NON-forced DMX IN

General discussion between Wolfmix owners. Checked occasionally by the Wolfmix support team.
Brekhof
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:57 pm

NON-forced DMX IN

Post by Brekhof »

I have a question... ;)

The option to use DMX IN to control individual DMX-channels comes with a "forced" option but if I DON'T use this option I can't get it to work at all.

Did anyone else?

So basically what I want to achieve is to be able to control one of my moving heads from the DMX IN controller if my W1 is not occupied with it.
axell
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:52 am

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by axell »

As you can see in the DMX Stack (Priority of DMX commands), the DMX IN (without FORCE!) has a very low priority. Even lower as the regular DMX setting or effect.
For using with an external DMX controller your NEED to setup the FORCE option to override the actual settings with the Fader.
Question is: Why is it you can not set FORCE (by simply pushing the encoder)?

Check the following
You need:
1. a (simple) DMX Fader Box (NO USB! NO MIDI! - just DMX In/Out!)
2. an male-to-male DMX Adapter, having a male 5pin to insert into the 5Pin socket XLR C(!) on Wolfmix and connect either a 3Pin cable or 5Pin cable on the other end of the adapter
____a) for 3pin cable - Neutrik NA3 M5M
____b) for 5pin cable - Neutrik NA5 MM
3. purchase WLINK software via WTOOLS ( US$ 49,00)

Setup and operation:
* Connect the DMX Box via adapter on XLR C (!) on Wolfmix controller

* Go to HOME / SETUP / SETTINGS and select WLINK INPUT MODE - switch to „DMX IN“

* Now go to HOME / SETUP / GROUPS : on the right side you see numbers. These are Default settings for GROUP DIMMERS you can use with the Fader Box sliders "out-of-the-box“.
___Group A = 1 = Fader 1 of your Fader Box, Group B = 2 = Fader 2 and so on. So if you keep the numbers, you can control GROUP Dimmers automatically with the Fader Box. If you want to use the Faders for different functions, select a Group and turn down the DMX IN CH encoder to show a (minus) „-„. It means THIS Fader is NOT assigned to this Group Dimmer any more and can be freely used for other functions.

* For Fader Control on „other“ DMX functions/channels, got to HOME / SETUP / DMX Values and navigate to your Fixture and its desired function.
___Example for Prism control: If you have a fixture on DMX start address 34 and the Prism of this fixture is at channel 8, you have to select the field (red) 41 (start address + channel -1; 34+8=42-1=41)
___select field (red) 41 and dial DMX In encoder to set the Fader number (1; 2; 3; 4; 5, or 6 on a 6 Ch Fader Box - the number represents the corresponding Fader number), push the encoder to enable FORCE

You can now control that DMX channel with your selected Fader
Attachments
force.jpg
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leesinthemix
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:13 am

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by leesinthemix »

Brekhof wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2023 1:41 pm I have a question... ;)

The option to use DMX IN to control individual DMX-channels comes with a "forced" option but if I DON'T use this option I can't get it to work at all.

Did anyone else?

So basically what I want to achieve is to be able to control one of my moving heads from the DMX IN controller if my W1 is not occupied with it.
What parameters of the Moving Head do you want to override at all times?

I would have a think about the logics of it first, then employ the steps above. If you want to control movement, then your movers won't follow the Movement FX engine, at all.

Controlling Master Intensity, Gobos, Rotation and Prism etc, I find to be more useful using DMX Force than Colour, Movement and Beam.
Brekhof
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:57 pm

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by Brekhof »

Thank you for your detailed answer :) I think you might have missunderstood me a bit though.

I have gotten everything to work properly with the force option switched ON no problem.

I just thought that in theory (according to the priority stack), if I have a group of moving heads and switched all the effects OFF (color/move/beam) so that the wolfmix isn't sending any DMX-data to the fixtures, then I could control the fixtures individual channels using the external controller (without the force option) but I haven't gotten that to work.

So for example in a theatre setting I could use an external controller to control one of the moving heads to act as a follow spot.

Also I'm aware that I could get around this problem by making presets with live edits but I want to make use och my external controllers special features (specifically I want to use QLab).

Best Regards Sven
axell
Posts: 401
Joined: Sat Feb 12, 2022 8:52 am

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by axell »

this seem to be a bug in 0.7.5. „No Force“ Fader operation should work when no effects and no Position Presets are selected. This will probably be fixed in one of the next firmware releases ….
leesinthemix
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:13 am

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by leesinthemix »

axell wrote: Sun Mar 26, 2023 6:14 am this seem to be a bug in 0.7.5. „No Force“ Fader operation should work when no effects and no Position Presets are selected. This will probably be fixed in one of the next firmware releases ….
Yes, this is also something I've noticed. I'm sure it was possible in the past.
Brekhof
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2023 5:57 pm

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by Brekhof »

Thanks!
I thought I missed something :)
leesinthemix
Posts: 176
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2022 12:13 am

Re: NON-forced DMX IN

Post by leesinthemix »

Apparently this is fixed in the new 1.0.0 firmware update.
Not tested yet, but will do tonight.
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