I have a lot of experience with the old ETC boards but the idea of tracking throws me off. Could someone explain to me what exactly tracking is. Every time I use a board like to color palette I throw it in cue only mode. However, I am going to be using a Hog 2 for an event I'm hosting and I need to really understand tracking. Also what are some dos and don'ts on a tracking console.
Tracking Consoles
- Thread startervincecr
- Start date
I expect lighting people to jump on this one, but basic tracking from a sound guy.
When a console is in cue-only-mode when you edit a cue it doesn't change what comes after it.
You have three cues. Cue one sets channel fifteen at 50. Cue two leaves it at 50. Cue three also has it at 50. You change cue two to have it at 60, cue three stays the same.
When a console is in tracking mode editing a cue will change that same thing for every cue after it.
You have three cues. Cue one sets channel fifteen at 50. Cue two leaves it at 50. Cue three also has it at 50. You change cue two to have the channel at 60, it tracks to cue three and channel fifteen is now at 60.
The Wiki will help more
Cue Tracking - ControlBooth
When a console is in cue-only-mode when you edit a cue it doesn't change what comes after it.
You have three cues. Cue one sets channel fifteen at 50. Cue two leaves it at 50. Cue three also has it at 50. You change cue two to have it at 60, cue three stays the same.
When a console is in tracking mode editing a cue will change that same thing for every cue after it.
You have three cues. Cue one sets channel fifteen at 50. Cue two leaves it at 50. Cue three also has it at 50. You change cue two to have the channel at 60, it tracks to cue three and channel fifteen is now at 60.
The Wiki will help more
Cue Tracking - ControlBooth
The Wiki is hard to beat, but in a nutshell, tracking will hold a recorded level on a channel until that level changes in a subsequent cue. Say channel one is at 100% for cues 1 through 10, and cue 11 is a blackout.
In cue 3 you change the level on channel one to 50%. In tracking mode, channel one will now be at 50% for cues 3 through 10. Since the value of channel 1 changes to 0% in cue 11, the value stops tracking through. If you were in cue-only mode, you would have only changed the channel one value to 50% for cue 3.
As for do's and don't, just ask yourself if the change you are making is a single cue thing (an area of an existing wash gets brighter to highlight something in a single cue, and then restores in the very next cue) or is it something that you want to change wholesale until the next major change (the cyc is too bright, so you knock it down 20% for the entire scene).
In cue 3 you change the level on channel one to 50%. In tracking mode, channel one will now be at 50% for cues 3 through 10. Since the value of channel 1 changes to 0% in cue 11, the value stops tracking through. If you were in cue-only mode, you would have only changed the channel one value to 50% for cue 3.
As for do's and don't, just ask yourself if the change you are making is a single cue thing (an area of an existing wash gets brighter to highlight something in a single cue, and then restores in the very next cue) or is it something that you want to change wholesale until the next major change (the cyc is too bright, so you knock it down 20% for the entire scene).
Tracking is simple... If you turn a light on in one cue that light will stay on until you turn it off in some other cue. this is much like how things work at home.
on a dark night you enter into the mudroom by the back door you turn the mudroom light on.
go into the kitchen you turn the kitchen light on.
head down the hall to the bathroom you turn the hall light on , then the bathroom is switched on.
after your done in the bathroom you head to the bedroom, you turn the light on to put on your smoking jacket.
At this point you have 5 rooms lit up nothing is going to change until you put your cigar out and go back to each of those rooms and turn the light off
on a dark night you enter into the mudroom by the back door you turn the mudroom light on.
go into the kitchen you turn the kitchen light on.
head down the hall to the bathroom you turn the hall light on , then the bathroom is switched on.
after your done in the bathroom you head to the bedroom, you turn the light on to put on your smoking jacket.
At this point you have 5 rooms lit up nothing is going to change until you put your cigar out and go back to each of those rooms and turn the light off
Lotos
Active Member
Do: experiment
Don't: expect to get it right the first time
Honestly... Tracking, as a concept, is the best thing about modern boards, IMHO...
What you just need to remember is to turn thing off when you're done with them, LOL!
The hardest part about the change for me? What happens when you 'insert' a cue between two others... Blew my mind, every time...
The online help, and the manual is your friend... Any more specific questions arise from reading those, and I'm sure someone here can answer them!
Sent from my Venue Pro using Board Express
Don't: expect to get it right the first time
Honestly... Tracking, as a concept, is the best thing about modern boards, IMHO...
What you just need to remember is to turn thing off when you're done with them, LOL!
The hardest part about the change for me? What happens when you 'insert' a cue between two others... Blew my mind, every time...
The online help, and the manual is your friend... Any more specific questions arise from reading those, and I'm sure someone here can answer them!
Sent from my Venue Pro using Board Express
JChenault
Well-Known Member
Another way of understanding the differences is a bit of history.
In the 'old' days ( Auto transformer boards and resistance dimmers ) each dimmer has a big handle and was hard to move. Boards tended to have a smaller number of dimmers of larger wattages. If you have a board with ( say) 12 dimmers - you wrote your cue sheets in terms of changes. If the dimmer did not move in the cue, you did not write it down. This basic method is what we now call Tracking.
Then along came SCR dimmers. ( late 60's or so). These let you have a little slider that was easy to control with just your finger instead of your entire hand. And since we were talking about low voltage components, we could fade all of the dimmers by just reducing the voltage to the little sliders. But wait - if I can do that I could have two sets of sliders ( A and B ) and fade the voltage between them. That way I could move all of the dimmers to a new level at once. This is the Preset way of thinking about the world.
The early computer consoles mimicked the preset way of thinking ( since we were controlling SCR dimmers and the preset consoles were what those manufacturers were used to using ). With the original Light Palette we got a board that would think in terms of Tracking.
More recent lighting control software has mostly adapted the tracking model. It is just more flexible and easy to use. ( Partly because they have added concepts like 'Blocking cues' to make tracking friendlier. )
In the 'old' days ( Auto transformer boards and resistance dimmers ) each dimmer has a big handle and was hard to move. Boards tended to have a smaller number of dimmers of larger wattages. If you have a board with ( say) 12 dimmers - you wrote your cue sheets in terms of changes. If the dimmer did not move in the cue, you did not write it down. This basic method is what we now call Tracking.
Then along came SCR dimmers. ( late 60's or so). These let you have a little slider that was easy to control with just your finger instead of your entire hand. And since we were talking about low voltage components, we could fade all of the dimmers by just reducing the voltage to the little sliders. But wait - if I can do that I could have two sets of sliders ( A and B ) and fade the voltage between them. That way I could move all of the dimmers to a new level at once. This is the Preset way of thinking about the world.
The early computer consoles mimicked the preset way of thinking ( since we were controlling SCR dimmers and the preset consoles were what those manufacturers were used to using ). With the original Light Palette we got a board that would think in terms of Tracking.
More recent lighting control software has mostly adapted the tracking model. It is just more flexible and easy to use. ( Partly because they have added concepts like 'Blocking cues' to make tracking friendlier. )
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