Alien Apparatus Solo Performer Show Controller User manual

Solo Performer
Show Controller®
Version 4
User’s Guide

Copyright ©2009 Alien Apparatus Company, Inc.
2018 Marina Court
San Leandro, CA 94577
All Rights Reserved
http://www.alienapparatus.com
Information is subject to change without notice. No
material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any
purpose without the express written permission of Alien
Apparatus Company, Inc.
Solo Performer Show Controller® and Alien Apparatus®
are registered trademarks of Alien Apparatus Company,
Inc.
Microsoft® and Windows® are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation.
Macintosh® is a registered trademark of Apple Computer
Corporation.
QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks used
under license. The QuickTime logo is registered in the
U.S. and other countries.

Contents
...........................................................................1 INTRODUCTION!9
OVERVIEW -HOW SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER WORKS..!9
NEW FEATURES IN VERSION .........................................................4!12
.................................2 IMPORTANT SAFETY PRECAUTIONS!15
..........................................3 UNPACKING AND REGISTERING!17
UNPACKING.....................................................................................!17
PRODUCT REGISTRATION.................................................................!17
...............................................................4 QUICK START GUIDE!19
..........................................5 INSTALLATION ON MACINTOSH!23
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.................................................................!23
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION........................................!23
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION...............................................................!23
..............................................6 INSTALLATION ON WINDOWS!31
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS.................................................................!31
UPGRADING FROM A PREVIOUS VERSION........................................!31
SOFTWARE INSTALLATION...............................................................!31
FOOT CONTROLLER DRIVER INSTALLATION....................................!43
..............................................................7 WIRING THE SYSTEM!47
CONNECTING LIGHTS......................................................................!47
LINE TERMINATION.........................................................................!48
5-PIN DMX512 CONNECTORS.........................................................!48
HIGH-PERFORMANCE AUDIO...........................................................!49
MIDI CABLING................................................................................!51
...........................................8 OVERVIEW OF THE SOFTWARE!53
THE PLAYLIST EDITOR WINDOW.....................................................!53
THE LYRICS EDITOR WINDOW........................................................!54

THE LIGHTSHOW EDITOR WINDOW.................................................!55
THE MIDI EFFECTS EDITOR WINDOW.............................................!56
THE HOTKEY EDITOR WINDOW.......................................................!57
THE INFORMATION WINDOW...........................................................!58
...................................................9 STARTING THE SOFTWARE!60
LAUNCHING SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER......................!60
SYSTEM REGISTRATION...................................................................!60
JOINT THE ELIST..............................................................................!63
LOCATE YOUR AUDIO FILES............................................................!64
.........................................................10 PLAYLISTS AND AUDIO!65
PLAYLIST EDITOR SCREEN LAYOUT................................................!65
PLAYLISTS.......................................................................................!68
SORTING PLAYLISTS........................................................................!69
DEFAULT PLAYLISTS........................................................................!69
MAKING A NEW PLAYLIST...............................................................!70
ADDING AUDIO TO THE PLAYLIST...................................................!71
SUPPORTED AUDIO FILE FORMATS..................................................!76
MIDI FILE PLAYBACK.....................................................................!77
PLAYLIST SELECTIONS.....................................................................!77
REORDERING PLAYLIST ITEMS.........................................................!78
REMOVING PLAYLIST ITEMS............................................................!79
ENDING OPTIONS.............................................................................!80
VOLUME ADJUSTMENT....................................................................!82
TIME REMAINING IN PLAYLIST........................................................!83
AUDIO FILE TUNING SETTING.........................................................!83
INFORMATION WINDOW..................................................................!84
SAVING PLAYLISTS..........................................................................!85
PLAYLIST LOCKING.........................................................................!86
OPENING PLAYLISTS........................................................................!86
BUTTON VIEW.................................................................................!87
AUDIO FILE TIPS..............................................................................!91
USING CLICK TRACKS.....................................................................!92
................................................................11 MIDI FILE OPTIONS!93
REMOVING INSTRUMENTS FROM A MIDI FILE.................................!93
CHANGING MIDI INSTRUMENTS.....................................................!95
TRANSPOSING MIDI NOTES............................................................!96

.......................................................................................12 TUNING!97
TUNING YOUR INSTRUMENT...........................................................!97
TUNING THE PLAYLIST AUDIO.........................................................!98
ADJUSTING THE GLOBAL TUNING.................................................!100
......................................13 EVENT SEQUENCES OVERVIEW!103
THE THREE-STEP PROCESS............................................................!103
......................................................................................14 LYRICS!105
ADDING LYRIC TEXT DISPLAYS TO A SONG...................................!105
DELETING A LYRIC TEXT EVENT...................................................!112
THE LOCK BUTTON.......................................................................!113
USING THE CLIPBOARD TO COPY AND PASTE LYRICS....................!113
EXITING THE LYRIC EDITOR..........................................................!118
EMBEDDED TEXT IN KARAOKE &MIDI FILES..............................!118
USING LRC LYRIC FILES...............................................................!120
LYRIC TEXT TIPS...........................................................................!120
...........................................................................................15 MIDI!123
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!123
MIDI EVENT EDITOR.....................................................................!123
CREATING A MIDI EVENT.............................................................!125
CREATING A MIDI EVENTS SEQUENCE..........................................!133
EXITING THE MIDI EVENT EDITOR...............................................!137
ADDING MIDI EVENT SEQUENCES TO A PLAYLIST........................!137
REMOVING MIDI EVENT SEQUENCES FROM A PLAYLIST..............!138
ADDING AN ENDING MIDI EVENT.................................................!139
.....................................................................................16 LIGHTS!141
OVERALL APPROACH....................................................................!141
OVERVIEW OF LIGHT DEVICE FILES...............................................!142
DEFINING NEW MIDI DEVICES.....................................................!147
USING THE RANGE TOOL...............................................................!150
EDITING EXISTING DEVICES..........................................................!152
LIGHTSHOW EDITOR OVERVIEW....................................................!153
CONFIGURING THE CHANNELS.......................................................!154
MAKING A LIGHT SCENE...............................................................!157
SAVING A LIGHT SCENE.................................................................!159
OPENING A LIGHT SCENE...............................................................!160

DELETING A LIGHT SCENE.............................................................!161
ADDING A SCENE TO A LIGHTSHOW...............................................!162
DELETING A SCENE FROM A LIGHTSHOW.......................................!166
PREVIEWING A LIGHTSHOW...........................................................!166
MAKING A LIGHTSHOW USING CHASES.........................................!167
SAVING A LIGHTSHOW...................................................................!172
OPENING A LIGHTSHOW.................................................................!173
EXITING THE LIGHTSHOW EDITOR.................................................!173
ADDING A LIGHTSHOW TO A PLAYLIST..........................................!174
REMOVING A LIGHTSHOW FROM A PLAYLIST.................................!174
ADDING AN ENDING LIGHT SCENE................................................!175
LIGHT SCENE TIPS.........................................................................!176
...........................................17 EXAMPLE LIGHTING SETUPS!179
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!179
THE SETUP/TEAR-DOWN MINIMALIST..........................................!179
THE BUDGET SETUP......................................................................!181
THE DIMMER SETUP......................................................................!183
AN ADVANCED SETUP EXAMPLE...................................................!185
.................................................................................18 HOTKEYS!189
INTRODUCTION..............................................................................!189
THE HOTKEY EVENT EDITOR.........................................................!189
CREATING A HOTKEY EVENT.........................................................!191
CREATING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES........................................!196
EXITING THE HOTKEY EVENT EDITOR...........................................!200
ADDING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES TO A PLAYLIST...................!202
REMOVING HOTKEY EVENT SEQUENCES FROM A PLAYLIST..........!203
ENDING HOTKEY EVENTS..............................................................!204
.................................................................19 RUNNING A SHOW!205
THE AUDIO TRANSPORT................................................................!205
SETTING UP THE VIEW...................................................................!206
THE CLOCK WINDOW....................................................................!206
THE NEXT SONG WINDOW............................................................!207
THE FOOT CONTROLLER................................................................!208
THE FOOT CONTROLLER BUTTON STATUS WINDOW.....................!209
STARTING A SHOW.........................................................................!209
STOPPING A SHOW.........................................................................!210

CONTROLLING THE PLAYLIST........................................................!210
CHANGING THE VOLUME...............................................................!211
CHANGING THE COMPUTER SYSTEM VOLUME..............................!212
FULL SCREEN LYRICS....................................................................!212
SECONDARY LYRIC DISPLAY WINDOW..........................................!214
FOG MACHINE CONTROL...............................................................!215
ALTERNATE BUTTON MAPPINGS....................................................!215
RECONNECTING THE FOOT CONTROLLER......................................!217
THE IMPORTANCE OF A FOG MACHINE..........................................!217
RECOMMENDED PRE-SHOW PREPARATION....................................!217
........................................................................20 CUSTOMIZING!221
OPENING THE PREFERENCES PANEL..............................................!221
SETTING THE GENERAL PREFERENCES..........................................!222
SETTING DEFAULT FILE LOCATIONS..............................................!225
SETTING DEFAULT CONFIGURATION FILE......................................!228
FONT AND COLOR SETTINGS.........................................................!229
MIDI SETTINGS.............................................................................!233
TUNING SETTINGS.........................................................................!235
FOG MACHINE SETTINGS...............................................................!238
BUTTON MAPPING SETTINGS.........................................................!242
...............................................................................21 GLOSSARY!245
..................................22 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS!251
......................................................................23 GETTING HELP!259
THE USERS MANUAL.....................................................................!259
ONLINE HELP.................................................................................!259
WEBSITE USERS FORUM................................................................!260
CUSTOMER SUPPORT.....................................................................!260
.............................A1 DMX512 LIGHTING INTRODUCTION!261
DMX512 BACKGROUND...............................................................!261
DXM512 AND SOLO PERFORMER SHOW CONTROLLER................!263
REDUCED DMX MODES................................................................!264
................................A2 SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT!265
..........................................................A3 LIMITED WARRANTY!273
...................................A4 DECLARATION OF CONFORMITY!277