Control Clay Paky Lamp via DMX control with ETC Ion Board
- Thread starterTxreilly
- Start date
If you have the fixture patched using one of the built in profiles in your Ion, you should be able to type in the fixture's channel number, hit the about key. Then in the CIA you should see information about the channel, and on the left a set of softkeys (you will need a mouse or touch screen to hit). The bottom softkey should be "Lamp Controls." Touch/Click that, then you should see a new set of softkeys, one of which will be "Lamp Off." Touch that and press enter to confirm. Use the "Lamp on" button to strike the lamps.
Most of the time I will put my lamp controls and reset control on macros so that I don't have to dig through the about screen to get to them.
Most of the time I will put my lamp controls and reset control on macros so that I don't have to dig through the about screen to get to them.
freelancemke
Member
The way that you make this sound is that under normal circumstances you just flick the breaker for all the units when you're done for the day without lamping off or shutting down. My instinct is to tell you to lamp off and wait a few minutes for the lamp to cool before cutting all power, but I don't know if this is the case. Anyone, can you safely cut power to a lamp that is still on and not damage/lessen the life of the lamp?
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/moving-light-lamp-cool-down.10119/
http://www.controlbooth.com/threads/lycian-spotlight-cool-down-time.22377
Follow the fixture manufacturer's instructions. The fixture is more expensive than the lamp.
If a soft-reset doesn't correct a misbehaving automated luminaire, most programmers/operators will next call for a hard reset, without regard for whether or not the lamp is lit.
At the end of the evening, many/most rock shows will be unplugging and putting their floor lights into boxes long before the lamp/fixture has cooled completely.
Les
Well-Known Member
Since it appears that the original question has been answered, I had a similar (though reversed) question during the last show I did, using Design Spot 250's and VL2k's...
How long before house open (theatrical show) do you Lamp On your fixtures? Sure, you want them on in plenty of time to do your normal checks and hopefully some troubleshooting time if need be. I usually tried for some time between 15 and 30 minutes before house open so that I could make sure all fixtures (and MagicQ) were working properly. The DS250's sometimes took a few tries to get Lamped On so I would usually err closer to 30 minutes.
How long before house open (theatrical show) do you Lamp On your fixtures? Sure, you want them on in plenty of time to do your normal checks and hopefully some troubleshooting time if need be. I usually tried for some time between 15 and 30 minutes before house open so that I could make sure all fixtures (and MagicQ) were working properly. The DS250's sometimes took a few tries to get Lamped On so I would usually err closer to 30 minutes.
The lamp life is much more effected by lamp on commands than it is by being left burning. Because of this it's usually much better to lamp on at the top of call. This way you have as much time possible to fix the movers when they innevitably break... I wouldn't want to be running around trying to swap out a spare fifteen minutes before house opens. This is also why people tend to leave movers lamped on between shows. I haven't seen any real numbers to back this up, but I've always been told that a lamp on command is equvilent to at least two hours of lamp life.
On the other hand, lamp hours is lamp hours and the longer you burn them the quicker they go.
The issue of lamping on at the beginning of a call has nothing to do with maximizing life and everything to do with gaining time to deal with problems and that's it. You check the things that are difficult to fix at the start of the check, easy stuff after.
I power up the fixtures and let them home while I'm opening up my console position. Once the desk is up the fixtures will strike and I'll know where I'm at. Conventionals come next, console and MLs are first in my check sequence.
The issue of lamping on at the beginning of a call has nothing to do with maximizing life and everything to do with gaining time to deal with problems and that's it. You check the things that are difficult to fix at the start of the check, easy stuff after.
I power up the fixtures and let them home while I'm opening up my console position. Once the desk is up the fixtures will strike and I'll know where I'm at. Conventionals come next, console and MLs are first in my check sequence.
I didn't always leave movers lamped on between shows but I do now. One time I had ordered the lamps to be doused for a 4 hour break between shows, thinking I'd save lamp hours. Well, the board op forgot to strike the lamps at house. I was on curtain for that show so I'm backstage screaming into a headset for 15 minutes trying to get this kid to lamp them on during the show... never again.
Les
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all the suggestions, guys. With my small rig of ten movers and no spares (or even spare lamps save for the tungsten VL500's on the deck), any real issues taking longer than 30 minutes to sort out would have taken at least six hours, but it is advice I will follow on future shows.
I did have one intermittent issue with one mover which I suspected to be temp related (it would go awol and shift all its focus points 180°) which contributed to my leaving them on for as short of a time span as possible. Luckily, it worked fine for the show, but gave us some headaches during tech.
I did have one intermittent issue with one mover which I suspected to be temp related (it would go awol and shift all its focus points 180°) which contributed to my leaving them on for as short of a time span as possible. Luckily, it worked fine for the show, but gave us some headaches during tech.
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