Translating terms from other consoles

[colx]

Hey there, I'm using a FatFrog for a small show with a couple of Mac 250 Entours. I'll be running the show live using submasters with chases built from memories, and the A & B presets for looks with conventionals. I have a couple of questions:

 

1. In the show, I'd like to have the chases in motion before I bring them to full brightness. Is there any way - other than using the fixture wheel - to control the brightness dimmer? I can't seem to add it to subs, memories, pallettes, or A & B preset faders. Otherwise, it's gonna look really sloppy to have the lights transiting lit.

 

2. On other consoles I've used, they have a Clear (ETC) button that wipes the current cue - ie, it goes to black. I was trying to execute chase memories, but I had no idea how to make the chase stop and not be running anymore; the X playback fader made the chase go away, but it was still there if I brought it back up. What's the protocol on clearing cues (memories)?

 

3. Can autofollows be created in memories, so I could have a chase running without brightness, and the next cue fades it in on a time?

 

Thanks for your advice.

[Kirkup_xp]

colx, This guide by Mike Falconer might help you out.

 

The Frog does not have a 'move on dark' function which is essentially what you are asking for. To move the fixtures whilst dark, you will need to create follow on cues such as those you describe in #3.

 

The brightness of the moving lights is defined by their levels on submasters, memories or on the fixture wheels themselves. This is mixed highest takes precidence (HTP) so if any of the above are 'up', the fixture will be outputting. You would need to ensure that all of these are down before beginning playback if you want a true representation of what is programmed.

 

The Home button homes the fixtures and sets their intensity to 100%. You can define this action by editing the fixture personality using the fixture tools, available in the Fixtures section of this forum. If you set the default value of a dimmer channel to 0%, homing the fixture would go to 50/50 but with the dimmer at 0%. Bear in mind that homing also tags the fixtures, so you may like to get into the habbit of also holding the fixture button for 3 seconds after Home, which will untag the fixtures.

 

I hope this helps

[colx]

Thanks for the advice, there's some great stuff there. Here's another question I'll throw at you, since I'm going to have a limited time to program tommorrow, and perhaps you could guide me to a shortcut.

 

1. Since I've programmed my subs with chases built from memories using my Mac 250 Entours, can I edit them so the brightness is at 0, and build a submaster in each page (say, sub 12) which only has the brightness but contains no other data to the movers? I'm thinking this way, I can run the chase, and add the brightness with the chase in play at the right moment.

 

2. When programming memories using conventionals, I'm used to proramming on ETC or Strand consoles. These consoles allow me to input a channel directly to control it's value (ie, ch 1 at 0) so I can black out a light in the next cue. In the Fat Frog, if the next memory in the stack does not have a value on a channel, does it assume the channel is going to 0% (as it would in a ETC console), or do I need to do something to the channel so the board knows I now want this light to go out? Or am I just overthinking this? I'd hate to program my show's memories and then find out I can't turn off lights from the previous cue!

 

3. If there a programmable blackout (such as Strand's cue 0) that will blackout all conventional lights automatically (without using the balckout button, so I can use fade times)? It'd be great to be able to blackout from the 'go' button.

 

Thanks again for your help!

[K-Nine]

1. Yes. Edit the chase memories so that the fixture brightness levels are recorded at zero. Ensure the desk is in partial mode, select the required fixtures, set their brightness (intensity) to maximum using the control wheel. Ensure no other parameters are tagged and then record the channel data directly to the submaster that you wish to control the brightness of the fixtures.

[Kirkup_xp]

2. All dimmer channels have a recorded level in every cue. When you press Program, all the dimmer channels output levels are read and stored in that cue. Therefore, the scenario you describe doesn't really happen.

 

3. Memory 0 (--) is a blackout memory, but doesn't allow the use of fade times. If you're in partial mode you could just pull down the A master, dim out your fixtures and record a memory of your own. This would allow the use of fade times. Remember to detag the fixtures you don't want to use.