Let's take a closer look at controlling the monitoring functions of MTRX from the S6 Master Module touch-screen and via the Soft Keys on the Automation Module. For this first TOD we will focus only on the Monitoring page of the Master Module.
We start with a blank Monitoring page indicating that the MTRX and DADman monitor profile is currently not bound to the S6. With S6 Version 3.6 and later, when WSControl is running and you application switch (focus) over to DADman, the surface will automatically bind the monitoring section and the hardware control room panel on the S6 will illuminate. The image below shows the top right
Setup button lit to indicate the monitor section is bound. You will also notice the two OLED sections will be populated with Monitor source and level (top) plus Control Room source and level (bottom). The Control Room is indicating with the
+ that you are currently monitoring the
PTHD source plus additional sources in a sum mode.
To manually unbind the monitor section press the top
Setup button. The two
Setup buttons below will both access the Monitoring page on the Master Module that we will be looking at below.
We start and application switch (focus) over to DADman and the Monitoring page is populated. We will first look at the sources for the Control Room listed in the top horizontal scroller. Swipe from right to left to expose additional sources. We can simply touch a few sources while we are currently in sum mode and they illuminate in blue. You can see that the source LIVE is duplicated, which we will explain in a moment. First, let's jump to the Local Options (gear icon) to access the monitoring preferences. To toggle from Summing mode to Switching, simply choose
Source Mode >
Intercancel. Now only a single source can be active at one time.
Now let's take a look at that duplicated source labeled
LIVE. Any of the source rectangles on the horizontal scroller can be populated with a source, or no source, and it is possible to have duplicates. Simply touch the very top of the name (which is yet another rectangle) which should populate all of the available sources in the center section of the Monitoring window. Drag and touch to choose a source. In this case, we've changed the first
LIVE into
Dolby RMU. Next, we'll assign that blank source to
MonD which is a clever way to QC and monitor exactly what the talent is hearing on our Monitor D. To take advantage of this functionality, make sure your
MonD is set to
Cue (right click on monitor), your Control Room is set to
Master, and in the Control Room Sources -> Choose
Add Existing Source and
MonA -
MonD should be available to add to your Control Room sources.
Next, let's touch the first green
MonA block on the left column of the interface. This is our first cue and in EUCON, considered Monitor A. When we touch the block we again see available source for this monitor populated in the center section. We can select various sources, which again tells us that this monitor is also currently in Summing mode. Monitor B is not illuminated indicating that there are no sources currently assigned. Let's perform the same operation by touching the Monitor B block. Again, we can choose a variety of sources including
CUE B, which is a discrete talent mix composed from Sends in my Pro Tools template. Both Monitor A and Monitor B were previously using a pair of Focusrite AM-2 Dante interfaces. I've since changed these to an 8-channel KLANG quelle interface that uses the same Brooklyn II chipset that the MTRX uses. So let's go and rename these on the monitor interface so we know what gear we are using. Return back to the Local Options (gear icon) and make sure that
Enable Speaker Label Editing is ticked. Rename the Monitors. If we quickly look at Monitors C and D you can observe that sources indicate these monitors are currently in Switching mode. Toggle the mode for these monitors from the DADman interface.
Let's continue down to the horizontal speaker scroller. Based on the speaker set chosen from the main hardware monitoring controls (above image):
Main,
Alt1 and
Alt2, the speaker scroller will change to show the appropriate format and number of speakers. We start with the first set which is shown as
L C R. Let's rename these speakers to show the correct names. This is actually a 2.1 path leveraging a Left and Right speaker plus the subwoofer from my surround setup using the bass management functionality of the new SPQ speaker processing card. Again, ensure that
Enable Speaker Label Editing is ticked, and let's label them
Left,
Sub, and
Right for our 2.1 path. Just like the sources, touch a speaker (lights in blue) to enable it. Press
All to activate all speakers. To isolate individual speakers, access the Local Options (gear icon) and set the
Speaker Cut Mode to
Intercancel. Now individual speakers can be switched / soloed. Next, we will press the
Alt1 switch on the main monitor controls to access the second speaker set which is a 5.1 path. Any fold-downs assigned to the outputs will show up below the speaker scroller. We can easily touch
5.1>St to fold down to Stereo for example.
Let's access our final speaker set which is a Dolby Atmos example in a 7.1.4 format. You can see the individual speakers labeled appropriately. Swipe from Right to Left to access speakers beyond the first eight. Again, fold-downs can be engaged, speakers can be enabled or cut, and speaker sets can be toggled. In the next TOD we will take a look at the same controls, but this time from the Automation Module Soft Keys.
