Tweaking fixture profiles on LED wash lamps

[delicolor]

We have a number of generic 8 channel RGBW leds working happily on an older Frog.

We now have a Leapfrog on 7.9.7 and I want to simplify the functionality as much as possible moving forward so that inexperienced users don't inadvertently set off macros and such.

(I'm sure that colour mixing is best left to the desk rather than the head, same with transition speed and we certainly don't want any disco macros firing off).

Is there a straight-forward way of creating a null parameter associated with a fixture channel nailed to output level 0 which would lock the fixture down to RGBW plus dimmer? I rummaged in the details tab but couldn't work out an obvious answer (unless dark is tied in with it).

Similarly, can a parameter be nailed up to 255 or constrained to a range such as 0 to 240?
 

Thanks guys,

 

Ian

[Edward Z88]

Hi Ian,

Welcome to the Zero 88 Forum.

39 minutes ago, delicolor said:

We now have a Leapfrog on 7.9.7 and I want to simplify the functionality as much as possible moving forward so that inexperienced users don't inadvertently set off macros and such.

First thing I would recommend, is moving as many fixtures onto the channel faders, rather than MFKs on the left hand side of the console. This will gives you a dedicated intensity fader for your fixture, no matter what it is.

On Leap Frog, the channel faders can control any of your fixtures, not just dimmers. Do you have a Leap Frog 48 or Leap Frog 96? If you have a Leap Frog 48, you could for example have 24 dimmer channels on the first row of channel faders, and then 24 LED fixtures or movers on the bottom row of channel faders. If you then have more than 48 fixtures in total, you can spill onto the MFKs to give you an additional 200 fixtures.

39 minutes ago, delicolor said:

Similarly, can a parameter be nailed up to 255 or constrained to a range such as 0 to 240?

The best function to use for this would be setting Max Levels.

To do this, first ensure the programmer is clear by double tapping CLEAR, and then select the fixtures you need to adjust. What you will then need to do is set the levels of parameters that you would like to be inhibited to the maximum levels you would like them to go to. You need to ensure that only the parameters you wish to inhibit are tagged. If a parameter is tagged, this means it will get included when you are programming. By default, if you dial one colour parameter, all colour parameters are tagged, indicated by a white background on the Leap Frog's encoder LCD.

To avoid this, before setting the max levels of your colour parameters, you may wish to temporarily separate the parameters. To do this hold SETUP and tap COLOUR, and under Keep Parameters Separate choose Yes. You can then dial the wheels of just the parameters you wish to inhibit, and the others should remain with a blue background to their encoder displays. You can therefore set some parameters to 0, so they cannot be accessed, or set them to 240, so you cannot access between 241-255 of that parameter.

Once you have done this, you can then tap RECORD, and in the Record Options window that opens on the external monitor, disable SmartTag, so that it has a blue stripe, rather than red. If you cannot see the SmartTag option, then you are in basic cue only programming mode, and won't be able to complete the command. You will therefore first have to tap SETUP -> Settings -> Record & Update -> Tracking Options -> Enabled. With SmartTag disabled, you can then tap the HOME button, and then choose Max Level. Anything currently tagged, will then be stored as that parameter's maximum level.

The encoder's display will still show the full value range, to allow you to still program that parameter. To remove your Max Levels, tap DELETE HOME and choose Max Level.

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

Edward

[delicolor]

Edward, thank you for your thorough reply.

They had set the old desk up so that a handful of important fixtures had their channels patched onto the Presets in blocks of 6 (intensity, red, blue, green, white, not used). I had assumed at first that the heads were set to first address 1, 7, 13 etc. to achieve this but when I dug into the config I could see that the higher DMX numbers in the 100s were patched accordingly. Whilst it means the operator could colour mix on faders it would presumably conflict with LTP on the desk.

Regarding intensity, can each of the 48 dimmers be patched to multiple DMX addresses in parallel or is it one DMX per dimmer/fader? That will get round multiple heads with the same start address with them running out of blocks of 6 faders.

Whilst you are on, can I output DMX universe 1 to both desk outlets 1 & 2 simultaneously? That will sort out a short term wiring config to match the current arrangement.

I have looked at the manual and tinkered with GhostZerOS but I haven't quite got my head round the subtleties of setup yet.

[delicolor]

4 hours ago, Edward- Z88 said:

Hi Ian,

 Do you have a Leap Frog 48 or Leap Frog 96? If you have a Leap Frog 48, you could for example have 24 dimmer channels on the first row of channel faders, and then 24 LED fixtures or movers on the bottom row of channel faders. If you then have more than 48 fixtures in total, you can spill onto the MFKs to give you an additional 200 

In answer to your question, it is a LeapFrog 48 and we don't have any conventional dimmers connected. The rig is mostly LED wash fixtures with a few movers (and a mirror-ball type effect). I might keep a few faders for conventionals should someone bring a rack in.

[Edward Z88]

Hi Ian,

14 hours ago, delicolor said:

Whilst it means the operator could colour mix on faders it would presumably conflict with LTP on the desk.

Regarding intensity, can each of the 48 dimmers be patched to multiple DMX addresses in parallel or is it one DMX per dimmer/fader? That will get round multiple heads with the same start address with them running out of blocks of 6 faders.

If there are no fixtures patched in, and instead there are just dimmer channels mapped to control RGB of your fixtures, the console will just treat them as HTP dimmer channels, and there will be no LTP mixing by default.

I would therefore recommend patching each fixture onto faders, so rather than having several channel faders controlling a single fixture, you have a single channel fader controlling a single fixture. The intensity can then be controlled by the fixture's channel fader, and other parameters such as colour mixing can be controlled by the fixture controls on the right hand side of the console. This can be done by first removing the dimmer channels, and then in SETUP -> Add Fixtures finding the fixture you need, and then patching it onto the fader you'd like it on.

If you wish, a fixture on the console can have multiple DMX addresses. To do this tap SETUP, find the fixture you need in the Fixture Schedule, and then tap on its DMX address. Then type the new additional DMX address, and then tap "Add as Additional", instead of pressing OK.

14 hours ago, delicolor said:

Whilst you are on, can I output DMX universe 1 to both desk outlets 1 & 2 simultaneously? That will sort out a short term wiring config to match the current arrangement.

Yes you can. To do this, tap SETUP -> Universes, and scroll down to Desk Universe 1. Under Desk Universe 1, click Add under DMX, and type the port number of the extra DMX port you wish this universe to be transmitted from.

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

Edward