BEYOND leads, lighting and pyro by LTC
The laser timeline in BEYOND is the master and sends Art-Net timecode. A grandMA2 lighting desk and a FireOne pyro system arrive that only take LTC. ShowTimeCoda, on the BEYOND PC or another one, chases BEYOND's timecode and sends it on as LTC.
Example setup, not a customer story. Check it with your own gear before a show. Why BEYOND as the master: when BEYOND plays the show's audio alongside its lasers, sound and lasers come from one clock, so there is no audio-latency risk between them; ShowTimeCoda only converts the timecode.
You need
- BEYOND sending Art-Net timecode from its timeline, and ShowTimeCoda on the same PC or on the same wired network.
- An audio output for LTC (a spare sound-card output, or the PC's headphone jack) and cables to the desk and the pyro system. To feed both from one output, use a splitter or a distribution amplifier.
- No media in ShowTimeCoda: it only passes the timecode on.
Steps
- Frame rate. Agree one rate with the lighting and pyro operators and set it everywhere. The grandMA2 reads 24, 25 and 30 fps only (29.97 is read as 30 and drifts), so use 25 or 30.
- BEYOND. Send the timeline's Art-Net timecode to the network's broadcast address, so ShowTimeCoda hears it even on the same PC.
- Chase. Switch ShowTimeCoda to Chase TC In; in Setup > Chase timecode in, choose Art-Net. The IN display follows BEYOND.
- LTC out. In Setup > LTC audio, tick Send LTC while playing and choose the output for LTC. While chasing, ShowTimeCoda's outputs pass the incoming timecode on, cue or no cue. (Its own Art-Net output stays off while it chases Art-Net, so it never echoes BEYOND's timecode back.)
- Keep LTC and show audio apart. If the show sound comes from the same PC, put it on a different output (for example a USB DI box) from the LTC (for example the headphone jack). Listen to the show feed with LTC running: there must be no buzz. If there is, lower the LTC level or move LTC to another output.
- Desk and pyro. Set the grandMA2's and the FireOne's LTC inputs to the same frame rate and check that both read ShowTimeCoda's OUT timecode.
- Freewheel. For pyro, decide carefully what happens if BEYOND's timecode drops: with Freewheel on, the LTC keeps running for up to the freewheel limit (5 s unless you change it); with it off, the LTC stops at once.
Settings at a glance
| ShowTimeCoda mode | Chase TC In |
|---|---|
| Chase timecode in | Art-Net (Only from IP: the BEYOND PC, if other gear sends Art-Net timecode) |
| LTC audio | On, its own output, level set at the receivers |
| Frame rate | 25 or 30 fps, the same everywhere |
Check before the show
- BEYOND, ShowTimeCoda's IN and OUT, the grandMA2 and the FireOne all show the same timecode.
- Jump in BEYOND's timeline: everything follows.
- Stop BEYOND: the LTC stops (or freewheels as you chose) and the receivers react as expected.
- No LTC buzz on the show audio.
The other way round also works, and has been tested: ShowTimeCoda as the master, playing the show and sending Art-Net timecode to BEYOND and LTC to the desk and pyro at the same time. See Laser show run from ShowTimeCoda.