Issues / Feature Requests

Ok .. here's one ..

Last nite when setting up a new show, I cleared a range of patches ... i.e. browser .. patch wizard .. set/clear .. Clear devices .. from (n) .. to (n + 50) .. ... function worked fine except .. text fields assigned in the channel database did not clear ... when devices were patched to the just cleared console channels they took on the "names" of the previously assigned devices .. as there was no equiviency it took a bunch of extra work effort to clear the old names and type new ones ...

also .. not an issue .. but something to put on the wish list ...

it would be nice if there were one screen where all patch assignments could be viewed/edited ..

in our environment we utilize fixtures which have both attribute and dimmer patches ..

all our dimmers exist in universe 2 .. devices in universe 1 .. to review/manually edit patches I have to bounce between 3 screens ..

also while I'm wishing ..

a lamp hour meter would be a nice feature for us in permanant installations .. tick minutes away any time a channel is live .. realize it wouldn't be accurate (has anyone ever experienced accurate lamp life ??) .. but it could be a useful tool for preventtive maint ...

Hi Dave -

 Regarding the clearing of the patch... Clearing the patch doesn't clear the texts, you are correct. You can, however, select entire columns of text and delete or replace it in one fell swoop. I take it you started from an existing show for a reason, though, as the fastest way to do this is actually to start a new play. :-) I will see if it is possible to add the ability to clear texts from the Channel Database through the Patch Wizard, though.

 
You can view the entire patch in the Channel List. All dimmer and device patch information is shown there. The best place to view and edit all your device patching is in the Device Settings list, though.

And lastly, we have been talking about using the Congo for "lamp hour" information just recently. You are correct that it would be inaccurate, and it is because of that inaccuracy that we won't implement such a feature. The console is really the last place you would want to get this kind of data because it would always be "suspect".

 
Thanks for the feedback!

Sarah

 

Hey Sarah ... hope all is well .. with regard to your observations ..

we did / are doing a reset .. half a show is changing .. hense why I didn't start a new play ..

the problem with Channel List is on dimmer patches you have to launch yet another screen .. not a biggie .. but another screen.

Device settings doesn'i allow for changes to dimmer patches ..

Lamp Hour .. I'd request user feedback on this one before kissing it off .. the console ticking a clock when a channel is live would offer some indication vs what nothing ?? Permanent installs like ourselves often relamp entire riggs just for insurance / conveinence / lower maint cost. It would be nice to have some reference suspect or not to know lamps were approaching EOL.

Try the Output Editor screen (new in v4.2.0) for your dimmer patches. This new view makes theatrical-style dimmer patching significantly easier and it uses only one tab to do it. Press MODIFY MODIFY to unlock the patch functions there, then you can use the following syntax to patch dimmers:

[#] [OUTPUT] selects the first dimmer, then

[#] [+], [-] or [THRU] can be used to select multiple dimmers, then

[#] [MODIFY] patches those selected dimmers either to the channel #, or to a range of channels starting with that #. There's a dialog to choose which behavior you want.

The order in which you select the outputs will determine the order in which they are range patched as well.

Hope that helps -

Sarah
 

Cool .. we'll give this a look see ..

Been in and out of this screen but to pressed to investigate it's functionallity ..

THANKS for the heads up !!

Regarding lamp hours

This information will be gievn to the console in the future by the Fixture!  Through the new protocol of RDM - many fixtures will offer up this data, accurately. See more information on RDM here 

See RDM based information video here 

The BIG Brother to RDM is ACN - A powerful network protocol that will  deliver even more possibilties than lamp hours.

Sarah - Any plan for what type of RDM support will be offered in Congo for the future? 

David Lincecum 

We will support messaging from RDM-capable devices, which means you can see whatever the fixture or device wants to tell you - things like lamp hours, fixture errors, that sort of thing. RDM will also allow the console to identify a fixture and patch it directly without having to set a DMX address at the fixture itself (or it will let you change the DMX address of a fixture from the console - also a good thing!).

ACN-compatible devices will be able to do even more, including sending their own description (or the equivalent of DMX mapping) to the controller, meaning you won't have to write fixture templates before patching anymore. Woo hoo!!

Thanks -

Sarah
 

Sorry new to this does Mac 250, 300 & 500 have this on ?????

Carlos

Not yet, I believe. This is newly ratified stuff here, so it will take some time for all manufacturers to start offering it. Congo will support these protocols in a future release. I can't speak to other manufacturers' development schedules. :-)

Thanks -

Sarah 

Thats great for future .. what about legacy products or conventionals ..

it would seem that the fixture utilizing ACN would be no more accurate then the console ...

Hi Dave -

I'm not sure I know what you mean here. ACN communicates with devices called Gateways (in our product line, there will be others available from other manufacturers) that convert ACN to RDM & DMX (RDM is actually a flavor of DMX), so legacy DMX equipment will still work in a system controlled by a console speaking ACN. It's very similar in that regard to how ETCNet2 works now, with Ethernet distribution of levels that get converted to DMX in the ETCNet2 DMX nodes.

Thanks -

Sarah
 

Dave

I think the difference is that many ML fixtures (including Source Four Revolution) have actual software timers in them that do time the number of hours on a lamp. They do so with pretty good accuracy because they are reset on lamp replacement and they do know when the lamp is struck and for how long it is operating.

These timers will be offering their data over the RDM (slower, serial protocol - over existing DMX wiring) or ACN (superfast ethernet protocol) to devices like Congo.

So effectively - Congo will ask the fixtures for their lamp data and the fixture will give it the data they have. This will be reasonably accurate. Many fixtures being made now have this internal capability - but it is not "on the wire" yet. I would bet that 2007 will bring much more progress in this area.

Hope that helps

Yes .. I understand the technologies ... but .. your comments reflect intelligent lighting ... not conventionals ... or legacy intelligents that do not or will not provide firmware updates to support the new std.

Congo could easily implement this feature (easy for me to say) .. and tick a counter any time a dimmer channel is live, and accomplish the same. Though I understand that it would be difficult to determine accurately HMI life, those employing tungsten would certainly benefit from such a feature.

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I think we've beat this to death ... ;-) ..  unless some one else want's to add their $.02 ...

Hi,

I have two more cents to add ;-)

It would have to take into account when the intensity is below 100% since that would improve lamp hours. So I would say it's easier to implement on ML, but then again the lamp hour reader in the light knows if the lamp is on or not so it would be more accurate.

Make sense??

Bullen

 

Hi,

I have two more cents to add ;-)

It would have to take into account when the intensity is below 100% since that would improve lamp hours. So I would say it's easier to implement on ML, but then again the lamp hour reader in the light knows if the lamp is on or not so it would be more accurate.

Make sense??

Bullen