RossTalk BlueBox

Graphics & Virtual
1

I am exploring options for driving a monitor wall with elements from my Xpression BlueBox.

I could have my Xpression operators fire scenes from our Remote Sequencer, but there will be times that I’ll want directors to have better control of timing on the way in—and particularly on the way out if I were transitioning to another source.

I can hit my BlueBox with DashBoard using resume and layeroff that would probably be enough, but I’m interested in what I might do with a GPI.

Using a script in a keyboard mapping GPI, could I online a scene and play a scene director?

Has anybody done anything tricky with DashBoard, a GPI, and RossTalk on a BlueBox?

Thanks,
James.

#Xpression #BlueBox #DashBoard
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2

This is possible exactly as you describe, however it requires XPression BlueBox version 9.0+. The GPI mapping menu was added to BlueBox in version 9.0.

3

Garner,

I’m sorry it took a while to get back to this.

I’ve dropped this script I found from Simon Redmile on the forum (Thank you, @Simon Redmile !) into a GPI:

Dim Scene as xpScene
dim sd as xpSceneDirector

Engine.GetSceneByName(“YOUR SCENE NAME”, Scene,False)

Scene.SetOnline(1,0,0)

Scene.GetSceneDirectorByName(“SceneDirector1”, sd)

sd.play()

#XPression​
By trial and error, I found that in Scene.SetOnline(1,0,0), 1 was the buffer, the first 0 was the layer—but what is the second 0?

Do you have any other suggestions about how else this approach might be used or problems to avoid?

Thanks,
James.

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4

The third value in SetOnline is (optional) DirectorPosition - the position to set the default scene director to when loading the scene.

In my opinion, it is generally better practice to trigger take items (Engine.Sequencer.GetTakeItemByID) to air, rather than scene copies (Engine.GetSceneByName). Take items act more predictably than scene copies. Triggering a take item to air will behave exactly has if you play it out from the Sequencer. While, for example, triggering a SceneCopy may not execute transition logic as you expect it to, without additional scripting. If you save a project with take items in it, they will also be triggeralbe in BlueBox when the project is loaded.

Dim item as xpBaseTakeItem

Engine.Sequencer.GetTakeItemByID(6000, item)

item.execute

(or item.SetOffline)

5

Garner!

SceneDirector position? I guess that could be very versatile, hunh?

I don’t see an immediate need for complex scenes, I am mostly looking for a transition without spending a media player on my Carbonite Black…but if I can avoid an issue that might crop up down the road, I surely want to!

As far as saving my published project with items in the sequence, I thought that those sequence items didn’t come across to the XpressionStudio sequence in the auto-deployed rundown from the Remote Sequencer/Project Server setup.

Have I just overlooked them in the Xpression Studio sequence?

But they do exist in the BlueBox equivalent of the sequence?

Or would I have to manually deploy a project on the BlueBox?

Thanks,

James.

6

Hey James, pleased you found a usual script on the forum.

Unfortunately BlueBox doesn’t have a sequencer so in this case you are back to scene.SetOnline.

As Garner mentioned this won’t usually trigger Transition logic in the way you intended, in fact I would probably suggest not using it.

Instead as part of your offline and online scripts you’ll want to script the playing of the scene directors.

If you want to write your own equivalent to transition logic an easy way is an if statement that checks if there is already something on that layer or not.

Here’s a GPI I am using at the moment that only plays a scene director if it finds something on that layer.

dim fb as xpOutputFrameBuffer
dim scene as xpScene
dim dir as xpSceneDirector

engine.GetOutputFrameBuffer(0, FB)

if fb.GetSceneOnLayer(10, scene)
scene.GetSceneDirectorByName(“OUT”, dir)
dir.PlayRange(0, dir.Duration)
dir.AutoStop = true
end if

So building on that you could probably so something like this;

dim fb as xpOutputFrameBuffer
dim scene as xpScene
dim dir as xpSceneDirector

engine.GetOutputFrameBuffer(0, fb)

if fb.GetSceneOnLayer(10, scene)
scene.GetSceneDirectorByName(“B2B”, dir)
dir.PlayRange(0, dir.Duration)
dir.AutoStop = true
else
Engine.GetSceneByName(“YOUR SCENE”, Scene,true)
Scene.SetOnline(0,10,0)
Scene.GetSceneDirectorByName(“IN”, dir)
dir.play()
end if

7

Hey Red!

My first step on the BlueBox is to play a logo transition inside my monitor wall—your original script has that covered.

Beyond that, I will play generic art for emergency use, but until I’m caught up enough to adapt your if/then scripting, I can accept the plainest of transitions.

I’ve laid out my Carbonite ShotBox to send GPI/Trigger IDs to a DashBoard panel which, for instance, takes ME3pst source and assigns it to ME1pst/pgm/keybuses feeding the primary wall.

My hope is to reduce errors of hotpunching on the Carbonite panel to drive at least two monitor walls, give directors the best chance of catching errors with previews, allow them to stay focused on ME3pst, ME3 next transition, & the ShotBox, and level the playing field among directors of all experience levels.

Thanks,

James.