Kirkup_xp

Hi, In Manual Patch, select the channel you wish to repatch, then press Insert. This will create a duplicate, labelled {channel} + 1 - you can have upto 99 of these duplicates on any channel. Once you've got the duplicate, just patch it as normal. Hope this helps, Peter

Hi Kresten Windows Pocket PC 2003, Mobile 5 or Mobile 6 should all be fine. The PDA needs to have Wifi but other than that, anything reasonably modern will be fine. The bigger the screen, the better, but again, nothing excessively large is necessary - we've tested the software across a variety of PDAs and it seems to behave itself on all the systems we've tried it on. CLICK HERE for the remote software. Hope this helps, Peter

This isn't something we offer at the moment, and I think it unlikely we would in the future - mainly due to the support issues it would cause with people creating invalid syntaxes, etc. If you're looking for a 'DIY' solution, why not take a look at Light Factory, which is based around an SQL database engine. You can create your own scripts to access the software via Telnet or directly to the SQL database as required. Light Factory is available in Europe through Zero 88 - if you need any more information, please don't hesitate to let me know. Peter

Hi The Phantom Frog applications are designed to allow you to do just this. What is it that you don't like about them? Peter

Hi Ollie Each fixture is different in their design, my guess would be that your fixture has a fixed colour wheel, so in order to change the colour from one to another it has to move through several others - think of it like a trivial persuit cheese. In a fixture like the Mac 2000, they have 3 'blades' of colour (usually Cyan, Magenta and Yellow) which can be moved individually, giving you a smooth crossfade between any two colours. The more advanced the fixture, the more option you get for things like this - a Spot 250 is a pretty basic fixture in these terms. I hope this helps, Peter

Hi Pierotec This is something we've talked about adding into a future release of the PDA software, however at the moment this is not possible. I'll add your suggestion to our database and hopefully we'll be able to add this feature to a future release, Kind Regards, Peter

Hi Kresten Thanks for this suggestion - this is something we've talked about already so i'll flag your comments up with R&D. For now, either editing the patch or patching individually will make this simple, alternatively you could create a custom fixture with a higher DMX Allocate and patch this. Peter

Hi Kev, Thanks for the request - it has been logged in our database - F2-1543 and it will be considered for a future release, Peter

Hi there, The effects are internally built by the desk and are part of the desk operating software, so it's not possible to add your own. This function is available on the Frog 2, which allows you to build your own effects for any parameter. I hope this helps, Peter

Hi Tobias You'll need to connect a PC into the network with the desk and the PDA. The easiest way to do this is to plug in the desk to one of the ports on the router and a PC to another, both using 'straight' (not cross-over) network cables. On the PC, you should then be able to load up an internet browser and type in http://192.168.0.1/ into the address bar and hit GO. At this point you will be prompted for a user name and password, which will be detailed in the user manual for the router. When you're connected to the router, look for settings which relate to the wireless connection and to DHCP. Ensure that DHCP is enabled and that the wireless is active. Setup a name for the wireless network which you'll recognise (we use "Zero 88") and choose a wireless channel. You can add security if you require it. If you change any settings, you'll need to click the Save Option and then the Reboot Router option to ensure that the settings are stored. Now on the PDA, ensure that you've activated the wireless connection (this is normally done through some sort of connection manager. The first time you enable wireless in an area, the PDA will search for all available wireless networks and will ask you if you want to connect to any it finds. At this stage, you should see yours listed. Select it and choose connect (if you added security, you'll need to enter these details here). Once the PDA is connected and the desk is connected, on the desk go to Setup / Network / Remote. Choose Enabled Remote - Yes, and Use DHCP Address - Yes. Again, you can enable security if you like (this security is simply a password the remote will prompt you for before connecting). At the bottom of the remote setup screen, you should see "Remote Active". If you see "Remote Not Active - No DHCP Address", ensure that DHCP is enabled on the router and reboot the desk. Assuming you've got "Remote Active" and the PDA connected to the wireless network, you should be able to start the Remote program on the PDA and the desk should be detected. I hope this helps - if you need any more help, let me know. Peter

The problem is most likely that the USB stick does not have the active partition set, and so cannot be booted by the desk. We have updated the Software Installer tool to ensure that the active partition is now set on the USB stick. Please download the Software Installer tool again (CLICK HERE) and re-install to your USB stick. Then proceed with the desk upgrade in the usual way. The desk software is unchanged and remains at Version 3.0, the only changes are in the Software Installer. If you have already successfully installed Version 3.0, then your USB stick already has the active partition set and you do not need to update with this version. Let us know how you get on.

Oops! Looks like this one crept in as a bug in the latest release - i've popped it into our project tracker, so it'll be fixed in the next release. Issue number FX-2035.

Hi Toadtobias You need the router plugged into the desk allocating the desk (and PDA) a DHCP IP address (or if not, specify the desk IP address in the Network options). With the software installed on the pocket PC, it should just be a case of running the application and as long as you have Remote Enabled on the desk, it should be listed on the PDA. If you need any more specific help, we're going to need details about the exact setup you have (which router, which PDA, whats plugged in where, etc). Peter

We'd recommend waiting until such a time as you can take some time to get used to the new software in a safe environment before taking it out on a show. Here. You should just need to setup the router and the desk to allocate IPs via DHCP, connect to the router via Wifi and away you go. Hope this helps - let me know if you need any more help, Peter

Hi Dave Thanks for the bug report, however I think this is the designed functionality on the Next Memory. Each memory on the cue stack only outputs the *changes* made by the relevant memory, rather than the state as it was outputting. The instructions in Memory 7, for example, tell channel 6 to go off and channel 7 to go on. Because the stack was recorded using Smart Tags, Memory 7 doesn't contain any information about channels 1-5 and 8-10. Therefore, when you run into memory 7 from any memory other than 6, only the changes made in 7 are applied. If you wanted it to output ONLY the channel required, you'd need to record instructions for the other channels to go off. To do this, turn off Smart Tags and manually tag each dimmer at 0. The quickest way to do this is to select them (either using command line or set the flash buttons to Off/Select mode) and 'nudge' the intensity wheel. I will add an issue to our reports system for an easier mechanism to get the 'outputting' state rather than the 'changes'. Peter

Leap Frog 48/96 Software Version 3.0 Released The following are now available from the Downloads section of the website: CLICK HERE. New desk software Offline editor software (Phantom Leap Frog) Installation instructions Release notes describing all the new functions and bug fixes Remote (PDA) software WYSIWYG driver and instructions Please note that we no longer provide the smaller UPD file for updates, see the instructions document available for download from the link above for the revised software update procedure.

Frog 2 Operating Software Version 4.3.0 Released The following are now available from the Downloads section of the website: CLICK HERE. New desk software Offline editor software (Phantom Frog 2) Installation instructions Release notes describing all the new functions and bug fixes Remote (PDA) software WYSIWYG driver and instructions Please note that we no longer provide the smaller UPD file for updates, see the instructions document available for download from the link above for the revised software update procedure.

I'm really sorry to hear about your problems - hopefully some of the below will help you! This is interesting - trying this here it does seem to work. However, I think this may be a misunderstanding of the Tracking functionality of the desk. The desk behaves in a Tracking manor, meaning that only the changes between each cue are recorded - for example, if a cue only raises your cyc wash, this is all that will be stored. This means that if you make an update to an earlier cue, the updates will *track* between cues, until a new value is programmed. Therefore copying this cue would only change the level of the cyc wash, as the other channels are unchanged and unprogrammed in that cue. In order to ensure that a scene is stored as you expect it to be, you should output the scene and record it using Smart Tags. This is because the Program Window on the desk has grabbed control over the channels which were previously being run from the submaster. This is a deliberate function on the desk which means you can override an outputting submaster by altering a parameter on a wheel, fader or command line syntax. If your Smoke Machine has not been programmed into any cues, it should not be in the Program Window. However, if you've used Smart Tag whilst the smoke machine is outputting from a submaster, it will have been recorded. It is possible to switch the preset (fader) channels into HTP mode (in Desk Setup/Behaviour/Preset Mix Mode) which prevents them from being used in the Program Window (they are always stored when you press RECORD) and allows them to be HTP mixed with submasters. There are a number of known issues with Update in version 2.15 software - we're working very hard to get version 3 software released as soon as possible which should hopefully resolve this and a number of other issues. You can do this now by recording just that one channel. I don't quite understand what difference your proposed functionality would offer. Please can you email me some show files for these large shows and examples of what slow downs are seen, together with any debug reports gathered from the crashes? pkirkup@zero88.com. Again, there are a few known crashes in the latest version of software which have been resolved and version 3 will be out very soon to solve these. As i'm sure you'll appreciate, announcing future functionality is something we cannot do for a number of reasons - often this functionality is new to the industry and if we made it public it would give our competitors advantage over us. Also, the final feature set of a software release is generally only decided shorly before the release, and timescales on releases can change depending upon progress through the Research and Development process. We do however have an active beta test community who are continuously testing and feeding back on features for future releases - please do let me know if you'd like to become part of this team. Of course - we're always happy to help via the telephone or email - my direct email is pkirkup@zero88.com and you're more than welcome to contact me with any queries you have regarding the desk. Alternatively, please feel free to call the Zero 88 office during office hours (01633 838088) if you'd rather speak in person. Once again I'm sorry to hear that you've been disappointed with the desk. I really hope that we can turn this into a positive experience for you - if you drop me an email directly I'll do my best to assist you with these and any further issues you may have. Kind Regards, Peter Kirkup

Hi Oliver Try the Colour column on the Main LCD (or Monitor)... labelled C on the monitor. Change it from F (for Fade) to S (for Snap) and Colour will Snap. Same for Beamshape and Position. The Fade Time for these attributes is the LTP Fade. Of course you will still be limited by the time which the fixture takes to physically turn the colour wheel, even if the desk is ordering an instant transition. To avoid seeing the colours in between flash by quickly, choose your colour transitions to occur between colours which are next to each other on that particular fixture's colour wheel. Modern fixtures are pretty quick, but it's inevitable you'll still see something. Hope this helps. Peter

We're working to finalise the release as soon as possible however i'm sure you'd rather we fixed as many bugs as possible instead of releasing it full of bugs Please bear with us, it'll be out very soon.

Zero 88 Fixture Library - Version 19 Contains 1831 fixtures from 136 different manufacturers. For a list of fixtures in the library ... CLICK HERE. The library is released in 2 formats: - a full unfiltered version for desks which have USB (Frog2, Leapfrog48/96, JesterML) and offline PC tools. -a smaller filtered version for desks which have floppy disk drives (original Frog series, Illusion500). This has some additional data removed so that the file will fit on a 1.44MB floppy disk. It is recommended that the floppy disk be freshly formatted before copying the library onto it. The correct format of the library for your desk can be downloaded from the relevant product support page. The files are zipped, and must be unzipped before they can be used. If you experience problems using the built-in zip file functions of Windows XP, then try Winzip. The library (.ift file) should be placed in the root directory of the floppy disk or USB stick. Frog 2 and Leap Frog 48/96 - The latest fixture library is automatically installed on the desk as part of each operating software update, however this can be updated from USB if required in Setup -> Files -> Update Fixture File. JesterML - The fixture library is installed on the desk at manufacture, however this can be updated from USB if required in Setup -> Update Fixture Lib -> Update Library. Frog Series and Illusion 500 - the fixture library should be copied to a floppy disk. Diablo - the fixture library is used with the Diablo Fixture Manager PC software. Sirius 250/500 - use the Fixture Type Editor to import fixture personalities from the fixture library, and then use the 'Export Sirius UFT' function (under the 'File' menu) to generate data in the correct format for the Sirius 250/500. Further details of assigning fixtures on the desk to fixture types in the fixture library can be found in each desk's operating manual. If you need a fixture personality which is not in the library, then you can create this yourself using the Fixture Type Editor. Alternatively if you post a link to the manufacturers datasheet on the forum, we will endeavour to add the fixture in the next library release.

Hi there, Zero 88 don't "do" SWAG any more - instead, we make a significant contribution to an African Aids charity - http://www.zero88.com/en/news/243 Hope this clears things up, Peter

Hi Andreas What application are you using to burn the ISO file to a CD? We've had some users report problems with using certain applications - we recommend Deep Burner, which is a freeware application. It might be worth trying this, Peter

Hi Miko You must enter the value as a 16-bit number, between 0 and 65535. For 50% Pan, enter 32768. I hope this helps Peter

Hi Andrew As above, the part is still available. Probably best to phone the office and speak to Keith - 01633 838088 - he'll be able to talk you through the process and if necessary arrange return for repair. Hope this helps, Peter