adcuz Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Hi, im doing a show in feb and I have ordered 2 MAC 250 Entours, 2 MAC 250 Washes, 5 Martin Roboscans and some other generics.. all controllled by a fatfrog... I have about 4 years expierience with normal lighting and have only used scanners before controlled on a small 6 channel desk mocing the scanner with the faders. I was wondering if a n00b had the instructions (like me) would I be able to successfully setup the movers etc... in other words is the fat frog easy? And also can anyone give me any info on dip switches... ya know like the jumpers that set the address... I dont understand them... thanks,Adcuz :o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyToad Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Mac 250s dont use dip switches, they use a led-panel with 4 buttons to navigate the setup-stuff. There you can set the DMX-adress and change other things. The fatfrog is fairly easy, maybe not for someone that hasent used movers before. You go into super-user (read the manual) and go into fixtures and add the fixtures you are using. Do you have some time to learn it before?Try the offline editor that you can get from the zero88 site. Phantom Frog it's called I think. And read the manual before you have the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 As TommyToad says, the manual is worth reading. If you want more instructions, try here... Zero88 also have a technical support forum where you can post specific questions - see here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris_R Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 When I first got my hands on a frog (the Fat variety) it was on a gig where we had no idea what we were getting and armed with the manual I managed to figure it out to a basic level in about 45mins - an hour or so. I'd say it was pretty easy to use, it was my first DMX desk! When I found out that we were getting one for the next gig I found it helped to go through the manual with the offline editor (Phantom Frog), just to get to know where things roughly are on the desk. Hope this helps and all goes well with the gig! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJones Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I personally hate the fat frog for movers, it is too sensitive for pan and tilt and colour changers etc mac 250's, a handy little tip to remeber is that if you hold both arrow keys together, the display reading will invert, so you can still read the display if the fixture is hung good luck! Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonino Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I agree andy! hate the shape gen. on it! also roboscans (I believe) are on binary dip switches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lxkev Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 "too sensitive for pan and tilt " - what do you mean by to sensitive? "hate the shape gen. on it!" - Why? "also roboscans (I believe) are on binary dip switches" - All the roboscans models are dip switches, apart from the 918. They have the same led menu as mac 500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnPartridge Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Lxkev , I think the posts about hating the shape gen on the Fat Frog is because they have used a desk with a more comprehensive shape gen, and feel that the Frogs gen is sum what limited. I agree that the shape gen on the Frog is fairly limited but for smaller applications (what the Fat Frog is designed for) is is perfectly fine. John Partridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modge Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Actually I like the frog and I have to say I find pointing movers accurately with it a pain in the proverbial. You can move them dead slow, or from one end of there range of movement to the other in half a turn of the wheel. It needs somewhere in between. My personal preference would be for it to be exposed as a user setting, even if you had to dive though menu's in super user mode to change it.Having said that I'd say the frog is the ideal desk for the OP, it's dead easy to use. A monitor makes it easier to use, though don't underestimate the power of just marking it up with white lx tape. My one tip for when you've read the manual and know what they are is (after BUGS got one not long before I ceased to be regularly there) don't rely too much on palettes for every thing - if your busking and want to change colour and gobo at the same time you can't do that easily with palettes, you need to use the sub masters (of which there are ample) edit: blanket statements are wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zonino Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Lxkev , I think the posts about hating the shape gen on the Fat Frog is because they have used a desk with a more comprehensive shape gen, and feel that the Frogs gen is sum what limited. that is very true, I am used to avo desks, but I also find it alot harder to get the shapegen to do what I want it to do! also the sensitivity of the wheels is annoying, but I agree it sounds like a good desk for what you want! sorry to sound negative Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Some Bloke Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 "too sensitive for pan and tilt " - what do you mean by to sensitive? This is a common moan about the Frogs: the software guesses whether you want to move the heads a little or a lot. If it thinks you want to go a long way (e.g. from upstage left to the back of the audience) then it whizzes there nice and quickly to help you out. If it thinks you want to just fine tune a position, then it moves very slowly - both of these with the same amount of movement of the wheel. The problem comes when it gets it wrong. If you actually want to fine tune a position and it thinks you want to zoom off into the stratosphere, then the wheel becomes very sensitive and the slightest movement creates a large move of the Mac. Conversely, if it thinks you want to fine tune a position and you actually want to make a big obvious change, then you have to move the wheel round and round and round to get it to go anywhere. Modge's idea of having a user setting is a good one. If you are doing a show where they are only used around a small stage you coud set them less sensitive than if you were doing an arena gig where you needed lots of movement [not that anyone would use a Fat Frog in an arena, granted! ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyToad Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 I have developed a way to use the wheels that suit me, works after some practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adcuz Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 Hey guys, thanks a lot for the help I will use the offline editor :) wow this blue room really does rock!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormster Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Try this site v useful for frog noobs....me included! Frog online training Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adcuz Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 im using the phantom frog its very good but I dont understand the purpose of sub-masters. is it to have chases in a and different movers do stuff in a scene programmed scene? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.