Merging Technologies, Swiss creators of the renowned Pyramix digital audio workstation, are proud to announce Ovation, their new cue‑triggering software for use in theatre and live broadcast studio productions. Merging have been selling Pyramix systems to theatres for some years, and have been repeatedly asked during this time if they could produce a PC-based system for triggering performance video and audio, as well as stage automation data and MIDI events. Ovation, which has resulted from much discussion with theatre professionals, is that system.

An add-on software option for any Pyramix system from a Native system upwards, Ovation consists of several software modules, including Cue Editors, Cue Sequencers, and Cue Players, which can be used to supply performance cues and automation data for anything from a single-auditorium theatre up to an entire venue or suite of broadcast studios where live recordings are made. To this end, Ovation can be used in a distributed manner, across several machines on a network, just like Merging's Pyramix or VCube systems. Cues can comprise anything from simple audio files to video projects with embedded audio, or complex automation events, and the cues themselves may be located on other Pyramix or VCube systems on the same network, reducing the playback load on the machine responsible for sequencing the Cues. Ovation's Cue Sequencer and Cue Player modules can even be run on different machines on a network, so that a timeline could be sequenced on one networked PC while the Cue Player module is being used for rehearsals on another.

Pyramix is renowned for its ability to make use of almost any audio file format, and Ovation is designed with the same approach in mind. Most current video, audio and MIDI file formats are supported, including the native Pyramix audio format PMF, Broadcast WAVs (BWF), and AIFFs, as well as video in AVI, QuickTime or Material eXchange Format (MXF). More complex material containing video and/or audio may also be imported via industry-standard XML, AAF and OMF project formats. Finally but importantly, Ovation is compatible with the MIDI Show Control (MSC) protocol, allowing easy integration with existing venue or studio control technology.

Audio from Ovation is output on any of 128 channels which can be freely routed via a software matrix to the system's outputs. As with Pyramix, a variety of audio output options are available for Ovation systems, including ADAT, AES-EBU, and MADI, and there will also be various MIDI and general-purpose output (GPO) options.

Ovation will be available as a separate software add-on for Pyramix later in the Spring. For more details, contact your Merging dealer.