P64 LED Fades using a DMX Operator Pro

it explains how to do that in the manual. is it not clear enough for you?

I guess the confusion that I have is section 7 of the manual continually references moving lights. It might be a little easier if there were a section that referenced Par 64's as they relate to the DMX Operator

The reference to fade times in the manual essentially applies to both moving lights and LED fixtures.

The fade time will affect how quickly the individual DMX channel levels adjust when you switch scenes. So, rather than the levels 'snapping', you can slow the change down, so you see more of a crossfade and the scene change won't be as stark, because some channel levels will be slowly coming up and others are going down.

For moving lights, it more pertains to the speed at which the mirrors/moving heads change positions to the next location (though it can also be applied to gobo, color wheels, effects wheels, etc).

Just remember, the fade refers to how quickly the DMX channel values change (fast vs slow).

This is where playing with your toys becomes very critical to the learning experience.

On the DMX Operator(not pro, I didn't splurge that far), there is a fader controlling change time. Move that up a bit or down a bit, and bingo: you can make super neat cross-fades.

Reading the manual isn't sufficient enough, but that's not an ADJ issue. You should spend some of your non-event time playing and learning. It's really the best way to go.

Thanks all for the feed back.

We were at church last night and I was able to program 8 fades exactly the way we wanted them. These eight "faded scenes" are sufficient to carry us through the entire program. All we need to do is repeat some of the fades by switching to some of the fades that are earlier in the order.

Later in the evening we noticed that some of the fades were not illuminating as expected and I started to wonder; is it necessary to program each fade individually so as not to go back and repeat fades set up earlier in the sequence.

Maybe a better way to phrase the question is; Do we need a sequenced step for each lighting set up?

Well, you're only using I take it 8 colors via RGB-type mixing. If that's what it takes to get your stuff done, then that's what it takes. This isn't criticism, it's just a statement of fact.

What you can do is program chase sequences. Each chase sequence can have 240 steps. Each step is a scene, and you may repeat and re-use scenes as you seem fit. So have fun re-using your 8 scenes over and over again. That's what I would do.

Now, excuse some ignorance of the DMX Operator, just because I haven't used it yet but as I understand it, there are two methods: timed and chase mode. In timed, it goes through the steps/scenes in order on a timer. In chase mode, it will typically step through in order based on a trigger, typically a loud sound.

You don't have a whole lot of control over all. You can control the order, but that's really about it. If in a timed mode, it's just going to hit the "time" and change based on the time of the cross-fade. In chase mode, it's going to change based on that loud bass hit(it responds best to low frequency) based on the cross fade set by the cross-fade fader.

I don't know what you mean by need a sequenced step for each lighting set up. Do you mean for each "segment of the presentation"? Excuse my ignorance, I avoid the worship marketplace and do not work with churches and religious groups. If you have a sequence for sermons, then OK, program a chase for that. You can always abort that and go to a different chase for a praise song segment.

Maybe you have a nice soothing set of washes for the walk-in/wait time. Now, let's say your director or whatever your worship leader is titled speaks for 15 minutes, followed by a 3 minute song, then 20 minutes of sermon and 2 songs, and then 20 more minutes of sermon and then an outro. You could make chases for those. If you document your cross-fade times, you can say "this time for this chase. This chase for this sequence".

Just throwing ideas around.