What’s New in VENUE 8.3
VENUE 8.3 is now available for Avid VENUE | S6L systems, bringing new ways to organize and navigate complex show programming, adding greater control over clocking in I/O Sharing configurations, and delivering qualified support for Antares AutoTune® Hybrid.
At the center of this release is a major update to the VENUE Event System called Event Folders, which make it easier to organize, navigate, and manage Events as show files grow in complexity. We’ve also expanded the maximum number of Events from 999 to 1,500 to give engineers even more room to build the detailed automation modern productions demand. Let’s look at what’s new.
Organize complex shows with ease with Event Folders
The VENUE Event System can handle everything from a simple snapshot trigger to sophisticated show control workflows involving playback, lighting, external devices, and other systems. As those workflows get more ambitious, the number of Events in a show can quickly add up. Event Folders in VENUE 8.3 give you a much cleaner way to manage them.
Instead of navigating one long list of Events, you can now group related Events into folders and organize them around whatever makes the most sense for your show. For example, you might create folders for playback cues, lighting control, snapshot automation, OSC commands, or different sections of a production. Folders can be expanded when you need access to their Events and collapsed when you don’t, making it much easier to focus on the part of the show you’re working on.
Creating folders is simple. Select the Events you want to organize and choose New Folder, and VENUE will create a folder containing the selected Events. You can also create an empty folder and populate it afterward.
Events and folders can then be reorganized with drag-and-drop. Drag an Event to a folder to add it, drag it back to the root Event list to remove it, or move it directly into another folder.
For even more organization, root-level folders can contain both Events and one level of child folders, making it possible to group related sets of Events beneath a larger category without turning your Event list into an overly complicated hierarchy.
VENUE also keeps Event numbering simple as you reorganize your show. Folders themselves do not receive Event numbers, and when Events are moved, VENUE automatically renumbers them in ascending order based on their new position in the list.
Work with entire groups of events
Folders aren't just visual organization. They also make it easier to work with related Events as a group. Select a folder and familiar Event commands can operate across its contents. You can Test the Events contained in the folder, Reset them to Ready status, create a new Event directly inside the selected folder, or Duplicate the folder along with its contents.
The Clear command removes Triggers and Actions from Events within the selected folder and its child folders while leaving the folder structure and Events themselves intact. You also have control over what happens when you're cleaning up a show. When deleting an Event Folder, VENUE can remove only the folder while retaining its Events and child folders or delete the folder together with the Events it contains.
That means you can restructure a large Event configuration without having to rebuild the underlying programming.
Take your event folders with you
Once you've organized a show, VENUE 8.3 makes sure that structure becomes part of the workflow. Event List presets can now store Event Folders along with the Events they contain. Recalling a preset restores both the Events and the saved folder organization.
Show files saved in VENUE 8.3 also preserve Event Folder organization, including Events inside and outside folders. And when importing Events from another Show file, Event Folders appear directly in the Import Events list. You can import an entire folder and its Events or select an individual Event from within a folder without bringing over everything else.
If an 8.3 Show file is opened in an earlier version of VENUE, the Events remain available as a single list, but the folder organization is not preserved.
More room for Events
Alongside Event Folders, VENUE 8.3 significantly expands the capacity of the Event System. The maximum number of Events in a Show file has increased from 999 to 1,500, and a Show can contain up to 500 Event Folders.
For productions relying heavily on automation and show control, that additional capacity provides substantially more room to build detailed Event programming, while folders give you the structure to keep all of it manageable.
Together, these improvements make the Event System better suited to the scale and complexity of modern concerts, theater productions, broadcast environments, and other highly automated live workflows.
More control over your clock sources
VENUE 8.3 also introduces new Engine Word Clock Priority controls for systems using I/O Sharing, giving you more control over which Engine serves as the Media Clock master and how the system responds if that Engine becomes unavailable.
Previously, the first Engine started would become the Media Clock master by default, while an Engine receiving an external Word Clock source would automatically take priority. With VENUE 8.3, you can now establish a deliberate priority order by designating Engines as Preferred, Backup 1, or Backup 2.
If the Preferred Engine becomes unavailable, VENUE can automatically move Media Clock master duties to Backup 1. If both Preferred and Backup 1 become unavailable, Backup 2 can take over.
Importantly, VENUE does not automatically switch back when the Preferred Engine becomes available again. The current Media Clock master remains active, avoiding an unnecessary clock change during the show.
Override options are also available when you need to change those assignments directly, including Override Preferred, Override Backup 1, and Override Backup 2.
The Engine tile on the Devices page now brings relevant clock information together in one place, displaying the Engine's current sample rate, Clock Source, and Clock Priority. The active Media Clock master is identified directly on the Engine tile, making the current configuration easier to see at a glance.
Clock Priority settings are configured in Config mode, and because changing Clock Priority can interrupt audio, these settings should only be changed when it is safe to interrupt the current audio operation.
Qualified support for AutoTune Hybrid
VENUE 8.3 adds qualified support for Antares AutoTune Hybrid, expanding the range of qualified vocal processing options available to S6L users.
AutoTune Hybrid provides real-time pitch correction for vocal performances within supported VENUE plug-in workflows, bringing one of today's most widely used vocal processing tools directly into the S6L environment.
Qualified support for AutoTune Hybrid also applies to VENUE 8.2. AutoTune Hybrid software and licensing are available separately from Antares Audio Technologies. To learn more about VENUE and AutoTune Hybrid, see our dedicated resource center article here!
Keeping your system up to date
VENUE 8.3 is available as both a System Restore and an Updater. If you're updating from VENUE 8.0 or later, you can use the Updater. Systems running VENUE 7.2.4 or earlier require a System Restore, along with the applicable system preparation and E6L BIOS/BMC updates detailed in the VENUE 8.3 documentation.
As always, make sure to back up your Show files, Presets, and other console data before installing new VENUE software.
And that wraps up VENUE 8.3. Whether you're building hundreds of Events for an automated production, managing redundant Engines in an I/O Sharing system, or bringing real-time vocal tuning into your S6L workflow, this release is focused on making today's increasingly connected and complex live productions easier to build, organize, and run.
For complete installation instructions, compatibility information, and additional details, check out the VENUE 8.3 What's New Guide in our Avid Knowledge Base and visit avid.com/S6Lsupport.