The Eos (and Ion) Forum

Re: blocking???

33boardop — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:04:12 GMT

Block channels have been disabled for playback as of version 1.4.0. This means they won't retake control of manual overrides when you take your blocked Q. You need to apply the ASSERT FLAG to the block Q to give them back their move power. CUE # ASSERT <ENTER>. The command line has to be cleared to allow the manual channel to be recaptured.

Re: blocking???

g4fmw — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:30:26 GMT

I have just finished a second stint as LD / board operator on an Eos and this time had less hassle with the 'blocking' command. I am wondering if my initial problems stemmed from the fact that I generated a cuelist offline so was trying to block without channels present.

Ian

Re: blocking???

BrentFJ — Tue, 26 May 2009 02:24:36 GMT

Do you still have the channel selected? If you do have the channel selected, then it is held by the channel control, therefore the Q will not drive the channel

Re: blocking???

Anne Valentino — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:25:39 GMT

Ian, assert should work just fine, if that channel is part of the cue list. When you get a minute, if you can email me the showfile, the channel and BO cue in question, I can take a quick look to see what there is to be seen. email to:

anne.valentino@etcconnect.com or

amvalentino@me.com

Thanks!

Re: blocking???

g4fmw — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:11:50 GMT

Anne .. I have tried using 'Assert' but to no avail, the blackout cue is recorded as all channels @ zero.

I will try the 'Allfade' when I get into the theatre this evening.

Thanks for the advice.

Ian

Re: blocking???

Anne Valentino — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:49:41 GMT

Ian, the interaction between the playbacks and manual control is completely LTP. Applying an assert on your blackout cue will take your manual overrides out, provided those channels are part of the blackout cue. If they are not part of the blackout cue, you can apply an Allfade to the cue, and that will drive out any intensities coming from other sources. (Provided, of course, that the channel is not selected... in which case it is withheld from playback instructions).

Hope that helps.

Re: blocking???

g4fmw — Fri, 15 May 2009 14:30:54 GMT

Thanks for all the replies and I think I understand a bit more now :-)

In reply to Josh .... I have tried releasing the channel but it still remains in the blackout.

From reading Anne's replies it would appear that a manual change is never controlled by a playback. When plotting on a Strand 530 in tracking mode I am used to setting blackouts as XF (and these would also capture manual live mods), so am I right in saying that there is no catchall with the EOS?

Ian

Re: blocking???

Anne Valentino — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:41:55 GMT

Just a reminder.... a block cue does not necessarily contain a move instruction for all channels in that block cue. So, even if the channel is not selected, the light may stay at its manual levels.

Re: blocking???

Richard — Fri, 15 May 2009 13:31:27 GMT

That's not due to blocking - it's because the level is still 'captured'.

One way to clear them is [Ch] # [Sneak] [Enter], as that fades them back to 'recorded' value.

Re: blocking???

jbenghiat — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:51:17 GMT

g4fmw:

I am currently acting as LD and board operator for a local amateur company and I am finding that if I make a temporary live mod (to cover a cast member being in the wrong place) it is not being caught by the end of scene blackout which is recorded as a block Q. What am I doing wrong?

While a channel is active selected (gold border around the tombstone), it is essentially captured. Clear out the command line after your adjustment, and the channel should respond to the next move command, in your case the blackout.

-Josh

Re: blocking???

Anne Valentino — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:48:31 GMT

Are the changes you are making still manual - or are you updating them into your cue structure? Remember that blocking is an editing function - it doesn't have an impact on playback. So, if you are making manual changes, run a cue where that channel does not actually have a move instruction (a block cue doesn't necessarily mean all of the channels in the cue have a move), the light will stay manual.

The Assert function is used to make sure either some or all of the contents of a cue are replayed (including tracks). You can assert at a cue level, cue part, channel or channel parameter. Asserts are applied just like blocks. If you assert the entire cue, you'll see a capital A in the flags field. If you assert at a channel or parameter level, you'll see a lower case a in that field. Asserts applied to channels/parameters have to be updated/stored into the cue (just like any other channel attribute), unless you apply the flag in blind.

Hope that helps!

Re: blocking???

g4fmw — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:16:43 GMT

I am currently acting as LD and board operator for a local amateur company and I am finding that if I make a temporary live mod (to cover a cast member being in the wrong place) it is not being caught by the end of scene blackout which is recorded as a block Q. What am I doing wrong?

Re: blocking???

dlincecum — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:59:40 GMT

Luke

That is a brilliant concept! Thanks!

David

Re: blocking???

ldelwich — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:21:33 GMT

I learned on a preset desk - one concept that helped me with tracking is the idea that everything else in theatre works in tracking -

- If a director tells you to move upstage by the fireplace when you say "I'll have my revenge, then the world will suffer", you stay there until you have another instruction (eg to move downstage when you say "Sorry honey, yes I'll take the rubbish out just now"). In this example, a block cue is when everyone is supposed to run offstage no matter what, or to form a chorus line no matter what else changes...

- In sound, if you have a wind sound cue that starts at the top of the scene, and you knob it higher in Q21, it stays at that level unless you add a cue to bring it back down.

- If you bring in a set piece, it stays there until you take it out!

- And more like that!

Re: blocking???

Anne Valentino — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:07:00 GMT

Thanks for all of the input everyone. One of the ways I often teach tracking/blocking/trace and the impact of Cue Only is to go into blind spreadsheet for cues, make changes and watch how those changes impact the data before and after. Its a pretty easy way to become clear on the rules.

Hope this helps.