Utopian Academy

Deckboy

Controls Deckboy, a free, open-source cue deck for theatre, live events and broadcast. Buttons carry tally, transport state, output health and a countdown, because the module polls Deckboy's status rather than only sending commands.

Connect

Field	Default	Notes
Deckboy IP address	127.0.0.1	The machine running Deckboy
Port	5510	Must match Deckboy's Settings → Network → Companion port
Status poll interval	250 ms	Lower = smoother countdowns
Passphrase	empty	Only if Deckboy has a Companion passphrase set (see Security)

Deckboy accepts connections from its own machine only until you turn on Settings → Network → REMOTE. To control it from Companion on another computer, switch REMOTE on, and add that computer under Settings → Network → Trusted controllers.

Actions

• Transport: Take, GO, Play, Pause, Stop, Rerack, Skip forward / back, Seek
• Cues: Select or Take by number, Goto by id or name
• Levels: master volume, master dimmer, deck fader
• Audio routing: patch a playlist to a named output (Deckboy's Settings → Audio → OUTPUTS) at a level or off; the output limiter on or off; bypass a device's output effects for an A/B
• Playback: Loop, Shuffle
• Outputs: on/off, fullscreen, send to display, Clear, Blackout, PANIC
• Show: Take all playlists, run a dashboard tile (and the sequence on it), run or stop a sequence
• Find: set token, next, previous, take match
• VJ: VJ mode, crossfader, blend mode, tap tempo, tempo, quantised takes, deck assignment
• Effects: add, amount, parameter, parameter LFO, colour (with Companion's colour picker: a strobe's flash, the edges line, or the hue Colour and Colour Replace use; Deckboy 0.99.423 or later), clear the chain; copy or paste a chain. An effect is added by its name: levels, curves, colour, colour_replace, blur, sharpen, glow, mirror, mosaic, edges, luma_key, strobe, and the rest listed in the manual under Per-Cue Effects
• Audio effects: add, amount, bypass, remove, clear the chain
• Sources: code source expression; video synth text mode, glyphs and phrases
• Custom command: sends any Deckboy command. The full list is in the manual under Remote Control.

Deck actions take a Deck number. 0 means whichever deck has focus; a button that names its deck always acts on that deck, and leaves focus where it was.

Feedbacks

Feedback	Use
Deck transport state	Green while playing, amber while paused
Deck has a cue live	Red on the Take button while something is on air
Specific cue is live	Per-cue tally: red on the button that is on air
Specific cue is selected	Green on the next cue
Deck remaining below threshold	The "wrap it up" warning
Output armed	Green while the output is on
Output health	Shows an output that lost its display or left fullscreen
Blackout active	Red while blacked out
Deckboy unreachable	Shows the connection is down

Variables

Global: connected, version, focused_deck, deck_count, output_count, master_volume, master_dimmer, blackout, panic_profile, find_token, find_matches.

Per deck (1–16): deckN_name, deckN_status, deckN_cue, deckN_cue_id, deckN_selected, deckN_active, deckN_position, deckN_duration, deckN_remaining, deckN_remaining_seconds, deckN_volume, deckN_raster, deckN_audio_device, deckN_timecode.

Per output (1–16): outputN_name, outputN_enabled, outputN_health, outputN_type, outputN_display, outputN_fps.

A now-playing button with a countdown:

$(deckboy:deck1_cue)
$(deckboy:deck1_remaining)

Presets

Ready-made buttons with their feedbacks already wired: Transport, Status (now playing with countdown, connection watchdog), Output (on/off, fullscreen, clear, blackout, PANIC) and Cues (a cue button with tally; duplicate it and change the cue number).

Security

With REMOTE on, Deckboy answers its own machine and the machines in Settings → Network → Trusted controllers, and refuses anyone else (Last refused names them, with an ALLOW button). A Companion passphrase adds a second lock: a client on another machine must send it before anything is answered, and this module sends it for you when the Passphrase field is filled in. Five wrong passphrases end the connection.

Anything trusted can drive the show — take cues, black the output, run PANIC. On a venue or hotel network, keep the trusted list short, set a passphrase, and leave REMOTE off when Companion runs on the same machine.

If it will not connect

1. Is Settings → Network → REMOTE on? It is off by default, and Deckboy is then reachable only from its own machine.
2. Is this computer in Trusted controllers? A refused one shows under Last refused.
3. If Deckboy has a passphrase, is the same one in this connection's Passphrase field? The connection says so when it is refused.
4. Does the port match Settings → Network → Companion port?
5. Can the machine reach it at all? Connect to the port by hand and type HELP; Deckboy prints its whole protocol. If that fails it is the network or a firewall, not this module.
6. Deckboy's own --devices prints the audio devices, displays and MIDI ports it can actually see, which separates a Deckboy fault from a machine that cannot see its hardware.