Tracking, Non Tracking and Tagging

[Craig A]

Hello all,

 

I've been working in theatre environments for a while now but I've normally worked and learnt things alone so sometimes jargon and correct terms go misunderstood.

 

At the moment, I'm using a Leap Frog 48/96 and have noticed there is 'tracking' and 'non-tracking' modes. I've tried asking someone before but they weren't too great at explaining. They used the terms tag and tagging a lot.

 

Could someone please explain tracking, non-tracking and tagging to me?

 

Thanks in advance

[indyld]

 

Of course, that doesn't explain the Zero88 terminology of tagging but once you have watched the video, you can work it out from the Z88 User Manual. Tagging is what Zero call what other manufacturers sometimes call Active or In The Programmer, in the case of desks that use a programmer based concept. I would try to understand tracking first and then the idea of tagging will be easier.

 

Edit: ooo, the BR Wiki on Tracking even mentions tagging. Although you should know that this really is a Zero88 term.

 

Edit again. Apparently I didn't add the link to the Wiki.

[Craig A]

Thanks for the quick reply. That does make a bit more sense now but it kind of makes it sound as if the difference is just how you write it down?

 

I usually run most shows by programming the scenes into the desk as memories or scene by scene submasters. If doing this, does it make tracking and non-tracking fairly irrelevant?

[indyld]

Ah, but replace "How you write it down." with "What gets recorded" and then consider the implications of playing back consecutive cues using with Tracking in play when you "write it down" but the level remains through the next cue as you didn't "write down" for it to change back to say, 0%.

 

Submasters, not so important. Memories (or cues as we might imagine them) played back in order, relevant. If you are only using dimmers, then tagging becomes a single issue of "is it written down this time or not?"

 

If you have the desk set to Non-Tracking (which is sounds like you do) the whole problem goes away. But then you don't get the benefits of tracking.

[Craig A]

Okay that does explain it a little better (and I'm sorry if this gets tedious and you end up repeating yourself!).

 

Here comes the theoretical. So lets say I programmed a cue with 9 dimmers at 85%, then with that cue active programmed a cue with 2 different dimmers to the first 9 at 85%, with tracking would this second cue have 11 dimmers at 85%? It's not just dimmers, we have 4 mac moving heads and a fair few LED Par64s.

 

 

The desk is set to non-tracking you're right, and I'm happy and capable using it this way. This is more for my own knowledge and to see what advantages of tracking I may be missing out on!

[TomHoward]

We have a Bullfrog, which is the series before the Leapfrog so only has Full/Partial mode, and has no real Tracking function.

 

To give some background, our rig is 72 generic channels and 12x scrollers which is what we use the fixture section for.

 

The two modes work like this:

 

Full mode - when you program a memory or submaster, all the channel data is stored as you would expect, and all the fixture/scroller data from all the fixtures is also programmed, whether they are being used or not.

 

This is a thorough way of programming, but becomes a pain in the arse if you want to change any of the scroller data, as (for example) if I wanted to use a scroller which is currently in blue in red instead, and I wanted it to move 5 cues earlier (when maybe there is a loud scene to cover the move or something), I would have to go back and re-plot that scroller to red in every cue between the move and the cue I want to use it in, even though it might not have been used since then, since all data has been programmed into every cue.

 

In Partial mode you have to manually 'tag' the fixtures when you want them to be saved in a memory cue or submaster. The benefit of this is that if I only tag them when I am using them, I can go back to that where I want the scroller to move (5 cues ago), replot it there, and if it hasn't been used & tagged inbetween, then I only need to program the one cue and it should change throughout.

 

Although this has it's benefits, the down side is that if you are running your memory cue list non-sequentially (ie jumping around in it) you can't guarantee that it will run as expected, as it will only have moved properly if the cue stack was run down properly from the top.

 

The bullfrog doesn't have a proper tracking mode, but basically as I understand it on the leapfrog the tracking mode is a more automatic mode of Partial programming on the older series, where it might have the concept of when it last moved or something.

 

Couple of notes about actually doing it:

 

Tagging is done by pressing and holding the fixture select button so the yellow 'patched' LED flashes. They are un-tagged in the same way - solid is un-tagged (and won't be programmed), and flashing is tagged (so will be programmed).

 

If you change a parameter (ie select the fixture and change it) it will automatically 'tag' itself until the next time it is programmed, when the tagging will clear, so if you are making changes for a cue they should be automatically saved. This includes 'homing' a fixture (resetting to default with the 'home' button).

 

In a more advanced more you can 'tag' individual attributes and attribute groups (ie beamshape/colour/position) as well as full fixtures, so you can decide if the whole fixture data is tagged, or just individual elements of the fixture.

 

The way I use Partial mode & tagging most is for programming submasters for busking - so for example with moving lights or scrollers, rather than programming complete sub chases with pre-programmed pattern, colour and brightness data, you can program these separately, so across the first page of 24 subs I can have 6x position chases (ie a couple of static positions, and a couple of panning/nodding around), 6x colour chases (ie a couple of static colours and a couple of chases through colours, or palettes with different colours on each lantern) and 6x brightness chases, so All On, and a few chases - left/right, in/out etc. This lets you stack up any combination of position, colour and brightness chase separately, without having to re-program different submasters for the same style of chases with minor differences (ie the same pattern, but once in yellow and once in red.) 'Tagging' and partial mode also stops you doing things like plotting moving light data into your house light subs, so all the movers don't return to the home position in open white every time you put your house lights up a bit, which is what would happen in 'Full' mode.

 

Sorry if that is a bit of an essay but that's the two operating modes on the earlier Frog series at least off the top of my head.

[Craig A]

Okay that's beginning to make more sense and thank you, I think I'm just going to have to play around with it a little bit whilst reading through your description.

 

What you've explained for the submasters with moving heads perametres does sound like a big advantage IF I can get to grips with it!

 

Thanks for your help.

[Just Some Bloke]

Here comes the theoretical. So lets say I programmed a cue with 9 dimmers at 85%, then with that cue active programmed a cue with 2 different dimmers to the first 9 at 85%, with tracking would this second cue have 11 dimmers at 85%?

 

Just to answer that one:

 

If the desk were set to "tracking" then Q1 would be recorded as chs 1 - 9 @ 85 and Q2 would be recorded as Chs 10 - 11 @85

If the desk were set to "non-tracking" then Q1 would be recorded as Chs 1-9 @85, Chs 10-11 @0 and Q2 would be recorded as Chs1-11@85.

 

Playing back Q1 followed by Q2 would give you the same result either way but if you went straight to Q2 in non-tracking mode it would have all the details straight away, but in tracking mode then the desk would have to look back to previous cues to find all the relevant information.

[alistermorton]

My two-penn'orth.

 

In Non tracking mode, or what ETC/Strand desks call "Q-only" mode, each cue you record contains the absolute levels of all channels.In tracking mode, each cue you record contains only the new values of channels which are changing. Any channel which has the same value as in a previous cue isn't recorded, the desk will "look back" to the last time it changed to find the level.

 

tracking mode makes it easier to propagate a change through a scene, say if you need to adjust level. Suppose you have a scene where channels 1-10 are at 70%. You rexcord it as cue 1. Then in cue 2 a standard light comes on at 60%, then in cue three the desk lamp comes on at 30%, and in cue 4 the standard lamp goes out, and in cue 5 the desk lamp goes out, and in cue 6 the stage is blacked out.

 

Then the director wants you to adjust the lighting balance, meaning that channels 3-6 have to go to 80% from cue 1 right until the blackout, but everything else is fine.

 

On a tracking desk, you adjust the levels at cue 1 and the new values track through all the other cues without further intervention. On a q-only desk, you have to alter each intervening cue to reflect the new levels, because each cue contains all the levels for each channel at the time t was recorded.

[Craig A]

Thank you all for the help, that has made it a lot more clear now!

 

So (and sorry if this is getting tiresome) would this mean that 'tagging' is to do with selecting which channel you want to change the levels of? Or is this something else?

[timsabre]

Thank you all for the help, that has made it a lot more clear now!

 

So (and sorry if this is getting tiresome) would this mean that 'tagging' is to do with selecting which channel you want to change the levels of? Or is this something else?

 

"Tagging" happens when you actually change a channel. The console then remembers that you have modified that channel. On some consoles this is called "putting it in the programmer".

For example if you play back a cue which puts channels 1-8 at 50%, no channels are tagged. Then if you push channel 8 up to 100%, channel 8 is now tagged. When you save a cue in tracking mode, only the tagged channels are saved.

 

Moving light consoles use tagging/programmer so that you can create cues which only affect certain attributes of a fixture, for example if you wanted to have a cue which turned all your fixtures red, but didn't move them to another position, you would clear the tagging/programmer, then set the colour channel to red, then store the cue. Only the colour channel is tagged so nothing else is saved in the cue.

[Craig A]

That makes sense. The advantages of tracking in regards to fixtures (especially moving lights) is what is making me want to use it. Constantly programming every parameter every time gets a little tedious after a while!

 

Whilst I'm here then I have to ask, what would be the disadvantages of having your desk in tracking mode instead of non-tracking? Or is it simply that it's a little bit more complicated so people don't know how to use it properly?

[timsabre]

That makes sense. The advantages of tracking in regards to fixtures (especially moving lights) is what is making me want to use it. Constantly programming every parameter every time gets a little tedious after a while!

 

Whilst I'm here then I have to ask, what would be the disadvantages of having your desk in tracking mode instead of non-tracking? Or is it simply that it's a little bit more complicated so people don't know how to use it properly?

 

You shouldn't have to program every parameter every time... I'm not very familiar with the Frog desks but most consoles have a mode where they will automatically save all parameters of a fixture when any parameter of the fixture changes. On Avo desks this is called "Save as fixture/Save as channel" mode.

 

Tracking mode can get quite confusing if you have a show where you have to do a lot of editing of cues. You have to remember that subsequent cues will change, and put in a new cue to set it all back how you wanted it.

[Craig A]

Maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit for effect but it does seem like a better way of programming cues for a show.

 

Thanks again for the help and knowledge, It's greatly appreciated.

[Young Johnstone]

If you want to learn more about programming, then this book would be a great one for you.

 

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/024081553X

 

It covers everything you would need to know across all levels.