Learning Tracking

[Ryster]

Long time "Cue Only" programmer here, mainly worked with Strand 5xx series in the past. Now been moved to an ETC Ion which is great in some ways and immensely frustrating in others (Enter key I'm looking at you). I know I can put the Ion into cue only, but in today's age of moving heads etc.. I really need to catch up with the times and force myself to learn this new (to me) method. I need to stop being such a dinosaur!

 

Are there any good sources for learning about how to program in tracking? I've watched the ETC tutorials but I keep falling asleep. They are so dull it's unbearable.... okay it's not a thrilling subject, but they could have at least tried to inject some life into them instead of the dull monotone presentation they currently offer.

 

I'd prefer video as I find that easier to follow and comprehend, but written is probably going to be more readily available. Any help is appreciated.

[lightz]

Check out ETC tea-break tutorials they are really well done. They just re did them so that they fit with the 2.1 software update. Click Here

 

Or if you are based in London or willing to travel you can visit ETCs free user training lessons, you just have to sign up in time. Click Here

[Joe Bleasdale]

Best way to think of tracking - the lights will do as they were instructed until told otherwise.

 

Knowing the colour codes for the live view on the Ion will also help you deal with this.

 

Thanks.

[Ryster]

Best way to think of tracking - the lights will do as they were instructed until told otherwise.

 

Knowing the colour codes for the live view on the Ion will also help you deal with this.

 

Thanks.

 

My limited experience of tracking so far is everything is great when I'm plotting in sequence, but when I go back to edit cues, things go very wrong, very quickly!

 

I understand the basic principle, and the advantages. What I don't understand is how I find out what cue a channel was set to its current level in quickly. For example, I set a light to 75% in a cue, later on I decide it's too bright and needs to drop by 10%. As I understand it, if I alter it in the current cue it will register as a change from that cue onwards. What I need to do is go back to the cue that I recorded it to 75% in and change it there. Then it will track forwards...

 

Is there a way when I decide it's too bright to change it and make it track backwards? It makes sense that I should be able to do that in my head, but I don't know how you would do that on the console. If not, then how do you get to the cue it was originally recorded in when you don't remember where it was?

[jbrown96]

Tracking will only affect subsequent cue not previous.

 

In live table and live split table view (tabs).

Purple channel value indicates channel has tracked channel value for a previous cue.

Green channel value indicates a new channel value that has decreased from previous cue.

Blue channel value indicates a new channel value that has increased from previous cue.

 

Meaning that if you look back over cues in either of those views and you follow the channel/s that you wish to change until they change colour from purple to either green of blue, then the cue that the colour change takes place in is the original value that all the subsequent cues tracked from.

[Ryster]

Tracking will only affect subsequent cue not previous.

 

In live table and live split table view (tabs).

Purple channel value indicates channel has tracked channel value for a previous cue.

Green channel value indicates a new channel value that has decreased from previous cue.

Blue channel value indicates a new channel value that has increased from previous cue.

 

Meaning that if you look back over cues in either of those views and you follow the channel/s that you wish to change until they change colour from purple to either green of blue, then the cue that the colour change takes place in is the original value that all the subsequent cues tracked from.

 

Okay, so there's no way to track backwards? That seems odd as it would be much easier, but oh well!

 

Now here's another quick question, how do I scroll through cues? On the Strand in blind I could use the wheel to run up and down the cue list and the channel table would show the outputs in the highlighted cue. This made it really easy to see where values got changed. On the Ion I'm currently typing [cue] n [enter] to see the outputs. This makes the process of finding the right cue a very slow process. So what's a quick way to browse through all the cues?

[jonic222]

Cue only mode pretty much records information for every channel.

Tracking records information for channels which have changed in value in that cue (ETC calls this a move instruction). For example if in cue 1 channel 7 is at 80%, and it stays at 80% until cue 5, at which point it changes to 40%, information for channel 7 is recorded only in cues 1 and 5, with the level tracking through cues 2-4 from cue 1. If you look at this as a table it looks like this - move instructions are in bold, tracked data is normal text.

http://s2.postimg.org/7pypkzs15/Tracking1.jpg

 

 

In a world where you were to never edit anything at all, it doesn't matter that the data is stored like this, however once you do start changing things you get a few problems. For example, if you decide you want channel 1 on in cue 1, you turn it on, update the cue, and you then find it's in the entire show, as it's tracked all the way through.

To stop this from happening there are two main useful tools (among many others...). First is the "Block" function. Blocking a cue stops tracking up to that point, and starts it again, effectively making every channel a move command. So if in the above example cue 5 were to be the start of a new scene, as I was programming the show I'd put a block there, as I'm likely to want different lighting for different scenes, so if I later decide I want to add channel 1 to my first scene, it will track through cues 2-4, and then hit the block, at which point it will go to whatever value it has in cue 5. I would generally put in a block at a change of scene, or anywhere I know there will be a major change in lighting, and certainly in blackouts.

 

http://s29.postimg.org/of9k635xz/Tracking2.jpg

 

 

The other useful function is the "Q Only/Track" button. If you wanted to add channel 4 just into cue 3, without tracking either backwards back to cue 1 or forwards to the block, you can use "Update / Q Only". This does exactly as it sounds - it would update the cue as it would on a cue only desk - it doesn't affect any of the other tracking, and the values won't track - it simply updates that cue and nothing else.

 

http://s24.postimg.org/slft0dqud/Tracking3.jpg

 

 

 

One final thing to watch out for is deleting cues. If cue 5 is the start of my second scene, I might use cues 6 and 7 to add in some more light.

 

http://s29.postimg.org/6fnbyewnr/Tracking4.jpg

 

 

The values track through from those cues for the rest of the scene. However, if I decide I don't like cue 6 and want to delete it, if I simply do "Cue 6 delete enter", then the values of channels 1-3 which track through the rest of the scene from cue 6 are lost. They will stay with their previous move command (or in this case blocked value). The value for channel 4 will remain at 40 for the rest of the scene, as the move command in cue 7, which sets it to 40, will remain. To solve this problem, once again the Q Only button is used, so if I type "Cue 6 delete cue only enter", the move instruction for channels 1-3 will move forward to cue 7, keeping those values until they reach another move instruction or block.

 

 

It is really useful to learn the colours ETC uses.

 

Red is Manual Data

Blue is a channel that has gone up (Blue to the sky)

Green is a channel that has gone down (Green to the ground/grass)

Magenta is tracked

White is blocked

Yellow is a channel being controlled by a submaster

 

http://s27.postimg.org/95ci0j5f7/Tracking5.jpg

 

Hopefully this has covered the basics of tracking, and is enough to get you started. There are loads of really useful features - I'd suggest downloading ETCs Tea Break Tutorials - they're much better than the user manual. It's really easy when you're learning about tracking to focus on the negatives and make it sound really awful, but once you get your head around it it's a really powerful feature.

 

Hope that was useful

Jon

[jbrown96]

Not sure if their is a way to scroll through cues, I only have access to offline editor on computer at current/near future so can't check using console interface to see if their is a way.

[Go to cue] cue number [enter] goes to cue and outputs live values of the cue, [cue] cue number [enter] does not output the value live. (correct me if I am wrong)

Only really quick way to scroll through the cues I know of is to use the stop/back and go buttons to play the cues or your current method/go to cue.

Sorry if this has not helped, someone else may have knowledge of another way?

[Ryster]

In a world where you were to never edit anything at all, it doesn't matter that the data is stored like this, however once you do start changing things you get a few problems. For example, if you decide you want channel 1 on in cue 1, you turn it on, update the cue, and you then find it's in the entire show, as it's tracked all the way through.

To stop this from happening there are two main useful tools (among many others...). First is the "Block" function. Blocking a cue stops tracking up to that point, and starts it again, effectively making every channel a move command. So if in the above example cue 5 were to be the start of a new scene, as I was programming the show I'd put a block there, as I'm likely to want different lighting for different scenes, so if I later decide I want to add channel 1 to my first scene, it will track through cues 2-4, and then hit the block, at which point it will go to whatever value it has in cue 5. I would generally put in a block at a change of scene, or anywhere I know there will be a major change in lighting, and certainly in blackouts.

 

Hang on, if I update cue 1 in your example, it tracks forwards at the new level until when? Will it overwrite EVERY cue with channel 1 at the new level? Or just until it reaches a cue where it's set to a different level?

 

Also, what happened if I update cue 1 and it tracks forwards, but then remember afterwards to put a block on? Will it return channel 1 to the old value in cue 2 onwards? Or have I just screwed up the whole plot?

 

Only really quick way to scroll through the cues I know of is to use the stop/back and go buttons to play the cues or your current method/go to cue.

 

So does that mean my ONLY option in blind is to do direct [cue] n [enter]? That's painfully slow! I honestly find it hard to believe that the Ion is 10 years newer than the Strand, in so many ways it feels like it's 10 years behind it!

 

It's really easy when you're learning about tracking to focus on the negatives and make it sound really awful, but once you get your head around it it's a really powerful feature.

 

I have to admit, it looks to me like the dangers and ease with which you can break something in your plot and the complexity of fixing it. It makes me wonder how the advantages outweigh all the negatives!

[jbrown96]

It only tracks forward until it reaches a change in level not the entire show.

You would screw up the whole plot. I would make a recomendation of saving the show before doing any change as the ion will keep an archive of show files at each save point.

[jonic222]

1) If you update a cue without pressing cue only, any channels with new values in that cue will track forwards until they hit a move instruction (i.e. until the value changes) or they hit a block.

 

 

2) If you go back to my first example - there are no blocks here. If you decide to change cue 1 so that all the channels are at 50, you could type "1 thru 7 at 50 enter" "update enter". Channels 1-6 then track through the whole show at 50 as there are no blocks, and in this example there are no move instructions. Channel 7 would track through at 50% until cue 5 as there is a move instruction there to change it to 40%. You then realise that you've screwed up your entire show as you only wanted those channels to be at 50% for the first scene, and you forgot to put a block in. Either go back into cue 1, type "1 thru 6 at 0 enter" "7 at 80 enter" "update enter" and you're back where you started, as the values will once again track forward. Or, with your show still screwed up, you could put your block into cue 5, then type "1 thru 6 at 0 enter" "update enter" and you have what you're trying to get. You should try to put blocks in as you're programming, but if you miss them it's not the end of the world as fixing a show that you've messed up is just as easy as messing it up in the first place. Yes - it is annoying how easy it is to mess up your entire show, but it's easy to fix these problems and the time that can be saved with tracking is normally far greater than any problems it may cause.

 

 

Okay, so there's no way to track backwards? That seems odd as it would be much easier, but oh well!

 

 

You can track backwards using the "Trace" command. In my first example above if you were in cue 3 and you decided you wanted channel 7 to be at 50% for that entire scene, you could set channel 7 to 50%, type "7 Update Trace Enter", and it will find the previous move instruction for channel 7, changing that to 50%, which then tracks forward from there through the scene, until it reaches a move instruction or block (i.e. this command in this example would set channel 7 to be at 50% from cue 1 through to cue 4, as there is a move command on cue 5)

 

 

Jon

[Ryster]

1) If you update a cue without pressing cue only, any channels with new values in that cue will track forwards until they hit a move instruction (i.e. until the value changes) or they hit a block.

 

 

2) If you go back to my first example - there are no blocks here. If you decide to change cue 1 so that all the channels are at 50, you could type "1 thru 7 at 50 enter" "update enter". Channels 1-6 then track through the whole show at 50 as there are no blocks, and in this example there are no move instructions. Channel 7 would track through at 50% until cue 5 as there is a move instruction there to change it to 40%. You then realise that you've screwed up your entire show as you only wanted those channels to be at 50% for the first scene, and you forgot to put a block in. Either go back into cue 1, type "1 thru 6 at 0 enter" "7 at 80 enter" "update enter" and you're back where you started, as the values will once again track forward. Or, with your show still screwed up, you could put your block into cue 5, then type "1 thru 6 at 0 enter" "update enter" and you have what you're trying to get. You should try to put blocks in as you're programming, but if you miss them it's not the end of the world as fixing a show that you've messed up is just as easy as messing it up in the first place. Yes - it is annoying how easy it is to mess up your entire show, but it's easy to fix these problems and the time that can be saved with tracking is normally far greater than any problems it may cause.

 

 

Okay, so there's no way to track backwards? That seems odd as it would be much easier, but oh well!

 

 

You can track backwards using the "Trace" command. In my first example above if you were in cue 3 and you decided you wanted channel 7 to be at 50% for that entire scene, you could set channel 7 to 50%, type "7 Update Trace Enter", and it will find the previous move instruction for channel 7, changing that to 50%, which then tracks forward from there through the scene, until it reaches a move instruction or block (i.e. this command in this example would set channel 7 to be at 50% from cue 1 through to cue 4, as there is a move command on cue 5)

 

 

Jon

 

This is all good stuff, I'm learning more from you guys than I have from anywhere else, thanks! Trace sounds like something I need to remember.

 

What are the advantages to using tracking as opposed to cue only if I'm only using a generic rig? I get the advantages when working with fixtures that have multiple parameters, but I'm not sure the extra hassle is worth it if I've not got any on the show?

[jonic222]

It allows you to very quickly update entire scenes just by changing one cue. If you're touring a show you will inevitably come across lanterns of different brightnesses, or dimmers with odd curves. As you go through you cue stack and come across a scene that doesn't look right because of the equipment in that venue, you simply alter the first cue of that scene and it should update the rest of the scene accordingly. It does rely on the show being programmed with correct blocks etc., however there are ways around it if blocks aren't in place.

 

Tracking could be explained by saying that you should divide your show up into different scenes, and divide these scenes up in your cue stack with blocks. Then when you want to edit a scene, you simply make the change in the first cue of that scene and it updates the whole scene for you. That puts a bit more of a positive spin on it, and is exactly what it does, however doesn't really explain about the potential issues you might fall into if you are working in tracking, or how it works.

 

Jon

[daemon]

The biggest thing I find people have trouble getting their head around with tracking is the difference between a 0 value and a "no-information" value. A 0% value is just as valid as a level instruction as say 100%. "No-information" means a tracking value.

 

The ETC white paper with history on where cue-only and tracking developed from is worth a read. I find the history puts the differences into an easy to understand context.

 

For myself as LD the benefits of tracking are there in how I can conceptualise cueing a show. Individual cues can be defined not by the overall state but by the change they make. Think of having a 30 minute sunset fade with a series of other cues happening over the top that only effect very particular channels.

[Judge]

I think that if you are programming a show where each cue is going to be a totally different look, then tracking is just going to get in the way. But if your show has any kind of consistency between cues then tracking wil save you time and seems to be a better way of managing things. Its a subject that many people are resistant to because it does require a slightly different way of thinking.

Its also tough sitting with the artistic director when plotting who suddenly wants to see cue 55, which when executed from a cue stack might be a massive full stage look, whereas in reality as far as the desk is concerned it might just be a single fresnel turning off. You try to explain that you have to go back to the start of the cue sequence for it to work and some get it, and others look like a dog might if you showed it a card trick.

This is another reason for using plenty of block cues and have them marked on your cue sheet - so you just need to go back to the closest previous block, fire that and then bump forward from there.

With regards to back tracking - ie adjusting a particular cue that gave an move instruction, but you dont know which one...it has been explained above how this works with ETC consoles. It might be worth mentioning here that Avolites Titan has a similar feature. If you have a cue stack where in cue 2 you changed a ight from blue to red - you can be somewhere further down the list and think that actually it would look better if that light was magenta. If you select the light, change the colour then click "update" it will go back and change cue 2 for you. As opposed to select, change colour then record step - in which case it will plot a new change in the cue you are in (but will leave everything else alone)