Kirkup_xp

The problem is that not all fixtures work in a standard way to reset themselves. Clay Paky fixtures require all channels at 0 to reset, whilst Martin fixtures have Shutter @ ~85%. Highend, on the other hand, require a bizarre series of commands to reset their fixtures, including specific times between values. Most fixtures have the facility to disable remote reset within their menus, under which circumstances, would you want the desk still to be able to reset the fixtures? Having said that, with RDM (Remote Device Management), this is entirely possible. However, not many fixtures are RDM compliant yet (mainly because the standard hasn't been completed), so it'll be a while before desks + fixtures can communicate in this manor. Until then, its down to setting channels at particular values.

On the heads, navigate to PERS, dRES and ensure that it is set to OFF. This will disable the remote DMX reset command. You can also disable the remote lamp off by setting dLOF to OFF. If you have these settings done and you decide you wish to remote reset the fixture, set the following channels: Color 1: 12 Prism: 84 Gobo1<>: 0 Shutter: 211 (reset) / 255 (lamp off) Hold these values for around 5 seconds, then HOME the fixture, and the function will be performed.

Can't add much to what the others have said, but try here for a basic tutorial on the Frog range. Bear in mind that this tutorial was written a few years ago, and that it is probably slightly out of date compared to the newest software. Enjoy.

Very rough, sorry for the dodgy animation, but hopefully this'll make things clearer.

Have you pressed ENTER (Return) after entering a number? This is required when completing a numeric field using an external keyboard.

Fraid so. The fade times work the same way on the Frog2 as they do on the Frog - a fade time of a cue is the time taken to move into that cue. In your example, you'd set your times as follows: Cue 1 - 5/5 (as there is nothing coming 'down' before the first cue, you don't need a specific down time) Cue 2 - 5/20 - The channels which are coming 'up' will take 5 seconds to come up, whilst the ones fading out will do so in 20 seconds. This is the same method of fade times as almost all lighting desks. The Sirrius (and I think a few other older desks) used a different system.

Why not reassemble the control mechanism from the 218, but just for one (or two) channels. That way, you save having to find the correct chips and creating your own proprietry control system, when there is a perfectly good system sitting in pieces? Edit: Just seen, you say your 218 is non-DMX. What control system does it use? You can get protocol converters for DMX-Martin protocol, and of course, DMX-Analogue. If it doesn't accept an external input, then I guess i'm barking up the wrong tree. You may, however, be able to salvage some of the chips.

What you will need to watch out for is that the maximum rated load of the dimmer switch. Most household dimmer switches are rated around 300w - the two Par 64s (assuming they're lamped at 1kw) will pull 2000w, so you're going to need a high capacity dimmer. The highest capacity household dimming switch I can find is rated at 500w, so you may have trouble tracking one down. Alternatively, you could purchase a small theatrical dimmer (Stage Electrics stock 1-way 2kW dimmers) with analogue control, and create a +10v rotary switch, mounted on the wall (perhaps adapting a household dimmer - +10v instead of +230) Or you could look at the ChilliPro range of dimmers, which allow you to connect all sorts of wall plates for controling the dimmers remotely. As an alternative, Par 56's can be lamped at 300w and are pretty bright for the loss in maximum load. Hope this helps. Peter

Tis Pity She's A duck, RWCMD Bute Theatre, May 2005... More Photos The show also tours to Bristol Old Vic studio next month.

By holding F1 and Pressing the Colour button, you lock the colour pallets to the flash buttons. Pressing Flash button 1 applies Colour 1, etc. You can unlock the window by pressing F1 again.

This is possible, you need to lock the screen to the Pallets screen - press and hold F1 and the attribute button you require (Colour, Position, Beam)... now the flash buttons beneath each channel will act as pallet select buttons for the attribute you've selected.

I'd say that the scale of show you're proposing is almost ideal for a Frog2. 45 movers + 60 generics won't be a problem at all, although as always taking some time to set your desk up correctly will speed up programming and make your life easier. With regards the WYSIWYG question, currently the Frog2 doesn't directly run any visualisation software, however all you require is a PC running some form of visuliser, and either an ARTnet or DMX input to the PC. The Frog2 outputs both, symultaneously. I hope this helps you with your decision. If you'd like to take a look at the Frog2, it'll be at AC North next week.

Does the pause happen at the same time every night? If so, its simple - three cues - Cue 1 - Move w/rotating gobo (Beam=Snap, Position=Fade) Cue 2 - Stopped w/static gobo (Beam=Snap, Position=Snap) Cue 3 - Move w/rotating gobo (Beam=Snap, Position=Fade) If you need the pause to happen erratically, what i'd suggest is to do it with a crossfading cue, plus two subs: Cue 1 - Position 1 (previous cue) Cue 2 - Fade to position 2, rotating gobo (Beam=Snap, Position=Fade) Sub 1 - Gobo static (Beam=Snap) Sub 2 - Gobo rotating (Beam=Snap) At the relevant point, pause playback X, and at the same time, hit the sub 1 flash button. When you want it to restart, hit sub2 and unpause the cue. Voila. Peter

The light at the bottom of the submaster is meant to come on - it indicates that the submaster is fading in/out. After a few seconds (set in the fade time for the submaster), the light will go out to indicate that the submaster is at its full level. Switching submaster pages whilst the submaster is raised results in the submaster light flashing, to show you that the raised level is coming from another page and not from the current one. Preset A/B lights aren't meant to come on. (I assume you're referring to some sort of 'level indication' on the flatbuttons - please correct me if i'm wrong) Hope this helps. Peter

Default dwell should be equal to the 'default default' fade time (3s? - I always change that to 5s anyway, but thats because I normally do theatre shows) I do think the default default should be 0s for submasters - its extremely confusing to raise a submaster and nothing to happen. Fade times on subs are a more 'advanced user' feature - in basic busking mode, there is no need for fade times, so 0s is best. As an aside, it would be nice to have some indication as to whether a fade time is 'default' or 'altered' - perhaps "[00:03:00]" for default, and "00:05:00" for altered?

Totally agree, although I normally change the default fade time in Super User to 0, to save having to do it to every cue. This is already possible. With the 'number' column selected (in Memories view), enter the cue number you want to edit/clear/program, and press ENTER. This will then highlight the required cue in the 'next' field, allowing programming, editing or clearing. Peter

Set the Beam action to Snap for the particular cue you want, and the gobo will change as soon as you press Go. It might also be worth going through the menus on the Mac500s and setting the Effect Shortcuts to 'On'. This will alow the Macs to take the quickest route to each gobo, instead of always going around in the clockwise order.

Well, the Mac 250+ allows you to select gobos on one channel, and set the indexing/rotation on another. The first channel allows you to rotate the gobos or index them, depending on which DMX values you use to select them. If you were rotating the gobos and then setting the index to 0 when you found the desired orientation, then this would not be replayable. What you should be doing is using the indexing function. Thus to index Gobo 3, you need a DMX value of between 15 and 19 on the gobo select channel and you can then use the gobo index channel to set the indexing. If this doesn't replay properly, then as others have suggested, it is probably a fault in the unit. Mac 250+ DMX Chart

Which parameters are you using to set the indexing?

I think the problem with using a chase is that you don't have control over the speed on a step by step basis. In a flyout, you normally want the fixtures to snap on just before they perform their movement. By using a chase, you will either have a delay before the shutter opens or the movement will start before the shutter changes (depending on which modifiers you have set to which settings). By programming a memory you can set individual fade times for the fixtures which are fading in and those fading out, together with seperate LTP fade times and the ability to set attributes as Fade or Snap, giving you significantly more control over the sequence than using a Chase. I know i'd use a memory, thats for sure.

I might be completely wrong, but AFAIK the Alcora is dmx only outputs. Like Tom says, you'd be best off getting yourself a demux. Zero88 make these in both 24 and 48 channel versions, and if required, you can add a negative output card.

To exit the looping cues, you would have to break into the stack manually and select cue 6 (in my above example) as the next cue (yellow highlight on the monitor). Pressing Go would then trigger this cue to activate and the jump would be ignored. You could also set the cue to have another form of trigger (timecode, realtime, external) and this would activate the playback of the cue when the trigger is reached. If you put together a remote trigger using an 8-pin DIN system, you could trigger the next cue by setting the trigger as "Go Mem" "6". Sorry its a bit of a work around rather than a neat solution, but it would get you there in the end.

To program a flyout: Intensities, Beams and Colours can be delt with as required (some prefer fly outs to be done with shutters, others with dimmers). For the purposes of this example, i'll use just dimmer channels. First, select fixtures 1, 3 and 5. Move them to the "In" position, and set the intensity to 100%. Now select fixtures 2, 4 and 6. Move these to the "Out" position and set the intensity to 0%. Program this (either as a step in a chase, or as a cue). I've detailed my recommendations for the content of the cues below. Step 1: 1,3,5 pointing 'in' at 100% 2,4,6 pointing 'out' at 0% Step 2: 1,3,5 pointing 'out' at 100% 2,4,6 pointing 'in' at 0% Step 3: 1,3,5 pointing 'out' at 0% 2,4,6 ponting 'in' at 100% Step 4: 1,3,5 pointing 'in' at 0% 2,4,6 pointing 'out' at 100% You can then make this a repeating chase, where the fixtures will move in a continuous loop - 2,4,6 presetting themselves whilst 1,3,5 are moving, and vica versa. Setting the direction to <> would give you an interesting bouncing effect. You may need to play with the chase drive to get something you're satisfied with. If you only wanted the cues to run once, you could adapt the chase, making it an 'n-shot' (1) and plotting in a final step with the all 6 fixtures at 0%. If you have the opportunity, it might be worth playing with this as a group of cues rather than a chase. This would give you individual control over the fade times for intensity and position (LTP Fade). Needless to say you'd set Step 4 to have a Jump to Step 1, and set all steps as 'Auto'. You might need to make a copy of step 1 prior to the actual step 1, set to 'Go' trigger, if you wish to use the flyout as part of a cue stack. Cue 1 - PRESET FLYOUT - GO Trigger Cue 2 - FLYOUT STEP 1 - Auto Trigger Cue 3 - FLYOUT STEP 2 - Auto Trigger Cue 4 - FLYOUT STEP 3 - Auto Trigger Cue 5 - FLYOUT STEP 4 - Auto Trigger Jump to Cue 2 I hope i've made this clear. If not, I can post some diagrams to try and help. If you wanted this to become much simpler, I would recommend looking at the Frog 2 console. One of the major features of the console is the ability to set individual fade and delay times on each parameter of a fixture. This would enable you to have very fine control over the timing of your flyout. Peter

You could customise the fixture profile, moving the Dim/Strobe channel into Beamshape instead of Brightness. The disadvantage of this is that the Brightness will be treated as LTP not HTP. At the moment this is the only way of creating a Brightness pallet.

Can I nominate that for a prize? Gotta be the best quote ever!