Wolfmix in 2023 - What's going on Dev team?

[leesinthemix]

Hey,

I was hoping to start a discussion touching on our hopes and realistic expectations for where Wolfmix might be going in 2023.

What would you like to see?
What wouldn't you like to see?
What do you think the team could do better?

I've been fairly disheartened by the lack of feedback from the Wolfmix team since the start of this year.
Of course, I appreciate this is definitely not intentional (Daslight 5 is keeping some of them busy), but I feel like there should be more communication and transparancy between the Wolfmix team and us on the forum.

The W1 is a fantastic product, but there is still much more that can be done to unlock it's full potential. We are not even close to a firmware 1.0 yet, so I'm curious as to what you all think are the biggest improvements that can be made to the W1 in it's current form.

I'll start...

1) MIDI over USB support.
I think this is probably the most requested feature from all of us (especially since I joined the forum a year ago). The ability to control parameters, using an external MIDI controller, linked to the W1, possibly using a laptop as the host.

2) Control of GLOBAL parameters using DMX or MIDI
The ability to control the speed of presets, the rotation of gobos/prism selection, as well as zoom/iris amount or launch presets/live edits from a DMX board from an external DMX board or a MIDI controller using faders and/or buttons.

3) Preset timing to a Beatgrid (ideally from 1/4beat - 128bars
Being able to construct a loose light show using columns and pages is a brilliant start to opening up functionality for DJs, as we can program a few different presets with scenes/emotions/scenarios in mind for different tunes. However, without the ability to set presets to a beatgrid, then it's kind of impossible to have a seamless show. We can't for instance launch a build up preset, and know it will change to the next preset, in 4-8 bars in the future.

4) Dual FX engines/stacking
This has been requested in various forms over the past few months, but I'm unsure if the processor of the W1 could handle it.
Essentially two FX engines for Colour, Movement and Beam which can be mapped to two different groups or multiple groups at once.
Spot moving heads moving slowly and Beam moving heads moving faster on the same preset, for example.

I'd love to hear your responses, let's start a conversation

[Laserbear]

I’m happy to give my 2 cents and be a part of the discussion. I want to say first that I really love the wolfmix. It has room for improvement certainly but there isn’t anything comparable on the market that is standalone, compact , functional or has close to the number of parameters. Not at this price point or without an additional laptop.

That being said I agree that I’d like to see more interaction from the team. The software is not yet at 1.0 and I’ve seen several mentions of not implementing features until the Wmx2. All of us users would like to feel confident that our investment will continue to be supported.

1- USB over midi sounds cool. Based on developer comments I’m unsure if that can be implemented the way we want. Which leads to the next point.

2- using an external DMX board to control functions. For most of what you ask for, this is possible. If you have the w-link add on you can set one of the DMX outputs to an input. I have an Adj operator pro from the pre wolfmix days. I use them together almost every time I play out. You can set channels from the board to control specific and arbitrary channels on the wolfmix, such as having fader control over prisms, zooms, gobos or gobo rotations. I use one bank on my board for individual dimmers on par lights focused on the musicians. And another to control channels on some effect lights like a cubix or kinta. You could set up some channels to control a mirror ball or speeds of internal programs on certain fixtures. You can still use the memory bank on the other controller as well for a sort of preset and if it has a blackout button that should work for those fixtures. Also there is a setting to launch presets with a channel though I haven’t used it.

All while wolfmix does its thing with moving heads and effects. It can be a happy hybrid especially if you are familiar with a more basic analog style controller. It would be cool to see a function to assign an external fader to global speeds or other functions typically reserved for the encoders.

3- beat grid. Yes. I think most of us want this. From what I’ve read it is possible and just hasn’t been programmed yet. Arguably makes more sense than the preset timer function which is only really useful for a prerecorded or time coded show as live shows tend to wander.

4- second FX rack. Also yes. I think all of us want this. I understand concerns about UI complications but there could be a professional mode in settings and more use of the shift button.

And my own addition
5- more clarity about fixture order. I asked a question last week about how effects generate based on groups and Saturday night I had a gig and paid close attention to the effects. Obviously fx only play on active groups, and it seems they start left right or center based off active groups within the entire fixture list, not in each individual group. I would like to see fx generate per group possibly or at least have option within the fixture list to have 2 layers. I and others often have not one left to right line of fixtures but , usually multiple rows or groups some on the floor and some on tripods or hung on something.
This might help with multiple fx generators as well. Being able to separate your fixtures in the software more line they are in the real world. Most DMX softwares have a 2d representation of lights that are in a grid basically and not just a list.

Looking forward to feedback and hopefully developer response.

[leesinthemix]

"Also there is a setting to launch presets with a channel though I haven’t used it."

Haven't come across this myself actually. Are you able to point me in the right direction please?

Cheers,
Lee

[Laserbear]

Sure. It’s mentioned in the firmware 0.6 release notes. If I recall there is a line in the settings which allows you to assign a an external fader channel to call presets. I haven’t used it personally but I believe you could slide one fader up and it converts your 0-255 signal to a 0-100 value which recalls each of the 100 presets as you move the fader up. You could save that value in your external boards own memory bank, allowing you to press a button on their which triggers a certain preset. I’ll try it out myself next time I use mine.

[[email protected]]

Really great topic and I would be happy if here also comes a feedback from development team to see what is still on their ToDo list or is planned.


My points that I would really like to have realized are:

Position of the Move FX:

That it is still possible to edit the positions that exist here and adjust them better to the respective rooms.

Page selection without encoder:

Pages like "Preset" "LiveEdit" etc. which have several subpages also switch by button, so if you press the selection button at Preset 2 or 3 times the pages then also switch to 2 or 3.

Live Edits on Encoder 2-4:

That we can put Liveedits on Encoder 2-4 and these then also Propotional to the Lifeedit editable was.

Changing and saving the Flash/Strobe keys:

That we can change the values to which the keys are assigned by Shift e.g. 5% 10% 18% 43% 100%.

Beat detection with AudioIN:

That through the audio signal BPM detected and also calculated the BPM, and these then also adjustable the FX trigger 1/4, 1/2, 1, 4, 8 Beat etc.



That would be my most important points that would bring the Wolf in my eyes much further forward.

[Simon]

Hello!

1) MIDI over USB support.

It's on our ideas list, but we're reluctant to spent too much time on software features. Wolfmix was intended as a stand alone instrument which doesn't rely on a computer. We've heard you and it will stay on our list.

Control of GLOBAL parameters using DMX or MIDI

With the latest firmware you can:
-control a group dimmer
-patch directly to a DMX channel
-trigger a preset
-jump to the next and previous preset

3) Preset timing to a Beatgrid (ideally from 1/4beat - 128bars

This one is on our list. I'm not sure how useful it'll be though. I tend to manipulate the individual effects with the BPM. It's not really what presets were designed for. I know it's been requested a fair bit though.

4) Dual FX engines/stacking

There are no plans for this in the W1. If you were looking for 2 move FX you could map the Beam FX to the pan or tilt channel (if you don't need it for something else).

[sandis.soms]

1) Phase for strobe is must have!
2) Fixtures layout order, like in new lightrider app and daslight.
3) Preset fade in improvement, movements are not smooth when changing presets. Lets say i set fade for preset 4 secs and this preset has circle movement for heads, and next preset has 4 sec fade and horizontal movement. Preset is slowly fading and sudenly has a jerky movement then fade ends.

[Justsash]

I’m not sure if you read my post on a feature request, but I’m essentially asking to be able to save live edits to presets. This would fix a lot of problems with using prisms/prism rotations and split colours on moving head fixtures. If you could sort that out, users could then stack move,colour, and Beam effects without having to go to two separate pages.

Hello!

1) MIDI over USB support.

It's on our ideas list, but we're reluctant to spent too much time on software features. Wolfmix was intended as a stand alone instrument which doesn't rely on a computer. We've heard you and it will stay on our list.

Control of GLOBAL parameters using DMX or MIDI

With the latest firmware you can:
-control a group dimmer
-patch directly to a DMX channel
-trigger a preset
-jump to the next and previous preset

3) Preset timing to a Beatgrid (ideally from 1/4beat - 128bars

This one is on our list. I'm not sure how useful it'll be though. I tend to manipulate the individual effects with the BPM. It's not really what presets were designed for. I know it's been requested a fair bit though.

4) Dual FX engines/stacking

There are no plans for this in the W1. If you were looking for 2 move FX you could map the Beam FX to the pan or tilt channel (if you don't need it for something else).

[leesinthemix]

3) Preset fade in improvement, movements are not smooth when changing presets. Lets say i set fade for preset 4 secs and this preset has circle movement for heads, and next preset has 4 sec fade and horizontal movement. Preset is slowly fading and sudenly has a jerky movement then fade ends.

Yes this is ESSENTIAL. At the moment its very inelegant.

[Eneko]

Hola,soy Eneko, compre una wolfmix hace 2 semanas y hace 2 dias hice mi primer directo con ella.
He disfrutado mucho de ella y me sentia muy seguro, a pesar de haber hecho un aprendizaje muy express.
El manejo me parece muy intuitivo y con un poco de practica puede ser muy rapida, pero he echado de menos alguna funcion para hacer cosas en directo que me parecen muy utiles e incluso esenciales.
En primer lugar, no he visto forma de ajustar la posicion pan/til por separado para cada luminaria movil. He podido ajustar todas las luminarias del mismo tipo conjuntas, pero en un montaje las luminarias al colocarlas no siempre se colocan en la misma inclinacion y, por ejemplo, al hacer un fx de movimiento de tilt, las luminarias no van conjuntadas. Me gustaria saber si hay alguna forma de corregir eso.
Por otro lado tengo unas cegadoras con strobe en las que necesito presionar el boton de blinder para que se activen en modo strobe. Esto ocurre porque durante el show las cegadoras las tengo apagadas hasta que las uso y necesito activar el dimmer a 100 para que haga la funcion strobe.
Poder regular la intensidad en el boton blinder seria muy importante ya que en espacios pequeños las cegadoras pueden hacer honor a su nombre y reguladas nos puede evitar mas de un disgusto.
Otra de las cosas que echo de menos es poder editar a ciegas. Hay presets que he querido modificar pero que no se vea en directo y si encima es un preset en modo flash su edicion es un poco incomoda.
Tambien creo que poder regular una intensidad de una luminaria por separado estaria muy bien ya que hay musicos que a veces estan muy cerca del grupo de luminarias y limitar el flujo de intensidad del aparato que lo ilumina nos evitaria unas cuantas malas miradas.
El modo de grabar presets me parece muy rapido pero a la vez peligroso. En ocasiones he editado en el botos de preset equivocado y no he visto vuelta a atras.Una opcion de desacer las ultimas acciones seca mas de una gota de sudor en la frente.
Si hay alguna forma de solucionar lo expuesto agradeceria saberlo.
Un abrazo enorme