Soft Keys and Scene Recalls

[tourtelotParticipant]

On my SQ6, sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t. And if I recall one of my scenes with a soft key, it doesn’t change the designation in the Scenes page.

Any thoughts or experience with using soft keys to recall scenes.

If it is just my SQ6, I can live with it easily. If it’s something I’m doing wrong, it would be nice to have those keys switch my SQ from record mode to playback without going to the Scenes page.

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Doesn’t seem like the new scene I program on the soft-keys menu is “sticking”. Now, the soft key always takes me back to a scene I had programed previously. The label on the soft key pages reads the new scene but pressing the soft key takes me, always, to the old scene.

D.

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

Hey Doug,

The first thing that springs to mind are the recall filters.
By default, SoftKeys are blocked/filtered globally, so they will always keep their assignment – but they can change on a scene by scene basis if you need.
With your setup, could it be that they’re not blocked, so when recalling the recording/playback scenes, what’s assigned to them is also changing?
(if so, another option for your setup would be to assign the same key to the ‘opposite’ scene in each scene, meaning you would be pressing one key to switch between the two 🙂 )

Thanks,
Keith.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Thanks Keith. The SQ6 is back in storage (darned COVID) but I’ll look at filters when I get it out next time.

Reading your post doesn’t really set off any bright lights for me; I don’t believe I even know where the soft key filters are. Good to know that the same key can perform an A-B function so I’ll need to look into that as well.

Even before I tried to change the function of the soft keys, however: When I had them assigned to change scenes and they worked as they should, the change was never noted on the Scenes menu after a change had been made. I can’t recall if the new scene was listed at the top of the screen; I think it was. A bit confusing not changing the ticked scene in the Scenes menu though.

Anyway, more to learn.

D.

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

Hi Doug,

There are global and per-scene recall filters which can be accessed in the ‘Scenes’ screen. The third tab in these is called ‘Other’ and it’s here that you’ll be able to see whether ‘SoftKeys’ is set to ‘Block’ (won’t change) or ‘Allow’ (will change).
https://www.allen-heath.com/media/SQ_ReferenceGuide_V1_5_0.pdf#page=60&zoom=auto,-361,573

Your comment on what’s displayed on the Scene Manager page is noted – I think it’s one of those things that makes perfect sense when you know what’s going on, but that we should perhaps make more clear if possible…

• The SQ has one ‘current’ state.
• The Scene Manager shows a list of scenes which contain parameter settings that, when recalled, replace those in the current state – so you’re never actually working with or on the scene data and it’s not like opening a file on a computer.
• The scene listed as ‘Current’ at the top of the screen is the scene that was last recalled.
• Moving around the list of scenes using the touchscreen or through the ‘Previous’ and ‘Next’ SoftKey options will select a scene but not necessarily recall it.
• Using a SoftKey to recall a specific scene on the other hand, will only recall that scene, without changing which scene is selected in the list.

This is important in cases where you can use scenes (with the recall filters mentioned) to achieve certain things (i.e. change just some parameters, a good example actually being what the Soft Controls are doing!) but you might be in the middle of a show using ‘Scene Recall Go with Auto Increment’, and don’t want to lose your place.

Apologies if the examples make that more confusing, but the main point is that selecting and recalling scenes are separate things.

Cheers!
Keith.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Okay, Keith. I get your explanation about the Scenes list not changing. Thanks.

I got the board back out, looked at the filters. Nothing is blocked.

Tried to reset the soft key.

Let’s say, Soft Key #1 was set to “Recall Scene” and set to recall Scene “Mix 1”. If I push the key, Mix 1 does indeed come out on top. I then reset Soft Key #1 to “Scene Recall” and ask it to recall “Mix 2”. Touch “Apply”. If I push the Soft Key #1 button, Mix 2 comes up on top. But if I push the button again, and for however many times I push it after that, Mix #1 comes up on top. This behavior happens no matter how many times I reset Soft Key #1 to bring up Mix #2. After one successful recall, it reverts back to recalling Mix #1. Resetting the panel doesn’t help.

I also am still stumped about how to make a soft key do “A or B” on the same key, and this may be what’s going on here. But while a double-push will bring me back to A, a triple push will not bring me to B. Only resetting the soft key will allow B to be a choice and only once.

Weird, eh?

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Hmm. No more thoughts on why I can’t get a scene to stick in the soft keys? Other actions seem to stick. Just not Scene Recall.

I’m stumped.

D.

[KeithJ A&HModerator]

Hi Doug,

I’ll change some of the wording (mostly for my own benefit as I got confused!) but going through each part:

Let’s say, Soft Key #1 was set to “Recall Scene” and set to recall “Scene 1”.
If I push the key, “Scene 1” is recalled/loaded.

OK, so you’ve gone from any current state to “Scene 1”.

I then reset Soft Key #1 to “Scene Recall” and ask it to recall “Scene 2”. Touch “Apply”.
If I push the Soft Key #1 button, Scene #2 is recalled.

Now you have programmed Soft Key #1 in “Scene 1” to recall “Scene 2” and used it to recall “Scene 2” – but there is no mention of storing the Scene #1 with this Soft Key set as you want it.
You would either need to store each scene after assigning the SoftKey functions – for example if you want the same key to recall Scene 2 from Scene 1 and Scene 1 from Scene 2.
Or you could set the Global recall filter for SoftKeys to ‘Block’, meaning all SoftKeys will always do whatever you’ve set them to in the current (or last recalled) state.
Orrrrr you could use Per-Scene recall filters to sometimes recall different SoftKey settings, and other times leave them alone!

But if I push the button again, and for however many times I push it after that, “Scene #1” is recalled.
This behavior happens no matter how many times I reset Soft Key #1 to recall “Scene #2”.
After one successful recall, it reverts back to recalling Scene #1. Resetting the panel doesn’t help.

I also am still stumped about how to make a soft key do “A or B” on the same key, and this may be what’s going on here. But while a double-push will bring me back to A, a triple push will not bring me to B. Only resetting the soft key will allow B to be a choice and only once.

Hopefully all explained above 🙂

Thanks,
Keith.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Thanks Keith. I’ll puzzle though your comments again. I understand that each change to a soft key function is stored within the scene and that I need to store the recall setups for every scene It just appears to me Scene Recalls do not seem to work as a setup the same way, let’s say PAFL Clear, does. There seems to be a glitch somewhere in the process for Scene Recall. I backed up all my Scenes, deleted them from the SQ6, Re-installed from a USB stick (only the two scenes I want soft keys to affect), setup the Soft Keys, and they stuck. Saved both Scenes with the soft keys set to function as I’d like. Re-installed the other Scenes and now it seems to do what I needed done.

I’ll explore Global and Per-scene blocks to see if engaging one or the other makes the process more user friendly for me.

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Okay, now I feel dense AND frustrated.

On to the foot-pedal settings.

I am trying to get the foot pedal (tip) to recall Mix Select/MixLR in two scenes. It is currently stuck in Gr1. If I simply try and change Gr1 to MixLR, the “Apply” button is grey’d out and no change can be made. If I randomly select any other function, and apply it, I can go back to Mix Select, toggle MixLR, the “Apply” button lights green, I apply it. I save the selection in the scene. I do the same for Scene #2. I select either Scene and the foot switch “tip” is back to Gr1. No matter if the local filter or the group filter is set to “Allow” or “Block”.

What in the heck am I doing wrong here? Seems so intuitive but my results are going to make my head pop off. Must be my lack of understanding some very simple method to get these settings to stick. I am just not getting it somehow. I appreciate your help Keith but you may need to talk me through this like I was a 6-year-old. So frustrated.

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Once I have filled in a value for any individual setting, I can not change it to another.

Ie. Foot switch: “Tip” box DCA PAFL. Bottom value box DCA1. Once I have set the bottom box to “DCA1”, I can not change it to any other value. I can make the change, apply it, but it will always revert back to DCA1. This seems to be my problem with both the foot switch settings and and Scene Recalls.

I am not sure how I got the Scene Recalls to stick; maybe deleting the scenes, reinstalling them. This seems like it should be very straight ahead.

Maybe a bug?

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

Factory resetting the panel did not fix the problem.

D.

[tourtelotParticipant]

So I don’t know why, but this morning, I tried again to get the MainLR to stick as the foot switch action. After seeing the “Apply” box greyed out after I switched the action from Gr1 to MainLR, then switching to some random action, applying it and switching back to Mix Select, then LRMix, then “apply”, it stuck. Weird behavior and I would still like to know why it worked this morning after trying for a week . . . But it seems to be stuck and saved so I am putting the board back in storage.

Shouldn’t have taking a week of guesses as to why, and then never knowing, in fact, why. But I’m done for now.

D.

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