First: remote notebook, then netbook. Next up: iPhone app?

[dbarrow]

I have been using my new netbook more and more to mix while moving about the room, listening from the audience perspective. People have been freaking out on how cool it is to do that vs. being chained to a giant console. I meant to take a photo, but the other night I was doing a show using my notebook and BCF setup behind a Crest 48ch. monstrosity. I was only feeding their system a left/right output from SAC. We used our own combination of powered wedges and IEM rigs for the monitors. The only other thing going through the big house console was one wireless mic for an auctioneer (this was a fundraiser gig in Odessa). I guess they HAD to set up the big board, because they had gotten whatever price for the system and wanted it to look like they were worth it. I could have just fed their speaker management system and foregone the main console. The sound company guys were freaking out about mixing the whole show on the notebook - and then I pulled out the netbook and started moving around to empty tables at the edge of the crowded dance floor...

What about an iPhone app for SAC? Or, better yet, one of those virtual reality visors and VR gloves? I could go "swimming" around the room in a virtual world of "structural audio concepts". Then all I would need is a hat with a built-in lightshow...

[905shmick]

I've used an RDP client on my ipod touch to remotely control SAC. I didn't do this while the system was actually in use, but I was able to scroll around and mute and solo things. Fader movements were kind of tricky.

[ssrsound]

I've been wondering about the idea of an iphone app since I first saw SAC. 2 options I can think of: a stripped down SAC remote... or a VNC client on your iphone connecting to a Windows machine.

...haven't tried it yet.

[gdougherty]

My iPhone experience was similar to 905's. VNC onto a high res screen was even worse. It works okay for non-time critical stuff, but fine control of everything was a major worry for me.
Supposedly the Digidesign Venues have an iPhone app to allow control of the board. I think the best route would be a dedicated app, but I wouldn't hold my breath unless Bob farmed it out to somebody. He's got a pretty full plate already with 3 versions of SAW, plugins and 2 versions of SAC to work on. What may be possible would be an app that emulated midi control over the network to allow at least BCF type functionality with channel labels and bank switching.

[Bob L]

Meanwhile people complain about the 1024 x 600 netbook screen res as being too small... and then you ask about an ipod.

Screen res is very important to a useful interface to control SAC, in my opinion... and even the netbook res was quite a stretch....

Now at least the Netbooks have gotten up to 1366 x 768 which is very workable for a handheld mixing device... but an ipod... sorry... but I see this as nothing more than a gimicky marketing ploy.

Bob L

[dbarrow]

Meanwhile people complain about the 1024 x 600 netbook screen res as being too small... and then you ask about an ipod.

Screen res is very important to a useful interface to control SAC, in my opinion... and even the netbook res was quite a stretch....

Now at least the Netbooks have gotten up to 1366 x 768 which is very workable for a handheld mixing device... but an ipod... sorry... but I see this as nothing more than a gimicky marketing ploy.

Bob L
I agree. I had to wait and get the higher-rez netbook. I fooled around with the 1024x600 setups by recalling that F-key template and didn't really like it. Maybe there could be an EQ remote app or something like that for the iPhone. Somewhere I was reading an article about remoting the Yamaha PM5D from an iPhone. I could see how you could maybe scroll back and forth between channels or have some completely different GUI approach. I'm not asking you to do it, but maybe someone else could come up with some radically efficient approach that would allow you to control a lot from a micro user interface. I saw a strobo-tuner app for the iPhone the other day that actually seemed to work pretty well. I don't even own an iPhone yet, but I'm considering one when my Sprint contract runs out.

The VR visor thing might actually work, because you would have lots of screen real estate, but it would be "virtual". You would just have to make sure you didn't whack a passing waitress's tray when you were grabbing for the reverb send...

[dbarrow]

What may be possible would be an app that emulated midi control over the network to allow at least BCF type functionality with channel labels and bank switching.

I like that! You could just scroll through channels and just have faders and mute/solo buttons. Perhaps another screen could be a channel strip that would zoom in to specific areas: EQ, dynamics, etc.

[RBIngraham]

Meanwhile people complain about the 1024 x 600 netbook screen res as being too small... and then you ask about an ipod.

Screen res is very important to a useful interface to control SAC, in my opinion... and even the netbook res was quite a stretch....

Now at least the Netbooks have gotten up to 1366 x 768 which is very workable for a handheld mixing device... but an ipod... sorry... but I see this as nothing more than a gimicky marketing ploy.

Bob L

I agree that's it's mostly just a cool toy. The only useful thing I could see with such a tool would be as a remote sound check tool. Like in the Harrah's video, Lee could have had an iPhone, that just showed Mutes, Solos and a Fader Level just as text, no virtual fader on the screen. Save lugging around the laptop all over stage.

But it's mostly just a toy.

There are a lot of neat iPhone apps out there. To the point that I'm actually going to break down and buy one when I get home from my current road trip. I've always been about buying the platform that runs the applications I want to run. So all the cool mobile apps are now being written for iPhone, so an iPhone it is I guess.

The remote desktop tools in iPhone will allow you to remote into SAC already, but I'm sure it's not all that useful. Someone would have to write a SAC specific application in order to make it very workable I suspect and Apples's stranglehold on how they treat developers for iPhone apps makes a lot of develops I know cringe.

[wascomat]

Hey, I have an old game boy... I could....nevermind...:rolleyes:
-Jim

[905shmick]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/833508/IMG00130-20091111-0057.jpg


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/833508/IMG00131-20091111-0059.jpg

[Naturally Digital]

Way cool!! :cool:

[RBIngraham]

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/833508/IMG00130-20091111-0057.jpg


http://dl.dropbox.com/u/833508/IMG00131-20091111-0059.jpg


That's cool. Looks like it might actually be usable. :)

OK... one more reason I just need to give into the frickin bitten apple and get an iPhone.

Is there a way to trigger the F-Keys over the VNC remote?

[quaizywabbit]

my fingers are way too big to deal with stuff that small...

i can only see an iphone/ipod touch working in a "drill down" manner to access a specific control, assuming the basic channel modules could be scaled to a usable size via one finger.

It's hard for me to fathom that just one person made all of this come to life, and manages so many interopable pieces of code to work seamlessly together. Can't see him adding another headache till he's done realizing the vision first.....

[905shmick]

That's cool. Looks like it might actually be usable. :)

OK... one more reason I just need to give into the frickin bitten apple and get an iPhone.

Is there a way to trigger the F-Keys over the VNC remote?

It's sorta usable. Being able to zoom in on the mutes allows easy access, same with zooming in on the up/down arrows for the fader to make a change. Other than that you'll be fumbling around and will most likely create more problems.

I wouldn't suggest running out and buying an iphone or ipod touch just to do this.

[wascomat]

newest interface:



655

[905shmick]

newest interface:



http://www.sawstudiouser.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=655&d=1258024869



At least you can use my NumPad mixer switch util with this!