Fixture Profile for Pangolin FB4

Ask a generic question about the usage of QLC+, not related to a particular operating system
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ausmichael
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2021 11:38 pm
Location: Sydney
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Hi all,

I'm wondering what would be the best way to create a fixture profile for the Pangolin line of software: Quickshow, Beyond, FB3SE and FB4.
I've provided a link to the DMX chart for this software
https://download.pangolin.com/_Files/Pa ... el-dmx.pdf

This "fixture" is unusual in that it looks at the DMX signal received on Channel 1 to decide what channel mode it uses.
When channel 1 is set to 33-95, it operates in 4 channel mode. When channel 1 is set to 96-159, it operates in 8 channel mode, and so forth until you reach the full 16 channels.

What would be the best way to program this into a fixture profile?
The first thing that comes to mind is using the Alias feature to look at channel 1 and change channels 5-16 to "Nothing" channels
However the main issue with this is that the fixture will always take up 16 channels in the QLC+ patch, regardless of if it's running in 4 or 16 channel mode.

Another option to reduce the size of the fixture would be to program 4 different modes into the fixture profile, and just set the default value of channel 1 to be correct for each mode. This however presents a problem where if you accidentally program a scene incorrectly or override channel 1 in the simple desk, the laser module could suddenly behave as a 16 channel fixture and start reading signals that are not intended for it.
If I did this second option I would incorporate aliases into the higher channel modes but I don't think there is a way around the problem with the lower channel modes.

What would be the best way to do this then? Just program it as a 16ch fixture, or program all the channel modes and run the risk of user error associated with it? Or is there a way around this issue that I don't know about?
Would love to hear your thoughts
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