Workflow for recording Pan/Tilt only cues with moving fixtures

[Tizor]

Hi Claude,

I’m slowly trying to get comfortable programming movers in LXConsole with help from ChatGPT. But as you must know, it is often wrong. I wrote a message in French that he reformulate as the following:

From what I understand, it’s common to build banks of positions, colors, and other parameters for quick recall.
I’m currently experimenting with that workflow and trying to do it cleanly inside LXConsole.

I’m using eight Chauvet Maverick Force S Spot fixtures in 22-channel mode, each patched as a single 22-channel device.
What I’d like to do is record cues that affect only Pan and Tilt, without touching color, intensity, or any other parameters.

I can see all the subchannels in the Channel tab (Intensity, Pan, Tilt, Cyan, Magenta, etc.),
but I can’t figure out how to select multiple subchannels (for example Pan + Tilt only) for cue recording.

Could you please tell me:

The proper workflow to select only specific subchannels of a fixture when recording a cue.

If there’s a way to make LXConsole record just those channels (a “position-only” cue, similar to palettes).

Or, if not, what workaround you’d recommend — for example duplicating fixture types or using channel groups.

Thanks a lot for your help,
and also for keeping LXConsole such a practical and musician-friendly piece of software.

— Pascal Harvey
Montréal, QC

[Tizor]

Hi Claude,

I’m currently controlling my moving heads from TouchOSC using /cmd.lxconsole/CCPAN and /cmd.lxconsole/CCTILT messages, and it works perfectly in one direction.

I’d like to receive feedback from LXConsole so that TouchOSC can reflect the actual Pan/Tilt position on an XY pad.

I’ve configured OSC Out in Preferences, with “TouchOSC” as the target, IP and ports set correctly. However, I don’t see any /cmd.lxconsole/CCPAN or /CCTILT messages coming back when I move a fixture in LXConsole.

Could you confirm if LXConsole currently supports sending OSC feedback for individual fixture parameters (like PAN/TILT per channel), or if this needs a specific setup via Actions or Scripting?

Many thanks,
Pascal

[admin]

I think what you are looking for is "@record:" or "@record group: " or "@record sub:"

If channel 200 is a mover and you want to record its pan and tilt into group 10, you would press

[2] [0] [0] [a] [g] [1] [0] [return]

When you hit return, you will get a sheet with all the sub channels available for the selected channels. To only record pan and tilt, use the popup below the table and choose "Select Position". This selects only Pan and Tilt for you. Then click OK. The pan and tilt of channel 200 are the only things recorded into group 10.

To recall this group in a cue, say 51, you would first switch the main display to "Cues" from "Live". This allows editing of cues blind.
To navigate to cue 51, press [q] [5] [1] [return]

Then in the inspector's "Cue Options" tab, add group 10 into the Groups list on the right side.

Each time you run cue 51, it will update with levels pulled from group 10. If you change the position information recorded into group 10, playing back cue 51 will have the new position, but the rest of the cue will remain the same.

To record a cue that contains only the pan and tilt from channel 200, use [2] [0] [0] [a] [r] which expands to "200@record:" then press the cue number followed by [return].

To record a sub that contains only the pan and tilt from channel 200, use [2] [0] [0] [a] [s] which expands to "200@record sub:" then press the sub number followed by [return].

[admin]

No, individual channel controls do not update via OSC Out.

At least they don't update continuously.

When you select a channel, the controls in the channel tab are updated and if there's an OSC Out connection, CC___ messages are sent.

[admin]

The reasons that the channel tab controls did not update with incoming OSC is to avoid a latency or lagging UI. There is also the possibility of jitter due to a feedback/race condition.

In looking at this, it appears that it might be OK now to allow the channel tab controls to update continuously as OSC "CC__" messages are received.

The latest build of LXConsole, Version 6.7.2 (20823.1), allows this. However, there is a new preference in the OSC Out tab that gives the option to shut it off if it is causing delays in LXConsole.

Also, there's support for OSC actions reading multiple arguments. The old TouchOSC XY control sent a single message with two arguments, x and y.

In the latest build 6..7.2, for example, you can now add an OSC action with an address pattern like "/3/xy" and the OSC action as "CCPan;CCTilt". The semicolon separates the two actions and both are performed when a "/3/xy" message is received with CCPan picking up the first OSC argument in the message (x) and CCTilt picking up the second (y).

[Tizor]

Thank you so so much !

Pascal

[Dionysia]

Great news these OSC updates! We are a non-commercial small theatre that only recently start to use moving heads and TouchOSC is a very handy tool for all the rehearsals and programming the show.

Thanks Claude for the great and continuous developments!