Compu 1024EC Question(im a noob)

hey Dunn Welcome! Compu Live works great in a live setting. but you wil want to have some pre-made looks just in case. u can add things to scenes already playing on the fly. there is a LOT this software can do. which version were you looking at buying? Or if u have any other question feel free to post here. sincerely,

Here is a rundown of all the different version of Compu Live we offer.

sincerely,

most likely the 1024EC. im still trying to figure out if my computer can handle it or not. im getting a new computer in a few months, but will try to be running it out of my current one. im most concerned with the fact that i dont have high speed 2.0 usb port. thats pretty much the only system requirement my laptop doesnt meet

your gonna need 2.0. if u dont have one try to find an adapter maybe?? otherwise i realy dont know if it will work.

so i have downloaded the demo version of this program from elation and so far its been pretty easy to use and learn. i have just been using the 3d visualizer while im waiting for my scanner to arrive. anyway, im having trouble putting the scanner in different areas on the visualizer. ie. i have 8 fixtures, and want to have 4 scanners in the back, 1 on each side of the stage and two in the front lying on their backs. is this possible to accomplish?

OH yeah most definetly! i will make a video for you. it should be up tomm. morning (1/10) sincerely,

nice, thanks alot

Vid is comin soon! also i have a youtube channel im not really announcing to everyone yet but i have a few videos about how to do some stuff on Compu. so if u have any suggestions let me know. i'll link ya when he video is done.

ok here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILBKtmFuDDs
now there is no audio instructions by me as my mics on mylaptop barely record sound unless i shout. im workin on fixing this problem. if u cant see what im doin just feel fre to aks me and i will gladly explain what i did.
sincerely,

thanks man, that video was a little blurry but it got to the right spot so im on my way. Thanks for your help, im sure ill prob have some questions as i keep learning

peace - dunn

did u enlarge it? like view it in full screen? i tried but the file was kinda big. if you need further elaboration on ANYTHING just let me know. sincerely,

thanks again. im getting my full version of the program on wed along with all my lights so im sure ill have a few questions around then. have a good weekend

So i finally got Compu 2006 running on a new computer and it is awesome so far. so much better than using the download on an old crappy laptop.

Heres my question for now: I have discovered the fade in/out control in the button setting. i was wondering if there is a master fader somewhere that i could use to set a global fade in/out time rather than editing the button every time i want to change the speed?

do you know how to use the scene fade toolbar? Right click on the border of your fixture page and then click on the scene fade toolbar. Or elaborate with more detail what you are trying to do and I will try to help you. Also one last thing, have you tried using the master page?
Sincerely,

i do know about the scene fade tool bar, but dont think it is gonna help me with what i want to do.

Lets say i have scene a, b, and c. i want to fade through them all the first time with a 3 second fade. then i want to go through them all with a 1 second fade. Is there a way to change this fade time with out changing the fade time to each 3 scenes individually?

i havent tried using the master page - how should i try that way?

dunn I believe that if you want to run a sequence of scenes you will have to select a fade or not for each individual scene regardless of the controller. But let me look around on the software and I'll get back to you.
Sincerely,

thanks.

you know that window that pops up when you fade from scene a into b? I want something like that to appear all the time

hey dunn hit me up by email when you get a chance nfcarbone@gmail.com

so i kind of figured out of my fading problem and doing so figured out a bunch of stuff too. however, one thing keeps bugging me about switches. this is the best way i think i can describe it.

lets say i make a new switch for a color combination. i name the switch "Color - Redblue" it automatically gets placed in the premade color switch with all the other pregenerated color switched within the main switch. heres my problem.

when im swithced in the pregenerated blue button then switch to the pregenerated red, the blue automatically switched off. When i am clicked into my "redblue" switch then click to red it doesnt automatically switch off. I notice the same thing with switchs for other stuff too.

i was wondering why it acts this way and if there is a way to tweak the setting around that. i have looked all around but still cant seem to figure it out.

thanks for your help

are you talking about going from a color switch you made to a preset color switch like the one that loads up when you load your fixture page? Let me know.

exactly what you said

that has something to do with the priority of dmx and the latest takes precedent. Not too sure how to fix that. I'll try to have an answer for you VERY soon. Sincerely,

Hey jingles, quick question because I am curious now. Is there a way to switch between HTP (Highest Takes Precedent) and LTP (Latest Takes Precedent) on Compu Live? If not, might be something to look into adding, very useful for intensity channels and dimmer channels.

HEY serra. Yes there is. You can even choose If the master has ltp or the sub pages has it. I'm currently looking how to change the LTP setting across the fixture pages as we speak.
Sincerely,

Dunn. i set up a switch going back and forth between two colors and then hit a color switch from the preset color switches and it takes over the color switch. you might wanna try switching from LTP to HTP. once i figure out how to do that. i will let you know! sincerely,

ok here is a pic of the setting you are gonna want to find for the LTP and HTP setting. click on your switch and then go to buttons, then go to settings. here is a screen shot.

i will explain things more in detail in the next post.

ok now about the switches.
if you want to create a switch to ONLY change colors, then ONLY the color channels should have something other than the OFF property inside the Editor. meaning turn all the other channels except maybe shutter and dimmer to OFF and it should be ok. if you need further elaboration let me know. ok? sincerely,

thanks jingles

ive tried messing with the priority settings before and it didnt really do anything for me.

i know about the on/off stuff in the editor, and that works great for me. perhaps when oyu get a chance you could post explanations for the LTP and HTP. i bet i jsut dont understand them that well and therein lies my problem. im off to go rehearse with the band im doing lighting for so no need to rush me an answer

thanks for all your help through out this. i cant wait to reach the full potential that this program holds

DUNN i suggest searching on wiki about it cause it is REALLY hard to explain. unless of course serra wants to dumb it down for us? lol joking serra! lol. sincerely,

Lol. Not a problem. HTP and LTP.

DMX is works via a 8 bit code up 512 per line. Thus the term, DMX 512, or 512 channels per line. 8 bit code is a value between 0-255, which is why in many manuals for things like moving lights, you can see percentages or numbers ranging from 0-255 for control. 16bit is just taking two channels and linking them together, or numbers ranging from 0-65535 which is why 16bit is great for movement and even gobo rotation, it is much more precise.

Now, what this has to do with HTP, or Highest Takes President, and LTP, or Last Takes President. HTP basically says, whatever the highest DMX value the channel sees, it uses. Let's say you have a Stage Setter-24, and are running it in 2-scene mode. If you have channel one at 50% on scene one, and then fade up scene two which you have channel one at 75%, channel one will go to 75%. Now, if you fade down scene two, still leaving scene one up, channel one will go no lower then 50%.

Another good way to explain it is theatre's have panic systems for house lights, so they can come on in an emergency or if the console crashes, whatever the reason. Panic says the house lights are at 100%, but my console says house lights at 0%, the house lights will stay at 100% until some one turns off panic. If I have house lights set to 50% on my console, when someone turns off panic, the house lights will go to 50%. Thus, Highest Takes President.

LTP is a bit trickier to explain. LTP says whatever command I last gave to whatever stays in command. So, let's look at my house lights/panic/console example above in LTP mode. Panic says house lights at 100%. When I go to my console and say house lights at 0%, they will go to 0% because that is that last command they received. If someone were to activate panic again after I told the house lights at 0%, they would go to 100% because the last command was house lights at 100%.

HTP and LTP is great for use with movers. You can set your intensities to be HTP, so if I have them blacked out on one scene, but want them up in the next, you just run up the next scene. Now, say I preset my movers in the blackout in the scene before so no one would see them moving, in the next scene, unless I tell them to do something different, they won't change in LTP. An easier way to explain it would be for me to explain the difference between cue-only consoles and tracking consoles, but that is another ball of wax, and another long thread. Hope this helps.

WOW!! Thanks serra.

No problem, glad to be of help.

quote:

Originally posted by jingles:
WOW!! Thanks serra.

that did help me, thanks for explaining

Dunn we have a new update available.
http://www.elationlighting.com/product.asp?ProductIDNum...20Lighting%20Control
check it out. sincerely,

im really starting to get the hang of the program now, thanks for all of your help. But i do have another question.

So i have now started using the master page to create scenes with my two pages(a scanner page and a par can page)So i clicked on my center scanner scene and my par can scene. I go to the master page, create a scene as you see now, and everything is cool. Then i go to my master page and click on my new scene button. then my #1 scanner just points off in an obsure direction. when i go to edit that master page scene the the little box where my dmx value for the x/y position is displayed green whereas all the other scanner have numerical values. How do i correct this?

when you save your scene in master check the box next to link all channels to easy step. That will or should turn on all channells. Try that and get back to me.
Sincerely,

so i just tried that and no luck. However, if i go in to the setting for the button and make the scene into a switch, the problem is gone - weird. i guess that could be a quick fix, but any scene i make the one scanner keeps going into the same wierd direction - but as soon as a make that scene into switch problem solved. i guess i could just use master switches instead of master scenes

which scaner are you using? and does it do that in the 3D viz? or just on the real light? let me know what profile you are using so i can check it out. thanks!

i am using martin scx600 scanners

this is just happening happening in 3d visualizer. i could understand that being the case.

however when i go to edit the button, right above the fader for the x axis controller for scanner 1, instead of having a numerical value, the little box below channel six is green whereas all the other scanner show a numerical value under ther respective channel