Assign absolute effects to groups of cells

Question

Hi community! 
 ...still trying to gain experience... 
 Case description: 
 
 Have some fixtures with multiple cells (Astera Titan Tubes) 
 Programmed color changer effects that work at random rate. Those effects are absolute with - let's say - 10 actions, each selecting a color from the palette. 
 I'd like to apply those effects to the Titans at different pixel sizes: sometimes the whole tube changes, sometimes it's divided in 4 pixels, otherwise all 16 are independant. 
 
 My problem is that when I select e.g. cell 1-4 and apply the effect, all 4 work independantly and not together. Same when I change the grouping value to 4 in the effect settings. 
 I read that absolute effect grouping works with channels and not cells. Is that correct? And then, how could I achieve this goal? Btw. I also tried to change the channel type (having 16 intensity values and no cells), but I don't know how to deal with that. 
 Thanks to experienced people who can provide any help. 
 Best, s

eos moderator · Accepted Answer

Absolute and relative effects use the selection to determine which channels should move together. 
 If you leave the effect's grouping as default, these two situations would provide the same result: 
 
 Tube in 4 pixel mode: Chan 1.1 Thru 4 Effect 1 
 Tube in 16 pixel mode: (Chan 1.1 Thru 3)(1.4 Thru 6)(1.7 Thru 9)(1.10 Thru 12) Effect 1 
 
 The ( ) are called subgroups, everything within parentheses will be treated as one single element by the effect. You can get them with [Shift] & [/] or by using Offset.