ColorSource Dimming Curve

Hello,

Thanks for the comment.  The dimming curve for ColorSource was designed to allow for smooth fades when needed while also accommodating bumps when needed, without having to change the curve mid-show.  The algorithm looks at how big the level change is and how quickly it is supposed to happen and then will fade smoothly (for slower fades) or bump (for faster fades)  There is a specific threshold for which style of fade  it will do.  

If you would like more details about the threshold, feel free to email me at jim.uphoff@etcconnect.com 

I hope this helps.

Jim 

Hey Jim,

I understand the theory of the dimming curve for those fixtures, however, more often then not I’ve been having to try and find a work around for it. A recent example, I had one cue fading to black over 1 second with a 0 second cue that immediately followed. Since the colorsource fixtures decided to do a slower dimming curve more true to a 1.5 - 2 second fade to black, instead of having a smooth fade out, they fade halfway out and then snap to catch up with the following cue. I understand that this dimming curve can work wonders for some people, but there are definitely times it’s more harmful then helpful.

Agreed with this. It’s the same with the Colorsource Spot Jr.s. Wish I had the ability to change the dimming curve even if just through RDM.

This is so annoying. Controlling how the fixture behaves is the reason why we have consoles.
This is supposed to be a Theatrical  Fixture. As professionals, we tend to know how we want our fixtures to behave - and we normally know how to use our consoles. If ETC start to make lighting for the amateurs, that hinders the professionals at work, they should point that out in the documentation (and lose the "professional").

It shouldn't be that much of a problem to make that "feature" optional. Perhaps just have a separate line of firmware without it.
As it is, I have a bunch of unusable hardware.

jruphoff This topic is now two years old and there is a second similar topic without an answer, which is one year old. Is anyone working on this on your side or are we the only professionals who still use ColorSources?

Hello again,

I am sorry that the fixture is not operating in the way that you would like.  As you can imagine, we have a lot of people’s needs and use cases to consider when we are developing hardware and software and we do our best to accommodate as many of those as we can.  The dimming in the ColorSource family was designed to keep a theatrical quality of dimming available to the customer (meaning smoothing out the DMX signal to avoid the natural steps that the fixture sees coming in) while still allowing for a quick response (bump) when the data changes quickly.  (Something that it did not do in the past and was a problem for many customers).

While you are not the only ones that have had issues with this algorithm, the conditions where this occurs are not frequent and ColorSource products continue to be used by professional designers around the world with great success.   

Our second generation of Color source fixtures has a curve channel and we have recently added the ability to turn off the smoothing when desired to accommodate those use cases.  As I assume you are using first generation ColorSource products, that option does not exist.  We could create a firmware build that would disable the smoothing but I dont think that would be a great solution for you as, while it would help in the instances you are frustrated with, all the other times smoothing is preventing steppy fades and plateaus, you would likely not be happy.  

Here is my email address: Jim.uphoff@etcconnect.com

Please feel to reach out if you would like to continue this conversation.  I am happy to set up a call.

Jim