The Configurator

Welcome back.

Let’s take a look at a simple but vital part of the Q-Sys Designer software – the Configurator.

The Configurator is a window that lets you view all Q-SYS devices connected to the network

and manage their names and network settings.

You can access the Configurator at any time by going to Tools > Show Q-SYS Configurator,

or by clicking its icon in the top toolbar.

The Configurator displays as a tab in the main Designer window.

It’s divided into two panels: a list of all discovered devices appears on the left,

and—once you select one—its properties will appear in the right panel.

The device list will be sorted by type – Amplifiers, Cameras, Cores, etc.

For most devices, you’ll see its Name, Firmware Version, currently running design,

and the length of time that design has been running.

You’ll also see the IP address and net mask settings for each of its LAN ports.

Most Q-SYS devices have two LAN ports for redundancy purposes.

You can change its Mode from receiving an IP Address automatically to a static IP address,

and then you can define that IP address and its subnet directly.

For devices with a second LAN port, you could also choose to turn off that LAN B connection.

If you would like to add a password to your device, you can edit that password here.

You can also Reboot the device remotely from this panel.

Once you’ve made any changes to your device,

you must select Update Settings in order to make these changes active.

If you select a device that is password protected,

you’ll have to input that Password before you can access its settings.

If a Q-SYS device is properly connected to your network, it should populate in the list on the left.

If the square next to the device’s name is green,

then your PC and that device can already communicate.

Even if your PC and the device are segregated with subnets,

every Q-SYS device broadcasts its ID using muilticast protocols

that allow it to populate in this list even if your PC can’t directly communicate with it.

If there’s a red square next to the device’s name,

then the only information you can currently get from that device is its name and IP address,

which should be enough for you to reconfigure your PC’s settings into a subnet range

that will allow you to communicate with that device.

This interface may look different depending on the device.

Cameras, for instance, have a custom Configurator interface you could alternatively access

by entering their IP address into a web browser,

and its appearance in the Configurator will be the same as that web version.

A Core, on the other hand, won’t display any of its properties here,

but will instead give you a link that will redirect you to its Core Manager.

We’ll explore the Core Manager in the next video.

If you’re accessing a brand new device, it probably has an ugly factory default name,

and it’d be wise to change that to something that makes more sense for your installation.

You can input a new name, and don’t forget to hit Update.

Your device will reboot and return with its new name.

If you have multiple devices connected and aren’t sure which one is which,

you can press the ID button in the Configurator window,

and the corresponding ID light will begin flashing on the device.

Conversely, some devices have a physical ID button that you can press,

which will cause the device to flash in your Configurator window.

You can turn off this flashing by pressing the ID button again from either end.

However, be aware that adjusting your devices’ names and IP settings in the Configurator

doesn’t actually mean they’re part of your Q-SYS design.

This window is completely independent of the Inventory devices you’ve added to your Schematic.

The Configurator is basically like a restaurant menu, so you know what is available,

but you still have to tell the waiter what you want.

You must manually add all devices you want to incorporate into your design

by using the Inventory panel in the Left-Side Pane.

Once a device is added to your Inventory,

then you need to edit its Properties to identify the name of the device you want it to pair with.

This is how you link the virtual representation of that device in your design

with the actual physical device in the real world.

This is why the Configurator is so useful – you can quickly find the names of your physical devices on the network,

and use them to correctly label your Inventory items.

I’d recommend using the copy and paste tools for this, to make sure you don’t mis-type that name.

Depending on your workflow,

you might have built your design first and labeled your Inventory properties earlier,

in which case you could copy those names from the properties and into the Configurator

when labeling your Q-SYS devices for the first time.

Whichever way you do it,

these names need to match exactly in order for your design to pair with that device on the network.

If you ever connect to your Core and see an error on your peripherals that says “Missing”

even though you know the device is accessible in the Configurator, you probably typed the name wrong.

Or if you ever try to connect to your Core and you see this window:

“Discovering Core …” for more than a few seconds, well you’ve probably named your Core incorrectly,

and Designer is telling you that it can’t find a Core with the name you specified on the network.

Understanding the Configurator is the first important step to implementing your design with actual hardware.

Next, we’ll look at the Core Manager. Take a quick break, and move on whenever you’re ready.