blackbird Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 This may seem like a very random question,, but I thought I would ask the combined experience of blue-roomers if they can help with my button printing dilemma. It is related to the type of 2 level button found on many a lighting desk, they look like this crude ascii art drawing below, where the bottom panel is raised, and the top panel can sometimes have an LED embedded in it. .-------- | | | | .-------- |\ /| | ---- | | | | | | | | | | ---- | |/ \| .-------- I am trying to find out if it is possible, i.e. if anyone else has done it, to print text on the top, lower, section of the button. I am told this is awkward to screen print, but I am sure I've seen it on at least one desk I've encountered. If anyone knows of any examples of this can they let me know so we can ask them who they use!! Thanks in advance Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Hampson Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 A picture is worth a thousand ASCI lines...http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f86/neilhampson/ETCex3.jpg The ETC expression has buttons like this however the labels are not direct printed, they are stuck onto the face of the button. This is going to lead to problems soon for us as some of the stickers are coming away already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 I am trying to find out if it is possible, i.e. if anyone else has done it, to print text on the top, lower, section of the button.Yes, it is possible. I don't know the names of companies to do this off-hand though.These days you can have pretty much anything printed on pretty much everything - wasn't really the case a few years ago. It is awkward to screen print as it's at two different levels - this will push the price up considerably, so it may not be worth it. (ETC do indeed use sticky labels for the Express(ion) range - complete new sets can be ordered via your dealer if you need them.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Thanks for the pic Neil. I suppose sticky labels would be a way to go for the top surface, but it looks a bit too cheap to my mind. I was hoping someone does it alread y so we could ask very nicely who their screen printer is. I wonder if it is cost that prevents most people currently, as it seems like a nice surface to use for more button detail (if you don't have an LED there). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowan Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Have a chat to the lovely people at Avolites, they have buttons like yours with printing on them. They are always helpful whenever I have rung them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 I thought Avo, but do they actually print on the upper surface? I spent a while trawling the product pics and manuals, but couldn't see a desk which did this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Hampson Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Just a thought, how durable would a screen printed label be on that upper surface, there will be a lot of wear and tear of grubby little fingers, I know that limitations of the Expression type label as some of them are coming off (notably the 'go' and 'record' buttons), but when they do wear out it's a relatively simple job to put a new one on, you wouldn't be able to justify having a new screen print run done just for a few buttons. Also I am assuming that this will be a mod to your desk, so the price for tooling and printing for one screen print could be huge. Edit, I've just re-read the OP, I misunderstood the upper surface to be the raised bit, not the bit on the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Hmm - terminology is becoming a little confusing. Shall we go with flat and raised to save confusion?? Anyway, currently there is printing on the raised surface (as with your image, and most other used of this style of button). Yes it does wear off over time, but that just seems to be accepted. The problem I am facing is that whilst trying to make some buttons dual purpose, I would like to write the alternative function on the flat surface, so the user doesn't just have to remember it!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cedd Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 At work I have a pantograph cutter which will engrave text down to quite a small size. If you could get hold of somene who did this they may be able to help. Paint the engraving, then wipe off the excess and you've got a durable way of labelling buttons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gyro_gearloose Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 What do you want the buttons for? How about using something like this. Each key has a tiny OLED screen built into it which can be changed with the software to display anything, even simple animations. I'm sure I've seen similar buttons on a lighting desk, though I can't remember which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 What do you want the buttons for? How about using something like this. Each key has a tiny OLED screen built into it which can be changed with the software to display anything, even simple animations. I'm sure I've seen similar buttons on a lighting desk, though I can't remember which.The closest I know of would be the Maxxyz, which has LCDs on the buttons below the playbacks, which change background colour to indicate their state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Sorry, to clarify I writing software for a desk which already features the two-level type buttons, and would like to re-assign some keys without changing the physical layout, hence the need to fit more text on existing buttons to create more functionality. Are we coming to the conclusion that no-one does this at the moment? Incidentally, there are already some OLED buttons, but the ones we use are significantly larger than the Optimus' (since I think they have ended up with bespoke buttons after their long development process). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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