Virtual Vi is much more than just an offline graphic system and editor for the Soundcraft Vi Series. It can also be used in Online mode to control the DSP core, in place of the control surface.*
In addition, because it looks and works exactly like the real console, it can act as a fantastic training aid for anyone who has either not had the chance to see a real Vi, or who wants to brush up their Vi knowledge.
* Please note that at present it is not possible to use the Virtual Vi and the Control Surface at the same time to control audio.
Minimum System Requirements:
PC running Windows XP SP2 or later OS
1.8GHz Pentium M or similar processor
1GB RAM minimum (2GB recommended)
100MB free hard drive space for application installation
LAN port (for on-line control of audio)
USB port (for transfer of Shows to/from console)
Display Resolution 1280x800. (Lower screen resolutions will not show all functions on the screen).
Virtual Vi should also run on newer MACs with Leopard OS, running native Windows XP SP2.
Please note we can't guarantee operation on every possible combination of PC hardware and Windows version, but if you find one that doesn't work and you have satisfied the minimum requirements above, please let us know at csd@soundcraft.com
Installing the Application
-Copy the file 'Install Soundcraft Virtual Vi.exe' that you have downloaded or has been provided on CD, to your desktop.
(If you have received the file via email, it may be necessary to rename the file from .bak to .exe or extract the file from a zip archive once it is on your desktop).
-Double-click the application to start the installer and follow the on-screen instructions.
The installer will place shortcuts to Virtual Vi4, Virtual Vi6, and the All About Virtual Vi pdf document on your desktop.
Getting Started
Double-click the Virtual Vi4 or Vi6 icon. The application will start, and once the boot progress bar has disappeared you will see the application home screen. Maximize the screen if required, or drag to the required position.
Note that if your screen height is 800 pixels, you will need to set the Windows taskbar to Autohide (right-click on taskbar, Properties)
If your screen width is less than 1280 pixels, you will not see some of the controls at the far left and right extremes, but you will be able to drag the application window around to access these.
Using Virtual Vi
The key to navigation is the Virtual Desk, displayed across the bottom of the application screen.
This is a mini representation of the desk, showing all the screens and fader panels in the positions corresponding to the real desk.
Clicking on various areas of this Virtual Desk will switch the large central screen to view that area of the desk in full detail. Alternatively you can use keyboard shortcuts to do this - see a list of these at the end of this document.
The central Control Bay screen is shown by default when you boot up, but if you click on the far left hand fader panel, the faders for channels 1-8 will replace the Control Bay screen in the main window.
HINT: It is possible to control the Faders, Mutes and Solo switches directly on the mini-fader panels, by holding down the CTRL key when you click on the fader or switch. In this case, the upper screen will not switch to a new screen.
Using the Vistonics controls
Click on any region of a touch screen (above the rotary section) to select the parameters in Vistonics II. Selecting an area will result in the selected section changing function in the control area.
To switch functions in or out, use the mouse to click on the switches.
To adjust a rotary control, click and drag on the control, moving the mouse up or to the right to increase, down or to the left to decrease.
The Shift button can be held whilst dragging to make finer control possible.
Saving and transferring files
If you insert a USB memory stick into a USB port on your computer, Virtual Vi will discover it and you can transfer the current shows to the key in the menu.
Closing the application
Virtual Vi is exactly like the Vi Series desks in that it needs to be 'powered down' - you cannot just close the application using a Windows command. Click on the Power On button, or on the X in the top right corner - the screen will change to show the Power Off menu. You may choose to save the show, which will save the show to your PC's hard drive.
List of Keyboard Shortcuts
The following shortcut keystrokes are available to allow faster operation of the console switches without using the mouse/trackpad:
Shortcut What it does
-------- ------------
Ctrl + 1 Shows touch screen of bay 1
Ctrl + Shift + 1 Shows fader section of bay 1
Ctrl + 2 Shows touch screen of bay 2
Ctrl + Shift + 2 Shows fader section of bay 2
Ctrl + 3 Shows touch screen of bay 3
Ctrl + Shift + 3 Shows fader section of bay 3
Ctrl + 4 Shows touch screen of bay 4
Ctrl + Shift + 4 Shows fader section of bay 4
Ctrl + 5 Shows touch screen of bay 5
Ctrl + Shift + 5 Shows fader section of bay 5
Ctrl + Tab Toggles between touch screen and fader section of the currently visible bay
Home Shows touch screen of control bay
Shift + Home Shows fader section of control bay
Ctrl + M Toggles the main menu (MENU button)
Ctrl + C Toggles copy mode (COPY button)
Ctrl + V Toggles paste mode (PASTE button)
Ctrl + Z Copy/Paste undo (UNDO button)
Ctrl + G Toggles Gang mode (GANG button)
Ctrl + S, Ctrl + S Stores a snapshot (STORE button)
Ctrl + S, Ctrl + R Recalls currently selected snapshot (RECALL button)
Up Arrow Selects last snapshot (UP button)
Down Arrow Selects next snapshot (DOWN button)
Shift + Up Arrow Recalls last snapshot (LAST button)
Shift + Down Arrow Recalls next snapshot (NEXT button)
Ctrl + I, Ctrl + A Selects input bank A (INPUT FADER PAGES A button)
Ctrl + I, Ctrl + B Selects input bank B (INPUT FADER PAGES B button)
Ctrl + I, Ctrl + C Selects input bank C (INPUT FADER PAGES C button)
Ctrl + I, Ctrl + D Selects input bank ALL BUSSES (INPUT FADER PAGES ALL BUSSES button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + A Selects output bank A (FADER PAGES A button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + B Selects output bank B (FADER PAGES B button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + C Selects output bank C (FADER PAGES C button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + D Selects output bank D (FADER PAGES D button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + E Selects output bank E (FADER PAGES E button)
Ctrl + O, Ctrl + V Selects output bank VCA (FADER PAGES VCA button)
I Simulates pressing the ISO button on the Input and Output fader panels
(note the mouse must be hovering over a target channel strip for this to work).
Operating Virtual Vi in On-Line Mode
As well as its functionality as an off-line editor, Virtual Vi can also be used as a real-time on-line controller for the Local Rack. Please note however that at this time it is not possible to connect BOTH Virtual Vi and the Vi control surface to the Local Rack and get simultaneous control of the audio.
Hooking up in On-line mode
Simply connect a length of standard Ethernet network (Cat5) cable from the network port of your laptop, to the Control Data port on the back of the Local Rack. As mentioned above, the Control Surface must first be disconnected from the Local Rack in order to do this. A 'straight' Ethernet cable will be OK as most laptops now automatically deal with either straight or crossover cables.
Once the physical connection is made, start up the Virtual Vi application, and when it has booted, click the ONLINE button, located to the top left of the central control screen, next to the Power button. When the Online button is clicked, if you have more than one network adaptor in your laptop, a dialogue box will appear allowing you to choose e.g. LAN port (wired) or Wireless. You must use the wired port currently - wireless operation using 8011.N may be possible in the future, but is not possible reliably with the current release.
There should be no need to set or change any IP address setup of the laptop, since Virtual Vi will automatically assign a secondary IP address to the laptop which will allow it to connect to the Local Rack. (This IP address will be removed when Virtual Vi is shut down).
After a few seconds, you should see the diagnostic indicators on the top right of the main screen in Virtual Vi indicate that the Local Rack and Stagebox are connected - you can check this by touching the screen in that top-right corner or by clicking the Menu button and going to the 'System' page for the Local Rack and looking at the 'Connect' indicator.
If you look at the back of the actual Local Rack whilst the system is establishing a connection, you will also see a green LED within the Cat5 socket of the Bridge Card which communicates with the Surface. The green LED built into the socket will be seen to flash whilst connection is established, and then illuminate steadily once there is a connection.
Once the connection is established, you will be able to use Virtual Vi exactly as you do the real surface, to control audio. Please note that it is not possible to synchronize Virtual Vi to the audio settings that are already in the Local Rack - you must transfer your Show file from the desk to the laptop using a USB stick in order to have the same settings on both.
Troubleshooting connection problems in On-Line Mode
If you have problems getting the application to connect to the local rack, there is either an IP address problem, or a cable connection problem.
To check that the laptop has the correct IP address:
Go to Start\Run and type 'cmd' and click ok.
In the black Command prompt window that appears, type IPCONFIG followed by Enter. This will give a list of the IP address or addresses currently set for the laptop. Look for an address of 192.168.1.139 and subnet mask 255.255.255.0.
If this is the case then this indicates a connection to the DSP core should be possible.
Type 'Ping 192.168.1.60' then Enter (this is the address of the DSP core in the local rack).
The resulting message will indicate if there is a successful connection: if the message says that 4 packets were sent but none were received, and you have verified the IP address as described above, then the cable is the most likely problem.
If you receive error messages in the Virtual Vi message log about problems assigning an IP address, after pressing the On Line button, close Virtual Vi and try restarting the laptop.
In cases where the above tips do not resolve your problem, please contact Soundcraft Customer Services, on csd@soundcraft.com
