ML vs colors

SmartFade ML sets the "Home" position for all the colours in LED fixtures to full to ensure that bringing up the Intensity fader always gives you some output from the light.

- There is nothing worse than spending time trying to figure out why no light comes out simply because the fixture is set to the colour "black"!

The Hue/Sat fader pair doesn't control White as the console doesn't know what White looks like - lots of fixtures have multiple different whites - so it's put on a separate fader (param fader #6 in this case, as you've found)

Neither of these have anything to do with my question. It's not about homing or about h/s fade. It's about preexisting color palettes that come on when picking a fixture and using the color button. When any of those palettes are selected white comes on full with the color. Also when I recorded all those palettes without white they seem to all work except red, which I can't get rid of a trace of indigo or blue (can't tell which one) and green.

The auto-created colour palettes are made by Homing the fixture, setting Saturation to 100% then picking 12 points around the Hue, and the same again at a lower Sat.
That is what it does and the above is why these auto-generated palettes look the way they do for fixtures that have White emitters.

Human vision is such that adding a trace of indigo makes red look deeper, and adding a trace of red makes deep blues look deeper.
Thus the Hue fader's deepest Red point has a little indigo and it's deepest Blue point has a little red, as it starts going through Magenta.
- Look at the light, not the luminaire.

Finally, when you record your own colour palettes the console always stores the actual colour parameter values.

Therefore, if you wish to make a specific mix, use the encoders!

Use [Sel] and [More] to toggle through all the available parameters.

Still having communication problems in one point, most likely from my end. So first it appears having to re-record all those pallettes with white off is standard. That's interesting and time consuming. it's interesting that White intensity can't be included in the auto colors but all the other colors on the Selador fixture are. I guess because white is not in the spectrum. So that makes a fixture with white a more complicated or more difficult fixture to control on the ML console. Second, and this is still a communication issue. I understand adding certain other colors to make the whole color look better is standard. You say when we record our own color palettes the console always stores the actual color parameter values. So why when I turn red on full (100) and using Sel and More I set ALL other colors off (0) and record the red palette is there still a trace of indigo or blue and a trace of green in my personalized red palette that I can't get rid of? I have had none of this trouble on my ION. Also still don't know why each color value is not displayed next to the C# in the lcd windows. They all just say C1, or C2, or C3, etc.

Still having communication problems in one point, most likely from my end. So first it appears having to re-record all those pallettes with white off is standard. That's interesting and time consuming. it's interesting that White intensity can't be included in the auto colors but all the other colors on the Selador fixture are. I guess because white is not in the spectrum. So that makes a fixture with white a more complicated or more difficult fixture to control on the ML console. Second, and this is still a communication issue. I understand adding certain other colors to make the whole color look better is standard. You say when we record our own color palettes the console always stores the actual color parameter values. So why when I turn red on full (100) and using Sel and More I set ALL other colors off (0) and record the red palette is there still a trace of indigo or blue and a trace of green in my personalized red palette that I can't get rid of? I have had none of this trouble on my ION. Also still don't know why each color value is not displayed next to the C# in the lcd windows. They all just say C1, or C2, or C3, etc.

Hi Jeff Do you use Smartsoft? I would suggest that you do as it helps to understand and check values in the Palettes for example. I don't have the issue you describe if I manually set a color to a device and then store this as a custom palette - the settings are as Richard says stored as set. How are you storing to the palette? Do you press the Rec Pal/Grp button, select the COLOR button, Select the palette button (1-24)? Perhaps you are missing pressing the COLOR button in this process? If you have set a device to a color using a color Palette then the C# that then shows in the screens is telling you that the fixture is referencing it's color from the indicated palette # This is the same for Focus or Beam palettes (F# or B#). If you change any value then you are no longer referencing the palette for that parameter. If you see C1 for example and you want to change that Palette colour globally for all memories and devices that reference it - then you need to edit the actual color palette C1 or record over it as described above.

Also - If you repeat press the MORE button while it shows C# you will toggle through color parameters and get to Hue/Fine/Sat window. If you change anything there you no longer reference the color palette. Hope this helps. Richard

Because this ML console is a purchase for my church in one of their smaller sanctuaries and I won't be using it I have not looked into using smartsoft. Here is how I re-recorded the factory pallettes: Param 1 on. Select all applicable fixtures (Selador D40's). Dimmer (fader 1) full). Color button. Select 1 which is supposed to be pure red. All devices go to red with that trace of indigo or blue and trace of green. (They originally only had red full and white full). Using Sel tap until the color selection shows then using More tap until red Color and green show in the first window and indigo in the second window. Now Red shows C1, Color shows Mix, Green shows C1, Indigo shows C1. (Same for all remaining colors when taping More through the screens. Watching the fixture I go through each color and dial every color to 0 except Red, which is set at 100. So Red is 100 and Green, Indigo, White, Amber, Cyan and Blue are all 0. Next I hit Record Pal/Grp and select color then #1 again. All colors go back to showing C1 in the windows. Next I home all the devices and all their colors turn on full. Next I select color and #1 and they all fade from all colors on full to red full with a trace of indigo or blue (again can't tell which one because can't see values in the lcd windows, and a trace of green.) Is that procedure incorrect? If not why do indigo or blue and green still come on as a trace when I recorded them as 0 values? If while they are all on using the color palette #1 red with that trace of Indigo or blue and green and I bring up the Hue and Sat faders the Indigo or blue and green traces turn off and they show just red full. I can again use Record Pal/Grp, color, #1 but once again the traces of indigo or blue and green still come on. It actually looks like amber might also be on with them. I'd like to add something that has been lost in my communications since purchasing the ML console. The church also purchased some Selador Lustre+ D40 fixtures. I know the ML does not support all modes of that fixture but only found that out after trying to patch and not seeing them. So I picked the Advanced DMX Direct setting on the fixtures and the D40Lustr+Dir+S fixture in the patch. Could there be a problem there that something isn't matching?

Hi Jeff - It is possible you are seeing 1 step of DMX control on your green and indigo emitters - SmartFade cannot store a hard 0 in color palettes so it will store 1 "tick" of DMX level. Normally this isn't seen but sometimes on some LEDs you do get a little glow. If the light on stage looks ok then it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks - Sarah

Humm. Interesting. That's just a thing for SF consoles? As I look closer at all the colors in each of the 24 palettes they all do show a trace except white even though I can dial them all down and off. Also don't know if you have been following my posts on the ML but just wanted to confirm from factory White should default to on full for every color in the 24 palettes and having to re-record all 24 palettes with White off for the Selador D40's is a normal thing so White does not come on. Also the colors in the palettes; red, green, blue, indigo, etc. should not show an actual value in the lcd windows, only the color (C) number; ie C1, C2, Etc.? If so, how can we identify their values?