Scalable parameters for remote conrol

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Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby jsormani » Mon Jan 21, 2013 8:16 am

Hello,
Whenever you want to control PB parameters remotely I run into the problem the changes of the parameters are too big whenever I control the parameter, eg with artnet or dmx.
Wuth some desks there is the option of outputting 16bits and that helps a little but it still limits the range and so smoothness of control a lot. Also a lot of simple desks and apps don't have this option. For Instance I want to move a spotlight on a layer and the whole width of the layer has just a range of 10 out of 255 and is hard to control precisely this way
It would be better the add a remote scale parameter to the mapping table to set minimum and maximum values of the range to be controlled.
This way you could limit movement, opacity or whatever to preset states and still have full fader use on the control panel ( or widget )

John
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby Markus Zeppenfeld » Mon Jan 21, 2013 12:31 pm

Hi John,

I am not sure if I am getting you correct.
You want to use an 8bit channel for moving an effect from left to right. That means, you have 255 in total.
What do you mean exactly with mapping table? Do you want to reduce the valid area of the effect, so that you have 255 steps for only half of the texture?
If so, use the Art-Net input-node within the Widget Designer and route it into a range node in order to reduce the active area.

The other way around wouldn't make sense for me, as you would have less steps of the fader used for the same area on screen. Therefore it would cause more and more jumps while using the fader.

Markus
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby jsormani » Mon Jan 21, 2013 3:21 pm

Hi Markus, let me explain more in detail.
Let's say I want to control the opacity of a layer and control it with Artnet or DMX.
I want to only control Opacity between the value 125 and 180, but I want to be able the use the whole range of the fader ( 0-255) for that range to have a more precise control and better feeling with the fader. So for external control everything between value 125 and 180 (55 steps) is mapped to the 255 steps of the fader so for every step in PB I would have to increment the fader by 4,6 steps )out of 255)
It's even more important in the following example
Same thing goes for positioning an 3d element or light layer in PB. Let's say I want to control x- position just from -6.000 to + 4.000 and want to use the whole fader range ( 0-255). This would give me a more precise way to control the layer's elements with a standard fader board. Each step in PB would be 0,016 (0.015625) where at the moment I have only 255 steps to control the whole X position. So for -6.000 to +4.000 I can use only a few percent of the fader (from 124 to 129 ) in stead of it's whole range. In the current situation each step of the fader represents a pb value of 2.0!!

I would like to avoid to use Widgetdesigner for this application because it just will complicate things more

Does that clarify things?


thanks John
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby Daniel Kaminski » Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:24 pm

Hmm,

interesting idea.
But why not use the WD?

Nevertheless will I add it to the feature request list, but this will not happen soon, since we do have a good working solution on how to make this happen.
Most lightingconsoles are also capeable of helping you here. On the MA you can create something called a temp fader oder a X-Fader that will do the same thing.
Just X-Fade between 2 Cues where the low and high value are set.

If you can present good reasons why this will not work for you or 30 other users who also need that feature I am sure i can put more pressure behind it.

Having said this, this does not mean that I still might happen sooner than we think.

Daniel
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby Linton9 » Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:21 am

John,

Coming from a similar background in operating PB via a lighting console. I understand your request. However any serious lighting console, dare I say ANY lighting console capable of outputting ARTNET, would with-out doubt permit you to patch a 16bit parameter.

What lighting console are you using? Perhaps I can help you find the right setting?

Having said that if you are using a very cheap DMX controller without a computer behind it, maybe WD is currently the only option for you.
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby jsormani » Sun Feb 03, 2013 8:19 am

Hi Daniel, Lynden , yes of course with widget designer this is possible but is not really the fastest way to realize it. Setting the extra interface up in WD instead of just mapping it in PB adds to the costs for the customer The application would be for a fixed installation in a club or themed bar where no high end MA desk is available and budgets are limited, so yes there would be a cheap lighting desk available instead. Often they have a solution where the operator just has a few preset cue buttons that trigger ore-programmed light sequences, and a simple fader board or sub-par lighting desk to have some variations. Here PB would be a great add-on as a simple VJ tool where real time control of position, opacity etc of the layer would be a geat add-on , without having to jump to cues on the timeline ( for this you would need WD anyway)
This would be the entry level solution, upgrades for this could include pre programmed cues with fx and the top level solution would include a server to be able to control the particle engine live

John
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby Daniel Kaminski » Mon Feb 04, 2013 4:40 pm

Hi John,

as said before. The idea is good and is added to the long long feature request list.
I can not tell you when or if it happens.

For right now your only solution is the WD or a good Lighting Console. Sorry.

Daniel
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Re: Scalable parameters for remote conrol

Postby jsormani » Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:09 pm

OK Daniel, clear I will take the WD way for now then

John
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