Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

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Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

You may find that when you load a fixture into Show Buddy Active, it displays too many icons, or not enough icons on the visualiser, or doesn't display colours correctly. This indicates that the fixture needs some tweaking to work with SBA.

SBA examines each fixture to find the "heads", and each head is displayed on the visualiser as a separate icon. For example, an RGB parcan has one head, an 8-channel dimmer pack has 8 heads, an LED strip with 6 RGBAW sections has 6 heads.

SBA creates heads according to these rules:
  • If there is at least one Dimmer channel, and no RGBAW channels, create a head for each Dimmer channel;
  • If there is at least one RGB/RGBA/RGBW/RGBAW block, create a head for each block;
  • Otherwise, create a single head.
In addition:
  • RGBAW and Dimmer channels must be defined as type "D" in the fixture file.
  • RGBAW must be named "red", "Red", "R", "green", "Green", "G" etc in the fixture file.
These simple rules will cover most popular fixtures. However, the more fiddly fixtures present a problem - not just for SBA, but for every DMX visualiser out there. I'm thinking of those 'adventurous' fixtures that try to combine a laser, two moonflowers, a toaster oven and an electric toothbrush on one convenient t-bar.

For those more complex fixtures, it's usually best to split it into several fixture files , one for each logical section of fixtures.
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Hambone
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Hambone »

Thank for the guidance. I apologize in advance for my ignorance!

So, when editing a fixture in the online Fixture Editor, is it "Name" or "Short Name" that must be red/Red/R, etc?

Also, how do I define a channel as D? I don't see a D in the Category/Subcategory drop-downs.
davep2000
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Dave Brown [admin] wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:08 am
These simple rules will cover most popular fixtures. However, the more fiddly fixtures present a problem - not just for SBA, but for every DMX visualiser out there. I'm thinking of those 'adventurous' fixtures that try to combine a laser, two moonflowers, a toaster oven and an electric toothbrush on one convenient t-bar.

For those more complex fixtures, it's usually best to split it into several fixture files , one for each logical section of fixtures.
Dave I have the Showtec QFX gig bar as I mentioned in another post.
It has the derbys, pars, spots and laser on one bar under one dmx address
I'm guessing I own the toaster and toothbrush version.
I understand the need to split the existing fixture into smaller manageable channels to recognize them
How will this affect my current imported lighting scenes in the demo, and how showbuddy will see the new fixtures?
Does this mean I have to reprogram my old light shows with new split QFX fixures?
And how do I address each derby, par etc with one DMX address?

Thanks

Dave
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

Hambone wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:49 pmSo, when editing a fixture in the online Fixture Editor, is it "Name" or "Short Name" that must be red/Red/R, etc?
Short name. (Long name is only used in D-Pro)
Also, how do I define a channel as D? I don't see a D in the Category/Subcategory drop-downs.
Choose Category = Dimmer

(Sorry, when I referred to "D", I was talking about the contents of the actual .dmx fixture file)
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

davep2000 wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:52 pmI understand the need to split the existing fixture into smaller manageable channels for recognize them
How will this affect my current imported lighting scenes in the demo
It won't affect them at all. (Fader positions, oscillators settings aren't linked to the loaded fixtures)
, and how showbuddy will see the new fixtures?
Show Buddy only uses bank & preset names - it doesn't care what fixtures are loaded.
Does this mean I have to reprogram my old light shows with new split QFX fixures?
Nope, no reprogramming required.

Splitting the fixtures is simply a way to get the visualiser working more accurately for very complex devices.
And how do I address each derby, par etc with one DMX address?
If you can point me towards the manual, I can tell you exactly.
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davep2000
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Dave

https://www.highlite.nl/silver.download ... _GB_V1.pdf

I added my QFX fixture online but it isn't public
There is another there though
And I'm guessing the fixture will need tweeking
I just get one head appearing at the moment

Thanks

Dave
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Hambone »

Dave Brown [admin] wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:59 pm
Hambone wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:49 pmSo, when editing a fixture in the online Fixture Editor, is it "Name" or "Short Name" that must be red/Red/R, etc?
Short name. (Long name is only used in D-Pro)
Also, how do I define a channel as D? I don't see a D in the Category/Subcategory drop-downs.
Choose Category = Dimmer

(Sorry, when I referred to "D", I was talking about the contents of the actual .dmx fixture file)
Fantastic. Thanks!
Hambone
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Hambone »

Does this mean that fixtures that use only RGB channels for color values without a separate dimmer channel cannot use effects or the visualiser?

Are fixtures with color wheels (i.e. scanners) able to use effects? And is there a way to make pan/tilt show true beam positions in the visualiser?

Finally (lots of questions... sorry!), should a preset that uses an effect reset when a channel masked fixture is used? For example, when I have RGB LED washes illuminated using an effect, and I launch a laser or scanner preset that is masked to not touch the washes, the RGB LED washes still all go black. The masking works fine when an effect is not used.

Thanks for a most awesome product! Unfortunately, it is "making" me buy more RGB LED fixtures... :cry:
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

Hambone wrote: Sat Nov 03, 2018 6:03 am Does this mean that fixtures that use only RGB channels for color values without a separate dimmer channel cannot use effects or the visualiser?
The effects engine and visualiser support RGB, RGBA, RGBW, RGBAW fixtures, with or without a dimmer channel. Plain dimmers and dimmer packs (i.e. for traditional parcans) also work. Fixtures can have one RGB(AW) block or multiple blocks.
Are fixtures with color wheels (i.e. scanners) able to use effects? And is there a way to make pan/tilt show true beam positions in the visualiser?
Not yet, but both are on my list for the next release.
Finally (lots of questions... sorry!), should a preset that uses an effect reset when a channel masked fixture is used? For example, when I have RGB LED washes illuminated using an effect, and I launch a laser or scanner preset that is masked to not touch the washes, the RGB LED washes still all go black. The masking works fine when an effect is not used.
On your laser or scanner presets, you need to deactivate the effects engine (via the Effect page "FX ON/OFF" button). That will prevent those presets from transmitting any sort of effect output, allowing the existing effect to keep running.

Think of the "FX ON/OFF" button as masking for the effects engine.
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Hambone
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Hambone »

Thanks, Dave! RGB fixtures are now working after redoing the profiles, and the FX ON/OFF button masking is, too.

I have MIDI-mapped the Fade On/Off button to selectively fade presets, but it seems to fade if there is a Fade Time set, irrespective of the On/Off button. The On/Off button toggles correctly with the MIDI-mapped control, but it continues to fade, even with the button showing Off. Am I missing something?

Thanks again!
Ennis437
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Ennis437 »

I was able to successfully reprogram my Eyourlights and get red green blue to show correct colors as well as the dimmer , however white is not showing in visualizer and I also can not see any FX at all with chases and strobes. Any thoughts or things to try ?
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

Ennis437 wrote: Wed Nov 07, 2018 3:21 am I was able to successfully reprogram my Eyourlights and get red green blue to show correct colors as well as the dimmer , however white is not showing in visualizer and I also can not see any FX at all with chases and strobes. Any thoughts or things to try ?
Email the fixture file to support@db-audioware.com and I'll sort it for you.
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Ennis437
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Ennis437 »

Wow ! Thank you!
davep2000
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Hi Dave
I'm slowly working my way around 'faux' fixtures to represent my Showtec QFX gig bar
I can get RGB colours for the derbys and pars
I'm trying to get the strobes to fire

The fixture profile for this feature is
0-4 blackout
5-9 full on
10-255 strobe speed increasing

I'd like the strobe ON/OFF feature to give full white light or off from 4 to 9
My visualiser icon goes from 0-255 to full white
I'm guessing its a scaling factor over 0-255 but I cant get it to work

I have sent a link to the document earlier

Thanks

Dave
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

davep2000 wrote: Sun Nov 11, 2018 5:19 pmI'm trying to get the strobes to fire...
With the current SBA release, the visualiser shows colours, dimmer levels and pan/tilt positions. There's no way to force it to display other channel types.
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davep2000
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Thanks Dave

Please understand that I'd like maximum visualiser capability with my small footprint kit capability before I buy
I do have a scanner to incorporate too :-)

I was hoping the fixture library 'default' and 'highlight' 0-255 may scale my 4-9 to create an on/off command to full on white
I entered 4 in 'default' and 9 in 'highlight' to see if it would scale the 0-255
I tried it, it doesn't work, but I was hoping that I'd got the 'category' and subcategory' wrong
I don't want the whole range, just on and off
Is that a possible get around?

Thanks

Dave
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Interesting that the demo visualiser triggers my strobes when I select an effect though
A rectangle or star shape etc, so there may be some promise :-)
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

davep2000 wrote: Mon Nov 12, 2018 10:15 pmInteresting that the demo visualiser triggers my strobes when I select an effect though A rectangle or star shape etc, so there may be some promise :-)
If your strobe channel is defined as a dimmer in the fixture file, and is the only channel in the fixture, then it will track the brightness of the effect shapes.
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Thanks Dave
I've checked my fixture,
I have 4 strobes, one for each channel
I have default 4, highlight 9, category beam and subcategory default
:)
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by davep2000 »

Hi Dave,
I have an Ayra TDC 444 MK2 that I'm trying to get to appear with the Active Effects function in the vizualiser
I can get my other fixtures to respond because they have RGB or just a white light
I've broken it down to a 3 channel 'faux' fixture, colour, pan and tilt that works with oscillators etc
The single colour slider selects various combiations and the pan and tilt work

I'd like to have the colour slider to move with the effect
I know that it wont reflect on the visualiser RGB colours
How can I have 0-255 of colour channel movement that responds to the visualiser?

https://www.bax-shop.nl/downloads/produ ... manual.pdf

Thanks, Dave
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by DJZombot »

So, any chance in the future that we can edit moving fixtures definteiions to better represent how they physically perform? Right now in the software, the pan reflects approximately 90 degrees of movement while the real life fixture, using the same values, pans 360.
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

DJZombot wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:20 am So, any chance in the future that we can edit moving fixtures definteiions to better represent how they physically perform? Right now in the software, the pan reflects approximately 90 degrees of movement while the real life fixture, using the same values, pans 360.
Yes, coming in 2.0.12
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DJZombot
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by DJZombot »

Dave Brown [admin] wrote: Mon Feb 11, 2019 12:53 pm
DJZombot wrote: Sat Feb 09, 2019 1:20 am So, any chance in the future that we can edit moving fixtures definteiions to better represent how they physically perform? Right now in the software, the pan reflects approximately 90 degrees of movement while the real life fixture, using the same values, pans 360.
Yes, coming in 2.0.12
Any idea when that might be released?
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Sound-guy Steve »

Dave Brown [admin] wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:59 pm
Hambone wrote: Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:49 pmSo, when editing a fixture in the online Fixture Editor, is it "Name" or "Short Name" that must be red/Red/R, etc?
Short name. (Long name is only used in D-Pro)
Also, how do I define a channel as D? I don't see a D in the Category/Subcategory drop-downs.
Choose Category = Dimmer

(Sorry, when I referred to "D", I was talking about the contents of the actual .dmx fixture file)
I'm still confused by this. When defining my fixture, I selected the RGB for the 3 color faders. It defaults to "Colour" in the catagory. Do I need to change all of these to "Dimmer"?
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

In the online editor, colour channels should look like this:
Screenshot 2019-02-14 at 07.44.25.png
Screenshot 2019-02-14 at 07.44.25.png (82.02 KiB) Viewed 275396 times
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FAster77
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by FAster77 »

I tried to make my own fixture on fixtures.dmxis.com

My fixture (Sparkx 7 -JB lighting) has not only 3 times rgb but also fine rgb. So the color channels are one after the other: Red, Red fine, Green, Green fine, Blue, Blue fine, White, White fine.. 3 times.

But SBA does not seem to catch the colors.. I tried selecting "Dim" for all the channels, and also tried Dim only for the Dimmer and Colors for the gb channels. But SBA only loads one object for my fixture instead of 3 like it should. Could it the that the fine color channels are preventing the SBA from detecting the rgb channels? And if so, how can I work around this problem?

And the second thing: are the default and highlight section in the fixture creator of any importance for SBA? I left most parameters at default 0 highlight 0, only the colors and dimmers default 0 and highlight 255..

Thanks for the help!
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Re: Fixture Profiles and Visualiser Icons Explained

Post by Dave Brown [admin] »

Sorry for the delay in replying, just noticed this post!

I've tweaked your Sparx 7 profile to work better in SBA. It should now show 3 icons, one for each of the RGB modes (although as I'm unfamiliar with the fixture, I'm not sure in practice what these modes actually do!)

SBA does not currently support fine colour channels, so those needed to be "undefined" in the profile, to prevent SBA from trying to control them (from the Effects tab) or display them in the visualiser.

Also, the default & highlight parameters in the online editor are not currently used by SBA.
FAster77 wrote: Sat Dec 07, 2019 2:14 pm I tried to make my own fixture on fixtures.dmxis.com

My fixture (Sparkx 7 -JB lighting) has not only 3 times rgb but also fine rgb. So the color channels are one after the other: Red, Red fine, Green, Green fine, Blue, Blue fine, White, White fine.. 3 times.

But SBA does not seem to catch the colors.. I tried selecting "Dim" for all the channels, and also tried Dim only for the Dimmer and Colors for the gb channels. But SBA only loads one object for my fixture instead of 3 like it should. Could it the that the fine color channels are preventing the SBA from detecting the rgb channels? And if so, how can I work around this problem?

And the second thing: are the default and highlight section in the fixture creator of any importance for SBA? I left most parameters at default 0 highlight 0, only the colors and dimmers default 0 and highlight 255..

Thanks for the help!
Dave Brown - db audioware
Author of Show Buddy Setlist | Show Buddy Active | ArtNetMon
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