Easy? Fun? We can't get any lights to work with our FLX24 console.

[The Vault Arts Centre]

This is our setup:

FLX24
4 x COLORado Q15 battens
2 x COLORado Q40

We are completely lost.

We have tried looking through the training videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jdcrxI8rJY – but there is nothing that teaches you how to physically (cabling) connect your fixtures properly, and even when we feel like we have, intuitively, connected properly:

Zero88 Controller (DMX Out) --> DMX Wheel --> Fixture 1 (DMX In / DMX Out) --> Fixture 2 (DMX In / DMX Out) --> Fixture 3 (DMX In) etc

 

….nothing in the tutorial videos works.  We can’t get any lights to work with the console.  The lights, on their own, work great and we’re wondering if this console is even compatible with these lights.

Each of the lights has a menu and we're not sure if we need to set to Master or Slave.  Neither works though.

The FLX24 has identified the fixtures, by name, without us patching, but the faders don't work.  Nothing we do on the console puts the lights on.

Can anyone help us here with the basic basics?
Thank you.
NJ

[Edward Z88]

Hi @The Vault Arts Centre

I have just replied to your email to Zero 88 Support.

The majority of videos on our YouTube channel, will be training videos on how to use the console. We don't tend to run training videos on full lighting systems, as every lighting system is different, and very dependent on the make and model of fixtures and other equipment being used.

35 minutes ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

Each of the lights has a menu and we're not sure if we need to set to Master or Slave.  Neither works though.

I would recommend contacting Chauvet or consulting their product literature, for information on configuring Chauvet fixtures.

36 minutes ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

The FLX24 has identified the fixtures, by name, without us patching, but the faders don't work.  Nothing we do on the console puts the lights on.

If the FLX S24 is able to detect the fixtures automatically, but you cannot control them, this would indicate that the fixtures are only reporting a limited amount of information to FLX S24. I would therefore suggest the system is configured manually. The email I have just sent you goes through this in detail.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Edward

[The Vault Arts Centre]

Edward, thank you for your reply, and also your comprehensive e-mail reply.

Regarding DMX, just a simple guide on how you connect the Controller to, say, three or four fixutres, would be very helpful for people at our level.

Quote

I would recommend contacting Chauvet or consulting their product literature, for information on configuring Chauvet fixtures.

We know how to change the setting, we just don't know what setting it needs to be in order to work with the Controller.

We'll work through your e-mail and see if that resolves things.  I'll report back here as I'm sure this will be helpful for other novices.

Thank you.
NJ

[kgallen]

1 hour ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

Regarding DMX, just a simple guide on how you connect the Controller to, say, three or four fixutres, would be very helpful for people at our level.

DMX - just daisy-chain in to out as you've already done, starting at the FLX S24, in and out of each fixture. Ideally you would add a DMX terminator on the end, but for getting going you should be fine without. Note you should aim to use cables that are designed for DMX, not microphone cables (although I suspect your fixtures have the official 5-pin XLR connection which would preclude you using audio cables). See also this Wikipedia article on DMX although you don't need to understand all of the nitty-gritty technical details, just the basic idea and setup. Also have a brief look at RDM as it sounds like your fixtures have some sort of implementation - however you may be better using a manual setup as Edward describes, at least until you get the hang of things.

1 hour ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

We know how to change the setting, we just don't know what setting it needs to be in order to work with the Controller.

Regards your fixtures, Master will definitely be wrong. If there are no other options, then use Slave.

If you are completely new to this then consider joining the Blueroom Technical Forum - this is a UK-based technical theatre forum. There is a Beginners section where you can ask basic questions without getting ridiculed.

[DALX]

DMX512 is a serial protocol that has to be connected in a daisy chain, so as kgallen says you go from the 5 pin or 3 pin output of your FLXS24 to the first light dmx in, then from the dmx out connect a cable to the next lights dmx in etc. When you first use the FLXS24 it will have RigSync enabled , which is Zero88's name for Remote Device Management. Rigsync will search for any fixtures that have RDM capability, the COLORado Batten Q15 has RDM so the FLXS24 should be able to automatically patch the fixtures onto channel faders. Zero88 RDM RDM and DMX  video. RigSync does not always work, I have Huayinlight HY-P186S 6in1 led par's that have non compliant RDM so it does not work with them.

Your COLORado Batten Q15 is a pixel batten, that is you can control each of the 15 LED's individually if the lighting controller can support pixel control, but the ZerOS operating system will not be able to until the next version. The common work around for this is to patch in 15 separate fixtures. I do not see the COLORado Batten Q15 in the current library so you would have to request a fixture file be made up for the Batten Q15. In the Batten Q15 manual, there is  a Mode chart on page 19. If you set the Batten Q15 to 1 Simple (4 Channels) RGBW you can patch the Batten Q15 as Generic LED-RGBW to get it working.

[kgallen]

9 minutes ago, DALX said:

the ZerOS operating system will not be able to until the next version

We're expecting this in the next month or so. This is "multi-cell fixture" support. Keep 'em peeled for ZerOS 7.10 on this site.

However unless you want to do fancy things with multi-cell effects then you will be fine patching and using as @DALX suggests. (Note: You will consume more of your 48 fixture slots on your FLX S24 if you instead want individual cell control, so the new ZerOS version will be useful for you.)

[Edward Z88]

1 hour ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

Edward, thank you for your reply, and also your comprehensive e-mail reply.

Regarding DMX, just a simple guide on how you connect the Controller to, say, three or four fixutres, would be very helpful for people at our level.

No problem at all, and thank you for the feedback.

1 hour ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

We know how to change the setting, we just don't know what setting it needs to be in order to work with the Controller.

The manual for the Chauvet fixture should describe configuring the fixture for DMX control, to allow you to use a lighting console such as FLX S24.

1 hour ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

We'll work through your e-mail and see if that resolves things.  I'll report back here as I'm sure this will be helpful for other novices.

Let us know how you get on.

8 minutes ago, DALX said:

Your COLORado Batten Q15 is a pixel batten, that is you can control each of the 15 LED's individually if the lighting controller can support pixel control, but the ZerOS operating system will not be able to until the next version. The common work around for this is to patch in 15 separate fixtures. I do not see the COLORado Batten Q15 in the current library so you would have to request a fixture file be made up for the Batten Q15. In the Batten Q15 manual, there is  a Mode chart on page 19. If you set the Batten Q15 to 1 Simple (4 Channels) RGBW you can patch the Batten Q15 as Generic LED-RGBW to get it working.

I have suggested operating the fixture in 10 channel mode.

If you cannot see this fixture in the library, I would recommend updating your console's library to ZerOS Library v2.1. For more information see the link below...

https://zero88.com/manuals/zeros/setup/load/zeros-library-2

Edward

[The Vault Arts Centre]

Quote

If you cannot see this fixture in the library, I would recommend updating your console's library to ZerOS Library v2.1. For more information see the link below...

https://zero88.com/manuals/zeros/setup/load/zeros-library-2

This doesn't work Edward.  When we've downloaded, copied the library to the root of a USB stick, plugged into the console and selected Setup > Load we are presented with a blank screen (image attached).

In the list of Fixtures for Chauvet, there is no Batten Q15 option. 

We've downloaded the latest ZerOS version to try to get that installed, but we can't find any instruction on how to actually update the controller with that OS upgrade, assuming we're not already using this latest version (7.9.9).  We assumed it would be a Setup > Load option but, facing a blank screen when we select that, we're a bit snookered.

I'd put this down to not knowing what we're doing, but we have 6 fixtures and it seems ridiculous, to us, that it's this difficult to get them to even come on, using this controller.

We've a show tomorrow night and at this rate we'll just have to put the lights onto their in-built auto-program mode so that we've at least something! 

Any help would be hugely appreciated.  Thank you.
NJ

[Ed75]

To start simple: check >Setup >Universes and see if dmx output is on (The 'enabled' button should be blue )

Try another clean usb-stick. Should be formatted FAT32 without booting capability. And try to repeat installing your fixture library.

It should load  the way you do it. (Load button)

 

 

 

[Ed75]

Have you tried exchanging  your dmx-cable for another one? (from desk to fixtures)

if you use a dmx splitter, , try to disconnect it and not use it. Use 1 cable directly from your desk to your first fixture. 

try connecting one fixture first. If you get this to work, the problem will probably be solved. After this, connect fixture by fixture, and see if your system  still keeps working. if not there is a problem in one of the other fixtures. (settings or something)  

 

[Edward Z88]

Hi @The Vault Arts Centre

12 hours ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

This doesn't work Edward.  When we've downloaded, copied the library to the root of a USB stick, plugged into the console and selected Setup > Load we are presented with a blank screen (image attached).

 

Thank you for attaching the images.

After plugging in a USB drive, please wait a few seconds, and then tap the "Refresh" button, shown top right of the SETUP -> Load screen.

You should then see the files stored on the USB drive, including the ZerOS Library file (.zlbr).

12 hours ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

We've downloaded the latest ZerOS version to try to get that installed, but we can't find any instruction on how to actually update the controller with that OS upgrade, assuming we're not already using this latest version (7.9.9).  We assumed it would be a Setup > Load option but, facing a blank screen when we select that, we're a bit snookered.

Software installation instructions can be found in the release notes, also available from the ZerOS page. However, ZerOS 7.9.9 is the latest release software, so you shouldn't need to be updating the console's software. You will only need to update the console's library, to access the Chauvet Colorado Batten Q15.

13 hours ago, The Vault Arts Centre said:

I'd put this down to not knowing what we're doing, but we have 6 fixtures and it seems ridiculous, to us, that it's this difficult to get them to even come on, using this controller.

We've a show tomorrow night and at this rate we'll just have to put the lights onto their in-built auto-program mode so that we've at least something! 

You have pretty new fixtures. There is therefore no guarantee, no matter what lighting controller you have, that these fixtures will be in the console's library. Unless you have very basic fixtures, you will always need a fixture "personality" or fixture "profile" in the console's library, to be able to control the light. It should be as simple as updating the console's library file, and then being able to patch the fixtures.

Edward

[kgallen]

@The Vault Arts Centre How's it going?