rsmck - rsmck

CueCam and the Elephant in the (Vo)room

I recently launched CueCam on the App Store you and the feedback I've had has been overwhelmingly positive, so thank you all. I wanted to address three criticisms I've received, some just genuinely inquisitive and one actually quite hostile accusing me of 'ripping off'

techbodgery

EOS CuePoints Companion

Some time ago, I built EOS Timecode Companion which transformed CSV files into instructions to Eos consoles, designed to make it easy to get timecode out of Cue Points into ETC Eos. Recently, I've revisited this app and made it more powerful. It updates

techbodgery

hello, Zoe.

Another tool that I made for myself (or, rather, for another theatre company) that I've made available to anyone who might find it useful is Zoe Media Server. It is not, and doesn't try to be, an alternative to Disguise, Hippotizer, Avolites Ai, MediaMaster

lx

Introducing CueCam for Eos

This is a tool I wrote for myself, and have improved on with others. It's now available on the App Store for download. The app is a free download, with a one-off purchase via in-app purchase (I don't really like this, but it's the

safety

In the event of fire…

... gaze in awe and record it for Instagram? I don’t know who needs to read this - and it’s probably not anyone I know - but having seen so many clips from the tragic accident at Crans-Montana in Switzerland this new year…

theatre

My ETCnomad Setup (2025)

A few people have asked about my ETCnomad setup, so I thought i'd put a little list here (together with, shamelessly, links that may earn me a tiny amount in referrals if you buy anything you see here!) Firstly, I do still really prefer

theatre

Follow Me Faders...

(Or, how to cope with performers that wander about without a followspot on a budget) I've been dabbling in automatic followspots for a while, trying to make my own hacky solution as I don't have the budget for the likes of ZacTrack, Blacktrax, Follow-ME

customer service

Shop Direct, a VERY dodgy outfit?

Maybe you've seen ads of tempting deals from "Very" (who also operate under the Littlewoods brand) who mainly appear to exist to take advantage of people who have to rely on credit to purchase goods. (Arguably, offering ~50% APR credit terms on low value

theatre

Adventures in Projection (Part IV) - Surfaces

I do lights. Not that often, but that's what I'm (reasonably?) good at. Projection is alien to me, a dark (or bright?) art form that is used to great effect in professional shows but never looks great in any small scale amateur productions I've

theatre

Contour Shuttle Pro for Eos...

I've used a Contour ShuttleXpress as an encoder for Eos for a while, and someone recently asked me if I could support the larger Shuttle PRO2... which offers more buttons that I don't know what to do with! Firstly, this is a slightly more

theatre

Adventures in Projection (Part III) - Take Control

You're watching a show and suddently the scene is interrupted by a massive mouse pointer, menu bar, pop-up window etc... It happens to the best of us, but it really shouldn't. If you have money you probably use a media server - the de

theatre

Adventures in Projection (Part II) - The Fight with Light

In the first part of this little collection we discussed selecting bright projectors (or as bright as you can afford) and using multiple projectors to get as much light for your image as possible. So you've got your 7000 lumen laser projector - brilliant.

theatre

Adventures in Projection (Part I) - Your Projector(s)

So, you're using projection on a small stage, on a budget, what do you need? A: The brightest projector possible Ok, it's more nuanced than that, but it's a simple answer and a good starting point. Use the brightest projector you can find / borrow

theatre

Adventures in Projection

I do lights. Not that often, but that's what I'm (reasonably?) good at. Projection is alien to me, a dark (or bright?) art form that is used to great effect in professional shows but never looks great in any small scale amateur productions I've

theatre

LaunchControl XL 3 for Eos?

As evidenced by my various posts on #techbodgery, and my design and development of lxkey, I'm often dabbling with different ways to control lighting either in live environments or simply to make programming easier when I don't have a full console available. I usually

theatre

Stranger Things: The First Shadow and your (small) stage

To anyone in my amateur theatre circle that hasn't seen it watch Behind the Curtain : Strange Things - The First Shadow on Netflix. It's a far bigger production (obviously) than anything (even professional) I've been involved with but a good insight into the process

theatre

OSC Cue Light for iOS

Documentation for my simple OSC Cue Light for iOS (in the App Store!)

techbodgery

Contour ShuttleXpress as EOS Encoder

Another classic bit of #techbodgery, a simple encoder option for ETCnomad (or an Element!) is the Contour Shuttle Xpress. This is a decent quality encoder that's priced about £50 (2024) aimed mainly at video editors but it works as a great encoder for other

mac

Move Mail to New Mac

Having recently purchased a new mac I decided to start with as much of a 'clean slate' as possible, and not use Migration Assistant to copy 100s of GBs of stuff I don't need. But I did need my email, all of it. And

theatre

EOS Timecode Companion

I often (well, reasonably often) work with timecode and ETC Eos. Update March 2026There's a new version of this tool specifically for CuePoints that allows live real-time adjustment of the timeline. Eos CuePoints Companion. I've kept this version for those who may find it

customer service

Brevo 'transactional' email

I recently discovered Brevo, formerly known as "SendInBlue", when looking for a reliable eMail provider for transactional eMails as an alternative to Sparkpost as they have a more generous free tier and I'd had some deliverability issues to one provider in paritcular with Sparkpost.

ios

The Simplest Kiosk

Necessity is the Mother of all Invention. Or so says the ancient proverb. And it seems to be pretty accurate even today. More than once I've found myself searching for a simple iOS 'kiosk browser' app, something to be used in conjunction with Single

theatre

Rosco Opti-Sculpt Calculator

I've recently (re)discovered Rosco's excellent Opti-Sculpt filters, there's plenty of good resources online about them and some wonderful reviews from others waxing lyrical about these magical pieces of plastic. However, it surprises me that the official calculator for the resulting beam angle is

techbodgery

Denon DN500BD Network Control

Quick hack for controlling the Denon DN500BD over a network without the remote.

theatre

Music is not free...

... nor should it be. Because this has now come up no less than three times this week, I decided to rant about it in a (slightly) more durable medium (no pun intended) In theatre, professional or amateur, it is not acceptable to steal music