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