Davidmk
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Posts posted by Davidmk
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11 hours ago, Hummel said:
do you mean kind of programming live
Yes I do. Lots of people do this and make great use of groups & pallettes to make it easier - even I do it sometimes. What I don't like is that you only have one programmer and you end up with a mixture of stuff where it is difficult to separate the ingredients. Well worth trying out for yourself if only to discover what you like and don't like about it. Then you only need alternatives for the things you don't like.
I don't think S series have blind mode, if you do have it then take a look at that as well.
One thing you can do, busking in the programmer, when you achieve a state you might want again, is record it to a playback. With careful use of record options you might even be able to separate out just the ingredients you want.
When I use the programmer it is for a particular, restricted, reason (e.g apply an effect to a group of fixtures) and when I'm done with it I clear the programmer ready for the next time.
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10 hours ago, Hummel said:
Probably "inhibit" makes most sense for things like pan/tilt
Not how I do it and I don't think it would operate as you think it would. An inhibit is normally used with intensities and acts as a top limit on their values. For example, in my set up I have 4 playbacks each setting the intensity of a group of PARS. I could add a fifth one controlling the intensities of all the PARS but if any of the others were at a higher level then that is the value that would be used. However if I made the 5th one an inhibit then the value of that would become the maximum intensity for all the PARS and taking it to zero would black them all out, regardless of the values of their group playbacks. An inhibit applied to, say, a zoom parameter would have no effect at full but, if lowered, would reduce that parameter to zero. Possibly useful but probably not what you had in mind.
The way I do it is this...
I like to have two moving heads on each performer to act as spotlight and back light. I don't have enough to do all of them but I can usually cover the front line. Lead singers have a tendency to move around so I set theirs to the minimum size and as far down stage as I think they will go. Having an FLX with UDKs I save all these "default" values on a UDK (fixed, latch and no release) - you don't have this luxury. You could use the custom fixture defaults or, if like me you don't want to mess with these, a playback (you can just use one for all defaults you want for a given show).
Having got this base position, & size I then select the lead singer's moving head, zoom it out to maximum, refocus it and save to a playback (making sure I only record Beam parameters for that one fixture). In the playback fader controls I select Beam.
Then I position the fixture as far upstage as I need and record that (only the pan & tilt parameters) and select Position in the playback fader controls. Note that this usually involves both Pan and Tilt - it is possible, but messy, to put tilt on one playback and tilt on another (your default position needs to be to one side and you must record only Pan on your pan playback and Tilt on your tilt playback. It isn't easy to use (as the pan fader goes up and down when your brain is thinking left and right) and I've found a combination of zoom and tilt is usually enough.
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Ooh, lots to reply to there but I've got a busy morning. Come back to you later.
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There are probably more busking tricks than there are people in this forum but a, non-exhaustive, list might include...
Only use playbacks for the intensities of fixture groups, do the rest in the programmer. Practically limitless but difficult to keep track. Look up programmer time if you go down this route.
Whether using the programmer or not, use palletes for LED colours, positions, beam & shape. Much easier to amend and makes them easy to apply when busking in the programmer.
Record cue stacks and use go cue no. (hold the go button, type cue no. - on an external keyboard since it is S series - release the go button). Economical with playbacks but looking up the cue no. takes time does mean you can go from one cue directly to the next. It's in the manual with S48 selected but the text only refers to FLX so not sure it works @Edward Z88 will advise I'm sure.
Use colour mixing for LEDs. Always a good choice but don't try to use playbacks or programmer for LED colours if you've set up colour mixing.
Don't record full "looks", instead for (e.g) moving heads have some beam, shape, position & effect options on different playbacks so you can mix & match.
Don't forget you can have playbacks that control a single parameter (like pan, tilt, zoom, etc.).
Get into OSC sooner rather than later. I used to use midi (on FLX) but OSC is more flexible, uses less playbacks and available on S series. If you want more help with OSC contact me by DM.
There are remote switches on FLX but these can also be triggered by ctrl/F1 to ctrl/F8 on the keyboard. These don't appear in the S48 manual so not sure if you have them or not. Again @Edward Z88 will advise.
All I can think of quickly but I'm sure you will get other's offering their take on the subject.
My own set up uses 18 playbacks as follows...
1 thru 6 contain cues setting LED PARs fixtures grouped by location and odd/even to one of 13 colours.
7 is the same 13 colours but for a small number of LED moving head washes. 8 thru 10 are positions, zoom settings and P/T effects for these mh washes.
11 is colour wheel settings for DS (non LED) moving heads, 12, 13 & 14 positions, gobo & P/T effects for these fixtures.
15 thru 18 are the colours, gobos, positions & effects US non LED mh's
On another page I have the intensities for all the above fixtures, grouped similarly and a few LED colour effects like rainbow and sparkle.
Finally, a tablet running TouchOSC (full one, not MK1) and a control surface I designed and coded myself to trigger the cues. This is customisable and I am willing to share it with a few people (because I couldn't support a big userbase). I'd have to write a user manual though.
Have fun!
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Because I had a fixture that responded to the house desk but not my FLX. Fixture showing "no DMX" error even though my tester said there was a signal, no errors or "flicker", with appropriate values at the fixture address. Fixture has worked with FLX many times in the past (last Sunday in particular).
Anyway, after trying the house desk I reconnected the FLX and it worked on that as well.
Trying a different frame rate would have been the next option.
Facilities mgr reckons it's the Halloween effect (which is no more illogical).
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Quick question... Is it possible to change the frame rate of the DMX outputs (without resorting to Delta transmission)?
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Try starting the console in test mode (see manual here) in case it is a hardware error.
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10 hours ago, Craig said:
procedure to perform a "go-to-cue" response
I am an FLX user but a quick check in the manual for S24 suggests that, if you have an external keyboard attached, you can hold down the Go button and type the cue number you want. When you release the Go button the cue should execute.
I'm sure @Edward Z88 will come back pretty quickly if I am wrong about this working on S24.
See manual here (for external keyboard) and here (for Go to cue).
Personally I find this easier (if you know the cue number you want).
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OK. Well, I'm guessing here, but it looks like you have the position recorded in your playbacks along with the colour and intensity. When you put the fader up the fixtures move to that position, when you bring it down the fixtures are released and so they go back to the default position (which is probably the same as Home).
Firstly, does it matter how the fixtures are positioned if the intensity is zero? If it is the movement when you bring the faders up that is bothering you then try changing the trigger level or press the Go button on the playback before raising the fader.
If that doesn't work for you then there's more than one way out of it but first you need to remove the position information from your playbacks. You can do this with update/remove or by just deleting them and recording them again without pan/tilt parameters.
If you only need the fixtures in one position you could set that position as the default. Another option is to record the position on another playback and keep that up. There's also the option to disable Release on Lower but this will keep the colour as well - at least until it is overridden by another playback.
Or, you could wait until the Z88 people give you a more authoritative response - I'm an FLX user and often recommend solutions only available on that console (I have checked the S48 manual this time though.)
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I don't think you've done anything wrong but you seem to have recorded something you didn't mean to.
What would you like to happen as you raise and lower the fader?
Is it that they change colour and come on (on raise) and revert to the original colour and go off (on lower)?
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How big is the lag? Can it be explained by a combination of dimmer curves and heating up (of lamp filaments)
Check the dimmer levels on the fader screen.
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Hi @Amy Worrall @kgallen @Edward Z88
I love threads like this, I always learn something. In this case, more than I contributed 😀. Thanks all.
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That's the great thing about it, you have a choice!
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5 minutes ago, kgallen said:
busking folk tend to turn SmartTag off
@kgallen I'm a busker but, call me old fashioned, I keep it off for cue stacks because I'm used to working that way.
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8 hours ago, Amy Worrall said:
Is there an equivalent of Eos's blind spreadsheet
@kgallen already gave one answer but there are other options. Read about blind mode here and cue editing here. There's also a save as CSV option, you can open the resulting file in a spreadsheet. It's not easy to read but it shows everything in every cue in a single playback.
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8 hours ago, Amy Worrall said:
Does ZerOS have the equivalent of by-type palettes
From the manual...
If any of the selected fixtures are not actually programmed in the applied palette, but there are one or more fixtures of the same type that are programmed, the fixture will use the values programmed for the first fixture of the same type.
So, I presume all ZerOS pallettes are "by-type".
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21 minutes ago, kgallen said:
Using the "spreadsheet" style of the cue list one by one is the only method I know.
@kgallen is right I think. Only way I know anyway, you tap the time you want to change, hit ENTER, type the new time, ENTER again and then DOWN (the arrow key) for the next cue. Remember you have multiple fade times, not just intensity - best to do a column at a time rather than all the times on each cue in turn - less key strokes.
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2 minutes ago, kgallen said:
Select the Fixture, hit HOME (this will tag all parameters). UPDATE and select the REMOVE option.
Hi @kgallen. This will remove that fixture from the cue entirely. If that's not what you want then just select the parameters you want (or do "thing") and then update remove instead. Or do HOME and un-tag the ones you want to keep. The values are irrelevant by the way - its the selection that matters.
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Check the manual here. I'm an FLX user but I think this applies to FLX S as well.
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Just wondering if anyone else has been writing scripts in TouchOSC Mk2.
I've been playing with it for a few weeks now and I'm getting close to a finished busking interface for FLX (S) that is customisable (without changing the code) that you can operate from a tablet or a laptop. It also accepts MIDI over USB if you were using MIDI already and like physical controls.
Its not ready for sharing yet but, while I still have a tenuous grip on my sanity, thought I'd see if anyone else is fighting lua who might like to share experiences and ideas.
PM me if you are interested or have any tips on remaining sane while coding.
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1 minute ago, Jon Hole said:
filtering by a “FLX S” variant
Originally I was but then I used search.
So does that mean FLX S users need to set date and time whenever the desk is turned on?
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The manual doesn't actually mention date & time adjustment but if you go to setup ->settings
I think you should be able to correct the system date and time.
My first thought was that you need to replace the battery but the thread FLX48S Battery has a post from @Edward Z88 explicitly stating that FLX S does NOT have a battery so it isn't that
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Well, first look at "fader controls" here in the manual which should help with what you propose. I use this all the time to control combinations of pan/tilt/zoom/focus when busking.
However, don't rule out cue stacks, especially now we have OSC (I believe it is available on FLX S). IMHO, these are better for colours and probably for gobos because you don't have to fade through unwanted values to get what you want. They are especially easy to use with /zeros/cue/go OSC commands (I've been doing it in Beta test). You need something like Hexler TouchOSC MK1 running on a tablet or laptop on a network with the desk to send the commands (PM me if you need more help with that). I've been doing this with MIDI for ages but OSC will make it much simpler.
Using buttons/faders on playbacks most effectively for busking? How did you setup your desk for busking?
in FLX S24 & FLX S48
Posted
It does its "the best thing since sliced bread", I already replied quickly to your PM. I'll elaborate there in a bit.