Apollo Smart Color Pro Calibration Issues

[GoboMan]

I'm currently working a show with 12 Smart Color Pro 7.25 scrollers controlled by an ETC Ion console.

As part of my pre-show check every night, I do a scroller frame check on each unit, checking to make sure each color is centered and that the scrollers move freely.

Every night, without fail, there are at least two or three scrollers that lose their calibration from the previous night, and usually on about 5 or 6 different frames. I constantly have to re-calibrate every night. And it's not always repeat offenders.

Is this a common problem with Smart Color scrollers? I worked with Wybron Colorams in my previous venue and never had to re-calibrate nearly this often.

I was just wondering if other users of Smart Color scrollers had this similar problem and if there was any way to remedy it.

Thanks!

 

[GreyWyvern]

Every night, without fail, there are at least two or three scrollers that lose their calibration from the previous night, and usually on about 5 or 6 different frames. I constantly have to re-calibrate every night. And it's not always repeat offenders.

This makes it sound like you are not powering them down at the end of the night. If so, what is the reason for that?
One of the engineers here would equate not powering them down each night to leaving your car running all night in your driveway. It's a waste of fuel (electricity), has absolutely no benefit, and causes unnecessary wear and tear on the parts, likely leading to early failure. Powering them up the next day makes all of them run through the calibration and you should be good to go right from the start. Even then, I would still do your check to be sure everything else is fine.
Side note: I am often shocked at how dirty some scrollers I get back for repair can be. It's obvious that they aren't taken down and given some TLC at the start of each season at the very least, if ever. Obviously, many factors play into how dirty they get and how quickly. Going back to the car, you change the oil and wash it when needed, so why not replace the gel string when it is worn and/or bad and blow the dust out of the unit and wipe it down occasionally? A little maintenance can go a long way.

Is this a common problem with Smart Color scrollers? I worked with Wybron Colorams in my previous venue and never had to re-calibrate nearly this often.

Not usually. They can be a bit finicky at times, but a reset, such as happens at power up each day, normally takes care of any issues. Once the units are built, they are loaded with a string and set on a test rack to run for 4 hours straight. They change to a "random" frame every 6 seconds. Although not how they would typically be used in a show, this is done to simulate a show. At the end of the four hours, there might be one that needs a reset to get back on track as they can begin to drift with the extensive scrolling. The window of error we allow is 1" in either direction. That means if I were to stop all of them in a split frame, the seam on each unit would all be within 2" of each other unit.
The main thing that the Smart Color PROs and Colorams have in common is that they are both scrollers. Apples and oranges are both fruits, but are quite different. The Colorams only used one motor in conjunction with a belt and a spring-loaded roller. That made it a much noisier unit than the Smart Color PRO, which uses two motors to tension the string. You never have to worry about losing tension or it not being right. The sensor was also in a place where it was reading tape on the gel string itself. That meant the gel string was going through the sensor which not only added to the noise at times, but there was the possibility of the string coming out of the sensor. None of the is an issue with the Smart Color PRO's protected encoders which are mounted on the motors.

 

[GoboMan]

Thanks for your reply. In response to your thoughts, the scrollers do get shut down every night after the show, and then re-started/re-initialized when I arrive the next evening. They are also on their own DMX universe, and I have a return sent from the last scroller in the chain back to the power supply to help avoid any errant DMX issues. Also, new and clean gel strings were installed prior to tech week for this show, which was no more than three weeks ago.

Once calibrated, the scrollers behave perfectly throughout the performance and the frames position just fine. It's only when I shut down and restart that a few scrollers' frames become off-centered as I check them.

 

[GreyWyvern]

Once calibrated, the scrollers behave perfectly throughout the performance and the frames position just fine. It's only when I shut down and restart that a few scrollers' frames become off-centered as I check them.

So to be sure I understand what is going on, I'll tell you what I think you are telling me and ask some questions.
You do power everything down each night. Everything gets powered up the next day at call. (1- Is this what you mean when you say "shut down and restart"?) At that point, the scrollers startup and calibrate. (2- At this point, are all the scrollers okay, or are some off-centered?) If some are off-centered, you send a reset command to them, they re-calibrate, and then are good for the performance. (3- Is the check happening before or after the performance, or both?)

If you want to, feel free to give me a call to talk over things. That may be easier than going back and forth like this.

 

[GoboMan]

Hi Dave,

So, to answer your questions...

1) Yes, when I said "shut down and restart," I did indeed mean that they get shut down before I leave for the night, and then powered up when I return the next evening.

2) When they get powered up, they run their initialization process, and then all scrollers go to frame #1, which are all correctly centered. At this point, the lighting console has also been powered on and no cues are running and no channels are selected or active with any parameters. (I power up the console first before anything else in the grid.)

After all scrollers have finished initializing and have moved to frame #1, I then select my first scroller on the console, and then using the color encoder I go through each color one at a time. I do this procedure for each scroller in the chain. This is where I always encounter framing issues. When I get to around frame #10 and above, there are always about three or four scrollers whose frames don't land correctly, and often for each frame until the end of the roll. Sometimes I see about an inch of the previous/next frame, and sometimes it's close to 50/50.

3) As I'm checking the scollers, if I see a frame that is off-centered, I use the scroller encoder on the console to correct its position (in the case of the Ion, I hold "Shift" and then roll the encoder until the frame is centered), and then I click "Calibrate" on the ML screen to store that position. I do this for each frame I observe that is off-centered for each scroller.

Again, once I do this the frames find their position perfectly during the show. I'll shut down as usual after the show, but then will ultimately have to repeat the above process again the next day.

 

[GreyWyvern]

Okay. Things are coming into focus now! More questions.

When they frames aren't centered, are they not going far enough and showing the previous frame, or going too far and showing the next frame?
When you tell it to go to the last frame, does it center properly or is it off?
This is not all of the units, but not always the same ones, correct?

 

[GoboMan]

When they frames aren't centered, are they not going far enough and showing the previous frame, or going too far and showing the next frame?

A little of both, actually. Sometimes they go too far, other times not far enough. It's never really consistent with either one.

When you tell it to go to the last frame, does it center properly or is it off?

The last frame is always correct, as is the first frame. I never ever have to adjust the positions of frame #1 or frame #18, only the ones in frame 10-17 range.

This is not all of the units, but not always the same ones, correct?

Correct. I never have to recalibrate all twelve of them in my plot, but always about three or four and it's rarely the same ones two nights in a row.

 

[GreyWyvern]

The fact that it is not all of the units that are off leads me to believe that it is not the console or profile, but is an issue with the scrollers. On the other hand, the fact that it isn't the same units every time leads me to believe it is not an issue with the scrollers. I'm starting to scratch my head on this one.
Have you tried controlling them with a fader rather than the encoder to see if the behavior is the same?

 

[GoboMan]

Have you tried controlling them with a fader rather than the encoder to see if the behavior is the same?

I have not, but I will give that a try tomorrow night. I can also try doing the method of "At Color 1, At Color 2, etc..." and see if that makes a difference.

I will keep you updated on what I find. Thank you so much for your input and help! I really appreciate it!

 

[icewolf08]

Just for a sanity check, I would recommend clearing all the calibration data from the channels and starting totally fresh. (you can do this in patch) It will help give more of a baseline "reading" of what is going on.

 

[GoboMan]

I will give that a try tomorrow, as well! Thanks!

 

[GoboMan]

Hello, again! Here again for an update. After trying a few things, I think I found a solution that appears to be working consistently for me.

I discovered that if I'm doing my frame check and come across a scroller whose frames are landing off-centered, I just have to reset that particular scroller to re-initialize it. It seems that after doing that power cycle, the frames suddenly are centered again as a flip through them. I had to do this for two scrollers last night, and only one tonight.

I will continue this procedure until further notice, but it seems to have solved my problem!

 

[ScottT]

It sounds like you've fixed it, but for anyone coming across this in search:
Which software version are you using? There was a bug (fixed in software version 2.5.1 I think) that caused scroller calibration data to be lost when undoing a change in patch.

 

[GoboMan]

The console had recently been updated to the most recent version of Eos, prior to the start of this show's run.

 

[Kelite]

It's good to know the solution has been found, and even better to know the Apollo Smart Color scrollers weren't losing their little minds!

Just another example of The ControlBooth adding value to people's lives!

 

[ScottT]

The console had recently been updated to the most recent version of Eos, prior to the start of this show's run.

It's good to know the solution has been found, and even better to know the Apollo Smart Color scrollers weren't losing their little minds!

Without knowing what software version the OP upgraded to and which they upgraded from it's still an unknown.

 

[GoboMan]

The console has been running 2.5.2 prior to the start of our tech week, so the scrollers were having that problem even with the most recent Eos software update.