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    Palmi Jonsson
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Fade problems on D40 and Source 4 Series 2 Lustr

I have some D40's and Series 2 Lustr's. I'm having problems with the fading of these lights. There are some different curves the can be applied to them. I have tried all of them and none of them can both fade smoothly across the whole 0-100% and snap instantly to 0% from any intensity. They can snap to 0% from 40% intensity and above but if the fade time is even slightly above 0 seconds they will always fade out in a second or two. The quick curve can solve this but it isn't usable for theatre due to it's choppy fading.

I asked about this on the phone with an ETC rep some time ago and got the answer that what I'm after isn't possible due to slow onboard color calibration calculations and that the newer Lustr 3's don't do that.

Just to double-check, is there really no way to have a smooth fade and accurate timing control of fades?

Not even in a new firmware or something? These fixtures always lag behind the rest of my rig and makes sharp transitions look clunky and awkward.

  • Hi Palmi.  Can you please tell us some more information to help you out.

    What firmware are the D40s and Series 2 on?
    What profile mode are they set to?
    What console are you programming them with?  And if ETC what software version?

    What are the other lights in your rig?  LED or Incandescent, Movers?

  • in reply to Chris Stokes

    Hey Chris, thanks for replying. 

    1. Firmware is 1.8.0.9.0.13. Currently updating to 1.8.2, don't expect that to make a difference though after reading the release notes.

    2. QS General on all units.

    3. ETC Gio, running 3.1.0.282.

    4. I have 3 CEM+ Sensor racks, ColorSource PAR's and JB Lighting A8's wash movers.

  • in reply to Palmi Jonsson

    Just to update; 1.8.2.9.0.25 yields the same results.

  • in reply to Palmi Jonsson

    I have not had a moment to mock it up but It’s on my list to try. When you mentioned applying curves were you doing that from the console in patch or at each fixture via the User Interface?

  • in reply to Chris Stokes

    The built in ones on the display of the fixtures.

  • in reply to Palmi Jonsson

    HI Palmi.  I was able to mock this up today to see what you were seeing.

    Digging into this I think what you are seeing is the DMX smoothing built into the firmware in Desire and Series 2.  In these products smoothing is applied to every DMX change based on the dmx jump.

    This did change in ColorSource, Series 3, Desire Fresnel, and other newer products we added a method that allows a snap condition when larger DMX changes occur.  This is not an option in Series 2 or Desire unfortunately.

    I did run through the various curves and setting.  While they are not instant snaps when fade time is at or above .1 seconds, I did not notice a 2-3 second delay.  I measured it to be .5-.6 seconds depending on the DMX delta in value..

    I will say out of the various curves, the Incandescent fade in regulated mode and 1200hz frequency had the best results.

    The cuelist pic is a mockup of the fades shown in the video to understand what the settings were at.

    In short the firmware and fixture are doing what they are supposed to be doing in order to provide the best fade between levels, but if a snap out is below .5 seconds is needed using a time of 0 is the best option.

    .

    .

  • in reply to Chris Stokes

    Thanks Chris! I call on ETC to fix this!!!

    This caused so much trouble for me on my last production where we were sharply transitioning in and out of monologues in 0.4 - 0.7 sec fades and every light looked great except my most expensive conventional fixtures, the Lustr ones, the ones that covered front and side lighting of the whole set. 
    I’m kind of curious if ETC was aware of this. Lots of fades have to be above 0 and under 2 seconds.

    please fix. I have a almost a hundred of these units Disappointed

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