Effects Generator & Wheel Editing Modes

[minimac]

hi there, could somone explain to me? i am using minimacs on trussing, and am trying to get the movement effects over the crowd only, not rotating round to the dj side?

are the effects better when from above? on bars above the dance floor.

could i have an explanation of each function? thank you :oops: :oops: the manual doesnt help much.

also can the offset be used in normal chases?

[Paul]

With the movement effect set to off, set the pan/tilt to point the lights at the middle of the crowd. Then turn on the movement effect, and slowly increase the X size and Y size so the effect sweeps only over the crowd.

 

Doesn't matter where the lights are in relation to the crowd, but one thing to remember with moving heads is that circles can become figure-8's, depending on which way the light is pointing...

 

The 'offset' function is specific to movement effects (position only), and cannot be used elsewhere. See THIS TOPIC.

 

Really the best way to see what you can do with the movement effect parameters (and wheel editing modes) is to set half a dozen or so lights (of the same kind) in a line, and sit down for 20 minutes and experiment. With the wheels in fan mode, adjust the offset, and you'll very quickly get some nice looking effects.

 

edit: fixed link

[sam.henderson]

I love the fx genorator its a great feature to have for concert/ disco type rigs.

 

Can someone explain the modes (i.e. reletive, fan first etc.) to me in a little more detail.

 

Thanks,

 

Sam

[ice]

Here goes:

 

Absolute: all selected fixtures will have the same values, depending on the one you selected last. For instance: fix 1-4 have pan-parameter 10-20-30-40 and you selected fixture 2 as the last one. Turning the wheel up a bit will correspond in values 21-21-21-21

 

Relative: almost the same as absolute, but turning the wheel will now correspond to: 11-21-31-41; ie the separate values are being raised individually.

 

Fan: apply a fanning effect to the parameter, very useful for pan/tilt features, as creating waves by offset, rotation effects etc. The way it's used:

 

* fan first: the primary selected fixture will be first in fanning, that means it's value won't be changed, the last fixture will be changed according to the value on the wheels, all fixture parameter values in between will be raised like: 25%-50%-75% (in this case 5 fixtures).

Example; tilt is at 0; set fan-first, select 5 fixtures en turn the wheel to 100. The individual fixtures will now have values; 0 - 25 - 50 - 75 - 100.

 

Fan middle is the same, although it now runs from the center of the selection.

Example; dmx value 150 (all fixtures) gets raised to 200 for the selected fixture. Resulting values: 100-125-150-175-200; great for making pan-crosses with movingheads!

 

Fan-last; same as fan-first, but in a reversed way.

 

I hope it explains a bit, my English is not that good. Just try the option and you'll know what I mean. I use it a lot in the position section, in others it's not that useful.

[K-Nine]

Moderation: "Wheel Editing Modes" added to topic title, to reflect additional subject

 

Ice is mostly correct except for a couple of details on the fan modes

 

The fan modes work on the selected fixtures in fixture number order.

 

It doesn't matter which of the selected fixtures is the primary fixture - that just determines which DMX value appears on the wheel LCD as you adjust the parameter levels, ie the value on the LCD represents the parameter for the selected fixture with the red flashing LED.

 

That is why for example if you have fixtures 1-5 selected and fixture 1 is the primary fixture (red LED flashing) andthe wheel edit mode is set to Fan-First, moving a control wheel will not appear to change the DMX value.

 

This is because the LCD is showing the value of fixture 1, which in this case is locked - the parameter values for fixtures 2-5 will be fanning out accordingly as you move the wheel.

 

If one of the other selected fixtures was the 'primary fixture' the LCD would show it's parameter value - and this would change as you moved the wheel.

 

I suggest that you try displaying the Fixture Outputs screen on the monitor and look at the parameter values for the different fixtures as you move the wheel

 

Experiment with different fixture selections and the different wheel editing modes, and it should all become clearer

 

The combination of the wheel editing modes (particularly the fan functions)and the movement effect parameters provide a very quick and powerful way of creating effects with moving lights

 

It's just one of those things that is easier to demonstrate with a desk and a few moving lights that to describe acurately in words 8O

[Morn]

What happens, when you just select 4 fixtures in fan middle mode...which one will be the static one? And what happens when you have assigned (or just selected) fixtures to buttons 1-4 and 7-10 and leave 5 and 6 blank. Will they be considered while the fan values are calculated or are they out of the race?

 

Has anyone found a convenient range of application for the fan modes at color attributes?

[NZ]

In fan middle mode if you have even numbers then none of them will be stationary.

 

These effects can also be used to quickly create rainbows etc.

 

Graham

[K-Nine]

If you have an even number of fixtures selected and you use the fan-middle editing mode, the values are fanned around a 'virtual fixture' in the middle of the selection.

 

For example if you had selected fixtures 1-4, then the output values would be centred around a 'virtual fixture' between fixtures 2 and 3.

 

Suppose the pan values of fixtures 1-4 were all set to 50%; select fan - middle as the editing mode and gently move the pan control wheel. The values of fixtures 1 and 2 would decrease and those for fixtures 3 and 4 would increase, giving you something like 30%, 43%, 56%, 70%.

[Morn]

Hey, that's great...in my opinion the best solution...Thank you

[Martin]

Really nice, didnt know that feature! Anything else we have to know ?

[Paul]

Anything else we have to know

It's all in the manual! If you find something that isn't, let us know. Go on, I dare you... :twisted: