Frog questions

[TC]

I am a new user of a Frog (last control system was home built, which meant I had total control over the software - which probably explains my frustration).

 

Anyway some questions:

 

Is there any way to to bulk edits for a show ?

 

Example: I need to remove the use of a channel from all scenes where it is non zero, or I decide to split a couple of paired lanterns onto separate channels, and I want to set channel 'y' to thae same level as channel 'x' in all scenes where channel 'x' is non zero.

 

At the moment it seems an excessively manual task, and very error prone.

 

Also, can you remove channels from a memory ?

 

Example: I have a long fade in progress, and during it I want to run a chase sequence on a small number of channels. At present, from what I understand at the moment, as soon as the chase starts it will interfere with the long fade.

 

What is the point of 'jump' if there is no matching 'return' ??

[K-Nine]

Is there any way to to bulk edits for a show ?

 

Example: I need to remove the use of a channel from all scenes where it is non zero, or I decide to split a couple of paired lanterns onto separate channels, and I want to set channel 'y' to thae same level as channel 'x' in all scenes where channel 'x' is non zero.

 

At the moment it seems an excessively manual task, and very error prone.

 

I don't think there is a simple way of removing a channel from all scenes in the current software. Something similar has been mentioned in other topics, including a Topset function:

 

Frog Reference 5417 - Topset

 

Check the following links for further discussions:

 

Pre-Heat Setup

 

Topset

 

 

As to splitting a couple of paired lanterns, such they end up have the same values in all scenes - I would suggest that you patch the generic channel to the two different DMX addresses that the two lanterns are now on - see Manual Patch - Generics and Adding Duplicates in the Operating Manual (page 6-7).

 

Also, can you remove channels from a memory ?

 

Example: I have a long fade in progress, and during it I want to run a chase sequence on a small number of channels. At present, from what I understand at the moment, as soon as the chase starts it will interfere with the long fade.

 

The long fade is presumably between two memories on the playback stack ? If you want to run a chase over the top of this - then you need to program the chase as a memory and transfer it onto a submaster.

 

Raise the submaster at the point you wish the chase to run and lower it again when you wish the chase to stop.

 

The only time you may get 'interference' is if the same channesl are programmed in both the chase on the submaster and in either of the current or next memories which are crossfading on the playback X, since the generic channels (and fixture brightness parameters) are mixed HTP.

 

What is the point of 'jump' if there is no matching 'return' ??

 

I'm not sure what you are saying here :?

 

Jumps can be used in a variety of situations where you don't want to step through the memory stack in strict numerical order and wish to reorder your show for whatever reason.

 

They can be used to skip over part of a show which may not be required but you don't want to delete the memories as they may be reuired another time.

 

When used in collaboration with automatic triggers they can be used to create 'loops'.

 

When playing back shows on a frog box, by using timed triggers, auto triggers and jumps you can have several 'mini-shows' all stored within the stack etc..

[TC]

Thanks for your answers.

 

With regard to 'jumps':

 

I was thinking about have a set of memories that would be used repeatedly. If there was a 'return', then you could treat it as a callable unit (eg. cue 3 - jump to 100, do some stuff, return (to 4), do some more stuff, cue 32 - jump to 100, do some stuff, return (this time to 33)). Make sense ??

 

Long fades and interference:

I can see how the submaster solution would work in my example, but what about the case where you are doing a long fade (whole scene for example), and want to process a number of cues on the way (being an amateur group, the operators are not always going to be experts!). We just want to be able to hit 'Go'. It would be solved if a channel could be marked as "not active" in this memory, and any current changes to it continue unchanged (ie. the long fade still progresses on the other channels). This does mean that at any point in time you could have several fades at different rates on different channels. Its a feature we are used to (hence the question). When programming the memory, you could use the flash buttons, say, to mark active/inactive channels.

 

Do you release the file format of the saved show files. That way I could write my own offline editor?

[K-Nine]

With regard to 'jumps':

 

I was thinking about have a set of memories that would be used repeatedly. If there was a 'return', then you could treat it as a callable unit (eg. cue 3 - jump to 100, do some stuff, return (to 4), do some more stuff, cue 32 - jump to 100, do some stuff, return (this time to 33)). Make sense ??

 

Yes, I can see what you are getting at now, a sort of 'subroutine' of memories Unfortunately, I don't see how you can do this at the moment with the current implementation of jumps

 

Long fades and interference:

I can see how the submaster solution would work in my example, but what about the case where you are doing a long fade (whole scene for example), and want to process a number of cues on the way (being an amateur group, the operators are not always going to be experts!). We just want to be able to hit 'Go'. It would be solved if a channel could be marked as "not active" in this memory, and any current changes to it continue unchanged (ie. the long fade still progresses on the other channels). This does mean that at any point in time you could have several fades at different rates on different channels. Its a feature we are used to (hence the question). When programming the memory, you could use the flash buttons, say, to mark active/inactive channels.

 

The Frog desks only have a single memory stack playback and I very much doubt this will change - due to the nature of the design of the desk, it's feature set, and the sector of the market it is aimed at etc... (I'm sure NZ will give you a full explanation if you ask him nicely )

 

What you are describing with processing several fades at the same time, and active/inactive channels sounds more like the sort of features you would find on a (more expensive) theatre style consle.

 

Do you release the file format of the saved show files. That way I could write my own offline editor?

 

The show file format is a proprietary one and I don't think we have any plans to release details. Have you tried our current offline editor/simulator for the Frog Series of desks called the Phantom Frog ?