Basic Time Clarification

The M stands for Move, so Color Select Move Speed. You'll see these 'MSpeeds' in various fixtures and they are a direct timing control at the fixture. Many fixture manuals will have a chart which tells you what the various values for this parameter will give you in terms of timing.

Color Time 5 would work, but only if your MSpeed is at its home value otherwise this overrides the speed given by the desk.

Cheers

Dan

I always thought MSpeed stands for Motor Speed, so that you are commanding the motors to move at a certain rate rather than telling them to be at certain points over time.  If memory serves me, before moving lights were controlled via DMX, early consoles would calculate the MSpeeds for a given move and send that via a proprietary signal.  Sending a change via a 16 bit parameter can be fairly smooth (i.e. sending a series of DMX level over the cue's execution time), but for slow or subtle movements using MSpeed instead can be useful.

MSpeed now almost always defaults to maximum.  Sometimes bringing the speed a little off max is enough to smooth out a slow move, though it does produce a slight delay.

-Josh

I would add on to Dan's comment that as a reminder, Color and Gobo Wheels are both set to be defaulted to snap when they fade. So by default, the wheels have a "0" count, if you want them to have a fade, you would need to give the parameter discrete timing.

thanks all who responded. it really helped. i really appreciate going back to the basics and opening a discussion.