Welcome to Mooler Caster Console 2!

A Quick Start Guide

Welcome to SDP Mooler Caster Console 2, the next generation of mooler casting operation! With more buttons, blinky things, and solutions in search of problems than ever before, Console 2 is sure to bring your live streaming shoes to the next level. By following this guide, you'll be up and running with your new Console in no time! So strap in, 'cause here we go!

Installation

Due to oddities in how JavaFX works, the required libraries can no longer be shoehorned into the executable JAR file. Rather, they have to sit in a folder called "libs" in the current working directory. As such, the download currently comes as a ZIP file containing all the required files in the appropriate structure.

To install, extract the ZIP file somewhere convenient. As long as the "libs" folder stays alongside the main JAR file, you should be fine. Run "SDPConsole2.jar" to start the program. Note that if you make a shortcut to the JAR file, you may need to double-check the value of the "Start in" parameter (in the case of Windows) to make sure that it can find the "libs" folder.

In the future, we may end up packaging Console 2 as a standard installer, so that this won't be an issue anymore.

Additional note to Windows XP users: Some recent testing has found that Console 2 may have problems running under Java 8u151 or 8u152 (the versions available from Oracle at the time of this writing). If you find that the program crashes upon clicking anything, you may need to source a copy of Java 8u144 (or earlier?) to run the program.

Configure Libraries

Among many other new features, Console 2 introduces the concept of "Libraries". This new means of organization allows for quick access to music, spots, noises, and whatever else you choose without the need for that damn file explorer thing that drove us all nuts in the original Mooler Caster Console.

Out of the box, Console 2 comes with the SDP Ads and SDP Other Media libraries (from the SDP website) preloaded. To access other content, including content stored locally, you'll need to add your own libraries. To do that:

• Go to Options → Manage Libraries...
• At the bottom of the pop-up window, click Add
• Fill in the requested information:
• The name can be anything you want, but we suggest that it be something informative, so as to avoid future frustration.
• The library type is pretty much what it sounds like. Select Local for a library defined by a file-system directory, or CSV for one defined by a remote CSV file (e.g. the default SDP libraries).
• For the location:
• For local libraries, the location should be set to the "base" folder of the library. The library will contain the entire contents of that folder, including subfolders.
• For CSV libraries, the location is the URL to the CSV file.
• When you're ready, hit OK. You should now have a new library to work with.
• Repeat this process to add any other libraries you need.

Once this is done, close the Library Manager window. You should now see the new libraries listed on the menu at the top of the Library Browser.

Navigating the Library Browser

Once your libraries are set up, you can select them from the menu at the top of the Library Browser, then browse through them using the Library Browser's list pane. Folders within the library are denoted by square brackets around their name, like [Slugbug] or [Ween]. To enter a folder, double-click it. To move back out of the folder, click the "Go Up" button at the top, or click the "Library Root" button to return directly to the top level of the library.

Now, click on a file in the library. You'll (hopefully) see the title, artist, and duration of the track appear in the area below the list pane. Now, you can click any of the buttons at the bottom of the Library Browser to load the selected track somewhere. For a music track, click "Deck 1" or "Deck 2" to load the track to the respective deck. You can now play that track on the deck the same way as with the old Mooler Caster Console (though note that the "Cue" button has moved to where the "Load" button once was). For a sound effect, spot, etc., click "Soundboard". All the soundboard buttons will display "Here?". Now, click the button you want to load to. The spot should now be loaded, and can be played as normal by simply clicking it.

The Playlist Manager

Console 2 also includes the new Playlist Manager, which allows mooler casters to track what they've played, as well as plan out what tracks they want to play. Tracks can be marked as "Tentative" (i.e. not played yet) and/or marked with "flags" for different purposes. Here's the basic rundown:

• Tentative tracks appear with a * to the left of them in the playlist
• Flags appear in square brackets to the left of the playlist entry, like "[AD] CarnelProd266 - SDP Delete Socks"
• The playlist can be manipulated using the controls at the bottom, which are pretty self-explanatory.
• Note, however, that the Playlist Manager will enforce separation of tentative tracks from played tracks. It will not let you move a played track below a tentative one, or vice versa.
• You can quickly add a tentative track by selecting a file from a library, then clicking "Add Tentative" at the bottom of the Library Browser
• Moreover, if you add tentative tracks to the playlist that way, you can then load them to the decks later using the "Load To" controls at the bottom of the Playlist Manager.
• When you play a track on either of the decks, that track will be automatically added to the playlist (or if it was previously added as tentative, its tentative flag will be cleared and the entry will be moved to the appropriate place in the list).
• Further, loading a track to a deck will automatically add that track as tentative in the playlist. This behavior, however, can be turned off under Options → Deck Preferences.
• There are a couple of ways to convert the playlist to/from a file:
• To create a text file of the current playlist (e.g. to post on the forum), go to File → Export Current Playlist.
• To restore a previous playlist (e.g. if the Console crashed), go to File → Restore Playlist From Backup. Assuming you haven't cleared your temporary files, you will see backups of the playlists from different mooler casting sessions, sorted by date. (Note, however, that these are in a machine-readable format, not the format used by the Export function.)

Have at it!

That pretty much covers the basics. Play around with it, see how you like it, and definitely feel free to be creative in your use of Console 2's new features. If you have any questions, feel free to post in the MCC sticky thread on the forum, or send a PM to IfYouLikeGoodIdeas.

A Word About Multi-Console...

OK, there is one more thing to talk about. Console 2 includes a new feature called Multi-Console. This allows you to connect multiple instances of the Console (running on different computers) together in order to split and/or share functionality across those computers. Please note that this is HIGHLY EXPERIMENTAL, and is very likely the least reliable thing in the new Console, with quite a few oddball bugs and corner cases that need to be worked out. But if you really want to play with it, here's what you need to know:

• To configure Multi-Console, go to Options → Multi-Console Setup.
• Each Console in the network must have a unique ID. This can be any name you want - set it on the Identity tab.
• The Soundboard, Decks, and Playlist can all be configured separately, in many different combinations. Each one can be set to one of the following options:
• Stand-Alone - The function operates only on the local console, as normal.
• Master - This console will be "hosting" the function for other consoles to access. In the case of the Soundboard or Decks, the console set as Master is the one that will play the audio.
• Slave - This console will act as a glorified remote control to the master. When this is selected, enter the ID of the console defined as the master for that function in the box at the bottom.
• On the Links tab, select what ways you want this Console to link to others. You can accept inbound IP connections, make outbound IP connections, or connect over a serial port. Any combination of those 3 can be selected.
• Note to Windows users: Make sure Windows Firewall is set to allow traffic to pass on the port you selected!
• Only set ONE console as Master for a given function within a single network! Selecting multiple Masters may summon nasal demons!
• The link scheme is flexible enough to accommodate many possible network topologies. However, be careful how you configure it. It has not been tested with complex or unusual configurations, so it's entirely possible that you could cause all manner of unexpectedly bizarre things in certain configurations (there's one that comes to mind right off the bat - I wonder if anyone can think of what it might be!).
• Note that Multi-Console does NOT have any means of sending audio data from one Console to another. It can only send "events", or commands telling another Console what to do. So in order for Multi-Console to function, all the Consoles need to have the same libraries configured.
• The Consoles must have libraries of the same names, with the same contents, but their locations don't necessarily have to be the same. For instance, you could have 2 Consoles, both with a library called "Music" configured. Both would have the same songs in the same folder structure. However, one Console could have this mapped to a large secondary hard drive, while the other could have the library pointed at a mapped network drive (presumably linked to a share on the first computer). Thus the same files appear on both Consoles.
• Be sure to report any problems, bugs, or just plain what-the-fudgeries to IfYouLikeGoodIdeas.