Don Allen Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I was looking at a Strand 500ML today, it is being looked at for a venue that wants a fader based desk, so it should do the job, but they only had a quick start guide. Was able to create fixture templates, but could not work out how to split a colour macro channel into segments. Does anyone know how to do this please? Seems strange that a desk released in September 2014 does not have documentation on the web yet. Tempus ML500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IRW Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 What a confusingly named desk, that doesn't seem to appear on the Strand website...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Jay Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 http://www.lsionline.co.uk/news/story/Prolight%2DSound%2D2015%2DPhilips%2Ddebuts%2Dplethora%2Dof%2Dproducts/RTMIXA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 But it does appear on FEINER Lighttechnik website. They have it on their stand at Prolight + Sound 2015 and I have one here in Perth, Western Australia on demo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Hmm. Would advise some caution before settling on this one. If the way they've gone about the 250ML is anything to go by, this may weill be buggy, and support will be patchy at best and take no account of any of the myriad suggestions for improvements. It's still buggy and incomplete now, two years after launch, and yet as I write their hasn't been a single update since February - and there was a period of over 6 months without updates, even though there were known bugs. They just don't seem that committed to developing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alistermorton Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Compare and contrast with my experience reporting a bug to ETC. Before I'd had time to get back to the theatre and collect the log file they requested, they'd confirmed it was reproducible, identified the code area, fixed it and rolled it into the next software release, which came out two weeks later. EDIT for typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis hessberger Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 Hi Don, What do you mean by split macros? The 500ML has just been presented lately and is actively developed. It is a complete different code base than the 250, so don't worry... Denis Oh and the full user manual is going to be ready, soon. I know they are working on it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 Using Light Factory, I have a drop down list so I can easily select one of the below functions. If you are using a fader it is harder to select, especially if you are trying to get a colour from a colour macro channel and all you can do is look at the stage to see what colour is com1ng out of the fixture. Not having a manual written before a desk is demonstrated is not a good sign of strong customer support. Channel 10 - Shutter, strobe:0-31 LEDs Off (Shutter Closed)32-63 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)64-95 Strobe Effect from Slow to Fast96-127 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)128-159 Pulse Effect (in sequences)160-191 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)192-223 Random Strobe Effect from Slow to Fast224-255 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gibbothegreat Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Hi Don,... The 500ML has just been presented lately and is actively developed. It is a complete different code base than the 250, so don't worry... Denis The trouble with that is that we were reassured that the 250 represented a new start for the company, they were going to throw everything into developing it, this was going to be the return of the Strand of old... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
denis hessberger Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Using Light Factory, I have a drop down list so I can easily select one of the below functions. If you are using a fader it is harder to select, especially if you are trying to get a colour from a colour macro channel and all you can do is look at the stage to see what colour is com1ng out of the fixture. Not having a manual written before a desk is demonstrated is not a good sign of strong customer support. Channel 10 - Shutter, strobe:0-31 LEDs Off (Shutter Closed)32-63 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)64-95 Strobe Effect from Slow to Fast96-127 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)128-159 Pulse Effect (in sequences)160-191 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened)192-223 Random Strobe Effect from Slow to Fast224-255 LEDs Enabled (Shutter Opened) Hi Don, I'm afraid this is not possible at the moment. Please get in touch with Strand to request this as a feature... :) I understand your frustration about the lack of documentation. As far as I know the console is still about to be released. There's lots of things going on with the SW at the Moment, and I know the manual is currently being revised to match the new features. Denis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roderick Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 But it does appear on FEINER Lighttechnik website. They have it on their stand at Prolight + Sound 2015 and I have one here in Perth, Western Australia on demo.How did things pan out with this desk Don? After narrowly avoiding the 250ML disaster this was put forward as an alternative but I am a little sceptical.Need a new desk for the local community theatre (36 dimmers, growing LED stock) that can be triggered by Qlab MSC.Would love to hear your opinion on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Allen Posted July 22, 2015 Author Share Posted July 22, 2015 It would do the job required for the venue as we were able to program the 24 faders to provide colour mixing on the faders for groups of LED's, but the fader layout would not suit a community theatre, as it is 24 Group faders. It is a very flexible and powerful desk. Still no sign of a manual yet and although we proved that the desk would be easy for duty managers to use to bring up areas in different colours and themes, the venue decided to keep using a Hedge Hog. I did get some of my suggestions incorporated in a software upgrade so good support from Selecon New Zealand who are looking after the 500ML in Australia. I was looking at a Pathway Cognito 2 which can now use an external screen or the Zero88 FLX but it looks like it was released too early as it does not have a manual yet. The only fader based budget desk appears to be the ETC Element.to handle LED's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinntec Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 This saga with the 500ML is interesting. Only a little over a year ago Philips Strand were so excited about the NEO that they asked us to hold out for its announcement before we chose our new desk (then despite having been to our theatre announced a console which would physically not fit!) This year another desk appears which apparently is nothing to do with NEO (or the 500 range or apparently the 250ML). On their website there is still a current range consisting of a bewildering number of different types of desk with lots of different functions - but still no mention of 500ML. My little brain would have expected the NEO to be followed up by little-NEO and perhaps fat-NEO and PC-NEO (obviously I am making the names up) to replace their entire range with a single platform of variations. They might even have offered nice terms for existing 250ML to be replaced by little-NEO so they could put all their effort into a single platform (or at least a small number of different ones) to get these users back on their side. It is so sad that Strand, world leaders in lighting consoles for so many years and pioneered thyristor dimmers and computerised playback as new technology became available in the 1960/1970s which continued right up to the introduction of the 300 and 500 in the mid 1990s, have somehow completely lost their way.http://www.blue-room.org.uk/public/style_emoticons/default/sad.gif Meanwhile going back to Roderick's question, what we did was write down a specification of what the desk must have to be considered and what it is desirable to have but not essential. In our case, physical dimensions were key as were the number of theatrical LEDs we might move towards. We also tried to predict what might happen in 10 years or so which is how long we expected the desk to remain in use. We also had to consider the bigger picture - who else would need to be able to use this console in the 10 years of its life? We also had a budget in mind and could compare list prices with this by applying a likely discount. In our case we quickly came down to only 3 consoles (one of which was Strand) which fitted all our essential requirements and most of our desirable options. Once you are down to a short list get all of them demonstrated live in your venue (if that is possible) controlling your dimmers and any intelligent lighting you have (LEDs included) - at the same time ideally so you can compare them. If you can't use the venue you must see them working for yourself doing the sort of things you want to do in your venue perhaps in a demo room. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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