Fixture intensities inverted

[Connor]

I am having an issues with the FLX S24, I have completely factory reset the desk already. But my problem is when my faders are down I'm the zero positions all lights are on full and when I move them to full positions the fixtures go out. The intensities seem to be inverted at standard default is their a way to. Swap this back around so when my faders are in the 0 position my fixtures are also at zero and not at full. I am new to this desk and I do not know if this is standard.

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by Edward Z88
Video removed to save user quota.

[Edward Z88]

Hi @Connor

Welcome to the Zero 88 Forum.

13 hours ago, Connor said:

But my problem is when my faders are down I'm the zero positions all lights are on full and when I move them to full positions the fixtures go out. The intensities seem to be inverted at standard default is their a way to. Swap this back around so when my faders are in the 0 position my fixtures are also at zero and not at full.

Thank you for sharing a video. I have downloaded and removed your attached video, to save your forum storage space.

Fixtures will default to a standard intensity, meaning 100% intensity = a DMX value of 255. However some fixtures do have inverted intensities, meaning to achieve full light output, the DMX value needs to be 0.

What make, model and mode of fixture have you patched onto these faders? If you can let me know, I will check to see whether this fixture is incorrectly inverted in the library. If it is, I can share a corrected version of the fixture for you to load in.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Edward

[Connor]

Thank you Edward 

 

I am using showtec phantom 250 spots. 

[droiddk]

12 minutes ago, Connor said:

Thank you Edward 

 

I am using showtec phantom 250 spots. 

Hi

DMX-chart confirms what Edward said, DMX value 255 = "close" (from manual)/ dimmer at zero so desk is working as it should.

Regards

[Edward Z88]

Hi @Connor

37 minutes ago, Connor said:

I am using showtec phantom 250 spots. 

There are actually 4 different versions of the Phantom 250 Spots, each with different DMX maps.

24 minutes ago, droiddk said:

DMX-chart confirms what Edward said, DMX value 255 = "close" (from manual)/ dimmer at zero so desk is working as it should.

As @droiddk mentions, the Phantom 250 Spot in our library is the version with the inverted intensity.

If you can provide us with a manual to your exact version of the Phantom 250 Spot, we will be able to provide you with the correct fixture file for your version.

If you have any questions, please let us know.

Edward

[Connor]

Sorry for the delayed response,

I have had a look for the exact manual but unfortunately this an amateur dramatic company so file keeping isn't brilliant and I haven't been able to find it, would you be able to drop all four dmx profiles and I just trail and error it on my side until it works. 

 

[Davidmk]

It's tedious to do but it might be possible to work out what channels the fixture uses and in what order then match that to one of the four models.

Basically, starting with an empty patch, you assign the fixture as as series of dimmers so if the fixture's address is 100 and the maximum number of parameters is 10 you assign 10 dimmers starting at 100 to channels 1 through 10. It might help to assign a few more than the maximum you expect in case your variation has extra ones.

Then, in channel mode, put all channels to full and start playing with them.

If you can, get the fixture near to the desk and listen as well as watching you should be able to hear a colour or gobo wheel rotating for example).

The first one to try and find is the dimmer so that you get some light out of the fixture. What makes this difficult is that other parameters may affect light output. In your case, we already know that the dimmer channel needs to be below 100% to get output.

Remember there may be 16bit parameters so while if one channel makes a bit difference for a small change (e.g. the fixture pans) the change effected by the next one may make a small difference for a big change - so small that you can't see it.

Shutter and control parameters are the worst as they often have multiple positions that stop light output so full on and full off might both be dark. Pan and tilt are probably the easiest because you don't need output to see those. Auto programs and effects can throw spanners in the works because you can get all sorts of responses on those parameters.

I've had a look at one of the manuals and in that version shutter values below 3% (DMX 7) would block output. In your case it appears there is a colour wheel but in the case of colour mixing fixtures at least one of the RGB etc parameters needs to be non-zero. Non LED fixtures probably have values that turn the lamp off.

All these things and more make this a trial and error option - it might help to get as many variations of the manual as you can to inform your experiments but be open to the possibilty that you don't have the one you need.

It may prove too difficult to identify which model you have but it's worth a go if you have the patience. Just don't give up too early, it's a bit like trying to open a combination lock when you've forgotten the combination.

Good luck.

[DALX]

Then put a label on the fixtures. identifying the model number and dmx channel version.

[Davidmk]

1 hour ago, DALX said:

Then put a label on the fixtures.

Definitely!

[Edward Z88]

Hi @Connor

On 5/28/2022 at 2:01 PM, Connor said:

I have had a look for the exact manual but unfortunately this an amateur dramatic company so file keeping isn't brilliant and I haven't been able to find it, would you be able to drop all four dmx profiles and I just trail and error it on my side until it works. 

This fixture file contains five Phantom 250 Spot modes/versions...

Showtec Phantom 250 Spot.ift

Please try these, and let us know how you get on.

Edward