Blocking shapes

[watty]

I have recorded five cues in the Playback window. The first three (A,B,C) have colours, intensity, gobo and shapes. Handles four & five (D,E) are similar but have a fixed position with no shape. D & E had no FX attribute set. When I press A & then B, B overrides A and likewise for any combinations of A,B,C. When I release the last selected Cue, the fixture follows the previous playback until all three are off.

This is what I need and how I expected the playbacks to behave given the settings I have made. The problem comes with playbacks D & E. When I select D, the attributes all change but the shape from the previously selected playback (A,B or C) continues instead of the beam moving to the fixed position as programmed by Pan & Tilt in D. I then recorded a new playback D with FX set as Block Shape P but this has no effect and the shape from the previous playback continues to run on playback D. I would like all the playback buttons to supersede any previous ones even if the previous playback buttons ate still active. I assume I need to record all attributes or record by fixture mode for this to work. However I am not entirely sure what to do about overriding shapes and why in my example above, it does not work. I spent 2 hours trying to resolve this one but felt it was now time to get some help!

Thanks in advance for any guidance on how to fix this issue.

[niclights]

Block shape is the correct way to do this. I have just tried and had no problem (pb 1 = circle shape on fixture, pb 2 = block P on the same fixture, fire pb 1 = circle, fire pb 2 = static, kill pb 2 = circle etc.)

There is no need to use record by fixture unless you specifically want the values of all attributes recorded without putting them in the programmer. This would not really have much effect on shapes though since they are just modifiers.

Check that the block shape is applied to the correct fixtures before recording and that all the playbacks are set to the same priority (if the block shape playback was a lower priority than the shape it would not do anything).

You might also want to look at this topic which shows how to make playbacks that automatically kill other playbacks.

[watty]

Hi Nic,

I have once again tried everything I can think of and it still does not work. I am using Chauvet Intimidator Spot Duo fixtures. The playback (D) sets intensity, colour and position and FX is set to block all shapes (tried all and P). When fired (E) the colour changes, the beams momentarily move to a higher position than set and then after a couple of seconds, they start to "soldier" as set on the previously (still active) playback even though this new playback is supposed to block all shapes. Are you able to replicate this in a way that works?

[niclights]

If both playbacks are set to the same priority and you fire the playback with the position shape after the playback with the block shape then it is correct that the position shape will run. If you fire the block shape after the position shape it will stop. If you want the block to always take precedence then set that playback to a higher priority.

[watty]

Hi Nic,

I think I have resolved this issue. I was selecting the fixtures from the groups window and this does not work. When I select the fixtures from the Fixtures window it works fine although I am still checking a couple of things as I am not 100% sure if it works by selecting the complete fixture and selecting apply to sub fixtures or whether I need to highlight the cells of the fixtures.

Thanks for the help.

[niclights]

I can't find any problem using groups. However, if the position shape was created on sub fixtures then you will also need to create the block shape on sub fixtures for it to work. If the position shape was on the super fixture then a block on super or sub fixture will work.

[watty]

Hi Nic,

Can you please clarify the following?

If I create a playback for some dual cell fixtures and I need to block all shapes from a previous playback for the same fixtures, irrespective of whether the previous playback shape is running on cells or the super fixture, will it be blocked if I apply the block shape to Super fixture?

In other words, will a block shape applied to super fixtures block all shapes even if they were created across sub fixtures?

It may not be necessary but can I store multiple "block all shapes" in a playback for both cells and super fixtures?

[niclights]

No. If the shape was created on sub fixtures then a super fixture block won't work. A sub fixture block should work for shapes created on super or sub.

[watty]

Hi Nic,

I will try the different options and see what happens. I think this is why the problem described in my original post occurred.

Regarding the query at the end of my last post, can I apply multiple blocks to cover cells and super fixtures in combination?

[niclights]

Not sure if you need to as a sub fixture block will apply to both but I would say just try it and see.