Moving Fixture question

[DaveH91]

I have a 26ft truss with 4 pairs of 3 different fixtures, for a total of 12 moving fixtures. They are arranged left to right ,1-2-3- 1-2-3- 3-2-1-3-2-1.
When making a moving FX scene, or curve FX using pan and tilt, I cannot get them to move in a left to right, 1-12 kind of way, when using the phasing option. instead they move in 1-4 in their respective groups.

I hope my explanation makes sense. If so, any suggestions?

Thank you!

[willm]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for contacting us! This is all to do with the Index of fixtures you have selected. When choosing your fixtures from the 2D view, you will see each beam is numbered, this is the 'Index'. What you likely have is all '1s' selected in incremental order, then all '2s', then '3s'- whereas what you actually need is to have the Index increase according to the pattern you have described.

Please see the video demonstration below on how the fixture Index can affect the overall look of the scene:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QiMEU8 ... sp=sharing

You can select the Index by dragging the selection tool in the order you want fixtures to be selected, or you can hold CMD + select fixtures individually to set a manual order. If you want certain fixtures to have the same Index, you can hold CMD + Option to do this (then just CMD again to increase the Index value on the next fixture).

Tip: If you have an Index selection that you like and want to use often, it is best to save this in the 'Selections' tab. Press the + button to save this, name the Selection- and now you should be able to recall the same Index order whenever you like.

Kind regards,
Will

[DaveH91]

Will, thanks for your reply. Unfortunately, I believe I made a mistake on my initial patching. I'm running 3 universes, and every single fixture in my universe is set to index 59. Is there a way to change the index on the fixtures, without deleting them, and re-importing them? Can this be done without losing all programming?

[willm]

Hi Dave,

Just to be clear- there are a couple of terminology distinctions I want to make so that my response is as clear as possible:

1) Address - the DMX address is set when patching your fixtures in Daslight. Every fixture will be set a unique address, it is not possible for fixtures to share the same address within the software. When connecting your physical fixtures to your hardware, you will need to be sure that each fixture uses the correct DMX address as set within the software.

2) Index - this is a virtual number that is used to generate the 'order' of beams affected within an FX engine (i.e. fixture index increase from left to right, so that chasers will start on the left, then move towards the right). Fixture Index is not hard written into your project, it is possible to use a different Index selection for every single scene. This is separate from Address, and neither have any affect on one another.

Your most recent message appears to be referring more to DMX Address, rather than Index. So, with that in mind:

- Could you please compress your .dvc file into a zipped folder, then attach it here so that I can check that out and see what you are working with?

- Could you please ensure that all fixtures you have are set to the correct DMX Address (so that each one is at the Address you have set within the Setup screen of Daslight)?

Kind regards,
Will

[DaveH91]

I completely understand the DMX addressing, and have all fixtures assigned accordingly. I'm referring to the index section of the DMX patch window. I wasn't sure if that needed to be set in a specific way.

Yes, when I get home, I will make sure to send you the show file. Thank you for your help!

[DaveH91]

Hey Will, here is the show file.

Thanks!

[willm]

Hi Dave,

I believe I understand the issue here- it looks to be due to the fact that 2/3 of your moving head fixtures have multiple beams per fixture. Index value does also apply to beams, not just individual fixtures. So that means your chasers might look to be in the wrong order, depending on how they've been set up.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12RjrP1 ... sp=sharing

Please see the video demonstration above of me setting up a left to right chaser on your project. As you can see, I zoomed in as close as possible to see the index number increasing. I start by selecting each of the first fixtures beams using CMD + Option (setting each beam to Index 1) , then I select the 2nd fixture holding just CMD (setting Index 2), then I select one beam of the 3rd fixture holding CMD to set Index 3, then holding CMD + Option I select the remaining beams of the fixture to set each to Index 3. Then I repeat this process along the line, using CMD to increase the Index by 1, and CMD + Option to use the same Index on any fixture with multiple beams.

Importantly- I then save this as a selection, so I don't need to constantly repeat this process again, I can then just activate the Selection to apply this order to any scene again in the future.

I'll also attach the project file I adjusted here so that you can take a look at what I've done also.

Kind regards,
Will

[DaveH91]

Will, you are a lifesaver! Thank you so much for all of your help and effort!