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Author Topic: Newbie Question  (Read 1936 times)

Aaron Thompson

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Newbie Question
« on: February 16, 2007, 06:39:12 PM »

This may be a stupid question but i am a total newbie here, my question is, can you program pan & tilt movements with a joystick in a single scene or is the movement stationary for a scene.
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Tony "T" Tissot

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Re: Newbie Question
« Reply #1 on: February 16, 2007, 08:40:30 PM »

There are no stupid questions. This can all get very confusing at times - The LDs/show programmers who do this for a living are artists and are in demand.

Best advice is to get your controller and a couple of lights at home to experiment with. It's more fun than using the visualizers at first.

--

Typically there are a series of scenes. (My "scenes" are called palettes). (but see below for "ballyhoo" example where a single scene has motion)

You can build CUES that tell your board how much time to use to get from scene "a" to scene "b" - That takes care of the motion/movement.

Example - I have a "palette" - (call it "A" for simplicity) "REAR 4 MIRRORS - DRUMS", and another "palette" (call it "B") "REAR 4 MIRRORS SINGER".

(A palette is like a "snapshot" that contains anything I want - color choice, gobo choice, rotation choice etc.. other things like stage wash from PARS etc..)

So I build a CUE like this:

Step0. Preset to palette "A" - (but change 1 value to close the shutter).
Step1. Open shutter (everything else stays the same as palette "A" - but now you see the light)
Step2. Palette "B" - (I can adjust how long it takes the cue to happen - as in how fast the light moves.) - The light moves to the next position.
Step3. - Close shutter

(I can choose to run that cue 1 step at time - or set it to run all steps according to step times)(next cue, fade in, dwell, fade out, delay, etc.)

Exactly what happens depends upon your controller board (or PC software) and your instruments -

Some instruments can only move at one speed, some can move at different speeds that are fixed by a global variable, some you can command specifically.

There are many different permutations on different control boards - but the basic idea is the same.

Some palettes can actually have the instruments moving:
- Like a ballyhoo - where the light follows a preprogrammed trajectory
... can be one you programmed - or one that came with your board - or one of the Macros that is built into the instrument.
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MNGS
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Duane Massey

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Re: Newbie Question
« Reply #2 on: February 19, 2007, 12:29:36 PM »

The answer is "yes, no, or maybe". It depends on the controller or software you are using, and the terminology of that controller.

In old-school (ie: 2-scene dimmer controllers), a scene was a static look, or a snapshot of the stage. Some controllers carried that same term, and looped scenes together in a sequence to achieve motion. This was commonly called a "chase". When moving aspects (mirrors, color wheels, gobos, ect) became available, some controllers used "scene" to refer to a single stationary look, some used "page", some used "step".
It has only gotten more non-standard since then, but most of the confusion comes from the terminology, not the concepts.

I often explain light programming to novices as doing cartoon animation in 3D. If you've ever done the "walking stick figure" exercise with a tablet, that's the basic idea (that's one of the origins of the "page" term, as well as "pages of light cues"). Even with programs and controllers that have built-in pattern generators you still have the same concept.

So it still comes back to "Yes, no, or maybe".
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Duane Massey
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Tony "T" Tissot

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Re: Newbie Question
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2007, 01:43:43 PM »

Duane Massey wrote on Mon, 19 February 2007 09:29

I often explain light programming to novices as doing cartoon animation in 3D. If you've ever done the "walking stick figure" exercise with a tablet, that's the basic idea


That's a great simile. And explains why Cues lists are getting to be dozens of steps deep.
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MNGS
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