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Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 05:31
by wardomon
I've noticed that when I click a cuelist button "off" all DMX channels go to zero. That means that my poor lights are going to be slamming into the "corner", all gobos and colors will home and the lamps will shut down. That sounds pretty harsh for a one second blackout or the one minute lull between songs. It's certainly not what I want them to do. I also rather not have them swinging into position as the lamps come up to full power going thru thermal shock all the way. Hard on the fixtures, hard on the elements, hard on the wallet.

I'd like the mirrors and yokes to at least stay where they were the last time I used them rather than packing themselves up for the ride home.

Also... Where's the setting to "home" the fixtures?

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 13:41
by Mavi
I get your Problem. First I thought you can fix it by playing around with the "Restore values" option a little. But then I ran into the same problem.

I normaly controll the lights using the submaster and the override buttons. But during testing I came up with the idea to use the cuelist buttons in additon to set up scenes for example for special moods. For example a scene where all colors change to blue. That would be much faster to control instead of setting several submaster to "blue". After disabling all sceenes should run like defined in the submaster before. Same problem as you have. After hitting the cuelist button again to turn it off, everything goes to 0...

I will try to finde a solution and let you know if I got something. Please let me know as well if you have any new idea.

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 14:20
by LJ_krede.dk
the issue may be caused by this change in FS

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 16:05
by wardomon
I just tried the start up values setting. It boots to that then forgets it the first time a cuelist button is called. I set the "restore values" arrow, saved the cue, restarted. Everything went to zero. Cue multi-select in preferences on or off makes no difference. Tried it both ways, restarting Freestyler each time. Tried "Go to previous state" button with the same result.

I tried editing the "correction" settings but it skewed the positions, just like I suspected it would.

Is there a way to set the default DMX values that Freestyler uses? It would be nice if the fixtures could be parked at center with the shutters closed and the lamps at 5%, always returning to that state when nothing was running. Even better would be if they didn't move at all. Calling a blackout is an option, but it's another button to find and push. Plus, blackout stays on even it another cue is called. Forget to push it and the stage stays dark. Embarrassing. It would be nice if killing a cue with a second click automatically called a blackout and didn't reset all DMX channels. It would be great if starting a cue killed a blackout.

I was using an early AmericanDJ Show Designer that left fixture sitting where they were whenever a running scene was stopped. It didn't matter how it was stopped. Calling a blackout or hitting the running scene button again turned the light off. Period. Nothing moved until you told it to. It's kind of important that the light don't rack around unnecessarily or the lamps don't go cold.

Don't get me wrong, I love Freestyler! I've been working on it every day for almost 2 months trying to get my brain around all that it can do. I'm trying hard to break it every way that I can think of. I'd like it to be durable, versatile and "idiot proof". I'd like to understand every feature and dig in all the dark (light?) corners. I need to find a way around a few of it's quirks and make it run the way I'm used to.

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 17:53
by Duckfather
Try modifying the actual fixtures in the Fixture Creator before opening Freestyler. On the Channel Description tab, there are entries for Locate and Default values. Try setting the default to something that won't harm your lights too much.

There are also settings on the main Fixture Config tab (for moving heads) where you can set all the pan, tilt, shutter etc settings.

See if any of this helps with some of your probs.

Andy

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 18:25
by wardomon
Okay, I set locate and default to 127 on both pan and tilt. Saved as a new fixture. Swapped one into the rig. Lo' and behold...? Cue button off still zeros all channels. Great idea, though. I never would have thought to approach it that way. Too bad, too. That would have been a workable solution. Tweak all fixture parameters to a nice safe median. Back to square one, then. Thanks for your interest.

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 20:56
by LJ_krede.dk
again, this is a choice of design and not a bug.

I Agree with you thou, it is a shame FS react as it does. I think you should make a feature request

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 21:01
by Duckfather
Hmm, If I turn off 'Cue go to previous value always enabled' in the main Freestyler preferences and disable all 'Restore Previous Value' toggles in the cue, then the sequence just stops on the last step it was at when I stop the sequence instead of zeroing everything.

Is the 'Cue go to previous value always enabled' setting checked in your Freestyler Setup -> Preferences?

Re: Cuelist button off forces all DMX channels to zero

Posted: 01 Dec 2010, 22:00
by wardomon
I've tried it both ways. Try setting a cuelist button. Click it to start it. Click it to stop it. Watch the DMX output window go to zero.