Congo Jr. And Direct Selects

[chslighttech]

Hey Guys,

I have a couple little things that I can't seem to figure out. I am running a Congo Jr. With a 40 fader playback wing and we just updated to version 6 today. I have a show on Saturday which I will be busking with 24 color blasts and 4 Mac250's, I plan to run it in Jam mode while using direct selects. I am trying to set up some direct selects. I just can't seem to load the effect playbacks to any faders. I hit the direct select button on the fader wing and then I hold type and it brings up a whole menu to choose from like, Gels, focus, Color, Beam. I do not see anything about effect playbacks in there. Now When I return it to Jam mode page I can see it has set up a bank of faders on the lower right side for effect playbacks. Is their a way to move this to the direct selects page? Or am I stuck with it on the jam mode page?


Another issue is I could not figure out the direct select called (parameter) I would hit TYPE and select parameter. Then the 10 fader labels would all say parameter. I select my group of fixtures and hit the color button on the console and click the color encoder and all the colors in the wheel show up on the fader wing. When I back out of the color wheel parameter all 10 faders still say parameter. But Is their a way to program this color wheel directly into the parameter direct select? I am pretty confused on how this parameter direct select works. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Nick

 

[sclausenETC]

Hi Nick -

1) Effect Playbacks can be assigned to Masters, but not to Direct Select banks directly. If you want to have selectors for Effects on the Direct Selects, I would suggest making a Group for each Effect Playback you want up there. However, since you have to swap back and forth between Masters mode and Direct Selects mode on the wing, I'm not sure if this will be a big benefit for you. When Effect Playbacks are assigned to Masters (which you can do yourself by selecting the Effect Playback, then pressing CH/ID and the Master key you want to assign it to) you have a selector button and an intensity fader for that Effect Playback (and possibly a flash key for intensity as well if you have assigned it to a page on the bottom set of Masters). Please note that an Effect Playback directly assigned to a Master is only a selector/intensity controller and that the Master knows nothing about what parameters you have set for that Effect. It will simply raise and lower intensity and play whatever is assigned to that Effect at that moment. I recommend using Presets on Masters if you want those Effects to have a standard setup that you can recall quickly by raising the fader...

2) Parameters assigned to the Direct Selects show the range values for that parameter for selected channels. If you want to have "permanent" selectors for your colors, record Color Palettes instead and assign those to the Direct Selects. Either way you will have to have the channels selected to apply the colors, so it's about equal. Using Param won't show the color names when the lights aren't selected, using Palettes will, but you won't be able to apply them until you have selected the channels first. Make sense?

I hope that helps -

Thanks -

Sarah

 

[chslighttech]

Hi Sarah!

Okay I Understand how I should do the effect playbacks. I probably will just use presets. The only other question is I will be using a dynamic effect such as a Ballyhoo. Now If I throw this into a preset won't it take the pan and tilt values as well and always use them when I trigger this effect? Well let me just say what I want to be able to do. I want to be able to have my group of moving lights at a focus pallet and just be able to trigger a ballyhoo from wherever they are already set using the pan/tilt values that are already their and not using absolute ones in the effect. Will using presets still be able to accomplish this?

I thought that might be how the parameters worked. Thanks for clearing that up for me!!!

 

[sclausenETC]

Hi Nick -

First, visit this forum thread on our Community Forums and download the Effects Overview in English (there are many translations of this document in the thread, so you might have to scroll). Effects, Effekte, Effets, Efectos, Effetti.... - Electronic Theatre Controls

To do what you describe, I would use a Dynamic Effect Playback with a Group corresponding to the lights you want to do the Ballyhoo. Effect Playbacks only contain the effect information and nothing about the base look, so if you record the Preset with only the Effect Playback in it, you can play the Ballyhoo on top of wherever that group of lights happen to be at any moment. Make sense? The fastest way to do this is to simply select the Effect Playback (by itself) and then record directly to a Master Key. This will create the Preset, assign it to the master, and recording in this way pays attention to the current channel selection so if only the Effect Playback is selected it will be the only thing in that Preset.

If you want to run the Ballyhoo on different groupings of channels, you might make more than one preset, perhaps containing the same Effect Playback with a different Group assignment, perhaps with a separate Effect Playback as well so you can play both Ballyhoos at the same time. It all depends on what you think you might like to be able to do during your show. Hopefully the Effects Overview will help you figure out the Effect Playbacks and how best to configure your desk.

Have fun!

Sarah