Davidmk

@Phil Mckerracher Can you post your show file or DM it to me? I'm kind of busy this week pre-programming a show for Friday but as soon as I get a chance I'll load it up on my real FLX and have a play.

@DMH @RJP To be fair, some good answers there and, if delivered, could help the situation but... How it looks is important. In the absence of a published plan and feedback on progress, its all we have. We used to have trust but that has to be earned so, come on Vari-lite, start looking better. You've bought the rights to good hardware and software with an established customer base - many of whom have been using Z88 products for years, decades even @pcollins666. An unpaid sales force that was more than happy to sing the praises of a company that looked after them, had a solid track record of supporting them and of steady innovation. What do you think those established customers are saying to your potential customers now? It's clear the full FLX had to be discontinued but there's no talk of a replacement. The in-person training has stopped. Cwmbran is no longer a service centre and there are none listed on the Vari-Lite Web site in the UK (the two "dealers" listed are a 2nd hand equipment seller and a hire company). Plus, to return to the origin of this thread, there is now a charge for fixing the (inevitable) gaps in the fixture library. These things are probably not Vari-Lite's fault but what is being done to address them? How could I, in all conscience, reccomend a Z88 product today?

Nor me. In fact I don't think I dare to dream. ☹️

@kgallen Correct, although I suspect the processor board isn't custom, more likely an off the shelf unit that has become uneconomical because other customers have moved on. I figured that... The problem with producing FLX is the availability of the processor/screen combination. ZerOS has been shown to run on Rasberry Pi, not only that but an old model of RP. Newer RPs have more muscle than old ones. So it is possible, probable even, that a RP 5 has the capability to run as an FLX The problem with that is interfacing the hardware bits the FLX has and the S doesn't. I speculate that the various peripheral boards inside an FLX actually talk to the processor via USB. We know the fader wing does so its possible the internal faders do as well plus it is the sort of interface an off the shelf board might use. Even back in the day, Zero 88 wouldn't want to develop a whole new protocol so, even if it isn't USB, it will be something for which an RP hat might already be available. So, assuming the hardware interfaces are USB, or something that someone in the community could sort out with widely available circuitry (OK, that might not be possible), then, with access to the source code, you have to identify how it 'knows' what hardware it is running on and all the places it uses that information. For that, you need a software specialist. I'm rusty, and it would probably be in a language I'm not familiar with but I reckon I could give that a go and I'd bet I'm not alone. I don't know the background of everyone in this and the Facebook forums but, given that about half the LX techs I know have backgrounds in IT and/or telecommunications the expertise is out there. The flaw in this is that Vari-Lite have paid for the ZerOS intellectual property and are highly unlikely to give it away for free. Plus they wouldn't want all the support calls which would result from the unofficial versions that would spring up as a result. The other thing is why has there been no announcement of a Pi based FLX S+ to replace the full FLX? Is it that it is much harder than I have assumed or that they bought Zero 88 for the other products?

I doubt it will happen but, if they did, the first thing to look at is whether an FLX could run with a Raspberry Pi processor board and touch screen. Vary-Lite could do this themselves of course.

Sorry about that. Fixed, I think, for posterity.

Just noticed this under Missing Fixtures in the manual Didn't see any news about that. Thought I should bring it to the everyone's attention.

Too complicated to explain here but Search & Filtering and Fixture Creator should help. There is also the Windows Fixture Editor and you can also look into the Generic fixtures already in the library where, for example, an LED PAR where ch1 is red, ch2 is green, ch3 is blue and ch3 is intensity will be listed as RGBI. All of his does, of course, rely on you knowing what parameters your fixtures use (i.e. having access to the manual for the specific model). If you don't have the manual then proceed as follows... With an empty patch, assign some dimmers (more than the number of parameters you think the fixture has got) and starting at the fixture's address. With the fixture powered up, try all the "dimmers" and see what happens. Bear in mind that, to get output, you may need at least two parameters (intensity and colour) up at the same time. You may need three if there is a "shutter" parameter that isn't open at zero. Try to be methodical but it does involve some trial and error. Good luck!

That's the trouble with answering queries on a forum - where between noobs and "actually they know more than me" should you pitch your reply. On a full FLX I'd use an MFK but a playback (as described in my last post) should work as well.

But that's the thing with LTP. When the playback is released, the "last" value (from before the playback) is the one that takes precedence. Your playback needs to set the beam parameter to zero, have release on lower set and should (maybe) have trigger level set to 1% instead of the default 5% https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/cues-playbacks/playback-settings/raise-and-lower#level The snag is that the release is a snap not a fade. I think there's a setting somewhere to fix that but I've never looked it up.

Double check whether you have accidentally included intensity (I'm always doing that!). If you have then you can update with remove (or just set it up again). If you haven't made that mistake then maybe inhibit only works on intensities. It's what it is intended for after all. I've never tried it for anything else. Intensity is HTP of course (hence the need for inhibit). Other parameters are LTP so you don't really need inhibit. A normal playback with the beam at 0 should do it.

Phantom ZeroOS is ZeroOS with a Windows "wrapper" - unlike a hardware desk, you don't/can't load ZeroOS onto it. So Phantom ZerOS version is ZeroOS v8. If you want ZeroOS v7.14.3 then you need to download Phantom ZerOS v7.14.3 which should be in the 7.14.3 zip file under legacy software on the downloads page.

No at all. Valid correction.

Yep, OK, point taken. My take on it was affected by wanting static i/p addresses in my network. Not that I've used TB, just wanted a network I could use it on without re-configuration.

You have to use sACN if you want tracking backup. It cannot work with ArtNet. See the grey information box on the manual page for tracking backup. https://www.zero88.com/manuals/zeros/setup/devices/tracking-backup