Loading and Saving Designs

It's easy to load a running design from a Q-SYS Core processor, make changes, and save the modified design back to the Core. If you have created a brand new design and saved it locally on your PC, you can then save it to the Core to automatically start running it for the first time.

Tip: Click the Sign In button (located in the top-right corner of the Q-SYS Designer interface) to sign in to Q-SYS Reflect. You can then load and save designs remotely for Cores that are registered with a Q-SYS Reflect Plus subscription and are part of Organizations and Sites of which you are a member.

Click File > Load from Core & Connect (or press F8) to display a list of all discovered Q-SYS Core processors and their associated Systems (design files). Select a Core to load its design file. Once a design is loaded, you can then adjust controls in real time, or disconnect from the Core (F7) to make edits to the design.

Tip: Use the Path, Organization, and Site drop-down menus to filter by those parameters. You can also use the Search box to filter by a search term.

Cores can be discovered from three possible paths:

LAN / Local

These are Cores that are on the same network as that of the PC running Q-SYS Designer Software.

Hard Link

These are Cores that have a configured Hard Link in Q-SYS Designer > File > Preferences.

Reflect

These are Cores that are registered with Q-SYS Reflect. To load from these Cores, they must be registered with a Q-SYS Reflect Organization that has a Q-SYS Reflect Plus subscription and you must be able to access the Site to which these Cores are registered.

To see Reflect-registered Cores, click the Sign In button located in the top-right corner of the Q-SYS Designer interface.

Note: If a Core is registered with Reflect and you are on the same local network as that Core, it appears in the list twice – once for each path type. For better performance, load from the local path.

When connecting to or loading a design from a Q-SYS Core with Access Management > Users enabled, Q-SYS Designer prompts you for your local Core credentials (Username and Password).

Q-SYS Designer supports persistent local authentication sessions.

How to Authenticate to an Access Control–Enabled Core

  1. In Q-SYS Designer, select File > Load from Core & Connect.

  2. Select an Access Control–enabled Core running Q-SYS 10.5.0 or later, and then click Load From Selected Core.

  3. In the Sign In dialog, enter your Username and Password, and then click Sign In.

  4. Once authenticated, Q-SYS Designer securely retains your session token on your PC.

  5. When you disconnect to make design edits and subsequently reconnect or reload the design, Designer automatically uses the retained session without prompting for credentials again.

Note: The user account must have sufficient role permissions assigned in Core Manager to load designs. Refer to the Q-SYS Designer Permissions table in Access Management > Users for required role permissions.

Managing and Clearing Stored Sessions

Updated Credentials

If your account permissions or password change on the Core, Designer prompts you for the updated credentials on your next connection attempt.

Clearing Sessions

Active session tokens are automatically cleared by:

  • Clicking the log out symbol next to the Q-SYS Reflect sign-in button, in the top-right corner of Q-SYS Designer.

  • Restarting Q-SYS Designer.

  • Signing out of Windows, which automatically clears all active session tokens.

Discovered Cores are listed with a status icon:

Available

The Core is online. Select it, and then click Load From Selected Core.

Contacting

Q-SYS Designer is attempting to contact the Core on the network.

Idle / Warning

This event indicates compromised operation of the affected source and reduced functionality, such as a network redundancy (LAN B) communication problem.

Error

There is a problem connecting to this Core. Hover over the icon to see the details of the issue, which could be one of the following:

  • The Core is not currently running a design.
  • Access Denied / Authentication Required: Access Control is enabled on the Core and you have not authenticated, or your user account lacks the required role permissions to load designs. See Access Management > Users.
  • The Core is offline from Q-SYS Reflect or is not running firmware version 9.0 or later.
  • Designer cannot connect to the Core on the local network.
  • This Core has later firmware than your version of Designer.

Click to launch Core Manager (for LAN or Hard Link connected Cores) or Q-SYS Reflect (for Reflect connected Cores) in a browser window.

Click File > Save to Core & Run (or press F5) to upload your design to the Core specified in your design and automatically start running it.

CAUTION: When you save and run a design, the existing design on the Core is overwritten and restarted with the new changes and control settings. If your Core is connected to live audio output, any control setting changes have an immediate impact on the output.

New designs, by default, are saved to the Core with a design name of "untitled." If this is a new design, you should first save it to your PC with a descriptive file name using File > Save or File > Save As. The name you select for saving locally becomes the name used on the Core.

Q-SYS Designer automatically selects the most suitable network path for uploading your design to the Core.

Local or Hard Link

If your PC is connected to the same network as the Core or has a configured Hard Link in Q-SYS Designer > File > Preferences, Designer uses the local or hard link connection for saving your design and upgrading Core firmware.

Q-SYS Reflect

If you are signed in to Q-SYS Reflect, Designer attempts to use the Reflect connection for remotely saving your design and upgrading Core firmware. To save to a Reflect-registered Core, the Core must be registered with a Q-SYS Reflect Plus subscription and part of the Organizations and Sites of which you are a member.

To sign in to Q-SYS Reflect, click the Sign In button located in the top-right corner of the Q-SYS Designer interface.

After saving and running your design, you can press F7 (or go to File > Disconnect) to disconnect from the Core. The design continues to run on the Core, but you can then make changes to the design file on your PC.