Development Releases Nov 2023 - feedback thread

[Dave Brown [admin]]

New development releases of Show Buddy Active and Show Buddy Setlist are now available, and we need your help to test them!

See this page for full details. Note that development releases are not for everyone, please read the full description before requesting access.

Please post any feedback, bugs or suggestions into this thread.

[Dave Brown [admin]]

Something I forgot to add to the release notes - the SBA macro engine has been upgraded from Python 2.6 to Python 3.10. So if you have custom macros that no longer work, it's probably due to a Python syntax change.

One such change is with print. Previously, print "Hello" would work fine. Now, you need to write print("Hello")

[leepgm]

If anyone is having a problem with their full length waveform videos restarting when it hits the first lighting preset Dave is aware of the issue and working on a fix.
In the meantime I have discovered a work around.
Since the video only restarts after on the first lighting preset and not subsequent lighting presets then I placed a preset cue very close after the video cue
using the tool on the bottom to zoom in on the waveform. This enables the video to continue to play when subsequent light cues hit.

[alxsparker]

Hello Dave !

Here are my feedback on SBS

great job ! Thank You . It helps a lot for our duet.

No bug at this moment.

Suggestions :
more colors on the grid Mode
Two click on a title could launch it.
When title is ended, it could become grey ( for example).. so we can focus on the title that aren't played.
We use an iPad to share the screen of my Macbook, in front of us. But we can't zoom on iPad. I have to replace the lyrics window in order to have it bigger... is there any possibilities to export on a share screen only the lyrics window ?

Hop you understand my words...I'm always a French with bad level in your language.


Best regards,

Alex
www.loveandlive.fr

[neilnotts]

Hi Dave,

I'm enjoying the enhancements in this release. The new backup feature is excellent and saves loads of time.

I use SBS with a touchscreen monitor. I am able to select a button with one press but it does not display the song in the waveform window without a further two or three presses. A double click on a mouse works with no problem. I accept this could be down to the monitor.

As mentioned in a previous reply on here, it would be a good idea, when using grid view, to somehow show which songs have been played, be it greying out the box or marking it in some way.

I think it would be good to enable the grid buttons to trigger play back. So you can set it to trigger play back automatically on selecting the button, or double clicking/tapping i.e. press to select a song then press again to trigger playback.

Cheers

Neil

[Dave Brown [admin]]

Thanks for the feedback all.

Here is an important note on video support! With SBA now supporting higher resolutions of video output (up to 1920x1080) it's more important than ever to make sure your videos are encoded efficiently.

SBA can play back VP8 and VP9 video. However, I highly recommend you encode your videos with VP8, as it is less demanding to play back than VP9. And as always, only encode at the lowest resolution you need. There's no point in encoding a video at 4K resolution, to then play it back on a 1024x768 projector.

I still recommend HandBrake as the tool of choice for converting your videos. For reference, here are the HandBrake settings I use to encode Full HD video for use in SBA. This is basically the standard [Matroska > VP9 MKV 1080p30] preset with the encoder changed to VP8.

[Dave Brown [admin]]

Thanks again for all the feedback. New SBA 2.2.5 and SBS 1.9.2 beta releases are now available for download.

Show Buddy Active 2.2.5 changes (from 2.2.4)

• Don't allow dragging of faders while ctrl or shift is held down. This can lead to accidental edits of multiple channels.
• Prevent videos from restarting when loading a new preset with "effects OFF".
• Fixed hard line visible in basic Effect objects (e.g. rectangles) being scrolled.
• Effects rotation and scrolling are now locked to tempo.
• Added circular Masks (Effects tab).
• Improved accuracy of video playback.
• Added tip to recommend VP8 videos instead of VP9. (VP8 is FAR more efficient to play back)
• Bugfix : SBA was loading bank tempos within SBS. Now, the SBS song tempo always overrides the SBA bank tempos.
• Bugfix : prevent "CHOOSE A VIDEO" information image from briefly appearing when a preset containing video is loaded.

Download SBA 2.2.5 for Windows
Download SBA 2.2.5 for macOS

Show Buddy Setlist 1.9.2 changes (from 1.9.1)

• Fixed intermittent crash on exit (macOS only)
• Fixed audio clicks when stopping mid-track and playing a new track.
• Improved fade in/out algorithm (audio now ramps smoothly).
• Fixed brief audible feedback loop on startup (when audio mic input is enabled in Preferences)

Download SBS 1.9.2 for Windows
Download SBS 1.9.2 for macOS

[couragegull]

If you're encountering issues with your extended waveform videos resetting upon reaching the initial lighting preset, rest assured that Dave is actively addressing this concern and developing a solution. While awaiting the official fix, I've identified a practical workaround.

Given that the video restarts exclusively after the first lighting preset and not subsequent ones, consider inserting a preset cue in close proximity to the video cue. To achieve this, utilize the tool located at the bottom for zooming in on the waveform. This strategic placement of the preset cue will allow the video to persist during subsequent lighting cues, providing a temporary solution until the comprehensive fix is implemented.

[Dave Brown [admin]]

If you're encountering issues with your extended waveform videos resetting upon reaching the initial lighting preset, rest assured that Dave is actively addressing this concern and developing a solution. While awaiting the official fix, I've identified a practical workaround.

This is fixed in the new 2.2.5 public beta, available from dmxis.com/download

With the 2.2.5 release, the software has now moved from "development release" to full public beta. See my post above dated Jan 3 for a list of things fixed in the public beta.

[joebataz]

HELLO.......

I have gotten the latest versions of DMXIS (1.7.4) and Show Buddy Active (2.2.6) running on my MacBook Air. I can't get Show Buddy Setlist running because I can't find my license! Where do I get it from????
Also, I'd like to move all of the data from my iMac over to the MacBook Air. Where are the files located and/or is there a procedure document somewhere on how to do this?
I have posted here because the post where I asked for the license information has been sitting since Dec 1, 2023 without a single response and I am hoping to get a response here. I am about to start work in a theatre and NEED this information.
I also can't get D-Pro-2U to work on either machine and my logins don't work on the ENTTEC site.

PLEASE HELP,

Thanks,

Joe B

[Dave Brown [admin]]

Best to email me at dave@db-audioware.com

[Burn Witch Burn]

Hi Dave and team. Thanks so much for the update.

I'd like to request a feature: Upon backup, an option to not include the audio files (or video files).
I don't know if this is possible with the new single-file backup.

I ask because in most cases, I'm going from desktop to laptop adding 1 to 5 tunes/lightshows at a time and it would save time to not have to backup all the audio files that already exist on my laptop.

If not, I can live with it, but maybe I'm not the only one with this thought.

Thanks for your work.

[wacka]

Me too
Seems ungratefull as its a great feature.
Im just so use to doing small edits on PC and saving the setlist to overwrite the laptop.
Havn't tried yet but do the existing audio files just get over written each time ?