Leap Frog 96 Bugs

[AB lighting]

Hi,

 

We have been using our Leap Frog 96 and have been keeping up to date with all software and OS updates but we still keep finding a lot of errors within the desk and it is getting increasingly frustrating. Some of which are to follow:

 

Firstly in the copy cue function you can only copy a cue that is running live you cant copy a previous state into the next available memory. We have tried also doin this in blind mode thinking maybe this was the issue but it still does not accept the command. We hve checked all the tracking settings and always have Smart Tracking On and we have tried it with Cue Only on and off.

 

When we have been doing some editing on the desk you have to always press clear but why when editing does it disable the use of some of your subs. eg this week in a plotting session we were changing a state during the run and we have a smoke machine operated from a sub but we couldnt run the smoke live from the sub unless we cleared the desk first.

 

We are having continue trouble in Updating memories I have followed the manual in Loading a cue then editing and then updating but it is very temprimental and sometimes will not save the changes, again I have tried different tracking modes etc but some things just have no reasonable explanation. To this end also editing a chase has proved impossible to the point we just delete and and start again.

 

As a sugested feature also could there be a feature to tranfer a single channel to a Sub as we have had several instances where this would be useful.

 

I have also had problems just in the operation speed of the desk we have run a couple of big shows off the desk and we have found when using a quantity of moving lights across several pages the desk really slows down and cant keep up with us on a busy plotting session and even now has still crashed a couple of times since the last update.

 

We are making continued lists of bugs we find can you also tell us what you intend to do with the sofware in the future as we have found some elements very un user friendly and long winded and some features almost pointless unless they are ready for future development.

 

If there is someone we can contact directly via email as we feel a lot of our issues will take up a lot of space in the forum and this far we have been quite disapointed with this desk as we were very excited when it came out and bought it early on to compliment our range of Zero 88 equipment in our hire stock but at the moment we don't feel we can let this desk out on dry hire as our customers are struggling with it and we now only take it out on jobs we carry out ourselves.

 

We look forward to your support.

 

AB Lighting.

[Kirkup_xp]

Hi, We have been using our Leap Frog 96 and have been keeping up to date with all software and OS updates but we still keep finding a lot of errors within the desk and it is getting increasingly frustrating. Some of which are to follow:

I'm really sorry to hear about your problems - hopefully some of the below will help you!

 

Firstly in the copy cue function you can only copy a cue that is running live you cant copy a previous state into the next available memory. We have tried also doin this in blind mode thinking maybe this was the issue but it still does not accept the command. We hve checked all the tracking settings and always have Smart Tracking On and we have tried it with Cue Only on and off.

This is interesting - trying this here it does seem to work. However, I think this may be a misunderstanding of the Tracking functionality of the desk. The desk behaves in a Tracking manor, meaning that only the changes between each cue are recorded - for example, if a cue only raises your cyc wash, this is all that will be stored. This means that if you make an update to an earlier cue, the updates will *track* between cues, until a new value is programmed. Therefore copying this cue would only change the level of the cyc wash, as the other channels are unchanged and unprogrammed in that cue. In order to ensure that a scene is stored as you expect it to be, you should output the scene and record it using Smart Tags.

 

When we have been doing some editing on the desk you have to always press clear but why when editing does it disable the use of some of your subs. eg this week in a plotting session we were changing a state during the run and we have a smoke machine operated from a sub but we couldnt run the smoke live from the sub unless we cleared the desk first.

This is because the Program Window on the desk has grabbed control over the channels which were previously being run from the submaster. This is a deliberate function on the desk which means you can override an outputting submaster by altering a parameter on a wheel, fader or command line syntax. If your Smoke Machine has not been programmed into any cues, it should not be in the Program Window. However, if you've used Smart Tag whilst the smoke machine is outputting from a submaster, it will have been recorded. It is possible to switch the preset (fader) channels into HTP mode (in Desk Setup/Behaviour/Preset Mix Mode) which prevents them from being used in the Program Window (they are always stored when you press RECORD) and allows them to be HTP mixed with submasters.

 

We are having continue trouble in Updating memories I have followed the manual in Loading a cue then editing and then updating but it is very temprimental and sometimes will not save the changes, again I have tried different tracking modes etc but some things just have no reasonable explanation. To this end also editing a chase has proved impossible to the point we just delete and and start again.

There are a number of known issues with Update in version 2.15 software - we're working very hard to get version 3 software released as soon as possible which should hopefully resolve this and a number of other issues.

 

As a sugested feature also could there be a feature to tranfer a single channel to a Sub as we have had several instances where this would be useful.

You can do this now by recording just that one channel. I don't quite understand what difference your proposed functionality would offer.

 

I have also had problems just in the operation speed of the desk we have run a couple of big shows off the desk and we have found when using a quantity of moving lights across several pages the desk really slows down and cant keep up with us on a busy plotting session and even now has still crashed a couple of times since the last update.

Please can you email me some show files for these large shows and examples of what slow downs are seen, together with any debug reports gathered from the crashes? pkirkup@zero88.com. Again, there are a few known crashes in the latest version of software which have been resolved and version 3 will be out very soon to solve these.

 

We are making continued lists of bugs we find can you also tell us what you intend to do with the sofware in the future as we have found some elements very un user friendly and long winded and some features almost pointless unless they are ready for future development.

As i'm sure you'll appreciate, announcing future functionality is something we cannot do for a number of reasons - often this functionality is new to the industry and if we made it public it would give our competitors advantage over us. Also, the final feature set of a software release is generally only decided shorly before the release, and timescales on releases can change depending upon progress through the Research and Development process. We do however have an active beta test community who are continuously testing and feeding back on features for future releases - please do let me know if you'd like to become part of this team.

 

If there is someone we can contact directly via email as we feel a lot of our issues will take up a lot of space in the forum and this far we have been quite disapointed with this desk as we were very excited when it came out and bought it early on to compliment our range of Zero 88 equipment in our hire stock but at the moment we don't feel we can let this desk out on dry hire as our customers are struggling with it and we now only take it out on jobs we carry out ourselves.

Of course - we're always happy to help via the telephone or email - my direct email is pkirkup@zero88.com and you're more than welcome to contact me with any queries you have regarding the desk. Alternatively, please feel free to call the Zero 88 office during office hours (01633 838088) if you'd rather speak in person.

 

Once again I'm sorry to hear that you've been disappointed with the desk. I really hope that we can turn this into a positive experience for you - if you drop me an email directly I'll do my best to assist you with these and any further issues you may have.

 

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

 

Peter Kirkup

[AB lighting]

Thank you for your possitive reply,

 

I have always programed with smart tag on so this should not be causing any problems.

 

I will send you an email soon with any other questions I have and I will look back to see what show files I still have. We are running a generic rig this week with the desk and we are running a small show next week with about 14 Mac 700's and TW1's so will let you know on our progress.

 

With the submasters, particularly when using like a smoke machine or 2. I alwys record it Live, Normally im setting up the desk last min before a tech run and having to run the smoke machines live tends to annoy a lot of people and if you could just click on the sub in the sub screen then have an option of what to transfer in be it channel or memory etc I personally would find this easier and quicker than doing it the other way round, Thinking about it now maybe I could record the Sub in Blind but under the pressures of a plotting session with a desk we are still learning and we know have bugs you just panic and loose onfidence.

 

I would love to be part of your BETA Testing team I love the previous FAT Frog and series and I think I have mastered them. Not trying to sound big headed but I can plot extremely fast on them and in the situations I use the desks this is a huge advantage, The Leap Frog is making things a lot slower. I understand it's thinking is not at all like the original frog series and if anything more like an MA but would just like a few things to be slightly simpler maybe less button pushes or give an opertor options to do the same thing but in different ways.

 

Regards,

 

AB Lighting.