Group Spill for those of us on Venue non-sc48

[Chris Johnson]

hey,

so since this spill functionality has now been introduced - will we see it on the d-show or profile surfaces?

[Geb]

Yes, it's in the VENUE D-Show Software 2.8.1 release, coming soon:
http://digidesign.com/index.cfm?lang...4&itemid=33853

-g

[noclevername]

$149 List for the software upgrade. I know this seems like a small price to pay, but I have to get this off my chest. If I am not mistaken, Yamaha does not charge for updated software. I know they just came out with V.2 for the M7, and V.2 for the 5D not too long before. I am pretty sure that there were some big changes in that software. All free. To steal from the lighting world, Electronic Theatre Controls has the Eos, which is a $40,000 to $50,000 console (just wanted to compare a system of a similar price). ETC is constantly updating their software, and each and every update (even the really big ones) are all free.
All this being said, I am sure that Digidesign has a really good reason for charging for a software update like this, I think I would just like to know what that reason is. I am excited about the new features, but at this point, I have to come up with a convincing argument for the church staff to spend extra money on this update (and how ever many more there are). Once again I know that $149 does not seem like that much, but in ministry, that can be spent on something else. Thanks for listening, I hope this does not come across as anger, just a question that I think deserves an answer.

[Rockpolice]

I'd say it's just normal business. It's just work done. A lot of the software companies do it with their softwares.

And now as you came up with the subject, it's quite funny that a lighting desk (or perhaps it has some features beyond a normal desk?) sending dmx costs as much as a console doing lot of sound processing?

[timcorder]

I was fortunate to play with a demo of the SC48 a few weeks ago and glad to finally be able to talk about it! :)

I have a Group Spill question that didn't occur to me until after playing with the desk. Hopefully Sheldon or someone else can answer. I love the Group Spill feature, but how does it work with bank safe'd channels? Does it ignore bank safe'ing as it spills and then everything goes back as it was when you exit the spill mode?

Thanks! Looking forward to 2.8.1. Is there an ETA on shipping? Days/Weeks/Months?

[Geb]

Originally Posted by noclevername

...I am sure that Digidesign has a really good reason for charging for a software update like this, I think I would just like to know what that reason is...

The reason is simple. It's called Sarbanes-Oxley. As a publicly traded US corporation, Avid has to charge for upgrade adding new features (but not for updates bringing only fixes). Apple has had the same problem in the past, as shown below. My guess is that the other companies quoted are not subject to the same regulations.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070115/163130.shtml
http://michaelmistretta.com/2008/why...touch-upgrade/
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-150946.html

-g

[craig-tx]

We just had a Profile system installed about a month ago. Is there a free upgrade period for new systems? (Perhaps 6 months?)

I would love to get my hands on the VCA spill functionality!

[doug sjostrom]

To answer Tim's question about Bank Safed Chs - Bank Safed Chs are ignored when doing a Spill. The spilled Chs replace all Chs on the surface. Spill is also available on VCAs for the same low price.

[Geb]

Originally Posted by timcorder

...I love the Group Spill feature, but how does it work with bank safe'd channels? Does it ignore bank safe'ing as it spills and then everything goes back as it was when you exit the spill mode?

Group/VCA spill ignores banking, that is, spills over. When exiting spill mode, safes reappear as they were prior to the spill (in other words, safe is not cleared, simply ignored during the spill).

-g