SceneMaster Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I am thinking of buying a scanmaters to control moving lights. There are two versions avalible joystick or rotary. The rotary version allows you to control the value of the pan or tilt channel from 0-255 and position the wheel in any position and make smooth movements (like the pearl 2004) but the joystick you point in the direction you want the light to move and then let go of it when you have positioned the lights direction but this makes for jerkey movement when trying to do suttle movments (so this is only fine for rock show where this dosn't matter!) This may explain why few desks have joysticks!What do you think? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 How about rollerballs on the 500 series? ;) Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gareth Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Stu's right - you need to add trackerballs to the poll if you want it to be complete. Personally, I've used all three methods over the years, and I'm perfectly happy with any of them although if I had to express a preference it would probably be for rotaries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stu Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Moderation Note: For completeness sake I've added on Rollerball to the options. Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peternewman Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 You forgot another option, what about trackpads ala ETC Express among others? And can't you get touch screen focus systems on some of the ridiculously expensive ones and then of course there is the Martin Trackpod system, but at seven grand thats rather excessive ;). I would probably go for trackpad or rotary wheel, but my only experience is playing about using the trackpad to control the levels of two lanterns. I've never had a chance to try moving lights ;) . PN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 I would choose Rotary wheels ala The z88 Frog range. Once you get used to them they are asy to use and less sensitive tahn tracker balls. However if I was doing somesort of Folospotting with a moving head I would deffinetly choose a tracker ball or joy stick! Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 how about one of these? I really cant stand joysticks though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam.henderson Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 ummmm. How exactly does a graphics tablet work (i.e. Pan/Tilt etc.) I am a bit confused ;) ;) :** laughs out loud **: :huh: Sam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon T Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 Yeh, I like the graphic tablets, used one at PLASA last year. Takes a bit of getting used to tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andystone Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 A trackball is definitely best, provided the console has the facility to lock it off in either pan or tilt (so it then acts like a wheel) and ideally also has a facility for fine control of movement. Generally I hate joy sticks, although they are quite nice for fine tuning as you can just knock the joy stick to move pan or tilt in small movements. AndyStagetec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P. Funk Posted February 9, 2004 Share Posted February 9, 2004 umm.. a lot of the time, with my quite techniacl mind, I prefer to have it on faders, or +/- keys - then its linear rather than dependant on how fast you push something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution_Mark Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 ummmm. How exactly does a graphics tablet work (i.e. Pan/Tilt etc.) I am a bit confused :P :huh: :huh: :huh: SamGenerally... They work like a computer mouse sort of. The tablet itself is a cross-hatch of wires, sensative to magnetic fields, and therefore the position of the puck/mouse/pen. (Simply!) Speaking from avolites experience... The tablet is divided up into areas, each doing different things. There are the more mundane things like replication of the focuses, fixture groups and the like, with the added bonus of having all of these accessible at once (on the pearl, there are four 'pages' to switch between, which can get a bit hairy on larger gigs if you want to busk a bit.)The more exciting bits are things like the colour mixing palette and the pan/tilt area. Both work by drawing your pen across the area to alter the corresponding attributes in the [moving] light(s). Can be useful for programming.You can also 'train' the lights so that the area on stage corresponds directly to the positions in the pan/tilt area. Thus you can draw the positions of the band/actors/etc on the tablet, and position the lights live, although a bit messy in practice. Hope I made sense! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted February 10, 2004 Share Posted February 10, 2004 Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I cant really explain it better than the above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinny baby Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 hmmm I also prefer the jog wheels/dials, (everybody has there own name for them), you can be very precise. I dont like joy sticks unless its been use with a moving mirror fixture, if its been used with a mover, then nope, I dont like them. At the miniute im working on a small touring show, and I am using the Q-commander, which utilises a trackball, I do like the trackball, as you can lock it of on any of the axis, and its very good for working in high res (16 bit). I have used the graphics tablet, and I think its great if you have the time to plot out your stage area so you can be spot on with the movement possition, but in the real sense then nope its just another gadget. also I might add, that in regards to not being able to move intelligent fixtures smoothly with the joy, then in all sense its not very common to me to have to do this, as its very rare that I have to move a fixture live, usaly I have everything programmed spot on, so that I dont have to start moving heads. vince also what do people think of the Q-Commander, at the minute im liking it, but there is not many sub outputs, and has no faders, (unless you buy the 16 channel remote exstender) I would like to hear your views Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris512 Posted February 11, 2004 Share Posted February 11, 2004 personally I can't stand the q-commander!! I found it so restrictive and fiddley and found that I could be a lot more creative with Martin Light Jockey (and now using a pearl 2004 and strand 520i). I guess it alright for small tours, but I was so glad to be free of it! just my 0.02c Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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