Lately, it feels like I've had a problem making sure my programs are "correct." I'm hoping if I write about it, I'll see a pattern that I can fix. It's frustrating for everyone when bugs slip into commissioned systems, and it reflects badly on custom programming as a whole when these errors aren't caught before … Continue reading Writing “Correct” Programs
Blackmagic Design makes some cool production switchers that are reasonably priced and work great. They even distribute an SDK to control them from Windows or Mac programs. Controlling from Crestron is tougher, but not impossible. Some third-party products have sprung up to make it easier, too. In this post, I'm going to walk through how … Continue reading ATEM Mini Pro
The last post took me way too long to write (like an entire month), and I think it's the format of trying to step through every single change, every single time that's slowing me down. We're going to be moving into program sizes where that just isn't going to work. But before we make that … Continue reading HTML5 Cleanup
For our first room type, we're going to program a very simple huddle room. It will focus around a PC-based codec that we won't control directly. These spaces are typically low-cost and plentiful, but only allow 3 or 4 people to use them. Keep It Simple Huddle Room design is easy: keep it simple, keep … Continue reading HTML5 Huddle Room
If you're starting to get into 4-series projects but you don't have actual hardware to test with you can load SIMPL programs targeted for 4-series processors to a 3-series. I'd heard the reverse was true: a 3-series programs should run unmodified on a 4-series. But it looks like for testing purposes, you can also run … Continue reading SIMPL Tricks: 4-series
We've already run into a couple things we need to be mindful of when using HTML5 and 4-series processors (see HTML5 XPanel for details about licensing and authentication). In this post, my goal is to break away from 3-series sandboxes and SIMPL Windows, so that means we're moving into the realm of C# and Visual … Continue reading HTML5 + 4-series
In this post, we're going to greatly simplify how we create touchpanel layouts: we're going to ditch the Contract Editor and most of the CH5 components. I do think these tools have value in the right hands, but I want to explore going my own direction. We might reinvent some of their features, but I … Continue reading HTML5 + JS
At long last, Crestron has an updated XPanel that doesn't rely on Adobe Flash! Unfortunately, there are some issues surrounding it regarding the licensing, but there is a free 60-day trial period that should hopefully get us through this series of posts! Prerequisites First and foremost, you need an actual 3- or 4-series control system … Continue reading HTML5 XPanel
The Contract Editor is a tool released by Crestron to put an end to arbitrary join numbers. Of course, there's NO documentation, so figuring it out is left up to us! It's a good idea: what meaning does join 253 hold to a JavaScript or C# programmer? What if that join had a name like … Continue reading Contract Editor
Earlier this year I experimented with Crestron's HTML5 offering (dubbed CH5) and felt several pieces were lacking: Decent looking componentsDocumentationAbility to test using an XPanel Now that we're well past Masters 2021, my hopes of a clear understanding of the CH5 framework still unfulfilled, I think it's time to revisit this topic. I'm hoping to … Continue reading Create an HTML5 Layout
Kiel the Coder 