Help with ETC ColorSource PARs and Spots?

In February of 2020, my theatre program got our first batch of LED lights. We got ETC ColorSource PARs and Spots. When we received these, we had two representatives come from ETC and help us set them up. Then, over the summer, the maintenance people came in and removed our entire patch panel and switched everything to Constant power, removing our ability to use our remaining incandescents.

Since then, we have completely switched to LED's and during the break of COVID, all of the work the two Rep's did for us was undone.

For reference, we have an ETC Element (with 240 channels).

When we had them set up by the Rep's, we were able to use the Color Picker and everything used a single channel.

I have tried every single mode on the lights and am not able to use the Color Picker for any of my lights on any of the modes.

I am unsure what I need to do and have tried working back from square one several times and am willing to completely start over again,

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?
 
Hmmm.... we may need a little more information, but first some basic questions...

Does your DMX address on the fixtures match the DMX address of the channel in patch? Is everything actually controlled by "one" DMX address in a multi parameter fixture and only on 1 channel? Have you confirmed that your fixtures are receiving DMX? Is it possible that your "patch panel" was routing DMX for you and now that it has been removed you are not getting DMX to your fixtures? Do they turn on at all or only in a certain color?
 
Hmmm.... we may need a little more information, but first some basic questions...

Does your DMX address on the fixtures match the DMX address of the channel in patch? Is everything actually controlled by "one" DMX address in a multi parameter fixture and only on 1 channel? Have you confirmed that your fixtures are receiving DMX? Is it possible that your "patch panel" was routing DMX for you and now that it has been removed you are not getting DMX to your fixtures? Do they turn on at all or only in a certain color?
They all patch correctly and I have it patched 1-to-1. Right now I've got everything on channel 1 just so I can light the entire stage for rehearsals, but I was able to patch to every 5 channels (using 5ch) for our last show. Everything is receiving DMX and I've got 4 or 5 ColorSource Transmitters in use that all work.
While troubleshooting, I even plugged the DMX cable directly from a PAR into the Light Board and was able to control it with dimmers, but still remained unable to use the Color Picker. I can change the colors using the dimmers when the lights are in 5ch or Direct mode, but I can't use the Color Picker function which is my main problem.

I have control over all of the lights and everything is working how it should, but it's not working in the most efficient way for my program, especially with how complex our upcoming show will be lighting-wise.

Regarding the patch panel, it was just our insanely complex way of routing the outlets on our catwalk to the light board. The school was built in 1978 and all of those plugs along with the patch panel were original, so it couldn't have routed any DMX.

Unfortunately, I never received any proper training and have had to just figure things out on my own so there's a good chance I just missed something simple.
 
I need to ask the obvious, but do you have them patched as Color source fixtures in the console? From what your writing it sounds like you're trying to control each parenteral as a 'dimmer' like one might do to get by on an express generation console.

If you haven't seen them, I'd highly recommend going through the video learning series for EOS software, they really helped me get the basics down when I started on these consoles: https://www.etcconnect.com/EosFamilyVideos/Level-1/
 
If you're not fully familiar with the console, I would watch all of the videos that Michael K linked above, but here is the specific video about how to patch multi parameter fixtures.

Seconded.

This is not a technical problem as much as it is a user training issue. You will need to build familiarity with the console workflow using the YouTube videos. You can also have ETC or a rep come in and provide training, though it comes at a cost and I would not do it until you've worked through the YouTube videos. Any in-person training will be much more meaningful if you've already got a basic understanding of the console.

Getting your entire fixtures package onto a single channel so you can use a color picker is not the appropriate solution. You should learn how to patch every fixture as its own channel and use groups/faders/presets/palettes properly -- as well as learn how to use RDM so you can remotely address and configure all of the fixtures from the Element console (assuming your DMX infrastructure is equipped for RDM compatibility -- it may not, but if it does, you can reconfigure the settings on all the fixtures without hopping on a ladder).

It takes a little learning to get there, but it's not hard at all and will better set you up to adapt the fixtures and console per event while largely using the same show file as a starting point. Otherwise your organization has spent a lot of money for on what is getting used as essentially a very expensive light switch with even more expensive light fixtures.
 
Il
If you've got a 1 to 1 patch the desk thibks they're all dimmers, so the colour oicker won't apply. In patch go in and repatch, so i f you have (say) 5 instruments in 5 channel mode starting at address 1 you do 1 through 5 at 1 but make sure you then click on type and tell the desk what the fixture type is. Then your colour picker will work.
I've tried this before and have lost control over my lights for some reason, but I'll for sure try again when I go to rehearsals tomorrow.
I do need to ask the stupid question of whether or not I can use the Color Picker in 1ch mode or not.
 
Seconded.

This is not a technical problem as much as it is a user training issue. You will need to build familiarity with the console workflow using the YouTube videos. You can also have ETC or a rep come in and provide training, though it comes at a cost and I would not do it until you've worked through the YouTube videos. Any in-person training will be much more meaningful if you've already got a basic understanding of the console.

Getting your entire fixtures package onto a single channel so you can use a color picker is not the appropriate solution. You should learn how to patch every fixture as its own channel and use groups/faders/presets/palettes properly -- as well as learn how to use RDM so you can remotely address and configure all of the fixtures from the Element console (assuming your DMX infrastructure is equipped for RDM compatibility -- it may not, but if it does, you can reconfigure the settings on all the fixtures without hopping on a ladder).

It takes a little learning to get there, but it's not hard at all and will better set you up to adapt the fixtures and console per event while largely using the same show file as a starting point. Otherwise your organization has spent a lot of money for on what is getting used as essentially a very expensive light switch with even more expensive light fixtures.
For sure, as I said earlier, I never received proper training and have had to figure everything out on my own and have had no luck with YouTube videos because I couldn't find any that pertain to my actual console.

I plan on calling ETC next week to see if we can get a representative to come out since my school hours conflict with their office hours (they're central time and I'm in pacific standard time).

I've poked around for RDM and can't seem to find anything to enable it, but I'll give it a closer look.

For my previous show, I had about 46 channels in use, using every 5 channels since the lights were in 5ch mode, but I still couldn't use the color picker so that's why I'm unsure what I need to do to be able to use the Color Picker.
 
You should be able to find out who sold you the lights. Which would have been a local distributor and not ETC directly. They would have been responsible for the training that didn't happen, and they should be able to send someone out for training.
 
Hello,
I think that part of the difficulty you are experiencing is the differences among lighting fixtures, DMX addresses, console channels, and console devices.
If what I am typing is over simplified, I do not mean any offense by its simplicity and only mean to assist. Are you a student, faculty, or staff?
First, your Element console is similar in many respects to the ETC Eos line. The beginning series of YouTube videos will be helpful for learning some of the rudimentary parts of programming the Element.
Second, because access to the console is limited for you I would recommend downloading the offline editor from ETC.
You can install the software on a computer. It has a virtual console keyboard that you can open to familiarize yourself while watching the videos.

Alright, now into the discussion.
When the technicians came out to setup the system, the system was setup so that the lighting fixtures were controlled by the console as a device. There should be a copy of the show file on the Element that they setup that has that information. I would look to see if such a file exists. It is possible that it was overwritten, but the original version should still be on the hard drive of the console.

The incandescent fixtures that you used to have only had Intensity as an parameter that was controlled by the console.
The ColorSource PARs and Spots are lighting fixtures that have multiple parameters. They have Intensity and Color parameters. Each parameter needs to be controlled by the console. Each of these parameters corresponds to a DMX address from 1 through 512 and is determined by the address that is set on the ColorSource fixture.
So, for example, a ColorSource PAR, operating in its standard 5 channel (or 5 address) mode, has Intensity, Red, Green, Blue, and Strobe controls. That ColorSource PAR if it has a start address of 1: address 1 controls intensity, address 2 controls the Red color, address 3 controls the Blue color, address 4 controls the Green color, and address 5 controls the Strobe function.
BUT, this is not what is happening for you. Your fixtures have been changed to work in 1 channel mode. You only have access to the Intensity control. The color controls are not available. The fact that you can only control every 5th channel, suggests that the fixtures still have the start addresses set to be in 5 address mode but have been changed to only 1 address mode. To gain access to the color controls, this needs to be changed.

Now, we have discussed fixtures and DMX addresses. We know that your fixtures are in a mode that only allows control of Intensity. Let's talk about the console.
You said that you had set the Element to 1-to1 patch. This means that channel 1 on the console is outputting data to DMX address 1, channel 2 to DMX 2, and so on. So, channel 1 may bring up a fixture that has the address of 1. Channels 2-5 do not bring up anything. Channel 6 will bring up the Intensity of a fixture with the DMX address of 6. Channels 7-10 do not bring up anything.
To control the ColorSource PARs and Spots fully, the fixtures need to be "patched" in the console as devices to a channel. When they are patched this way, the channel controls the Intensity and the Color and Strobe attributes. This will allow you to select the channel, and give it an intensity, and use the color picker.

Now, here is the action plan.
Can you SAFELY access the fixtures to change the "MODE" back to the standard 5 channel mode?
Page 7 of the manual will tell you how to do it. That manual is here
It will be helpful to make a note of the fixtures' addresses when you do this.
If you cannot safely access the fixtures, then you will need to use the RDM functionality to change them. RDM stands for Remote Device Management. It is a way of using the console to change the modes on the fixtures. It is more involved. If you need to use this method, I can not recommend enough that you call the ETC Tech Support line to get assistance. They are available 24 hours a day. (800) 688-4116

Once the fixtures have been changed back to 5 Channel mode, you will go to the console to patch them.
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This will show how to patch a multi-parameter device on the original Element.
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Is the start of the series about patching on the Element if you want to back up a bit.

I hope this will help you out.
Take care and have fun lighting the show. I started in high school working on lighting for our shows as an extracurricular activity. I didn't know when I started that it would become my career.
John
 
Il

I've tried this before and have lost control over my lights for some reason, but I'll for sure try again when I go to rehearsals tomorrow.
I do need to ask the stupid question of whether or not I can use the Color Picker in 1ch mode or not.

Yes you can assuming you mean "assigning a light to a console channel". One channel on the console can control multiple fixture attributes. These attributes will include Intensity, Red, Green, Blue, Amber, etc... If patched correctly you should get individual color (virtual fader) controls as well as the color picker and gel catalog. If you assign 4 instruments to one channel, all 4 will always do the same thing. Splitting them up helps with granular control of being able to have individual color and intensity control over fixtures but eats up console channels as you add fixtures over time. Of course, to speed up programming, you can group individual fixtures to, for example, make them all blue, rather than tuning each fixture one at a time. Basically, think of each individual channel as a potential "dropdown menu" that gives full access [when you open the ML Controls tab] to the fixture's functionality (as dictated by the mode you have set it in).
 
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I do need to ask the stupid question of whether or not I can use the Color Picker in 1ch mode or not.
Depends what you mean by this. If you mean when the desk has each fixture as a single channel, then, provided it's patched correctly (as above), and it knows the fixture type, then yes. If you mean when a fixture is configured in single channel mode at the fixture, then no, because in that mode the single channel controls only the intensity.

You need the fixtures to be configured in one of the multichannel modes at the fixture, properly addressed, and then properly patched.
 
For sure, as I said earlier, I never received proper training and have had to figure everything out on my own and have had no luck with YouTube videos because I couldn't find any that pertain to my actual console.

I plan on calling ETC next week to see if we can get a representative to come out since my school hours conflict with their office hours (they're central time and I'm in pacific standard time).

I've poked around for RDM and can't seem to find anything to enable it, but I'll give it a closer look.

For my previous show, I had about 46 channels in use, using every 5 channels since the lights were in 5ch mode, but I still couldn't use the color picker so that's why I'm unsure what I need to do to be able to use the Color Picker.

ETC has offices around the world, don't hesitate to call up your regional office. They often have the pulse and ready location of local/regional ETC Certified Field Techs that can also offer training :grin:.... They are out there.... though I hear some of them look like lumberjacks and drink too much coffee...

ETC West

1120 Scott Rd.
Burbank, CA 91504
Tel: 1.323.461.0216
 
I would also add that the local ETC rep for Washington is JC Wright. They would also be happy to help you with some training.

JC Wright Lighting Sales Inc​

413 E 3rd Ave
Spokane, WA 99202-1414
United States

Tel: 509-535-0098
Fax: 509-535-1079
http://www.jcwrightlighting.com
 

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