                            TTtrigger
                         ===============														
  TOC:
==============================
 1. What is TTtrigger?
 2. How do I compile/install?
 3. Quick starter.
 4. Current features.
 5. Future development...
 6. License information.
 7. Thanks to...
 8. Contact information.



1. What is TTtrigger
=====================
TTtrigger is a program developed to the purpose of triggering audio effects
when performing a theater play or other show. It was the idea that one should
be able to play variuos sounds, fx or music out on a multichannel audio device,
which could then be mixed together on a analog mixer.

And example of use:
Lets say you are a sound technician for a theater and they thought it would be
nice to have two stages for differenct locations. You have acquired an 8 port
audio box, a mixer and 2 sets of speakers (one set for each stage). You could
now dedicate channels, as follows: 
 1+2: Background music, stage 1
 3+4: Sound fx, stage 1
 5+6: Background music, stage 2
 7+8: Sound fx, stage 2

It would then be easy to control volume, fade in, fade out and pan sounds from
stage 1 to stage 2.
--

TTtrigger is designed so it would be easy to start any sound and kill any
current playing sound - with the mouse and/or with the keyboard.

The name TTtrigger comes from the name of the theater I was working on. Its
name is "Teatro Technicus". Often shorted as TT. The "trigger"-part is a
reference to triggering audio. Simple...



2. How do I compile/install?
=============================
 1. Go to the src-directory
 2. Run ./_run_qkmake
 3. Run make

Requirements:
 - Jack
 - glibc
 - QT 3.3
 - libsndfile
 
including development libraries.

I have made no install script, since there is only one executable file:
tttrigger.



3. Quick starter:
=====================
One would actually have to write a manual - but well... Here's a short quick
starter:
 1 Map some colors to jack ports (in preferences)
 2 Add some audio files ("Add entry...")
 3 Assign output ports to each entry (CTRL+click the space between the text 
     " - none - " and the arrow up).
 4 Play the sounds by either clicking the play-button or pressing space.


REMEMBER that many functions are accessed byt either CTRL-clicking a widget or
by double-clicking it. And every widget has CTRL-click function.'




4. Current features:
=====================
 - Plays audio files supported by libsndfile, including WAV, AIFF, AU, SVX.
   See full list at http://www.mega-nerd.com/libsndfile/

 - Trigger next audio entry in playlist (default key: space)
 
 - Assign key to an audio entry for start or stop playing it.
 
 - Quick port assign to audio entrys, or advanced port assignment for arbitrary
   port assignments.
	 
 - Assignments of a color to each port for better overview.
 
 - VU and volume control.

 - Repeat a sound file (thanks to Jonathan Woithe).

 - A "kill all sounds" key (default: Escape) (thanks to Jonathan Woithe).

 - Playlist auto-scrolls when advancing through the entries.
   (thanks to Jonathan Woithe)


5. Future development
======================
The short answer: None!

It is currently stable and has a basic set of features that makes it usefull
for its purpose. There are of course a lot of features that I would like to
implement, but I did not have the time - mostly because of stability problems
(See note belov.) Now the our theater production has finished (at least untill
next year) and I have other pressing things to do. 

So, to sum it up, I will not work on it in the forseen future. Maybe if I at
some time need the program again? But if you like the idea of the program and
want to make improvements, please be my guest. Write me an email, and we will
work something out (co-admin on the project on SourceForge and Freshmeat and so
on).

I got some feature, that I originally would implement, but (as I wrote) didn't
find the time to:
 - A status bar (indicating current jack samplerate, current cpu/dsp load,
   next audio entry in queue)

 - Possibility of setting a start and stop offset of an entry (right now you
   have to edit the audio file your self.)
	 
 - Posibillity of fade in and out.
 
 - Better volume control  - current one sucks! (was thinking of a simple label
   with a number indicating current volume. Double clicking the label would
	 allow you to write in a new number. CTRL-click would pop up a slider).
	 
 - A better VU. The VU (as of now) works, but does not seem quite right...

 - Support for other file formats - e.g. mp3 and ogg.
 
 - Support for timed triggering?
 
 - Resampling routines (for when jack samplerate and audio file samplerate does
   not match)
	 
Now... go play :)



6. License information
=======================
TTtrigger is licensed under GPL - although I have not made the appropriate
headers in the files... :(

The software is provided "as is" with no warranty - so you have been warned!



7. Thanks to....
=================
Andreas Rasmussen for help with graphics for the buttons.
Jonathan Woithe for patches (see features).


8.Contact information.
=======================
My email address on sourceforge:
  mettle@users.sourceforge.net


Best regards
Jrn Christensen
