Hi
I can´t get it right to setup a RGB Led.
This is what I do:
Channel setup and chose import RGB. Base address 1 (same as start dmx i guess?). OK
So far, so good.
But when I control the intensity parameter it doesn't work properly.
Shouldn't I be able to control the color mixing separately and then the "output" separately?
Its also seems to use 4 dmx addresses. Next Led in the line is turning red when i turn on the blue control.
/viktor
How to setup a RGB LED Fixture?
-
viktor.wendin
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:27 pm
- Location: Sweden
The problem is probably that the order of DMX addresses for your particular fixture is different than the order for the default RGB channel setup. To correctly set up your fixture, you need to know the order of its DMX addresses and that is usually found in the manual somewhere. The order of addresses for the default RGB channel setup is:
1-Red
2-Green
3-Blue
4-Intensity
There are an number of possible variations that use more dmx addresses for things like macros, shutter effects, etc. In all cases, these need to be patched into the right order for the channel setup to work properly. You can create your own channel setup and then use it to patch multiple channels. When you import a channel setup you are asked for the base DMX address and this is used to correctly order the other DMX addresses based on the order that was saved in the channel setup.
Here's how to make a channel setup from scratch in LXConsole. I would do this in a new file. You will export the setup when you are done so it can be used with other files.
1) You need to add the subchannels you will need in the View->Setup window's "Channels" tab. In this tab, there is a table of subchannels. Use the add (+) button to add the subchannels you will require. In the case of an RGB fixture you will need to add at least Red, Green and Blue plus any other controls available such as macros or shutter. You should be able to find these choices (or close enough) in the popup menu of built-in subchannels that appears when you click the add (+) button. Once you have aded all the subchannels you will need, you can close the setup window.
2) The next step is to control-click channel 1 to bring up the channel setup sheet. In the channel setup sheet, you will click the add (+) subchannel button and add all the subchannels you need into the list of subchannels on the left side of the sheet. The subchannels will appear in order of their numbers which may or may not be the same as the order of DMX addresses. We will get to that in step 3. After you've added all the subchannels you need to channel 1, click "OK" to close the sheet. Note that there will always be an intensity subchannel. If your fixture does not include a channel to control intensity, you will simply not patch it to an address.
3) You need to patch the channels in the proper order. Look in the patch table (which is the bottom half of the split screen main display) You will several rows for channel 1. These rows will be in the same order of subchannels as you saw in the channel setup sheet. This is NOT necessarily the correct order of DMX addresses for your fixture. Starting with address 1, enter that in the patch column for the subchannel that matches the first DMX address. If the fixture does not have a channel for intensity, leave the patch for that blank.
As an example lets say your fixture has the following DMX address order:
Macros
Green
Blue
Red
Shutter
Your table will look like this:
Channel ... Patch
1
1 Red 4
1 Green 2
1 Blue 3
1 Shutter 5
1 Macros 1
4) After you've assigned the patch in the correct order starting with address 1, you are ready to save your channel setup. Control-click or right click channel one to once again open the channel setup sheet. Choose "Export" beneath the subchannels table. Save your channel setup with a name like "My RGB Fixture". If you put the exported file in the default location inside your user/Library/Application Support/com.claudeheintzdesign.lxseries/lxconsole folder, it will appear in the import popup and can be used with other channels and in other files.
5) when you import the channel setup, be sure to keep the patch checkbox checked. This allows you to automatically adjust the DMX patch for the fixture's starting address. When you assign addresses to fixtures, keep in mind the total number of DMX slots required for the type. In the above example, 5 addresses are required for each fixture. So if the first one has a base DMX address of 101, the next fixture should have a base address of 106 (101+5) and so on...
1-Red
2-Green
3-Blue
4-Intensity
There are an number of possible variations that use more dmx addresses for things like macros, shutter effects, etc. In all cases, these need to be patched into the right order for the channel setup to work properly. You can create your own channel setup and then use it to patch multiple channels. When you import a channel setup you are asked for the base DMX address and this is used to correctly order the other DMX addresses based on the order that was saved in the channel setup.
Here's how to make a channel setup from scratch in LXConsole. I would do this in a new file. You will export the setup when you are done so it can be used with other files.
1) You need to add the subchannels you will need in the View->Setup window's "Channels" tab. In this tab, there is a table of subchannels. Use the add (+) button to add the subchannels you will require. In the case of an RGB fixture you will need to add at least Red, Green and Blue plus any other controls available such as macros or shutter. You should be able to find these choices (or close enough) in the popup menu of built-in subchannels that appears when you click the add (+) button. Once you have aded all the subchannels you will need, you can close the setup window.
2) The next step is to control-click channel 1 to bring up the channel setup sheet. In the channel setup sheet, you will click the add (+) subchannel button and add all the subchannels you need into the list of subchannels on the left side of the sheet. The subchannels will appear in order of their numbers which may or may not be the same as the order of DMX addresses. We will get to that in step 3. After you've added all the subchannels you need to channel 1, click "OK" to close the sheet. Note that there will always be an intensity subchannel. If your fixture does not include a channel to control intensity, you will simply not patch it to an address.
3) You need to patch the channels in the proper order. Look in the patch table (which is the bottom half of the split screen main display) You will several rows for channel 1. These rows will be in the same order of subchannels as you saw in the channel setup sheet. This is NOT necessarily the correct order of DMX addresses for your fixture. Starting with address 1, enter that in the patch column for the subchannel that matches the first DMX address. If the fixture does not have a channel for intensity, leave the patch for that blank.
As an example lets say your fixture has the following DMX address order:
Macros
Green
Blue
Red
Shutter
Your table will look like this:
Channel ... Patch
1
1 Red 4
1 Green 2
1 Blue 3
1 Shutter 5
1 Macros 1
4) After you've assigned the patch in the correct order starting with address 1, you are ready to save your channel setup. Control-click or right click channel one to once again open the channel setup sheet. Choose "Export" beneath the subchannels table. Save your channel setup with a name like "My RGB Fixture". If you put the exported file in the default location inside your user/Library/Application Support/com.claudeheintzdesign.lxseries/lxconsole folder, it will appear in the import popup and can be used with other channels and in other files.
5) when you import the channel setup, be sure to keep the patch checkbox checked. This allows you to automatically adjust the DMX patch for the fixture's starting address. When you assign addresses to fixtures, keep in mind the total number of DMX slots required for the type. In the above example, 5 addresses are required for each fixture. So if the first one has a base DMX address of 101, the next fixture should have a base address of 106 (101+5) and so on...
-
viktor.wendin
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:27 pm
- Location: Sweden
The latest build of LXConsole 3.0.5 simplifies the above process by allowing standard subchannels to be added in the channel setup sheet without requiring that they be first added to the setup window. (Eliminates step #1 for standard sub channels)
Custom subchannels still need to be defined in the setup window/channels tab/subchannels table before they can be assigned in a channel setup sheet.
Custom subchannels still need to be defined in the setup window/channels tab/subchannels table before they can be assigned in a channel setup sheet.
It sounds like the effect may have created an infinite loop. You can post the effect settings from the effect window and we can try to duplicate the condition. Or, you can e-mail the file with the effect and we can take a look.
Particularly, look to see if the override time is checked and the follow is set to zero. This may create a hang because one cue is immediately executed on top of another.
On my 2.4GHZ MacBook Pro, setting all the override time to zero cause a very quick flashing. There is some delay in running the cues so they are not truly 0 time. However, on a faster computer, it is very possible that the cues will execute so fast that essentially they never happen and the computer would appear to hang.
This type of behavior has been reported with 0 follow times on regular cues as well.
If this proves to be the case, perhaps it is necessary to enforce a minimum follow time of 0.1 second or so.
Particularly, look to see if the override time is checked and the follow is set to zero. This may create a hang because one cue is immediately executed on top of another.
On my 2.4GHZ MacBook Pro, setting all the override time to zero cause a very quick flashing. There is some delay in running the cues so they are not truly 0 time. However, on a faster computer, it is very possible that the cues will execute so fast that essentially they never happen and the computer would appear to hang.
This type of behavior has been reported with 0 follow times on regular cues as well.
If this proves to be the case, perhaps it is necessary to enforce a minimum follow time of 0.1 second or so.
-
freadZdead
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Sat Jun 01, 2013 8:23 am
- Location: Adelaide, Australia
Loop issues
Hi there, after reading this:
I made cues 901 through 907, and tried to include them in an Effect called "Flashing". The Effect would Loop (tick), Clear after stopped (tick), and Override Cue Times (tick) with Up: 1, Down: 0.8, and Follow: 1.00. Fade Effect Master In: 1, Out: 2.
I then added the "Effect Start" Action with "Flashing" selected to my Cue 6.5 (which had no other information in it - or maybe all channels to zero as a base? What would take precedence in that case, the Cue Channel Levels, or the Effect Channel Levels?), and an "Effect Stop" to the next Cue 7.
It seemed that executing the Effect from the Effect Master worked, but evoking it in a cue caused the Enttec USB DMX Pro dongle (not LXConsole) to shut down/cease working.
however, because I am calling specific cues via QLab, I was able to use a work-around for my show, that shouldn't have caused any real difference, but worked:
I put the Override values into the individual cues, and a Link into 907, referencing 901. That way, from being in Cue 6, when I wanted to start the Effect, I would simply call 901, and it would work, running through all cues up to 907, and then back to 901, until I sent the next chronological Cue 7.
However, I still wonder what happened/why it did not work.
Ideas?
I thought I'd share my experience with Loops as well... in a recent show, I tried to make an effect by doing this:It sounds like the effect may have created an infinite loop. You can post the effect settings from the effect window and we can try to duplicate the condition. Or, you can e-mail the file with the effect and we can take a look.
Particularly, look to see if the override time is checked and the follow is set to zero. This may create a hang because one cue is immediately executed on top of another.
On my 2.4GHZ MacBook Pro, setting all the override time to zero cause a very quick flashing. There is some delay in running the cues so they are not truly 0 time. However, on a faster computer, it is very possible that the cues will execute so fast that essentially they never happen and the computer would appear to hang.
This type of behavior has been reported with 0 follow times on regular cues as well.
If this proves to be the case, perhaps it is necessary to enforce a minimum follow time of 0.1 second or so.
I made cues 901 through 907, and tried to include them in an Effect called "Flashing". The Effect would Loop (tick), Clear after stopped (tick), and Override Cue Times (tick) with Up: 1, Down: 0.8, and Follow: 1.00. Fade Effect Master In: 1, Out: 2.
I then added the "Effect Start" Action with "Flashing" selected to my Cue 6.5 (which had no other information in it - or maybe all channels to zero as a base? What would take precedence in that case, the Cue Channel Levels, or the Effect Channel Levels?), and an "Effect Stop" to the next Cue 7.
It seemed that executing the Effect from the Effect Master worked, but evoking it in a cue caused the Enttec USB DMX Pro dongle (not LXConsole) to shut down/cease working.
however, because I am calling specific cues via QLab, I was able to use a work-around for my show, that shouldn't have caused any real difference, but worked:
I put the Override values into the individual cues, and a Link into 907, referencing 901. That way, from being in Cue 6, when I wanted to start the Effect, I would simply call 901, and it would work, running through all cues up to 907, and then back to 901, until I sent the next chronological Cue 7.
However, I still wonder what happened/why it did not work.
Ideas?
Cheers,
Freddy
Freddy