Few questions on FLX

[martin-144]

Hi again,

today I had my first serious rehearsal using our new FLX.

In general I have to say that the handling and doing changes to the lighting on the fly was very convenient and intuitive. On the other side I came up with some questions I want to ask here:

- I found myself very often changing between Live, Preview and Blind mode to do stuff either online or offline or checking what the next scene would be. Is there a way to change between these modes without using touchscreen or mouse? I would like to use the keys to do this.

- In blind mode (or any other), is it possible to create a new 'blank' cue with a certain cue number? For example, I know I want to have a blackout at cue 26, which doesn't exist yet. It it possible to create it without disturbing the running cues?

So far and and a few rehearsals to go... I might add some new questions here.

Regards,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

Really glad to hear you got on well using FLX in anger for the first time. 

In response to your queries, the shortcut to enter Blind mode is SHIFT + (Z), you can then tap (Z) to leave Blind mode and go back to Live. 

To record a blank cue with a defined number, ensure you have a blank stage, and simply tap RECORD, and then type the cue number you wish to store in as. You can then tap the playback’s button you wish to store onto, or you can tap NAME, to give this cue a name into the currently viewed playback. If you wish to record a blank cue whilst having information in the programmer or whilst other cues are running, tap RECORD, ensure SmartTag is disabled (has a blue stripe on its button), and then ensure all the attribute buttons along the bottom of the Record option menu are deselected. If any of the attributes have a red stripe, tap them twice, to make them blue. You can then type your cue number, and choose the playback, and no information will be stored in the cue. 

Hope that helps, any further queries just let me know!

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi Edward,

thanks for your quick reply,

I already knew the SHIFT + (Z) shortcut for blind mode. I hoped there was something comparable for preview mode.

The next time I will be on the console I will try your suggestion for recording a blank cue using the tips you gave me. Unfortunately today I had to do this while another live cue was active. I am not always focused to the screen to see which options are there. Used to an old strand console where you did not have an 'interactive' screen at all. But I had the same problems with it.

You say "no information will be stored in the cue". Does this mean 'all zero' or 'no change'? At the moment I am talking all about intensity values.

Thanks so far,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

16 hours ago, martin-144 said:

I already knew the SHIFT + (Z) shortcut for blind mode. I hoped there was something comparable for preview mode.

Ah right no currently there isn't a shortcut for Preview.

16 hours ago, martin-144 said:

You say "no information will be stored in the cue". Does this mean 'all zero' or 'no change'? At the moment I am talking all about intensity values.

With SmartTag disabled and all attributes deselected, no information will be recorded for any parameter, so no changes or zeros stored.

Any queries let me know.

Edward

[martin-144]

Oops I did it again...

Programmed house lights into a cue... Not that I have been doing this before, but this time it was tricky.

In a break, when the houselights were switched on using two Submasters, I changed a scene (working light on stage) in Playback 0 using update cue.
Of course the houselights were recorded too, but I didn't notice because they were supposed to be on.

After the break I continued to the next scene, but the houselights kept tracking and staying on because they were on in the last scene.
Turning the lights off in the scene before didn't change the tracking behaviour. It seems when it's tracking, it's tracking regardless if you change something before.

How am I supposed to turn the lights back off in such a case? I could turn them off using the programmer and not touching it until until the end of the play.
If I had to change something else using the programmer, what could I do in such a case?

Martin

[martin-144]

And another question in advance, somehow related to the previous one:

Is it possible to delete a fixture's intensity information from a cue in blind mode?

Thanks,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

11 hours ago, martin-144 said:

Turning the lights off in the scene before didn't change the tracking behaviour.

After accidentally updating a cue and adding house lights in, when in tracking mode this update will track through until the house lights are next used. Therefore your easiest way to get rid of them is go back into the cue you accidentally updated, select your house lights and turn them off, and again do a tracking update to remove the house lights from subsequent cues. You could in fact be in any of the cues the house lights are now accidentally on in, as when you turn them off and tap UPDATE, you can choose your tracking from the Update Options, such as Track Forwards, Backwards or Both.

11 hours ago, martin-144 said:

Is it possible to delete a fixture's intensity information from a cue in blind mode?

In Blind mode you cannot remove data from a cue, however you can edit. Therefore in Blind you can load in a cue, select the fixture you want to get rid of, @., and then tap UPDATE to save.

Hope that helps, any queries let me know.

Edward

[martin-144]

8 hours ago, Edward- Z88 said:

In Blind mode you cannot remove data from a cue, however you can edit. Therefore in Blind you can load in a cue, select the fixture you want to get rid of, @., and then tap UPDATE to save.

OK, understood. Can you please tell me how to remove a fixture completely from a cue in live mode? I didn't really get the hang of it.

Thanks,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

To remove a fixture from a cue, go into the cue you wish to edit, and select the fixture you wish to get rid of. Then tag any of the fixture's parameters you wish to remove. If you just want to remove a fixture's intensity, tap Z, and tap the middle encoder button for Intensity; "Tag [Intensity]" will be displayed in the command line. Then tap UPDATE -> disable SmartTag -> choose Remove -> press ENTER or your Playback's button to complete the command. Doing this you have told the console to remove any tagged parameters from the cue.

Hope that helps, any queries let me know.

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi, it's me again,

to follow up today's premiere performance, all went quite well, but a common problem reappeared.
Please add this an feature request: Make Submasters or Playbacks to be not recordable in the main cue stack.
Somehow the 'Inhibitive' or 'Park' solution does not work out for me, unless maybe someone creates a macro which can do this.
I tried, but somehow failed doing it...

@Edward: Thanks for your instructions for removing fixtures from a cue. This worked out really well.

Thanks, Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

Thanks for your comments. 

We have had an increasing amount of requests to configure individual playbacks so they won’t get recorded into cues. We will be looking to implement this in future. 

Currently one option is to turn off SmartTag, where no playbacks will be recorded into cues, and the second option is to record your House Lights at full to a UDK. You can then configure it to latch, and then also record an inhibit playback for the house lights that you can then use to control their level. 

Any queries let me know. 

Edward

[martin-144]

Thanks Edward,

I am glad to hear that something like this is "on the road". The option using an UDK on latch and an inhibitive fader sounds also reasonable, but I think doesn't prevent recording house lights when they are supposed to be on, but not to be recorded.

Another question, and totally unrelated to the others, which I mentioned already in another thread:

What is the maximum supported screen resolution for the FLX?
I am looking for a touch monitor to buy and don't want to "overshoot".

Thanks for your help,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

FLX will auto detect when a monitor is connected, and choose the best resolution for that monitor. 

You can manually force your own resolution if you wish from the list of options FLX displays in SETUP -> System Settings -> External Display.

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi Edward,

I already expected something like this. But is there a maximum resolution the FLX does support?
I don't think I can connect a 4K monitor or something like this. I think at some point it would be just down-scaled?

Martin

[Jon Hole]

15 hours ago, martin-144 said:

is there a maximum resolution the FLX does support?

Hi Martin, ZerOS max resolution is currently 1920x1080

[Kauz]

On 11/15/2018 at 10:09 AM, Edward Z88 said:

(...)

You can manually force your own resolution if you wish from the list of options FLX displays in SETUP -> System Settings -> External Display.

I am trying to attach a VGA monitor using an active DVI-D -> VGA adapter. Therefore I have to select the resolution manually. However, with ZerOS version 7.9.9 I am unable to find a list of options in the Setup. I just find "Auto detect", and "Calibrate". I believe Auto detect will hardly work with the adapter. Even though the monitor is old, I would like to keep it if possible. Its form factor, fits perfectly to our operator's room.

Can anyone tell me how to set the resolution manually?

[Edward Z88]

Hi Kauz,

11 hours ago, Kauz said:

with ZerOS version 7.9.9 I am unable to find a list of options in the Setup. I just find "Auto detect", and "Calibrate".

On FLX, there will be a "Resolution" button available if the Monitor option is set to "Enabled", or if FLX detects a touchscreen when set to "Auto Detect". The following resolutions will be available...

 

Hope this helps,

Edward

[Kauz]

Hi Edward,

thank you for your screenshot! I am still unable to find the resolution button on PhantomZerOS 7.9.9. I will double-check with our actual console asap and come back to you (i. e. to this thread). Have a nice weekend!

Martin (alias "Kauz")

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

1 hour ago, Kauz said:

I am still unable to find the resolution button on PhantomZerOS 7.9.9. I will double-check with our actual console asap and come back to you (i. e. to this thread). Have a nice weekend!

The Resolution option won’t be available on Phantom ZerOS, as Phantom ZerOS will use your Windows resolution settings. 

(My screenshot was of ZerOS Monitor running on PC, connected over a network to a FLX).

Let me know how you get on.

Edward

[Kauz]

Hi Edward,

today I spotted the button on the FLX. Must have overlooked it before 🙄. Thank you for your hint and your patience with my blindness!

/Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

1 hour ago, Kauz said:

Hi Edward,

today I spotted the button on the FLX. Must have overlooked it before 🙄. Thank you for your hint and your patience with my blindness!

/Martin

No problem at all, glad you found it. 

Edward