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    mcampbell311
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sACN LTP? Guest Console?

This may not be the right place for this question, but I've been trying to get my head around this for a minute now, and I think this is a Gateway question. I don't have a lot of experience with multiple sources on a network, and I haven't had much luck. What I'm looking for is: if you have 2 consoles on the system both priority 100, with overlapping/identical patches, they're outputs merge in an HTP manner. Can that merge be changed to an LTP behavior? If so, I would think it would be at the Gateway level, so a gateway question.

Long story short, plugged a Guest's Avo into the network the other day, but neglected to put the house EOS into the show file with only the houselights patched. Everything worked fine, and exactly like I would have expected it to in HTP. The default/home data from the EOS severely curtailed the Avo's ability to control all multi parameter fixtures. Set his priority to 101, and he took over everything, so everything he didn't have patched went out. house lights, fixture power relays, etc... Nothing wierd or buggy, exactly what one would expect to happen. We quickly saw what was going on, said "oh yeah", got rid of my patch, and everything was just fine. Just like normal. But we talked about it later and he was adamant that it should have been LTP and worked just fine. Whoever grabbed the light and told it to do something would takeover those parameters. "I do this all the time at festivals and it works as LTP". I've known this guy a while and had no reason to doubt him, so I started looking into it. Turns out he's right, and you absolutely can do that with sACN, and I've found a number of products that do. So, how do you do it in ETC world? Console? Gateway? I can't find anything. It may just not be an option with the ETC gear, which is fine, it's not really a problem, I'd just like to know to say no, it doesn't work that way. Even better, a reason it doesn't. The hardware predates the current sACN Standard and we'll have it on the next update? It would confuse or otherwise upset some other aspect of production, like people, so they left that option out? Just saying "I don't know" to the hot shot Avo guy ain't a good look. It would be cool if it's a simple setting I'm missing that someone could point me to, but any thoughts would be appreciated.

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    sACN is merged at the gateway level so it will depend on the gateway/devices you have listening to the network.  Most of them are HTP merge unless you have higher priority.  Usually when running multi console systems that are not the same console type in the same show file/session you have to unpatch/park or otherwise make the parameters you want available to the other console to take control of at a 0 level.  I've seen this done by changing the output in patch away from the appropriate protocol, parking addresses at 0, etc.  

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    A week later, I guess the answer is no LTP merge. HTP only, and you can only have the fixtures patched in one active controller at a time. No worries, just wanted to know to just say no. Maybe we'll see this functionality in the Mark III? It would be pretty cool.

  • 0 in reply to mcampbell311

    I would just build a macro to park the necessary universes at 0 in the house console and release them when you want to take control back.  Once you have released them disconnect the other console from the network or park it's universes at 0.  The problem with LTP merge is that both consoles are sending continous streams of dmx so what is "latest" ?? is it the latest move or just the latest packet.... HTP in general is a safe way to do it. You. can also set priorities so if the guest console comes in and has it's sacn at a higher priority they take control of all the rig they have patched until they remove themselves from the network.   

  • 0 in reply to Druuka

    That works. I'll keep that one in mind. Thank you

    "What is latest??" was our thoughts too. What I learned that makes me ask this question is that the the sACN has the source info built in just like the priority is built in, so the Gateways would know who sent the latest change and leave those addresses with that controller until another controller makes a change to those addresses. 

  • 0 in reply to mcampbell311

    Would there be an official answer from someone etc if there is anything coming up?

    Would be so nice to have the possibility.

    As many other things not needed very often in my part of the industrie but under some circumstances a game changer...

  • 0 in reply to Paule

    There is nothing currently planned for LTP sACN Merge. I struggle with the "What's latest" question above as well. I feel like restricting it by source can get you into a place where you can't return to a recently controlling source if you wanted to. That sounds troubling to me. But of course always interested in continuing the coversation.

    -Lowell

  • +1 in reply to LowellOlcott

    Hej, I myself never worked with a setup like that but as there seem to be nodes that handle sacn that way I would like etc nodes to have that option.

    But I'm far from knowing the difficulties in coding that...

  • 0 in reply to Paule
    • Agreed, probably a bit of a pipe dream, and the mechanics of it are far out of my wheelhouse, but it sure would be nice for those days the headliner brings a console to drive the house rig, but doesn’t want to worry about house lights or fixture power relays and such, but you’re left to run lights for the opener. The seamless transition that seems possible would be awesome. I suppose the issue that pops into my head would be that the gateways don’t know what the patch is or what the fixtures are, so you would need the controllers push data for all the addresses associated with a fixture every time you touched any one of them, or else when you change color and run the intensity up, you would still have the gobo and edge data from the previous source to contend with. 
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