Control Beamshape Parameter with Fader

[martin-144]

Hi,

I have built a Artnet controlled LED torch for our upcoming production. At the moment it is controlled by 8 DMX channels sent over Artnet to an ESP8266.
If someone is interested: https://github.com/martin-144/ArtNetLed

My problem is now that I have a DMX channel which controls the burn height of the flame on my torch. I would like to have a fader to control this single channel,
which is at the moment located in the Beamshape section of my fixture definition. Could someone point me how to achieve this behaviour using the FLX?

I have attached my fixture definition file to this post, but there is nothing very special on it.

Thanks,
Martin

 

Torch.ift

[Davidmk]

Shouldn't be a problem. First you will want a playback for the intensity of the fixture that also sets all the parameters (including the minimum height). Nothing special about that, check the manual if not sure.

Now the fun bit. Select the fixture in the programmer but do not turn it on (fixture no. then enter). If you need it on to set this then use the playback fader you recorded. Don't set the intensity on the programmer. Now set the maximum height that you want. De-select all beamshape parameters except this one then record to a 2nd playback. Now, apply the magic, hold down the setup button and press the 2nd playback's button - you should get a screen full of setup stuff for that playback. Under Fader Controls, make sure beamshape is selected (and nothing else).

I expect someone from Z88 will give you a better explanation but, in the meantime, give the above a go.

[kgallen]

ETA - David just beat me to it!

You can do ‘Fader Controls’ and set it to Beamshape. SETUP+Playback Button
 

Not sure if the fader still controls intensity too. If you have other parameters on Beamshape maybe move this one onto Position so it’s on its own.  I’ll have a look at your fixture profile in a while - we’ll get it working somehow!

Kevin

[Davidmk]

Shouldn't do intensity unless an intensity level was set in the programmer. I do this a lot - I light bands, different one each gig and I use moving heads as "specials" to light musicians at the front (the ones that are liable to moving out of a fixed light). I set most of the parameters in defaults, setup an intensity only fader and a second one that 'fades' the zoom, pan & tilt to a position upstage. If they step back out of their light then I just nudge that fader up and it looks like a follow spot. Doesn't help when they go sideways but it gets them most of the time.

[Davidmk]

Martin-144.

You might actually want intensity and size on the same fader in which case do set intensity in the programmer (set the other parameters in defaults, see the manual).

[kgallen]

Fixture definition looks good. As David says, you only want to tag your Param1 (or Param2) parameter (which ever one controls the height) when you program the playback. Also there may be a setting to ensure only this one parameter is tagged otherwise tagging one beamshape parameter may cause all parameters in the beamshape attribute to be tagged.

Other option is to move the height parameter to Position (where it's the only parameter) then you don't have to worry so much.

[kgallen]

8 minutes ago, Davidmk said:

If they step back out of their light then I just nudge that fader up and it looks like a follow spot. Doesn't help when they go sideways but it gets them most of the time.

Like it! 👍

[Edward Z88]

Hi all,

13 hours ago, Davidmk said:

I expect someone from Z88 will give you a better explanation but, in the meantime, give the above a go.

Thanks David and Kevin for helping, explanations are all good thank you! Key thing to remember when you want to program specific parameters, is to turn SmartTag off. That way the console will only store what is tagged. If you have seen this article already apologies, but may be useful to others reading the thread...

http://support.zero88.com/1014189311

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

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi,

thanks for your suggestions. I will try tomorrow evening when I have access to the desk,

Martin

[martin-144]

Sorry for not giving any feedback for a long time. Rehearsals are taking more of my time by correcting bugs I introduced by tracking.
Hope I can do some more tests in the weekend.

Martin

[kgallen]

Martin,

Don't worry about it. Hope it's going well otherwise!

What's going wrong with your tracking that's causing you issues? Don't forget you can use Update with Cue Only and Track Forwards (and Track Backwards although I've never used that one). Also with FLX you can go back to Cue Only mode if you want and also you can turn the whole cue stack into snapshot cues then work your new stuff using Tracking on.

[martin-144]

Thanks for all of your inputs,

I have managed to get rid of the problems thanks to your inputs. Now I have a fader controlling the intensity and one other controlling the burn height of my torch. That's very fine. Somehow my firmware on the ESP8266 keeps crashing after some time of ArtNet reception, but this is my very own problem.

I also solved the problem where my lights were tracking throughout the plot. I saved some kind of rainbow effect which was heavily tracking throughout the plot. I could get rid of it today, but do not really understand why. Intensity of the lights was set to zero in between cues, but effect keeps coming up after that. Strange feeling to me, especially while programming the cues I didn't have this issue.

Anyway, thanks for your help,
Martin

[kgallen]

Lights off but Effect still running is a common issue. It’s probably because you had Smart Tag enabled when you tried to record ‘No Effect’ and the lights at 0. Smart Tag doesn’t save the No Effect. So what you have to do is run the cue where the lights go off and the effect should stop (but don’t), select the lights that are in the effect, select No Effect from the Effects palette. Then press Update to get the Record Options pane up then deselect Smart Tag, then ok the Update.

Then clear the programmer, go back a few cues then run through and make sure the Effect now stops when you need it to. 
 

Of course if you need the Effect to start again in a later cue you’ll need to go to that one and enable the effect again. 
 

Hope that helps. 
Kevin

[martin-144]

Thanks Kevin for the explanation. This makes it more clear whats happening.
I just have to recall it next time when I program a new show. For this season its almost in the box and just needs a little of refinement.

Martin

 

[martin-144]

One question in the round:

Is anyone able to provide me a Wireshark capture file of a working ArtNet communication including unicast packets?
I am having the problem that my Wireshark captures only show the broadcast packets, which are fine in my opinion.

There must be some other thing going wrong here, because my ArtNet device keeps resetting after some minutes, sometimes seconds...
Thankfully 😪, our show has been cancelled due to that damn virus 👾, so I have some more time to find out...

Thanks,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

2 hours ago, martin-144 said:

Is anyone able to provide me a Wireshark capture file of a working ArtNet communication including unicast packets?

I’m not able to attach a Wireshark capture file now, however will do this for you so you can take a look.

2 hours ago, martin-144 said:

I am having the problem that my Wireshark captures only show the broadcast packets, which are fine in my opinion

You should be seeing ArtDMX packets from FLX S, ArtPoll packets from FLX S, and ArtPollReply packets from all ArtNet devices. 

2 hours ago, martin-144 said:

There must be some other thing going wrong here, because my ArtNet device keeps resetting after some minutes, sometimes seconds...

That’s odd, what is your ArtNet device?
 

2 hours ago, martin-144 said:

Thankfully 😪, our show has been cancelled due to that damn virus 👾, so I have some more time to find out...

Yep, I think all of the Zero 88 community are going to be finding their consoles are getting used less on shows in the next few months.

If you have any questions let us know. 

Edward

[martin-144]

21 hours ago, Edward- Z88 said:

Hi Martin,

I’m not able to attach a Wireshark capture file now, however will do this for you so you can take a look.

Thanks Edward, that would be very nice.

Quote

You should be seeing ArtDMX packets from FLX S, ArtPoll packets from FLX S, and ArtPollReply packets from all ArtNet devices.

I don't see the ArtDMX Packets, as the FLX seems to send them unicast and they are not routed to my Wireshark device. But I can see the ArtPoll and ArtPollReply packets every ~3 seconds. At some time my device stops replying to the ArtPoll packets, and some seconds later it gets removed from the FLX. Thats the problem. I want to find out why this happens.

Quote

That’s odd, what is your ArtNet device?

As written in the first post, I am trying to build one myself with an ESP8266. The failure could be easily on my side, but I want to clarify this.

Quote

Yep, I think all of the Zero 88 community are going to be finding their consoles are getting used less on shows in the next few months.

Very sad, but maybe necessary ;-(

Quote

If you have any questions let us know. 

Edward

Thanks,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

14 hours ago, martin-144 said:

At some time my device stops replying to the ArtPoll packets,

Hi Martin,

ArtNet devices should always send ArtPollReply packets, to notify other ArtNet devices of its presence. If a device doesn't, it would be considered "offline", and the source would stop sending ArtDMX to that device.

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi Edward,

my device IS programmed to send ArtPollReply packets to every ArtPoll packet. But for mysterious reasons it stops doing that after some time.
Therefore I want to know if there is something going on on the network which I cannot see with Wireshark.

Cheers,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

Hope you can find the reason for this soon.

When Wireshark is running, it should put the currently sniffed NIC (Network Interface Card such as Ethernet or WiFi) into “promiscuous mode”. This means it should be able to see traffic out of range and not on the NIC’s Host Address.

A way for your PC to become an ArtNet device, is to run a piece of software that can be controlled by ArtNet. You could use our presentation files of Capture visualisation software for this...

http://support.zero88.com/1004254221

Run this application, and Capture will then send an ArtPollReply packet from the PC to the source (in response to the ArtPoll), and you will then see ArtDMX being sent to your laptop. 

If you have RDM enabled on FLX S, you will also see ArtTodRequest packets, as FLX S is asking devices for any RDM information. 

Hope this helps,

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi Edward and all others,

I hope you all are doing well in these times...

I did a little further investigations in improving my program this weekend. I was able to improve it to not crash anymore, but there are still some things to do.
Interestingly, when I start the program, it will work for exactly one minute, then stop to receive UDP packets for two minutes and then return to normal order.
I am not sure if the behaviour is caused by my Arduino sketch (with many libraries included, where I have no insight), or the FLX console I am using to test.

The strange thing is: At home I use a Python script to simulate the output of the FLX. There it works without errors.
When I have time to get to the the real FLX consle  I get the errors described above. I have no clue what the difference is.

I f someone of you maybe now has the time or experience to help me solve this problem, It would be very much appreciated.

Thanks and stay healthy,
Martin

[Edward Z88]

Hi Martin,

Hope you’re well. 

I haven’t personally looked into coding an ArtNet receiver, so am unsure what may be causing your device to stop responding temporarily. 

Just a thought - do you have RDM enabled on the FLX? If so does your python script also emulate this? If not potentially this is where the issues lies?

If you haven’t already, it may be worth posting on other forums more generally aimed at DMX and ArtNet coding. It may also be worth a post on the Blueroom forum.

 If you have any questions let me know.

Edward

[martin-144]

Hi Edward,

that's a good point. Thank you for mentioning that. I haven't checked if RDM is enabled or not.
Next time I am at the desk I will disable it to check, as I am not using it right now.

Thanks,
Martin

[martin-144]

Hi together,

today I managed to fix the problem. It was neither the FLX console nor my Artnet device. It was the Access point in between (TP-Link TL-WR802N).
For some unknown reason the DHCP lease time was set to one minute, which is of course very short and shouldn't be that short.
Setting it to a more reasonable time (like 120 minutes, which is the default) solved the problem.

Just wanted to let you know if you may run into similar problems...

Martin

[Davidmk]

Good spot and useful to know because (a) I could see this causing issues in so many situations and (b) it is hardly an obvious place to look. I'll be checking the lease time in the router I am using next time it is powered up. Thank you.