P18 Framing shutters -- settings split unfavourably across "Shape" pages

[3perf]

Hi,

on a JB P18 moving light, the framing shutters are all over the place --
there are 9 settings in total, Frame a#1, b#1, a#2 ... b#4 and "frame assembly" for the rotation.

a#1, b#1 and a#2 are together on one page.
b#2, a#3, b#3, a#4 on the next.
and finally b#4 and frame assembly last.

This is really difficult to work with; the a/b1+2 should all be together on one page and the a/b3+4 on another.

 

Also, from the platform I more frequently work on, I'm used to being offered the option of having a#1/b#1 converted to "Thrust A / Angle A", which I find easier to work with. Does FLX have the ability to do that, and it merely needs to be applied to the P18, or can FLX only use framing shutter settings "as is"?

[Edward Z88]

Hello,

Framing shutter parameter labels will be displayed as per the information in the fixture library, which will come from the fixture's manual. Therefore the standard naming is "Frame a#x", and "Frame b#x", as defined in the fixture's manual...

https://www.jb-lighting.de/download/DMX-Protokolle/P18_MK2_DMX_Protocol.pdf

For fixtures which specifically state which of these parameters in the Movement, and which is the Swivel, these will be labelled "Frame In#x" and "Frame Angle#x".

Frames will be displayed from "Frame a#1" through to "Frame b#4" on the encoders, following on from the previous Shape parameters, with no empty encoders separating them. Therefore depending on the selected fixture, there is currently no guarantee of accessing the movement and swivel for a particular frame on the same encoder page.

If you have any questions let me know.

Edward

[3perf]

On the P18s, the 'a' and 'b' of a shutter move the blade from either side -- natively, it's not movement & swivel at all. So to get a non-angled cut, one has to alter 'a' and 'b' by the same amount. What I meant by converting to thrust&angle is this: the other console type knows that the P18 works this way, and offers the option of translating the a/b thing to thrust & angle settings (or movement & swivel in Zero88 nomenclature) -- so to get a non-angled cut, the programmer only has to change the thrust paramter. I suggest that you have a look at the P18s in Capture Sweden, they've gotten the action of the fixture pretty much right.

This however is just 'nice to have', the other thing is far more important ...

Having the 8 parameters of framing shutters split unevenly across three encoder pages, rather sitting nicely on two pages, is really impractical. I'd go so far as to say that it rules out using this console when framing shutters are used heavily on a show. I appreciate that you don't have a solution right now. But I believe that moving forward, this would be a truly important feature, and that Zero88 should consider the necessary changes to the underlying architecture, to allow for more ergonomic grouping of fixture paramters across the pages. Purposefully placed empty encoders need to become a thing.

[kgallen]

On earlier Z88 consoles like Fat Frog and Illusion we were able to assign parameters to thumb wheels and wheel pages of our choosing within the Fixture Editor. It’s a shame this information can’t be used on FLX - although of course with the new library we’re one step further away from the application of the ‘old’ Fixture Editor to this console range. 

[Edward Z88]

Hello,

4 hours ago, 3perf said:

This however is just 'nice to have', the other thing is far more important...

All very valid comments, and thank you for your explanation. We have various thoughts on improving all parameter controls on the console, however I have logged improvements specifically for the handling of Framing Shutters. This is logged as reference number ZOS-10734 on our system.

If you have any questions let me know.

Edward