TOMCOMM.Scene Notes

Scene Notes

Support

Get in touch

Email hello@tomcomm.co.uk and put Scene Notes in the subject. 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.

Connecting to the 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. Five steps, about five minutes at soundcheck. The same guide, with pictures, is in the app under Settings, How to connect. To see the app working before you have a console to hand, press Load the demo show on the start screen: it fills a show with twenty scenes and notes you can browse offline.

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 & Scenes›Show›Console sync

Open Show & Scenes 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 Scenes 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 & Scenes, 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.

Subscription

  • What is paid: connecting to a console. Shows, notes and running orders are free.
  • 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: open the subscription page in the app and tap Restore purchases. 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, Rivage, 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.
  • A Yamaha Rivage PM console with a DSP engine on the same network as the iPad. Tested on a DSP-RX-EX engine.
  • Local Network permission for Scene Notes, which iPadOS asks for on first connect.

Suggest something

More console apps 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 desk you want it to support, email hello@tomcomm.co.uk.