Using Martin Mac 250's and Fat Frog Lighting Desk

[Tomo]

The generic channels are from 1 - 48, therefore the dimmers that are on the circuit are bound by these generic channels.

Yes - although you can softpatch them elsewhere, the addresses of the physical dimmers themselves are generally fixed.

When I add a fixture to the desk I must ensure they are addressed above the channel 48 because these channels are already taken. I also must leave 9 channels in between each addressing of the fixtures because they use 9 channels each?

Yes.

When patching the lighting up though, do I set the desk to autopatch the fixtures? or do I do it manually?

Your choice. Most intelligent-lighting-aware consoles allow you to say "I've got five Mac250s, first one starts at x, patch them one after another without overlaps" - I think this is what the Fat Frog's Autopatch function does.

Manually will allow you to decide exactly where each fixture should start.

Either way, the 'Start Address' in the console must match the 'Address' you give the Macs.

Remember that Macs have several options and 'Modes' that they can be used in - console and moving light must match!

 

If you decide beforehand, then the hire company can set the Macs up for you - both Mode and Address.

Also I have been wondering, what exactly the difference between 3pin DMX and 5pin DMX exactly is, I've never noticed any difference.

3-pin DMX is Evil, Bad and Wrong. The DMX spec says 5 pin XLR, so you should use 5 pins!

That said, as long as you don't use microphone cable, it'll work. Some 3-pin fixtures swap pins 2 and 3 over as well, which adds to the confusion.

One more question, on the back of the FAT FROG there is 2 DMX outputs, I have only ever used one, when using the fixtures do they have to be on a seperate circuit???

Don't have to be, but is probably a good idea.

The two outputs on a Fat Frog output exactly the same data, but using seperate ones allows you to avoid hiring a DMX splitter or breaking into the dimmer DMX run.

[Tom Baldwin]

When I add a fixture to the desk I must ensure they are addressed above the channel 48 because these channels are already taken. I also must leave 9 channels in between each addressing of the fixtures because they use 9 channels each?

The principle of what you write is sound, but I'd question 9 channels for the MAC. I've just taken a quick look on the Martin website, and the wash takes between 13 and 19 channels. Which specific model, and which mode are you using?

 

When patching the lighting up though, do I set the desk to autopatch the fixtures? or do I do it manually?

Either is OK. I'd suggest manually, so that you're clear in your own head what's going on, and you can follow it through step-by-step.

 

Also I have been wondering, what exactly the difference between 3pin DMX and 5pin DMX exactly is, I've never noticed any difference.

Officially, DMX should only use 5-pin connectors. But some equipment (for various reasons) uses 3-pin. The electrical signals on the wire are identical, so you'll not notice a difference. But whenever you have a choice, it's good practice to prefer 5-pin.

On a small number of occasions, the extra 2 pins in the 5-pin connector are used (for example, to allow the dimmers to talk back to the desk and report e.g. faults) - but it's not very common.

 

One more question, on the back of the FAT FROG there is 2 DMX outputs, I have only ever used one, when using the fixtures do they have to be on a seperate circuit???

Some desks can output more than one "universe" (group of 512 channels) of DMX, and hence have multiple sockets. As far as I can gather from the spec sheet, the Fat Frog only has a single DMX universe, which means these two sockets are outputting the exact same data.

You can connect your MACs either to the second output, or to the end of the chain after the dimmers. It doesn't make a difference.

 

Personally, I'd use the second output. Why? Because it gives you a little more resiliency against failure. If you run everything on a single line, and somebody damages the cable mid-show, you might lose everything. If you have 2 cables, they need to be twice as destructive to cause total havoc!

 

It would excessive in this application, but you can get DMX splitters (aka buffer boxes) which take a single DMX feed in, and split in into multiple outputs for just this reason. They can also make cabling easier. And there's a maximum number of devices which can be connected to a single DMX output - you'll need a splitter if you ever use this many fixtures!

 

HTH,

 

Tom

 

EDIT: Must amputate a few of Tomo's fingers to slow his typing down...

[Trunker]

On the fat frog you have the ability for 10 movers in the far right hand area, there is 10 buttons

 

Select 1 and 2 and then select the other functions, to put intensity to 100%, use the 2 wheels as pan and tilt.

 

But read the manual! Will certainly help!

 

hth

 

Actually 12 intellegents fixtures can be run of the fat frog. Scrollers, Moving Heads/Mirrors, Foggers etc.

[gnomatron]

Word of warning dont set it to a 100% as they tend to reset. Thats why I'm not in favour of macs. 100% is reset for it.

 

This isn't exactly true of 250s (or 500s, 600s, or any other mac I've used. well, that's all of them actually). The Mac 250 has a separate Shutter and Dimmer channel, the reset is located somewhere in the top end of the Shutter channel, NOT the dimmer channel. Also, this is a feature, not a "problem"! If you find it that annoying you can turn it off in the personality menu, but I've found it handy on many occasions.

 

To the OP - Given that this is for an A-level, you should really be going to some other sources as well. The Blue Room is a great resource, but it's not what I rely on when trying to learn how to use new kit. Contact your hire company and find out exactly what model of Mac 250 they have; they'll either be original 250s, kryptons or entours (in order of niceness). That assumes you're not getting Mac 250 washes, which are a bit different. Ask if you can go along one day and get a demo of the light from them, and go to the martin website and download the manual. Read your Fat Frog's manual too, it will, surprisingly, tell you how to patch and control moving lights. How long are you getting the fixtures for? Take a bit of time, if you can, to plug them in and just see what they can do.

 

What the Blue Room will have that those other places won't is artistic and creative advice; WHAT to do with your lights, as opposed to HOW to do it.

 

p.s. on DMX - the original 250 is 3-pin only, but the Krypton, Entour and Wash all have both 3 and 5 pin DMX connections. So you definitely need to know which you're getting!

[Tom_Robbo26]

Hi Blue room.

 

Thought I might let you know, I set up for my show the other day and all setting up, patching and assigning has gone well. All in working order now.

 

I have found all of its operations but I would like to programme my two fixtures to have a sequence of just panning and rotating around the room and store this as a memory in the fat frog.

 

Any ideas on how you do this?

 

thanks, tom

[peter]

Hi Tom

 

Best idea would be to use the Effects generator, which is found under Position (press Position more than once to cycle through to the Effects pages). Dial in an effect type (Ellipse, Fig 8, Tri, or Quad) and size in X and Y, then change to the next page (press Position again) and set a speed. Your lights will now move

[Tom_Robbo26]

Hi Blue Room,

Thought I might just inform you all that my show is now over and went extremely well.

I managed to use all effects possible and transitions which is all down to your help.

 

And with all this, I haven't dropped one mark in my exam.

So thank you for all your help!

 

Happy Blue Rooming.

Tom_Robbo