A quick test of the current Flex interface for iDesign communicating to the Creston control system 2 states away..
Using the Flash Crestron SDK, no longer is e-Control tied to a windows only system. Created in such a way that the subcomponents listen for their own joins, the Flex UI loads in the XML that is created by the installer and displays the proper devices listening on the system.

The amp audio channel templates are programmed in such a way that it is repeated for the amount of audio channels the amplifier has; iDesign created the joins in such a way that the channels are iterated 21+ for every channel so that the system can ‘find’ itself.

Added more flexified goodness for the Flex to Crestron interface I’m building for Abercrombie and Fitch that I described here.I have to say, being an old Macromedia Director guy  that migrated to Flash (grumpily as the world did) I find Adobe Flex to be …well… it’s a joy to work with; I’ve actually become very excited about coding again.

I’m working on a Flex front end talking to a Crestron backend – and one of the things we’re doing is creating templates of different devices, one being a family of Crown amplifiers, each of which might have 2, 4 or 8 channels of audio to display. Each channel starts out with a Crestron join, but the next channel up it’s join begins at 21+ from the previous channel’s (if you know Crestron you’ll know what I mean).

What I love about the extensibility of Flex and it’s MXML Components: I’ve created one channel with all it’s internal joins as private properties. The parent amp template has only one property it needs to keep track of – channelCount – and I instantiate channels on the fly and only tell them their channel – both to display information (ie ‘Channel 1′) but also so each channel can remap it’s internal joins to send and receive the correct information – ie (channel-1) * 21 basically gives each channel’s subitem it’s join. All they have to do now is listen to the Singleton I’ve created for communicating to Crestron and they get their values by the event broadcast. Very cool. Also have to add I love how easy it is to make things pretty. Just these few lines:

Give me these nicely animated volume controls by merely controlling the height of the mask.

For the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum in New York,  and working with VideoSonic again,  helped with the programming of three presentation rooms which again used multiple projectors, screens, various media source (dvd/cd/cassette/slide) and a multiple camera teleconferencing system all controlled through Crestron.

The Federal Reserve of New York
Using a number of Crestron control systems, programmed a number of training rooms, a large dinging hall, and a conference room with controlled devices (ie dvd, vcr, projectors, screens, lighting, wireless microphones, Gentner teleconferencing system). Designed the user interfaces for each.

High-end Audio environments for boutique hotel in Times Square. Seven stereo audio zones including four Lounges and a dance floor. Custom programmed DSP processing and control using Biamp Audiaflex and Crestron. Underwater and glass panel speakers create unique ambiance for  Sauna, Pool and Shower Room. Audio Request Digital Music Server and DJ system. Low-profile subwoofers installed in the millwork.

Boasting multiple AudioRequests – that is a networked mp3 player and broadcaster – the Club can matrix any audio to any floor or zone, so pristine audio can be heard and controlled from any of the work out rooms, private saunas or dining room.

As it’s described in this writeup:

Besides the standard, expected amenities (art by Basquiat and De Kooning, staircases carved from 1400 square feet of Bianco Venatino slab marble, personal concierge service*), the Core Club also sports:

A 56-seat theater, where Core’s Hollywood bigshots prescreen their own movies, saving members the price of a ticket — $10.25 they can use to tip the club’s expert staff. Lordly dining designed by Tom Colicchio (Craft, Gramercy Tavern). A pristine gym, perfect for working off the jiggling gut designed by Tom Colicchio (Craft, Gramercy Tavern).

Bumble and bumble University is a multifunctional facility using technology to teach advanced haircutting techniques to students that come into NYC from all over the country.

Programmed for VideoSonic, this combination of a Macromedia Director front-end talking to a Crestron Control System back-end allows instructors to control all elements within the classrooms or auditorium: lights can be dimmed, projectors controlled, videos played and rerouted, cameras controlled, audio routed and projector screens extended.  All media elements can be routed and controlled from classroom to classrom or to any of the salons on the upper floors, or from the 103 seat auditorium. Each room has two cameras which can be routed just as any video source, or recorded to dvd media, allowing the school in essence, to be a television studio.

Control system software on Apple iBooks allow instructors to create and control their own shows complete with hardware control and interface switching so that music fades out, lights dim, screens roll out, projectors are started and cameras focused  – all with the touch of a ‘scene begin’ button.

The 3rd floor is their university, containing 4 intimate classrooms and a 103 seat auditorium.  The supporting content is distributed to the classrooms using networked digital video servers, while the classes themselves are controlled by a facillitator using WiFi tablet computers.

The 4th and 5th floors are their corporate offices, the 6th floor is a teaching salon, and the 7th & 8th house the salons open to the public, retail shops, and a restaurant.

In addition to the instructional content utilized for the classes, 12 digital video content channels are generated  – information about products, events and industry news – are displayed throughout the facility on BumbleTV.

VideoSonic installed a VIDS12-DVD Server as the both the Display and Control engines for this dynamic exhibition that highlights milestone events in Lightolierâ??s 100 year corporate history.

Video shows are synchronized on 12 widescreen LCD monitors; the lighting in the showcases illuminate to show the actual objects featured in the video. Using LED lighting in the showcases, the display gently cycles through color changes when not running the shows.

As part of the reopening of the Statue of Liberty in 2004, VideoSonic installed a new fire alarm/safety system that would display exit information when the alarms would trigger.

As part of our installation we also created some of the points of interest – at the top of the pedestal we created the supporting videos as support to the Rangers’ tour. Seen by over 6 million visitors a year — story-boarded, designed and edited a 45 minute documentary on the history and technology of the Statue. This presentation is played while a Parks Commissions employee supplies the narrative, lighting the internal structure of the Statue at the appropriate times.