ACCA Creativity Zone – User Guide

Welcome to the ACCA Creativity Zone.

This space can be used in a variety ways, from a standard lecture space to a workshop environment - the choice is yours.

Zone contents

Lighting: There are 12 zones of dimmable white halogen lighting plus 328 individually controllable LED lights which can be customised to shine across a wide range of colours.

Inputs:

PCs: There are 8 PCs within the space, each have two (DVI) outputs, enabling the desktop to be split across two display screens.

Auxiliary inputs: Two auxiliary inputs (DVI and audio) are available for the connection of portable devices (such as DVI laptops).

Outputs:

Plasma displays: There are 10 plasma screens, capable of displaying the outputs from PCs (DVI), cameras (PAL) or portable devices (via VGA or HDMI).

Projectors: There are 14 projectors capable of displaying the outputs from PCs (DVI), cameras (PAL) or portable devices (via VGA).

Speakers: 23 audio speakers are located throughout the space.

Each of the inputs listed above can be flexibly outputted.

Every piece of controllable equipment is shown on the Equipment Map (Tab 2).

Getting Started

In order to use this space to its maximum benefit for Teaching and Learning you will need to read and understand the following instructions.

To help you find your way around the systems, the instructions are divided according to the navigation tabs found across the top of the control interface screen.

Overall control of the space is via the control PC (for mobile access, see Appendix A)

The control PC is standalone and is located on the desk next to the door on the left as you enter. To operate the whole space you need to click on the 'InQbate Control System' icon from the desktop:

Tab 1. Equipment List

This clickable interface is where you can switch on and off individual or groups of equipment and change inputs. Your selections are saved for the duration of the session only.

DVI = PC or auxiliary display inputs

PAL = Camera inputs

As all PCs are located on the ceiling, selecting 'Remote' provides access to each desktop once switched on.

Tab 2. Equipment Map

This page has two functions:

  1. To show where equipment is in the room.
  2. To allow you to configure single pieces of equipment by clicking on them

This gives a very fine level of control and should be used for adjusting individual items of equipment.

Tab 3. Lighting

To control all the lights at once return to the Equipment List tab (Tab 1). Tab 3 allows fine tuning of both the LED and the Halogen lights. To toggle between LED (coloured) and halogen lighting click the button.

These three bars [RGB] can be used to create a customised colour. / Clicking this bar will change all the lights to one colour / These are preset palette colours that can be selected

To change lights one at a time simply click on them.

To change a number of lights click the mouse and drag it over the lights.

Tab 4. A/V Routing

This allows for the mapping of inputs to outputs. i.e. determining which screen / projector displays which PC or camera.

Since each PC has two display outputs (A and B), you can simultaneously output for example a PowerPoint presentation from PC1A and a video from PC1B.

To link a PC source to a display, first click the source, then click where you would like the output sent. For example to display PC2A on Plasma 09, first click the PC2A source, then click Plasma 09.

To undo, simply click on the name of the output item (right-hand column).

You can repeat his operation for audio and the CCTV cameras [see below for selecting CCTV as source]

NOTES

Don’t forget if you wish to use the CCTV cameras as a source you must switch the display [plasma or projector] to PAL on the Equipment List tab.

Some output items are forceably linked, and cannot be unlinked. This is apparent when hovering the cursor over the desired output.

Tab 5. Settings

On the Settings tab, two basic default options are available on the top half of the page. To select, click on the heading for each option.

The bottom half of the page is where you can save your customised settings for the rest of your session and to take away (on memory stick) for future sessions, thus saving you a lot of time!

The lighting, audio video and CCTV settings are each saved separately. If you wish to save all then you will need to do this one at a time.

To save lighting settings, click the lighting button in the left hand box. This will create a snapshot of the current lighting settings and will make a new entry in the trigger custom settings box [the middle one].

Edit each set you are saving to a name that you will remember. The whole set of custom settings will be temporarily stored as text and displayed in the 'Export custom settings' box, on the right-hand side. To preserve your settings for future sessions, copy the text/code and paste into a text document to take away with you (on a memory stick).

At your next session, return to the Settings tab (tab 5) and paste your saved code into the box on the right-hand side and press 'Load' followed by 'Save'. Your custom settings should reappear for use.

Tab 6. Help

This tab contains more detailed information on using the space. If you are really stuck, please call x8022 for a remote system restart, enabling you to start from scratch again.

Working with files

Remember that as all PCs are physically out of reach you have to transfer files to them via the Control PC. A 'Data Transfer' folder is located on the desktop, which can be remotely accessed from all 8 PCs.

Select the file that you want to transfer, copy it to the ‘ Data Transfer’ folder on the Control PC. Then remotely login (see 'Remote Desktop' below) to the PC you want to display from and retrieve the file from the Data Transfer folder. Copy it into the local ‘My Documents’ folder.

Remote desktop

How to log into a PC remotely:

Either click on it from Tab 2 Equipment Map and select ‘Remote Desktop’, or

from Tab 1 Equipment List, select ‘Remote’ next to the PC you want to control.

NB: There is a known bug. If the remote session freezes, go to the wireless mouse associated with the PC and move it, this will unfreeze the session.

Ending your session

Ensure you have saved any customised settings to your USB device for future use.

Power down all equipment – Select Tab 1 Equipment List and click the ‘All Equipment Off’ button to power down globally.

N.B. Projectors may take up to 3 minutes to complete the cool down cycle.

All writing surfaces must be wiped clean ready for the next user.

Wireless keyboards and mice should be returned to their holders.

Appendix A:

Accessing the control interface from other devices:

Rather than being tied to the control PC at the front of the room, you can alternatively access the control interface page from any laptop or WiFi- enabled mobile in the Zone.
To connect to the wireless 'cetl-guest' network, enter the WPA key: 'Precision'
Once connected, point the web browser at http://10.0.0.7


To use the 'remote desktop' facility from the interface (for login to any of the ceiling-mounted PCs), the Java runtime environment needs to be installed on the device (available @ www.java.com).

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