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Lufferov

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Everything posted by Lufferov

  1. Have you tried turning the wheel slowly? It seems to be sensitive to the speed you turn it. Slow turns are fine and fast rotations are coarse. I've not tried it with a Robin 300 LEDWash, so maybe it's different? As for DMX values, in all my years of plotting, I've never had the need to see the DMX values! I don't really understand why you'd want to... I don't care what the DMX value is, I only care about the end result. I wouldn't have anything against it being added if it's what other users want, but I have to say it would be waaaay down on my list of priorities!
  2. Can't you just update the version number and add a random comment in the code to say "adds FLX support". Then re-upload it and change the description?
  3. Lufferov

    Effect offset

    One easy way is to record your fixtures to a group, then you can apply the effect to the group and use the group offset. I'm not in front of the console, but from the top of my head that should give you the desired result.
  4. Okay, so what does "Copy" allow me to do now? Is it just cues?
  5. Hi Jon, Created a few separate threads with these questions, figured it would make them easier to find for other people. It was good to catch up with you at ABTT on Wednesday by the way! I've found something that has started to annoy me, not in a big way, just in "why does it do that" kind of way. When I move the cursor over a fade time or other cue attribute, why do I have to hit "Enter" before I can edit that field? It feels natural to highlight it, and the act of starting to type should automatically start editing that field. At the moment the work flow is: 1 - Move cursor 2 - Highlight field 3 - Hit Enter 4 - Type time 5 - Hit Enter I'd love to be able to remove step 3, it seems unnecessary and I forget to do it all the time which makes me frustrated after the 10th or 11th time! Oh... and don't forget what we discussed about finding some way to highlight that a cue is a snapshot! It's really important when using track forward/back to know exactly how far your changes will track. At the moment, you have to just remember which cues are blocks. Regards.
  6. Hi, If I've used the patch wizard to add say 10 Mac 700s and 20 LED PARs as well as a few conventionals. Is there any way in "Edit Fixtures" to select multiple fixtures? Say I want to invert pan on all my Mac 700s, can I highlight them all or tag them in some way? It's a pain to have to select each one and set them individually. I recently had 64 LEDs and I needed to set their "Home" intensity to '0'. That took me absolutely ages! Regards
  7. Hi, Today I created a simple colour chase on a playback, once I'd done that I wanted to copy it to the next playback and then change the parameter to "Random". I couldn't figure out how to use the "Copy" command though? What's the correct syntax to use? Regards
  8. The FLX manual is a bit like Big Foot... many have rumored its existence, a few even claimed to have witnessed one, but nobody claims to actually HAVE one because it doesn't exist. (yet) I find it very odd that they haven't made sure the manual was ready for the consoles launch. It seems like a pretty basic requirement to me, the quick start gives you the very basics. But after that... well you could use the Orb or Solution manual, they share a lot of similarities. After that though, you'll have to ask here, or contact Zero 88 support. Hopefully they'll release it soon, but my guess is they are waiting to get the new version of ZerOS finished before they print the manual.
  9. Sure, I realise the risks of running beta firmware, that's fine and not entirely unexpected. As I say, this could be a network issue. But in my current setup I have the FLX configured as: Visualisation options - Capture: Enabled DHCP: Disabled IP: 192.168.0.15 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 Then in the network adapter settings of the PC it's set as follows: TCP/IPv4 properties- Use the following IP address: IP address: 192.168.0.12 Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0 As far as I'm aware, that's all I should need to do? But when starting Capture, it doesn't seem to detect the FLX console. Rebooting the FLX shows that the capture initialisation was successful but Capture still doesn't list any External universes in the project settings. Eventually I manage to get it to work (somehow), but then without changing any settings, if I disconnect the console, when I re-connect, it doesn't see the desk again. Wow, okay, that sounds like a pretty long winded and convoluted way of doing that. In other versions of ZerOS I'm sure I could just transfer a chase into a cue stack? I get the advantage of having the chase run over multiple cues, but the method of doing that using macros seems very complicated. Good to know this is already possible, I thought it had to be, I just didn't know how. Is there an ETA for a full manual for the FLX? Most of these questions could probably be answered if we had that :-) I guess the lack of physical buttons means we're going to have to learn a lot of multiple key presses, and shifted keys to get things to work. I thought I'd read that somewhere already, but thought I'd add my name to the list of people who want a better handling of cue times. Okay, I use the desk in "Advanced Tracking", I'm not at the desk yet so I'll go and try that later. I haven't tried the "press and hold" technique yet. Excellent, this is the sort of stuff I've come to expect from you guys and why I had faith in buying this console. I know that you listen to feedback and actively work to give the users what they ask for! I can confirm that 100% of the time, when viewing the playback window if you go to a recorded cue and then type "12 At 70 Enter" as soon as you press "Enter" the "Cue no." box will be edited and no channels can be changed in the cue. I spent a couple of hours with my colleague last night playing with this and we spent a lot of that time swearing at the console for constantly editing the field instead of executing the command we'd typed.
  10. Hi Jon, I've spent a bit longer with the desk now using the beta build you sent me. Had a couple of incidents where the desk appeared to crash, but after a minute or two of being totally unresponsive all the commands fired at once as it caught up. That wasn't much fun! I've had the FLX hooked up to Capture, but it seems a bit hit and miss with getting the thing to connect. But then I'm not sure if that's an FLX issue or a network configuration thing, I seem to just turn everything off and on a lot until eventually it connects. As a preface, I'm generally very impressed with the desk so far with a few caveats. It certainly feels like it's been released too soon and not ready for a consumer release which is a shame. At the same time, I can see lot of potential for this console as the firmware gets developed over the coming months. Here are my problems: - How can I put a chase into a cue stack? I can put an effect into a cue and that works as I'd expect, but if I want to create a parcan chase and put that in a cue, how do I do that? At the moment, you can either have a cue stack OR a chase. It doesn't appear to be possible to have a chase IN a cue stack. - When plotting in tracking, is it possible to re-record a cue in "cue only" so any changes I've made don't track forwards? For example, I have 5 cues in my stack, I go back to cue 2 and put channel 6 @ 50%. When I re-record cue 2, channel 6 will track forwards. Now I have to go to cue 3 to take it back out and then re-record that cue as well. What I'd like to do is have a way to record channel 6 @ 50% ONLY in cue 2. Sometimes I want my changes to track forwards, so the default record behaviour is fine, other time I only want my changes to happen in the cue I've changed. This becomes more of a problem when changing multiple channels/intensities as it means a lot of work to go to the next cue and undo them all again! - Is there a block command for cues? Another question about tracking, I am in the habit of manually making all my blackouts and other key cues "block" cues. This means if I go back and make any changes before the block cue, those changes don't track into, or beyond the point of the block. - Why does the MFF reset the cue stack? This is an issue rather than a question for me. If I bring the intensity fader down on the cue stack, it resets it back to the start. I really don't expect that behaviour. In my mind, that is a master intensity for the playback and shouldn't change the position in the stack. When I bring the fader back up, I should be in the same cue, not back at cue 1! I just don't like it and it seems like a dangerous behaviour that could cause big problems for an operator during a show! - How can I change all timings of a cue? With default fade times set to say 3s, if I want a snap it seems I currently have to go to every fade time and set them all to 0 one at a time. Is there a way to set ALL time to 0 for a cue? It's currently a dull and time consuming process to have to change each attributes time individually. - How do I copy a cue? So I'm using my master playback, I've created 5 cues and now I want to use cue 2 in cue 6. How do I copy it? - Can you set "Auto-follow" to start after the trigger? Okay, so I have a cue (4) that has a fade time of 10s and an auto follow of 3s. Currently it waits until the cue is complete (10s) and then hangs for the wait time (3s). So cue 5 will trigger after 13s, in some cases that's fine and exactly what you want. But, equally I'd like cue 5 to trigger after 3s, not 13s. In this instance cue 4 will still fade over the original 10s, but cue 5 will trigger 3s after hitting GO on cue 4. - How do I edit channel values in a cue? There's no "Load" button to bring the current cue into the programmer. So, if I'm in cue 5 and I want to change the value of channel 12 from 80% to 70%. Instinctively I type "12 At 70 Enter", but this doesn't work as when I hit "Enter" it edits the cue number, or whatever field is currently highlighted. So how do I change the values of recorded channels? Thanks for the help!
  11. Hi Jon, I'll drop you an email later. In the mean time, I have a question about FXs. On the Frog 48 I could use the "Rainbow" effect over several fixtures and by default they all changed colour together. However by using "Shift + Offset" it would stagger the colours, I couldn't seem to do that yesterday. Am I doing something wrong? Finally I have the ZerOS remote installed on my phone, but my colleague couldn't find it on the Android app store and when I checked, I can't see it either. Where's it gone? Regards
  12. It arrived today, one of the first things I noticed is that there is no command line when the external monitor isn't connected. The monitor is still on order so we were just using the desk, it's really confusing when you can't see the command line! Is there a setting or a "view" I need to use to see it?
  13. Just to let you know, we placed an order for a FLX today. You'll probably be hearing from me a lot more in the future... sorry :-)
  14. Is this a desk wide setting or fixture specific? For example, what if I have a bunch of RGB pars in my rig mixed with a few MAC Quantum fixtures with CMY? Will I be able to get CMY encoders with the Qantum and RGB with the LED Pars?
  15. It was great to meet Mark today for a demo of the FLX, got to see a lot more of what the desk was capable of. The Rem Dim function and Highlight will both be very useful features for me on the UDKs! We still had a question about inhibits, it's always useful when you have a show and one of your scrollers or moving lights go rogue. Setting an inhibit to disable that channel (or range of channels) on a playback is a lifesaver in those circumstances. I also like to set up an inihibit for all my FOH fixtures, so when tabs are used I can just use my inhibit fader to take out any FOH lamps that are on. It would be nice to see an option in the Playback fader setup page to make that fader an inhibit for whatever channels are stored in it. I think Mark has a few other queries we left him with that even I can't remember now :-) Actually, one of them was that I couldn't find a way to use RGB on the encoders, it only seemed to have CMY values, but the LED fixture we had patched was RGB. I wasn't able to record the RGB and intensity parameters to seperate playbacks for colour ming via the faders. Also, something I forgot to bring up was fixtures with multiple colour attributes. For example, an LED block with 4 cells that has one master intesity but 4 different individually contolled colour cells. Or something like a Q-Wash 419Z that has two outer rings and an inner ring (3 zones on LED control). How does the FLX handle those? Does each zone still need to be patched as an individual fixture? Or have you come up with a solution to this now? But overall, despite the queries I am really impressed with the desk!
  16. Hi Jon, How do you handle the "untagging" of parameters on the FLX? Is it still holding "Clear" and touching the encoder? I thought I tried that when I was used it the other day, but if I recall it didn't seem to do anything? Perhaps there was another setting I needed to change?
  17. Lufferov

    Missing features

    I'm guessing you're referring to channel LCDs here for labelling? I think this along with motorised faders would have been fantastic features, I'm sure they had this on a list of things they wanted to add. But I have no doubt that they would have been cut in order to meet a budget. It is a real shame they are missing, because as you say, keeping track gets really confusing when you have multiple pages and functions. Trouble is, the price would have to reflect that and then it wouldn't be quite as attractive as it is now. Hmmm, is there an undo function on the desk at all? There's no key for it like on the Orb and as I belive they are in production that's not getting added now! By preset, do you mean a playback or in old terms a submaster? If you can't do this I'm very suprised, but I'm sure it's something that can easily be added in a future software update. Can you not simply load the scene and then just record it to a different playback? After I got hands on, the things I have questions about are: 1) Can I record point cues? The manual says I can use the syntax "Record 5 Enter", can I type "Record 5.5 Enter"? I stupidly forgot to try that at the time! 2) Can I stack commands? For instance, can I type "Record 5 Name <cue name> Enter"? 3) There's no "Time" key, so adjusting cue times is a bit of a drag. Not really a question, more a statment of fact. 4) The Intesnity encoder seems to be in a srange location hidden under the "Z" key. Why isn't it under the "Position" parameters like the Solution, or more logically to me "Beam"? Ideally I'd like to be able to type "4 @" and then have intensity come up on an encoder automatically. 5) Is there an equivilent to a "rem dim" function? So I can bring up one fixture and turn everything else off? 6) Is there a quick way to channel check? Would be nice to be able to type something like "1 @@" to bring the fixture to top, and then use the up or down keys to make channel 2 full and 1 off etc... This is very useful for checking the patch and also for focussing. 7) How does the position function work with the picture of your stage? How do you calibrate it? Are they just set position palletes you create that simply map to a location on the image, or is it more versatile than that? Thanks!
  18. I had a chance to get "hands on" with the FLX today at Stage Electrics, first impressions were generally good. Nice build quality, but we left with a few more questions that the Stage Electrics rep couldn't answer. He's probably going to be getting in touch with you personally, but I'll probably post them here too at some point (it's too late for me now and it's been a loooong day). Would be great to get a demo with a Zero 88 rep though so perhaps that's something we can look into in the near future because it's certainly got me interested!
  19. Guess that's me showing my age.. I'm just a bit old school, but yes I take you point that it would be harder to manage with pages. I've used desks for so many years including the Strand 500 series, ETC Ion, as well as Fat Frogs, Sirius 48, Strand GSX, Jands Event... there's quite a few more I've missed off the list, partly because I've forgotten what they were called! None of them had LCDs so I always opted for the lx tape solution.
  20. When you say functionality the FLX doesn't have "yet" is blind mode a feature that's coming to the FLX? Or any of the other features you mentioned? Blind operation is one thing that would potentially be an issue if it's lacking that. No way to fix any problems once your show is running... I have been known to make the odd mistake now and again! ... Not that I'd ever plot houselights into half the cues.... Noooooo! As for LCDs for labelling... does anyone actually use those? I find they take too long to set up, and I can never fit enough text on them anyway. I just end up using the tried and tested strip of white tape :-) I guess the Orb XF does have some things still to offer, but I'm just not sure the extra price really justifies the extra features... unless you REALLY need them. Hence why I say the market for the Orb is likely going to shrink. I can live without most of the things you mentioned if I'm saving that much money in the process! I guess I'm in a fortunate position in that we already have an Ion for bigger stuff. Our Frog 48 is used for smaller functions, so the FLX looks like it will fit the bill pretty much perfectly. BTW: I love the idea of using USB -> Cat5 with PoE... This could work out really well as our venues already have a lot of Cat5 connectivity.
  21. Okay, I'm pretty happy with everything I'm seeing and hearing so far and mainly just wishing it supported two monitors. It feels like that's going to be the achilleas heel for me, I just want access to more information at once without swapping between displays. The motorised faders would have been a nice touch for the sake of usability, but their abscence is understandable at that price. Besides which, I'd probably just add a fader wing to supplement them if I needed more. I also love that it's expandable like that! Actually, on a side note, will there be any way to have fader wings remoted from the console? For instance, it could be useful to have a fader wing situated on stage for certain situations rather than having to relocate the whole desk. Would be a nice added feature if possible! There could be wings set up with just houselights on them for FOH or cleaning staff to use etc.. without having to give them access to the full console. It does strike me that the FLX is really treading on the toes of both the Solution and the Orb though. Why would I buy an Orb over an FLX now? I guess it has the two screens, but apart from that they both have 2048 channels, unlimited fixtures, kaypad/commmand line interface, we've established that the need for more than 240 palletes is already pushing it. So surely the market for the Orb is going to be the smaller than it's ever been? The appeal of the Orb in the past (for me) has always been the keypad command line, but the FLX has that now so I'm not sure what else the Orb has to offer. Especially given the difference in price! Regards.
  22. Couldn't agree more on that point, it should be more than any user of this desk willever need. If they do need more than that, then frankly they are using the wrong desk in the first place. Pretty much what I expect from any lighting desk these days. This is a good improvment IMO. This is where things start to get muddy for me, because this puts it significantly above the Solution. Sorry, but on this point I'm not conviced, when I'm plotting (or even busking) the more information I can have "at a glance" the better. I routinely have my cue stack and outputs on seperate displays, is this possible on the FLX? Even if it is, having either one on the built in display won't be practical. I know this currently isn't possible on the Solution, but supporting a minimum of 2 displays should be a minimum requirment today. With all the various groups and pallets, having access to everything at once makes a huge difference when busking. Technically the Solution doesn't require an external display, but it becomes a lot more useable with one and productivity increases dramatically. The same would be true with two external displays on the FLX. The ommision of this seems like it be a big oversight. Okay, here are a few to get started: 1) Is the list price of £3400 (ex. VAT) correct? 2) Is there a price for the fader wing? 3) Do you have a release date, or even a window? Will it be this year, summer, autumn, winter? 4) Why doesn't it feature an intensity wheel? Enconders just aren't the same for intesity! 5) Are there any limitations to the command line interface due to missing buttons compared to the Orb XF? 6) What does the Solution do that the FLX can't? Will I be missing anything by replcing my Frog 48 with an XLF? 7) Is there a "playbacks" window much like the "Submasters" view before that shows what's on each fader? 8) With multiple playback faders now, how do you view the cues in each playback? I probably have even more questions that I can't think of right now :-) Regards.
  23. Yes, the gap in their product line is definitely between the Solution and the Orb. The Solution is already a good entry level desk for ZerOS with direct channel control via the 48 faders and the limit of 248 fixtures. Anything below that and the Jester has it covered, and in some ways is already better than the Solution! What Zero 88 need is something beyond that but below the Orb! That's what I initially thought the FLX was. I really don't want an Orb, if I'm going to spend that much, I'll just get an ETC Ion. In fact what they should have done is what I mentioned in my previous post. Replace the Solution with the FLX and give it support for two monitors so I can have pallets, cue list as well as outputs all visible at once. I can't belive they'd remove the output view & effects generator would they? That would be complete madness! I still have lots of questions about the FLX a lot of what we're saying is speculation really, we need more information! At the moment I guess I'm just totally confused as to what market they are pitching the FLX to now. I have a gut feeling they may have missed the mark though. I suppose what I'm also trying to comprehend is why they think the FLX is a good option when you have competing products like ChamSys who are in the same price range.
  24. Yes, it looks like you could be right, but the thing that is confusing me is that the FLX has the keypad just like the Orb which I would love. I much prefer a command line interface! So now I'm really torn between replacing the Frog 48 with an FLX if we're losing functionality and just getting a new Solution.... While the Solution does have the command line, the lack of keys makes it so awkward to use it's basically not an option for programming. What's also confusing is I've heard a rumour that the RRP for the FLX is £3400 (ex. vat) which is roughly £600 more than you can pick up the Solution! So paying more for less? If that's correct then it's a bit of a mess... I'd hoped that this desk was going to be a competitor to the ChamSys MQ60 and the like. But if it fits in below the Solution I'm guessing it won't really be able to compete with that? I hope I'm wrong, I kind of wish they'd just replaced the Solution with a new product. It seems to me the Solution is going to be more or less obsolete, why would you want to get that over an FLX? Also in my opinion they should have fitted the FLX with motorised faders too. Having pages makes using not motorised faders a real PITA. I'm not sure where you got the idea that there are only two screen layouts? The quick start guide looks the same as the Solution, maybe I'm missing something though? Perhaps you could enlighten me? It does look like fewer palletes, but it still has 240 of each and frankly, even in the most demanding musicals I've plotted on the ETC Ion, I don't think I've ever had more than 100 palletes of any one parameter. So I guess in summary I'd like to have seen the FLX with the following: - Same software specs as Solution - Motorised faders - Support for 2 monitors Then they can ditch the Solution which is now pretty much redundent anyway. I think I've talked myself into getting an FLX after all that, but just wishing they'd gone that little bit further with it. EDIT: Another thing that puts the FLX above the Solution in my view is that the keypad gives direct control of all 2048 channels of DMX. The Solution only give you direct control of 48 via the channel faders, trying to go above that causes a lot of headaches. So again, I'm struggling to see the relevance of the Solution now.
  25. Where does the FLX sit in your product line? Is it designed to replace the Solution? Does it sit between the Solution and Orb XF? Or is it between a Jester and Solution? Looking at it, I'd say it's somewhere between the Solution and the Orb. It just confuses me that on your product page you have it listed below the Solution. We currently have a Frog 48 which needs replacing, we were going to just buy a new Solution. But the announcment of the FLX makes me think that might be a better option. But is there anything the Solution does that the FLX doesn't?
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