Re: [LCtalk] First experiences

[Fokko van Duin]

At 23:02 +0100 21-02-2005, Dennis Peeters wrote:
> Hey everyone,
>
> Just home after a rewarding day of working with my lanbox. Had my 
> first runthrough (don't know if this is the correct English term 
> "doorloop" in dutch) with my pre-programmed lanbox, worked great.

I believe it's called rehearsal :-)



> One thing  though.
> - After editing for quite a wile some channels in the control and 
> stag window kept displaying 0% although the DMX value was still 
> intact, and it was still possible to go through cues (the channels 
> were included in the fades). Selecting/deselecting didn't make a 
> difference, the indicators didn't change until I did Reconnect 
> interface.

It sounds as the update thread in LCedit+ was not working anymore, 
what LanBox type, LCedit+ version on what platform do you use?


> And some general 'theatre minded" comments.
> - I miss a reset button/keycommand (as in: reset all channels to 
> active cue values, or (better still) per channel in the layer 
> fadetime). I'm currently using the go button for this, but if you 
> got some long fadetimes it gets kind of annoying.

I am not sure what you mean, but if you type v alt-<enter> you set 
the selection of a layer to the current mixer values.


> - Same for previous cue (in layer fadetime).

Previous Cue key is on PC ctrl-alt-minus on Mac cmd-alt-minus. You 
can assign e.g. a function key for this.


> - It might be nice to have a blackout button next to the master 
> fader (so i can make a keycommand of it), I currently use s1-255=0 
> as keycommand.

Make a Blackout cue, and assign it to another function key.


> -Maybe a store keycommand (tried to make a macro, but that doesn't work).
> - Is there a way to store active channels in a cue(-step) without 
> switching to Edit mode (and losing your settings) ?

If you use the edit mode of the cuelist editor normally (not single 
step edit), you can always store the cuelist, as the channels in the 
current cuestep are updated real-time. The cuelist editor is made to 
change cues without loosing any setting, so what's up?


> - Is there a way to manually crossfade cues ?

Yes (I assume you mean really manually fading), use two layers (e.g. 
A & B) and set layer A to "transparent" mode. Now load cue 1 into A 
and cue 2 into B. You can now manually fade between A and B with the 
transparency wheel.


> Please tell me if you think i'm the next overdemanding 
> theatretechnician who wants his 400 euro lanbox to behave like a 
> Compulite spark.

It can do even more :-)


> And finally just out of curiousity, you mention in the tutorial its 
> possible to let cues react to the dmx value of a channel, how do i 
> program this (would be great to combine with midi note-ons.

Make a control cue like this:
// Cuelist 100 (6 steps), modified 22-02-2005 12:20
001:
  hold for 0.05s
  go 001 if channel 100 within 0 - 127
  go 50.1 in layer A
002:
  hold for 0.05s
  go 002 if channel 100 within 128 - max
  go 001


It's an endless loop where is first tests whether light channel 100 
is higher then 127. If it is then it starts cue 50.1 in layer A. The 
control cue then waits until channel 100 is below 128, and jumps to 
the beginning of the control cue again.


Fokko van Duin,                     Creators of the LanBox-LC
CDS advanced technology bv,         DMX lighting controller.
http://www.cds.nl/                  http://www.lanbox.com/

Member of MIDI Manufacturers Association, MMA