Chamsys Programming

[apexsoundandlighting]

Hey Guys, Just a few chamsys programming questions :)

 

I have patched into the chamsys visualiser, 16 MiniMacs in a 4x4 formation. I wanted to make the heads chase each other round on the outside. So one head comes on, then it turns off, the next head comes on etc. This would follow round the outside of the truss.

 

So the grid looks like this:

 

X X X X

X O O X

X O O X

X X X X

Basically I would like the x lights to go on and off in sequence round the outside of the grid.

 

One last question, seems to be quite similar.

 

How would I achieve this:

 

especially the chase from side to side at the beginning of the video. I know the lights in the vid were programmed with daslight, but the guy that programmed them can't use MagicQ.

 

Thanks in advance :)

[peza2010]

If none of the on board fx suit your needs you could quiet easily program your Chase manually on a cue stack.

 

Turn the intensity up on the first light you want on, hit record and click a empty cue stack. Then turn that light off, and bring up the intensity of the second light, press record, and click the cue stack you recorded the first cue into. This would then mean there are 2 cues in the stack. Repeat the on/off/ record process and your set. Then just make sure the stack is set to Chase timing, and you will be able to use the tap tempo to set the speed, and you can play about with the cross fade to achieve slightly differing results.

 

I am sure a dimmer chase fx will do what you are asking, but I can't remember off hand if there is one built in. But to be honest, the manual way is a great way to learn cue stack technique, as what you require is simple, but will give you a good grasp of programming via the cue stack.

 

Can't comment on the second part as my phone won't load the YouTube video.

[norty303]

A few ways you could do it:

If the heads are set up with 100% dimmer on locate then you just need to use the next head button and record the dimmer attribute in turn into the stack.

Or set up a group of the heads on the outside, selecting them in the order you want them to chase before you record the group. Then use an FX on the dimmer with the group selected.

[Shez]

I've never been able to get the dimmer chase to do this kind of chase, strangely. Maybe I'm missing something obvious - it's able to do every combination of groups of fixtures flashing in sequence but I can't suss out how to get only a single lantern on in each step.

[peza2010]

It would be interesting to know if and how you could programme something like this once and then save it to the fx library. It's never be something on my list to try.

[Richard CSL]

I have recently come across this in the instructions, so here it is , select the heads individually in the order of the chase you want to create, ( and in your case I would suggest saving this as a new group. ie oncew selected then press record and go to groups.) next locate the group, now in the group page select fx, now chose pulse led, hey presto, save as a cue change speed to suit etc.

 

let us know how you get on.?

 

 

 

 

just looked at the manual section 7.1 page 49.

[Grum]

I'm as guilty as anyone else of relying on the fx engine but sometimes the best thing to do is actually program each step individually and either run it as a chase or an automated cue stack depending on how much control you want over the timing.

 

I'm not saying fx engines are bad but sometimes you're better off doing the job yourself if nothing else it's an extra skill and with practice you'll be quicker, more confident and able to create much more complex chases/looks with ease.

[paulears]

I've got a dozen LED bars, RGB sections, programmed as individual dimmers, rather than fixtures. Each bunch of channels is in the groups as RED BAR1, then RED BAR 2 and so on, then I have another for ALL RED BAR - and adding FX to these will do dimmer chases, in sequence, with the gaps and overlaps adjustable with the encoders. The other stock items in the FX window like the pulses and waveforms will do what you want with little effort. I can if I need to mount them on mic stands - and you can do the in outs, the meet in the middles and the waterfalls etc quite simply. Your grid would be the same thing. Just takes a bit of time to compile useful groups to use as the building blocks.

[themadhippy]

I've never been able to get the dimmer chase to do this kind of chase, strangely. Maybe I'm missing something obvious - it's able to do every combination of groups of fixtures flashing in sequence but I can't suss out how to get only a single lantern on in each step.

twiddle the second wheel up on the left (thinks its width),its the one that also does the direction.

[paulears]

Top one - FX spread shifts the fX operation time from channel to channel - so like Mr Hippys says, size and width need adjusting till the channels go up and down cleanly, then spread them out so they do it in sequence - it will even work on channels set in the programmer, then you can store them wherever you fancy.

[Richard CSL]

so we could all do with a really intuitive video explanation of the fx engine and how to use it. from dimmer channels to movers, I am sure all would find it really useful.

Somebody??

[norty303]

Interesting about the width control, I'd never really spotted that before.

With a dimmer sine effect, and spread at 100% I can get a chase across all the heads, but the next head starts rising as the previous head comes down from the peak of the effect wave, so you always end up with 2 on at the same time, albeit one rising and one falling (even with the 'snap' dialled down to 0%)

Are you saying that the width control can change this behaviour?

 

Maybe its time to download the latest version and play with the visualiser ;)

[Grum]

This is where your GCSE maths comes in handy.

 

With a sine wave effect the output is constantly being varied up and down from the base value by an equal amount.

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Wavelength.png

 

Think of the dotted line as being your base value and the red line as the output value. The highest and lowest points are the limit of change made to each channel.

 

In the case of a normal dimmer sine the base value would be 50% and the size of the FX would be 100% this will make the fixture go from 0 to 100%. The spread or offset alters the timing of the wave across the selected group of fixtures, if the spread is at 0% then all the lights do the same thing, at 100% then the effect is spread evenly across the group, at 200% you get two waves and so on.

 

You don't have to have the size at 100% nor do you have to have the base value at 50%. If you were to have a base value of 75% and a size of 50% then each light would reach a maximum value of 100% but the minimum value would only be 50%. If you kept the base value at 75% but increased the size to 100% the the peak would still be 100% (because you cant make a light go to 125%) but the minimum value will drop to 25%.

 

The width value changes the width of the wave, looking at the graph, instead of a nice curve the lines would be steeper, almost vertical.

 

Changing the time value either speeds up or slows down the FX.

 

To get round the "problem" of having two lights on at the same time alter either the width or spread/offset values until you get the result you're after or patch in a couple of dummy heads at either end of the group.

 

E2A

For some reason the image isn't loading, Google "sine Wave" you'll find a picture of one easy enough

[Wol]

For some reason the image isn't loading, Google "sine Wave" you'll find a picture of one easy enough

 

You need to use the img tags around the image (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Wavelength.png), not the webpage which wraps the image :)

[Grum]

Cheers Wol,

 

Can program the arse off a lighting desk but never bothered to learn HTML