September 2019 – Smart Home Pro

Hey, Smart Home Pros!

Working on any cool projects this fall? We want to highlight your great work in the next newsletter. Let us know HERE! Also, you’ve contacted us with questions about the CA-10. Check out the new CA-10 FAQ sheet under the Support section. This FAQ discusses questions like when to deploy it, comparing to other controllers, should your customer upgrade, etc.

-Ashley Kimsey
Education Operations Specialist
Control4

If you missed CEDIA, don’t fret—we’ve got you covered.

CEDIA was a HUGE success! Thanks to those who stopped by our booths, attended our keynote event, and cheered with us as we took home CEDIA Best New Product Awards for the WattBox 250 Series and Control4’s Smart Home OS 3.

If you’re wondering what was announced at CEDIA below are some of the CEDIA highlights.

Congrats to our two winners from the show!

Jarrod Philips of Precise Audio out of Daytona Beach, FL, won a 7.1 Gold Triad home theater system. To win, Jarrod completed 20 Smart Skills Live demonstrations throughout the booth and was entered in a drawing.
Brian Pantle of Encore Sight and Sound out of Wellington, CO, won a pair of Distributed Audio Series speakers and a Triad One. To win, Brian attended one of our CEDIA classes, filled out a survey about the class and was entered in a drawing.

Of course you’ve already read the OS 3.1 Release Notes.

You haven’t? Well…. Check out the latest OS 3.1 Release Notes
Upgrading a customer? Use these OS 3 tutorial videos to help them get started.

When should I deploy a CA-10?

All your questions about the CA-10 are answered HERE in our FAQ sheet.

Below are current top issues to know so you can best help your customers.
“My customer’s Apple TV driver stopped working”

The recent Apple TV OS 13 firmware update includes an API change that stops the 4K and Gen4 Apple TV models from working with the Gen 1-3 driver. Please use the info in Knowledgebase Article 1833 to reconfigure using the current drivers.

Android 10 Remote Camera Views

There is an issue when viewing cameras remotely with the newly released Android 10, currently supported on Pixel mobile devices.
An update to the mobile apps to support Android 10 is coming in the near future. Find more info in Knowledgebase Article 4830

Using Composer Pro 3.1.0 and new with older versions of Virtual Director

Virtual Director is a software emulation of a Control4 controller that allows you to view and configure a project in the absence of a physical controller. Like all older versions, Composer Pro 3.1.0 and newer install a matching version of Virtual Director. In rare circumstances, it may be desirable to use a new version of Composer Pro to connect to an older version of Virtual Director. To do so, simply download, reinstall, and run the corresponding version of Composer Pro. (Bear in mind that installing Composer Pro 3.1.0 or later will replace any existing 3.xx.xx installation on your computer.) In the future, Virtual Director will be included with every new OS management package, and Composer Pro will allow you to choose among versions of Virtual Director.

MDU Installations: Must Read

Review 3.1 Update Advisory for MDU Installations before updating to OS 3.1.

New in Knowledgebase

Here are some noteworthy articles recently added or updated in the Technical Support Knowledgebase.

Getting Access to the Control4 Dealer and Education Portals

Ashley here, checking in on you guys. I receive a lot of questions about the Education Portal. So, I’m here to help and hopefully clarify a few things. If you continue to have issues or questions message us at education@control4.com

In order to use the Control4 Education Portal to view Smart Skills, take courses, and get certified, you must first have access to the Control4 Dealer Portal. Please make sure one of the dealer portal administrators (at your company) has added you as a user under their account. They can do this in Account > User Management (only visible to account admins).

Enrolling and Becoming a Control4 Associate Installer

If you wish to enroll in the Associate Installer and become certified, you must first have access to the Control4 Dealer Portal (see above section). Once logged in, find Education in the left hand navigation menu. From there select Course Catalog from the drop down button in the upper left corner, then select Learning Paths from the top center navigation. From there you can Enroll in Associate Installer. You must finish all five courses. Course 5, “How to sign up and prepare for Automation Programmer,” is required to be completed in order to register for the Automation Programmer course.

Signing up for Automation Programmer Certification

After you finish the Associate Installer course, you should be able to enter the Education Portal. Go to Catalog and select Automation Programmer Certification. You will be notified when you are approved to register for a session of the class. After you received the enrollment email, re-enter the Education Portal, then select My Courses > Automation Programmer Certification, then click Launch.

New In The Education Portal
Here are some noteworthy new Smart Skills:

Qmotion Zigbee Roller Shades

Having trouble getting the QMotion Zigbee Roller Shades to identify in your project? Check out the new documentation in the recently released updated driver! More details, more links, more better! Go to the driver database HERE.

NEW & UPDATED DRIVERS

By popular request, here is a list of some of the most helpful new drivers in the online database: