Update scenes with currently sent dmx values in live mode
Posted: Thu May 04, 2023 9:24 am
Hi everyone,
Is there a simple way to update the channel values in an existing scene using the currenty sent dmx values?
I am aware of the "dump to scene" feature. But I would prefer updating an existing scene and storing the values of the activated channels in the existing scene. Manually selecting the channels to store in a news scene is quite time consuming and only storing not null does not work for me in many situations because the new scene would include to many channels that are ment to be sent by other scenes.
In addition to that I want to update an existing scene because this scene is likely to be part of a couple of collections and the collections are used in a chaser. When I create a new scene there is a lot of work to do before I can run the show with updated values because I have to update the reference to the scene in various places. I would love to update the scene using the currently sent DMX values because the live values can be set up using a couple of fader banks and other controls in virtual console (with override in place oder without the original scene running) and a midi controller attached to these controls. The scene editor itself is "okay" as it is but since I have to use my mouse (or channel group faders in edit mode) and the list of fixtures/channels is often longer than my screen width so I have to scroll and the like. I think setting up the scene values is a lot more comfortable using virtual console and (in my case) midi fader inputs.
The way I use QLC+ is something like this:
I prepare my shows at home without any equipment attached. I add all my fixtures, I group them in fixture groups and channel groups and create scenes and collections etc. I use collections a lot because I use scripts to send midi commands to linux show player to start audio cues and to an X32 mixer to load snippets. The collections go into a chaser and the chaser is used in a cue list in virtual console. The virutal console is controlled using an APC mini.
Since I have very little visual feedback at home I can program the channel groups and active channels in each scene and might be able to guess something like „a little red here“, „some 50% backlight“ etc. But that is very rough. What I do know in advance is the sequence of scenes, which sounds to play, which snippets to load.
When on site with the equipemnt connected I open every scene and use the scene editor to setup channel values. This is (as said above) only "okay" in my experience since the fader thing in the scene is not so usable for me - and not (nicely) connected to hardware controllers.
During tech rehearsal I might see the need for some additional changes in the currently shown scene. Or more precisely in one of the currently shown scenes. This can be a color of a RGB fixture, the position of a moving light or (mostly) the level of a white light. I can think of something like changing to a "manual override page" in VC, tweaking values there, select one or more scenes that should grab the currently sent values on the channels actived in the scene, then reset the override and switch back to the or one of the live vc pages.
Since multiple scenes are likely active the existing "dump to scene" doesn't nail it here. And I dont want to stop all other scenes and only pull up one scene to edit it, because there are actors on the stage and it might get pretty dark when disabling a lot of scenes. Actually I currently do this "actors in the dark" thing. An no one got hurt so far
Is there a QLC+ feature to do something like what I tried do describe in many words?
Regards
Felix
Is there a simple way to update the channel values in an existing scene using the currenty sent dmx values?
I am aware of the "dump to scene" feature. But I would prefer updating an existing scene and storing the values of the activated channels in the existing scene. Manually selecting the channels to store in a news scene is quite time consuming and only storing not null does not work for me in many situations because the new scene would include to many channels that are ment to be sent by other scenes.
In addition to that I want to update an existing scene because this scene is likely to be part of a couple of collections and the collections are used in a chaser. When I create a new scene there is a lot of work to do before I can run the show with updated values because I have to update the reference to the scene in various places. I would love to update the scene using the currently sent DMX values because the live values can be set up using a couple of fader banks and other controls in virtual console (with override in place oder without the original scene running) and a midi controller attached to these controls. The scene editor itself is "okay" as it is but since I have to use my mouse (or channel group faders in edit mode) and the list of fixtures/channels is often longer than my screen width so I have to scroll and the like. I think setting up the scene values is a lot more comfortable using virtual console and (in my case) midi fader inputs.
The way I use QLC+ is something like this:
I prepare my shows at home without any equipment attached. I add all my fixtures, I group them in fixture groups and channel groups and create scenes and collections etc. I use collections a lot because I use scripts to send midi commands to linux show player to start audio cues and to an X32 mixer to load snippets. The collections go into a chaser and the chaser is used in a cue list in virtual console. The virutal console is controlled using an APC mini.
Since I have very little visual feedback at home I can program the channel groups and active channels in each scene and might be able to guess something like „a little red here“, „some 50% backlight“ etc. But that is very rough. What I do know in advance is the sequence of scenes, which sounds to play, which snippets to load.
When on site with the equipemnt connected I open every scene and use the scene editor to setup channel values. This is (as said above) only "okay" in my experience since the fader thing in the scene is not so usable for me - and not (nicely) connected to hardware controllers.
During tech rehearsal I might see the need for some additional changes in the currently shown scene. Or more precisely in one of the currently shown scenes. This can be a color of a RGB fixture, the position of a moving light or (mostly) the level of a white light. I can think of something like changing to a "manual override page" in VC, tweaking values there, select one or more scenes that should grab the currently sent values on the channels actived in the scene, then reset the override and switch back to the or one of the live vc pages.
Since multiple scenes are likely active the existing "dump to scene" doesn't nail it here. And I dont want to stop all other scenes and only pull up one scene to edit it, because there are actors on the stage and it might get pretty dark when disabling a lot of scenes. Actually I currently do this "actors in the dark" thing. An no one got hurt so far
Is there a QLC+ feature to do something like what I tried do describe in many words?
Regards
Felix