kgallen

Have you tried: Setup+Playback->Set Fader To: Colour

The triac will trigger part way through the sine wave so effectively the first part of the rise is cut off. The output inductor controls the rise time of this potentially sharp switch-on. This assumes the triggering circuit, and the diac in-line with the triac gate are functioning correctly. So I wouldn't rule out the control side just yet, particularly with so many channels looking bad. If a one-off channel was bad then I'd immediately suspect the diac, triac or inductor. Multiple channels looking bad in similar ways points more likely to a common problem rather than faults of the same type in the discrete components of multiple independent output stages. Probing this is dangerous because of the mains voltages, but where competence and safety allows I would take a look at the inputs to the diacs on each channel and compare good and bad channels. Then I would work backwards to the opto-isolator and then onto the low voltage side of the control circuit. Unless you think there are several different faults you don't need to debug on all 36 channels, just take a Rackmaster which has a good and a bad channel and compare step by step back from the diac. If you can upload the relevant page(s) of the schematic here that would be useful to give more specific guidance. Let us know. Regards, Kevin

Interesting. I have no answer other than cogitation wondering if this is an issue on the control side - in which case probably this would probably manifest on pairs of channels (1/2, 3/4, 5/6), or the output inductor which controls the rate of current change and hence the rise and fall times. However since they are "simply" a coil of wire, are very reliable, don't deteriorate in value over time like caps do (yes, the enamel could deteriorate), and would manifest on one channel, not across a range of channels. It's with questions like this that we'll really miss Keith and Ian... I hope you get an answer or with further debug identify what the issue is. I'm interested in the answer either way.

So what steps have you tried to debug this and what did you find? What outputs are you using from the desk - just DMX or something more advanced like ArtNet or sACN? Have you connected any of the DMX lights directly to the desk to confirm operation of the light? Have you shortened your DMX network to determine if there are any cable faults? Has anyone else had access to the console and might have changed the patch? Have you confirmed the patch has the lights in your rig patched and they are at the right DMX address? Did you update firmware on any item of equipment in your network?

Ramblings of the insane...! I've had a good ole dig around on this subject and I can't find much at all. Clearly looking in the wrong place. There is a minimal keyboard map in the 7.9.2 Solution manual but I've not found anything else. In a release note for 7.10 it talks about Copy-to and Move-to but that is FLX only. Sorry, I'm drawing a bit of a blank - and not knowing Solution at all really isn't helping (I went from Fat Frog to FLX). If I come across anything before Edward posts, I'll offer up some more drivel. Kevin

Maybe this was the thread, but I don't know how directly relevant it is. Might have a few things for you to check/compare or to trigger some thoughts of your own on settings etc. Sorry I don't have a direct answer.

I've had good success with Art-Net on my FLX. There was some thread a while back about some external tools not picking up the packets. Something to do with polling or broadcast or unicast or something like. I can't find the thread now of course and anyway it might not be relevant... I assume you've been through the relevant manual pages? Here it is before someone more knowledgeable comes along! https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/setup/universes/art-net

These pages do specifically mention FLX, but as Solution runs "the same" ZerOS maybe worth giving them a try. Sorry if you already know about these! https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/shortcuts/keyboard-shortcuts

I would email this to support@zero88.com as they will want to do some diagnostics with you.

You can set the intensity of a fixture then RECORD HOME will allow you to reprogramme the Home or Default values. https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/controlling-fixtures/defaults

You should be able to use the on-desk Fixture Creator to do this (although I never have!). Let me see if I can find a manual reference… https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/patching/add-fixtures/fixture-creator

Hi. Yes, use SHIFT+COPY for a MOVE. See this page in the manual ("MOVING CUES IN A PLAYBACK"): https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/moving

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

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. ***

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... 😁

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!).

Not that I know of. I think this is due to the software needing to detect press-and-release versus press-and-hold so it uses the ‘falling edge’ to detect a press-and-release event. Of course I don’t actually know but this would be a typical approach in software (or hardware) where the button has multiple functions. Does the master go behave like this? Compared to the other playbacks. I rarely use the Go of other playbacks so maybe the master go works on the downward press? Sorry, a little off topic…

I think your settings are correct for what you want to do. Hopefully @Edward Z88 will confirm!

Recent example. The respondent has replied to my post quoting a Vari-lite page but still hasn't recognised in respect of the OP being suggested an "FLX-24" that FLX-S range is NOT discontinued as he continues to assert ambiguously. What's worse is kitlane is a UK operator and posts on Blue Room too. To be frank this is partly down to Zero88 continuing to use unclear/subtly similar product names for quite different products. (I won't mention "Leap Frog"!).

Note to Z88 folks ( @Edward Z88, @Jon Hole ) and other active members: It seems on other forums, misinformation is being spread that suggests or states (incorrectly) that all FLX - including FLX S- production has been stopped. Prospective buyers are being dissuaded from FLX S series consoles because they are "discontinued". I'm rebuffing this where I can, including a link to Jon's original statement at the top of this thread. Please be aware of this misinformation being propagated and do your bit to correct the statements where required.

No I wouldn’t switch off SmartTag. The only time SmartTag is a ‘pain’ is when needing to record ‘Effect Off’ going into a blackout. Unless you are a hyper-advanced user, or creating lots of overlayable busking playbacks, SmartTag will be your friend (so I’m not sure it creates ‘more problems than it solves’). What SmartTag does is stop you worrying about what fixture attributes are tagged in order to get them recorded into a cue, there isn’t anything really to ‘understand’ about it. If you turn it off, then you need to be on top of your game with what you want recording. If what you observe is truly a desk issue then @Edward Z88 needs to be able to reproduce it. I’ve never seen anything like this though in 9 years of having my FLX.

I’m not sure what in the fixture definition could cause this. Is this fixture well behaved (I guess I’m asking is it a cheap and nasty one!) - if you use it manually will it fade nicely to zero without doing silly colour things? If you record cue 1 freshly to a clean playback (say PB6), then use the fader to fade up then down, do you get the same bad behaviour? What if you assign another playback ad a Grand Master. If you light your fixture with PB6 and then use the GM to fade out is it still badly behaved? Did you record cue 2 with SmartTag off and change the colour as well as setting intensity to 0 when programming that cue? Is there a cue 3 with a different colour and did you set the move on dark delay to 0? just some ideas to try or confirm.

WTF??????!!!!! Oh no! I've known Ian since 1996 when he joined CTS. I bought my Alcora and FLX from him when he was there plus countless other theatre items as I'd hang about his "sweet shop" on a Saturday morning waiting for him to open up. He obviously contributed on this Forum regularly and we were loosely in contact over the years; I gave him my "spares" and he got me a Line Backer. I had no idea he was ill, or maybe he wasn't and this was a shock event. I'm speechless. I would also like to convey my sadness and condolences to his family. Kevin

Thank you for the updates and roadmap. The FLX S fixture and universe upgrades are interesting and welcome. I’m working on my local hall moving to FLX S. However I can’t help but feel a little scared for my own FLX. I hope you are genuinely able to keep supporting and developing for this platform as there is a lot a capability under the hood. Are you developing a replacement high-end console to supersede FLX or is the Neo-X now that offering? I’ve never seen Neo mentioned outside of Vari-lite - no one on any of the forums I contribute on ever mentions or recommends the product (and neither do I as I know nothing about it). FLX and FLX S do, despite their undoubted reduced market share compared to the ETC offerings. Thanks, Kevin

Oh no! Keith that is such a shame. But we have to all thank you for your many years of tireless support and answering all of our stupid questions. We will remember you with the ‘KR’ stickers inside of our equipment. With best wishes for whatever you are moving on to. If it’s still inside the entertainments industry then maybe we’ll see you around. If not, then good escape! Kevin