Posted on

V-Control Dark Mode and new GUI Designer

Today we released V-Control 4.1.2. One often asked feature in the past was a dark mode. Personally, I prefer a bright mode, but as you know, taste is a matter of debate. The new dark mode can be switched on via the options (Main Menu Configure->Options and check the Use Dark Mode box). The new mode is then available after a restart of V-Control.

Beside the Dark Mode, there are also some other innovations. Among others the file format has been changed. Therefore V-Control projects can not be loaded from earlier versions. Here is a complete list:

  • New Driver: QSC Q-Sys
  • New Driver: Elatec RFID Reader with Elatec TCP Converter
  • New: Context Menu for Device variable to copy a variable content
  • New: The Call Buttons now have the ability to fire on a Hotkey. The Call Button Window does not need to have the focus to fire on a Hotkey press, it can be minimized. This feature makes it very easy to integrate Elgato Stream Deck
  • New: For UDP, TCP, Http and Https Channels you can now select a network interface
  • New: Dark Mode for Main Window available
  • Fixed: Bug that sometimes the Windows Taskbar disappears
  • Fixed: Channel Status now shown correctly (Ch_Status)
  • Fixed: If a Channel could not be opened then the Channel was still present but not shown in the Channel List.
  • Fixed: Playlist Remote Command Fire Task is now working correct.
  • Update: Device Config Dialog changed, Channel Names are set automatically now. Also Channelnames are hidden in Cuelists and Timelines now. To edit a Channel select the device in the Device Configuration Dialog
  • Update: Change default value of MaximumInBufferSize for Channels from 500 to 600. This is because Art-Net Messages are 530 Bytes long

New V-Control Designer

There’s a new designer again. The product is not ready yet, but it is still available for download and testing.
If the new designer is installed (just unzip and run exe file) it will run in demo mode. The mode has the following limitation: Every 30 minutes a window pops up and reminds you of the demo mode. If the Designer is in Run Mode at this time, it will be interrupted.

To get rid of the demo mode you need a license. And you have to buy it. You might be wondering why you should pay money for an unfinished product? Well, the development of V-Control costs a lot of time. And to motivate us to continue with the development, a little appreciation here and there is quite helpful.

Besides, you also have tangible benefits from it. When the designer is finished we aim for a price of 200 Euro. If you buy a license today you pay only 39 Euro, and the license remains valid for the finished product, promised. The more the designer is developed, the higher the price will be, until we will finally end up at about 200 Euro. The earlier you start, the cheaper the price will be.

Now I’ve talked enough about the money, watch the video and install V-Control Designer to make your own picture. And if you like it and want to support the future development, buy a license.


Posted on

V-Control 4.1.1 released and two more Video Tutorials

New in V-Control 4.1.1

  • If creating a new task, the task is preselected now for editing
  • Fixed Bug in Timelines where commands with a DP1 parameter was prefixed with “ (chr(34))
  • New Driver: Playdeck
  • Added Get / SetGlobalVar for Events
  • New Driver: Kissbox TC2TR direct UDP Timecode Reading / Generating
  • New Driver: Kissbox TC2TR use MIDI section with UDP protocol without the need of the TCP_MIDI_Connector
  • Added Clear buttons in Options page to clear Autoload File and Autostart Task. Before it was necessary to push the load button and then press Cancel to clear that entry.

New Video Tutorials

We also have two new Video Tutorials. One is about the Kissbox TC2TR integration in V-Control. In this Video we show how the Kissbox has to be configured with the Kissbox Editor. We also show how to use it as Timecode Reader and Timecode Generator. And of course we also use it as MIDI In and Out Device without the need of the TCP_MIDI_Connector.

The second Tutorials is about Timelines. Timelines are a very convenient way to fire actions that depend on a Timecode. Timelines use a Device Variable that contains Timecode as Reference. In the Tutorial we use again the Kissbox TC2TR as a Timecode Reference for a Timeline.

All Video Tutorials are available at our Video Tutorial Page.

Posted on

V-Control 4.1.0 with new Device Setup Dialog

In V-Control 4.1.0 we released a new device setup dialog. In older versions, the device setup was done in three steps at three different locations. The new dialog contains all three steps in one place.

We also start a new series of video tutorials. The first one is about the new device setup procedure. More will follow.

 

Posted on

V-Control 4.0.7 with Timeline support

As some of you might know, the Timeline Tasks of V-Control were broken since Version 4.0. I am pleased to announce that timelines are working again. Under the hood, a lot of code was changed and a completely new task model was introduced. Before that, we had a single task class that covers everything, Cuelists, Scripts and Timelines. The new model uses a class for every task type that shares the same interface. This makes it a lot easier to implement task-type specific code. Because all task classes share the same interface, the usage is as easy as in the past (for the programmer, for the V-Control user nothing changed). Continue reading “V-Control 4.0.7 with Timeline support”

Posted on

Elgato Stream Deck Integration

V-Control 4 now support Elgato Stream Deck to fire tasks and control the playlist.

Have you always wanted an inexpensive universal keyboard with freely assignable keys for V-Control? With keys that can be individually labeled and backed up with images? Then the Elgato Stream Deck is for you. For about 150 Euro you get a keyboard with 15 free assignable buttons.

Individual keys can also act as folders and display additional key layouts. Thus you are not limited to the 15 keys. Elgato provides a more or less comfortable software to assign the keys.

The connection to V-Control is made via the TCP_StreamDeckConnector, which can be downloaded in the download area. The TCP_StreamDeckConnector takes commands from the Stream Deck and forwards them to V-Control via a TCP connection. V-Control must be in remote mode (Configure->Options->RemoteMode->TCP).

Be sure that the Enable TCP Remote Service box is checked.

In Elgato’s Stream Deck software, the buttons are assigned an Open / Launch command. This command takes a file name from the program to be executed as a parameter. The TCP_StreamDeckConnector is selected here. Parameters must then be passed to it to determine which task is to be executed or which playlist action is to be started.

Read the full manual at Elgato Stream Deck

Posted on

Kissboxes now available at V-Control’s Shop

Many of you may know them, but for those who don’t here is an explanation what Kissboxes are and how they work.

In general, Kissboxes could be described as gateways. They have an Ethernet connector to communicate with the control software on one side, and a second interface to control devices. This second interface can be a MIDI, DMX or LTC interface. Kissbox offers digital and analog IO’s as well.

Depending on the type, Kissboxes support a number of control protocols such as Art-Net, RTP MIDI and Telnet.

Continue reading “Kissboxes now available at V-Control’s Shop”

Posted on

V-Control 4.0.6 and TCP Art-Net Connector

Today we released V-Control 4.0.6 and a new TCP Art-Net Connector. The TCP Art-Net Connector is a software that controls up to 256 Art-Net universes on the Art-Net side, and has a simple TCP ASCII interface on the V-Control side.

In V-Control we have new standard device variables that show the channel status and the last command string that was sent to the device

Continue reading “V-Control 4.0.6 and TCP Art-Net Connector”

Posted on

V-Control 4.0.4 now with MIDI Support for Standard (USB) MIDI Interfaces and Art-Net

 New in V-Control 4.0.4

  • GUI: Message shows “Not in Run Mode” if a task is started without being in Run Mode
  • GUI: Added Toolbar Button for Countdown Window
  • GUI: Toolbar now shows correctly on High DPI Screens on Windows
  • IOManagaer: IOMan.OnTimerSendAction: if Globals.EnableEvents = False then remove all
  • ioCommands IOManager: Incomming Data is now buffered before processd. The Buffer is read by a timer triggered function now.
  • ScriptManager: Endless repeats don’t let System hang on Stop (Added “If Cancel then return” to Interpreter.bas)
  • New Driver: Onvif TCP Connector
  • New Driver: Art-Net
  • New Driver: MIDI TCP Connector

We have now basic Art-Net support. The main usage of then V-Control Art-Net driver is to trigger other devices. It is also possible to use the driver to have DMX output if an Art-Net node such as Kissbox DMX1-TR is used. Continue reading “V-Control 4.0.4 now with MIDI Support for Standard (USB) MIDI Interfaces and Art-Net”

Posted on

V-Control 4.0 Beta for ARM 32 / Raspberry Pi released

Today the promised Raspberry Pi version of V-Control is available for download. Please keep in mind that the power of a Raspberry is much less then a core i CPU.

The main application for V-Control for ARM should be small projects that require a low-cost platform and small form factor.

We also released the first Beta of V-Control 4.0 64 Bit for Linux. It was tested with Ubuntu 17.10 and Linux Mint 18.3, but should run on all distros with GTK3 support.

We are still looking for volunteers that help us testing the MAC OSX version. At the moment we assume that there is not much interest in a MAC OSX version, because nobody want’s to help us yet.