Did you know? Special #6 - Beat Source in Cuelists

If you look in DMXControl 3.1.3 into the Master window, you will find a GrandMaster and for each group a GroupMaster, in order to be able to set the intensity in total and per group. The function of a master should be sufficiently known, which is why we will not go into it in detail here and refer to corresponding other sources. However, with DMXControl 3.2 new masters are added to the existing ones: The SpeedMaster and the ParameterMaster. We will take a closer look at these in the following.

The SpeedMaster

Da geplant ist, mit einer der kommenden Versionen von DMXControl 3 das Konzept der SpeedMaster und ParameterMaster weiter auszubauen, werden die Master aktuell noch automatisch erstellt, indem man diese "benutzt". Sprich um einen neuen SpeedMaster anzulegen, verknüpft man diesen neuen SpeedMaster mit einer Geschwindigkeits-Eigenschaft. Das geht am einfachsten in einem Effekt, der auf einem Geräteparameter angewendet wurde.

As the name suggests, the SpeedMaster controls properties that contain a speed value. On the one hand, this can be the frequency and thus the speed of an effect. On the other hand, the speed of a cuelist can also be controlled via SpeedMaster. The SpeedMaster can be used to globally synchronize the speeds of several cuelists and / or effects. In addition, SpeedMaster can also be controlled from different sources using the new Input Assignment, which leads to even greater flexibility of control.

Create / Link SpeedMasters

Since it is planned to extend the concept of the SpeedMaster and ParameterMaster further with one of the upcoming versions of DMXControl 3, the masters are currently still created automatically by "using" them. In other words, to create a new SpeedMaster, it is linked to a speed property. The easiest way to do this is to apply an effect to a device parameter.

For this you simply have to enter {SpeedMaster <Number>} into the frequency property, where <Number> is the number of the corresponding SpeedMaster (Important: There must be a space between "SpeedMaster"; and the number). If, for example, SpeedMaster 2 does not yet exist, it is automatically created after confirmation with Enter. Now the newly created SpeedMaster can also be used in other areas. For example, it can be assigned to the frequency of other effects to link their execution speed to the specified SpeedMaster.

Important: SpeedMaster and ParameterMaster cannot yet be deleted! Therefore, you should only create those that are really needed!

Beat Source of a Cuelist

In addition to the effects, SpeedMasters can also be used, for example, in the CueLists to act as a beat source. In the previous versions a beat of the AudioAnalyzer could already be sent to a cuelist. Now the source for this beat can be set individually for each cuelist. To set a beat source for a cuelist, just open the properties of the cuelist and go to the entry Beat Source. There you select the desired SpeedMaster or ManualBeat.

SpeedMaster Control

As soon as a SpeedMaster has been created, it appears in the master window in the SpeedMaster area. Now there is one fader and four buttons per SpeedMaster. The fader is used to set the actual speed of the SpeedMaster. With Double and Half the actual speed is doubled or halved as well as the range in which the SpeedMaster can assume values. This can be seen in the picture, because both SpeedMaster are at the upper stop, but the SpeedMaster 2 is four times faster than SpeedMaster 1. Learn behaves like a tap-button to manually tap a beat and Sync resets the first beat of the SpeedMaster.

The ParameterMaster

ParameterMaster basically behave similar to SpeedMaster, but they are not used to make the speed values dynamically adjustable for effects, but the parameter values themselves. The values of device functions such as dimmers, etc. but also of effects such as phase can be controlled via a ParameterMaster.

Fanning

Both SpeedMaster and ParameterMaster can also be fanned. For example, the following can be entered for the speed of an effect: {SpeedMaster 1} > {SpeedMaster 2}. This opens up many new possibilities, as it is now possible to dynamically change the minimum and maximum values between which the property values are fanned. To acheve this only the values of the SpeedMaster have to be adjusted. The same is also possible for example for the phase parameter of an effect with the ParameterMaste,. The only current limitation is that fanning with ParameterMasters only works within effects, since the possible effects of fanned ParameterMasters on general parameters of devices have yet to be investigated. A Fanning of the ParameterMaster for general device properties will be delivered in one of the following versions of DMXControl 3.

Save the Parameterization in Cuelists

Since both the SpeedMaster and the ParameterMaster can be entered in the device properties or effect properties, they can also be stored in a cue like any other value. For example, in a cue can be stored that the dimmer value of a device group is controlled by a ParameterMaster. How bright this device group is lit when the cue is executed is determined by the corresponding ParameterMaster at runtime.

As you can see, this master concept is incredibly powerful and very flexible controls can be built with it. Already the current possibilities with the slight restrictions of fanned ParameterMasters opens up the possibilities for very flexible setups.

Your DMXControl-Team