Show differences DMXIS/Show Buddy Active

[joebataz]

I bought Show Buddy Active because it looked like I finally had more control than the original Show Buddy. So I put together several hundred MASKED cues so I could make scenes on the fly. Rewrote my software. With DMXIS I could reliably send MIDI over at 1/64 notes and all worked fine. With SBA I've had to slow notes down to 1/32 and even then have timing issues. So I decided to go back to DMXIS but that would mean I had to move all the new cues back to the DMXIS shows. So I moved the Show from SBA back to the DMXIS Show library (shared with Show Buddy). But now I have no Presets, just the Banks. what did I need to move or modify to work with the old DMXIS/ShowBuddy apps?

joeb

ps YES I did make backups.

[Dave Brown [admin]]

I'm afraid SBA preset files are not backwards compatible with DMXIS.

FYI, you are really stretching the capabilities of DMX technology by triggering presets at those speeds. See this article for a technical explanation. At anything faster than 1/8 notes @ 120bpm, you will start to get visual timing issues with the DMX output.

[joebataz]

Yikes!!! That explains a whole lot. I'll take a look at the article.
Thats me though, pushing the limits. Any chance you'd put the tune interface into SBA like Show Buddy?
Thanks for the help Dave!!!

best,
joeb

[Dave Brown [admin]]

Any chance you'd put the tune interface into SBA like Show Buddy?

Show Buddy 1.6.2 can load up either DMXIS or SBA for DMX lighting duties.

Let me know if you need a download link (as Show Buddy 1.6.2 isn't public yet).

[joebataz]

Hey Dave,

Yeah the link would be great!! Haven't been around for a while as I've been tuning my interface to SBA using Lemur; can't afford a 27" touchscreen yet and my mousing technique doesn't get me around quick enough. I'm using roughly 8 fixture types so I've been doing a lot of layering and it's working beautifully when I think about the order that I activate the layers. I do have a few questions though:
1. On the live window my washes show the color I've set but the spots don't. Is this because of how the fixture is defined? They both have color channels.
2. Is there a way to change the angles of the spots in relation to the pan values? When my pan value is at midrange the live window has the beam pointing to the top left.
3. Is there a technique to do a one off preset? i.e. based on speed (I do have SBA synced to my DJ software) I'd like to have a fixture come in at a half beat and then another come in on the second bar. I can get this to work but the fixture that's at the half beat keeps repeating. I just want it to happen once. I can do 2 presets but I'd rather have just one.
4. Is there a way to load the buttons on the fly (macros??) so when I choose a bank I get all the presets on the buttons?

The software is pretty solid even though I push the limits. I can send 6 presets at 43ms and the effect is slightly noticeable. At 3 presets it's barely visible. I'm using MIDI but am afraid to make the jump to OSC. I did download the TouchOSC sample template and will give it a go and see if I can do a switchover.

Again, thanks for all your help!!
Best,
joeb

[joebataz]

Dave,

Figured out #1. The channels for the spots were labeled Red, Blue, Green, White. Changed them in the fixture editor to R,G,B,W. Was kind of worried about pulling the fixtures out of SBA and replacing them with the edited ones but it worked out just fine and now I get colored spot cones. Just need to figure out how to change angles (#2)


Best,

Joe B