Focus Variables

A set of Macros for recording a number of different channels as variables.
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Mothership
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Focus Variables

Post by Mothership » Fri Aug 15, 2014 10:25 pm

Sometimes when you are in a really big room and you have multiple assistants focusing multiple things it is hard to keep track of who is doing what and what channel they might be on.

Here is an array of Macros I built to help handle some of this work load. Basically we are using a group to store a variable channel number and then using the macros to do simple Next/Last On/Off math to said variable. It really only works if your channels are sequential - but it has proven useful to have a few variables lying around.
Focus Variables.PNG
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FUNCTIONS :

Var Rec : Records the last channel selection as a Group (9991 thru 9995 - This should be a single channel)
Recall : Brings the current contents of the Group to Full
@ 0 : Takes the current contents of the Group to 0%
NEXT : Takes the channel number from the variable group, brings the next channel to full and then stores that next channel back into the group.
LAST : The opposite of NEXT - will bring the previous channel to full and then stores that channel as the group.
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JWilsonLX
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by JWilsonLX » Tue Aug 19, 2014 11:19 pm

This isn't show-tested, or mother-approved, but I liked the idea and wanted to figure out a way to do this non-sequentially, so here it is. Same basic idea, but with two groups per focuser- one group is the position a given focuser is at, the other is the lamp they're at. Macros act as follows:

Set VARx : Record the first channel of a given group as its own group
VARx FL : Turn the light on
VARx Out : Turn the light off
VARx Next : First, turn off the current light. Second, set the next light of the position group to a level specific to VARx. Third, query lights at that specific VARx level. Last, rerecord the VARx group with the light currently at the VARx specific level.
VARx Last : First, turn off the current light. Second, set the previous light of the position group to a level specific to VARx. Third, query lights at that specific VARx level. Last, rerecord the VARx group with the light currently at the VARx specific level.

Hopefully that makes sense? Any one have a more slick way?
Variables can be added ad nauseum, but each focuser need their own query level.
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Mothership
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by Mothership » Wed Aug 20, 2014 1:54 am

I like the idea. I think you'll need to rerecord the order of your Position Group with every light in order to keep the next and last properties working as variables (Since we cannot do scripting variables are difficult to keep track of) I'll play with the showfile next week when I've got some time - but here's the basic idea :

Group 1 : The ordered group
Group 2 : The variable channel (Either the first or last channel in the Group) as written by a macro.

For Next
Group 1 - Group 2 Record only Group 1 (Removes the variable from the front)
Group 1 + Group 2 Record Only Group 1 (Re-inserts the channel at the back)

For Last
Group 1 - Group 2 Record Only Group 1 (Removes the variable from the front)
Group 2 + Group 1 Record Only Group 1 (Re-inserts the channel at the front)

There will be some funniness when you change direction (after hitting Last I think hitting next will reselect the current light. But that seems workable)

And Welcome Aboard!

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Mothership
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by Mothership » Tue Aug 26, 2014 5:43 pm

Just had a chance to play with the out of sequence variables and it's really cool. The macro phase Group X/Group Y Next is super powerful. Thank you for that.

Query'ing a specific level is also fun. Getting a specific channel out of a group to record as a variable is always a pain. If only "Group 1/Next Select_last" selected the actual channel we'd be golden.... oh well.

Is it worth consolidating the "Next/Last" Macros and the "At Full" Macro? Probably depends on the specific application - but that way the fixtures wouldn't need to sit at the Query level for any period of time.....

Thanks again - that works great!

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JWilsonLX
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by JWilsonLX » Wed Aug 27, 2014 1:27 am

Glad you like it! I've cleaned the series up a little bit- light no longer actually sits at its query level, it just goes to 20% so the focuser knows what lamp to go to. I'm going to try them out on a focus this Thursday, I'll post the file after that.

TheTheaterGeek
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by TheTheaterGeek » Thu Jul 02, 2015 10:48 pm

I know this may be a total Noob question, but what is a "Variable" in this context.

Is it a light selected individually and not as part of a Group or what not?

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Mothership
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Re: Focus Variables

Post by Mothership » Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:43 am

In this instance the channels inside the Group are Variable. The macros record and re-record certain groups so that they work with any channel order.

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