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    RobHalliday
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Merging In Colour Palettes Without Matching By-Type Chan Doesn't Merge Data

So this may be deliberate, it may be I've never noticed before, it may not. Comments welcome. Software version 3.1.1.

Show 1 has chans 1>21 (say), which are a GLP Impression X4L (say). Chan 1 is the by type channel for colour palettes.

We're trying to merge that show data into a new show, call it Show 2. Show 2 has chans 11>21 which are GLP Impression X4L, patched as the same fixture type.

In Show 2, we merge in all the colour palettes as the same numbers, wth 'merge channels' unchecked.

After that, we have no colour information for 11>21 in Show 2.

If in Show 2 we create a channel 1, same fixture type, then do the merge again we do have colour for all of our X4Ls. 

In other words if the 'by type' channel doesn't exist then the 'by type' reference data doesn't get loaded and so none of the other channels of that type have any colour data.

Feels like the import should figure out what the values for those channels should be, even if not specifically importing the reference channel (just as if you import a cue which is all tracked values, you still get the correct state for that cue).

Thoughts?

Rob.

  • I use dummy channels as the by type, and make sure that the dummy channels are present in all show files. 

    I'm venue based, and we only have a limited number of intelligent fixtures. I don't usually include any hired kit with this method, as it is unlikely we'll get the same thing more than once.

    At a previous venue, to keep track of them I made a little magic sheet with their symbols.

  • in reply to Keiran Meadowcroft

    Yeah, that's a good workaround. 

    But the question remains: is the current console behaviour a deliberate choice (and if so is it the right one), or just an accident of the way data is stored.

    Rob.

  • The by type channel must be present in the same type for the console to bring the by type data over.  This is intentional.

  • If you know about that here are two work arounds i can think about:

    1. make Ch11 your new Master for your By_Type Paletts. You maybe be able to do it for all your (color)Paletts at once.

    2. while merging, use the advanced setting and merge Channel 1 Thru 11 as 11 Thru 21

  • in reply to saranow

    Yup, got all the workarounds. 

    Curious as to why this is intentional, though?

    It means you have to know what the by type channel is in the original showfile AND then do a lot of work to make sure something matches before importing. Whereas if (say) your original showfile contained absolute data, the data would come in properly.

    Again it feels wrong if you compare it to importing a cue. Importing the cue will bring in the full state, regardless of any values that were actually tracked values in the original cue. In other words, you didn't have to go look in the original showfile, block that cue then import it to guarantee the correct result....

    Rob.

  • in reply to saranow

    I have a similar problem. I am building my base show file out of a lot of show files. All show files contain the same color palettes, using the same order. 

    My method is:

    Import->Advanced -> Color Palettes: Start 1, End 1, Target 1;

                                  -> Patch:               Start 1, End 1, Target 1001.

                                                                Start 41, End 41, Target 1002, etc., etc. 

    I repeat for a few showfiles that contain different fixture types that all have my neatly recorded BT Color palettes.

    Now I end up with some color parameters being magenta, others blue. In some instances they are even white. (although not in the same channel).

    My base show file only contains unique fixture types. How does this add up?

  • in reply to saranow

    Merging does not seem to support By Type palettes. This cannot be intentional. Could you please explain how to approach the example I have given below?

    The goal is to get By type (color) palettes and their associated channels from a source show and land them on a different channel in the target show.

    I have tried a few methods, but not with any success.

    Edit: both show files share exactly the same color palette structure since they both originate from the same base file. 

    Explainer: I want to change the channel number, because in one source file I might have used fixture type A on channel 1 and made it my BT master and in the next source file I have used fixture type B on channel 1 and did the same. The goal is to bring them all into one target file (to become my base show) and store those BT channels to high channel numbers. 

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