What is Vinten VRC?
Vinten VRC (Vinten Radamec Control ) is a robotics control system designed by Vinten for broadcast studios. It allows operators to store and recall precise camera positions (presets) across multiple robotic pedestals and pan-tilt heads, enabling repeatable, accurate camera moves in live production environments.
With the Automator, you can trigger VRC preset recalls and camera stops directly from your Cuez rundown, without touching the VRC panel during a live show.
For more information, visit the Vinten website.
Adding a Vinten VRC 'device' to the Automator
In the top right corner of the Automator, we see 'Devices' — this can be either red or green depending on the status of the configured devices. Click it and select 'Add device'.
Next, select 'Vinten VRC' from the 'Device type' dropdown list, then give it a name.
Once the device is selected and given a name, we will see all the fields needed to configure it so it can be used with the Automator.
Basic device configuration
You can enable or disable the Vinten VRC and enter the 'Host name' (the IP address of the VRC system on your network) as well as the 'Port'. Once these settings have been entered, the device should show as 'online' (green) in the top right corner.
The default Vinten Automation Server port is 11239. If this has been changed on your VRC system, check with your VRC administrator for the correct value.
Configuring actions
The next step is to configure each Item and Block configuration with the (set of) functions you want to perform on the Vinten VRC when triggering the Item or Block - more general information on that in this article.
Available functions
Recall preset
The 'Recall preset' function moves a camera to a previously saved preset position on the VRC system.
Show — the preset to recall (as configured on the VRC system). The exact format of this value — numeric ID, name, or other identifier — depends on how presets are set up on your VRC system.
Stop all cameras
The 'Stop all cameras' function immediately halts all cameras currently in motion on the VRC system. Use it as an emergency stop or to interrupt all moves in progress simultaneously.
Stop camera
The 'Stop camera' function immediately halts a single specified camera currently in motion on the VRC system.
Camera — the identifier of the camera to stop (as configured on the VRC system — numeric ID or name, depending on your setup)
Troubleshooting
Device shows as offline (red)
Verify the IP address and port (default 11239) are correct and that the VRC system is powered on and reachable on the network.
To verify that the Vinten Automation Server is actively listening on port 11239, open the Command Prompt as an administrator on the host machine, type:
netstat -ano | findstr 11239, and press Enter. If the service is running properly, the output will display a line showingLISTENINGalongside the port number. If the command returns nothing, the Vinten service is either stopped, frozen, or configured to run on a completely different port.
Try restarting the Automator device connection by disabling and re-enabling the device in the configuration panel.
Preset not recalling
Confirm the preset exists on the VRC system and that the value entered in the Show field matches exactly how it is configured there.
Check that the device is showing as online (green) before triggering.