Software Basics
| Site: | QSC |
| Course: | Q-SYS Level 1 Hybrid |
| Book: | Software Basics |
| Printed by: | Guest user |
| Date: | Thursday, 21 November 2024, 7:00 AM |
Description
Video Transcript
0:08
Welcome to the Software Overview Course, where we’ll take you through all the various sections
0:14
and components of the Q-SYS Designer software.
0:17
This software allows you to architect the signal flow
0:20
and processing of all of your inputs and outputs in a single file,
0:25
which you then save to the Core so that it can manage your audio according to your design.
0:30
The first step is, of course, downloading and installing the software.
0:34
You can always find the latest version of Q-Sys Designer software on the QSC website,
0:39
which will arrive as a zipped archive.
0:43
Within this archive there are actually three different installation options.
0:47
The Q-SYS Designer installer,
0:49
as well as two other files to install the Administrator Tool or the UCI Viewer tool.
0:56
The Administrator Tool is also accessible within the Q-Sys Designer software,
1:01
but if you wanted someone to be able to adjust Administrator settings
1:05
without accessing the architecture of the design,
1:08
you could install the Administrator on their system rather than Q-SYS Designer.
1:13
The UCI Viewer Tool, on the other hand,
1:16
will allow your PC to display a control interface that’s part of the design.
1:21
These will both make more sense once you’re more familiar with the software.
1:25
It’s important to note now that the Q-SYS Designer software is only available for the Windows operating system.
1:32
If you’re using a Mac, you’ll need to run Windows within your Mac operating system by
1:37
using a program such as Parallels or Boot Camp. Once in a Windows environment,
1:43
you can access the Q-SYS Designer software.
1:45
Once the software is installed, simply double-click it to launch the program.
1:50
You’ll notice that the workspace is divided into three sections.
1:55
The blank white workspace in the center is called the Schematic.
1:59
This is where you’ll design your system, connect and organize components, control audio flow, etc.
2:06
The Left-Side Pane over here has six accordion-style panels.
2:11
The inventory will list all of the physical devices that are a part of your system,
2:16
the Schematic Pages lets you navigate different sections of your design,
2:20
User Control Interfaces is where you’ll design the screen that users will use to interact with the system,
2:27
Snapshots will let you save and recall the settings of the controls in your design,
2:32
Named Controls will expose controls to be accessed by third-party devices,
2:38
and the Design Inspector will analyze your design for errors.
2:43
We’ll go deeper into each of these panels later in the training.
2:47
Finally we have the Right-Side Pane, that has different panels you can expand
2:52
or collapse using these little arrows. The Graphic Tools let you add some graphics or text to your design.
2:59
The Schematic Library contains a list of all the processing,
3:02
mixing and routing components that you’ll use to manage your audio.
3:07
The User Library will start out empty, but later you can save items here for pre-configured components
3:14
or groups of components that you’d like to have quick access to.
3:19
Whenever you select an object in your Schematic,
3:22
there will be another panel in this area labeled Properties, that lets you configure the selected object.
3:28
Alright so let’s learn some of the vocabulary that the software uses.
3:32
Like I said, the main workspace is called the Schematic.
3:35
You can drag objects from the Side Panes into the Schematic, and these are called components.
3:41
For instance I can open the Schematic Library and drag a Gain into the Schematic.
3:48
You can see that it’s labeled Gain,
3:51
but if you wanted to rename it you can simply start typing to change its title.
3:56
You’ll notice that there are these little shapes on the sides of it.
3:59
These are called pins, and they represent available inputs
4:03
and outputs so you can wire your component to other components.
4:08
Pins on the left side is audio coming into the component,
4:12
and pins on the right side is audio leaving the component.
4:19
There are different shaped for different types of connections,
4:23
and you can only connect them if they’re the same shape. These circular pins represent an audio signal.
4:30
If you want to make some room for yourself,
4:32
you can collapse or expand these Side Panes by clicking the little double-arrow icon,
4:37
or by dragging their border to make them smaller or larger.
4:42
You can zoom in and out of the Schematic by holding the Control key and scrolling your mouse wheel,
4:48
or you could zoom in and out of the side panes as well by holding Control and Shift while you do so.
4:55
Now you can position your components anywhere you want in your Schematic.
5:00
You may notice there’s no grid, but the software uses alignment lines to keep everything well-organized.
5:07
Here I’ll grab another component,
5:09
let’s pick an Audio Player, and you’ll notice as we move it around
5:13
these red alignment lines pop up to let us snap the components to parallel lines.
5:18
You can have them intersect and a green vertex will show you where they’re touching.
5:24
If for some reason you have overlapping components then you can change
5:27
which one is on top by right clicking and picking a new option in this Order submenu.
5:34
In this case you would want to use the Bring to Forward or Bring to Back buttons to relayer these objects.
5:41
If you select multiple components, you can also organize them with the Align,
5:45
Distribute, and Pack tools, which are quick ways to visually organize the components in your design.
5:53
Here’s an important tip you may want to note :
5:56
when you’re selecting multiple items you can do so in two ways,
5:59
and if you use Auto CAD you’ll be familiar with this – and if not, well then here’s a free tutorial.
6:05
When you make a selection box moving your cursor from left to right,
6:10
then anything that is FULLY enclosed in the box will be selected.
6:14
You’ll notice that this Gain is not fully enclosed, so it will not be selected.
6:19
But if you make your selection box moving from right to left,
6:23
anything that is TOUCHED by the selection box is selected. See the difference?
6:28
Anyways, let’s look at some of the other things we can do with components.
6:32
As I mentioned earlier, if you select a component you can reconfigure it using its Properties panel in the right.
6:40
Here you can do simple things like change its color or its position,
6:44
but you can also restructure the components settings
6:47
or change the number of input and output channels available.
6:51
These properties will vary depending on the component itself.
6:55
Once a component is configured for your purposes, then its most important part will be its control panel.
7:01
If you double-click a component, you’ll see its control panel,
7:05
which adjusts the manner in which it affects the audio in your design.
7:10
Every object inside a control panel is called a control.
7:14
However, you’ll notice that clicking on a control doesn’t do anything right now.
7:20
The reason for that is a very important concept regarding which Mode you are currently in.
7:25
So far, we’ve been working in Design Mode, which is a purely structural mode.
7:31
We can move components around and wire them together, change their properties and such,
7:36
but we can’t adjust any controls or actually process any audio in this mode.
7:41
Think of this like the plumbing in your house.
7:44
If you want to move the pipes around, you have to make sure the water is off.
7:47
So once we start processing audio,
7:50
you’ll no longer be able to move components, change their wiring or their properties.
7:55
To start processing audio, we need to save our design to a Q-SYS Core and enter Run Mode.
8:01
You can do this by going to the File menu and selecting Save to Core & Run, or simply by pressing F5.
8:09
However … my laptop isn’t currently networked to a Core.
8:15
And often times when working on a design, you might not even have access to one.
8:19
So there is a third mode called Emulation Mode.
8:23
You can enter Emulation Mode by going to the File Menu and selecting Emulate, or by pressing F6.
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This will allow you to make all the adjustments within the control panels that you’d like,
8:35
as well as give you access to the Administrator tool, which we’ll look at in a later course.
8:40
You’ll probably use Emulation Mode a lot during this training series,
8:44
unless you have a Core you’re able to play with.
8:47
You can do a lot in Emulation Mode, but you can’t do everything.
8:51
For instance, you won’t be able to actually play anything in this Audio Player,
8:55
since the Core is required to actually process audio. But you can set your gain knobs, change buttons,
9:02
and prepare your design as much as possible so that it will be ready to Run when you do connect to a Core.
9:08
For now, best memorize these shortcut keys.
9:11
F5 connects to a Core to enter Run Mode, F6 enters Emulation Mode when you don’t have a Core handy,
9:17
and F7 will disconnect from either of these modes and return you to Design mode.
9:24
The biggest visual cue as to which mode you’re in is the Right-Hand Pane
9:29
it is only available in Design mode, so you’ll notice that it disappears when you’re in Emulation Mode
9:36
or connected to a Core. Also the Q-SYS Administrator
9:40
and System Mute button are only available in Emulation or Run mode.
9:44
So if you’re trying to do something and you can’t figure out why you can’t move a component
9:49
or adjust a control, you’re probably simply in the wrong mode.
9:53
Alright, that’s a general run through of the software’s layout.
9:57
In the next section, let’s actually add some inventory items and connect to a Core.
Lesson Description
Basic navigation of Q-SYS Designer Software, including left pane, right pane and the schematic. It also reviews the different modes of Q-SYS Designer Software (Run Mode vs. Design Mode vs. Emulation Mode.
Tips & Definitions
Component: An element that can be placed in a design that performs a function. There are many kinds of components - in the Schematic Library you will find Audio Components, Control Components, and Layout Components.
Control: An element of a component
Schematic Pane: The Center pane - this is where you organize, connect, and configure Schematic components, write scripts, test control logic and audio signal flow, and operate and adjust the system.
Left-Side Pane: Where you find the Inventory, Schematic Pages, User Control Interfaces, Snapshots, Named Controls, and Design Inspector panels.
Right-Side Pane: Where you find the Schematic Library, Graphic Tools, Properties, and Control Pins panels.
Pins: Input and output ports on a component; Pins on the left side represent audio coming into the component, and pins on the right sight represent audio leaving the component.
Order, Align and Distribute: Find these options by selecting one or more components and right-click.
Selecting LEFT TO RIGHT: Anything you FULLY enclose will be highlighted.
Selecting RIGHT TO LEFT: Anything you TOUCH or enclose will be highlighted.