Davidmk

Going back a version shouldn't give any problems with the desk however you do, obviously, lose any new features and there is, potentially, a risk that your show files do not load. In practice, if you haven't used any of the new features, these probably won't bother you, 7.14.4 was the final release for the legacy desks (Frog2, LeapFrog, Solution, Orb) - You don't want this version. You want 7.14.3 for FLX & FLX S and the main difference is that you will go back to a maximum of 48 fixtures and fewer playbacks. Make sure you backup you v8 showfile. If you have used fixture numbers or playback numbers greater than the v7 limits then edit your show file to fit v7 and back that up to load after installing v7 The beta test forum for the new version (currently known as v8.0.0 build 11) seems to have been greeted with general apathy, possibly explained by being released when pantomimes are prevalent. There are no new new features and it consists of bug fixes for live version (v8.0.0 build 8). I don't know why other testers have failed to respond - for myself, I'm a full FLX and LeapFrog user and I'm not very interested in the newer versions now that FLX S has become the focus - I prefer to stick with v7 for now but might make a move to Chamsys. There has only been one tester response. This may have been on an FLX S and was favourable but did not cover any programming functions.I suspect FLX S users are under represented among beta testers.

@drscoop If you need this then using the same address is not possible. (Well, it is if you arrange the colour rolls appropriately but that would be a faff and still might be impractical.) @kgallen, as always, makes a good point but wouldn't keeping the dummy fixtures dark just mean that they skip straight to the last state in the cue list? Surely the dummies need to follow the real fixtures. Maybe they should be added to the same desk channel as the dimmer?

Is there a problem putting the pairs of scrollers on the same address?

@Archie D @Simonkbike Very thorough response as always Archie. If I've missed this in your post I apologise but I'd suggest ch1 should have a default value somewhere between 240 and 255. This is because my reading of the chart suggests this will be needed to make the virtual dimmer work.

@kgallen The only thing I can think of is adding to the release playback (Rx) in the cue macros to allow release cue (Rx/y). Not hopeful it will happen because it would probably involve a lot to implement it.

@Sol That seems a nice idea but ye "Cannae change the laws of physics" (or LTP). If you did then everything else would break. @kgallen @Archie D Opinions on that?

@Sol That seems a nice idea but ye "Cannae change the laws of physics" (or LTP). If you did then everything else would break. @kgallen @Archie D Opinions on that?

@kgallen No worries. My post offered no more than a hint, you went further and @Archie D has gone right into the detail. I think, between us, we've covered this at every level.

@kgallen @Sol This is what I was hinting at in my response. Great minds eh? It would be good to have a solution because it would look good and, with the variable background colour, so useful for busking. The other way, using a modified sparkle (or other effect) wouldn't be the same and you couldn't use tap tempo to set the speed.

This is a tricky one. Some years ago I attempted the same thing without much success. The problem is that you are fighting the principles of Last Takes Precedence. When you set the background rainbow that state is "last", if you then set another state (without removing the old one by lowering the background fader) that becomes "last" and remains in control as long as the fader is up. When you lower the new states fader (and as long as Release On Lower is on for that playback - this is the default) it releases that state and the background state becomes the "last" (unreleased) state. This rule applies to chases as well so, as each step executes, it sets a fixture to white and it remains white until the chase fader is lowered and the all steps in it are released. This means that the fixtures turn white and stay that way until they are all white. Normally each step in a chase (e.g. a red/white one) each step sets the new fixture to white and returns the previous (or all other) fixtures to red. But you can't do this because you want the colour from the old state and you don't know what that might be. Your issue then is how to release previous steps in the chase when the next step is executed. Things you can try... You can release things from a step, see Cue Settings -> Cue Macros in the manual https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/cue-settings/cue-macros but I think this only works for playbacks not steps in them. Perhaps you could make a chase that triggers a different playback in each step? You could modify a Sparkle effect. You can only do this on an FLX so you'd have to set it up on Phantom ZerOS and then try running it on FLX S. See the manual at https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/effects/waveforms. This is probably your best bet - unless someone else has a good idea. I'll be watching this thread as it's something I'd like to achieve but no longer have the will or time to spend on it.

@kgallen @scottydog75 Well yes, but in a show situation, when you discover your hazer (or anything else) has been caught in cues, you can quickly set up an inhibit to get you through the performance.

If you are operating with tracking options set to "Cue Only" or you have "Snapshot" enabled when you record then you have effectively told the desk to record everything. See manual here and here. In the Record Options, "SmartTag" enabled could record the hazer - if you changed one or more of its values in the programmer. For full control of what gets recorded you need SmartTag off. You can then select "Tagged Fixtures" which will record every fixture that has been changed or "Selected Fixtures" wich only records the currently selected Fixtures. See manual here. Cue Only, Snapshot & SmartTag all let the desk decide what to record, turning all of them off makes you decide but then you need to be sure you have included everything you want. Tagged Fixtures will generally get that right, with Selected Fixtures there is a risk that you will select a fixture, change it, de-select it, select another and change it then record - in this case only the 2nd fixture gets recorded. Essentially, the desk will do what you tell it but you need to understand what you've told it. There are videos in the linked manual references, these might help. To remove your hazer (or anything else) from a cue, select it, press Home then Update and select Remove. Hope that helps.

From the manual... Cue only means that tracking options will not be available within the Record and Update windows. Cues are programmed with a full capture of the stage output to ensure what you see on stage is exactly what is programmed, and exactly what will be played back when you replay the cue. I suspect this is the reason why you are saving the whole stage output. Try it with cue only off - this should get you the record options, selected fixtures might be useful.

@SimonH One of those occasions where I am glad to be wrong 😀

Based on a non-scientific appraisal of forum comments, I think you'd make yourselves very popular with the community (but probably not with official support) if you found a way to extract the patch from a show file. Something that could be loaded in a spreadsheet would be good. (I have a feeling that there is a prohibition on reverse engineering the software though)