Cadac Shows SAM for Digital

Cadac showed a version of its famous SAM theatre sound show automation software for its new CDC eight digital production console at this year's Prolight+Sound exhibition.

The company showed a development -- named SAM-4-CDC -- controlling the CDC eight and emulating the CDC eight GUI. Developed by Cadac's engineers over almost 15 years, SAM is the benchmark theatre sound automation system, previously operable with Cadac's flagship analogue consoles.

Effectively, SAM creates a recall system for show design, controlling consoles, and external MIDI devices (for sound effects) via their scene memories. It sets up a series of sequentially chained cues and also enables recording and editing of MIDI events attached to a cue. Console control and recall extends to fader levels and the assignment of faders to master VCA faders. Advanced features that render complex programming easy include "Ripple Through," a function that automatically replicates data changes down through subsequent cues, to the point at which the next cue has a data change.

With cue scenes stored on the host computer, shows can be prepped and edited without there being a console, and SAM can run console based rehearsal and offline editing simultaneously on the same show. Now, with SAM-4-CDC, console control can move well beyond the realm of level changes and master fader assignment.

"In terms of digital consoles," explains Cadac digital design engineer Philip Jones, "SAM becomes fully scalable across all mix functions. In effect, there is no limit to what might be controllable, but that is not what is required, and what we are doing in showing SAM-4-CDC at this stage is both letting people see that we are actively developing SAM for our digital desks -- which is what many theatre sound people have been requesting -- and asking these people for their views on how far should we extend console control in the digital domain and what features they want to see beyond physical fader control and assignment."

Cadac brand development manager Richard "Fez" Ferriday says, "SAM and the concepts which it introduced to the theatre audio industry has shaped the design and scope of theatre sound for the last 15 years. With the recent launch of CDC eight V2 software, the new MegaCOMMS infrastructure and the soon-to-be-announced availability of SAM-4-CDC, theatre sound designers will again be able to employ the unbeatable combination of Cadac audio quality and designed-for-purpose console automation."