All Activity

Hi Edward, Thanks for taking the time to explain I think this is where I'm going wrong so to speak. I shall try the track forwards option. I rarely use remove, mainly because I have to look up how to do it each time and I'm scared of breaking something, where update seems a simpler process. If I keep having the same issue I'll grab a copy of the show file if you don't mind taking a look to see if you can figure out what I'm doing wrong! Thanks

Great question. This is a complex subject, so apologies if my explanations don't help! If you update a cue by simply changing values, you have to think about how the fixtures are going to get to those values, and how the fixtures are going to get from those values to the values in the next cue. However this is where SmartTag is your friend - if you set a fixture to 0 and update a cue, but the fixture was already at 0 in the previous cue, this operation essentially IS an Update > Remove. This is because SmartTag does not include an instruction for a light, if the light is already doing that thing in the previous cue. So if it was @ 0 already, there's no need to tell it to be @ 0 again. Intensity data is therefore removed - tick. SmartTag also strips out attribute data for the fixture if it is @ 0, hence this operation means all data is removed for the fixture in this cue. However, this then becomes a question of tracking. If you did this update as Cue Only, the next cue will now have data added in, to tell the fixtures to be in the same values, as if the previous cue had never been updated. So in this scenario, an UPDATE > SmartTag > Track Forwards would have been required. If you use UPDATE > Remove, your cue will have absolutely no instructions for the tagged parameters. The parameters can therefore continue doing what they were already doing, OR Move On Dark can grab that fixture in order to prepare it. This therefore could be a good option if the fixtures were on in the previous cue, and you want them to remain on in this cue with no change. So the choice as to whether to simply update the values stored in a cue, or remove them completely, really needs to be made on a case by case basis, thinking about how this could effect cue transitions. When programming quickly during plotting or even technical rehearsal, it may make sense to do a "quick and dirty" update, to just change the values rather than remove the values. Then, run through your cues prior to the dress. If there are any weird transitions, or Move On Dark isn't working as expected, you can then go into the troublesome cue, select fixtures > HOME > UPDATE > Track Forwards > Remove > ENTER if necessary to tidy things up. I hope this makes sense. Let me know if you have any questions.

Hallo Lena, konnte dir mit dem beschädigten Display schon geholfen werden ?

I have the same and did query the Copy function on this Forum a few months back. Update with SmartTag on in this instance should be a clean way to prune out the data that is not needed in the cue as a result of the Copy which copies in "blocked" values to achieve the Copy. Edward explained this to me in that thread and the behaviour of Copy does make sense but my inner OCD makes me want to tidy up with the Update step. I'll see if I can link the thread later. Remove is a very specific operation. In your example above you talk about turning off their intensity. In the case of intensity, using Update with SmartTag is the easiest thing to do, and that the intensity is now being recorded at zero, the action of Update with SmartTag will be to prune any other attribute data (colour, position etc) for that fixture. (That is my understanding, @Edward Z88 to correct me if I'm wrong). Remove is a very specific operation that will prune from the recorded data, the specified parameters for that fixture. I often have this scenario when I'm experimenting with my next cue, trying some colours or moving position and then concluding that I didn't actually want to change those fixtures at all. In the case of those changes being in the programmer then I can use the backspace key and CLEAR to purge those changes. However once those changes are committed to a cue with a RECORD operation, then Remove is the mechanism to get the scissors out and to go back and to snip that data out of the cue as if the change was never there in the first place. This is of course different to the situation where I changed the colour but then decided I didn't want the fixture lit when I've recorded a change (to colour) that I can't see (because intensity is off) but has actually entered some data for that fixture in the recorded database. The key thing here is that using Remove to snip out those unintended, or unrequired changes, is that what happened before and what happens next is wholly unaffected, including any impact on Move on Dark. I've probably made a real meal of explaining that above and while I understand the principles and operation I wouldn't claim to be as adept at performing these edit operations on the console as I should be. So your queries do gain my sympathy. Maybe in some of these cases you should be selecting Track Backwards or Track Forwards with these changes. But I would expect if you are doing a Remove operation on cue #n then the tidy-up in that cue should directly benefit cue #(n-1) and cue #(n+1) implicitly because the fixture changes that were not required are now purged from the programme. Again, easy on my part to say this and I confess that I go through the same stressful period as you're conveying. I think that's because we probably don't do these operations very often and are a little apprehensive that they'll have an impact that we didn't expect. Then, because the console doesn't have any real Undo type function (once the command line has been committed), we're in a position where we can't Undo to recover what we had (even though it was "wrong") in order to attempt another approach. So I realise I might not have helped much there. Maybe some words of comfort if nothing else, that you aren't going mad and several aspects also cause similar consternation to other users! I'm not sure if Edward is about at the moment, I'm sure once he frees up, he'll have some calming words for us both on these topics! Kevin

Hi all, Sometimes, probably through copy and paste I end up with position data in a cye for some moving lights which aren't on. Through the trick I learnt recently on the forum of going into a cue after copying it and using update with smarttag on, I can remove this position data. I was just wondering what are the pros/cons of using update or remove. Say I had a cue where some movers were on in a set position, and I canged my mind and didnt want them on, would going into that cue, turning them off and updating the cue be good enough or is it better to use the remove function. What are the differences? Sometimes I have had to go into cues before and after the cue I have made changes to and update them to get them move on Dark sequence to work properly. I know its got something to do with the way I'm programming, just want to understand, why, and what I can do differently so pregaps save some time and paracetamol! Thanks

Far and away my biggest want is Mac Phantom zerOS. My Apple silicon Mac runs Capture at 100+ fps without the fan even turning on! Phantom is pretty stable under Parallels 19 running side-by-side on the same monitor with Capture, but there are some glitchy bits that I assume are due to the emulation.

@iank99's funeral will take place on Tuesday 7th May at 13:30 at Charter Chapel, Coventry Crematorium CV4 7DF. Family flowers only, donations in aid of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital either on the day or via the funeral director’s website. The family have specified no mourning clothes at the funeral. Crew shirts, which relate to Ian’s connections via work or theatre are positively encouraged.

Hi Edward, thank you, very much appreciated. Rob

Please find the fixture file attached for the BeamZ Ignite 740 in 45-channel mode... BeamZ Ignite 740 45Ch.zfix

If you only use webmail, there’s a chance on some systems that “mailto:” URLs will not work as your browser will not know what to open

That's odd because it takes me to this page of the manual. Near the bottom of that page there's a link (see 1st attachment) and that opens a new mail in my maill app (outlook - see 2nd attachment). This is on Android.

Hi kgallen, thanks for the feedback. I just tried the link again but it takes me to nothing. This seems weird as everything else on the page works ? Thanks anyway, much appreciated. Cheers, Rob

Rob, I'm sure Edward will make this for you. I did check the latest 4.5 library and I couldn't see that "740" type listed in the Ignite section. Regarding the Fixture Request link, it seemed to work ok for me. The page it takes you to, you do have to scroll to the bottom after all of the other options to " Click here to email us with your fixture request". Then I get an email template as follow which sends to the email address "FixtureSupport@Zero88.com" *** REMEMBER TO ATTACH (OR LINK TO) THE FIXTURE'S OFFICIAL MANUAL *** Direct link to Fixture's manual (if not attached): If the fixture has modes, which mode do you require: Which Zero 88 console is this for: What is your ideal required date*: *Although we will endeavour to achieve your ideal required date, we cannot guarantee completion by this date. If you require a quick turnaround, please consider using Fixture Tools to create this personality yourself - available to download, for free, from zero88.com/library *** Fixtures will be created as per the fixture manufacture’s manual and our database syntax. Requests to divert from this will be declined. ***

Hi, I am sending this fixture profile request here, as when I click on the other link to request it, it does not seem to work ? I am hoping you still offer this service. I have the latest software version on my Flx24. Kind regards and thank you. Rob 152.120-IGNITE740-Wash-Moving-Head-Zoom-7x40W-V1.0 (1).pdf

Thank you for the suggestions. I'll try opening the console and check that all cards are properly seated. So far there have been none of the error messages suggesting that the coin cell battery needs to be changed. And typically, it booted up normally today Simon

Off topic. I thought I'd be my usual pain and "stress test" the website. I went to the above link. I went to "VISIT OUR A-Z OF LEGACY PRODUCT MANUALS" I clicked "Entertainment Controls" I selected Product Sub Type=Lighting Consoles, I left Product Type at Entertainment Controls, I left Product Familty at All, I set Status=Discontinued I got "The filter criteria you have selected did not deliver any results" So where are my Frog, Jester, Orb, Solution, Level series, Alcora, Elara, Sirius manuals? Yes I'm sure you could give me a link - that's not the point, why doesn't this search, having followed the route given by the website, yield all of these juicy manuals for discontinued product? Yes I know I'm a PITA, but you've known that for years... 😁

That is correct. These changes are covered by the “ZerOS” manual which is available here… https://www.zero88.com/manuals When on this page, change the language drop-down at the top to “English”. You can then click and view the “ZerOS” manual. Hope this helps.

Hey, Apologies, I followed this up with Ed offline & never came back to update the thread, so... My last production started rehearsals in midwinter (near freezing overnight temps) with venue unheated. Shortly after my first post it warmed up a bit and I filmed the desk boot up through our production with no more freeze-ups. Battery was new. IIRC we decided it may have been CF card but left it until we had consistent issues to resolve. Colleague is lighting current production so will check how it's behaving. Simon.

Hi Edward, thank you for the quick answer! I prefer to run the desk with ZerOS 7.9.2 because it is the laters version with an existing user manual for the Solution series. Later versions changed the edit-fixtures menu. I had already installed ZerOS 7.14.3 but it was to difficult to find out how to programm all the patchings and playbacks so I switched back to 7.9.2. Do you really mean the error is caused by the old ZerOS version? Greetings from south Germany! And thank you.

Solution consoles do have a CR2032 coin cell battery. However, when this was starting to go flat you should have received NVR errors upon booting the console, rather than the console just failing to boot. It would be worth checking the Compact Flash card in the console is seated correctly. At which point, you might as well replace the battery too whilst the console is open. Please let us know if you'd like instructions on opening the console.

Is there a battery in Solution? That would be my first check if so. CR2032 or similar is typical in Z88 products (at least those from this century!).

I have also started to have the same kind of issue with my Solution. On first power up the desk seems to freeze with the blue screens on the desk illuminated ( and sometimes with the solution logo in them) but the monitor remaining blank. If I turn the desk off and on again the desk then starts up normally. Any ideas? Simon \

Hi, the possibility of having a customizable multi desktop as happens for example with Orb is very important, I hope that it will be taken into consideration in the next updates. Thank you P.

Hi @UMB Thank you very much for the debug file from your console. Sorry to see you encountered this error. Your console is running ZerOS 7.9.2 software, which is several versions out of date. I would therefore recommend updating your console's software. ZerOS 7.14.3 is the latest software, and can be downloaded from the link below... https://www.vari-lite.com/global/products/zeros-software Please read through the release notes on this webpage from ZerOS 7.9.2 through to ZerOS 7.14.3, to ensure you're up to speed with the various improvements and new features. Please let us know if you have any questions.

My SolutionXL stopped working the Playbacks during a Theater. All the preset-faders with Halogen-Spots worked but I couldn't change the page of the playbacks and some playback-faders didn't work any longer. The only option was to restart. After that two playbacks on Page 20 had 100%, but I put them down and could continue. Can someone help, what was the problem? The file with the report is attached. Thanks! debug_23-3-2024_12-40-55.zdb