mitchelludwig Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 I have a C4 system installed in the house. Among the things C4 is providing me is my whole house audio. So I have a question. I don't currently have a touch screen installed in my home office. However I do have a set of speakers wired back to the media closet. If I go to any of the rooms in the house where I do have a touch screen, I can turn on the whole house audio, pick music, play music.My question is this. Is there any software I can install on my office machine that will emulate the touchpad, allowing me to control my system from my office? Really, I'm looking to be able to turn on the whole house audio, turn on the office zone, pick some music, and listen without having to get up off my butt to do so.Anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R_Willis Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 Buy an extra remote. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted October 8, 2007 Share Posted October 8, 2007 My question is this. Is there any software I can install on my office machine that will emulate the touchpad, allowing me to control my system from my office? Really, I'm looking to be able to turn on the whole house audio, turn on the office zone, pick some music, and listen without having to get up off my butt to do so.Coincidentally I'd been thinking about posting the same question myself since laptops are plentiful in my household and it would be nice to be able to access the "4" screen from one of them.I'm guessing that the reason it's not available is because the market for 10.5" touchscreens would presumably be negatively impacted by the availability of an IP interface. In my case, I have no desire for the 10.5, I just would like to be able to interact with the system from my computer.A few options you might consider . . .If you have Composer Home Edition, you could create some programming for the playlists and rooms you want to use, and then trigger those programs from Composer. I've not tried this very much with media, but certainly all other functions seem to be executable from Composer.Alternatively, I'm planning on hooking up my Slingbox to one of the outputs of my HC300 to see how much I can interact with it that way. I'll need to program the remote (I'm guessing C4 is not a natively-supported source for Sling box). If you're not familiar with SlingBox that won't make tons of sense, but it's basically a server that takes any video inputs, converts it for IP distribution and shows it on your computer using their client software.Has anyone come up with other ways of accessing C4 through a PC?--Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 jbs, were you ever able to get the "4" menu up on your computer using the slingbox?If so, how well does it work? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I personally have not done this yet but know people who have. It works pretty good. A little lag but all in all, pretty good. Works the best if you have a video switch and one of your outputs run into the slingbox. That way all of your sources are available to your PC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 There have been several posts in the last few days asking for a PC based version of Navigator so there is obviously some demand for such a product. For those who have been around for a while - what is the rationale for not having such a product such as a PC Navigator or a web based front-end? By this I mean a web based app that would work on one's LAN without requiring authentication the way that my.c4.com works and would work on any hardware with a web browser - PC, Mac, Linux, handheld, etc.Is the reason that Control4 is primarily a hardware company and doesn't want to cannibalize hardware sales by offering software that could run on PCs? Although I disagree with that this is something that I can understand - look at the current situation where newspapers are going under and many folks are saying that this wouldn't have happened if they didn't give away their content for free on the web. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 Control4 has given no rationale as to why there has never been a release of WinNavigator. It was used in the past during training (by the instructors), although I don't know if it still is.I will say that it's definitely 'crashy', and is not as polished as the Navigator releases that run on the touchscreens.Any rationale you'll hear here is going to be conjecture, pure and simple.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 The training I just took last week in SLC had everyone use an HC500 at their station. There was never any mention or use of "WinNavigator". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted March 24, 2009 Share Posted March 24, 2009 I took training nearly 4 years ago, and at that time, they used it on the projector at the front. Of course, that was version 1.2.3 or 1.2.4.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogdvr Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 There have been several posts in the last few days asking for a PC based version of Navigator so there is obviously some demand for such a product. For those who have been around for a while - what is the rationale for not having such a product such as a PC Navigator or a web based front-end? By this I mean a web based app that would work on one's LAN without requiring authentication the way that my.c4.com works and would work on any hardware with a web browser - PC, Mac, Linux, handheld, etc.Is the reason that Control4 is primarily a hardware company and doesn't want to cannibalize hardware sales by offering software that could run on PCs? Although I disagree with that this is something that I can understand - look at the current situation where newspapers are going under and many folks are saying that this wouldn't have happened if they didn't give away their content for free on the web.Well I don't speak for C4, butgo read the thread about pricing for the IPOD UI. Then imagine if C4 introduced and application that caused them to lose some of their sales from touch panels. The plain fact of the matter is if C4 spent 2 yrs in development and then gave it away for free, made the dealers install it for free, and offered a free dinner, Someone would complain that it took two days to install.Now imagine if they asked people to pay for the license and then for the dealer to install and warranty the work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Now imagine if they asked people to pay for the license and then for the dealer to install and warranty the work.I don't remember anyone asking anyone to install or warranty the work. I did read that iPod thread and I agreed with the folks that thought that it would be much better in C4's long term interest if the iPod app was very reasonably priced (i.e. <$50) as it would help them sell more systems that costs tens of thousands.What I want is already available in Web Navigator but Web Navigator (aka 4Sight) requires a login, times out after a while and is rather slow. What I think would be great is the functionality of Web Navigator but without requiring a login on your local LAN. As a lowest commond denominator you could type in "HC300Office" in the URL line of your browser and up would pop the screen that you get after logging into Web Navigator - the Dashboard.In an ideal situation rather than running in a web browser this would be a native PC app that also had an API with published documentation. This would allow the app to integrate with other PC apps - email notifications could some up on C4 clients (touch screens, Navigator, iPods, Cell Phones, PCs, etc) as could caller display from phone calls using YAC clients or even Instant Messages. You could integrate sports scores from ESPN.com into your displays. You could have the LEDs on your bedside 6 button switches be red or green depending on whether the Japanese stock market was up or down overnight. The possibilities are endless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Zaphod...your preaching to the choir on this one..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Zaphod...your preaching to the choir on this one.....I have converted you but some heathens remain and I will not give up until they repent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-gen Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 My computer can play real time television. Couldn't you run a line to the computer from the video matrix switch as you would any other tv, then simply use the menu screen as you would the tv's in your house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 You could use your computer monitor as a display, yes. You wouldn't be able to control anything from the PC though, it would just be a display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterM1 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 A simple touchscreen fixes that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 No, I don't think so. The GUI is not written to accept commands from anything other than a Control4 remote. You could touch that screen all you wanted, but setup the way D-gen suggested is just using your computer monitor as a display, not a device for control. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 Even a better web browser interface into C4 would be better than nothing and a step forward. Recently Clispsal Integrated Systems did just that with their Wiser platform and it is incredibly useful. Sure dedicated apps are the best, but a user friendly web browser interface as previously requested would be beneficial.Opening up a platform like this will not detract sales. To the contrary, it encourages use of the platform. I just don't get C4's attitude on this... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted June 20, 2009 Share Posted June 20, 2009 I don't get it either. I think I'm just going to get a slingbox. That should probably suffice for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wappinghigh Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 Zaphod. ILoveC4. A decent web or app interface. It's the blindingly obvious thing to do. Hey everyone else...nobody said they should give it away for free! I'd pay for such function. This function is a no brainer...Most of us all just "get it"....but is there anybody from C4 listening? Surely the execs from C4 have computers in their houses. Surely they must think..."gee I'm working on my PC/MAC...wouldn't it be cool just to switch off that light/change that music track from my PC..without getting up and finding the damn touchscreen"... the lack of progress on this...I mean it's depressing.......But I guess that's life, the passionate vs the predictable. The adventureous vs the wilderbeast. The enthusiasts vs the hardheads..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hike Posted June 21, 2009 Share Posted June 21, 2009 To some extent you can just open composer and control components while sitting at your PC... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.