EOS and AutoYoke and Fan Control

Hi Tim,

You've probably got a couple of options here.

1) You could as you suggest edit the fixture and expose these controls as a parameter rather than lamp control. Generally however that timed step is actually necessary for the command to take effect on the unit, so you'd have to be pretty clever with your cueing to make it work.

2) The better option! Create a few macros each of which change the fan to a different setting. You can then execute these from a particular cue when you want the change to take effect.

Dan

How would I do #1?  And if I could take the fan control out of lamp controls, this would make it super easy to write into cues, not harder...

I don't understand your #2 at all.  The problem with the lamp controls is that they don't stay in effect.  Yeah I could easily write a macro to trigger the Fan Off command, but it only lasts for a split second and then the fan comes back on.  That's not helpful.  I need to be able to leave the control channel at a certain level until otherwise cued.

Thanks,

-Tim

Hi Tim,

That doesn't sound right to me. That Fan Off command should tell the fan to stay off, that's why it's a lamp control rather than a parameter. If it's not doing that, it sounds like you don't have the right fixture from the library?! It's the same as the strike attribute of and arc light, the trigger is only held for a certain amount of time but the lamp doesn't douse when it ceases, that's a different trigger.

As far as #1 goes, If you copy the fixture, remove the lamp controls and then put a parameter in with ranges for each of the fan controls to match those in the lamp controls that may work for you, but I'd check out the fixture first!

Hope that's some kind of help!

Dan

I am thinking the fan control is more of a toggle state than a momentary command like a lamp strike.  When using a scroller fan channel in any normal capacity you must leave the fan channel at 08% for it to be off, not just turn it to 08% for three seconds and then let it go back to 00%.  Perhaps the AutoYoke has somehow overcome this and made it a momentary command.  I will have to investigate this further.  The biggest problem is that I can't really tell when the fans are on or not in the air, so I'm not sure if what I am doing at the console is working.  I made the assumption it would act like the normal fan channel, but you are probably right.

As far as #1, I don't want to remove the rest of the lamp controls, so that is why I was wondering how I could do it!  How to split one DMX channel over multiple parameters.  I think that is possible?

Thanks,

-Tim

EDIT: I was correct, the Fan Off command from lamp controls does only last 3 seconds and then the fan comes back on.  You can change that time by editing the library, but that still doesn't help you write on/offs into shows.

The AutoYoke is unique in that it is the only fixture I've ever used that requires the control channel to stay at a specific level. Really, it's not the AutoYoke, it's the scroller that requires that constant level. (On a typical wybron scroller, the fan channel needs to be at 08% to keep the fan off).

As such, this doesn't fit into the Lamp Controls paradigm on the Eos.

Tim, you have a couple of choices:

1) As Dan suggests, you could create a new profile exposing the control channel, allowing you to cue in the Fan Off level, but removing the lamp controls feature, making resets more difficult *and* increasing the possibility of sending the wrong level to the control channel (personally, I would't recommend this option).

2) Write macros to park/unpark the Address at the appropriate level. These macros can be triggered by cues to turn the fan off at the appropriate times during your show. I've done this before, and although it takes a little while to set up, once you've done so, it works fairly well. Just remember to unpark the address before you try and send a reset command.

Hope that helps. 

-M

The AutoYoke is unique in that it is the only fixture I've ever used that requires the control channel to stay at a specific level. Really, it's not the AutoYoke, it's the scroller that requires that constant level. (On a typical wybron scroller, the fan channel needs to be at 08% to keep the fan off).

As such, this doesn't fit into the Lamp Controls paradigm on the Eos.

Tim, you have a couple of choices:

1) As Dan suggests, you could create a new profile exposing the control channel, allowing you to cue in the Fan Off level, but removing the lamp controls feature, making resets more difficult *and* increasing the possibility of sending the wrong level to the control channel (personally, I would't recommend this option).

2) Write macros to park/unpark the Address at the appropriate level. These macros can be triggered by cues to turn the fan off at the appropriate times during your show. I've done this before, and although it takes a little while to set up, once you've done so, it works fairly well. Just remember to unpark the address before you try and send a reset command.

Hope that helps. 

-M