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Basic Programming Question

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btodag
Knows how to turn Lights ON
Posts: 7
Joined: September 4th, 2016, 3:31 am
FreeStyler Version: 3.634
I Use FreeStyler for: Band

Basic Programming Question

Post by btodag »

I think I've read all of the tutorials and I've played a lot with several static and moving fixtures. This is a basic programming theory question, probably more about moving heads.

Do you create sequences very definitively or several sequences that stack?
Definitive scene definition example:
-These fixture(s)+this color+this movement

Stacked Example:
-Fixture movement selected from several available cues
-Color selected from several available color-specific cues
-Strobe effect selected from several available strobe-specific cues

Result of stacking is a little more flexible. Is this even possible? I haven't tried... am sitting at work dreaming things up.

Secondary question, is there a way to get a couple of cues ready, then trigger them when a time comes? Example, say the wash is an bright amber w/moving head static pointing down blue and I know a dynamic section of a song is coming up. I'd like to change the par cans to a dim blue, moving fixtures to a sweeping/strobe white just as the section hits. Then I need to cue up the next chill scene and trigger it just as the dynamic section wraps.

The way these two questions relate is if I have all encompassing scenes, i just trigger the dynamic scene as one click, but if I'm stacking them like I mentioned above, I need to set everything up separately, then trigger it when the time comes.


I hope this all makes sense, I may not have my jargon down yet. Thanks for the input!


btodag
Knows how to turn Lights ON
Posts: 7
Joined: September 4th, 2016, 3:31 am
FreeStyler Version: 3.634
I Use FreeStyler for: Band

Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by btodag »

This kind of answers a lot of my questions. This rig rundown is pretty amazing insight on how someone thinks about lighting control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRlJN1LALFk

Luke Stratton, currently doing lights for Dopapod, talks in detail about how he has controls that do the stacking kind of thing. He controls colors, motions/positions, gobos, etc all separately. On his system he can queue them up and the trigger when it is time. Pretty amazing insight.

I'll have to see if this is easy to do in Freestyler.
barrypearce
Starting to get to grips with FreeStyler
Posts: 25
Joined: December 28th, 2016, 2:44 am
FreeStyler Version: 3.6.3
I Use FreeStyler for: Band

Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by barrypearce »

What conclusion did you come to?
Im new to freestyler having come from a DMX Operator 192 and just upgraded to moving heads so Im now trying to get my own head around this.

The video you posted is indeed enlightning.

With the DMX operator I just loaded up a chase with each scene - they were fairly static just rear/front wash and I just pressed "next" to change scene...so Freestyler is upsetting this thinking and Im trying to work out a new way of working.

Certaintly the stacked way of working you talk about is possible. Each element is loaded into a separate sub-master. Then to make the single button press "go" we need to run it up and then save a new cuelist which is assigned to a button....i think....then we can press buttons to set up the basic scene but modify whats going on using the sub-masters....er...possibly.. :)

Any tips now you are some months down the line?

I haven't worked up how to set up several cue changes and then execute simulatneously...it seems that *when* things are triggered is the biggest issue.

PS> The Luke Stratton vid is truely superb - so full of ideas. :) Thx.
Bigtoddy
Starting to get to grips with FreeStyler
Posts: 21
Joined: August 4th, 2010, 3:00 am
I Use FreeStyler for: Stage Show

Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by Bigtoddy »

btodag wrote: December 29th, 2016, 6:56 pm This kind of answers a lot of my questions. This rig rundown is pretty amazing insight on how someone thinks about lighting control.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRlJN1LALFk

Luke Stratton, currently doing lights for Dopapod, talks in detail about how he has controls that do the stacking kind of thing. He controls colors, motions/positions, gobos, etc all separately. On his system he can queue them up and the trigger when it is time. Pretty amazing insight.

I'll have to see if this is easy to do in Freestyler.
Its refreshing to hear people talk about their logic, especially when it seems to follow closely to mine. I'm not going to say setting all this stuff up in Freestyler is exactly easy, but I've got my rig built surprisingly similar (albeit much smaller) fashion. I"m looking forward to using the cuelist overrides in this latest upgrade, that should help quite a bit. I'm also finding some limits on submaster cues to be limiting. We need pages on the submasters, it will help. Don't forget you have to program all those looks and chases first, and that's where a lot of the really heavy lifting comes in.
Partyman
FS is my life
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Joined: July 11th, 2007, 8:39 pm
FreeStyler Version: 4.01
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Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by Partyman »

How you setup your lighting control, cues and controllers is highly subject to your performance needs and the attention the software will require by a programmer while running
btodag
Knows how to turn Lights ON
Posts: 7
Joined: September 4th, 2016, 3:31 am
FreeStyler Version: 3.634
I Use FreeStyler for: Band

Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by btodag »

Well, I've been gone for a while. I actually moved on to another software, but as I've become more familiar with some of the concepts involved in programming, I'm not much more confident than I was when I posted this original question. As much as I've learned how things work, I've learned a lot about what I don't know. So, I'm much more functional and productive these days, but not more confident. I realize there is a lot more to it than just a few key programming strokes, especially for the live shows.

So, I run a DMX software via midi through an APC40. What I've focused on is building layers of functionality. I assign sections of the board to colors, other sections to positions, others to movements or effects and finally others to groups.

I can select different groups then apply the colors and effects to those groups. It works, but is clunky the way I interface. I want it to be fluid and faster. I'm still very green with only a few shows under my belt.

What I'm not able to do so far is to load those commands (color, position, etc) in and then hit an "execute" kind of button that sends all of the commands into the universe at once. In the software I use, I can do this on the fly by loading it into a cue with a long default fade time (but variable via a xfader w/in the software). As I pull down the xfade fader, it snaps it into place. I just haven't been able to get that functionality to be called via the board/midi.

So, here are a few more Luke Stratton vids. He's pretty much the man. Dave Peck (aka mkdevo/mkdev0) is growing his videographer presence in the northeast and is reaching out to music lovers but also those interested in the production side of things. He follows several up/coming bands and captures different aspects of their shows. These below are 4K!! vids of Luke at work. Now, it'd take a tremendous amount of studying his every move to guess what he's actually doing, but at least it gives access to looking at his technique/theory, albeit without being able to ask questions it is kind of like watching a magician through a keyhole. Check Luke and more specifically mkdevo's work out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viC2oLjJMR0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_yrMj7ZDok

Go like follow mkdevo on youtube, facebook, etc. He's a guy that is quietly enabling many things without the glory. He works hard and invest in himself so others can benefit.
btodag
Knows how to turn Lights ON
Posts: 7
Joined: September 4th, 2016, 3:31 am
FreeStyler Version: 3.634
I Use FreeStyler for: Band

Re: Basic Programming Question

Post by btodag »

Deleting duplicated post!
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