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Warning: Blackouts may not totally black out

So, I'm sitting here goofing around with MyDMX. I won't go into the miriade of things making me angry, both with MyDMX and outside of MyDMX.

Jingles and I have both said "stop asking for a blackout and make your own". This is good advise, but I found out is is NOT perfect advise.

Discovering that the HTP/LTP settings let you over-ride scene values, this can cause YOU grief and problems, so be warned. While your nifty BLACKOUT scene may in fact have your channels all set to default to ZERO values, if you are using a blackou scene, and you have over-ridden some values for whatever reason, those values will NOT be altered when you invoke your blackout scene.

I've been ripping pretty hard on MyDMX lately. This is something of a complaint, but more of a warning to the functionality of MyDMX so others don't get screwed, or rather frustrate the hell out of yourselves during a show.

In my case, I have a few channels that I have set for HTP/LTP that make no difference, such as gobo wheels and color wheels. My flaw in logic comes from my follow spots, which I want full control over EXCEPT in a blackout situation, so I have both those channels set for either HTP or LTP for their dimmer and color wheel channels. When I invoke my blackout scene(s), these will unfortunately NOT be over-ridden.

This isn't a flaw in MyDMX. The only way to avoid this issue is to do one of three things:

1: Make a read dedicated blackout scene, but this must be made as SCENE 1 of every "show" and not only can NOT be overridden, but also can not be copied and duplicated. But this is going to provide some programming work by the MyDMX team. It is rather clear that the MyDMX developers aren't going to integrate this. Plus, I think this may cause some problems to existing shows of integrating a new BLACKOUT master-override scene. The possibility of it tweaking a show is a hazard to be made aware of. As much as this is a much needed feature, it may be too much of a risk for MyDMX to want to implement. I think they should as many other companies have done similar type things(not entertainment type software though) of forcing something necessary into a user file WITHOUT causing problems. But I've also seen problems as well.

2: Pay Attention to what you're doing in your shows and scene programming and lighting design. While this is good practice in general, it becomes more critical with an application such as MyDMX, which has unfortunately seen the blackout as an over-sight that is for the most part easily resolved by the end user. Make sure you can deal with any problems quickly and easily.

3: Have a MIDI controller handy and properly programmed for your environment. I'm not going to dictate anything, but I will say that I'm having good results with the Korg nanoKONTROL, which is cheap, seems and feels durable and is easy to use. It has buttons, knobs and faders and is in 4 "scenes", which basically quadruples the capability of the little control surface. There are more capable and better contorllers. Considering I could be using a JLCooper CS 102 and that's over 15 times the cost of a Korg Nano and only supports 8 faders and 8 knobs for convenience as far as MyDMX is concerned(I think it could support more, i'm too lazy to read my manual), the nanoKontrol fits in my laptop bag easier.

Know what you're getting into and be aware.

In my case, my worse case situation is my spotlights stay ON, which may or may NOT be an issue depending on what is going on, but does prevent my blackouts from providing true blackout. And I go to my Korg nanoKontrol, Scene 1, Faders 8 and 9 and I can pull down 9(dimmer) and address the situation. For the most part, this isn't a problem as my spots are already accounted for.

But, should this mean HTP and LTP should be removed? Oh hell no! Think about this, if I had a handy charge of color values, I could make a ton less scenes. People who want to turn on and off a strobe can do so without altering whatever else they have going on. People who need to add or take away something have it made. Need a puff of fog? Hit that channel. Need spots but didn't add them? There ya go! Mood moves ya? Move something back and make it happen.

The advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages. But the disadvantages could be very stressfull and frustrating live when you're not able to fully focus on this issue or not paying attention.

In this case, I'll take the good with the bad. I'd like a dedicated "no override all values zero true Blackout" button.

ALSO, DO play with your Auto/HTP/LTP settings to get what you need. NOT all my planning has worked out, and I've had to make changes. Don't take it for granted you've got it right. DO use that 3D visualizer, it's there to help.
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