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Quicktime triggered automation
This is probably not the right forum but I’m stumped where I might find this so please re-direct me if there is a better one.
A client wants me to shoot a video clip of an actor for a museum. The quicktime movie would be played back on a monitor in the museum and as the actor hits key words in the script, they want to trigger lights turning on to historical objects around the monitor.
They video part is easy, I have no idea if the other part is possible. Are there usb controllers or midi sequencers that might do this type of thing?
I’m assuming that markers in the timeline would help the process but don’t know if they can trigger lights as opposed to URL’s.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Jim McNally
The Commercial Factory
http://www.commercialfactory.com -
4 Replies
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There are several Show control automation programs that will do this.
Qlab https://figure53.com/qlab/ is the one I’ve used the most. It will playback the your quicktime movie and spit out Midi Show Control commands at points that you nominate. Most decent quality lighting desks will accept Midi Show Control.
Of course they would need to buy 1) A mac, 2) a copy of Qlab, 3) a decent lighting desk 4) hire someone to program Qlab (fairly easy for someone such as yourself to learn), 5) Hire someone to program the lighting desk.
But that’s the professional way of doing it.
Ralph Atkinson
Ex-Theatre technician -
Thanks for this information Ralph, I’ll check it out.
Jim McNally
The Commercial Factory
http://www.commercialfactory.com -
Ralph, I’ve looked into Qlab and it has the features that I believe may work. I think the lighting may be more simplistic though than running through a lighting controller.
The museum plans to have several shadow boxes mounted on the wall with artifacts in them that would light up as the actor hits key lines in his dialogue. I’m thinking they would be just low wattage bulbs wired into the boxes.
Is there a hardware device as simple as a USB to light socket, or some such thing, that can be controlled by Qlab?
Jim McNally
The Commercial Factory
http://www.commercialfactory.com -
I don’t know of one. But basically the protocol that Qlab and most other automation software spits out is Midi and Midi Show Control (MSC), using a USB-Midi converter. These converters are really cheap at about $40 and can be bought at any Music store. So if you can find something simple that responds to MSC so you could do it.
I have heard of some domestic systems that allow your computer to turn on/off house lighting so maybe there are some systems out there, but I’m not sure you could interface that to be triggered from a Quicktime file.
You could try reposting your question on the Show Control discussion forum https://www.richmondsounddesign.com/show-control.html
Keep in mind that most of these guys do show control for large theatrical events and theme parks so you will need to frame your question with this in mind, but if anyone could help I’m sure they could.Ralph
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