niclights

It sounds like the profile is incorrect, or at least not correct for the latest firmware/firmware on your fixtures. In Chauvet's defence many fixture manufacturer's have got into the habit of changing DMX implementations with fixture firmware versions such that they are not compatible (for example changing channel footprint/offsets or function ranges etc as opposed to adding controls into reserved offsets or, similarly, functions into reserved ranges which would not affect compatibility). Typically the fixture manufacturer's do not notify the control manufacturer's of these resulting in mismatches. Or, along the same lines, control manufacturer's create profiles based on draft/preliminary/pre-release documentation at the request of the fixture manufacturer only for the final release version to be different. And even when there is notification it is not clear how to support - multiple firmware versions can be confusing, often with no obvious way to identify. If you haven't already done so the first thing I would suggest is to ensure you have installed the latest profiles. If there is still no 11 channel mode then I would contact Chamsys and request an update. If it is urgent it may be possible to edit or create your own - I'm sure someone else will assist with this if so.

'PVR' is probably what you need to look for. Personally I highly recommend the Humax HDR Fox T2. Well regarded as one of the best. Discontinued but available second hand. It has a built-in FTP server which you can use to transfer files across networks if desired. You can also install custom firmware which is well supported with plenty of useful features.

I don't have any documentation but there is an Avolites personality for this fixture. If it helps you can view the channel assignments and function range values on the Avolites Fixture Personality Library website. Select 'EVL Lighting' from the Manufacturer drop-down on the left, then select 'LED21T' from the list and finally click on the .d4 file at the top of the File Name column. This will load a page showing the channel assignments and if you hover over the attribute group icon next to the channel offset it will reveal a popup with the associated function ranges.

If it doesn't happen without the terminator then I would just leave the terminator out and not worry about it too much. No doubt lots of people will have opinions about terminators but in my experience you usually won't have any problems without them these days.

I believe there is control:

If it is responding then it is not a signal issue. Something must be limiting the output. If you've eliminated fader this suggests master fader/crossfader as Tim says. Perhaps one of these is faulty or needs to be set differently to the way you expect. Are you sure the other controls are outputting at full and not limited? The DMX value for 'slow lethargic flash' might still be relatively high and therefore might not be obvious in the other controls. I'm not familiar with the console but the level display on the faders could be misleading and I wouldn't assume this is a reflection of the actual output on that channel. Do you have a way to check this such as a DMX tester? If not maybe you can try connecting one fixture to one console and the other to the other with dimmer, red, green and blue at full on both consoles and see if you can notice a difference in level.

From your description it sounds a lot like the control isn't variable or has an uppper limit set or something along those lines. Do the other controls work normally, for example the dimmer and red, green and blue controls? If so is it stuck always strobing at a slow rate or does changing the strobe control have some affect, for example can you get an 'open' (ie. not strobing)? And, if so, does adjusting the control provide access to different strobe speeds but just not the full range?

Yes, assuming you write the software to do this. It's not restricted to ethernet.

With the Robe implementation the remote followspot sits between the console and the fixture(s) being controlled where the connection from the console to the remote followspot is by ethernet (requires consoles that support DMX over ethernet protocols). The fixtures are then connected to the remote followspot unit just like you would connect them to the console. The DMX information from the console passes through the remote to the fixtures. If the fixtures receive the relevant commands then they will listen to the remote for the relevant information. Beyond that I don't know exactly how it works but I guess you could say the remote unit functions more like a switch rather than a merge.

I don't know which remote followspots you have been looking at but the Robe ones have control functions written in the DMX firmware of the fixtures which enables/disables the local controls. Taking the Robe Robin BMFL Blade as an example if you send value 0 on channel offset 6 then immediately go to any value from 240-244 inclusive and hold for a number of seconds then return straight back to zero the light will use the local controls on the unit for certain functions and ignore the associated DMX controls. Control can be swapped back in a similar way. They also have options to determine which controls are permitted, for example just pan/tilt so the remote followspot op just determines the positions and the console can control everything else including intensity.

I'm not sure if this is the same thing but some strobes do not restart the timer when you raise the intensity as you might expect. This means that if you have a relatively slow rate setting and flash the dimmer it won't necessarily flash immediately.

Just a thought - from the symptoms you describe (intermittent/slow etc.) I wonder if there could be a problem with the laptop hardware, in particular the drive. If it's an SSD this seems fairly unlikely but might be worth checking in Windows Event Manager to check if there is anything suggesting this in the logs. If there are it won't matter what application you use.

Regarding your original comment about it working for a while but then stopping and having to wait a while this sounds quite normal to me. Pretty much all strobes (including Martin Atomic 3000's) cannot manage continuous output and the manual does say this. Typically they will gradually reduce intensity if you keep firing until you give them time to recover. This isn't restricted to continuous 'blinder' effects. They also often require a lot of power. Looking at the specs the supply for this should be 16A. Perfectly normal for professional use but more than the 13A maximum from domestic UK plugs. I would guess that the 13A fuse in your plug got too hot and finally blew. This is good as it did it's job. Are you sure you replaced it with another 13A fuse? I would expect it to manage on a lower dimmer setting/slower flash rate but maybe not. If it definitely was a 13A fuse then it's possible it was bad and failed prematurely. This can happen. You can probably safely try again with another 13A fuse and be careful with the dimmer/rate settings (start with them at zero) but bottom line is you really need to use these in a professional environment where there are 16A supplies.

I would suggest asking Capture to be sure but my understanding is that DMX lasers are not fully supported at the moment. Much like many 'effect' type fixtures (and indeed effects within more conventional fixtures) the vast majority of fixture manufacturers don't provide anywhere near enough detail to be able to simulate them. In my experience they barely manage to provide even the most basic information. So, regardless of whether or not it is actually possible without comprehensive details this is largely irrelevant. However if you control lasers using software such as Pangolin BEYOND then it is possible to simulate this in Capture.

Spread around the floor upstage will work nicely. Beams are very much a recent fad but there was a time before LED when every other touring band had a floor package of 6 of the original MAC 250's and they always looked great. Often they would be a mixture of on the floor and on flightcases (or any other suitable object) but just floor will be fine.

I'm not familiar with the fixtures or the console but it sounds to me like it is just an issue with the way the console is displaying the values. If you get 630 degrees of rotation (ie. 1 3/4 rotations) going from 0 to 270 on the console then that will be the full pan range of the fixture and it is working correctly albeit with a misleading display range (for example 0->255 DMX = display 0->270). Note if the fixture has a 630 degree pan range then -270 -> 270 would also be incorrect anyway. Many moving heads have a selectable pan range of 540 or 630 degrees making it difficult provide accurate values in degrees in the console.

If yes then they look like one of the high density LED strobe type fixtures such as the SGM Q7 Jon suggested above or the older X5. There are numerous alternatives from other manufacturers.

The first thing that came to mind was Pulsar ChromaDeck: http://www.ls-live.com/equipment-rental/chromadeck-dancefloor

Where it is available the fixtures are calibrated according to the photometric data. But I think there are a lot of factors - for example component version/accuracy of simulation, theoretical versus how your eyes interpret in the real world and of course accuracy of information. In 2019.1 Capture introduced an 'Intensity Scale' in the fixture properties where you can compensate. There is also hue clamp in the view properties since 2018 but this is slightly different. If you think something's wrong though there is no harm in contacting Capture support.

I have never used the Chauvet units but I chose to install a relatively large number of the Prolights Diamond 7's in a multi-purpose venue used predominantly for touring bands after comparing in situe with similar offerings from other fixture manufacturer's. My decision was based on there being very little (if any) noticable difference in intensity, colour or beam definition compared to equivalent (but more expensive) fixtures; that they had a wide zoom range; that I could purchase significantly more units within budget providing much greater flexibility along with the luxury of some spare units; that I had a good long-standing relationship with the distributor (A.C. Entertainment Technologies) and knew I could rely on fast support in the event of any problems and that I separately had (and continue to have) frequent contact with Prolights technical department which gave me confidence that they would be well supported from the manufacturer end. I did also consider the individual pixel control which was a bonus and not available on many of the equivalent fixtures (including the Chauvet) but in reality it would have pushed us over 4 universes which may have proved problematic for some of the touring productions and, perhaps more importantly, the individual RGBW pixel controls in the Diamond 7 and 19 fixtures are only on/off switches which rather limits options and compatibility with console functions such as colour pickers so we didn't use this (IMO they would probably have been better implemented as single colour macro controls). They were well received with good feedback from freelancers and I think we had one failure in the 2 years or so I was there after install that was fixed under warranty via AC (LVPSU). I felt I had made the right decision. They are small and move very quickly - I can't imagine I would need or expect anything to move much faster. I would be surprised if there was much difference in intensity compared to the Chauvet units - they both use 7x15W RGBW emitters although at the minimum zoom the Prolights would theoretically be more concentrated but I would happily recommend Prolights in general.

Avolites Titan has this capability. It is not called 'Advanced Color Heuristic'.

Can you not just patch dimmers? This is the usual way of figuring mapping out. Ideally you might want to be able to see the raw DMX output too if need to find exact DMX ranges for functions but in terms of just getting the basic channel mapping dimmers should be fine.

That made me smile! I've read hundreds of their manuals but never noticed that. And to try and contribute something useful to the OP I would say to focus on photometrics if available, or just power/beam angle and, if it matters to you, the source (ie. a multi-pixel array vs a single COB such as with the Prolights) and then arrange demos from AC or your preferred distributor. As I believe you may already be suspecting there is a significant difference in power between the ADJ model and other linked fixtures.

While still far from what I would call cheap the higher power units from premium brands (for want of a better word) tend to be more around the £5k mark (ex VAT trade, depending on quantity/exchange rate etc.) and the majority of manufacturer's now have models with framing shutters meaning you can get them for substantially less but they are always going to be at the top end of a range and so naturally they will still be more expensive than other models. I recently made a list of some of the options here. And new models are constantly appearing. Since then I would add the above mentioned Chauvet Maverick MK 3 Profile and Elation Monet along with the Elation Picasso and Proteus Maximus, Ayrton Ghibli, Diablo, Bora, Khamsin and Levante, ACME XA-1200 BSWF, XA-1000 BSWF, XP-1000SZ F and XA-500 Framing, Terbly GL10FX, GL10FX IP, GL10P, GL2P, GL-4, GL-6, GL6H and GL8P IP, High End SolaFrame 1000, SolaFrame 3000 and SolaHyBeam 2000, Silver Star Neptune 1500 Profile and Pluto 600.

Yes. Make sure Fixture Overlap is set to 100 (default). Setting this to 0 will make the cue wait until the previous cue has completed before beginning its fade. As far as I can remember it has always worked this way so version/hardware should be irrelevant.