Patching & UnPatching & Mode 2 and its Functions

[philpompili]

Hi everyone.. I am fairly new to the Pearl so I have some very basic questions that probably aren't even covered in the forum, but I can not find the answers in the manual...

1. How do I UnPatch fixtures from the console without performing a "Wipe"?

2. I currently use MemMode2 to achieve a sort of Flash Strobe Effect with my moving lights... for example... I have a look running on playback#1 and at the same time I have an OpenWhiteStrobe saved to another playback... when I raise the "strobe playback" my fixtures obviously strobe in open white... the problem is that when I lower that playback the fixtures are still strobing and they are still white... I use 2 different types of fixtures in the particular show.. Mac 600's and TechnoBeams... when I lower the "openWhiteStrobe" playback, the Mac600's return to their origional colour but the Technobeams stay white...

I realize that this problem is a bit difficult to explain, but does anyone know off hand what I am doing wrong??

[niclights]

You can remove fixtures/dimmers from handles when in Patch menu by using the [delete] key and then the relevant handle. You can also delete by DMX address in the same way.

The mode2 memory should work as you require. It is known to sometimes not activate correctly but I have never had a problem with it returning to the original values. The only possibiliy I am considering is whether the memory on PB1 was also mode2 and somehow conflicting?

[CoenCo]

1. covered by niclights

2.
A pearl handles channels in 2 different modes. Fade and Instant. This mode is set in the personality file, or can be altered by attaching an external monitor and going into: patch->patch utilities->set-reset-instant mode.
In a mode 2 memory, the fader controlls the crossfade. This will work with "fade" channels, but an "instant"channel just goes to the new position, AND it won't go back to the old position. In a mac600 all CMY channels are "fade", but a color-wheel from a technobeam is "instant". Shutter channels are also "instant" by default. This explains the behaviour you're describing.
If you want your mode2 memories to work, just set all channels to be "fade".

[niclights]

That's interesting. Hmmm. I wonder if it should be that way?

[philpompili]

Thanks guys... I will try that tonight.. although I will have to drum up an external monitor as the board I am using currently doesn't have one...
I will let you guys know how it goes...

Thanks for the support!!

[CoenCo]

That's interesting. Hmmm. I wonder if it should be that way?

It is.. And I have posted about this behaviour before. If they continue to keep it this way, it might be wise to put some kind of help-text on screen when recording a mode2 memory, because for most people it is confusing.

[niclights]

Ok. Apologies if I misunderstood when you posted previously. This is probably one of those 'grey' areas where it could be viewed either way but, like palettes (as opposed to 'preset focus'), it's modern usage would certainly suggest it should behave differently.

Currently there are higher priorities with development but I'll add to the list.

[CoenCo]

I understand you have different priorities, and it's not a big problem to me. When I found out about it, I just changed all my fixtures profiles to have colour- and gobo-wheel to be fading. That's the way I expect them to behave anyway.
It's just confusing for a lot of people, there have been multiple questions about this behaviour on the forum.

[philpompili]

External Monitor??

I checked in the patch window and it seems you can change the fixtures to fade/instant right from the LCD screen... am I looking at the wrong screen...

I think its Patch>PatchUtilites>SetInstant/Fade or something like that,,,

[niclights]

You can do it, but you cannot see which attributes are set to which mode.

[philpompili]

Hi everyone, I have finally drummed up an external monitor for the pearl that I use... when I hit Patch->PatchUtilities->Set Instant/Fade Mode I get a list of the fixtures on screen with either Instant or Fade beside their names... but it does not seem to allow me to go to a screen where I can change the individual channels of the fixture to instant or fade... for example... I ould like to change the technobeams colour wheel to fade mode..

am I missing a step??

[SamHUIfongching]

You are amost done that Philpompili. I will do like this:
1)Select all fixtures whose you want to change
2)Press the "color" key at the attributes bank
3)Press"patch->PatchUtlities->Set Instant/Fade Mode
4)A tip "Hit <Preset Swop/Add> to change the Corresponding Channel Between Instant/Fade" should be shown at top left of pearl's LCD screen
5)Check the attribute name at the bottom of LCD near the two encode wheels, "color" should be shown on wheel A and "color spin" should be shown on wheel B
6)Change wheel A attribute need hit the "Add" key and change wheel B attribute need hit the "Swop" key. Now you should hit the "Add" key on the handle to change the color attribute to Fade
7)The external monitor only show you the result. You can do that without any monitor.
OR....
4)The attribute name also shown on the soft key, simply hit the "color" softkey, all your selected fixtures should be change to Fade.
Philpompili, try to move you eye to the top left of pearl's LCD screen habitually, and you can test how to invert the pan and tite of the fixtures, because that is very similar.
At the end, I think you should put the "color spin" attribute to <Continuous>, that can make the slow movement smooth in color wheel.

[philpompili]

thanks alot.. I will try that the next time I am in front of the board...