Intelligent Fixture Wizard

ChiefWarrant

ChiefWarrant

Supporting Member
I am running Vixen Release 3.8 Build #1045.

I got my hands on a DMX controlled spot light and was try to toy with it. Going through the user guide (http://www.vixenlights.com/vixen-3-d...dit-functions/), it talks about an “Intelligent Fixture Wizard.” I do not see that option available under the Elements portion of the display set up.

Is this a feature not fully enabled yet? Is there a production build that supports it out there?

-Tony
 
That capability has not been released yet. The plan as I understand it is to put out a special build including Intelligent Fixture (DMX Moving Head) support at the same time we put out the first release for the year. If all goes well with the special build we will merge it into the mainline and put out an updated official release later in the year. Obviously we will be looking for people to try out the special build and to provide feedback. I think this special build should be available this month.
 
Yup also happy to do this too (be involved in testing/feedback), already using moving head spots using the existing Vixen functionality
 
Vixen team would appreciate you guys beta testing this capability.

If you guys have an electronic copy of the DMX channel layout for your light(s) and would be willing to share them on this thread or send me a link via a PM, I would like to look them over and see if anything looks problematic.
 
Mine are these cheap wash lights, they can run in 9 or 14 channel mode.
https://www.uking-online.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ZQ-B136.pdf
Believe there are many other similar units around with similar implementations.

The 14 channel mode gives finer movement (2 channels each for x and y movement, low and high byte), also access to some 'macro' functions of factory-set movements/colours)

For me what would add value to Vixen would be some sort of visualisation of the pan / tilt positions in the preview (again thinking in very generic terms about other units). I do run these in 14 channel mode but only worry about the 'coarse' movements on channels 1 and 3. Channel 5 I generally leave alone (at 0, which is the fastest movement) I generally set the 'dimmer' channel to be 255/&FF for the whole sequence (ch6) unless I want a strobe effect from the lights themselves for example. For the colour I treat these as two lights - a RGB unit and a single colour W unit, so that's channels 7,8,9,10. 11-14 I don't worry about for my sequencing purposes.

Whatever Vixen implementation is put in place it definitely needs to be very generic, so basic handling of colours, positions, gobos. I wouldn't go to town on trying to please everyone including me!
 
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The upcoming intelligent fixture build does include visualization of the pan and tilt position in the preview. It does require that you use the OpenGL feature of the preview as we have attempted to provide some 3-D aspects to the fixture and the beam.

I hope what we have done to support intelligent fixtures is both generic and makes these devices easier to sequence. Ultimately you and other users will provide feedback if we were successful or not. The support does include provisions to allow Vixen to automate certain functions / channels but nothing is forced on you. You can choose enable or disable this automation.

Looking at your fixture manual you could benefit from the following features:
- When you apply a color effect to this fixture Vixen should automatically set the Shutter (ch6) channel to 255.
- There are also provisions to support the strobe of your fixture. There is a specific fixture Strobe effect that should be applicable to your fixture.
- There is logic that is going to handle high and low bytes of the pan and tilt. There is a specific fixture "Set Position" effect for controlling the pan and tilt via curves.
- There are provisions to handle converting the color effects (RGB) to RGBW but if you prefer to control the W channel manually I think that is possible.

Your fixture is a little interesting in channel 6 is both a shutter and a dimmer.
 
Mine are even cheaper, a Chinese knockoff of BSBL's, so close that I have been using the BSBL user guide to work with it.

I am running it in 9 channel mode. The one caveat, my intent is to map map the LEDs (ch4-ch7) as a single item and mapped as an RGBW element (see attached).

I am completely new to DMX and 3D axis props. I have been toying with the pulse effect using custom curves on channels 1&2 for motion generation. In addition to what Richie mentioned, a value added for me would be an easier method to generate the desired motion. Right now, I am just generating f(x) curves to see what is does. Not sure how difficult it is, but the addition of some "pre-defined" actions would be useful. Perhaps the ability to set "point locations" would be nice, since my current plan is to pan/tilt the spotlight to different "pre-defined" areas in the yard to highlight items.

I have also attached the user guide for the Fobbles F4, fogging/bubble machine. It is a pipe dream, but one day I hope to add bubbles to my display. Maybe not for Christmas, but certainly for Halloween. My intent on that would be to run it in 15 channel mode. I know that some folks (on the forum) are already using the Fobbles for as a flood light, but it could also be a "Smart device" to consider.

With my limited experience with 3D axis props, I could also be a barometer for "ease of use" for the wizard.


Thank you,

-Tony
 

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Thans for the great feedback. Comments on your comments, again thinking about what would be 'common' to similar units.

- When you apply a color effect to this fixture Vixen should automatically set the Shutter (ch6) channel to 255.

Possibly - I would see this as a l low priority, it's easy to do with a 'set level' filter on that CH6. Not sure how common this to other units, Same for the strobe feature, see below. I should add the dimming on these units is lousy so i use normal Vixen dimming curves on the R, G, B, W channels to make the performance more linear

- There are also provisions to support the strobe of your fixture. There is a specific fixture Strobe effect that should be applicable to your fixture.

As above - the strobe speed is controlled by the unit depending on the byte value, so difficult to preview accurately (it would also be possible to use the native vixen strobe filter, though I find the lights offer a faster strobe rate given the speed limitations of DMX).

- There is logic that is going to handle high and low bytes of the pan and tilt. There is a specific fixture "Set Position" effect for controlling the pan and tilt via curves.

This sounds great, look forward to trying this!

- There are provisions to handle converting the colour effects (RGB) to RGBW but if you prefer to control the W channel manually I think that is possible.

Personally I prefer to keep these separate since it gives me the option of a pure (native) white, an RGB mix white or even both at the same time. Some intelligent units offer CMY mixing I think.

I also have some old Martin SCX600 units which i don't use any more, though have sequenced them in Vixen previously. Some comments on the DMX implementation for general interest/comparison.
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/883316/Martin-Mania-Scx600.html?page=35

- Channel 1 = shutter, handles strobe effects - see above comments
- Channel 2 = dimmer (=vixen intensity?). The SCX 600 has a dimmable lamp (halogen) whereas the 700 has a lamp which is always 'on'. Some fixtures provide dimming via a mechanical iris. Perhaps define a range of values - so for this unit it's 0-255 but for the LED model it's 8-134 in my case
- Channel 3 = colour wheel. 10 slots with indexed / cycling options. Perhaps Vixen could support the 'indexed' values for and preview representations of those colours? i.e. this channel value = this colour
- Channel 4 = gobo wheel. 8 slots with indexed / shake options. Absolutely can be vixen controlled, I'd question if it's worth implementing anything specific for this
- Channel 5 = gobo rotation within gobo wheel. Absolutely can be vixen controlled, I'd question if it's worth implementing anything specific for this
- Channel 6 = pan (unit uses single byte only)
- Channel 7 = tilt (unit uses single byte only)

Other channels offer macros and speed/tracking control. Under software control I leave the speeds at their fastest settings and let the vixen movement curves handle this.
 
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I have made videos that try to cover the Intelligent Fixture support. We will post them on YouTube when we release the build.

The Intelligent Fixture Wizard has forms where you basically type in your DMX channel information. For channel functions Vixen can support via the preview, or automation, or effects you apply Tags to the particular channel or index value. These tags give Vixen knowledge about your fixture while still keeping the mech generic.

For fixtures that use a color wheel, there is form where you type in the index and the color associated with that index. Vixen takes this information and produces a discrete Color Property with all of the colors from the color wheel. Then when you apply color effects to the fixture these discrete colors are available. If you have ever done plain LED light strands in Vixen it is similar to that.

We have added a fixture effect that supports spinning your color wheel if the fixture supports that capability.

For fixtures with a mechanical dimmer, you can apply tags to the dimmer function/channel so that Vixen is aware of it. Then when you apply color effects, Vixen will extract the intensity specified on the effect and output that on the dimmer channel. If for some reason this automation was not helpful it can be turned off.

For Gobo Wheel there is a form in the Wizard for giving each Gobo index a descriptive name. You can also optionally associate an image with the Gobo for display on the Vixen timeline. There is a Gobo fixture effect that then allows you to select the Gobo you want. I think the SCX600 is interesting in that the Gobo selection and spinning are on separate channels. The Gobo effect we created assumes they would be on the same channel. There is probably a future opportunity to improve this effect to leverage both channels. If they were on the same channel, the effect would display a curve to control the spinning.

We do a Catch-All effect for when one of our assumptions don't hold true that provides access to all the functions you type into the Intelligent Fixture Wizard. So this would be how a user could spin the Gobo Wheel on the SCX600.
 
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Sounds above and beyond what I was expecting :) The rotating gobo feature on moving heads tends to use a separate motor which spins the gobos mechanically on the gobo wheel (so the gobos are round and sit inside their own toothed wheels), so I imagine they would normally be on different channels. It's possible to have the gobos rotating and also spin the gobo wheel to change between them at the same time, hence the two channels. Another common feature is rotating prisms though I've never played with those. I absolutely agree it makes no sense to try and include these level of complexity, it can always be implemented using the available effect filters.
 
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