delay 0.5
tell application "System Events"
tell application process "QDisplay"
tell window 1
set position to {800, 22} -- {x, y} from top left corner
set size to {640, 165} -- {width, height}; minimum {285, 145}
end tell
end tell
end tell
tell application "QDisplay" to set message to "QDisplay"
delay 0.5
tell me to activate
Rich
Christopher Ashworth
On Nov 22, 2011, at 10:14 PM, Rich Walsh wrote:
> There are two Figure 53 applications out there that might help you: QDisplay & Timecode Display.
We've been lax about getting these linked in from our website, but you can find them here:
https://github.com/Figure53/QDisplay
https://github.com/Figure53/TimecodeDisplay
It looks like the README file on QDisplay is not up to date, as it doesn't reflect the countdown timer that Sean added.
-C
Willo
I play one of my audio files of sufficient length (at least a minute),
but at level zero, so no output can be heard.
I edit it to an exactly 1 minute loop.
For a stopwatch-type timer, make the loop endlessly repeat.
Trigger it to play at the start of the event you want to time, and
pause when you want it to end. It will then retain the total elapsed
time for you to note. I use this method as an interval timer, or it
could also time individual acts or other particular events.
For a countdown timer, have the loop run a set number of repeats. e.g.
10 repeats = 10 minutes. I use this method at the start of a show to
trigger notices (sometimes recorded announcements) to alert me of the
half-hour call, 15 min call, etc.
Using the real-time trigger to start the countdown, I don't actually
have to be in the bio box and all the calls still work to time.
I also use the real-time trigger to start the house music at the 15
minute call, so I know if I'm onstage or in the auditorium that we are
close to opening the house, and can make that call if all is going to
schedule.
A tip if you try to use real-time cues this way: I once had the half
hour call announcement (routed into the auditorium as well as to
backstage) triggered to go at 7:25pm, for an 8:00pm start....but
forgot to change the trigger time on a night when the show began at
6:30pm. At 7:25pm, the announcement fired...! Luckily, we had just
broken for interval - five minutes earlier and it would've interrupted
a sensitive scene!
To counter this, I put all of my time-sensitive cues in one group, and
the last cue of the night also disarms this group. That way, when I
fire up for the next show, I have to re-arm any triggers I want that
day, and can manually check that the time will be correct for our
scheduled show time.
Craig
~<8>-/=====\------
Rich Walsh
> Here's a simple way I use to create timers in QLab:
>
> I play one of my audio files of sufficient length (at least a minute),
> but at level zero, so no output can be heard.
If you're happy with a small time display in amongst the main cue list window then you can achieve all this by using an empty Group Cue with a Post Wait, I think - or even just a Wait Cue. You can start and pause it; just don't stop it! Naturally, you can even use a script to change the Post Wait time while the cue is stopped...
Rich
dan howarth
hi folksi'm sending a zipped, bundled workspace that features the timecode display and qdisplay scripting i've been looking at lately.basically we've got a count-up and a count-down timer.the example workspace has 2 audio cues (calling from the same short aiff - 5mb) to demo the quit/restart scripts.you will of course need to have the figure53 extras installed for the example to work.i included some script for resizing and relocating the windows, but i haven't learned how to manipulate it yet -- this would be helpfuland i intend to get there very soon.thanks.d
dh
E Riley Casey
Christopher Ashworth
> When dragging the start time in the inspector waveform window from a previously modified start time back to a new time or back to the original start of the file the indicator line remains in place until the escape key is pressed. Even the "set start / end times " button doesn't always update the start / end time in the window but the escape does does it reliably. Bug or feature?
You tell me! :-D
Only half kidding. What do you prefer? I assume you'd prefer to the playback position to rewind to the start of the file. If so, do you want that all the time, or only when the cue isn't already playing?
Best,
Chris