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    LowellOlcott
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ColorSource Color Engine

Greetings all, color control is a very important feature for us and we share your desire for more options in ColorSource. We are currently working on the 2.0 software release, however, the majority of the color engine rework has been moved to a 3.0 software release. Color is a large enough endeavor that we are dedicating a complete release to it. In order to prepare for this, we are first going to concentrate on some internal rework and changes in 2.0.  Please feel free to send any suggestions you have for future enhancements to me directly or continue to post on this forum.

 

Thank you all for your continued support!

-Lowell

  • Hello,
    My suggestions :

    - More space for the text description for each cue.

    - visualization of circuits values in addition to DMX output or/and an external screen : OK DONE with 1.1.4

    -During a "GO", the display of the next step is only effective at the end of the timeout, but it will be is more reassuring than it is displayed immediately after pressing the GO.

    - creation / copying of a new CUE: why edition does not put itself directly on the cue copied ?....(at the end of the cue list) ?

    - have a step button Next / Previous cue without fades. (Ex :by clicking on the step description window on the right at the top, in place of play, pause, rewind)

    - Show current playback / sequ in every screen. (for exemple in "message zone")

    - more possibility to configure the eight button around the screen ex: circuits

    - In the "patch page", a text description zone for each circuit/spot

    - On the implant plan, simply, why not represent a different figure (squares, circles, triangles ..) by type of group ?

    - the circuit (hardware) fader, only active (prior to the cue) when the selection knob is active : so, by deselecting the circuit, we can move (reset) the fader without changing the live.

    - on the web page CUES, preferably a longer list of CUE than the stage map (who is on other pages) on the bottom. As well as increase the reliability of the display, the cursor disappears as soon as there is an effect on the fixtures

    - more display resolutions choices on the external HDMI ( I have DELL 1920x1080 display, and only a 640x480 possibility !)

    Thanks for your work
  • in reply to PBo67

    The external display resolutions are the ones supported by your connected monitor over HDMI.
    Try a different monitor.

    A lot of displays have a very limited list over HDMI - I have one Dell that is only 1920x1080 and 640x480, and another that supports about fifteen different resolutions.

  • in reply to Richard
    Curious ! because, the same monitor show about six different resolutions when connected to my Mac mini. This is a DELL U2412. I try a another one, an older LG 4/3 , same limitation. With a Benq Videoprojector, there is more possibility, but all resolution give the same display.
  • in reply to PBo67
    Yes, the display scales to fit - the main difference between resolutions is how easy the text is to read.
  • In the Moment the normal color mixing feature is not functional for my use cases. I use V1.1.3 an it is not possible to see wich value my RGBWA LED light has when i use the color picker. It is not possible to adjust only Red or Blue or Green or White or Amber alone. If you mix a color blue you get for example blue 254 and amber of 3 . And yes i use the "fine" feature.
    The easiest solution would be to assign the color channel as parameter channel too. So you can choose if you use the normal color feature or you assign the color manual.
    Every normal dmx fader desk has the possibility to control only one color channel. So the actual color mixing feature is for me in the moment to steps behind. I bought the ColorSource 40 desk to control easy LED fixtures. But after trying to programm some light scenes with different lamps it is only frustrating that this console is not possible to get the same LED dmx values on different lamps when you programm them in two steps.
    Before you programm new feaures in this console you habe to do the basics. And i think mixing LED colors is the main use case of the colorsource 20 + 40. If i want to control only dimmers i use a cheaper solution.
  • Hello! Very excited to see there is work being put forth on the color engine. I fully support @Erics sentiment regarding the lack of ability to properly control color.

    On a small multi-camera shoot this past week with a ColorSource40 it was impossible to output just white on RGBW tape. Dragging the color picker to the VERY bottom on the hue-saturation page (and using "fine" control) still resulted in a color mix. A closer inspection of universe output via DMX tester revealed white channel to only be at ~75%, with a mix on RGB channels. I expected the RGB mix as i could see it on the tape, but was surprised at a low white channel value.

    For camera, this shoot required full white channel control, and to achieve this we made a custom profile containing RGB color and a Zoom channel set to beam mode. This retained color picker abilities, and then able to mix in white as needed (or in isolation) via zoom parameter. Of course the side effects of doing this meant that white is not HTP or on a handle, but (seemingly) LTP and you will have to pay very close attention to filtering when recording playbacks to avoid conflicts --- it's a very nasty hack just to control white. We could have also patched white channel as a dimmer/desk channel, but that of course eats up channel allotment.

    Color on this console has been rough, and am very much looking forward to the V3.0 update. In the meantime, if possible for 2.0, dropping the individual channel values into the attributes/parameters menu for individual control would be a huge help while waiting for greater changes.

    Thanks much, and hope that helps.

  • I'm reading about the ColorSource in detail for the first time, in advance of using one on an upcoming small show, and before checking the forum, I thought maybe I'd misread the manual. ETC user since Expression II here, started in theatre, now mainly doing live events, fluent in MA, Hog and Avo too....

    It astounds me that this console can't perform a task as simple as direct control of color parameters.

    While ETC may be able to guarantee that their color picker "knows" how to make the best mix of LED's from their own Lustr or ColorSource engine, there's now tons of other RGB(A/W/UV/etc) fixtures out there, and the user has ZERO ability (short of rewriting a custom fixture profile where color parameters are labelled as something other than color....) to fine-tune individual channels to make things match? Browsing the forum, there are many other what-about's - from LED tape that's in direct-view (so not wanting certain channels to be on at all), to trying to do a fixture shoot-out, and on and on. I've certainly achieved colors with Lustr2's manually in direct mode that never would have been possible via a color-engine (i.e. by maxing out five or six of the seven colors in various combinations).

    I'm further bewildered that the addition of this seemingly more-basic feature (compared to a whole Color Engine) is apparently being punted to the *next* software version after one that hasn't even been released yet? So, not for at least a year?

    The hardware on this console does look nice, certainly it's nice for the price point. And like I said, I haven't been hands-on with one yet - but it sounds like the software has plenty of room to mature.

    A few other thoughts on these consoles, unrelated to the color issues:

    • The (apparent) lack of external keyboard and mouse/trackball support, even on the larger CS AV consoles, is surprising. Not every show is in a nice clean theatre, the precision of a mouse or trackball seems like it would make this small screen much more manageable.
    • The manual mentions that it is possible to change addresses and fixture modes via RDM, but does not explain how to do so, or whether other fixture settings (dimming curves, etc) are adjustable via RDM from the console.  [EDIT - after using the console today, it does not appear that there is any ability to use RDM to change addresses or modes on the actual console)
    • I'm curious to try it, but the 'swipe' method for adjusting parameters seems like it will be tricky for adjusting pan-and-tilt values with any degree of accuracy. Especially since those parameters appear to come up near the top/left of the screen, rather than more centrally...and especially when trying to make a subtle adjustment during a show.... [EDIT - after using the color picker for a while, it was frustrating to not be able to make slight tweaks to the color of a light, without looking down at the console...color picker is good for broad strokes but a fine-tune mode i.e. a four-way button to 'nudge' the cursor on the color picker up/down/left/right would be a huge improvement....] 
    • In the manual's description of the 'Move/GO' functionality of the buttons, it is unclear whether color is affected, or only position/beam values that appear under the 'Parameters' display....
      • "[Move/GO] will cause the parameters of the channels in the chosen playback to move to their recorded positions and values, while the intensity remains unaffected. The intensity may be operated independently on the playback fader."
    • Similarly, it's unclear if the 'Flash' mode will only flash intensity/color, or if it will also flash all parameters to their saved values, releasing them to their underlying values after the button is released.
    • There is no documentation in the manual (other than a small thumbnail image) of what the actual built-in effects consist of, which would be helpful considering there doesn't seem to be any way to add or write custom effects (i.e. for fixtures with parameters not included in the built-in effects)
    • Lastly, while I know that these are probably among the least-expensive consoles that ETC has ever made, what about an offline editor for show files, or even just patch and stage layout information? So that you could at least walk into a show ready to start making looks...

    Thanks for listening!

  • in reply to Daniel45364
    Hello,

    One suggestion, I insist on this point because I already made the comment, but it would be great to have possibilty to extend CS20 at 80 channels, like for the smartfade 12/96. I can't use CS20AV on a show's tour for 12 channels in more on the console... The compact form of the CS is very interesting and more pratic for the tour... So I wish you to hear my comment and understand my demand :)
    Thanks
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