Movitec SL250 fixture software

[ice]

I was wondering if there's any software for this fixture (I didn't find any on the zero88 website), or whether it's gonna be made or not?

I used 8 Movitec SL250 Moving Heads on a Zero88 Leap Frog last weekend, and noticed there wasn't any software for this fixture available. So i used the FrogFixture Editing tool to write the software myself. It all went fine, and the software worked fine too exept the "home" function. I programmed the default DMX values of PAN and TILT to 128 and tried setting the "HOME" value in the "Stage Data" tab to 128, but nothing would solve the problem. When I press HOME on the Frog, the DMX values of PAN and TILT are set to "0-128", so the PAN fine (PAN and TILT are both 16 bit values on movitec movingheads with channel 1-2 pan and 3-4 tilt) and TILT fine are being set to the correct value! So how do I get the "main" DMX values of PAN and TILT set on HOME to be 128? Unfortunately I couldn't get it done so programming and working with the moving heads was kind of tricky.

I've placed some phonecalls to people here in Holland who I thought might know a solution, but the only solution I got was using the software of another type of fixture (I've already forgotten which one), but configuring software yourself should work too, right?

 

Also: Is there any way of reading the data of other fixtures? I've tried to read out software of other types of fixtures (for instance the 2 MAC500 Moving Heads we were also using) in order to find out how their HOME values were specified, but I couldn't find any way of doing this. Is there any software available capable of reading this data?

 

I'm looking forward to an answer, whether it's a solution in the fixture editor or software somebody else wrote: as long as my moving heads work it's fine by me

 

I'm sorry for my English, it's still a little crappy... don't blame me, I'm Dutch

[BjMae]

I'm not 100% sure on this, but a year ago or so, I wrote a lib file for JB Varyscan "6" and "4" movingheads and scanners, and for the movingheads, I had the same problem. I think the solution is to write 128-0 or 128-128 for pan and tilt values... Or if your movers don't stand upright at 50% 50%, try to find out where they stand upright and use these parametres...

 

Again, i'm not sure this is how to do it. I have written so many lib files on so many different desks last year, and there is limitations on my personal harddrive. But give it a shot and tell the rest of us how you made it work!

 

This, in fact, is a good start on a new topic: Our self-made lib files on a tread here. Where we users can upload our lib files for other frog junkies to use.

Imagine; you are touring Europe with a fallen Star Soprano, and in Uzbekistan the only movinglights the venue can get you is a couple of Deutsche PanzerTechnic scanners you've never heard of... Then you go to frogsupport.com to get the lib file you need from an Uzbec lampie who posted it here a couple months back, two days after he got the FatFrog from a Russian gangster who traded the desk for a religious Icon in Budapest.

 

Wouldn't that be great????

 

 

regards,

 

Bjørnar Mæland

Stavanger, Norway

[Guest (iCe)]

Hahaha, that's a good idea indeed! This site and the zero88.com website should contain a download section with fixture drivers not made and not supported by Zero but made by customers. It's a cheap way for Zero to increase customer-support, and very useful for customers with similar problems.

 

The solution of entering 128-128 in the tool doesn't work, the tool replies "The default value must be in the range of 0 - 65535 for a 16-bit parameter" when setting this value in the default area, and "The Home value must be between than the Low and High values" (and I apologize for my English language ). So unfortunately this doesn't work.

[Paul]

To get the 16-bit value, you have to multiply the 8-bit 'course' value by 256, then add the 8-bit 'fine' value.

 

e.g. for 128-07, the value to enter is

 

(128*256)+7 = 32775.

 

You can import fixtures from the library. First create a new fixture using the fixture type editor (File-->New). Magically another option then appears in the File menu (File-->Import Fixture Type). This allows you to see everything about everything in the library!

 

Hope this helps!

[K-Nine]

The solution of entering 128-128 in the tool doesn't work, the tool replies "The default value must be in the range of 0 - 65535 for a 16-bit parameter"

 

As paul says, this is a 16 bit fixture, so the totoal number of steps between 0 and 100% is no longer 256, is is 256*256 = 65536

 

The messages from the fixture utility are correct - If the pan and tilt parameters use two channels each they are regarded as 16 bit parameters with a range of 0 - 65535. Therefore the mid-point or 'home' value should be set to 32767 or 32768. The pan and tilt values are handled as 16 bit values by the desk, they are just displayed as 'coarse' and 'fine' or MSB and LSB on the wheel LCD for clarity :?

 

The middle of that range = 32768, so that will be the centre point.

 

I hope this makes sense.

 

Hahaha, that's a good idea indeed! This site and the zero88.com website should contain a download section with fixture drivers not made and not supported by Zero but made by customers. It's a cheap way for Zero to increase customer-support, and very useful for customers with similar problems.

 

Any new information will be gratefully received. Since the Frogs first went on sale we have been constantly updating our fixture library with new fixtures as requested by users. Wherever possible we try and verify the fixture profile data with the original manufacturer first before adding it to our official library.

 

An updated fixture library (containing approx. 580 fixture types) will be released with the next version of Frog software.

 

If you have any further questions on fixture profile data, please let us know,

[K-Nine]

Hi folks,

 

I have been investigating the information on the Movitec website and have discovered that the Movitec fixtures listed there have exactly the same profiles as some of the ELITE fixtures which are currently defined in our fixture library. It would appear that they are the same physcial units with a different badge on them.

 

If you are using any of the following Movitec fixtures with your Frog desk, here is a list of the ELITE fixture names which have the same profiles.

 

MOVITEC SL250 (16 Bit Mode) = ELITE SERVO SPOT 250 (16 Bit Mode)

MOVITEC WL250 (16 Bit Mode) = ELITE SERVO COLOR 250 (16 Bit Mode)

 

MOVITEC SL575 (16 Bit Mode) = ELITE SERVO SPOT 575 (16 Bit Mode)

MOVITEC WL575 (16 Bit Mode) = ELITE SERVO COLOR 575 (16 Bit Mode)

 

See, the fixture data was there all the time, just cunningly disguised under a different manufacturer and fixture name :?

[K-Nine]

The latest Fixture library (Version 8.07) containing 600 (yes SIX HUNDRED 8O ) fixture types is available for download on the Zero 88 website.