Running a cue independently

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manjarco
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:05 pm

Running a cue independently

Post by manjarco »

Hey,

so suppose my setup is the following: I've got some single spots on channels 1 and 2 and a floodlight on channel 10.

Now I want to run a cue fading the floodlight in 30sec independently from everything else, following another cue. Something like this:

Cue 1 / in 5sec / 1@50
Cue 1.1 / in 30sec / 10@100 (auto-follows 1, doesn't alter channel 1)
Cue 2 / in 5sec / 1@50, 2@50 (is fired while 1.1 is still running)

So far I've tried:
Working in tracking mode, only marking channel 10 in cue 1.1. and not marking channel 10 in every other cue
--> cue 2 overwrites the the time of cue 1.1 fading it in 5sec

Programming a cue-based effect
--> the problem is, that I have to clear the effect so that another cue can alter channel 10 again, but when I do the levels of channel 10 are lost, though I need them preserved.

Can anybody help? What am I missing?

Greetings
Jan
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Post by admin »

Assuming you have the time before something else happens, can you add a cue 2.1 that runs after the effect sets 10@100 and which does not alter the levels 1@50, 2@50, 10@100 but allows you to then clear the sub without changing the stage?
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Post by admin »

You also might be better off having channel 2 be the one controlled by the effect. Then you could add an auto follow after 1.1 that put 1@50, 2@50 and 10@100 (assuming that the effect had set 2 to 50% by the time 1.1 ends) Then, you can also clear the effect without a change to the stage.
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Post by admin »

There is a third option using parts that can keep everything in a single cue-- if the timing of all three elements can be fixed to a single Go.

Parts are multiple fades at different timings that happen as part of the same cue. In the question, the fading of channel 1 and 10 can be handled in two cues as described. An alternative would be to have a single cue with two parts. The first part would include channel 1 fading to 50% in 5 seconds. The second part would include channel 10 which would be set to delay 5 seconds, then fade up in 30 seconds. The result would be the same as with the two cue situation. Channel one fading up followed by channel 10. However, what you can't do with follow cues (or is very difficult) is to have channel 1 fade up in 5 seconds AND channel 10 fade up in 30 seconds, both starting at the same time. You can do that with a cue in two parts, however.

Now, extending this to the question, if you know how long after channel 1 starts fading, you'd like to start adding channel 2,then the whole thing can be done in one cue with three parts.

First, you record the final cue, 1@50%, 2@50%, 10@100%. Then switch to blind mode. (This is not strictly necessary but when setting the timing, it is much more certain which cue/part you are editing in the drawer). In blind mode, switch to the cue you just recorded by pressing the "q" key followed by the cue number, then <ENTER>. Open the drawer to expose the cue timing. The timing is shown for the main part of the cue as most cues have only one part.

Now, create a second part by pressing the "p" key followed by "2" and <ENTER>. You'll be asked if you want to create a new part. Click on channel 10 to highlight it. (Or enter 10 on the command line). Next select Channel->Set Hilited to Current Part. This menu command assigns channel 10 to part 2. In the drawer, you'll be able to see that you can now set the timing for part 2. You'll want to set the "up" time to 30. And, depending on if you want channel 10 to start fading after channel 1 is done, you may want to set the "wait up" time to 5 seconds.

Finally, press "p", then "3" and <RETURN>. This will create a 3rd part to the cue. Click on channel 2 or enter it into the command line and choose Channel->Set Hilited to Current Part. This assigns channel 2 to part 3. And, you will be able to set the timing of part 3 in the drawer. You'll want to have the up time at 5 seconds and the "wait up" set to the time after the cue is initiated until you want channel 2 to start its 5 second fade.

For example's sake say that part 3 has a "wait up" of 15 seconds (and part two has a "wait up" of 5 seconds. Here's what happens when the cue is played.

First channel 1 fades to 50% in 5 seconds. Then, channel 10 starts fading to 100% over 30 seconds. After 10 seconds of channel 10 fading (15 seconds from the start of the cue) channel 2 fades to 50% over 5 seconds. This finishes at 20 seconds from the start of the cue but channel 10 is only halfway. It continues to fade to 100% over the remaing 15 seconds. The total time is 35 seconds.

Here's another way of looking at this timing:

Part 1 5 seconds
Part 2 30 seconds, wait up 5 seconds
Part 3 5 seconds, wait up 15 seconds

Part 1 happens from (elapsed) 0 to (elapsed) 5 seconds
Part 2 happens from (elapsed) 5 to (elapsed) 35 seconds
Part 3 happens from (elapsed) 15 to (elapsed) 20 seconds

LXConsole does not impose a limit on the number of parts a cue may have. However, any channel may only be assigned to a single part.
manjarco
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 6:05 pm

Post by manjarco »

Wow, thank you for that many options! How do you find the time to reply in such detail?

I now build something according to your first post, where Cue 1.1 starts a sub-effect (which also fades the effects-master in 30sec), thus being able to start cues while the effect is still running (important!).
Then, when I need to alter channel 10 I fire a cascade of cue 3 setting channel 10 in 0sec at the level of the effect, followed in 0sec by 3.1 clearing the effect, followed in 0sec by 3.2 doing whatever I want to do with channel 10.

Am I right, that the Advanced tab of the drawer does not apply to cue parts? Because I tried the solution mentioned above using cue parts instead of multiple cues.

Greetings
Jan
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