Calibrate Apollo fan color scrollers on Element

hamlett22

Member
I have 24 Apollo color scrollers, currently using 20 of them off of 4 Rosco power supplies in various locations connected to ETC network nodes connected to an ETC element console.

I have them patched to an instrument/DMX channel using the proper 'type' selection under 'patch' in the console. The ETC board came pre-loaded with types of accessories of which i chose 'Apollo fan color scrollers.' T

I have not been able to align or calibrate these guys properly so the gel threads are always sitting half on and half out of the frame. 'Calibrate' button on the board does not fix the issue.

Any ideas on a fix?

Chad
 
Beyond the correct patch, you need to make sure the scrolls are set up correctly. If you have an Apollo SmartColor or SmartColor PRO 5.25 or 7.5, there are two possible scrolls that come standard with them, each has 24 frames. The 10 has 18 frames. They can also be fitted with custom strings of varying length. If you do not tell the console the correct gel string lengthin Patch>Attributes>Scrollers, then even with calibration it won't matter because it will not be sending the correct DMX values and they will be out of range to calibrate properly.

If you do have the scroll assigned properly, then you may need to know that simply pressing "Calibrate" won't just automatically fix the issue. You need to adjust the scroll to the correct placement of the frame and then hit "Calibrate". Also, make sure the console still thinks it is on the correct frame. If you are trying to calibrate Frame 15 and go beyond Frame 15- into Frame 14+ you will calibrate Frame 14 instead of 15. It may take several passes to fully calibrate especially with user made scrolls that aren't perfectly sized and older scrolls or scrollers.
 
Beyond the correct patch, you need to make sure the scrolls are set up correctly. If you have an Apollo SmartColor or SmartColor PRO 5.25 or 7.5, there are two possible scrolls that come standard with them, each has 24 frames. The 10 has 18 frames. They can also be fitted with custom strings of varying length. If you do not tell the console the correct gel string lengthin Patch>Attributes>Scrollers, then even with calibration it won't matter because it will not be sending the correct DMX values and they will be out of range to calibrate properly.

If you do have the scroll assigned properly, then you may need to know that simply pressing "Calibrate" won't just automatically fix the issue. You need to adjust the scroll to the correct placement of the frame and then hit "Calibrate". Also, make sure the console still thinks it is on the correct frame. If you are trying to calibrate Frame 15 and go beyond Frame 15- into Frame 14+ you will calibrate Frame 14 instead of 15. It may take several passes to fully calibrate especially with user made scrolls that aren't perfectly sized and older scrolls or scrollers.

The goofy part is when I go to Moving Light on the board and click one of the color options (there are 18) I am using the Smart Color Pro 7.25 out of the box, it goes to the color correctly, full frame, then pauses 1 sec. and backs off about a 1/4 to a 1/2 frame.
 
Joe, thanks for chiming in. I do need to correct some things you said about the scrollers just to avoid confusion.

There are two standard strings available for each scroller, Theater and Rock-n-Roll. Now it may get a bit confusing. The Smart Color 5.25 & 7.25 can only use 16 frame strings, whether standard (T or R-n-R) or custom. The Smart Color 10 can only use 10 frame strings, whether standard (T or R-n-R) or custom. However, the PRO strings can be two lengths. The standard strings are 18 frames for all three sizes, 5.25, 7.25, & 10. The first 16 frames are the same as the 16 frame Smart Color strings have always been and the last two frames are just two more colors we chose to get to 18. That was done for better compatibility between Smart Colors and PROs. A custom string for a PRO 5.25 or 7.25 can be 18 or 24 frames. The PRO 10 can only take 18 frames.
Also, while it is true that a custom PRO string can be any length from 2 to 24 frames for the 5.25 & 7.25, and 2 to 18 frames for the 10, it is recommended to only use 18 or 24 frame strings as they will work best based on the PRO's software.

Chad, sorry to hear you are having trouble with your Smart Color PROs. A couple of us are putting our heads together to see if we can figure out what the problem is. I hope to have an answer for you shortly.
 
Chad,
If you control a scroller with a fader, how does it respond?
Also, what Rosco PSUs are you using and how many scrollers per PSU?
 
Chad,
If you control a scroller with a fader, how does it respond?
Also, what Rosco PSUs are you using and how many scrollers per PSU?
HI
Sorry for the late replay. Been on Christmas vacation.
I am using the apollo smart-color pro series with the 18 frame ‘theatregel strings.
I have two 400 watt Rosco power supplies and four 200 watt psu’s.

I have 4 scrollers each on the 200 watt psu’s and nothing else. Each scroller at the end of the line is terminated with a cable run back to the PSU. No cable run is longer than 6’.

The 400 watt psu’s share scrollers and some mirrors and irises. The scrollers behave exactly the same on the 400s and the 200s. I click a color on my element console, they scroll to that color and then after a brief moment (1 second or so) they move off alignment, typically a 1/4 to a 1/2 frame off.

I don’t have them set up to run on a fader. How would I set that up on the Element console? Currently I have the DMX channels for each scroller patched as a ‘part’ to the DMX channel on a lighting instrument. So when I go to live mode and type in the DMX channel of an insrument on the board, I hit ‘ML [moving light]’ and then have options to control the scroller’s fan speed on and off as well as select color frames.

Scratching my head.

Chad
 
Chad,

Thanks for the response.

Your setup sounds good, as in not too many devices per power supply. Unfortunately, I don't know as much about the different consoles as I would like, so I can't tell you exactly what to do to run a scroller from a fader. I did however look at the manual. I think if you just patch a scroller in as a conventional fixture or dimmer, you should be able to control it from a fader, like you would a conventional fixture. (Page 54 - "Patching Conventional Fixtures" - http://www.etcconnect.com/docs/docs_downloads/manuals/Element_v2.1.0_User_Manual_RevA.pdf) The purpose of doing that would be to see how it reacts when you tell it to go to a certain percentage rather than the console doing the work, if that makes sense. If the scroller behaves the same way, honestly, we are at a bit of a loss as to what is happening. If it were just one scroller that was acting up, I would suspect that scroller has an issue, but because all of them are misbehaving, I feel the issue is not likely with all of the scrollers, but someplace else. Are any other devices acting up? I suspect something in the console or profile is causing the strange scroller behavior.
 
Just bumping the thread to see if GreyWyvern \'s post was able to offer assistance to you, Chad....

And happy new year!
 

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