Use of a Laser and expectations of Visualisers producing accurate simu

[Uriahdemon]

Hi,

 

I have a Laserworld CS1000RGB MK II. Alongside this I am working with a Zero88 FLX and the visualiser is Capture.

 

As when using previous lighting control software and visualisers I cant seem to get an accurate simulation of the lasers output on the visualiser i.e. pan, tilt, colour, rotation etc.

 

When trying to adjust the fixture itself with a feed from the desk I cannot seem to get the control needed to adjust the various attributes of the laser. The manual is basically stating the various DMX channel attributes but one I dont really understand what they mean and two the DMX channel information is not broken down into what happens on the various 0 - 255 values. I have contacted Laserworld to ask for this but not had the reply I had hoped for.

 

Can anyone help with visualiser question and also the control of a laser question namely what the channel identifiers actually mean.

 

Some are quite obvious but it seems that for example colour selection on CH11 is not working as something seems to be overriding it (in live scenario as visualiser only has a constant white output)

 

Rgds Mac

 

 

 

Channel Value Function

1 0 - 255 Mode selection

2 0 - 255 Pattern selection

3 0 - 255 Circular Movement

4 0 - 255 Y Rotation

5 0 - 255 X Rotation

6 0 - 255 Horizontal movement

7 0 - 255 Vertical movement

8 0 - 255 Manual Zoom

9 0 - 255 Pattern Buildup

10 0 - 255 Dot Effect with Strobe

11 0 - 255 Color Seletion

[Anothertom]

If you enter the name of your laser into Google, the first link will take you to a download of the manual. There you will find much useful information about your laser, including a breakdown of the DMX chart.

 

As for the visualiser element of your question, presumably you're using the most up to date version and library your license allows? I've never looked at the simulation of lasers in capture but I don't see why it shouldn't respond as in real life. If you control it directly from capture does it respond properly? I'll fire up capture and see how it behaves.

[Uriahdemon]

Hi, thanks for your reply.

 

I have your manual but it is understanding the terms used for the naming of the channels (some quite obvious) but the others are a struggle. Its the 0-255 values I am missing and what does what within each channel for them.

 

Yes, all desk and visualiser fixture profiles are up to date. I did not think there would be an issue but there certainly is. The control from capture only allows horizontal and vertical panning in the white light.

 

Thanks for firing up Capture to see what it does and please let me know if you get a better simulation than I do.

 

Rgds Mac

If you enter the name of your laser into Google, the first link will take you to a download of the manual. There you will find much useful information about your laser, including a breakdown of the DMX chart.

 

As for the visualiser element of your question, presumably you're using the most up to date version and library your license allows? I've never looked at the simulation of lasers in capture but I don't see why it shouldn't respond as in real life. If you control it directly from capture does it respond properly? I'll fire up capture and see how it behaves.

[niclights]

I would suggest asking Capture to be sure but my understanding is that DMX lasers are not fully supported at the moment. Much like many 'effect' type fixtures (and indeed effects within more conventional fixtures) the vast majority of fixture manufacturers don't provide anywhere near enough detail to be able to simulate them. In my experience they barely manage to provide even the most basic information. So, regardless of whether or not it is actually possible without comprehensive details this is largely irrelevant. However if you control lasers using software such as Pangolin BEYOND then it is possible to simulate this in Capture.

[Anothertom]

As nic says, I don't think capture simulates lasers directly, but you can use laser control programs to feed data to capture, but isn't something I've ever looked into.

 

The manual I found (https://www.laserworld.com/en/support/downloads/download/80-laserworld-club-series-archive/1036-laserworld-manual-club-series-cs1000rgb-mkii-cs-2000rgb-mkii-2015.html) provided this page of detail (https://I.imgur.com/zeVW44j_d.jpg) which only needs de-chinglish-ing.

 

If you have issues in a live scenario, to test that it responds properly, start by using 11 dimmer channels rather than any fixture profile, and verify/test that each channel is what it suggests it should be.

[Uriahdemon]

Thanks for the info on Capture, I just wanted to check that my expectations were realistic, I will have a look at the software

I would suggest asking Capture to be sure but my understanding is that DMX lasers are not fully supported at the moment. Much like many 'effect' type fixtures (and indeed effects within more conventional fixtures) the vast majority of fixture manufacturers don't provide anywhere near enough detail to be able to simulate them. In my experience they barely manage to provide even the most basic information. So, regardless of whether or not it is actually possible without comprehensive details this is largely irrelevant. However if you control lasers using software such as Pangolin BEYOND then it is possible to simulate this in Capture.

 

Thanks very much and I must admit to being a little stunned

 

The link you have below to the manual on the Laserworld site is the one I used a couple of weeks ago. I got a manual dated 05/2019 with 12 pages and one of them just naming the 11 DMX channels. I

I used the link you provided again and find a different manual dated 08/2015 with 33 pages but also describes the values within all 11 DMX channels which is just what I wanted.

 

I am guessing that my email to Laserworld may have prompted a quick check and they changed the manual. Anyway, thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

Rgds

 

Mac

As nic says, I don't think capture simulates lasers directly, but you can use laser control programs to feed data to capture, but isn't something I've ever looked into.

 

The manual I found (https://www.laserwor...-mkii-2015.html) provided this page of detail (https://I.imgur.com/zeVW44j_d.jpg) which only needs de-chinglish-ing.

 

If you have issues in a live scenario, to test that it responds properly, start by using 11 dimmer channels rather than any fixture profile, and verify/test that each channel is what it suggests it should be.

[Shez]

If you're coming to lasers from a background of moving head control, you'll have to forget a lot of what you know and start pretty much from scratch. Lasers are very different beasts and whilst there's some crossover in terms of terminology, things don't always mean what you might expect them to.

 

As others have said, you'll struggle to get accurate visualisation as there are fewer standard ways that laser manufacturers implement and name features than there are in the lighting world.

 

You'll have to just try out each channel to determine exactly what it does. Channels 6 & 7 for example may be broadly equivalent to pan and tilt, but could instead be a movement effect (think pan/tilt sine). They also may or may not have much (or any) effect if whatever pattern being projected is "full screen" instead of being zoomed down.

 

Don't expect to be able to control it in exactly the same way as a moving head as (basic) laser control systems just don't function like that.

[Uriahdemon]

Thanks very much. I must admit to now becoming to realise that. I will just have to take my time and get to know it in a live scenario

If you're coming to lasers from a background of moving head control, you'll have to forget a lot of what you know and start pretty much from scratch. Lasers are very different beasts and whilst there's some crossover in terms of terminology, things don't always mean what you might expect them to.

 

As others have said, you'll struggle to get accurate visualisation as there are fewer standard ways that laser manufacturers implement and name features than there are in the lighting world.

 

You'll have to just try out each channel to determine exactly what it does. Channels 6 & 7 for example may be broadly equivalent to pan and tilt, but could instead be a movement effect (think pan/tilt sine). They also may or may not have much (or any) effect if whatever pattern being projected is "full screen" instead of being zoomed down.

 

Don't expect to be able to control it in exactly the same way as a moving head as (basic) laser control systems just don't function like that.