Original LXSeries Forum

Hi There,

I've been exploring LX Console off and on for a couple of years now and I think that it's great. Having spent a lot of time on other full size consoles I suppose I've gotten used to certain syntax and I'm trying to determine if lx console can do that and or if it's called something else and I'm completely missing it.

rem dim
goto cue
goto cue 0 (or killing the active cue onstage)
bringing up a dimmer to spot check it
next & last - moving between channels for channel check and or cues in the cue list.

Many thanks!
-Chris

Help/Main Window/Command Line has a list of keys and their functions.

Dim Unselected Channels: < ! >

To go to cue ten: < q > < 1 > < 0 > <enter> on the command line and click the Go button in the live window. Or, enter 10 in the field in the live window and click Go.

Cue Menu->Clear Current Levels: Command+option+delete
or use ! with no channels selected

There is no dimmer check function

There is a script under Command Line called "Next Channel Full"
Repeating the last script is Command + /

+1 for a dimmer check ... although the way it could be realised might be something different alltogether...

What would be helpful for me is -

When several dimmer channels are patched into one channel, sometimes it comes in handy during focus to exclude/include patched lanterns at will, without having to patch/unpatch... so, somehow having the ability to toggle dimmers on or off that are patched into one channel without much fuss (maybe even somehow via OSC?) would be brilliant...

In the patch window, you seem to order the patched dimmers in a channel by address... so if one somehow could (remotely?) say something like

Channel 1 f
Patched dimmer 1 off
Patched dimmer 3 off

(focussing of patched dimmer 2)

Patched dimmer 1 on
Patched dimmer 2 off

(focussing of patched dimmer 1)

and so on, where one does not have to know by heart the patched dimmer numbers, and can just refer to whatever is patched into the particular channel in question... don't know if I make myself clear... or if there might be a better or easier way...

maybe somehow simply exposing the patch via OSC or applescript could be enough for me to write an intelligent little script, TouchOSC or similar to invent something useful here? All I would need would be a list of all the pairings Channel to Dimmers, with read/write access - then, I could i.e. patch an affiliated dimmer @01 to "switch it off"...

Anyway, just thoughts .

The latest build 3.2.5 6914B has a dimmer check function.

The 'm' key is used to insert the "dimmer:" keyword on the command line.

The "dimmer:" command can be used to directly set the level of a single dimmer or dmx address. "dimmer:" followed by a number and "enter" will turn on that address. Immediately after starting dimmer check pressing any of the up/down keys will advance the dimmer number forward or backward ("dimmer:" followed by up/down + "enter" any time does the same). "dimmer: 1@50" will set the dimmer check level to 50%. Once the dimmer check level has been established, subsequent uses of the dimmer command will be at that level.

The TouchOSC remote file has been updated with a "DMX" button. The +% and -% buttons can be used to step through the dimmers.

thanks freadZdead for a good suggestion and Admin of course for it's implementation!

However reading the above I first got inspired to study the helppage: LXConsole Main Window-> Command Line. Its always wise to learn those shortcuts and I realised I've never really read that entire text through properly.

I found a row i'd never seen before saying that:

you can press the '=' key instead of typing '@'. You'll notice that the command line replaces the '=' with '@'.

I tested, bot got not an at but an et.
( i didn't get an '@' but instead an '&'.)

So I tested writing a capital 'A' to see what happened and nothing did, nothing at all.
But the small 'a' works fine still. results in '@'

Now maybe this thing with the = sign is just because I have a Swedish keyboard, but I thought I ought to tell you.

I've never tried the capital A before. I always use '+' since that's only one button and not a capital on my keyboard.

The "Dim Unselected command" was a nice new acquaintance for me. Very useful.
But what if nothing is selected, shouldnt it then be a command to kill all?
Now it doesnt do anything unless something is selected.

-
All other commands seemed to work properly also on my foreign keyboard.

thanks freadZdead for a good suggestion and Admin of course for it's implementation!

However reading the above I first got inspired to study the helppage: LXConsole Main Window-> Command Line. Its always wise to learn those shortcuts and I realised I've never really read that entire text through properly.

I found a row i'd never seen before saying that:

you can press the '=' key instead of typing '@'. You'll notice that the command line replaces the '=' with '@'.

I tested, bot got not an at but an et.
( i didn't get an '@' but instead an '&'.)

So I tested writing a capital 'A' to see what happened and nothing did, nothing at all.
But the small 'a' works fine still. results in '@'

Now maybe this thing with the = sign is just because I have a Swedish keyboard, but I thought I ought to tell you.

I've never tried the capital A before. I always use '+' since that's only one button and not a capital on my keyboard.

The "Dim Unselected command" was a nice new acquaintance for me. Very useful.
But what if nothing is selected, shouldnt it then be a command to kill all?
Now it doesnt do anything unless something is selected.

-
All other commands seemed to work properly also on my foreign keyboard.

Hi Johan, interesting - I have a native German Keyboard layout, and as long as I follow whatever needs to be done to get the appropriate sign (i.e. the @ symbol is alt/option and L), it does react correctly...

Hi Claude, just had a chance to play with the new dimmer check function - great stuff! Two things -

A) To quickly end the dimmer check mode, would the "out" code work? so, x or z?

B) Visual feedback - while the plus/minus keys are great to quickly flick through, it would be mighty handy to get some visual feedback of what dimmer you are looking at... Bar introducing a new DMX send address (displaying the currently activated Dimmer - admittedly a rather limited field to introduce), this touches on something else I with the command line in both application and TouchOSC - that as soon as a command is entered, it vanishes... it would be great if the last command would stay visible - maybe not selectable, but greyed out? I found this is what other consoles do, i.e. Jands and also ETC Eos/Ion/Element - a finished command stays in the command line until you type the next, but with an asterisk at the end (signifying the "enter" or "executed" state...)

I don't know how this could be solved on an application level, but I do have an idea for OSC - simply a same sized label, transparent background, different colour (maybe grey?red?), occupying the same size that the command line feedback currently inhabitates... this would obviously need a second OSC field to be sent, maybe following the current logic /1/cmdlineLast could be appropriate.

The two cmdlines could then be fed alternating - whenever a command has been completed, and NO other new keystroke into the command line has been sent off yet, /1/cmdlineLast is being filled, while /1/cmdline gets sent a blank or an empty value. In all other cases, /1/cmdlineLast stays blank, and /1/cmdline gets the current keystrokes.

Hope that makes sense ... this would also solve the visual feedback for the dimmer question above, as the last dimmer would stay displayed until the next dimmer gets checked.

Hope this makes sense, and good night!

In the latest build of LXConsole 3.2.5 (6917B):

The "dimmer:" command can be used to directly set the level of a single dimmer or dmx address. "dimmer:" followed by a number and "enter" will turn on that address. dimmer: followed by enter ends the dimmer check.

Immediately after starting dimmer check pressing any of the up/down keys will advance the dimmer number forward or backward ("dimmer:" followed by up/down + "enter" any time does the same). "dimmer: 1@50" will set the dimmer check level to 50%. Once the dimmer check level has been established, subsequent uses of the dimmer command will be at that level.

The dimmer command can also be used to check the dimmers assigned to a particular channel. The form of this function is [channel]dimmer:[index][enter]. So, "1dimmer:1[enter]" will check the first dimmer assigned to channel 1. Likewise, "12dimmer:2[enter]" will check the second dimmer assigned to channel 12. If the index is invalid, the command will have no effect.

The "Echo command line and cue fade info" preference sends a message addressed to /1/cmdline with the current text of the command line when a /key.lxconsole/k message is received or the command line is changed by typing. It also causes a message addressed to /2/next_cue to be sent when the live window's next cue field is changed. When a cue is started and finished, this option causes message to be sent to the address /2/running_cue. If the Send sub/master/manual change option is also selected, messages will be sent to /2/running_cue with the progress of the fade as well. This option also enables sending a message to /1/dimmer with the current dimmer check dimmer as a string.

(download and install the latest version of the TouchOSC, LXConsoleRemote file to see how the /1/dimmer message works)

I finally had time to play around with those new features - great stuff!!

A couple of minor suggestions that would greatly improve the current state:

A) I noted that with the [channel]dimmer:[index], there is no possibility to give it a percentage. However, that is not to worry, IF...

B) ... it would be possible for the Master to affect the dimmer test? That way, it is an easy, can-not-go-wrong-and-blow-a-cold-bulb way of saying "I set the master at 80 percent, and whatever I do next will not kill any bulbs"... as opposed to having to type it (even though it does remember it from one to the other, if you are NOT using the [channel]dimmer:[index] but the dimmer:[dimmernumber]

C) For the scenario mentioned earlier (focussing channels that have more than 2 connected dimmer channels), it would be tremendously helpful if you could use the "and" command for the [channel]dimmer:[index] syntax - so that you can i.e. bring up more than one of the n connected dimmers of one channel together, at the same time.

Obviously, giving the opportunity for more than one dimmer to be active would mean that the OSC display might have to grow a little ...

How to I clear the red "Dimmer Check" from the lower left of LX Console when I am done?

BTW: This is such a great feature. I can't believe I missed it.

I just built a full TouchOSC to do my whole patch. WHAT A TIME SAVER!!!!

Dimmer[enter] clears the dimmer check.

That is pressing 'm' for dimmer and then 'enter' without any dimmer number shuts the dimmer check off.

When I type in try to trigger the first light in dimmer 1 in patch 1 via command line I type:

"1" "m" "1" then enter. No quotes and no spaces. What I see in the command line is 1dimmer1, not 1dimmer:1 as expected.

I can copy and paste the 1dimmer:1 format and hit enter. Not sure if either works or not and weather I have to be in dimmer mode as I am not in a theater at the moment.

Doing 1dimmer1 via ("1" "m" "1") in the command line puts the main window in Dimmer Check mode at 200

Thoughts?

The function is correct. To match the documentation, the command line expansion is missing a colon. But, it works correctly.

Build 7306A adds in the missing colon. The functionality remains the same.