Automated Fixtures - Coloram2 scroller not indexing correctly on ETC Element

[NickVon]

So we have 12 Coloram2 across several brains and all are addressed and "working" properly at that level

the intiall couple of colors appearto align correctly but moving on past "color 6" on the attributes of the channel with scroller we start gettings seams.

We tried to use the "calibrate" function but it didn't appear to do anything and there's no documentation on it that I could find.

The designer is familiar with the scrollers in terms of hardware but this is the first time using them as fixture attributes on an Element/Ion style console.

The Trouble:
The Profile for the Coloram2 on the Element doesn't seem to index properly as some colors are appearing out of alignment. The profile is set for what appears to be a 24 frame ("Range") gell string, and the current strings appear to be 16 frames longs.

We Tried:
changing the values in the custom fixture/profile mode and did the math to edit the dmx values. 255 / 16 and placing the slush +/- at the beginning and end. We also tried a smaller value for the starting and ending frames which is what the default profile appears to represent.

We were starting programming this evening and trying to trouble shoot this has already delayed us about an hour. Any Assitance or thoughts on this is much appreciated as we start our First Dress/Tech tomorrow (Sunday)

[rochem]

You need to tell the console how many frames are in the scroll, and then you will be able to use Calibrate to fix any minor issues. In Patch, go to the Attributes tab. For each part patched as a scroller, you should see the "Scroller" button on the bottom right of the screen. Click on this. Click "New" to create a new scroll. At this point, you can go through and add the colors that appear in the scroll in order. It sounds like you might not know what the colors actually are, so you can theoretically insert the correct number of frames all as "Open Frames" or something, but you will make programming far easier if you take the time to put in the correct colors at this point. Once you've made the scroll, save it, and assign that same scroll to all of your Colorams by selecting the "Scroller" button and clicking on the scroll you just made.

By telling the console how many frames are in the scroll, you're telling the console how large each step is when moving from frame to frame. The scroller channel of the Coloram II's DMX profile is just a linear curve where the console divides the number of frames by 255, and uses that number to advance frames. If you take the time to tell it what color each frame is, you can use the color picker to find a closest match for a desired color (not including split frames), plus it will tell you what color is currently in the scrolls on the screen. It's possible some scrolls could still be off, due to irregularities when building the scroll, worn motors, or anything else. If so, just navigate to that color in the scroll, hit "Calibrate", move the color encoder until the color is centered in the scroller, and hit Calibrate again to save it. ETC recommends starting from the last frame in the scroll and calibrating backwards to the first frame.

Hope that helps.

[jglodeklights]

Based on the information you have provided, Michael is correct, at least mostly so in my experience. Some can depend on which version of the EOS family/Element software you are using (found by hitting ABOUT with nothing selected). You MUST create a scroll or scroller with the correct number of frames, as per Michael's instructions. Yes, mistakes in making the scroll and slop in motors and springs can cause some issues with frames properly aligning. However, where Michael made a mistake is how to calibrate the scroll. Do not hit calibrate first! The CALIBRATE command need only be used when you have set the scroll accurately. In the case of the Element, navigate to the correct frame, and use the mouse to manually alter its location by moving up and down in the blue area of the COLOR-SCROLLER wheel in ML Controls until no seam shows. Then click calibrate under COLOR. This will build an accurate grouping of ranges for the scroller frames you are working with.

[jglodeklights]

PS: I am working with 38 ColoRAMII's for the second season with an ION; if you have further questions do not hesitate to PM me as I am more than willing to share my experiences working with them beyond what Kirk and David from ETC may have to say in relation to their integration with the EOS Family.

[NickVon]

This was exactly what helped us out.

It turns out since we programmed the show with the stock" default string we are using that instead and simply calibrated the colors we where using as a work around. For the next show we have already created the scroll and are ready to just plug it in.

Thanks guys.