red Curtain | A few suggestions for TV

jim jim

posted on March 23, 2010

OK, I might as well kick off this forum!

I have used red Curtain for television broadcasts for about a year now and it is fantastic!!

I would like to make a few suggestions and hear from other RC users on what they think of the following ideas.

  • Having the option of selecting a cue when hotkey is pressed. (i.e the cue becomes active in the control panel window). This would allow the user to fade, stop, etc the cue with keyboard shortcuts.
  • Instant playback for hotkey and play button (not a stop and start toggle (hotkey) or no action (play) as it is now). This would allow the operator to start the cue again without a break in the cue. For example if things are unexpectedly running overtime and the cue was running out, the operator will be able to restart the cue by hitting the hotkey or play button and therefore creating a loop on the fly.
  • Having the option to blink/flash a playing cue in the left hand column, to make it more obvious that a cue is running. I have had a few instances when I have rolled a looping cue, put it to air then closed the faders on the desk (rather than stopping RC) then later in the show opened the faders (I know, silly me) and had the cue still running. Whoops. If the display was flashing it would be easier than looking for the little green triangle in the heat of a broadcast.
  • A keyboard shortcut to fade all cues at once.
  • A keyboard shortcut for Show Mode (maybe control+H) and this shortcut to not toggle with Edit/Show Mode.

red Curtain is a great piece of software that is doing the job of a thousand dollar digicart. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks,

Jim.

Mar232010

Administrator Administrator

posted on March 25, 2010

Hi Jim!

Thank you for the input. These ideas sound very good and will be considered for future updates.

Uli.

Mar252010

broadcast audio broadcast audio

posted on May 26, 2011

Hi Jim,

I’m also in television and requiring hot key functions.

I have been using a MIDI keyboard and assigning ‘Cues’ and ‘Comands’ to various keys. For example on one show we were runing a quiz segment that required specific music tracks in an instant, so I would hit the appropriate key to trigger the right music track or sound effect. In other instances I would trigger a ‘Looped’ music track that would contiuously play and then I would have a ‘Fade’ comand key next to it.

To add a MIDI keyboard >Edit>MIDI Setup you can select what ‘Cue’ and ‘Parameter’ you control with each key. It is quite useful but does not have a ‘Stop All’ which could be handy. I also use an Alphatrack and I am now looking at interfacing a Novation Launch Pad specifically for hot key spot effects.

On another note I use the ‘Playlist’ window to record my ‘On-Air’ play log. This data is saved as text file and transfereed into excel were we supply the information to the reporting agency for music copyright usage.

The whole Mac / Red Curtain deal has not been bulletproof, I have had the odd software lock-up but overall I’ve been using it for more than two years on-air and it has saved me a lot of time, stearmlined my workflow and added lightning fast modifications during productions.

May262011