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Equiping fat/mambofrog with tracker-ball


P F S

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I'm sorry I've made a mistake ... :?

 

We did not find it out ourselves , we have been told by someone ...

 

So we were interested whether this is possible or not.

 

The person who told us this , told us that the motherboard is almost the

 

same as a motherboard from a Illusion Desk. So he made the

 

suggestion that it would also work on a fat- or mambofrog.

 

It's only for controlling pan & tilt funtions

 

Does this answer clears your questions ? :roll:

 

 

I'm sorry for my poor English ... I'm still learning :lol:

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The main board does indeed have a socket for a PS2 mouse, as we use the same main board in the Illusion. However the socket is not available on the rear panel, because the Frog software was designed to work around the front panel controls, not around the external monitor screens. This has been discussed extensively elsewhere on this forum.

 

For further discussion on Joysticks/Trackerballs/Mouses, see THIS TOPIC.

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So i wonder ,

 

if there is a socket already present on the motherboard , then it would

 

not be that expensive I think ( making a connection from the motherboard

 

to the backside of the desk <> that won't be so expensive ... around 10

 

Euro's , I think )

 

And also the suggestion that it would not work because of no display on

 

the trackerball , I only want to control the pan/tilt function ( nothing

 

further.)

 

Cause for example the MA Scancommander also has the possibility to use

 

a trackerball , and only the pan/tilt can be controlled then .....

 

 

So I think it is possible .... Don't you :lol:

 

greetzz , P F S

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Ahh, you're under the impression that software is free :D

 

It would certainly be *possible* to connect a trackerball to the desk. However features are not implemented simply because they are possible. What gets features onto the list for inclusion in software updates is popular support. At the moment it seems most people are happy with the control wheels, see THIS TOPIC.

 

Also, you need to convince Graham (Zero88 brand manager) that your features ideas take the desk where he wants it to go. Phrases like "I'd buy another one" or "I'd pay £500 more" might come in handy!

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First of all , we are happy with the wheels ourselves ...

 

but we'd like to use a trackerball for live tracking of people ( followspot )

 

We really want the trackerball back ( this because we are used to it ,

 

cause we had one with our scancommander )

 

We ( Prins Facilitair Service ) are part of the main distributor's in

 

The Netherlands . Check my statement at Rolight Theatertechniek The

 

Netherlands. And most of our customers have asked us the same ....

 

,, Can we also have a trackerball or joystick with our Fat-/Mambofrog ? ''

 

If it is possible ( this you state at your last reply ) to use a feature such

 

as a trackerball why can't it be done then ? ........

 

If an Illusion 500 has a trackerball feature , why can't a FrogDesk

 

have one then ?

 

 

We're thinking about a Grand MA , because this desk does have a

 

trackerball ... But we and our customers are happy with your desks.

 

With this reply I want to show you that we are seriously thinking about a

 

trackerball ... And so this topic is for real , it ain't a joke , to bad that

 

some people post reply's that don't belong here .... :evil:

 

I know that a trackerball feature will do business in The Netherlands and

 

around our customers.

 

 

So do tell :wink: ... What can be done to have the trackerball as a new

 

feature inside the Zero88 Frog-Line ..... ...... :roll:

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A trackerball connected to the Illusion's mouse port would not give the pan/tilt feature you are talking about. It would only allow you to move the mouse pointer around the monitor screen and select data fields to edit.

 

Whilst we appreciate that all you want to do with a trackerball on a Frog series desk is control pan&tilt, other users, once the socket appears, may expect to be able to use a trackerball/mouse/joystick to select fields on the monitor screen, as on the Illusion. This would be a substantial change to the operating philosophy of the desk. We wouldn't want to do an incomplete implementation that would frustrate as many people as it satisfied.

 

However keep the ideas coming. If trackerballs/mouses/joysticks become the hot topic on the forum, who knows what might happen after release 9...!!!

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I again want to make notice that I do not want to use the trackerball to

 

control the mouse-pointer .... I just want to control the pan/tilt function

 

of my movingheads & scans .... .

 

Alright let's be straight now ....

 

 

Is it possible ( soft- & hardware-mathic ) to control the pan/tilt function

 

by trackerball ? And what can I do about it to get this as a feature ...

 

what will it cost me ? :lol:

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I again want to make notice that I do not want to use the trackerball to

control the mouse-pointer .... I just want to control the pan/tilt function

 

Do you ever used a Trackerball on a scan or movinghead ?

I have metioned it before elsewhere in this forum - Moving the beam of a fixture live at a show would be very difficult the stepresulution of that thing is

only 255 - 255 in normal mode thats not very smooth.

 

Folks could see every step you made by trackball and when you setup movement speed it´s not that fast that you need it.

 

Just a opinon

Sebastian H.

Pro - Sound Showtechnik

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

Albert Einstein

"You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun"

Al Capone

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on our pc-controllers we use a joystick or arrows on the keyboard' date='

a mouse or trackerball or arrows dont give a smooth motion if you want to use it on a followspot.[/quote']

 

ack but then the PC is very busy processing these motion or I´am wrong here ?

Sebastian H.

Pro - Sound Showtechnik

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

Albert Einstein

"You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun"

Al Capone

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People People ......

 

I want you all to know that if as much persons possible suggest a

 

trackerball in the Frog Series Features , Zero 88 will maybe do some

 

research around the possibilty of a trackerball

 

So I suggest to get as much people into this topic as possible.

 

 

Maybe we can convince them .... :D

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Sorry but Trackball sucks even on a scancommander - I ´ve tried that times ago and it´s rally horrible to put and hold a beam on one person

the best trackball steering I worked with is on a GrandMa Console

but on them you can use the touchscreen as tablet too.

 

Other question would you use only one fixture to "follow" a person or more than that.

Sebastian H.

Pro - Sound Showtechnik

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

Albert Einstein

"You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun"

Al Capone

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Yes , I would like to use for just one movinghead for following people

 

And more fixtures just to program a show ..

 

And I do not agree with your statement about the trackerball that sucks

 

according you .....

 

Maybe you did'nt do it right .. cause it worked perfectly when I used it on

 

a scancommander ... so .....

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I've read all the post reply's around this topic and I've got the feeling

 

by reading some things that the Zero88-staff just don't want the

 

trackerball as a new feature , correct me if i'm wrong , but that's the

 

feeling that I get when reading and putting together the facts ....

 

I agree with PFS ... It would be a fantastic feature ....

 

I work at a big discotheek and i've got a mambofrog for controlling

 

my 40 martin movingheads , and i would love a trackerball for

 

programming shows and following people .....

 

Why can't this be made ? :roll:

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Hi

 

No we are not going to implement a trackball in the near future. It is not something that would be easy to do. Yes it can be done but would cost considerably in development time which is I am afraid going to be going into Frog II.

Graham

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