I would like to build a followspot system for moving heads for our school, so you can follow someone both from the front and from the back.
My old idea was to use a ps5 controller and use its joysticks to control X/Y/Z focus for the moving heads using a python script that sends OSC code to the Element 60. But following someone this way is very hard I have found. Using pan/tilt with a joystick is on the one hand easier to control, but causes issues with the pan flipping on one side of the tilt range and also multiple lights cannot follow the same target.
My new idea is to use the Track SEM on a Focus Pallete with a Z offset so you can manually move the SEM using click-to-focus to someone’s feet and then their upper body will receive the light. Then I use orthographic camera mode from above to get a top-down view and disable the fixtures and trusses for click-to-focus, so the moving won’t jump into the air accidentally.
If this new idea works, then for sets that have verticality (person stands higher than the stage ground), I will need to replicate for example the stairs in Augment3d and use top-down view so the SEM will “intersect from above” the stairs and the feet and therefore the light will still be at the right position.
Does anyone have any other ideas?