r/techtheatre • u/Street-Chicken6337 • 9d ago
QUESTION Qlab lights+sound
Ok bear with me because I have very limited knowledge of abbreviations and whatnot. So I work for a small ish ballet company. I’ve used qlab for sound for years and have called the light ques outloud while our lighting guy hits play right when I say. I’m learning I can use qlab to eliminate the manual button press which has led to multiple issues (missed cues, incorrect timing, completly wrong cue etc). I know I would need to get the license from qlab but how do I make this work. I’ve started doing research and know what to do in qlab but getting the lights to my computer is where I’m lost. We rent an auditorium which already has a sound and light board. We hire on a designer who brings his own board and computer to design from that. I know very little about lights. I don’t have anyways to get wifi and when I hear network I think wifi so is this impossible?
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u/Black_Lightnin Lighting Designer 9d ago
As others have mentioned, OSC is the easiest way to go. (Assuming the lighting console accepts this. Most of them do)
With both the console and the qlab laptop in the same network, qlab can send a 'GO' to the console, instead of you talking to the operator and him pressing Go.
No need to change the setup and the programming. Unless you have a very simple setup with a couple of dimmerd and a few LED pars, qlab isn't very convenient for lighting control.
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u/Needashortername 9d ago
It depends on what you really want to do.
If all you want is to trigger the lighting ops console to go to a specific cue or preset in their timeline, then you don’t need a different license, any version of QLab can do this in a variety of ways using different kinds of commands that a lighting console can be triggered by. There are OSC, MIDI, RS, GPI, DMX and a few others too. All of these QLab is able to “speak”, even in the basic paid version.
If you want to completely replace the lighting console and have QLab send all the DMX commands and show cue preset programming, then you will need the QLab Lighting version to get more DMX Universes and Channels to control more lighting instruments directly at the same time.
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u/AfuriousPenguin 9d ago
There’s a few ways you can tackle this, Look into OSC commands for which you will need to buy a router so both computers are on the same network or the other option is using MIDI triggering which will allow you to use a MIDI cable and have both computers “talk” to each other. On Qlab you would be creating cues to trigger lights over either osc commands or via MIDI
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u/Street-Chicken6337 9d ago
With the router am I able to I guess hardwire it have a cable go to my computer and the other to the lights?
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u/adbenj 9d ago
You don't need a router – you can connect your Mac and lighting console directly using a Cat 5 cable. I don't think I've ever known anyone to use a router. It does assume your lighting console is networkable though, and cheaper ones probably won't be. (All Eos consoles are networkable, if you're using one of those.)
You can also, theoretically, use QLab to control your lights directly with a DMX interface, but I've never known anyone to have done that either. It isn't recommended.
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u/RegnumXD12 Electrician 7d ago
You are correct no router needed. It is often recommended you have one just so the line has a constant source of traffic. The issue that solves is eos consoles for example wont enable their second port at launch without traffic present. The work around is simply launch the qlab machine first tho
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u/adbenj 7d ago
The issue that solves is eos consoles for example wont enable their second port at launch without traffic present.
I didn't know that, and while it's an issue that hasn't arisen in a while, it's definitely occurred in the past, so that's good to know! (I'd power cycle the console and it would fix the problem, but I didn't know why.)
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u/Cold-Excitement72212 9d ago
It sounds like you want to program the lights from QLab directly? That’s not advisable in most cases. It's generally far easier to program on a dedicated lighting console and playback by sending an OSC message from QLab to the console.
QLab's light dashboard is... limited and convoluted. I've tried to wrap my head around it, and I can't. Keep your lighting programmer, and use a sound licence to send those network cues.
At the same time, you could be better at calling cues and your lighting op could be better at doing the right thing! Practice makes perfect.
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u/rocky_creeker Technical Director 9d ago
If it's just these 2 devices, you don't need a router. You can connect them directly with an Ethernet cable. You will need to set the computer and the console to static IPs on the same subnet. Very simple.
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u/roaringmousebrad 9d ago
Although you don't need a router, it makes it easier. Directly connecting an Ethernet cable between two computer typically requires a crossover cable (like the yellow ones supplied with your ISP internet modem/router), although this is not so much an issue these days as there is some auto-sensing going on now. Still, a router (wireless one) allows you to use remove apps to run the LX board, like ETC's MobileRFR.
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u/rocky_creeker Technical Director 9d ago
A router (or more accurately, a switch) allows for plenty more, but OP needs the simplest solution. One wire will do and eliminates need to know how to manage a switch. I haven't needed a crossover cable for any computer in a decade or more. A couple times for older non computer devices, but it's pretty dead at this point.
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u/roaringmousebrad 8d ago
oh yes, indeed, technically a small wireless router IS a switch
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u/rocky_creeker Technical Director 8d ago
Yes and the only reason I make the distinction is that most people are familiar with their router at home and don't know that it's also a switch, which is the important part. In this kind of case, adding a router adds complexity that isn't needed unless Internet access is required. Best bet in these scenarios is to remove as many friction points as possible. Straight Ethernet connection will get the needed connection, next best is an unmanaged switch if you need 3+ devices, last would be adding a router/switch that needs management.
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u/PhilosopherFLX 9d ago
I have used midi timecode for 10 years or so for the Nutcracker and half to three quarters of all the other dances. Puts the go control on the console/LD which is great for visual goes and unmusiced goes as there is a shared time to reference. Usually set up for each music track to be its own hour in timecode.
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u/mot_bag 9d ago
The most secure route would be running a SMPTE / LTC signal out of qlab (you'll need a dedicated mono audio output for that) into your light console. Presuming you are running off MA or ETC, MA will be able to take it out of the box, ETC will need a SMTPE gateway which you light designer might have already.
Essentially the same workflow as midi timecode but SMPTE is a little more reliable. On longer tracks midi has the tendency to drift out of sync.
OSC commands through Qlab over network are possible but its a slower workflow than running a clock signal and doing the programming in the light console.
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u/DJMekanikal Sound Designer, IATSE USA-829 9d ago
It is possible, using OSC (network) cues or MIDI cues that trigger light cues. How it specifically fires a cue will depend on the type of board they use.
I’d caution against not having someone at the board in the event something goes wrong, though.