Surface Operation
With the use of a modern browser, enter in an IP or URL that is associated with the Altus instance desired to access. If this is on premise, the IP given to the Altus container would be correct. If this is out from the internet, the public IP or URL that has been configured to access the container IP would be used.
For users who only need access to the console surface itself but who should not have access to the Altus Control Center (typically on-air personnel), enter the name “surface” with a blank password field.
For users who need access to the surface as well as the Altus Control Center (typically engineering staff), enter the name “user” with a blank password field.
Passwords can be set in the Setup section of the System menu of the Altus Control Center.
Surface Overview
For the most part, the on-screen controls look and operate just like a physical surface, with a few modifications since there are no actual buttons to push or dials to turn.
On/off switches and other toggle type buttons are operated by clicking on them. Rotary controls such as Monitor and Headphone volume pots are adjusted by first clicking on them, then dragging left or down (to decrease volume) or dragging up or right (to increase volume).
The user interface is “responsive” and resizes and reconfigures itself to best fit within the size of the browser window. If the window isn’t wide enough to display everything at once, it will hide some of the faders. If you seem to be missing faders, look for the blue vertical bars (2-1A) on either the left or right side of the fader section. Clicking on these will slide the faders back and forth.
The surface is divided into the following sections:
Channel Strips (2-1B)
Program Meters (2-1C)
Clock and Timer (2-1D)
Show Profile (2-1E)
Studio Controls (2-1F)
Talkback Controls (2-1G)
Monitor Controls (2-1H)
Detailed information about the controls in each section follows.
Channel Strips
Channel strips (faders) are licensed in groups of four, and functionally of a single fader is content aware (i.e. Mic 1 has a Mute button when other source types do not) .
Choosing a Source
The Source dropdown (2-2A) at the top of the strip is used to select the input source for the channel.
Note that the only sources that will appear in the dropdown are those which have been added via the source profile manager (as described in the Source Profiles section).
Mix Assignment
The Mix Assignment buttons (2-2B) are used to route the channel’s audio to a particular mix bus, labeled Program 1 through Program 4. These are post-fader, post on/off switch assignments. Click to turn them on/off.
The PGM 4 button also is used to assign to the "Phone" mix and the "Record" Mix. These are two additional special mixes as described below.
Phone mix is pre-fader and pre-on/off. It is targeted for use as an off-air conversation channel. Typically used to converse with callers between segments.
Record mix is post-fader and pre-on/off. The target here is to be able to record the same off-air conversation but with gain control of the sources into a recorder.
Fader
The Fader (2-2C) controls the audio level feeding the mixes to which the channel is assigned. To adjust the fader, click and drag it to the desired level. When the channel is turned off, the fader will be gray. When the channel is turned on, the fader will change color. Each channel has its own set of confidents meters (2-2D) situated to the right of the fader.
Soft Buttons
Functions are assigned to soft buttons (2-2E) depending upon the selected Source Profile for a particular strip. Some are universal, for example, “PFL” (commonly referred to as “Cue” or “Preview”) so that the source can be previewed by the operator. Others are context-specific, the following is a list of functions and which source types they apply.
| Text on button | Function | Source type |
|---|---|---|
MUT | Mute | Operator microphone |
On/Off Button
The On/Off buttons (2-2F) do exactly that – turn each channel on or off. When switched on, audio from the channel will be fed to the selected mix bus and the button will turn red. Click to turn them on/off.
If the button is “On” and flashing, it indicates that there is a change pending to that particular strip resulting from some configuration change (such as loading a new Show Profile) but which will not take place until the “On” button is pushed. This avoids the potentially perilous situation of a “hot switch” taking place to an on-air source when a new Profile is loaded.
Meters
Meters (2-3A) are provided for each of the four Program busses using PPM-style ballistics.
Clock and Timer
The current time is displayed in the clock module (2-4A) in the upper right corner of the surface. The clock is derived from the system clock of the computer running the remote connection.
The event timer (2-4C) is a count-up timer that can be used in a number of ways. It can be manually stopped and started with the Start/Stop button (2-4B) to the right of the display and reset with the Reset button (2-4D) to the left.
It can also reset based upon an event, such as manually pushing an “On” button on the fader strip or automatically, such as when an automation system starts its next event. Its behavior can be set and saved as part of a Source Profile.
Show Profiles
Up to twenty six unique surface configurations can be saved and recalled using the Show Profile dropdown (2-5A). Selecting “None” recalls a configuration with no saved values. See the Show Profiles Section for information on creating and editing Show Profiles.
Studio Controls
The Studio knob (2-6C) controls the volume of the studio monitor feed. Clicking on the control and dragging left or down decreases the volume; clicking and dragging right or up increases it.
Clicking the Source button (2-6B) opens a menu where the source for the studio monitors is selected.
Clicking the Record button (2-6A) triggers the record mode as it is defined in the show profile. Configuration details are part of the Show Profile.
Talkback Controls
Clicking and holding down the Talk to Backfeeds button (2-7A) feeds the operator microphone audio to all backfeeds. The control room audio will be dimmed as long as the button is held down and indicated as such in the monitor state window (2-7B).
Clicking and holding down the Talk to Studio button (2-7C) feeds the operator microphone audio to the Studio Monitor feed. By default, the source defined as the Operator needs to be assigned to a fader; however, it can be defined as an “External Source” in the show profile to avoid having to tie up a fader for this purpose. Both the Control Room and Studio audio will be dimmed for as long as the button is held down and indicated as such in the monitor state window (2-7B).
Either Talkback button can be latched on by clicking and holding it down, then dragging the pointer away from the button. Clicking the button will unlatch it.
Control Room Monitor Controls
The Monitor Select buttons (2-8A) determine the audio source heard through the control room monitors and headphones. These include the four Program mixes and two External sources which are defined in the Show Profile.
The Control Room Monitor knob (2-8D) sets the volume of the control room monitors. The number in the knob indicates a percentage of volume applied. Zero (0%) indicates muted while 100% is full volume. If a dimming state is triggered, for example a mic is on, the knob will show red to indicate a dim condition.
The Headphones knob (2-8E) sets the volume of the operator’s headphones.
The Preview knob (2-8B) adjusts the volume of the Preview mix. The control room monitors will dim when any channel is set to preview to assist the operator in hearing the preview audio.
The Headphone PFL button (2-8C) determines what is heard in the operator’s headphones. When the Headphone PFL button is engaged, the operator will hear both the audio from the selected program mix feeding the headphones and the audio from any channel strip when it’s individual PFL button is pressed. When the Headphone PFL button is turned off, preview audio is not routed to the headphones. This feature can be enabled and customized in the Show Profile.
Figure 2-8 – Monitor controls
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