Jano,
First and foremost, thank you for the explanation of Relative Mode. I've been meaning to ask about this. I remember when it showed up in some revision and I've never really understood its purpose was. I actually looked through the documentation yesterday and couldn't find any info on it and was planning on asking. Perhaps I'll try to test it out a little further today so I have a good understanding of it and submit an addition to the documentation.
With respect to how to best deal with the EFX section, I kind of like the idea of scaling the preview window to represent the aspect ratio of the pan/tilt. While it's still not going to be a perfect (obviously representing 3D on a 2D graph is never going to be), I think it would be helpful to understand what is going on. Keep in mind that a good fixture definition should already have this information so it might be something that could be done automatically (on a side note, I have a few fixtures that have a selectable 540º/630º range, so there might need to be some way to override the range).
David,
You've done some fantastic work already so I'd be inclined to trust whatever you have in mind, but I must confess that I'm having a little trouble visualizing what you're suggesting. However, you know the problem here, so I'm sure your solution will be helpful.
head doesnt move in circle but rather a figure 8
-
david garyga
Like this.
Black is the usual representation, red should look like the pattern the moving head is "drawing".
Black is the usual representation, red should look like the pattern the moving head is "drawing".
- Attachments
-
- 2014-11-06-172247_958x1059_scrot_efx_realist_preview.png (13.92 KiB) Viewed 578 times
-
david garyga
A little X offset, makes the pattern rotate.
- Attachments
-
- 2014-11-06-172811_958x1059_scrot.png (13.94 KiB) Viewed 578 times
-
david garyga
Branch for testing: https://github.com/plugz/qlcplus/tree/efxpreview
(This works only for a 540⁰ pan range fixture)
(This works only for a 540⁰ pan range fixture)
-
Jano Svitok
I was sure I've written documentation when I added the feature. I found that I didn't. It's fixed now in git. Until next release, you can check the doc here: http://www.qlcplus.org/docs/efxeditor.html I'd appreciate if you can improve it, for example if there's anything not clear enough.
-
qualleyiv
Jano,
Your documentation is clear to me now that I understand how the feature works. I might propose this edit to the first paragraph:
EFX position is absolute by default-in other words, the selected EFX will exclusively control the X/Y position of the specified heads. When the Relative Mode checkbox is enabled, the EFX position acts as a layer on top of any position that has already been set (e.g. by a scene or even another EFX). In other words, the EFX is relative to current fixture position.
Your documentation is clear to me now that I understand how the feature works. I might propose this edit to the first paragraph:
EFX position is absolute by default-in other words, the selected EFX will exclusively control the X/Y position of the specified heads. When the Relative Mode checkbox is enabled, the EFX position acts as a layer on top of any position that has already been set (e.g. by a scene or even another EFX). In other words, the EFX is relative to current fixture position.
-
Jon
I would like to add a comment which might be helpful. I have seen many questions on various forums about moving lights in a circle. I think what many people are wondering (as I did once) is how can I get them going around and around (like the lights on a police car do). Say you start your light at 0 pan and 0 tilt (which probably means it is pointing straight out at a right angle to the fixture if it is hanging or sitting on its base). Don't move the tilt, but send it a signal to go to DMX 255 and it will pan all the way around and probably another half circle or so again (depending on what its pan range is, most are around 500-540 degrees). Now here is the rub. What everyone wants is to have it keep on going. "Hmmm, what if I send it a 0 now." What the light now does is go backward in the opposite direction back to 0. The 0-255 DMX range (or 0-64000 if you are using fine grain control) maps to the 540 degree (or so) circular turning range, but the light will ALWAYS MOVE IN THE DIRECTION of the difference between the current value and the new value. If you are going from 0-255 (0 degrees to 540 degrees) and it move clockwise, if you now go back to 0 it will move counterclockwise.
"But what if I want it to keep going round and round in the same direction?"
Sorry, most moving lights can't do this. And the reason is actually physical. The lights have connections between the lighting controller mounted in the base and the light head itself. These are usually wires and if the light kept moving in the same direction, these wires would get all twisted until they would simply stop the light or break. The light MUST go back in the opposite direction.
The only way a light could actually keep going in the same direction endlessly is if it used moving contact strips between the head and the base so that there were no wires to wind up. However, that isn't going to be found on a low-end lighting device for sure. Another option is a moving mirror light where the light stays fixed and only a mirror turns and the motor that turns it is also stationary and there are no wires between the base and the mirror.
So the circular paths that are traversed in various systems are usually really figure eights (in which the pan path alternates with each cycle) but tilted in a way that sort of looks like a circle. At least that's the best that I can describe it.
Jon
"But what if I want it to keep going round and round in the same direction?"
Sorry, most moving lights can't do this. And the reason is actually physical. The lights have connections between the lighting controller mounted in the base and the light head itself. These are usually wires and if the light kept moving in the same direction, these wires would get all twisted until they would simply stop the light or break. The light MUST go back in the opposite direction.
The only way a light could actually keep going in the same direction endlessly is if it used moving contact strips between the head and the base so that there were no wires to wind up. However, that isn't going to be found on a low-end lighting device for sure. Another option is a moving mirror light where the light stays fixed and only a mirror turns and the motor that turns it is also stationary and there are no wires between the base and the mirror.
So the circular paths that are traversed in various systems are usually really figure eights (in which the pan path alternates with each cycle) but tilted in a way that sort of looks like a circle. At least that's the best that I can describe it.
Jon