The MIDI Control and MIDI Send cue facilities are only available with SCS Professional and SCS Professional Plus.
If you want to control SCS cues by MIDI messages received from an external device, or if you want SCS itself to send MIDI messages to another device, then you need to supply information on the MIDI Devices & Control Options tab.
To control cues by MIDI message received from an external device you need to (a) select a MIDI In device; (b) tick the 'Enable MIDI control of cues' checkbox; and (c) supply other details that define the type of MIDI messages that SCS is to recognise. To use MIDI Send cues you need to select either a MIDI Out or a MIDI Thru device to which the MIDI Send cues will be directed.
MIDI In: If you want to control cues by MIDI messages received from an external device then select the MIDI In device (or port) that corresponds to the physical port connected by MIDI cable to the relevant Show Control device.
MIDI Out: If you want to use MIDI Send cues to send MIDI messages to an external device then select the MIDI Out device (or port) that corresponds to the physical port connected by MIDI cable to the relevant device.
MIDI Thru: MIDI Thru can be implemented by selecting a MIDI Out device (or port) from the drop-down list. If a MIDI Thru device is selected then SCS establishes a software connection between the MIDI In device and the MIDI Thru device, so that all messages received on the MIDI In device are passed to the MIDI Thru device. If you require the MIDI Thru facility and you are also using MIDI Send cues then if the MIDI Out and MIDI Thru devices are the same (as they probably will be) then you can either leave the MIDI Out device blank or set both the MIDI Out device and the MIDI Thru device to the same device.
Enable MIDI control of cues: This checkbox provides the overall control that enables or disables MIDI control of your cues. To enable MIDI control this option must be selected, and this will also enable other fields on this Option tab.
Control Method: This drop-down list contains some preset control methods available for cue control, as well as a 'custom' method where you can set up your own MIDI assignments. For methods other than MSC (MIDI Show Control) you will see a scrollable panel display entitled Cue Control Commands. This panel is described later. The following Control Methods are available:
| Control Method | Description |
|---|---|
| MSC (MIDI Show Control) | SCS recognises a subset of the MIDI Show Control (MSC) system exclusive messages. See MIDI Show Control Messages for details. |
| Note On | Use this method if you want to activate cues using 'Note On' messages. See MIDI Note On Messages for details. |
| Program Change (0‑127) | Use this method if you want to activate cues using 'Program Change' messages and your sending device or software uses program numbers in the range 0‑127. See MIDI Program Change Messages for details. |
| Program Change (1‑128) | Use this method if you want to activate cues using 'Program Change' messages and your sending device or software uses program numbers in the range 1‑128. See MIDI Program Change Messages for details. |
| ETC AB | This Control Method follows the assignments published for the AB Fader Pair for ETC Express lighting consoles. This provides for control of SCS MIDI Cue Numbers up to 999 using Program Change and Controller Change messages. See MIDI ETC Messages for details. |
| ETC CD | This Control Method follows the assignments published for the CD Fader Pair for ETC Express lighting consoles. This also provides for control of SCS MIDI Cue Numbers up to 999 using Controller Change messages. See MIDI ETC Messages for details. |
| Palladium | Use this method if you are using Palladium to control SCS and you are not using the MSC format. See Palladium Messages for details. |
| Custom | If none of the above methods is suitable, you can use the Custom method provided you do not want to use SysEx messages, and that the SCS MIDI Cue Numbers you want to control are in the range 1‑127. |
| Tip: MIDI control enables you to connect SCS to a device or software that can send MIDI messages to SCS to control cues. Any suitable device could be used as the controller, including lighting boards and sound boards that can transmit MIDI cue control messages. Software programs such as Palladium can also be used. |
When you select a Control Method and select any necessary additional information, the display panel on the right (MIDI Message Assignments) will provide you with a summary of the message types that SCS will respond to, provided corresponding cues are included in your cue file.
MIDI Channel: For Control Methods other than MSC, you must nominate the MIDI Channel number that SCS will recognise. Any incoming messages that do not have this MIDI channel will be ignored by SCS. The purpose of a MIDI Channel is to allow messages to be sent to different devices on the same MIDI daisy chain, with each device being allocated a unique MIDI Channel. (NB MIDI Channel numbers are numbered 1-16, but in the MIDI messages these are held as 0-15, or 0H-FH.)
'Go' Button Macro #: If the Control Method is MSC then you may be expecting 'macro' messages to activate cues. More details of this are given under MIDI Show Control Messages. If you need a 'Go button' facility then you can dedicate one macro number to be used for this purpose, which, of course, means the number will not be available for a MIDI Cue #.
If the Control Method is other than MSC then the Cue Control Commands panel will be displayed. Note that each of the messages listed in this panel has a MIDI channel component, so SCS will ony respond to such messages if the MIDI channel matches the MIDI Channel nominated in these Options.
This panel is scrollable, so use the scroll bar on the right to see additional Cue Control commands. The first few commands are cue-related commands, eg 'Play Cue 1-127'. The numbers 1-127 refer to MIDI Cue Numbers, which you can assign to cues that need them (ie cues you want to control via MIDI). See Cue Properties for information on setting a cue's MIDI Cue Number. You would normally want to set a cue's MIDI Cue Number to match the Cue Label, eg for Q7 you would assign MIDI Cue Number 7. However, as the non-MSC formats only have 7 bits for a cue number, only MIDI cue numbers up to 127 can be recognised. (The ETC methods get around this restriction for 'Play Cue', allowing for MIDI cue numbers up to 999, but the limit of 127 still applies to the other command types, such as 'Stop Cue'.)
After the cue-related commands there are some global commands, such as 'Stop Everything'.
If you set the Master Fader Control Command, you will probably use a Control Change with a nominated controller number (eg cc 7). The 7-bit value (vv) for that Control Change will determine the Master Fader setting, 127 being the maximum setting and 0 being the minimum setting. Other command types could be used if required, and the relevant value/velocity/etc field will determine the Master Fader setting.
When you select a Control Method, commands that are defined by that Control Method are displayed disabled. You can then supplement that Control Method by setting other commands as required (assuming your controlling device or software can transmit those requests).
| Tip: When you change the selected Control Method, all the Cue Control Commands are cleared and reset as required for the new Control Method, unless the new Control Method is Custom. So to set up a Custom method, start with the Control Method that is closest to what you need, then change the Control Method to Custom. |
For each of the enabled commands you want to set, select the required MIDI message type from the drop down list. Depending on what message type you select, and whether or not the command is cue-related, you may be required to enter some additional information. Conventional 2-character abbreviations are used to identify the fields, eg cc for Controller Number for a Control Change message.
This panel provides information on how the selected MIDI message types are mapped to SCS cues.
Having selected a MIDI In device and relevant details for the Control Method, you can now check that SCS is receiving and recognising these messages by clicking the Test MIDI Input button. This will open a MIDI Test window, and selected incoming MIDI messages will be displayed in that window. Where the message is recognisable for cueing purposes, the mapping is displayed. For example, if you have selected MSC as the Cue Control Message Type and SCS detects a SysEx message that is correct for a 'GO' command, then the MIDI Test window will display the hexadecimal values of the SysEx message followed by "MSC Command = GO".
You can clear messages from the window by clicking the Clear button. Close the window by clicking the OK button.