Lamp Strike/De-Strike Macro

[chrispo86]

Relatively simple question. I have MAC 300's, MAC 250's, and an Express 48/96. I want to write two macros, a lamp on and a lamp off. I'm relatively new to movers, and I know I wrote something last year with fixture attribute numbers and whatnot, but it was really confusing and didn't work that well. I understand in my head what needs to happen, I just for the life of me can't get it into the form of a macro that works. Any help?

 

[derekleffew]

In Blind, record a Group#99 with all the respective Control Channels (Channel#1 on each fixture) at FL. The LampON macro would be [Stage, group, 99, at, 90*, macro-wait 6, rel, rel, rel, stage]
*Notes:
For LampON: use any percentage from 89-93.
For LampOff: use any percentage from 97-FL.
For RESET: use any percentage from 82-85.

NoteB:
Make sure DMX Reset and DMX Lamp Off are NOT disabled in the fixtures' menu settings.
1If DMX Reset is disabled in the menu,
a reset command can only be executed
if the CTC filter is selected, the prism is
on (not rotating) and the open gobo is
selected.
2If DMX Lamp Off is disabled in the
menu, a lamp off command can only be
executed if the CTC filter is selected,
the prism is on (not rotating) and the
open gobo is selected.

NoteC:
CONTROL CHANNEL %: Shutter, Strobe, Reset, Lamp On/Off
0 - 7: Shutter closed
8 - 19: Shutter open
20 - 28: Strobe, fastÆslow
29 - 31: Shutter open
31 - 39: Opening pulse, fast Æslow
39 - 47: Closing pulse, fast Æslow
47 - 50: Shutter open
50 - 58: Random strobe, fast
58 - 65: Random strobe, medium
66 - 73: Random strobe, slow
74 - 75: Shutter open
75 - 76: Random opening pulse, fast
76 - 77: Random opening pulse, slow
77 - 78: Random closing pulse, fast
78 - 79: Random closing pulse, slow
80 - 81: Shutter open
82 - 85: Reset fixture, see note 1
85 - 89: Shutter open
89 - 93: Lamp on
93 - 97: Shutter open
97 - 100: Lamp off: time > 5 seconds, see note 2

 

[chrispo86]

Thanks! One question though. I thought I had read that it isn't good practice to strike all of the lamps at the same time as it creates the potential for an overload on the power circuit? How would you do it so that the macro turns on one fixture, then moves on to the next, and so on? This is where I was having my biggest problem creating the macro. I couldn't get it to cycle through the fixtures.

I know I have also read that it is not good to strike a lamp that is already on. Is there a way to make a macro stop after it has gone through all of the fixtures without programming a step for each individual fixture? As far as I know (which, when it comes to macro's, isn't a lot) the only way to do what I'm looking for would be to have the macro call itself when it finishes, but this creates a loop.

 

[derekleffew]

Thanks! One question though. I thought I had read that it isn't good practice to strike all of the lamps at the same time as it creates the potential for an overload on the power circuit? How would you do it so that the macro turns on one fixture, then moves on to the next, and so on? This is where I was having my biggest problem creating the macro. I couldn't get it to cycle through the fixtures.

IF you have 4x MAC250/300 on one 120?V/20A circuit, it may possibly trip the circuit breaker if you strike all four lamps simultaneously. When I have a rig of 30-100 1200W MLs, I'll LampON them in groups of 10-20 units. With less than 10, on different circuits, you needn't bother. If you're concerned about this, use this macro: [Stage, {(Control channel for fixture#1), at, 90*, macro-wait 6, rel, (Control channel for fixture#2), at, 90*, macro-wait 6, rel, ...(Control channel for fixture#last)}, rel, rel, rel, stage].

...I know I have also read that it is not good to strike a lamp that is already on. ...

Sending a LampON command to a fixture that's already lit causes no harm--the fixture simply ignores the command. It's not like engaging the starter in your car when the engine is already running. This doesn't mean one should just leave the control channel at a level of 89-93% indefinitely however, as some fixtures will not respond to or accept other DMX instructions during LampON, reset, or LampOff periods.

...Is there a way to make a macro stop after it has gone through all of the fixtures without programming a step for each individual fixture? As far as I know (which, when it comes to macro's, isn't a lot) the only way to do what I'm looking for would be to have the macro call itself when it finishes, but this creates a loop.

One could write a sub-routine (series of linked cues) and have the macro call that, but it's really more trouble than it's worth.

 

[chrispo86]

Yeah, I'm definately not going to be running into a situation where I'm using more than a half dozen or so movers, this is for a high school. I just wanted to know how you do it with a large number of lights (i.e. double/triple digit quantity) to satisfy my own curiosity. I guess when you say you would strike 10-20 units at once, you would just break down the rig into different groups like you described earlier and run a macro for each group, at least on an Express(ion). I would have to assume with a rig that large you would be using a console a little better equipped for the task though.

Thanks for the input. It'll definately make my life somewhat easier...

 

[sk8rsdad]

The macro language in the big boards is a tad more sophisticated. Also most of the MLs you've mentioned have personality settings (PERS->ALON) to stagger lamp on commands based on DMX address, moving the management of the problem from the console to the fixture.

 

[chrispo86]

The macro language in the big boards is a tad more sophisticated. Also most of the MLs you've mentioned have personality settings (PERS->ALON) to stagger lamp on commands based on DMX address, moving the management of the problem from the console to the fixture.

Yeah, I assumed it would be more complex, which only makes sense since as a whole the console is capable of doing more.

And now that you mention it, I do remember reading something about the fixtures staggering the strikes when I flipped through the manual last year.