Wintermute User Guide - concepts

chat

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Chat Channels Wintermute facilitates site communication via the use of chat channels; they are identified by name. A channel is spawned for every zone and group - but other channels can be created as the user requires. Chat channels can be viewed and interacted with either via Wintermute or from a

console

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Console The console is an interface that can be spawned to run commands directly in Wintermute without any other input - this is for testing and experimentation - usage in show is not recommended! The up and down arrow keys can be used to scroll through commands previously sent from the console.

dynamic_objects

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Dynamic Objects I think the best way to explain dynamic objects is to differentiate them from : variables are designed to refer to aspects of your show that are part of its fabric - the status of content in a room, the pressure in an air line, or whether a door is open or closed. The dynamic object feature is for things that are created during the show, the most obvious application being information about individual audience members - although there is nothing about them that would restrict the…

flow

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Flow Flow is the name given to the system for moving audience groups through the show zones. If you show has, say, eight zones, with six of them of depth one (one “slot” for a group), one with depth two and one with depth four, your flow is a stack of twelve groups. How those groups advance is down to how your show is programmed:

groups

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Groups Groups are to be understood as groups of audience members moving through your show. They have the following properties: * Time - this is generally the time the group is scheduled to enter the show * Colour - this sets the colour of displays and objects associated from the group

interface_layout

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Interface Layout * Displays the Zones in a show in a tree structure; zones are displayed within Categories (the main one being Show Flow, which contains all zones through which audience Groups pass), and under each zone any Variables defined for that zone are displayed. The +/- buttons change the size of the text.

nodes

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Nodes Nodes are remote devices you receive data from and send data to - they have two broad categories: Network Nodes Communication with networked devices is core to the operation of Wintermute. You can: * Send TCP and UDP packets * Respond to data received in a

ping

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Ping A ping is a message that is sent out at regular intervals - normally to a broadcast address They are generally used as a “keep alive” signal to establish that a particular network device is still connected. See new_pingtarget for how to set a ping up

remotes

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Wintermute Remotes Remote outstations are a key part of Wintermute's ecosystem; they allow for rich control options for performers, technicians and FoH staff in rehearsal and show running, and have a variety of information and chat displays to further facilitate their work.

setup_file

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Setup File Wintermute is normally configured by receiving commands from Qlab. However, it can also be tasked to create a local setup file that can be executed without external input (via the Console if necessary). To create a setup file, call setup_start, run the setup from Qlab, and then call

start

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

What is Wintermute? Wintermute is a show control system designed for the control and monitoring of large, technology-heavy audience experiences. It is designed to allow you to use the programming environment you are used to (assumed in this guide to be Qlab, but it could be any system capable of outputting UDP and responding to OSC or UDP commands) whilst massively extending its functionality, and the reliability and visibility of the resulting systems.

system_log

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

System Log Almost ever interaction with Wintermute creates information in the system log The system log view can be filtered by alert severity - all errors or failures are level 0; level 5 is the most minor. The log can be output to a text file for fault-finding purposes.

timers

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Timers Wintermute has two categories of timer: Global Timers These are related to the overall timing of your show, and are displayed in the main interface: * The Flow timer gives the time time since the last full advance. If you are not using a univeral advance, it can be operated manually using the

udp_received_behaviour

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

UDP Received Behaviour This page describes the sequence of events when a command is received from a networked device: Master/Backup/Secondary Master If the command is received on port 53000, and the source of the command is identified as the Master, Backup, or Secondary Master, the command is passed to the

variables

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Variables Variables are how Wintermute stores information about the show; they exist in the zone tree structure. * They are written in the form . * A zone also has a status value: and . are equivalent * They can we written to:

zones

Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) — 2025-05-17T20:51:58+00:00

Zones Zones have two sympathetic functions in Wintermute: * The act as representations of physical areas within the show - both as part of the show flow and outside it (for example FoH or BoH areas). * The are used to organise information about the show, as containers for