How is Scroller Data Recorded?

While I don't know about the precise way in which scroller data is stored (that's a computer coding issue, not a light programmer issue!), I might be able to shed some light (pun intended) on your query.

1) I find the best way to calibrate scrollers is to cut the gel for the scrolls accurately - read the scroller manufacturer's manual to find out the recommended widths of gel to cut. This saves a lot of time at the desk adjusting for uneven widths of gel. The reason for this is that most scrollers calibrate themselves - by having widths for each frame plus an extra width for the leader and trailer.

Have a look at a scroller during its power-on cycle when it moves to one end of the scroll and then moves to the other: it is calculating where each frame is according to the total length of the scroll (integrating a bit for the leader and trailer). Note that if you 'fade' a scroller from 0% to 100% in DMX values, it will not reach the absolute ends of the scroll.

2) Once your scroller has calibrated itself, you must tell your desk how many frames the scroller has. The desk will then use a proportionate value for the relevant frame.

As to the use of colour palettes - I use whatever will give me the quicker programming method, which is usually by way of integrating colour scrolls so that I have physical groups of scrolls. For example, house-left scrolls will have each frame the same gel; house-right similarly... etc.

If the first frame of every scroller was clear, then you could set that as the home value... or if each scroller had L201 in the scroll, then set that as a CP.

The real answer, however, is "it depends on the design and how you want to program it". There are very many variables!

Hi Michael!

First of all, you should type [Scroller] [13] to set a scroller to frame 13.
Otherwise you get problems if you have scrollers with color-speed or fan-speed.

[Color] [13] sets the value "13" to all color parameters of the device, even color-speed and fan-speed.

Recording

As I see it, the behavior is like this:

The console records the frame number in cues, color-palettes or presets. If you change the roll later, your scrollers bring the stored frame with the wrong color.

If you store the color in palettes or presets, the cuelist will record the number of the palette or preset. If you overwrite the palette by another one, the cuelist will get the information stored in the nower palette.
Example: your Color Lee 201 is stored in CP 201. Rosco 79 in stored in CP79. You copy CP 79 to CP 201, your device will show Rosco 79 coming from color-palette 201

factory colors

If you store [Scroller] [3] / [161], you reference a global color-palette, in this example Color 161 from Lee. The Console will look at your string, if there is a 161 from Lee. If not, it will show a color witch comes alike.
So, if you change your scrolls with 161 on another place, your device will show the right color

Another way to get a simular behavior could be to record color palettes not with frame-numbers, but with hue / saturation -  values.
The disadvantage of both procedures is, that you do not have control of frame numbers, if you need an open move from one color into another one...

callibration

In my opinion callibration should be done at the service. It is a tool to come far with a show, if the scroller does not work correctly, but I never would callibrate my scrollers by default

Color-Palettes or not

Our plays do not use that much colors, Most times only 3 to five different in one show. I like to see the used colors and presets  of a channel by just selecting it.
Therefore I record the used colorpalettes side by side

I don't think the console would recognize the colour, and would still go to frame 13.

When you record the colour data, as far as I'm aware, it will only store what frame the unit was in and not what the colour was when it was recorded. If you was to change a scroll, you would have to go back through your cues and update them all. If you used colour pallets though, just simply change the frame in your colour pallet and all will be happy!

Think of the frames of a scroller as pre-defined colour palletes for your scrollers. If you calibrate a scroll, it updates the frame and in turn, wherever that frame is referenced, it would be updated.

As far as I'm aware, the way the desk works out where each frame is (by default), is by 255 divided by how many frames you tell the desk the unit has. So for instance, if you only had 5 colours in a scroll, the desk would do 255 / 5 = 51, so it would think that DMX value 51 was the split between colour 1 and colour 2. To get the center of a frame, it would divide that value by 2, giving the first frame a value of 25.5. If you was to calibrate a scroller, it would move that value of 25.5 to what the value is at the time when you press calibrate.