Comparison
A TouchOSC alternative for panels that run a room
Cueva Interface Builder versus TouchOSC and Open Stage Control: when a free-form OSC surface is right, and when an AV room needs a panel tied to its controller.
TouchOSC is a great control surface
TouchOSC from Hexler is one of the best-known OSC and MIDI control surfaces. It runs on phones, tablets and desktops, has its editor built in, sends and receives OSC and MIDI on several connections at once, and adds scripting when a layout needs logic. For a musician, a lighting programmer or a show operator who wants a surface for their own software, it is hard to beat.
Open Stage Control is the free, open source answer to the same need. It runs as a server on a computer and any browser on the network becomes a client, with a live editor, MIDI and OSC. If you are happy to keep a computer running as the server, it costs nothing.
Where an AV room is different
Both are surfaces that send messages. In an installed room, the panel is the front of a system that has to keep working when nobody from the install team is there. Cueva Interface Builder, coming soon to Cueva Desktop, is built for that case.
- The interface is stored on the RELO IO8, and every iPad, iPhone or Android screen loads it from there
- Behind every button is a relay or a flow running on the controller, not a message to a computer that has to be on
- Live feedback from relays, inputs and nodes, with style rules that change a control when the room changes
- Pages per user and PIN locks, so a guest cannot reach the service page
- Separate tablet and phone layouts in one project
Use the right one
Pick TouchOSC or Open Stage Control when you are the operator and the target is your own software. Pick Cueva Interface Builder when the panel belongs to a room, a client or a venue. They can share a network: the RELO IO8 receives OSC, so a TouchOSC layout can trigger RELO IO8 flows today.
Side by side
TouchOSC and Cueva Interface Builder.
| TouchOSC | Cueva Interface Builder | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | Musicians, programmers and show operators | Installed AV rooms and venues |
| Talks to | Any software or device over OSC and MIDI | TCP, UDP, HTTP, OSC, Art-Net and RTP MIDI, through flows on the RELO IO8 |
| Where the layout lives | On each device running the app | On the RELO IO8, loaded by every screen |
| Logic | Scripting inside the layout | Flows that run on the controller |
| Users and PINs | Not a focus | Pages per user, 4 to 8 digit PIN locks |
| Screens | iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux | iPad, iPhone and Android, designed in Cueva Desktop |
| Availability | Available now, paid app | Coming soon |
Correct to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing, based on public information. TouchOSC is a trademark of Hexler, and this page is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Spotted something wrong? Tell us at support@cuevacontrol.com and we will correct it.
Questions
Common questions.
Cueva Desktop is a free download. Cueva Interface Builder is coming to it, and it needs a RELO IO8, which stores the interface and runs the logic behind it.
Yes, today. The RELO IO8 listens for OSC on port 9000, so a TouchOSC button can trigger a flow that switches relays or sends commands to other equipment.
The panel talks to the RELO IO8. A button runs a flow, and the flow can send RTP MIDI, OSC, TCP, UDP, HTTP or Art-Net to other equipment.
Start with one. Scale when you need to.
Order the RELO IO8 from our store, or talk to us about your project.