Announcement: OtsAV 1.90.014 Maintenance Release

[Darryl]

1.90.015 seems to have fixed the toolbar issue I had on my old laptop too.

[shdixon]

I'm going to try using a 32" HD flat screen TV as a monitor.

[Glen J. Millar]

Well I used v1.90.015 for my wedding on Saturday night. I had "bench tested" the software for roughly 72 hours before the event with no problems, and I was confident that I would have no problems on Saturday night as well.

Now, I am a Canadian DJ, and where I am, our weddings will last usually at least 8 hours (including cocktails and dinner), and if I am doing a Ceremony & Reception, it can last 12 hours and I use OtsAV for it all.

Well, I am pleased to say I got a hour of O.T. and OtsAV performed flawlessly. That is a 9 hour show run for OtsAV without a problem at all.

After using OtsAV 1.90.015, the only complaint I had was the buttons where the looping/eject buttons are, are mighty small and if in a rush and one does not pay attention, one could hit the wrong button (I always have Live Protection engaged) or if, like I do alot with Bouquet/Garter, need to quickly eject a song, it takes a extra second or 2 to ensure one clicks the eject button. Other than that (the really small buttons), it's all good.

[Ed]

BOTH decks, hopefully 3 decks soon need to show larger controls "buttons", and I feel some of what is on the decks could be eliminated, but then again I do not beat mix or run video, just music!
Another suggestion as well, I like lighter color scheme choice, but WHY do the decks and everything else have to be light on very dark...should be all the same, make it all look simple and uniform without all the special dark backgrounds and curtains. Personally I would like to see a version completely plain jane" all just black and white with a little gray for the decks.

[scott hanna]

After using OtsAV 1.90.015, the only complaint I had was the buttons where the looping/eject buttons are, are mighty small and if in a rush and one does not pay attention, one could hit the wrong button (I always have Live Protection engaged) or if, like I do alot with Bouquet/Garter, need to quickly eject a song, it takes a extra second or 2 to ensure one clicks the eject button. Other than that (the really small buttons), it's all good.

Glen, glad it all worked for you.

Question......why the need to quickly eject a song? Why not just drop a new song over it?

While I use the eject button on occasion, I've never come across a time when I needed to quickly eject a song

[Bryan Durio]

If you already know the songs you'll use, why not put them all in the Prepare list and insert a <Stop & Re-cue> directive between them? Then you have the option of dumping the song immediately or doing a Cut.

For most things, I use the keyboard. That way, there's less chance of a slip-up.

[John Quincy]

I did two DJ gigs this weekend and 1.90.15 worked flawlessly on my Windows 7 64-bit laptop.

Also, I was delighted that version 1.90.14 brought back an optional color scheme that made the OtsAV screen easier to see in bright conditions (like outdoor jobs on sunny days). Because of this I took advantage of the recent sale and upgraded my secondary laptop. Besides, it's a lot easier to use OtsAV on multiple systems if all are running the same version!

[Glen J. Millar]

I always use the Live Protection feature of OtsAV which prevents the dropping of a song onto a playing deck.

Why directives would not work is when doing the Bouquet toss, I stop/fade out the song and have to quickly drop in the song(s) for the Garter toss, so I am only playing maybe at most 40 to 60 seconds of the Bouquet toss song, and eject it while getting the boys up for the bouquet, but, I am usually interactive (moving about and giving direction) so I may have only a second to eject the Bouquet song before I press play for the Garter song.

[djandy]

what songs do you use for the Bouquet toss, Garter toss

[Glen J. Millar]

djandy it depends on what my clients have asked for, but, they are never the same from wedding to wedding. I have often used obscure songs as well which my clients requested.

My bouquet & garter routines are not just simple 1,2,3 toss but come with props and surprises and are sometimes worthy of YouTube, but I never video them as I am too busy running around.

[djandy]

just been noisy LOL

[Jumpin' Jeff]

Glen, if I'm not mistaken, you can drag a track to a playing deck with live protection on as long as you hold the shift key... But I'll have to verify this to be certain. perhaps someone else will before I can get back to my system....

[Ed]

Glen, if I'm not mistaken, you can drag a track to a playing deck with live protection on as long as you hold the shift key... But I'll have to verify this to be certain. perhaps someone else will before I can get back to my system....

Very good example here of why a 3rd deck would help!!!!!

[Jumpin' Jeff]

Sorry it took so long. Just tried to drop a new track on a playing deck with Live protection set, and holding shift does allow the override as i had thought.

Ed, I can only see a third deck being the advantange in speed of loading specific tracks personally. If the outgoing track is still playing when you swap it with the incoming track started... It would definately put some crunch time urgency on making it happen with the desired effect. The way Ots is designed to only overlay a total of 6 seconds with 2 tracks, the 3rd or 4th  decks would very likely need to be launched manually anyhow, and may actually get launched accidently if it wasn't directed properly. Not sure exactly how it would work honestly, but I would think manually would be preferred.

[Lane]

The third deck allows you to do transitions that aren't possible with two. Particularly with automated playout. The salient example is where you play a station ID or stinger over top a musical cross mix. 3 things are actually playing at the same time. It's something you hear all the time on the radio. A fourth deck wouldn't get applied here really, as those transitions don't really last long enough for more than one short item to play over them. But that third deck can give you a lot more transition possibilities.

There are other types of situations where an extra deck and triggers etc. could be helpful. Times where you're playing a musical bed under more than one voice over in a row, and then want it end it at an arbitrary place due to variable length content. Think in terms of local event announcements. While that music bed is playing, you can find yourself wanting 3 decks at once so you can transition little stingers between each voice track. And then having a final item end the music bed and carry on with the rest of the hour.

I could outline some other situations, but really it's about a third deck allowing you do to more sophisticated transitions where 3 things are actually playing at the same time. And it's really in the context of automation. If you have some kind of soundboard/panel software, you can manually trigger stuff to play over top the music mix.