Best practices for recording a Dynamic cue:

Device Activity:

When entering the Cue Library, Events, Triggers, the Stop All command is used in the background to halt the playback of cues. This is to prevent data being sent from the S-Play from being re-recorded. 


However, it’s important that during the recording process you also ensure that there are no schedules or other external Triggers that could start playback mid-way through your recording. If necessary, pause all active schedules.


Equally, check and ensure there are no other devices sending sACN or Art-Net to the S-Play.


Frame Rate:

Dynamic Recordings should be recorded at the same frame rate as you intend to playback to ensure the smoothest playback. If your content has a loop in it, tick the "perfect loop" option to allow the S-Play to detect the loop within the incoming DMX feed.


Network:

If recording Art-Net, it's recommended that you Unicast to your S-Play instead of broadcasting. - This reduces network bandwidth and decreases the chance of signal lag creating an unclean recording.

 


Editing a cue

Editing an existing cue in the cue library simply overwrites and updates the channel values that have previously been recorded. This does not set the previously recorded values in the cue to 0 if no updated information is provided.


It’s recommended that the original cue is deleted from the cue library and deleted from each of the playlists referencing it before re-record the cue from the beginning, if you are looking to edit a cue with the intention of:

  • Replacing all contents
  • Modifying all contents.
  • Modifying the cue length (extending or shortening)


 

Dropping frames on a Dynamic Cue record

This could be caused by a few factors, the key ones include:

  • The S-Play outputting while recording
  • An overcrowded network
  • Network Switch Smart Filtering


The S-Play outputting while recording

  • The S-Play outputs exactly what it is recording while it is received if preview is enabled so that it can be previewed on your installation (a helpful feature when recording a network protocol and outputting on physical DMX).
  • Ensure that the S-Play is not scheduled to play back playlists while recording.
  • Check your outputs on the S-Plays Settings page to ensure you are not broadcasting identical eDMX universes that your S-Play is listening to when recording.


An overcrowded network

  • Multiple devices sending and receiving Art-Net/sACN universes over a network can cause interference to your recording or dropped frames on a network.
  • To minimise the chances of this being an issue, if possible, disconnect the S-Play from your network when recording to rule out other network traffic.
  • Secondly, set traffic on your network to Unicast or Multicast instead of Broadcast. This will cut down on network traffic and ensure that your Art-Net sources are only travelling to their intended destination.


Network Switch Smart Filtering

  • Previously, there have been reports where advanced network switches have caused dropped frames. Be sure to disable all prioritisation management settings that allow streams of UDP packets (i.e. Art-Net / sACN) to be dropped.
  • To rule out the network infrastructure as an issue, set your S-Play to a static IP and connect it to the source you are recording via an unmanaged switch or a direct ethernet to the S-Play.