Busking

[Tony B]

I recently completed the FLX training and we covered some bits what the trainer called "busking". I cant remember (should have wrote it down) how to do this and was wondering if somebody could give me the steps involved.

It was something to do with assigning attributes to the faders so they mixed independently.

TIA

Tony

[Edward Z88]

Hi Tony,

Welcome to the Zero 88 Forum.

I believe it was Nathanael who ran your training session.

Busking is the term used in the lighting industry for quickly controlling fixtures on the fly, not necessarily knowing what will happen on stage next. Therefore for these situations, cue stacks are not necessarily helpful, and instead using mixtures of various palettes and playbacks are helpful.

10 minutes ago, Tony B said:

It was something to do with assigning attributes to the faders so they mixed independently.

This is quite a wide topic area. Was this to do with creating various looks on playbacks? If so this is a common busking technique, that means each playback are "building blocks" for lighting states. With different mixes of these playbacks you can achieve many varied looks on the fly.

This is to do with what gets recorded on to playbacks and how. For more information on this, there is a whole article on our website regarding "tagging". If a fixture's parameter is "tagged" it means it will be stored when you record a playback or palette. The article is available below...

http://support.zero88.com/1014189311

If you have any questions let me know.

Edward

[Tony B]

Hi Yes it was Nathanael, it was controlling them on the fly and creating various looks on playbacks. I have tried it following the fader controls video but it does not appear to work in the same way. I can assign the attributes to the faders but each one seems to overide the other.

On another note, i do not seem to have the SMART tag button on my interface.
Bw

Tony

[Edward Z88]

Hi Tony,

46 minutes ago, Tony B said:

On another note, i do not seem to have the SMART tag button on my interface.

If you can't see the SmartTag button in the Record Options window, then it means the console is in global Cue Only mode. This means the console is in basic programming mode, which won't allow for more complex programming. To change the programming mode, press SETUP -> Settings -> Record & Update, and ensure Tracking options are enabled.

You should then find when you press RECORD you have more advanced options in the Record Options window. If you don't wish to program cue stacks with tracking, ensure that "Cue Only" is selected in the Record Options window. 

49 minutes ago, Tony B said:

I have tried it following the fader controls video but it does not appear to work in the same way. I can assign the attributes to the faders but each one seems to overide the other.

What attributes are you trying to mix? For more information on Fader Controls, see below...

http://support.zero88.com/1011405471

Hope this helps, if you have any questions let me know.

Edward

[Tony B]

Many thanks Ed, all sorted now. Seem to work after enababling the smart tag option.

Thanks again

Tony

[Edward Z88]

Hi Tony,

15 minutes ago, Tony B said:

Many thanks Ed, all sorted now. Seem to work after enababling the smart tag option.

Great, glad to hear it.

If you have any questions let us know.

Edward

[Uriahdemon]

Hi Tony,  I am relatively new to the FLX but use this mainly for busking bands.  Whether there is a better way of doing it I am not sure but I have set up my playbacks to give me a range of options to call upon as I need them.  It is not perfect but If this is the sort of thing you are after then happy to help.

Rgds

Mac

[Davidmk]

Ditto Uriahdemon above (relatively new to FLX and mainly busking bands)

To make the most of the available MMFS,  I put several cues onto some of them (and on the master playback). That way I can select the individual cues by holding down the Go button and typing the cue number. This works best where each cue "replaces" the others (i.e. you would never want them at the same time).

For example. One MFF has a cue for each of the gobos on our moving heads (including "open"). Another has various colour states for the LED PARs (with a 3s colour fade on each cue).

The cue doesn't start until you let go of the Go button which I find very convenient - I can get something ready and take my finger off at exactly the right moment.

The downside is you can only select a cue on one playback at a time so you have to do them quickly if you want a lot of things at (nearly) the same time. You can improve on this a bit using the remote switches (see my earlier post on them) and/or a MIDI device to fire - single cue - playbacks on other pages.

PM me if you'd like to discuss busking for gigs, I'm still optimising how I do it on FLX but I've been lighting professional bands with a couple of other desks for nearly 20yrs so I'm pretty familiar with the problems.

[Uriahdemon]

20 hours ago, Davidmk said:

Ditto Uriahdemon above (relatively new to FLX and mainly busking bands)

To make the most of the available MMFS,  I put several cues onto some of them (and on the master playback). That way I can select the individual cues by holding down the Go button and typing the cue number. This works best where each cue "replaces" the others (i.e. you would never want them at the same time).

For example. One MFF has a cue for each of the gobos on our moving heads (including "open"). Another has various colour states for the LED PARs (with a 3s colour fade on each cue).

The cue doesn't start until you let go of the Go button which I find very convenient - I can get something ready and take my finger off at exactly the right moment.

The downside is you can only select a cue on one playback at a time so you have to do them quickly if you want a lot of things at (nearly) the same time. You can improve on this a bit using the remote switches (see my earlier post on them) and/or a MIDI device to fire - single cue - playbacks on other pages.

PM me if you'd like to discuss busking for gigs, I'm still optimising how I do it on FLX but I've been lighting professional bands with a couple of other desks for nearly 20yrs so I'm pretty familiar with the problems.

PM sent mate