Android Channel Debugger Ideas

[lboucher]

Hi All

I am planning to develope a simple android app to help in debugging channel layout.
Basicly nothing more than allowing you to turn on one, all or any combination of channels in your show from your phone and control the intensity.

Should be helpful if your not sure which cord is which channel.

The app will be able to work on a local wifi network and 3g.

I diagramed the main screen below, and the only other screen will be a settings screen where one can set the ip/port. Channel lists/names will be automatically pulled from Vixen at runtime.

When I am done with this, i will pass along my source to anyone here who wants to make an iphone version. (Or if no one is a taker, i know a couple people who might be up for a small project.)

If anyone has any ideas/features they think would be useful please let me know.

9984

[boyelroy11]

I like your apps. I mean that in the best way. And having an android phone makes them even better.

Bruce

[oldcqr]

The tester is a great idea, since I normally have to drag my laptop around the yard. I then have to use LogMeIn on to get to the show machine in the workshop. It works, but it's clunky.

IMHO, I would think a little bigger: I test my lights daily (to fix bad strings). For me, the best way of doing that is to pull up the channel tester in Vixen and run though them all. Even easier would be something that automatically goes through all the active channels.

If I were creating it, I would add an option that turned each channel on for x amount of seconds, turned it off, and then went on to the next channel. The app should display the currently 'active' channel and a 'stop/start' button, and a way to move forward/backward through the channel list. The idea is that the app will turn on each channel and if the user detects something wrong with that channel he can hit STOP, fix the problem, and hit start again (to pick up with the bad channel). If the user overshoots a bad channel, he can STOP, move the list backwards, and START again.

You'll have most of that already written when you finish so this shouldn't add much development time. IMHO it will be a big help.

[Materdaddy]

The layout in your picture will be a pain when dealing with more than a hundred channels or so, especially if you're trying to get to channel 250 or something: scrolllllll, scroll, scrolll, test.

I like the idea of a "play" mode like Mike mentioned.


The tester is a great idea, since I normally have to drag my laptop around the yard. I then have to use LogMeIn on to get to the show machine in the workshop. It works, but it's clunky.

IMHO, I would think a little bigger: I test my lights daily (to fix bad strings). For me, the best way of doing that is to pull up the channel tester in Vixen and run though them all. Even easier would be something that automatically goes through all the active channels.

If I were creating it, I would add an option that turned each channel on for x amount of seconds, turned it off, and then went on to the next channel. The app should display the currently 'active' channel and a 'stop/start' button, and a way to move forward/backward through the channel list. The idea is that the app will turn on each channel and if the user detects something wrong with that channel he can hit STOP, fix the problem, and hit start again (to pick up with the bad channel). If the user overshoots a bad channel, he can STOP, move the list backwards, and START again.

You'll have most of that already written when you finish so this shouldn't add much development time. IMHO it will be a big help.

Pretty much everything there sounds awesome, a screen that looks like most music player apps, only instead of album art have a channel name/number. Then a few controls: pause/play button (play will resume at the channel you paused at), stop button (play will then resume from the beginning), and back/forward buttons to manually make your way to a start channel.

[oldcqr]

The layout in your picture will be a pain when dealing with more than a hundred channels or so, especially if you're trying to get to channel 250 or something: scrolllllll, scroll, scrolll, test.

When it comes to Android, I find scrolling to be very fast. I can give a quick flick of my finger and burn through hundreds of lines of stuff.

I could see where scrolling could get annoying (screen after screen). Your Media Player type controls is an awesome idea, and would get around it for sure.

[lboucher]

All good ideas/thoughts. Which brings up one thing i need to keep in mind.
How will ordering work, is it physical channel order or the rearraged order for easy viewing in vixen.
Both probably need to be available via a setting.

Its just lovely how a simple idea starts growing.

Hundreds of channels will probably just get annoying no matter what is done. But when you start reaching hundreds, a search bar might be needed.

Thanks for the thoughts keep em coming.

Keep thinking about it, and i think the fast forward button will have to have dual action.
If touch, then latch button and fast forward at moderately fast pace, if long press, go fast till release.

[oldcqr]

All good ideas/thoughts. Which brings up one thing i need to keep in mind.
How will ordering work, is it physical channel order or the rearraged order for easy viewing in vixen.
Both probably need to be available via a setting.

Both is a good idea. At a minimum IMHO, you need the re-arranged order. At last check, I have like 344 channels out in the yard, but only 200-ish of them are in use. When using the Vixen channel tester, I would fast-forward though the ones I have marked as 'dummy'. If something would obey the re-arranged order (and if the channel is actually enabled or not), that would be a big help.

[budude]

I tend to work on one portion of my display at a time - like Arch #1 say. It would be good to be able to drill down through a list of display items that I configure so I could test that one portion. Perhaps the default behaviour would be to turn on each channel in the item for X seconds and repeat (make all of that stuff configurable...). If it was set up in a hiearchial fashion I could then say - test all my arches for instance...

[lboucher]

what do you mean marked as dummy?
Totally agree on not paying attention to disabled channels.


Both is a good idea. At a minimum IMHO, you need the re-arranged order. At last check, I have like 344 channels out in the yard, but only 200-ish of them are in use. When using the Vixen channel tester, I would fast-forward though the ones I have marked as 'dummy'. If something would obey the re-arranged order (and if the channel is actually enabled or not), that would be a big help.

[lboucher]

Good point. The "Player" should have a begin/end field (it will wrap around).

Will take all these points and make up some new diagrams and see where we go from there.


I tend to work on one portion of my display at a time - like Arch #1 say. It would be good to be able to drill down through a list of display items that I configure so I could test that one portion. Perhaps the default behaviour would be to turn on each channel in the item for X seconds and repeat (make all of that stuff configurable...). If it was set up in a hiearchial fashion I could then say - test all my arches for instance...

[Materdaddy]

When it comes to Android, I find scrolling to be very fast. I can give a quick flick of my finger and burn through hundreds of lines of stuff.

True, most of my scrolling is fast. I especially like when long alphabetical lists give you the scroller widget to grab and scroll by letter. Maybe some sort of 'jump to' points could be done with this based on 50 channel groupings, or some equation that breaks down your number of channels in groups of about 10-20 for "quick" scrolls.

[oldcqr]

I tend to work on one portion of my display at a time - like Arch #1 say. It would be good to be able to drill down through a list of display items that I configure so I could test that one portion. Perhaps the default behaviour would be to turn on each channel in the item for X seconds and repeat (make all of that stuff configurable...). If it was set up in a hiearchial fashion I could then say - test all my arches for instance...

That's a good idea too. By nature of how my channels/controllers are laid out, this for me happens automagically, but I can see where it would be a nice feature.


what do you mean marked as dummy?

I named the channel 'Dummy-###' (###= logical channel number)

[ErnieHorning]

I don’t know if Mike is implying that an unused channel should have a specific word in its label or not. It seems that just respecting that a channel isn’t enabled would allow any naming convention. I’ve been using ‘Spare’ while I’ve also seen ‘Blank’. I keep a channel open in several areas of the display in case I add something later. I typically use these as beat tracks in the meantime.

I’ve been using a sequence that continuously steps though all of the channels. I use another sequence that cycle’s through each element, though all elements are cycled at the same time. I only blip a channel for 50mS and step every half a second. I can see the light up close during the day but nobody else can, setting up is enough of an attraction.

This is a great idea Luke. I carry my Droid everywhere and this would be one more Nerd tool for it.:D

[oldcqr]

I don’t know if Mike is implying that an unused channel should have a specific word in its label or not. It seems that just respecting that a channel isn’t enabled would allow any naming convention. I’ve been using ‘Spare’ while I’ve also seen ‘Blank’. I keep a channel open in several areas of the display in case I add something later. I typically use these as beat tracks in the meantime.

Sorry I'm not being clear - my brain is fried right now due to an unrelated matter.

No implication. I just happen to name mine 'Dummy xxx'. Either going with a specific channel order, or obeying the 'enabled' flag accomplish the same thing for me:

I know I ran into some difficulty with the 'enabled' thing within Vixen, and I don't think the 'test channels' feature respects it. That was my primary reason for naming my unused channels 'Dummy' - I could quickly spot them and go forward to the next real channel.

When it comes to sequencing, I develop an alternate order that just pushes those channels down to the bottom, out of the way.