Yamaha 01v96 to Studio Manager connection via long cable

[agedhorse]

 

Craig, I have to admit that I am MUCH more worried about running Bluelite software for my lights on a laptop than using my laptops with Studio Manager. I can handle a missed audio cue (the band generally mixes themselves even for cues) but trying to play in the dark or with a strobe going might be a disaster. I find it interesting that MANY in lighting say use a laptop, and everyone in audio says not to.

 

 

A couple of things here that are not quite so comparable.

 

1. the processing power and software/hardware complexity of using a laptop directly to a DMX receiving device is considerably less.

 

2. I have certainly seen computer failures in the lighting world, just recently in fact on a show that brought in their own console and right before the show it locked up and wouldn't reboot. Fortunately we had our console handy (we have a primary console AND a backup console) and we store a page that has dimmers patched and grouped so that we can run a show in manual mode with typical areas already programmed so within 5 minutes he was back on line and was able to run the show. Couldn't use his 2 movers, but was able to get looks on stage and program additional looks blind. It might not have been perfect, but was maybe 80%. The guy freaked out, it would have been a disaster had we not had a backup. That's why we have a backup to our own board too, preprogrammed with an emergency lighting page. Takes a minute or two to be back online. This is in the event of a full failure of course.

 

Our lighting system, like out sound system, get used 250 days a year, and the system has operated for over 15 years without any problems. That doesn't mean we aren't prepared though.

[Axisplayer]

I carry a backup lighting console also. It worries me to be without it.

[agedhorse]

 

I carry a backup lighting console also. It worries me to be without it.

 

 

and rightly so.

[Craig Vecchione]

Boy Howdy, it sure is a big deal. IMO, this shows that you have never been a sound provider for a real show, with real people, real acts, real engineers, real promoters chewing your real ass a new asshole. The real production world is a cruel place Reboot the computer, change your underwear.

 

In a dog-eat-dog business, it helps to not wear Milk Bones underwear.....

[Gregidon]

Boy Howdy, it sure is a big deal. IMO, this shows that you have never been a sound provider for a real show, with real people, real acts, real engineers, real promoters chewing your real ass a new asshole. The real production world is a cruel place Reboot the computer, change your underwear.

 

Oh man, I went and saw South Pacific at the brand new ATT Performing Arts Center in Dallas last week. It was the first Broadway show in the theater (amazing facility btw). They had a Soundcraft Vi6 at FOH (~90k for those playing along at home). They started the show and there was a weird echo going on. After a moment of panic someone quickly stopped the show. The following 30 minutes consisted of the poor guy at FOH rebooting the Vi6 3 times and in general freaking out. I do not envy what that guy experienced after the show.

 

I guess the point of telling this story is why add the chance of failure that comes from the added complication if you don't have to. to If this kind of thing happens with that level of gear, where everything is purpose built, imagine the increased chance for a kluged together system.

 

I guess it also depends of your level of production. If you are in a bar band, no-one will care about a couple minute delay. However, if you are running sound for a corporate event and lose the ability to turn up the MC's mic, prepare to lose a contract

[agedhorse]

Oh man, I went and saw South Pacific at the brand new ATT Performing Arts Center in Dallas last week. It was the first Broadway show in the theater (amazing facility btw). They had a Soundcraft Vi6 at FOH (~90k for those playing along at home). They started the show and there was a weird echo going on. After a moment of panic someone quickly stopped the show. The following 30 minutes consisted of the poor guy at FOH rebooting the Vi6 3 times and in general freaking out. I do not envy what that guy experienced after the show. I guess the point of telling this story is why add the chance of failure that comes from the added complication if you don't have to. to If this kind of thing happens with that level of gear, where everything is purpose built, imagine the increased chance for a kluged together system. I guess it also depends of your level of production. If you are in a bar band, no-one will care about a couple minute delay. However, if you are running sound for a corporate event and lose the ability to turn up the MC's mic, prepare to lose a contract

 

 

AND, this could have been a routing problem, and effects or delay problem, or something independant of the console.

 

The Performing Arts center model is not unlike the church market... it's not their money and they like to dress to impress. This often means getting something smarter than the sound guy who is already educated beyond his intelligence.

 

Rule number one... your system should be only as complicated or sophisticated enough to cover or handle the needs you are likely to see 95-98% of the time. Often, we see systems 10x more complex as necessary, and a system's reliability is generally proportional to the square of the complexity... meaning that you need to higher according to this complexity (someone with good overall production and management common sense) to avoid getting dragged into the pit of no return. It's easy for these guys to allow themselves to get set up for failure, then when something happens, they have no hope for graceful recovery. I have seen this enough times to have learned some very important lessons at their expenses. Some lost their jobs as a knee-jerk management reaction.

[Dogoth]

 

Rule number one... your system should be only as complicated or sophisticated enough to cover or handle the needs you are likely to see 95-98% of the time. Often, we see systems 10x more complex as necessary, and a system's reliability is generally proportional to the square of the complexity... meaning that you need to higher according to this complexity (someone with good overall production and management common sense) to avoid getting dragged into the pit of no return. It's easy for these guys to allow themselves to get set up for failure, then when something happens, they have no hope for graceful recovery. I have seen this enough times to have learned some very important lessons at their expenses. Some lost their jobs as a knee-jerk management reaction.

 

 

You just described perfectly a scenario going on where I work. We have a seperate A/V department from our stage department (not to say the twain never meet but....). The guys they hire in the A/V Department are like promoted janitors or housemen that have sucessfuly hooked up their home stereo. Outside of the A/V manager there is not a single person on that crew that understands the signal flow & gain staging of a simple traditional analog board (I got the comment the other day from the swing shift supervisor "What does pre or post mean to me? Which knob do I turn to make this happen?"). That said. The A/V Manager bought an 01V96 to do basicly a very simple job of taking a band's submix, or Sports TV audio (this is for a smaller venue) and distributing it to several different zones. I have set up scene presets with backups (and am soon going to make the user define buttons recall those presets) but lord help us if these guys get any special requests (they don't quite understand the function of auxes yet). The FOH guy and myself have tried providing some simple audio training but there doesn't seem to be any interest.

 

I guess it's job security but when I'm home, my phone's off the hook :>)

[preacherman672]

Boy Howdy, it sure is a big deal. IMO, this shows that you have never been a sound provider for a real show, with real people, real acts, real engineers, real promoters chewing your real ass a new asshole. The real production world is a cruel place Reboot the computer, change your underwear.

 

Been there, done that. Been called to front of the stage as monitor tech by a completely stoned b-list national to "listen" to the monitor mix was too bassy for his liking. Was simply backwash from the subs. He ended up cussing us good right into the mic at about 120db. He left, we still had the festival next year.

 

Had another road manager for a b-list tell me he only needed 7 monitor mixes and then chew me out for not having enough. He kept telling me how many he needed and I kept telling him the rider said 7. He said it is only 7! It took me 3 times of counting with him to prove that he wanted 9, and the show was delayed an hour. He left, we had the festival next year.

[preacherman672]

Your use of conditional phrases is interesting, and has been the linchpin of this conversation. " software wise", "much less prone to crash", "mostly stable", "fairly stable ".

 

We had a hardware failure. The memory in the RAID controller went out and our main server was down. Hardware failures will happen with that many hours on any piece of equipment.