TOMCOMM.Apps for iPad

Apps for iPad

Support

Get in touch

Email hello@tomcomm.co.uk and put the app's name in the subject (Scene Notes, Audiomatters). We are a working live-events company, so on a show day a reply may take until the evening; otherwise expect one within two working days. In a report, please include:

  • The iPad model and iPadOS version (Settings, General, About).
  • The console model and its firmware version.
  • What the Diagnostics page in the app's Settings says, or its shared transcript.
  • If the problem is with a show, its .sn file from the Files app, under On My iPad, Scene Notes, Rivage. It holds only that show's scenes, notes and running orders.

That answers most questions in one go.

Scene Notes: connecting to a PM Series console

Scene Notes listens to the console over the network and shows the note for each scene as the console recalls it. It only listens and never recalls a scene or sends data to the console. Each show is made for one console series, PM or DM, chosen when the show is created; the guide in the app follows the show you have selected. Guided setup on the start screen walks a new show through the same steps. Five steps, about five minutes at soundcheck. To see the app working before you have a console to hand, load the demo show, The Super Group, from the start screen on an empty iPad or from Help at any time.

1

Connect the network

The iPad and the DSP engine must be on the same network.

  • Wired: a USB-C ethernet adapter from the iPad into a switch, and the switch into the NETWORK [PC] socket on the engine or the surface.
  • Wireless: your own access point on that switch, and the iPad on its Wi-Fi. Not the venue's network.
2

Give the engine an address

SETUP›NETWORK›FOR MIXER CONTROL

Under DSP ENGINE IP SETTING enter an IP address and subnet mask, then press ENABLE. Write the address down.

Not the CONSOLE IP above it. That is StageMix's and refuses the app.

3

Put the iPad on the same subnet

Settings›Wi-Fi / Ethernet›Configure IP›Manual

Make sure the iPad is on the same subnet and in the same IP range as the engine: the same subnet mask, the same first three numbers, a different last number.

Engine 192.168.0.20 with mask 255.255.255.0, iPad 192.168.0.50 with the same mask.

4

Connect in Scene Notes

In the Settings page, type the engine's address into DSP Engine IP and leave the port at 49280.

Tap Port Check. When the engine IP turns green, tap Connect to. The pill in the corner reads Online once the console answers.

5

Pull the scenes into the app

Show & Running orders›Show›Console pull

Open Show & Running orders from the list icon at the bottom of the sidebar, then the Show tab. Press Pull scene list from console. Scene Notes asks the console for every scene up to the scan limit and lists the named ones under All scenes.

Leave Also check decimal scenes on if the show uses inserts like 12.50, and Follow console scene renames on so a rename on the console shows here within seconds.

Recall a scene on the console and the NOW card follows. Build a running order under the Running orders tab when you want one.

If it won't connect

No answer

Nothing is listening at that address. Is the iPad IP green in Settings? If not, the iPad and the engine are on different subnets: back to step 3. Is ENABLE on? Is the cable in a NETWORK [PC] socket? And if the iPad once asked whether Scene Notes may use the local network and you said no, allow it under Settings, Privacy & Security, Local Network.

Refused

Something answered and turned the app away. Nearly always the address is the CONSOLE IP rather than the DSP ENGINE IP: back to step 2. If the engine address still refuses, try port 49281.

Online but no scenes

The link is fine. Press Pull scene list from console under Show & Running orders, then recall a scene on the console.

Drops out

In SETUP › NETWORK › MISC, leave the port at EDITOR/STAGEMIX rather than STAGEMIX ONLY. On Wi-Fi, move the access point closer or go wired.

Two control surfaces

Each surface has its own CONSOLE IP, but there is only one DSP engine. Use the engine's address and recalls from both surfaces arrive.

Scenes missing or misnamed

Press Pull scene list from console again. Raise Scan scenes up to if the show goes past the limit, and turn on Also check decimal scenes if inserts like 12.50 are missing.

Scene Notes: connecting to a DM Series console

The same five steps, with the console's own address. DM Series support (DM3 and DM7) is being verified with testers; if something differs on your console, tell us.

  • The address: on the console, under SETUP, NETWORK, For Mixer Control, choose Static IP, enter an IP address and subnet mask, and write the address down. It is the same address StageMix and the Editor use. Not the Dante or Device Control address.
  • The port: 49280, the same as the Rivage.
  • In Scene Notes: when you make the show, answer Which console? with DM Series. Type the address into Console IP under Settings, tap Port Check, then Connect to.
  • Scene numbers: a DM3 has whole-number scenes across two lists, shown as A05 or B12. A DM7 has decimal inserts too, shown as A08.50. Pull scene list from console reads them the same way as on a Rivage.
  • Wrong console: a show belongs to one console series for its life. If a PM Series show is pointed at a DM7, or the other way round, the app refuses to connect and says so: “This show is for a PM Series console. The console at this address is a DM7.” Make a new show for the other console; converting a show between consoles is not in this release.
  • Files: DM shows are mirrored under On My iPad, Scene Notes, DM series; Rivage shows under Scene Notes, Rivage.
The in-app How to connect guide for a DM Series show, showing the network diagram and the first two steps

Good to know

  • Connect switch: in Settings, the status pill top right is the switch. Offline taps to connect, Online taps to disconnect.
  • Layouts: Settings, Display offers Stacked, Side by side, and One note, which shows NOW alone at full size.
  • Row menus: every show and running order has a dots menu on its row with Rename, Duplicate, Export, Backup and Delete (Edit, for a running order). The + in the heading makes a new one.
  • Lock screen: shows the date and time while locked.
  • Hardware keyboards: work in the address fields.
  • Demo show: The Super Group can be loaded from the Try it box in Help at any time, not only on an empty iPad.

Subscription

  • What is paid: the app. Scene Notes is a subscription; the free trial switches everything on for two weeks.
  • Free trial: 14 days, once per Apple ID. Cancel before it ends and nothing is charged.
  • Cancel or change plan: iPad Settings, your name at the top, Subscriptions, Scene Notes. Deleting the app does not cancel it.
  • New iPad or reinstalled: the app opens on its subscription page; tap Restore purchases there, or later under Settings, Subscription. Use the same Apple ID you bought with.
  • Refunds: Apple handles these at reportaproblem.apple.com. We cannot issue them ourselves.
  • Prices: shown in the app and on the App Store in your local currency. The terms of use have the full subscription terms.

Your shows and backups

  • A copy of every show is kept as a .sn file in the Files app under On My iPad, Scene Notes, then Rivage or DM series, and updated whenever the show changes.
  • Press Backup under the Show tab before every gig. It writes a dated copy into the same folder.
  • To go back to a backup, tap the file in Files, or use Import under the Show tab, and choose Replace.
  • To move a show to another iPad, Export it and AirDrop the file. On the other iPad, tap the file and choose Add as a new show.
  • Nothing is stored anywhere but your iPad. If the iPad is lost, the show goes with it unless you kept an export or the iPad is backed up to iCloud. See the privacy policy.

Requirements

  • iPad on iPadOS 18 or later. The app is iPad only and runs full screen.
  • A Yamaha PM Series console (Rivage PM3, PM5, PM7 or PM10) or DM Series console (DM3 or DM7) on the same network as the iPad. PM Series support is proven on a real console (a DSP-RX-EX engine); DM Series support is being verified with testers.
  • Local Network permission for Scene Notes, which iPadOS asks for on first connect.

Suggest something

More consoles are planned, and the ideas that shaped Scene Notes came from engineers on real gigs. If there is something you want it to do, or a console you want it to support, email hello@tomcomm.co.uk.