FLX S24, new users being driven nuts ;(

[funkytwig]

Sure, I am missing something, but sure I am missing something.

Often after programming a cue in a playback, when testing the playback other lights seem to come on when I go to cue.

Also, is there a way of stopping all playbacks running (kind of resetting the desk without turning it off/on)?

There are a few of us using the desk and I think we must have our workflow wrong and we are all finding it a bit frustrating.

 

Ben

 

[kgallen]

Hi  Ben,

2 hours ago, funkytwig said:

Often after programming a cue in a playback, when testing the playback other lights seem to come on when I go to cue.

Can you attach a showfile here?

It sounds like you have those other lights live on stage when you record the cue, or you have other playbacks active when playing back the (master?) playback?

Do you have SmartTag enabled when recording? Is Tracking enabled or disabled when recording? You can look at the colours of the intensity values in the output window. Usually you would expect to see blue and green numbers. If you see purple numbers these intensities have "tracked" from another cue. If you see white numbers then these are "snapshot" (blocked) values. If they have a red background then these are "parked". Maybe you could attach a screenshot. Another idea is to install PhantomZeros on a PC/laptop, then start it in FLX (not FLX S) mode then load your showfile. FLX has a Sources screen that shows where control for each channel is coming from. This might help you debug your programming method until you are more used to the console.

All colours are documented here:

https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/desktops-windows/output-window

 

2 hours ago, funkytwig said:

Also, is there a way of stopping all playbacks running (kind of resetting the desk without turning it off/on)?

CLEAR+Fader Func will release all non-master playbacks. CLEAR+Master GO will release the master playback.

https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/playing-back-cues/triggering-releasing-playbacks

 

Hope that helps!

Kevin

 

[funkytwig]

Thanks for the info. The manual bit on releasing playbacks (apart from Master Playback) says

"To release all the playbacks (and UDKs on FLX), except the Master Playback, hold [Clear] and press the [Fader Funct] button. "

Is [Fader Funct] the buttons below the faders? So each has to be cleared separately?

It does say to delete all playbacks, not a playback, but it could be confusing English.  So is there a way of releasing all playbacks by pressing a cople of buttons (except master playback).

I have SmartTag enabled (I pressed and held down [RECORD]).  SmartTag is enabled, and tracking is set to Cue Only. Is this correct?

 

[kgallen]

Hi

1. [Fader Funct] is one button and it’s to the right of the fader bank. It’s what switches the faders between channel control and playback control. So no not the individual buttons under each fader!

2. Also there is no ‘delete’ going on, no data is being lost. This operation *releases* playbacks. Release means to stop a playback from controlling fixtures. If you release all playbacks and the master playback that means no playback is controlling any fixture. If the programmer is also clear (clear-clear) fixtures will revert to whatever default value is set for the fixture (which is usually the same as its Home values but with intensity zero).

3. If you are in Cue Only then you should never see purple digits in the Output Window. This means any fixtures are only controlled explicitly by any cues (from playbacks) you have done ‘GO’ on (or triggered by raising the associated playback fader) or any values overridden in the programmer (values will show in red text).

CLEAR-CLEAR will fully clear the programmer 

CLEAR+[Fader Funct] will release playbacks 1-48 (or however many playbacks S24 has, I can’t remember) and CLEAR-[Master GO] will release the master playback. 

Doing those three things should mean all fixtures are released to their default.

Unless you’ve reprogrammed default for any fixture I’d thus expect your stage to be dark.

You have SmartTag enabled which is useful unless you’re an advanced user. Cue Only is the most basic mode of the console and means your cues will only ever contain exactly what was on stage when you recorded. However Cue Only stops you overlaying playbacks or controlling individual fixture attributes in more complex and creative ways - you need to be in Tracking mode for that. 

How are you doing with the training videos?

 

[funkytwig]

Thanks, that's all great info.  It turned out the desk was programmed for Cue Only (setup), not Tracked, and then I changed to Tracked and SmartTag (record Option), and things worked intuitively. 

There are a few other sections on this page (Tracking, Fixtures...), but I can't find anywhere in the manual that explains these?

I also found the Copy (on Z/Shift), and it worked great.

The one thing I struggled with was setting a fixture to 0, which seems this did not get saved (i.e. when I set a fixture to 0, which was on this did not get saved when I recorded the next Cue.

Is there a way to insert a Cue between 2 existing ones?

Thanks for all your help

Ben

 

 

 

 

[kgallen]

Hi

Fixture is just the generic term for a light, from a simple tungsten fresnel to a LED moving head with gobos etc.

Programming a fixture to 0 intensity should just work. However zero intensity is ‘special’ in that with SmartTag enabled, only the intensity (of zero) will be recorded for that fixture, not any changes to other fixture parameters (colour etc). This is deliberate, to support (amongst other things) move on dark, but sometimes it’s a little inconvenient (for example when also wanting to do Effect Off in the same cue). Maybe you could elaborate when setting intensity to zero is not working for you?

Inserting cues is possible for sure. These are called point cues and you can have 2 decimal places (so possible 99 point cues between integer cue numbers). On FLX S you don’t have a keypad to type numbers as I do on my ‘full’ FLX so the touchscreen keypad needs to be involved. I’ll have to look this up. Having an external USB keyboard plugged in would get you to most of the programming syntax available on FLX and other higher end consoles. 

https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/recording-cues-2

On FLX S, the cue number you require can be defined by tapping Record Z/Shift and using the on-screen number pad to type your cue number. Then, tap the playback's button to record as usual.

Regarding tracking, there are a bunch of ‘terminology’ videos I’ll link shortly which will give you the idea. But some of these are ‘complex’ topics so you’ll have to learn the nitty gritty from the more specific training videos. Much of this terminology is industry standard so will benefit you on a whole range of consoles not just your FLX S.

Please start working through these videos. Your FLX S has capabilities well beyond a basic fader-based lighting desk you may have been used to at this point. It’s a big step up, there is a significant learning curve.