Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of detail at this time, but one of my clients has been having a world of grief with the auto-block functionality on their ION. Sometimes, the auto-block will seem correct, and correctly show that a prior edit is being prevented from tracking through a following cue, but other times, it will cause the entire cue stack to basically lockup. You can hit Go/Back, and see the cues supposedly run on screen, but what is output never changes. Sometimes, a quick run forward through the stack past the block and then backing up over it will restore the console to normal operation, and other times, they need to reenter the cue with the block to get rid of the block. I can see an auto-block holding single channels (and indeed, that is all that is seen on the display) but this is holding entire cues, despite only single channel edits . . .
Frankly, auto-block seems like it should be a optional feature - good programming practice and attentiveness would tend to indicate that it is not necessary for all users. Having said that, a short term solution to the problem would be to be able to simply turn the feature off, and deal with tracking changes manually.
Otherwise, has anyone seen any behaviour of this type? I think we first noticed it on 1.8.0 (maybe 1.7 . . ) and it is still present in 1.8.2 . . . I will try to see if I can find a scenario to reliably duplicate what they have been seeing, but to date, it has happened primarily when I have not been on site . . .
- Tim
Hello? Anyone? Yes? No? Maybe? Is this thing on? Check 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . .
Just guess I'm not used to nothing but silence in reply . . . especially on what is a very real issue for this user!
Hi Tim -
Sorry, this must have gotten missed. I've never heard of the behaviour you describe. If you can find a scenario, that would be great. I can also try it a bit when I'm back in the office, but I have shows with autoblocks all the time and have never seen them go awry. A showfile that exhibits it would be ideal!
thanks-
-luke-
We are adding an auto-block clean up function in an upcoming release. We've not heard other reports of any of the behavior your describe. As Luke said, if you can help us try to to find a duplicator, that would be great.
thanks,
a
Anne Valentino
Eos Product Line Manager
We had a very simple (20 cues or so) show that seemed to do it if you even looked at it funny . . . let me see if that still exists, and if I can create a command sequence that will trigger the problem . . . It may take me a week or so, but I will definitely see what I can create . . .
Ok that would be great. Just to clarify for those who may not fully understand, an auto-block is created whenever a channel that was previously a move instruction is matched in level is a preceding cue.
So, if cue 10 sets channel 1 to 50% (it is a move, displayed in either green or blue, depending on direction of travel), and you later go to, let say, cue 9, can set channel 1 to 50%, it will become auto-blocked in cue 10. The desk maintains the concept of the move, even though it is no longer a move. It's a data protection device.
Anne -
We took this console to 1.9, and I was still able to create a scenario where a cue stack will go completely dead following an automatically generated block.
Please refresh my memory as to how you want stuff uploaded, and I'll get his small snipped (10 channels, 10 cues . . .) uploaded so that you can tell me if we are just plain nuts, or if there really is a bug behind this . . .
Thanks,
You can send the file directly to me.
matt.kerr@etcconnect.com
I would love to take a look at this.
Matt
Thanks Matt. You know where to find us when you see what you see.
I have also many problems with the AutoBlock functionality. I work in CueOnly Mode, and the autoblock
turns realy crazy. After a programming session with many works with Recall, copying cues and channels,
and Tracksheet operations, my Cuelist is full off Blocks and it needs much time to put them out (cause it
brings some problem with the AutoMark).
I think that Autoblock is not a conceptional feature for use in CueOnlyMode (I know EOS is trackingconsole, but ..).
Please make it possible to switch it off in the Setup, or ... make it more intelligent.
Stefan Staub
The rules for auto-block are pretty simple. We can't really make it "more intelligent" as we don't know what your intent is when data is copied.
.... we are adding a channel level move instruction that will decrease the number of times autoblocks occur.
Hope that helps.
Anne,
One thing that needs improving is preventing Autoblocks inside of of Full block cues. They have no underscore, but show up as move instructions when using syntax like "Query Is in Cue 2". More specifically, after cleaning up all the baby blocks we use commands like "Query Isn't In Cue 1 Thru 200" to find the unused channels so we can remove them from the final show file. Some channels will have moves in the hard blocked cues even though they never get above zero, so they won't show up in our "query". Toggling the Block parameter removes the autoblock but it would be better if they weren't created in the first place.
Autoblocks don't happen with full block cues. If you block a cue, and one of the move instructions in that cue is later matched upstream, the value is converted to a block, since you blocked that cue. It is no different than when the block flag is first applied. Any channel stored in a cue, even at zero, is considered used in that cue. There is a huge difference between not used and stored at zero - this is the engine that facilitates the use of multiple cue lists. What you are looking for is a query that asks for lights not above zero. That is being added. In our next release, we are also adding a channel list of channels that are never stored above zero to the utility reports.
As to whether auto-blocks are created or not.... this is a huge jump ball. You either love them or hate them. And that is why we are adding an autoblock cleanup function in the next release.
I have version 1.9 in front of me. In my hardblocked (B) blackout cue 2 one of the white zeros is in the cue (according to the query) while the rest are not. I know the reason is because I toggled that channel's level in the previous cue, which created a move to zero in cue 2, which was then left there after I toggled back.
All those new features will be much appreciated.
Interesting.... completely not seeing that. There is an issue with query at zero collecting null channels... that's being fixed in the next release. Can you send me your showfile? anne.valentino@etcconnect.com.
Thanks much!