delicolor

Yes, we have been told that but I thought I would sanity check it as the FLX manual has a much more simplistic statement for FLX S models though on page 226:- DMX output Two female Neutrik XLR are provided. 1 x 5 pin connector, and 1 x 3pin connector. These both output Universe 1, unless the FLX S console has been upgraded to 2 universes.

Can I clarify whether on a 1 Universe FLX S you can use the 2nd output as universe 2 within the constraints of 512 active channels across the two universes as described for FLX and Solution? Ta, Ian

I can confirm the same thing happens on Dockhouse 2021 (which only has two playbacks defined). Opening up in Solution emulation, mapping DMX 1 & 2 to playbacks 1 & 2 and making up/down times 5 seconds gives the same snap to full symptom. I appreciate that the FLX series does not support DMX IN so it isn't going to be very urgent to sort out for legacy desks. A suggestion for avoiding the issue would be appreciated though.

I have had an annoying issue with using the 48 preset faders looped round to DMX IN in order to control playbacks. Basically sometimes a playback will get stuck and not match from the input, having to resort to scrolling to the actual playback page to match and pull down. I have tried to duplicate it with a clean basic config without success so far but have found a bug I can emulate on Phantom Zeros in Solution mode. (File attached). It is after a system clear, four MP75 fixtures created as 101-104, trigger DMX INs 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, three simple scenes using the MP75s and dimmers 1-4, saved to playbacks 1-3, intensity up and down times set to 5 seconds on the fader. All is well if I use playback faders 1-3 but if I use input panel faders 1-3, if I move the faders any faster than about 2 seconds the levels snap to full rather than respecting the 5 second up time. The up progress bar will frequently not complete if more than one DMX IN fader is moved at the same time, however the colour fade times run correctly and the fade down time is respected even if the fader is snapped down. As mentioned, this isn't the full issue causing the stuck faders but I'm sure it is part of the problem. bug example.zos

That’s certainly one way round it, that way the lanterns will stay set on wide until bringing up a tight focus state (although I’d have to remember to trigger it in advance if I don’t want a zoom move with intensity up). I get a bit paranoid with too many playbacks highlighted blue though…

…but the default still doesn’t apply to the release, the value snaps back to zero. Any ideas?

Answering my own question, I found the beamshape default timer undr settings/defaults so hopefully all is well.

I have a couple of motorised zoom fixtures that are a little intrusive sound wise if zoomed at normal speed but are effectively silent if zoomed over (say) thirty seconds as the mechanism inches the lead screw drive. I mostly use them spotted down (so that is the default) but may wish to widen the beams on occasions. Whilst I can allow for the slow movement in a cue stack, we mostly work from submasters as busking. If the lanterns are involved in a playback fader scene I can set the beam fade timer so that it will quietly zoom on trigger or fader move but when the fader reaches zero again afterwards they will quickly (and noisily) return to the default zero value. I can get round this by having another fader with a slow beam time returning the zoom position to default but it is a bit clumsy. Is there a better way round it or have I overlooked a default beam value? The desk is a Solution (Leapfrog) running 7.9.9. Thanks in anticipation (and looking forward to being allowed to let audiences back in again soon). Ian

I may have spoken too soon. I'll do some more testing and start a new thread.

Hi Edward, thanks for your reply. The DMX IN feed came from the THRU of a DMX splitter, the IN of which came from desk DMX OUT 2. One of the four splitter outputs is cabled off to a pair of DMX LED drivers and 120 ohm terminated. So I wouldn’t have expected to see any DMX signal but I suspect interference as one of the tapes is very flickery at low levels (a second one with identical components on the other side of the hall is fine) and it is an RDM capable splitter so pickup might be possible. As an aside, fixture 1 on DMX Universe 1 was flickering during the test (until I pulled the DMX IN) and it does use channels 1-7. It may have been freestyling & causing the rogue DMX, or more likely responding to pickup if in is patched to out 1:1 during test mode. Anyway, I’m happy the desk is functionally fine. I had tried using faders 1-48 to trigger scenes on playbacks and whilst it worked, I found that the LTP level matching was a bit unpredictable unless I removed all intensity fade times and even then sometimes a playback would not follow the fader. As it seems to work fine on phantom zeros I now wonder if interference on the DMX IN might have been making it misbehave and will look back again at getting scenes onto faders as some volunteers struggle with the concept of playback paging and where light is coming from.

I had a play with the test mode on my desk. I seemed to be getting continuous slow random press and release messages in between the genuine key presses but eventually noticed that there was some level movement on my DMX IN signal (I’m not certain what from though, the DMX 2 goes into an RDM splitter and on to a couple of led driver decoders with a termination. I’ll explore if there is some noise pickup offline). When I pulled out the DMX IN cable all keypress messages stopped (other than genuine ones). The faders and buttons seem to be well behaved, however I was puzzled as to what the four faders and six buttons at the bottom of the screen were there for? I expect it is something obvious with hindsight!

Thanks Edward. It didn’t occur to me that Preset mode would still work as I was thinking in terms of it being DMX channels 1 to 24 (or 48 in wide). Sad to see Solution has now been manufacture discontinued but I assume future Zeros releases will continue to recognise it.

As an aside, does the test mode apply to Leapfrog/Solution? I’m not back in front of the desk until Monday. I have the opposite problem that a few faders creep up to 1% which now that I have fixtures 1 - 48 defined means if the lights are off they highlight red and get inhibited. I assume the resolution is the same.

Running 7.9.7 as stable, still adding to the rig and designing offline using Visualiser between my weekly site visits in lockdown. Running 7.9.8 as development for familiarity and forthcoming upgrade of main desk (probably once .81 drops). Still fiddling with fixture files. Ian

I was wondering if it is actually possible to install two instances of phantom ZerOS on the same PC, namely 7.9.7 and 7.9.8? I have a laptop and tablet on the go at present but it would be more convenient to use just the one as the tablet is somewhat restrictive. However I don't want to waste time trying it out to no avail or doing split boot-ups. Thanks in anticipation for your reply.

Edward, I tried the presets to playbacks quickly yesterday, using five faders patched to DMX universe 2 channels set to trigger five playbacks. It sort-of worked but some behaviour was not quite as expected, mainly on playbacks with colour only attributes and fader follow set. It seemed to be fine via the actual playback faders but via the triggering they went up OK but stayed up. I cannot emulate this on Phantom ZerOs due to the inability to connect DMX OUT to IN to fire the triggers. However I will look more closely when next in the venue as it might have been something I overlooked. As an aside, I did find a small display bug. When creating cues with just one colour attribute to save into a playback, holding the the clear whilst jiggling the wheels deselected them Ok and the wheel background changed from white to blue, whilst the display changed from blue to black. However the white no colour attribute would deselect OK on the wheel but remain blue on the screen.Smart tag off, 7.9.7 on Leapfrog 48 and Phantom. The illustration shows the display with only blue selected at 100% but white misleadingly remains highlighted. The same seems to happen with intensity. It is immediately updated to show correctly if adding/deselecting fixtures or refreshing the outputs screen.

Edward, I assume that if I route the DMX OUT to DMX IN via a splitter in the above scenario, the channels I don't use to trigger Playbacks are available to route on to fixtures if desired?

Thanks Edward, that explains the behaviour experienced and some tips for getting round it.

Hi guys, I have been recreating my fixture profiles to make them a bit more streamlined and remove unwanted functionality. All is now working well, however I have noticed that regardless of what order I set the wheels, my Leapfrog 48 just sets them the way it wants to. For example, if I want red/green/blue on colour set 1 and blank/blank/white on colour set 2, it always puts white on set 1 first wheel. I'm running 7.9.7 with editor 2.6. Any ideas guys?

No, that was all new to me, but thanks for the tip, I'll see if I can think of a use for it.

I thought I saw somewhere in the forum (or maybe another forum) that being able to place a playback onto channel faders 1-48 as well as the ten paged MFF playbacks was coming on software. 7.9.x for Solution (and LeapFrog) desks. Is this actually the case or is this just wishful thinking? I realise I can do this with a Zeros Wing but that is a four figure sum more usefully spent elsewhere. Thanks, Ian

I had seen that article but hadn't specifically tried the S version, thanks for the tip.

I had a quick try-out with this without issue on my PC. However, I tried converting a couple of legacy fixtures and it suggested other fixtures that were similar but not identical. (Just low end washes and movers but the same physical looking fixture can have several arrangements of the attributes). What will the road map be on replacing the fixture editor tool, which I assume will not work with the new library? Thanks, Ian

Eric, I can move between Leapfrog 48 and PhantomZeros in "Solution (& Leapfrog 48)" mode without issue, running current 7.9.7. It does give me a warning that the saved file I am loading was recorded on a Leapfrog (or a Solution) and some data may not be loaded, however it seems it does load ok. It is also possible to load the sample Capture program called Dockhouse.exe (the showfile is Dockhouse FLX CITP.jsf) that is visually almost fully controllable from the phantom although a few fixtures don't make it into Solution mode. I own a single Universe capture license but unfortunately universe 1 in the demo file is just the backcloth!

Confirmed the thumb wheel is the opposite way round to the apps on the real desk as well.