Understanding some of the basics of DMX

[arretx]

Aside from addressing, channels, functions, etc., my question is more about the concepts used to achieve certain goals with QLC+. I've built the lighting setup, now I'm working on understanding how to make the lights do what I want them to do, and understand what the limitations are.

Example: Until now, my only experience with QLC+ has been adding fixtures, creating groups, creating scenes and chasers, and creating a cue list and running a pre-set list of cues throughout a Sunday morning service.

What I want to understand more of is how to do things on the fly, such as:

• While a scene is active, how do I pull a single light in the scene out, or change one of the lights? Do I need a duplicate scene with that light removed? Seems like I should be able to control each light independently while a scene is up.

• Can two scenes containing separate groups of lights be controlled concurrently to produce a synchronized effect, or a supplementary scene effect to the primary scene?

• If a group of lights is fading in and I wanted to alter the group of lights by making them strobe while they were fading in, how would I go about doing that?

• Sequences: I've gone off the rails trying to understand how sequences work.

• Lastly: Is there anyone out there that's produced an extended set of YouTube tutorials that are in English?

Any help in these areas is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Ham]

Aside from addressing, channels, functions, etc., my question is more about the concepts used to achieve certain goals with QLC+. I've built the lighting setup, now I'm working on understanding how to make the lights do what I want them to do, and understand what the limitations are.

Example: Until now, my only experience with QLC+ has been adding fixtures, creating groups, creating scenes and chasers, and creating a cue list and running a pre-set list of cues throughout a Sunday morning service.

What I want to understand more of is how to do things on the fly, such as:

• While a scene is active, how do I pull a single light in the scene out, or change one of the lights? Do I need a duplicate scene with that light removed? Seems like I should be able to control each light independently while a scene is up.

• Can two scenes containing separate groups of lights be controlled concurrently to produce a synchronized effect, or a supplementary scene effect to the primary scene?

• If a group of lights is fading in and I wanted to alter the group of lights by making them strobe while they were fading in, how would I go about doing that?

• Sequences: I've gone off the rails trying to understand how sequences work.

• Lastly: Is there anyone out there that's produced an extended set of YouTube tutorials that are in English?

Any help in these areas is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The re are several things that I see in your post. QLC is a function oriented controller. QLC turns functions on and off. It is apparent that you are familiar with more traditional theater boards that are cue based. QLC likes for intensity channels to be HTP.

If a scene is active , translates in QLC speak to when a function is running. Scenes are functions or collections in QLC. QLC likes for intensity channels to be HTP so it is difficult to drop a single channel our of a running function while the function continues to run.

You can easily run two functions at the same time, just make sure they are both not in a solo frame.

If the strobe is a separate channel from the intensity, strobing while fading is easy. The function has to be in a chaser or sequence for there to be a time and the strobe channel has to be LTP. Intensity channels are inherently HTTP.

I am not sure about videos.

Think of Sequences ike this:
ou have a specific set of lights and you want to change control EVERY channel of those lights with each step of the sequence. The advantage of this over chasers is you only have to define your channel setup once. Then you are simply adjusting channel values for each step in the sequence. This can really speed up your work flow, but the sequence really isn't very interchangeable. It is pretty similar to a cue list that theater LDs are use to on an ETC console etc. The down side is you can't easily take a specific look on stage and call it up directly in a show.

[arretx]

I think I'm following.

So let's say you have 6 LED color mixers (RGBA) with a master dimmer and a strobe/shutter.

If I create a function (i.e. a scene) that simply increases the Shutter to 255, the Master to 255, and RED to 255 on ALL fixtures, then I would have a red wash. I could then attach that scene (function) to a button, and toggle or flash that function.

If, while that function is running, I wanted to reduce the brightness of the scene on the fly, I couldn't simply add a RED grouped slider on the VC, because the function will override any manual adjustments, because the value of the function on all fixtures is greater (255) than the value of the manual slider on the VC. Is that correct?

However, since that RED function doesn't have any channels other than R, Shutter, and Master selected, any of the remaining channels could be addressed manually. So I could add blue or green, or change an effect on the effect channel, or change any value of any channel that's not currently being used in that function. Is that correct?

Now, if we rewind to the beginning, and, rather than creating a scene with 6 red lights at 255, we create a slider on the VC that groups all of the RED sliders for those 6 lights along with the master dimmers for those lights, we could directly adjust those two channels of each of those 6 fixtures on the fly. Except in this scenario, we might want to create a function that turns on the Shutter to 255 and attach it to a toggle button below the slider to turn the light on or off, since fading the shutter channel would cause us to pass through all of the strobe functions as we increased intensity.


It appears as though it's either one or the other, or a carefully orchestrated combination of both. Either I setup the VC to be able to manually control the fixtures and all aspects of the fixtures, or I create all of the scenes in advance and surrender control to the pre-programmed nature of the show...

- or -

I could do something like this. I could remove the house lights (8 channels) from all of the functions, then create 8 sliders and one sub-master so I could independently control the house lights while the colored lights do their pre-programmed thing.

Does it sound like I'm grasping the basic concepts?

[GGGss]

If, while that function is running, I wanted to reduce the brightness of the scene on the fly, I couldn't simply add a RED grouped slider on the VC, because the function will override any manual adjustments, because the value of the function on all fixtures is greater (255) than the value of the manual slider on the VC. Is that correct?

That is correct (unless you use a LTP setting - off topic for the moment)

However, since that RED function doesn't have any channels other than R, Shutter, and Master selected, any of the remaining channels could be addressed manually. So I could add blue or green, or change an effect on the effect channel, or change any value of any channel that's not currently being used in that function. Is that correct?

Yes - what you describe is correct. (Except for the fact that I won't manually address the other channels -> I will make cue / chasers or even simple faders in VC controlling f.i. brightness.

Now, if we rewind to the beginning, and, rather than creating a scene with 6 red lights at 255, we create a slider on the VC that groups all of the RED sliders for those 6 lights along with the master dimmers for those lights, we could directly adjust those two channels of each of those 6 fixtures on the fly. Except in this scenario, we might want to create a function that turns on the Shutter to 255 and attach it to a toggle button below the slider to turn the light on or off, since fading the shutter channel would cause us to pass through all of the strobe functions as we increased intensity.

You could do that ... I keep things separated (so a slider in level mode for brightness, buttons with the colors attached, flash buttons for the efx and 90% of the cases a 'init' cue I run first of all ... (opening shutters, iris's, ...)

It appears as though it's either one or the other, or a carefully orchestrated combination of both. Either I setup the VC to be able to manually control the fixtures and all aspects of the fixtures, or I create all of the scenes in advance and surrender control to the pre-programmed nature of the show...

- or -

I could do something like this. I could remove the house lights (8 channels) from all of the functions, then create 8 sliders and one sub-master so I could independently control the house lights while the colored lights do their pre-programmed thing.

Does it sound like I'm grasping the basic concepts?

You are nailing it ... don't understand why you want confirmation

Basically there are 2 main choices in setting up your 'desk' - or you go pre-programmed, or you go busking through the night (depending on the production of course). If I can get the houselights connected to my table, I won't do anything special with them except setting a general mood or a contrast to the mood on stage.

My VC (and connected controllers) will have 4 basic regions: levels (and submasters), colors, base positions, base collections (color & gobo f.i.)
Then ... depending on what has to be lit, efx, sound feedback, strobes, speeds and 'specials'.

[edogawa]

As it hasn't been mentioned before, there are basically two ways to override HTP values coming from elsewhere in the program (show data, VC elements, function preview):

1. Simple Desk: touching a fader turns its background to red and this level takes priority over that channel until you release it again by clicking the associated huge "X" icon (there's also a global one to release all "caught" channels.

2. A similar Feature exists since some time for VC faders in level mode, see the button in the properties dialog/level tab, "Monitor the selected channels and update the slider level": this adds a green level meter showing the overridden value, and the same "X" button the simple desk has. Very convenient in my experience and has saved me a lot of time in theater rehearsals.

You can also live edit a function while it is being displayed, but that will alter its contents permanently...