Example Scenario – A multiroom hotel that caters for functions, corporate events/meetings, general guest facilities and dining. Each section of the multiroom hotel would utilise either a phone, tablet or laptop/PC to run Custom Control. This app would allow any staff member in that section of the hotel, to log in with the correct user and have control of the inputs/outputs assigned to that room/area.
Hotel Layout:
- Upstairs Bar – Aux 13
- Guest Lounge 2 – Aux 12
- Function 2 – Aux 11
- Function 1 – Aux 10
- Guest Lounge 2 – Aux 9
- Upstairs Reception – Aux 8
- Restaurant – Aux 7
- Conference Room 3 – Aux 6
- Conference Room 2 – Aux 5
- Conference Room 1 – Aux 4
- Guest Lounge 1 – Aux 3
- Downstairs Bar – Aux 2
- Downstairs Reception – Aux 1
Input List:
|
Number |
Channel Name |
|
1 |
Customer Announcement |
|
2 |
Playback |
|
3 |
TV1 |
|
4 |
TV2 |
|
5 |
TV3 |
|
6 |
TV4 |
|
7 |
Room Mic 1 |
|
8 |
Room Mic 2 |
|
9 |
Room Mic 3 |
|
10 |
Lectern |
|
11 |
Lapel 1 |
|
12 |
Lapel 2 |
|
13 |
Lapel 3 |
|
14 |
Lapel 4 |
|
15 |
Radio Mic 1 |
|
16 |
Radio Mic 2 |
|
17 |
Video Mic |
|
18 |
DJ |
|
19 |
Projector |
|
20 |
Emergency |
|
21 |
Laptop |
As with many multiroom venues such as hotels, the staff that work in each department are not necessarily ‘up to scratch’ technically. Set-ups such as this template, help to resolve that issue, as well as not requiring a console in every room.
Each room in the venue can have a stage box e.g. a DT168 and a computer/tablet running on a managed or unmanaged network. This can be done using a network switch.
If using a tablet or phone, you of course have more portability. However, to use a tablet or phone, you will need a network router to be plugged into the network port of the Mix Rack. You will also need to have uploaded your Custom Control configuration to the Mix Rack prior to connecting your tablet/phone as this is where the Mix Rack stores all the Custom Control information for other devices to use and log into.
Let’s take Conference Room 1 as an example.
In multiroom buildings such as hotels, customer announcements and gentle, low background playback is usually sent to every room/area in installed ceiling speakers for example.
In specific conference rooms, many will have a room microphone and a feed from the TV for interactive presentations/videos. They will also normally have a small pair of active speakers.
Using Custom Control would allow you to combine both in the same room, with a DT unit and a network connection for your PC/Tablet/laptop.
Uploading Your Config:
To upload your Custom Control config to the Mix Rack, connect your PC to the Mix Rack network.
In Custom Control Editor, save your config and then go to File and Upload Config. You should then be able to upload your config to the Mix Rack.
Once your upload is complete, you can open the Custom Control App. From there you should be able to connect to the Mix Rack and log in with one of the usernames. This can be from any of the usernames you chose for one of your layouts. We will stick with our example, Conference Room1.
Once you have connected, the Custom Control App, downloads the data of your config for use with the Mix Rack.
You can then start using the controls on your layout for the user you logged into.
Providing that you have patched/assigned inputs and outputs correctly on the Mix Rack and in Custom Control, any features that you have assigned should now be active and work in conjunction with the Surface/Mix Rack.
For example, the rotary sends for the ‘Customer Announcement’ to Auxiliary 4 for ‘Conference Room 1’ can be seen on Custom Control via the rotary send or on the Surface via the Mix fader send.
Some users may find that the set up for some rooms in a multi-room set-up, settings do not need to be adjusted for everyday use. Custom Control allows you to set up your user profile on your layout as you need and then leave it in this format. Each time you log into this user, this format will be the same, allowing users ease of use.
Another example of this, is the very simply set up page/layout below. A tech manager of the hotel for example, may require switching quickly between scenes or layouts to monitor what is happening in each room. This could be useful if they need to do a new set up in a different room and so need to upload a new layout to the Mix Rack for example, without disrupting any channels that are currently in use such as the Customer Announcement and Playback.
